Fresh Focus

Throughout this six-episode Myth Busters series on the Fresh Focus podcast, we are choosing a different popular nutrition myth each episode to break down. There’s so much nutrition information (and misinformation) out there that we wanted to provide you this series so that you could have evidence-based answers to your burning nutrition questions in between visits with your registered dietitian.

Listen along to this episode as Megan Rivenburg, MS, dietetic intern at the Bay Pines VA, sorts through the research on carbs. Are they bad for you? Are low-carb diets the way to go? Which carbs are the best carbs to be eating in order to support your health?

The takeaway? Our bodies need carbs! They provide much needed energy that your body needs even when you’re just sitting at home. They help out with regularity (fiber is a carb!), and on top of that, they make us happy. Not just because they’re delicious, but because they help out with keeping serotonin levels regulated, and serotonin is involved with keeping moods stable.

It’s also no big secret that certain carbs are really easy to overeat. Think about white rice versus brown rice- one is much easier to eat a large amount of without getting full. This episode talks all about picking complex carb choices like brown rice, whole grain breads and pastas, and fruits and vegetables. These carbs provide that needed energy but also leave us feeling just a little bit better overall. 

As always, nutrition needs vary from person to person. If you want more in-depth information about anything you hear on this podcast, don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment with your registered dietitian. They are there to help you figure out the style of eating that works best for you, your health, and your lifestyle!

Enjoy listening to this episode!

Nutrition advice is anywhere and everywhere these days. The information can be overwhelming to sift through. Here at the Fresh Focus podcast we thought it would be a great time to review some common nutrition myths. We will be going through several nutrition topics and diving in more to help all of you out there listening. In our Myth Busters series, we invited Abbie Spiwak, RDN, to chat about a common myth she hears in her Healthy Teaching Cooking class, and a few strategies to help combat it when you have a similar feeling.  

Myth:  Eating Healthy is just too Expensive.   

We know everyone thinks this from time to time. That’s why the VA Dietitians want to help sort things out, and come up with the best plan. In episode 49, we review three strategies to help make healthy eating changes and those can help us understand how to add some healthier food choices to our meals and snacks.

1.       Recipe Selection/Replacement: Look for recipes with similar ingredients to help build our weekly meal plan. Replace ingredients in recipes with alternative ingredients we already have available at home, instead of purchasing extra items you may end of wasting.

2.      Food Budgeting: Divide up our grocery store trips along with planning the food budget for the month. If grocery shopping twice a month, make sure we aren’t buying all fresh items on the first trip as they wont last all month.   

3.      Time Management: Look at the calendar. If we will not be home, don’t plan for an evening meal that takes extra time to prepare. Try a slow cooker meal for that evening. Or if you have an early appointment the next day try preparing Crustless Quiche Muffins to have on hand for a delicious grab and go breakfast on your way out the door. 

Check out HTK YouTube channel for more great recipe ideas! Contact your local VA Dietitian to help assist and guide to better prepare for success with reaching nutrition and lifestyle goals.   

Does searching for healthy food options feel like solving a puzzle to you? Ask a VA Dietitian! Our job is to help take the mystery out of good nutrition habits.   

Here at Fresh Focus, we want to make it as simple as possible for you to make the healthy choices you need to reach your nutrition and lifestyle goals.  Concepts, ideas and recipes from any and all episodes can be modified and tailored to your individual needs.   If you’re not sure where to start, take a listen to episodes 1-6 that will give you baseline on what should be filling up your plate and a strategy to focus on one healthy meal at time.  

Because the Fresh Focus team couldn’t pick just one episode to reflect on, we added rewind episode 48, highlighting episode 11 where Dietitian Lauren Hocking interviews Caitlin, a nursing mom of two for her advice. Breastfeeding can be an awesome bonding experience with your baby and provides baby with great nutrition. However, it is important to point out breastfeeding can also be overwhelming, frustrating, and bring up many questions for mamas and their support systems. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to a lactation consultant and dietitian in your area.  

Stay tuned for more episodes at Fresh Focus,  Please reach out to your local Registered Dietitian Nutritionist or Nutrition and Food Services Department to assist you in any nutrition needs or questions. 

Does searching for healthy food options feel like solving a puzzle to you? Ask a VA Dietitian! Our job is to help take the mystery out of good nutrition habits.   

Here at Fresh Focus, we want to make it as simple as possible for you to make the healthy choices you need to reach your nutrition and lifestyle goals.  Concepts, ideas and recipes from any and all episodes can be modified and tailored to your individual needs.   If you’re not sure where to start, take a listen to episodes 1-6 that will give you baseline on what should be filling up your plate and a strategy to focus on one healthy meal at time.  

Whether you are feeding a family of 6 or just yourself, take a listen to Beth Blair as she rewinds the series on National Nutrition Month and the Healthy Teaching Kitchen (HTK) program here at the VA in a fun rewind episode 47. 

A few benefits of participating in a HTK:
• Takes nutrition education and delivers it in a practical way.
• Encourages veterans to reconnect with the enjoyment of eating 
• Builds confidence to cook and make it a normal process of your day  

HTK program can jump start your journey of seeing how food can taste different when you pair with other foods and flavors and find fun ways to try something new that adds variety in a delicious way to your meal and snacks! You can also find recorded classes on YouTube, type in “VA Healthy Teaching Kitchen” and subscribe.

Stay tuned for more episodes at Fresh Focus,  Please reach out to your local Registered Dietitian Nutritionist or Nutrition and Food Services Department to assist you in any nutrition needs or questions. 

Did you know American Veterans experience higher prevalence of pain and more severe pain than non-Veterans? 

The good news is that no matter where you are in your health journey: just starting out, managing several chronic conditions, or somewhere in-between by making these diet changes you can really make a difference!  

The team at Fresh Focus, is highlighting the benefits of eating and following the anti-inflammatory nutrition plan in episode #46 that includes:

·         Managing and preventing chronic health conditions

Following an anti-inflammatory nutrition plan can help prevent and help improve symptoms of some of the most chronic health conditions such as Diabetes and Heart Disease! Nearly every chronic health condition has underlying inflammation. 

·         Managing chronic pain

We know so much more now about chronic pain that we did 10-20 years ago and have a much better understanding of lifestyle factors that affect pain. People are often skeptical that their food choices affect their pain but often become believers when they start feeling different when following the anti-inflammatory nutrition plan.

·         Ending complicated dieting

Healthy eating is not the same thing as dieting. Even though we are called “Dietitians” we don’t want our patients to diet. Following an anti-inflammatory nutrition plan is not the same as going on a diet. Diets are restrictive, unsustainable, and frustrating! Eating an anti-inflammatory nutrition plan is based on balancing meals with all the food groups, eating plenty of vegetables and other plant-based foods, and finding a meal plan that works for you. All preferences and health needs can fit into an anti-inflammatory nutrition plan. 

·         Reconnecting with your body 

When we start to pay more attention to how we are feeling and how food is making us feel we can start to notice others things as well. We might realize that stress triggers cravings for junk food or that worrying causes us to eat more or less. Identifying how our mental and emotional well-being effect our food choices is just as important as learning how food effect how we feel. It’s a two way street and one that we often ignore for far too long. 

Have you ever wondered what food has to do with inflammation? Listen in on Fresh Focus Dietitians with fellow Dietitian and Integrative and Functional Nutrition Certified Practitioner Nancy White to find out answers surrounding fighting inflammation with food.

Chronic inflammation causes our body to stop functioning in a healthy way. This can lead to the development of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Chronic inflammation can also worsen pain levels and have a negative impact on nearly every body system. 

What we eat has the power to reduce that inflammation with antioxidants, vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids, and other nutrients. Building an anti-inflammatory nutrition plan is simple when following the plate method. 

·         Fill up half of the plate with non-starchy vegetables such as leafy greens, Brussels sprouts and carrots, or red peppers.  Remember to include all the colors throughout the week in the vegetable category. You can add spinach and mushrooms to an omelet, grill peppers and onions on kabob sticks, or munch on carrots and celery as a snack.  Fruits are also anti-inflammatory foods. With fruit we want to keep our portions small at meals and snacks. Consider adding berries to oatmeal or yogurt, dipping apples in peanut butter for a snack, or enjoy frozen grapes after dinner. Be wary of fruit juice or smoothies with added sugars.

·         Fill up one-fourth of our plate with carbohydrate items such as sweet potatoes, quinoa or wild rice, or black beans will provide anti-inflammatory nutrients. Keep portion control in mind for your starchy foods but don’t avoid them completely.  

·         Fill up the other one-fourth of our plate with protein. Fatty fish such as salmon or sardines or plant-based proteins such as lentils or edamame are the best anti-inflammatory options. You can include smaller amounts of lean animal protein throughout the week as well. 

·         Don’t forget to include anti-inflammatory fats. Cooking with extra virgin olive oil is a great way to get started. Adding avocado to a variety of dishes such as sandwiches, burrito bowls, and soup is another way to increase healthy fats. Nuts and seeds make great snacks and toppings to salads or cereal. 

Following these anti-inflammatory nutrition tips can help you feel better and obtain health improvements. You can consider adding one new anti-inflammatory food a week to get started. Remember its about progress not perfection when it comes to eating healthy. 

Did you know that the human body is absolutely meant to move and that Movement, activity, and exercise, can all relate and to pain management? Let Fresh Focus get you started by having a discussion on ways to improve your functional independence and freedom. One way to begin is to identify ways to overcome any of your barriers and for most of us that includes reducing pain.    

Exercise can be an effective treatment for chronic pain!

Exercise and movement can help you to lose weight, which can lower inflammation and stress hormone release.  It can help decrease inflammation, increase mobility, improve joint health, slow arthritis progression, as well as decrease overall pain levels. It’s important to note that pain tolerance varies from person to person. Two people with the same injuries will perceive them very differently. That all has to do with the complex interconnections within our central nervous system, as well as various other things. But regardless of our starting point, we can still use exercise to calm the brain, and what it might potentially perceive as a threat. 

From what we know so far, cardiovascular activity and mobility exercise, such as Yoga and Tai Chi, seem to have the greatest effects, but any exercise you enjoy doing will be a great start and will provide a multitude of benefits. 

Keep in mind  you should start any activity/exercise routine with the mindset of safe, slow, and easy. Pace yourself. But don’t worry. You will be able to progress as you go.   

Exercise helps to balance neurotransmitters in the brain-Anytime we talk about effectively treating chronic pain we always want to talk about brain rewiring. Our brain is our computer. Exercise increases the production of those feel-good chemicals, such as those endorphins we always hear about. 

Pacing is the gradual return of functioning one step at a time.  This method of gradually exposing yourself to activity that requires finding a safe, comfortable starting point. Incorporate breaks, stretch, and rest. It’s all about time, effort, and persistence.

You can pace for any activity, anywhere from activities of daily living like grocery shopping, favorite hobbies like hiking, cycling, dancing,  or something like soccer.

Remember  you are not alone, research shows that 80% of adults feel chronic pain over their lifetime. By reducing and overcoming that barrier we can continue to live the life we want to live!

Tune into Fresh Focus episode #44 to find out more ways help pain and inflammation in the body and what lifestyle choices  you can make starting today to reclaim your life and your brain.

There are several lifestyle factors that can influence inflammation in our bodies and the great news is there is lot we can do to improve our health! 

Listen in on episode 43 of Fresh Focus  while Registered Dietitians dive in on lifestyle factors that can affect inflammation.

·         Smoking --If you smoke we recommend quitting to reduce inflammation. This includes vaping as well. Contact your local VA for assistance with quitting smoking. Additionally try to reduce your exposure to second hand smoke. You can have a no smoking in your home or care rule to help with this.

·         Stress- impacts inflammation. Finding ways to manage stress such as mindfulness, tai chi, yoga, or meditation is a great place to start. Even just taking a few deep breaths when we are feeling overwhelmed can help. Reach out to your VA if you have trouble managing your stress. 

·         Changing what is on your plate- For people with chronic health conditions they may also need to be aware of their own specific dietary needs. For example chronic kidney disease requires additional dietary changes. Individuals with digestive conditions may have to make additional changes as well. Anyone with a chronic health condition should meet with a registered dietitian for specific guidelines. 

·         Being inactive or what is often referred to as sedentary is also a contributing factor to worsening inflammation. Physical activity activates our “helper cells” to rebuild muscle tissue, strengthen our bones, and improve our daily function. The biggest tip for being more active is making activity fun! We want to enjoy moving our bodies. This may be difficult for those with chronic inflammation but it is not impossible. VA clinics across the nation have recreation therapy programs to help!

·         Sleep -Poor sleep prevents our body from the restorative processes that are important for keeping inflammation under control. Simple things such as not watching TV or using your cellphone in bed can make a big difference for sleep. Keep your room cool and dark, try implanting a bedtime relaxation routine, and don’t eat a big meal right before bed. If you struggle with insomnia the VA has programs that can help.

Don’t try to fix everything at once. Take one step at a time and reach out to your local VA for support, guidance, and assistance. Stay tuned to Fresh Focus for additional tips on reducing inflammation. 

Have you ever wondered if the food you are eating is causing you pain due to inflammation? If so, stick around and listen in on how nutrition and what we eat day to day can influence inflammation and could be causing an increase in your pain level.

Inflammation is the body’s protective response against injury, infection, stress, or foreign substances.  In episode 42 of Fresh Focus, Megan goes through some of the food items that could be causing an increase in inflammation. Food items that cause increase in inflammation include a diet full of highly processed foods, high sugary foods, or typical junk food, sometimes referred to as the Standard American Diet. 

Top 9 types of foods that are the big contributors of inflammation. 

1.       High-sugar foods

2.      High-fat foods

3.      Foods that promote bacterial overgrowth of the small bowel: This includes simple sugars and complex carbohydrates that are quickly digested.  Such as bakery items, juice, soda, and really any food item with added sugar. 

4.      Low fiber intake: Not eating enough fiber, can also cause inflammation. One of the purposes of fiber is to pull and remove toxins from the gastrointestinal tract. For your reference, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, rec0mmends 25 grams of fiber for women and 38 grams of fiber for men each day. 

5.      Insufficient phytonutrients: Not eating enough colorful fruits and vegetables. 

6.      Vitamin and mineral deficiencies:  Women should consume at least 1 ½ cups of fruit and 2 ½ cups of vegetables each day. Men should consume at least 2 cups of fruit and 3 ½ cups of vegetables each day. 

7.      Fatty acid imbalances: Not enough Omega-3 fatty acids and Omega-6 fatty acids, along with too much saturated fat and trans-fats from processed foods. 

8.     Insufficient exercise: Getting enough physical activity is effective in reducing adipose tissue and the amount of fat in your body.

9.      Tobacco use and excessive alcohol use: Can damage the body’s cells and trigger an immune response of inflammation. 

Keep in mind that you do not need to try out all of these suggestions at once. By knowing what causing inflammation that can help us with making diet changes to help with pain and overall health and wellness. Remember, small steps are better than not trying at all.  

Check out Fresh Focus episodes 1-6 for more meal planning information on creating your own healthy plate.  If you have questions regarding nutrition and inflammation, please contact your clinic Registered Dietitian Nutritionist to provide more guidance on anti-inflammatory meal planning. 

Have you ever thought that what is on your plate could make a difference in your level of pain?  Healthy food choices can improve your overall health,  help with weight management, give you more energy and even help reduce pain. The Fresh Focus team thought it was a perfect time to start discussions on the pain and nutrition connection in episode 41 as they interview a VA nurse who is very involved in facilitating a Pain Workshop.   

Understanding pain response is important. Successful pain management involves setting identified goals and a treatment plan that is agreed upon by patient and Provider. Physical pain is transmitted to the brain by stimulated nerves. When this happens the Pain Gate is open. Pain, whether acute or chronic, is multifaceted and can be modified and managed by using multifaceted approaches  such as physical, cognitive, and emotional interventions. For anyone experiencing pain this can be empowering to know and helpful in pain management.  

Whole Health means thinking about and approaching your health in a new way.  Looking at what really matters to you can help you live life to the fullest.  The VA has numerous resources that can help assist with pain management such as Physical Therapy, Behavior Medicine, Chiropractic, Meditation, Acupuncture, Whole Health, Tai Chi, Mindfulness, Nutrition and the MOVE! Weight management program can all be a part of your pain management.   

Nutrition and Food Services (NFS) develops and provides comprehensive evidenced based nutritional services for our Veterans and their families across VHA’s health care facilities. Regisstered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN) promote wellness and disease prevention by providing effective nutrition education and counseling.  RDN’s also work with you to help you modify what you are eating and drinking to improve your health.  In this series we want to focus on and look for more ways to eat to reduce inflammation.  

Please reach out to your primary care provider for information in your area for pain management resources.  And remember to contact your local VA Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and the VA Healthy Teaching Kitchen YouTube Channel for recipes and tips on planning your very own anti inflammatory plate to help reduce inflammation.