Nutrition for the real person.

     I am going to start a blogging. To be honest I don't even really know what I am doing yet, but I will figure out this whole blogging thing as I go along. I want to educate and promote health and nutrition for the real person. You know the busy mom, the too tired to cook when you get home from work person, the I just got off a 48 hour shift at the fire house, and the I spent all night cramming for finals and I'm just beat person.

     I want share with people that you can have healthy meals that are quick and easy to prepare and won't break your budget. To quote Iggy Azalea "I am a realist". I eat chocolate, I drink wine, and I'd kill for cheese. However, I also work hard to stay fit and I maintain a "mostly" healthy diet. I am promoting lifestyle changes that are not riddled with hours at the gym or pages of foods that are off limits. It's all about moderation, portion control, and evening walks with the kiddo and the dog. So please check back here for posts and inspirations about good food, recipes, real people friendly exercise ideas and anything else I find amusing.

 www.nutritionevolution.info

Diabetes Education to Prevent an American Epidemic

My name is Loriann North and I am enrolled at Boston University Masters in Health Communication and Nutrition program in the hopes of continuing my progress towards my ultimate goal as a preventive care educator for diabetes. I hope to gain the skills necessary to educate and promote preventative health awareness to individuals in the hopes of staving off many of the chronic conditions associated with diabetes and other diseases that can be impacted by proactive nutrition. 

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity in America is an epidemic. One in 3 adults in America is overweight or obese and obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, are some of the leading causes of preventable death.  These numbers will continue to rise exponentially unless something is done to curb this cultural phenomena. The majority of the chronic conditions associated with diabetes and many other illnesses can be managed or even avoided entirely by preventative health care and nutrition education. I have almost 10 years of experience in the EMS and acute health care field. On the ambulance everyday my partner and are called in emergent situations to the homes of people who are not managing their chronic health conditions. We routinely attend to the same individual in acute exacerbation brought on by complete disregard for their health and safety. Or perhaps it is not complete disregard, but rather lack of education and skills necessary to make decisions that would alleviate or ease these episodes?

Clearly there is a gap in the healthcare system. These individuals require adequate information on nutrition and how it could help or hinder their disease process, and I feel like there is a overall naivety of the power that proper nutrition can have on overall health of an individual. Our nation needs to be promoting nutrition education, continuing to support a cultural shift towards garden based nutrition programs, and fund small farmers to increase farm to table programs. Help stop the obesity epidemic in American and help nourish our society through nutrition education, activity promotion, and support of people passionate enough to make this cultural shift happen.

www.nutritionevolution.info

James "Rhio" O'Connor Memorial Scholarship Essay

The Power of Nutrition to Fight Cancer

By utilizing proper nutrition and a plant based diet, it may be possible reduce the risk of many cancers and retard cancer recurrences. James “Rhio" O’Connor was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer that is typically considered incurable. You can learn more about mesothelioma by visiting the Cancer Monthly’s authoritative mesothelioma survivors website at www.survivingmesothelioma.com. Rhio did not believe in giving up, or relying on orthodox methods for treatment of his cancer alone. He opened his heart and his mind to all that the universe had to offer. Incorporating a holistic approach and alternative methods into his treatment regime, he found a way to think outside the box. This included using food as medicine, incorporating positive thought, and embracing spirituality. As a result Rhio outlived his prognosis by more than six years. 

What the plight of Rhio has taught us is that the human body and spirt are amazing and capable of much more than we understand. When given a diagnosis of a terminal cancer the first reaction of most patients would be to ask their physician what treatments are available. This is a good start, but by neglecting to consider “alternative therapies” you are only giving yourself half a chance. Anything that a person puts in their mouth has an affect on every cell in their body. This refers to of course the medications prescribed by your MD, but also herbs, vitamins, minerals, and food choices that we make. 

Scientists have discovered thousands of healthy compounds in foods called antioxidants and phytochemicals that help our bodies fight diseases, including cancer. Plant foods are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and hundreds of other naturally occurring plant chemicals which can protect the cells of the human body from becoming damaged by free radicals and even help repair them.1 A diet rich in fruits and vegetables from all colors of the rainbow is essential to ensure that the largest variety of cancer fighting antioxidants are absorbed. For the best possible results it is important to maintain a diet low in fat and include lots of whole foods such as nuts, beans, lentils, whole grains, fruits and vegetables in their unprocessed form. Rhio himself was an example of the power of a plant based diet and its ability to improve the quality of life in individuals with cancer.

Until relatively recently in modern history, home remedies and medicinal medicine were the norm in our american culture. People didn't necessarily have the ability, or funds to receive traditional or standard medical treatment. They relied on alternative or holistic treatments because that was all that they had available to them. Eastern medicine still utilizes many holistic and medicinal techniques as a part of their normal treatment plan. There is a great deal of evidence that alternative or medicinal medical practices do in fact have an effect on cancer cells. For example, The American Cancer Society posted on their own website that supporters of cannabis “claim that marijuana has anti-bacterial properties, inhibits tumor growth, and enlarges the airways”.2

There is also a statement regarding an online study conducted in 2014  where reports allegedly suggested that medicinal marijuana can cure cancer. However, the American Cancer Society posted a disclaimer that this study was largely unsupportable. I believe this is evidence enough that people have experienced positive reactions to this form of therapy, that it was deemed worthy of posting on the societies webpage. I think that ultimately with a terminal diagnosis a patient needs to explore any and all treatment options that they feel comfortable with. 

An individual who is told that they have an incurable or life ending prognosis would likely be willing to do or try anything to change the outcome. If put in the same situation, I would want to exhaust all treatment options, and approval by the FDA would be irrelevant to me because if there was a chance any treatment modality would work, I would want to try it. It is my personal belief that there is relevancy to many of the the proposed alternative therapies and their efficacy. This essay is written for the James "Rhio" O'Connor Memorial Scholarship application, to help raise awareness for the deadly cancer mesothelioma, and promote the power of alternative cancer therapies such as cancer fighting nutrition and optimism of thought.

 1 Food is Medicine. Modified from the American Cancer Society Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer Survivors. (2012) & ACS Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention.(2011). Kaiser Permanente.Thrive Class Handout(2013).Acquired from personal attendance of class on 2/3/15.

2 Marijuana. The American Cancer Society.(2014) Accessed from The American Cancer Society website On 2/15/14