Kent State Interns

Did you know that October is National Eat Better, Eat Together Month? I know I didn’t! My mom always made it a point that we needed to eat as a family, and there were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. In fact, I looked forward to eating at the dinner table with my family. Growing up with three older brothers made dinner quite entertaining every day! Little did I know, before going to school for nutrition, that eating together has so many more benefits than just entertainment. The Benefits of Eating Together Well-Balanced Meals Children are more likely to eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains when they regularly eat with their families. Having exposure to different foods gives children the opportunity to try and learn to like new foods that are beneficial to their health. When we model healthy eating behaviors at the dinner table, children are more likely to carry those habits with them as they grow older. My mom always prepared two vegetables for us so we could choose which one we wa...

Nothing screams "fall" quite like a cozy baked good, especially when it's pumpkin!  Everyone knows pumpkin is delicious, but did you know that it's also incredibly nutritious? These are some of the nutrients you can get from eating pumpkin, along with their health benefits:  Vitamin E: An antioxidant that strengthens your immune system.  Iron: Reduces fatigue by aiding in the transport of oxygen to your body tissues. It can also support the immune system! Magnesium: Helps to maintain cardiovascular health and bone health.  Vitamin C: An antioxidant that supports immune health and also helps collagen formation (think strong skin, bones, and other connective tissues) and iron absorption.  Potassium: Helps maintain healthy blood pressure, allows muscles to contract, and aids in overall fluid balance in the body.  Carotenoids, tocopherols: Antioxidant effects, which reduce the risk of diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. This nutrient also promot...

Happy Fall! If you’re anything like me, once the weather gets colder and the leaves start turning colors, I immediately yearn for apple picking. Not only is it a great Fall activity, but you also have apples for months! The apples in the grocery stores are picked months before they hit the shelves and are always covered in a waxy coating. The wax coating is used to prevent rotting and lock in the moisture, so it definitely serves a purpose. There’s just nothing compared to a fresh picked apple. Whenever I go apple picking, I always pick way too many. I don’t know if it’s the sheer excitement over the apples, or if I just have a bunch of dessert ideas for them. Either way, my apple picking bags are filled to the brim. A great tip for apple picking is to ensure the apple stem is still on the apple after it is picked. When the stem comes out, it can rot way faster! If you put your apples in the fridge, it will also assure they stay fresh longer than if they’re just resting on the counter....

The leaves are falling, the temperature is dropping, and the urge to bake a cozy late-night treat is stronger than ever. When I think of Fall, I immediately conjure up dozens of ideas for a homemade treat: apple crisp, banana bread, pumpkin cookies. Anything with a touch of apple, pumpkin, or anything cinnamon is usually a win for me. With a sweet treat of course comes sugar. During the colder months, many individuals worry about sugar consumption and weight gain due to the amount of busy holidays lined up, since these holidays usually bring large social meals, and of course, a hoard of delicious desserts.  Some individuals try to cut down their sugar consumption by replacing real sugar with lower calorie or non-nutritive sweeteners, such as aspartame, sucralose, or saccharin. These low-calorie sweeteners have become some of the most common food additives in regular and functional products. The use of these sweeteners seems to be at an all-time high with around 140 million American...

  Unleash your inner squirrel  The start of October marks the season where our nutty friends start to bury nuts for the winter. Us as humans have a little bit of a different approach to how we can incorporate nuts and seeds into our October meals! Seeds from pumpkin, squash, and sunflower seeds can all be good for adding texture, nutrients, and fun to whatever you make. Some nuts that are also popular during this season include hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, and pistachios.  It can be as easy as roasted pumpkin seeds or adding them to a baked good or salad. Whatever it is, they are filled with many different essential micronutrients and even phytochemicals to contribute to antioxidant effects. They carry fiber, essential fatty acids, and even small amounts of protein. The nutritional value of pumpkin seeds sometimes goes unseen. You can even roast pumpkin seeds with sweet ingredients like brown sugar and cinnamon, but here is a hardy recipe with a wide variety of nuts and p...

  We need our own  Florence Nightingale !   Florence Nightingale  or “The Mother of Nursing” long story short a wealthy English woman who chose to pursue nursing as a religious and personal calling, walking around with a lamp, caring for wounded soldiers, lamp in hand during the Crimean War.  If you ask any nursing student or nurse well ever “who created nursing” they will tell you good old Florence Nightingale . Note: Florence Nightingale is also cited by some historians as the first pioneer of dietetics due to her revolutionary use of proper food and sanitation to nurse soldiers back to health during the Crimean War in the 1850s, though Rorer established the formal profession and title in the U.S. (But honestly, she has nursing so she can lay off the RDN train because we have someone wayyyy better). But when you ask who the mother of Dietetics is? Crickets! Because she has been forgotten to the historical dark pages, tucked away in a book no one reads. Well. T...