Kent State Interns

In the February issue of Today’s Dietitian, Jessica Jones, MS, RD gave 9 helpful tips for clients with celiac disease who are looking for budget-friendly, gluten-free options. According to Jones, celiac disease and nonceliac gluten sensitivity now affect 3 million Americans, with gluten-free product sales expected to reach $5 billion by the year 2015. However, the gluten-free aisle of the grocery store may not always be the place to search for the best deals. Here are some tips, courtesy of Jones, to making a gluten-free lifestyle easier on patients’ budgets: ·          Choose naturally gluten-free foods – fruits and veggies, nuts, beans, and eggs are all examples of foods that are naturally free of gluten ·          Don an apron – it is cheaper for clients to make their own gluten-free foods, such as cookies, than to purchase them at the grocery store ·        ...

Orthorexia is a fairly new eating disorder that has recently been getting more attention in the media. This disorder affects people who fear eating anything not pure enough for what they perceive as “healthful.” Someone with orthorexia is so consumed with eating a healthy diet that is completely “clean,” that their food choices become very limited. Trying to only eat foods they think are healthy or pure causes them stress and anxiety. Those with orthorexia may also make up lies about having allergies in order to fend off questions from others when people ask about why they are avoiding certain foods. At first many people with orthorexia start cutting out processed foods or they only eat organic, but then they keep increasing the types of foods they want to cut out and their diet becomes very limited. Even though it may good to cut out certain foods like processed foods, those with orthorexia take things too far, and their health may be compromised. Malnutrition and brittle bones a...

The leading cause of preventable death in the United States is cigarette smoking, accounting for one in five deaths annually.   Smokers are aware the health dangers of smoking, however there are two major barriers to successfully quitting.   First is the addition to nicotine, and second is the fear of gaining weight.    People who successfully quit smoking gained 2.5 lbs one month after quitting, 5 lbs at 2 months, and gained up to 10.3 lbs at one year.   Weight gain has lead people to resume smoking despite the health benefits of quitting.   The attempt to limit weight gain contributed to their limited the success of smoking cessation. Personalized weight management programs that incorporate goals and personalized energy prescriptions may significantly reduce weight gain while continuing to not smoke.   Dietetics professionals should be part of the team approach in clinical setting to facilitate behavior changes in smoker...

           Some leading hospitals are turning to tablets (iPads and iPad-like devices) as a way to improve access to patient health records for providers. These devices are seen as a way to make greater use of an electronic medical record’s (EMR) capabilities. Hospitals are piloting the use of tablets with a few sectors of its workforce. Clinicians can use tablets to look up patient information on their way to a patient who is crashing and better know how to treat the patient upon arriving. Other hospital staff can use tablets on their rounds and data that is entered is synced with the hospital’s full EMR.             Hospitals are turning to mobile devices as a cost-effective extension of the EMRs, which make them more usable and friendly. This allows clinicians and other hospital staff to pay more attention to their patients and make more eye contact with the patients. ...

            Scientists have found diseases like bulimia and binge eating disorder place people at risk for diabetes and previous research has shown that depression is also a risk factor for diabetes. A study surveyed 52,000 people in their homes in 19 different countries including Brazil, China, South America, and the U.S and administered standardized psychiatric tests. The results showed that individuals with diabetes were more likely to have depression, bulimia, binge-eating disorder, and a lesser known illness called intermittent explosive disorder.             There were 2,580 adults of those surveyed that reported having adult-onset type II diabetes. Researchers only included participants whose diabetes began after age 21 and the average age the illness began was around age 50. Of the participants with diabetes, 11% had major depression, 4% had either bulimia, binge-e...

New research published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine and featured in TIME Magazine has found simply following a Mediterranean diet may be enough to prevent Type 2 diabetes. The Mediterranean diet, a diet focused on consuming fish, nuts, whole grains, olive oil, and minimal red meats, is often a recommended way of eating for everyone. The 4 year study, which did not focus on physical activity or calorie restrictions, studied the effect a Mediterranean diet had on 3500 elderly adults at risk for heart disease. They did not have diabetes. The participants were assigned to one of three diet groups: Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra virgin olive oil group, Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts group, and low fat diet control group. (Sifferlin, 2014) Researchers found that of the 3500 participants, 273 developed diabetes with 101 being participants of the low fat diet control group. Of the Mediterranean diet supplemented with nuts group, 92 participants develop...