Kent State Interns

March is National Nutrition Month. Each year, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics chooses a focus for that year’s National Nutrition Month. This year, the focus is “Personalize Your Plate.” They created a week-by-week list of how to participate and work towards personalizing your plate. Week 1: Variety The focus during this first week is similar to MyPlate since the main point is to include foods from each food group. This week also focuses on hydration, enjoying food without distractions, and reading nutrition facts. Week 2: Plan Ahead This second week focuses on planning ahead to improve the nutritional content of your meals. While a big focus is to choose healthy meals for the week and create a grocery list to shop for those meals, this week also reminds you to plan ahead for traveling and make smart menu choices when eating out. Week 3: Learn New Cooking Skills The focus of the third week is to increase your skills in the kitchen. You can do this through trying new flavors, food...

One of the most popular images you’ll see this St. Patrick’s Day is a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. But where does this story come from? Legend says this tale began with a couple of poor Irish farmers who luckily discovered a leprechaun hanging around their garden. Once captured, this leprechaun offered a wish in exchange for his freedom. Unable to decide on a single wish, the farmers greedily asked for more and more until the leprechaun told them they could have it all if they found his pot of gold, hidden at the end of a rainbow.  While this fable offers a warning against relying on greed and luck for your fortune, we can apply the same tale towards good nutrition. You can’t expect to improve your health by luck alone; you must take action with healthy eating to find your own pot of gold. How can you do this? It’s easy! Just follow the rainbow:  Where Does Food Get Its Color?   From vibrant red tomatoes to bright yellow lemons, all plant foods receive their ...

What is Chlorophyll? It plays a role in giving plants there green color and allows them absorb light from the sun and convert it to energy. However, it is also full of many vitamins and minerals that are good for the body. Normally chlorophyll is consumed through eating vegetables but is minimally absorbed in this state. So, liquid chlorophyll has made its way to the supplement shelves where it can be consumed with water (chlorophyll water). A lot of people on social media have been raving about how good chlorophyll water is and all the benefits it has. So is it good for you to take the supplement or just a fad diet?  First lets look at the benefits and risks: Benefits: 1. Promotes the production of red blood cells. 2. It absorbs toxins 3. Acts as an internal deodorant:  bad breath, sweat, stools, urine, food odors (such as garlic) and menstrual odors. The deodorant effect is also shown for people that have a colostomy. 4.  Helps with digestion, important to note it ...

            You might have heard that nuts can be good for your health before, but do you know all of the benefits that they actually provide? I personally didn't know the specific health benefits that come from this small snack, I just ate them because I generally knew that they were pretty nutritious. If you're like me and don't know the specifics of this nutrient packed food, then I am here to break it down for you. 1.  First and foremost, nuts are a great source of a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. Some of the nutrients included are Selenium, Manganese, and Vitamin E.  2. This snack is low in carbohydrates and packed with healthy fats. Nuts also provide protein and fiber. 3. Nuts contain a lot of antioxidants, which can help repair cells and decrease the risk of many diseases.  4. They might have an effect on decreasing cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Some nuts have been found to raise HDL and lower LDL levels. ...

  St. Patrick’s Day Veggies  With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, what better way to celebrate than with Veggies! There are many ways to make the in season green veggies. A few of my favorites that are in season are Collard Greens, Kale, Brussel Sprouts, and Broccoli.     Here are some benefits to each!    Kale:  Just  one cup of kale contains the daily recommended intake for vitamins A, C and K. It is also rich in B vitamins, calcium, copper, manganese, potassium and magnesium .    It is also loaded with flavonoid antioxidants like quercetin and kaempferol that have powerful anti-inflammatory effects.    Collard Greens:  They are high in Calcium and Vitamin K. Those both play a big role in bone health. The reason that collard greens are so bitter, is because they have so much calcium in them. One cup of cooked collard greens has 27% of the recommended intake of Calcium.    Brussel Sprouts:  they a...

  February: American Heart Month! The perfect time to start focusing on heart health Your heart is your most vital organ. Every single day, your heart beats more than 100,000 times and pumps over 2,000 gallons of blood! With very important duties, your heart could always benefit from a little TLC! There are four lifestyle behaviors that, if practiced, could significantly reduce your risk of developing heart complications or diseases. 1) Nutrition Consuming heart-healthy meals has been proven many times to assist in avoiding or reversing heart disease. This is because many heart-healthy meals help manage or prevent high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and other risk factors. How are high BP, high cholesterol and obesity relevant to heart heath? High blood pressure occurs when the force of your blood pushing against vessel walls is too high. High blood pressure causes harm by creating more work for the heart and blood vessels. Over time, the delicate tissues in arteries wi...

  The sloppy joe is a classic, American sandwich. Made simply with ground beef and tomato sauce, this dish has been enjoyed for decades by adults and kids alike. Many believe it received its name in the 1930s when an Iowan chef by the name of Joe added tomato sauce to the previously popular “loose meat” sandwiches. Since then, the sloppy joe has become a staple meal in most households.  A few years ago, while volunteering at a wellness program through MetroHealth hospitals, I discovered an inventive, healthy twist on this sandwich – swapping ground beef for lentils! This twist is genius for two reasons; it keeps the cost down and improves the nutritional value exponentially.  Just as ground beef is an inexpensive ingredient, lentils (when purchased dry and in bulk) are relatively cheap and easy to prepare. Also, swapping the beef for lentils adds fiber to a once fiber-less sandwich filling. On average, a half-cup serving of lentils adds 4 grams of fiber and 12 grams o...

  Sure, there are plenty of doctors who specialize in the human heart. These men and women have spent the better part of a decade (or more) earning the coveted title of ‘cardiologist’, mastering their craft and performing feats of unimaginable skill. They have the power to quite literally mold and manipulate the heart to keep beating, tinkering with the various valves and components with adept precision. There is no other segment of the population that knows more about the human heart than cardiologists. That notion, however, is not entirely true. You see, there is someone who has thousands of years of knowledge and experience with the human heart. This mystery figure has one-upped modern day cardiologists many times over, and boasts a success list long enough to be unfurled from the summit of mount Everest to its base camp 29,000 feet below. The person of whom I speak is none other than Cupid, the famed legend who has more knowledge of the heart than anyone who has ever lived. ...

Daylight savings can throw everyone off, especially when it comes to routines we are used to sticking too. Our diet and health start to get affected, and not in a good way. However, what we can do to prevent a decline in our diet and health is to be educated on what happens and what you can do to help.     Appetite: Although it is only a difference by one hour, you eating habits can become greatly affected. Your body has become used to the fact that you eat meals at a certain time in day (e.g. lunch at 12:30), therefore with the time change you may notice yourself getting hungrier than normal. It is shown that people tend to consume more  saturated fat during the winter months than in the summer.  Recommendation: Consider meal prepping in order to prevent unhealthy snacking on high saturated fat foods. What is also recommended is slowly changing the time in which you would eat certain meals, this way you won't be starving you body for longer than it would ...

      The winter months bring cold, dryness, cloudiness, and illness. Not only this, but the winters in NE Ohio can be brutal with the fluctuation of weather. If you're like me, staying in, cozied up on the couch, eating comfort foods sounds better than going out in the cold or preparing more balanced/healthy meals. The lack of motivation comes much easier in the winter because of how icky it is outside. And this ultimately leads to our body not getting the proper nutrients it needs to stay healthy.      A few of these key nutrients that we need to fight off illness, are Vitamins C and D, and Zinc. If you're not eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, then you are probably not getting the amount of Vitamin C that your body needs. Vitamin D normally lacks in the winter months, because of how bundled up we are going out in the cold and how low the sun sits in the sky, causing the body to not produce the amount needed.      It's best to...