Kent State Interns

            Happy New Year!  It’s 2019 and many people take up New Year’s resolutions.  If you have ever started a resolution full-speed ahead the first two weeks of January, then lost momentum and quit by February, you’re not alone! It happens to all of us, even with the best intentions. This especially happens when people want to improve their eating habits.  In this post, I will give some strategies to create healthy eating habits that last all year long! Don’t expect a complete change overnight.             The most common reason diets (and many other New Year’s resolutions) fail so quickly, is that once you ‘cheat’ or ‘miss a day,’ it’s all over.   People aren’t perfect, and there is no perfect way to eat either!   First, set small, realistic goals for yourself.   If you meet them, add an extra element to the goal, or take it a step further.   If yo...

We are right in the middle of national handwashing awareness week! But why is this important for nutrition? Food safety is an important component of nutrition and health. Without it, our nutritious foods could make us sick. Food safety includes good personal hygiene, correct temperature of the food, preventing cross contamination, and many other safe practices for preparing food. Handwashing is one of the cheapest and easiest food safety practices you can follow. Some food-related illnesses are spread by not washing hands correctly. You need soap and clean water to properly wash hands. If soap and water are not available, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer is the next best thing! Sanitizer is not as effective as soap and water, but it is better than nothing. There are five steps to proper handwashing: W et hands first before applying soap L ather soap on the front and back of your hands and underneath your nails S crub for at least 20 seconds (you can recite the ...

VEGGIES Do you have trouble getting a lot of veggies in your diet on the daily? One of my ABSOLUTE favorite snacks is carrots or celery with veggie dip. Normally it is made with sour cream and ranch seasoning powder but to make it healthier and more beneficial I use plain yogurt as the base and then I add ranch seasoning to it! It is so delicious. This is a great snack to have between meals and it is very filling and satisfying. You get an easy serving of veggies in your day without even thinking twice about it… Vegetables are very important, and the daily intake depends on your age, sex, and activity level! According to my age, sex, and activity level, I need 2 and a half cups of veggies everyday in my diet. Having this simple, easy, and healthy dip with veggies helps me reach my total intake for veggies!! AM https://www.choosemyplate.gov/vegetables

Choose Oatmeal Raisin Cookies! Ingredients: -3 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats -1 cup all-purpose flour -2 tablespoons all-purpose flour -1/2 cup toasted wheat germ -1 teaspoon baking soda -1 teaspoon baking powder -1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon -1/2 teaspoon coarse salt -1 cup unsalted butter, softened -1 cup granulated sugar -1 cup packed light-brown sugar -2 large eggs -1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract -1 and a half cup of raisins YUMMY!! Who doesn’t love cookies? Why not eat some with nutritional benefits! This is an amazing oatmeal raisin recipe that you can use to bake over the holiday’s! The oven gets set to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, you start out throwing the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, wheat germ, baking soda, butter, and sugar. Once these are all thrown in you mix them all together until pale. Then you mix in the eggs and vanilla and mix slowly. Mix in the raisins and oat mixture! Grab about one and a half inches of dough ...

With all of the diets in the world today, I believe we tend to overthink the entire concept of eating. We want to follow an extreme diet that’s going to lead to instant results on the scale. When we eat something we consider “unhealthy” it is coined with terms like “cheat meal”. When we put our food into categories of “good” and “bad”, this can adopt unhealthy eating patterns leading to fear of certain foods. We shouldn’t be afraid to eat something. One meal is not going to change the course of our health and weight. We have forgotten the concept of moderation. Why can’t we eat a meal and actually enjoy it? We are human. We are not perfect. And it sure isn’t possible to follow an extremely strict diet 24/7 for the rest of our lives. Eating in moderation is key – everything fits in a moderate amount. When we avoid the foods that we want, we face the possibility of over-restriction, which can lead to an episode of overconsumption down the road....

The Blue Zones      The Blue Zones are five places throughout the world where individuals live the longest and are the healthiest. These five geographical places include: Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece, and Loma Linda, California. For example, females over 70 years of age in Okinawa are the longest-lived population in the world. And the group in Loma Linda, California, known as the Seventh Day Adventists, live about 10 years longer than the rest of the North American population. These groups were discovered by Dan Buettner, a National Geographic Fellow. So why is this important? There are many lessons that we can learn from the lifestyle of these five areas, and nutrition is a key aspect. A team of professionals including anthropologists, medical researchers, demographers, and epidemiologists were used to find the common denominators among these places. One important denominato...

Be a PRO at substituting Protein is so important in our daily nutrient intake. It comes from many different sources. Sometimes if I don’t feel like consuming meat or poultry, I must find my intake from other sources. I gravitate more towards the nuts, quinoa, chickpeas, or beans as my alternative sources. If I am eating any kinds of nuts, I usually eat them as a snack. When I choose quinoa, I enjoy it with some veggies for a meal. I eat carrots with hummus to get my chickpea intake. Finally, if I go for the beans, I will cook a Mexican rice bowl for dinner to get my intake that way. These alternative sources provide a good amount of protein if you can’t get the meat or poultry in your diet. These alternatives are just my favorite there are some other ones I did not include. Nuts- Nut butters without salt or sugars and regular nuts that are unsalted as well. Quinoa- This is a great source of protein! It is prepared just like rice … VERY simple! Greek yogurt- This brand...