May I Health You?

Me mentor

DiAL

I defended my thesis today and feel unstopable! 

Tricks of the trade

In anticipation of farmers market season, I highly recommend this technique:

“Before you leave home for a farmers market, put out all the bowls, colanders, cutting boards and salad spinners you’ll need to wash and prep your purchases for use. Once you return home, put on some good music and have yourself a produce prepping party. You’re much more likely to use the produce if it’s prepped to eat and cook.” [1]

I sometimes do the same with items from my monthly grocery loot. If I won’t be able to eat something in time, freezing is the best medicine to stop enzyme activity and delay ripening!

[1] http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/food/sc-food-0504-farmers-markets-20120509,0,3229663.story

HS Snack

Next time you need study break to refuel, eat these num nums:

1 Medium Gala apple

1/2 oz raw walnuts (7-10 pc or palm full)

Low fat or skim milk  

Brain food. Walnuts have antioxidants, 10 different types actually. These are the substances that protect your body from chronic diseases of aging.   

So simple, but more so, simply healthy and delicious! I like experimenting with textures come snack time. Plus, you’re doing yourself a favor, walnuts have omega-3 polyunsaturated fat that is essential to the body. I wash it all down with a gulp of cold milk straight from the milk carton. Not recommended if a member of your household is immune compromised or a germ-a-phobe. Other snacks that may make your chompers happy:

-Frozen fruit [rinse, peel/slice/dice/cube any fruit, spread out in one layer on a cookie sheet, freeze overnight, then transfer to ziplock. Or not, I like to have a tray of frozen fruit in my freezer, it looks classy]  

-Hummus and crackers and salsa [and/or cheese] 

-Old fashioned bowl of cereal

-Ramen noodles [SANS Sodium, mono-sodium glutamate packet ENTER: my own creation and more on that later]

-Peanut butter or almond butter with anything!

A sangwich for snacking My sangwiches (or sangies) alway have at least one veggie topping..sometimes 5+

Shot of wheatgrass?  Included in things I support for snacking purposes any time, any day. Naturally, I prefer freshly ground juice of fresh cut wheat grass like I found at Lincoln Park Farmers Market last summer. 

Healthcare Reform Storm

This quarter, I’m taking Healthcare in America. Although I am actively pursuing a career in the healthcare arts, there wasn’t a moment until now that I should think twice about this mess. It’s making me think more than twice to figure it all out and I’m not even close. We have to post on this class discussion board every week. This week: What’s good and what’s bad about the healthcare reform?  

From the brain of Cristina:

It’s sad when I think about how money is the centerpiece of this issue. There is such  a huge spectrum of wealth in this country it’s bizarre to think someone is struggling to take care of their medical issues while others live with the comfort of healthcare. It makes me start to wonder where the responsibility lies for taking care of those in need. Everyone is primarily responsible for their personal health, which is achieved by making healthy choices and taking care of yourself. Alternatively, we know that many Americans are uninsured and/or are struggling to take care of their medical issues due to cost of health care. Should we be taking care of each other (and/or are we able) or should health care system be handed over to the government? 

Either way, everyone should at minimum, be afforded a comfortable and healthy life and taken care of when in need. There has to be a way for this to be made possible. Maybe the healthcare reform should emphasize a shared responsibility among all Americans to make it happen. Individuals doing their best to live healthfully, health care providers striving to provide the best care, increased focus on prevention and more efficient health care. Sharing the responsibility to improve the health of our country involves a lot of give and some take. Perhaps if we start to adopt a greater willingness to give a little more, there would be less of a need for the government to step in (as I sense there is a lot of resistance to plans for government involvement in plans for reform). 

Really, this is all very complicated to me and I’m not sure if my post makes sense or is even a complete thought. In my naive mind, I can easily envision a solution to this problem where peace, love, happiness and health is realized and we’re all living the American Dream. Then my utopian dreamland becomes shadowed by the clouds of a financial/economic storm rolling in and washing it all away. 

It’s almost pathetic that we actually put a price tag on human health. When will we start taking care of ourselves and each other in a way that is not contingent on monetary arrangements? I believe we can find a way and move in the direction of my idyllic stormless utopia, where we set fundamental human health as the face value of our healthcare system.

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Maybe I’m a dreamer…or just naive?

Diabetes Summer Camp!

One week on beautiful Fish Lake at YMCA Camp Duncan for American Diabetes Association sponsored Teen Adventure Camp? That’s what I call an awesome opportunity, which also fulfills part of the Rush dietetic internship community requirements. My classmate Taylor and I accompanied Dr. Kathy Keim who is the head Registered Dietitian at this week-long overnight camp. Not only did this trip allow us to get out of the city and into nature, but was also complimented by an incredible, hands on learning experience. Volunteers from renowned university hospitals and medical centers in the Chicagoland area including RDs, RNs, pediatric fellows and residents, pediatric endocrinologists and an awesome attending, Dr. George made up the camp medical staff. As a dietetic intern, I had foodservice responsibilities including preparing gluten free meals and snacks for the children with celiac. Taylor and I spent an hour with the campers on diabetes education playing a dodgeball game we created that encourages campers to to identify carbohydrate-containing foods and servings sizes. We rounded with medstaff at the end of each day to review each campers blood glucose trends based on bolus insulin doses and basal insulin settings. Each camper was like an individual case study where we had to tailor their treatment based on eating habits and insulin:carbohydrate ratios, insulin sensitivity and basal needs determined by response to fasting.

Perhaps the most substantial learning experience was wearing an insulin pump for 24 hours. The camp health coordinator, Kathy who is a RN and CDE was so kind to provide me with the opportunity to do so. This was something important to me in order to a little more closely understand what someone with diabetes deals with each day. The site was placed on my right hip that is connected to a tube, which runs up to the pump where the insulin (saline) vile is stored. Kathy showed me how to work the pump for a bolus dose and the various basal settings. The Medtronic pump is very easy to use and understand, it’s the size of a pager and works sort of like an ipod! Kathy placed the site with a device that is spring-loaded and shoots the cannula into the skin. At first, I felt a little unusual with it in my side and it was constantly on my mind as we sat and she taught me about the pump settings.  We spent about 5 minutes entering 4 different basal doses over 24 hours, my insulin:carb ratio, insulin-glucose sensitivity and how to use the bolus wizard. I was glad to be sitting, otherwise I may have been a little weary to stand. For some reason, it was mentally heavy, the thought of having the cannula in my side, attached to the pump. I am absolutely certain I would have been a great deal more distressed if it were actually insulin and having to cope with the thought of receiving medicine. After about 15 minutes, I left the medical center and went to the morning activity. Taylor was teaching pliates at the lodge! Jumping right into an activity was great, because just 10 minutes later, I had already forgotten that I was wearing the pump!

Check me out!

Throughout the day, I was significantly more conscious of what I was eating. Some foods were no longer just a snack or meal, but carbohydrates that had to be seriously taken into consideration. Before snacks and meals, I checked my blood glucose. I practiced planning my snacks and meals ahead of time based on my glucose readings and bolus dosing for the carbs I planned to eat. I realized it is very difficult to anticipate how much you actually consume in a mealtime.

It is becoming clearer how this illness is so perpetually challenging. All day, every time you want to do something that feels so natural, you have to be so much more aware of it and do something that seems less natural to you. However, I am so glad that I got a chance to have a day in the life of these children. They are going through so much and I am so happy that this is an option for them to maker their lives a little bit easier.      

I felt proud to be a part of the team of physicians, endocrinologists, registered nurses, diabetes educators and dietitians volunteering at camp. I hope that the kids know that we care so much about helping them live a childhood uninhibited by diabetes. I want them to be confident that diabetes is an illness they will never have to fight alone.

Rush University

It is almost hard to believe I got matched with my number one choice, let alone matched at all! The application process was very intense, stressful and challenging. It took a lot to dig deep within myself to find a way to describe my strengths and project myself as a desirable applicant. It took a lot of reflection and self critique. I couldn’t have done it without the help of many influential people I have had the pleasure of forming meaningful relationships with at Miami. I’ll never forget checking and re-checking each application packet and finally sealing each envelope. Then helping the UPS clerk type in the mailing information to the computers for 8 schools. Afterward, RUNNING down spring street back to New England Square apartments and Kim telling me she saw me sprinting up the street because I was DONE! Then..the waiting game..

Match day is one that will go down in the history of my life. Thank goodness I had my sister there with me, otherwise I may have threw up and died. I signed into D&D Digital at the very last minute and clicked on the match results tab. At first glance, all I saw was “Linda Lafferty,” that name already carried so much significance and now it meant more than anything. I almost didn’t believe it at first and had to re-read the webpage to be sure it was true, I was matched with Rush University Dietetic Internship. What an amazing feeling, all my hard work had paid off and now I have an even greater opportunity to become the professional I strive to be!

I have so much respect for the program that I get to take part in, the hospital in which I will work and especially the professionals who I will have the honor to work with. To live in Chicago throughout this experience and be close to my family is also such a delight! I will certainly be taking full advantage of all the learning opportunities and experiences this program will provide. I am ready to work hard and submerge myself in the incredible atmosphere created by the staff and interns in the program. I am committed to self improvement and developing myself as a professional and expert in the field of dietetics. I highly anticipate the challenges to come and am ready to push myself as a student and intern.

FNCE: Sunday Funday!

By the time Sunday rolled around, I was ready for some real FNCE action and I got nothing but just that! Yet another beaaaaaaaaautiful morning greeted RDs and ADA members alike at the Colorado Convention Center. First destination was the marketplace. Around 50 booths offered literature, programs, pamphlets, teaching and counseling tools on every thinkable aspect of nutrition. This alone was incredible and exciting! Then came the expo and along with that—Freebies! And freebies I did get. Recyclable bags, pens, pamphlets, recipe ideas were among a few of the give aways. Some were more unconventional than others such as a package of tortilla shells (literally!), bags of chips, baguettes, meat thermometers, measuring cups, subway sandwiches, baked potatoes, pasta, crackers, Gatorade….the list is forever long, and these people were willing to hand you anything!! I got an embarrassing load of items that I am not fully sure what I will end up doing with them all. However, I couldn’t help but be astonished and amazed at the mass of vendors that filled the huge expo center! And all for ADA…sigh…isn’t it lovely. Not to mention probably the most exciting part yet…I got to see Ellie Kreger RD, from the FoodNetwork! I was actually almost starstruck when I saw here and blurted out her name so loud she turned around to say hello to me from the demo kitchen. We ended up front row for the demo and got some small talk in with her, she is really kind and friendly! She did a cooking demo and we got to sample some of her creations, yummy! The expo experience was way far beyond what I could have ever imagined!

We got a chance to go to a couple of very informative seminars. The Prebiotics and probiotics was of interest to me since I felt unfamiliar with the mechanisms, functions and applications of this type of therapy. The presenter was incredibly knowledgeable and intelligent, offering much insight to studies on this topic. She was going for her masters in biochemistry and molecular science I believe…needless to say, she knew her stuff. The other seminar dealt with cravings, hunger and appetite control. This seminar focused on a study conducted by a RD scientist on the effects of chewing gum on reducing cravings. The study concluded that chewing gum for 15 minutes after a meal did reduce total caloric intake for remaining meals and snacks compared to the non gum chewers. This really only touches the surface of the depth of the study since there was so much information detailing preliminary research on hunger and cravings. And women, we are in fact, put at a disadvantage when it comes to this whole cravings situation…thank you luteal phase of menstruation.

It is so phenomenal that Registered Dietitians are putting so much effort into such in depth research on these highly influential topics. RDs are not just a wealth of nutritional information, they are indeed scientists and I got more than enough evidence to support this concept at FNCE. It takes a high degree of cognitive expertise, analytical intelligence and fact based knowledge to do what these RDs have done in their research and studies. I feel proud to strive towards being a part of this community and truly respect the efforts of these individuals towards a better understanding of all aspects of our field. Now, more than ever, do I want to be a RD!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Denver, for hosting us health nut, crazy scientist, food loving ADA members. I won’t ever forget this experience and feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to be submerged in such an inspired, focused and driven community!