nutrition

New Year’s Resolutions

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At the beginning of a new year, many of us resolve to take better care of ourselves.  This often includes a desire to eat more healthfully.  How to accomplish that can be confusing.  There are numerous “experts” and guidelines.  They sometimes conflict and often do not seem to be practical or helpful.

The types of foods we consume can have a huge effect on how we feel and think.  Sugar intake has markedly increased over the past few decades.  This correlates with a significant rise in obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and other health problems.

It appears highly likely that reducing sugar intake can have a big effect not only on how we feel and look now, but also reduce our chances for numerous chronic diseases in the future.

This does not mean that you have to “diet” or be hungry.  I would encourage you to eat when you are hungry and include a diverse range of foods such as unprocessed meat, fish, chicken, nuts, vegetables, and fruits.

However, try to avoid sugar and foods that cause a rapid elevation of blood sugar levels.  Examples of foods to avoid include the following:

  • Processed grains such as breads and cereals
  • Foods and condiments containing sugar
  • Sweets (e.g. candy, soda)
  • Potatoes

Eating healthfully can be a challenge.  However, it can make a big difference.  Please make an appointment at the Student Life Student Health Center (614-292-4321) if you would like more information.

Submitted by Matthew Peters, M.D.

Cholesterol: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

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Q: I have heard about “good” and “bad” cholesterol. What’s the difference and how do I know which one I’m eating?

A: Way to be a buzz kill on Thanksgiving week!  Just kidding – great question.  Let’s begin with a little chemistry lesson.

 

 

Fat doesn’t dissolve in water and blood, so it has to get chauffeured around your body by cholesterol.  There are two main types of cholesterol: high density lipoprotein (HDL, “the good guy”) and low density lipoprotein (LDL, “the bad guy”).

HDL acts like a scavenger or vacuum cleaner, picking up cholesterol and transporting it back to the liver, where it is processed and put to many necessary uses like building cell walls and membranes, bile acids and hormones.

On the other hand, LDL picks cholesterol up from the liver and drops it off throughout the body. This is especially problematic in blood vessels where the excess cholesterol can form plaques. The blood vessels around your heart (“coronaries”) are the diameter of spaghetti; a little plaque in them can mean a lot of trouble, like a heart attack. Too much plaque in the vessels supplying your brain can mean a stroke.

How do you know when your LDL is too high? Unfortunately, high cholesterol has no specific symptoms so a blood test is the only way to find out.  While healthy eating and exercise can go a long way towards keeping your cholesterol in check, high cholesterol can have a genetic component so you should talk to your doctor about when you need to start screening.

Certain foods, like trans fats, can actually increase LDL and decrease HDL. On the other hand, fatty fish (like salmon), walnuts and oatmeal can actually decrease LDL.  If you’re a smoker, quitting can also improve the amount of HDL in your blood (among a host of other improvements to your health). To see more tips on cholesterol and what you can do to improve yours, check out the websites below:

American Heart Association

U.S. National Institutes of Health

The Mayo Clinic

Cheryl Czapla, Med IV
College of Medicine
The Ohio State University

Victoria Rentel, MD
Student Health Services
The Ohio State University

Medical Mythbusters: The turkey made me do it!

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There are a lot of traditions at Thanksgiving; turkey, pumpkin pie, football games, shopping, and of course “the nap”.   At my house dinner usually begins around two.  After the meal has been blessed, the football fanatics fill their plates and head to the family room to cheer on their favorite teams.  The non-football inclined take their plates to the table and kibitz.  About an hour or so later a quick glance into the family room usually reveals that the football fanatics have transitioned to “the nap”.

The fanatics, of course, would argue that the turkey made them sleepy.  Turkey contains an amino acid called tryptophan.  Tryptophan helps the body produce the B-vitamin niacin which in turn helps the body produce serotonin.  Serotonin acts as a calming agent in the brain and plays a key role in sleep.  Hence the myth that turkey makes you sleepy.

But… tryptophan works best on an empty stomach and let’s face it, at Thanksgiving, no ones’ stomach is empty!  The turkey is competing with the potatoes, veggies, rolls, and deserts and only a small part actually makes it to the brain to produce serotonin.

The more likely culprit for the after dinner nap is a combination of things.  You have on a new fall sweater, dressed up for the relatives, which is making you a bit warm.  It’s the middle of the afternoon and the sun is shining through the windows causing you to squint a bit, i.e. close your eyes.  You’ve just consumed an enormous meal of 3000+ calories with significant carbs, and more than likely you’re a bit sleep deprived.  All of these together have the perfect makings of a nap!

So, don’t blame the turkey for that after dinner rest.  Instead, give thanks this Thanksgiving for the blessings of a wonderful meal eaten with family and friends and for the opportunity to catch up a little bit on your sleep.

Submitted by Tina Comston, M.Ed.

Combatting the Freshman 15

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Make healthy choices to avoid the Freshman 15

Make healthy choices to avoid the Freshman 15

Welcome to college! The next 4 years will be the best years of your life. There’s nothing like leaving home for the first time, jumping into the bliss of independence and making bad decisions. You’ll be able to stay up as late as you want, over sleep your alarm, and consume way too many empty calories while tailgating the football games. College seems amazing! You have access to all the food you want and no parental supervision….I mean come on who wouldn’t want to have a late night slice of pizza, three servings of ice cream at traditions or even a warm chocolate chip cookie when you’re finished with lunch. But if you’re not careful the dreaded freshman 15 can catch up to you real quick and those brand new jeans you just bought, to look good at the game next weekend, will no longer button. So here is some advice on how to avoid gaining those extra 15 pounds no one wants to admit to gaining.

  1. Hire someone to smack that cookie out of your hand you pick up at the dining hall after every meal.  Since most students have no self control over the delicious sweets that are put in front of them, you can put someone else in charge of keeping your diet more healthy.
  2. Set an alarm for 5 minutes before a huge exam. This way when you wake up late and freak out that you’re not going to make it to your exam on time it forces you to run to class. You’ll realize how out of shape you are and get yourself back into the gym.
  3. Speaking of the gym, you may join a club sport to play recreationally since you use to play in high school. After practice you’re going to want to sit down and eat with your friends. Remember starting left bench is not the same as actually playing in high school. You can’t expect to eat the same and lose weight.
  4. In high school you were probably use to your parents cooking you dinner every night, making sure it was somewhat healthy…well in college they’re not here to cook your meals. So if you live close enough, go home to have them feed you. That way you won’t have to worry about consuming 1,000 calories from a loaded potato pizza from the PAD.
  5. If you don’t live close enough, it’s time to start paying attention to what you are eating. Everything has calories. Maybe you should rethink your order of an asiago cheese bagel with cream cheese, a cookie and a large buckeye mocha latte. If you eat that every morning I can promise that you will not be able to button your pants in a couple of weeks.
  6. Dining halls have so much delicious carb heavy food. Who wouldn’t want to eat pasta, with broccoli cheese soup and churro cupcake every single day? I can tell you it feels really good walking around feeling extremely full and bloated…But maybe try adding some plants into your diet. A good fresh salad (not smothered in ranch, bacon and cheese) or a side of vegetables instead of french fries can taste delicious and help combat that disgusting bloat you’ve been feeling for the last 4 days.
  7. Remember that water is your best friend. The first sign of thirst is hunger. You may have no insight as to whether you’re hungry or thirsty. Next time your stomach is growling after you consumed gross take out Chinese, try drinking a full glass of water. You maybe more thirsty than hungry (since we all know Chinese food is filled with salt and MSG).
  8. Water is also essential for keeping our body healthy. Granted a nice refreshing pop or juice can taste delicious at times but depriving your body of water can do more harm than good. Water has this magical power to make you feel full, especially when bored. Try increasing your water intake to 8 glasses a day. Rule of thumb is you want your urine be light yellow to clear. So when you go to the bathroom next and your urine is bright to dark yellow, you know you’re not drinking enough water.
  9. It is inevitable to not feel stressed while taking 12 credits and going out every night. I mean why would you start studying for a test now when you can put it off until the night before and cram. Try to eliminate getting too stressed out. An increase in stress can lead to stress eating as well as increased hormones. This can ultimately lead to weight gain and acne you haven’t seen since you hit puberty.
  10. Make sure you are getting enough sleep to be productive. It may not be a good idea to go see “IT” if you know you’re not going to sleep for the next 10 days. Many times when you’re over exhausted you start grabbing for sugary substances to keep you awake. This does not help with trying to avoid gaining weight.
  11. But when you don’t sleep enough, energy drinks always sound like a great idea. Next time you grab one why don’t you flip the can around and look at the calories. With over 200 calories in a Monster energy drink, you may want to rethink grabbing those empty calories. Opt for some black coffee or tea. But if you have to have that energy drink maybe try grabbing for one of the sugar free or low calorie ones.
  12. When all else fails just go out and buy bigger clothes. Your student loans will really appreciate being spent on new clothing that one day you’ll have to payback at 5% interest.

Remember as a student it is really easy to fall into a bad routine since it’s a lot of people’s first time away from home. While many people joke about gaining the freshman 15, it happens to the best of us. Just be conscious about what you consume. You are probably not working out as vigorously as you did in high school, so you can’t eat the same way. College can be a stressful at times. Find ways to cope with stress whether it’s meditation, exercise or a hobby. It is best if you don’t turn to food during the stressful times. And if all else fails, go talk to someone about getting healthier. Take advantage of the registered dietitian at Student Health Services. They are here to help discuss your diet and encourage you to make the lifestyle changes you want to make. And if scheduling an appointment with the registered dietitian doesn’t fit into your schedule there are other options available on campus at the wellness center in the RPAC. You do not have to gain the freshman 15…it is up to you.

Dayna Gewolb, PharmD Candidate Class 2018

 

From meal plan to apartment plan

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Its apartment time!

You put in your dorm time, but now you are free.  Free to find an apartment and free from the food plan and you are certain this will save you money. Think carefully about what lies ahead in this department and ask yourself some questions.

Where is the closest

Adjusting from meal plan to apartment plan

full grocery store?

 

Do I know who much groceries cost?

How will I get there? Do I have a backup plan if the first one does not work?

Do I know how to menu plan so I can create a grocery list?

What, if anything, do I know how to cook from scratch or a box?

What will be my budget for food including groceries and eat out?

How big is the refrigerator and how will we divide the space?

Will my roommates and I keep food individual or will we make group meals?

Over the summer, before you move into that apartment, practice grocery shopping and acquire a sense for cost. Think about meal planning. Learn what to keep on hand in your college pantry. Practice packing lunches over summer if you will do that in the fall. Build a library of 15 minute meals for when you are pressured for time.  Research college friendly cooking.  Here’s a great book to get you started:

The $5 a Meal College Cookbook: Good Cheap Food for When You Need to Eat by Rhonda Lauret Parkinson, B.E. Horton.

Kristina Houser, LD

What’s in your work out supplements?

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It’s the start of 2018, which means the “new year, new me” resolutions are picking up some good momentum by now. Hitting the gym more often is definitely one of my resolutions, and if our resolutions are on the same page, then this post can be of some help to you!

Work out supplements… we see them advertised all over our social media pages, and if you are walking into your local GNC, or Vitamin Shoppe the selection can be intimidating. What I’ve learned so far is that there are supplements that you take as a pre-workout, and supplements that do just as they are named, supplement.

Pre-workout Supplements:

What’s the scoop? Boosting your performance is all part of the plan. Growing bigger muscles, having quicker gains, and hoping for an easy solution is something we all strive for. Most of us understand that easy isn’t necessarily so, and may not entirely be the correct way in doing something. Unlike medications, workout supplements are not as strictly regulated by The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which means dangerous ingredients may be incorporated without the knowledge of consumers. Some of the ingredients may actually have detrimental effects, and potentially cause death.

1, 3- dimethylamine, methylhexanamine or geranium extract—also known as DMAA is an ingredient that has been found illegally in some dietary supplements, where manufacturers mask the component as a “natural” stimulant. In 2013, a case report was published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, highlighting an incident where a 21- year old male suffered from cardiac arrest after ingesting a workout supplement containing DMAA. Structurally, DMAA is similarly related to amphetamine, methamphetamine, and MDMA. DMAA does not produce any type of stimulant similar to the mentioned substances, but if you are set to take a urine drug test for a new job, or professional program at The Ohio State University… heads up, you may fail.

Good news, DMAA has been banned by the FDA after the unfortunate incident that occurred in 2013, however, there are still some supplements through online purchase that may have the ingredient incorporated within the product, and I would recommend reading the back of the nutrition label before purchasing any type of supplement. The discontinued substance that contained DMAA was specifically the pre-workout supplement marketed as Jack3d made by USPLabs.

Regular Supplements:

“First off, let me drink some protein.” Protein supplements are frequently consumed by athletes, as well as those who work out recreationally. There is much debate on the theory of amount of protein per day a person should intake and the timing of supplementation, and if you have any questions towards these matters PubMed.gov is a good source for you to do some more research about the topic.

Protein powders come in three common forms, those being—whey, soy and casein. A study by Kanda, A. et al in 2016, looked at the co-ingestion of all three substances and their effects on muscle protein synthesis after exercise in rats. The results of the study demonstrated a difference in peak time according to the type of protein ingestion, the authors concluded that whey protein was quicker to initiate the process compared to casein and soy.

Branched chained amino acids (BCAAs) especially leucine have been shown to increase muscle synthesis after exercise. Leucine is another component to keep an eye out for. Kanda, A et al. also noted that leucine displays a specific saturation point. The threshold described was around 43 mg of leucine, which means anything above this dose resulted in no further increase in the muscles anabolic response.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the types of supplements that are available commercially, the big take away from this blog is to get you use to looking at the nutrition label located on the back of the products up for purchase. Speaking to your healthcare providers about any of your concerns is a good thing to do, especially if some of the components of your supplements seem a bit off.

 

Justin Corpus

PharmD Candidate 2018

References:

  1. Kanda, A. et al. Effects of whey, caseinate, or milk protein ingestion on muscle protein synthesis after exercise. Nutrients. 2016 Jun; 8(6): 339.
  2. Lioudmila, K et al. Cardiac arrest in a 21-year old man after ingestion of 1,3 dmaa—containing workout supplement. Clin J Sport Med. 2015 Jan; 25 (1): 23-25

Changing your eating habits

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Changing Eating Habits

So how does one start to eat healthier? No matter what your end goals are changing what you are doing is where you have to start. One way to start is by using the website ChooseMyPlate.gov.

Its start you on a basic eating concept that can be applied in the dining halls or at home. You quarter your plate each quarter containing one of the following: vegetables, fruit, protein and grain or starchy vegetables. To the right of the plate there is serving of dairy which is designed to remind you to have a calcium source. Eating this way naturally balances out your meal and controls your calories. The website coaches you on what foods fit into each area. For vegetables, there are recommendations for how many servings of green and red and orange vegetables over the week and how to incorporated starchy vegetables such as potatoes and corn. Under protein, you can find meat and meatless sources to select in your diet. This is also a discreet method to evaluate your plate.

MyPlate on Campus

Wondering about size of plate or how high you can stack your food? This is where you use common sense. Women can use a lunch or smaller dinner plate (8-9 inches) and men can use a larger dinner plate (10-11 inches). Beware our plate size has grown for around 8-9 inches up to 13 inches in some restaurants. You have to keep your plate from looking like the first trip at Thanksgiving. Normally, a plate would be a 1-3 inches high depending on the food.

Remember to eat the vegetables and fruit first and stop when you are comfortably full.

Kristina Houser, LD

Diet is a four-letter word!

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Losing Weight

Dieting is a word that should not exist! It’s depressing to say the least. Our mind begins to focus on what we can’t have. Then, we mess up, give up and we try again. If you have struggled with your body weight all of your life, the cycle is frustrating. Perhaps you’re someone who has never had a weight problem but seems to have gained weight in college and is unsure of how to go about losing weight.

Everyone seems to want to start with the 1200 calorie diet and hopes for the best. In about 3 days, it’s not going well. Why? Because 1200 calories is too low for almost everyone but if you go on line that is what you will find. The websites suggest this will permit fast weight loss which everyone wants!

Weight loss is about being healthier. If you can match your food intake to your body’s needs, weight loss will happen. The trick – figuring out what works for your body. If done correctly, you aren’t dieting; you are eating well for your body and you continue to eat that way when you’ve reached your goal weight.

Some people need to reduce portion size, others need to manage carbohydrates, some eat out less, and others move more. The list goes on with changes in habits or food that need that you need to incorporate. A dietitian is the best way to get personalized help. Student Life Student Health Services has a dietitian on staff that can help with your weight loss goals.

So how to you start on this adventure on your own: keep a food log for a week.

Then, go to Choose My Plate.gov and compare how you are eating with what is suggested.

Kristina Houser, LD

GI Issues: Could you join the Pepto Bismol lineup?

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Your GI tract is causing you trouble:

Does this Pepto Bismol lineup describe you?  Everyone has times in life when their GI tract seems to revolt: upset stomach, bloating, diarrhea, constipation and the list goes on. Sometimes the symptoms are severe and you need to get to a doctor but often you can try a few things yourself. Before you panic and think you have colon cancer or celiac disease, try some simple steps to see if you can improve your situation.

If you have recently taken antibiotics, you may have diarrhea or if you get it every time you take them, start taking a probiotic when you start the antibiotics. You will be amazed at how much better it goes. For this, a basic probiotic from the store will work.

Constipation is an issue no one likes to bring up but it can make life very uncomfortable. Often the cause is low fiber or not enough water or a combination of both. College students often average only 10 grams of fiber a day and it should be between 25 and 35 grams for good health. Water intake can be low if you don’t carry a water bottle or you don’t like water.

There several action steps that can be taken to improve reflux, IBS, and other GI issues as well but talking to a dietitian to personalize your plan is best.

Kristina Houser, LD

Take a step towards better eating

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A simple step to eating better:

In college life can be crazy, each week brings new challenges and one’s eating habits get put to the back burner for a lot of people. When someone asks us what we had for dinner we always answer with the main dish: lasagna, pizza, ham and cheese

meal plan options

There are vegetable and fruit options available.

sandwich, or chicken breast. Do you ever tell someone the vegetables or fruit you are having first? “I am having broccoli with chicken breast for dinner.”

 

Start thinking about what vegetable and /fruit you are going to have with your meal first. You will begin having more because you will become mindful of these foods. Stores now have more individual vegetable and fruit portions which you can put on your shopping list, especially in the freezer section.  If you are living in an apartment off campus and on the meal plan, there are vegetable and fruit based items you can add as sides and if you don’t see any ask.

Eating better is about progress not perfection because eating perfect every day is not realistic. If you work on one healthy habit each month by the end of 12 months you will be amazed at how much you have changed.

Kristina Houser, LD