#5 Insights into Food and Health
This episode I will be sharing:
■ Factors involved in our current focus on food in our society
■ Insights into some hidden factors contributing to poor nutrition
■ Our role as NPs in managing the current nutrition crisis
■ ...and so much more!
It is an extremely daunting task to care for today’s patient. We we live in a society that is getting their information from social media and mass marketing. We are fighting every step of the way to get people to control their co-morbidities. People are going to the Internet to find health tips. We go through a different fad every few years. The people who are giving out information, most often are looking for their own monetary gain or are not educated in managing a person with complicated health conditions. This can be dangerous! Re-educating our patient population, as well as ourselves is going to be the new way of life.
Almost everything we do in our society is based around food. We have reunions, we have picnics, we have dinner meetings. Food is used as a reward. Food is used as a comfort. Food is used in celebration. Food is used in gatherings. Food intake is a part of your ethnicity and your culture. Food is used as a crutch in so many situations. Often, food is an addiction. I could seriously go on and on about food and the demise much of the focus on food plays in our society. However, ...
Not all of the negatives of food and out of control obsessions with food and poor nutrition, is a patient’s “fault “.
There are many who choose not to try to make any effort towards lifestyle management or adjustment of their food intake. I’m very aware of that.
Others truly and sincerely think that they are eating healthy. They don’t realize that the cards are stacked against them.
Were you aware that there are chemicals place in the foods to cause an addiction? Cheetos is the number one brand for a chemical food addiction. Chemists make a lot of money in these companies. The slogan for lays potato chips “you can’t eat just one” is because there literally are addicting substances in those foods. Now let’s put the psychological component to food intake as being comfort foods, habitual foods and mindless eating into the mix....WE’VE got a problem!
When I say mindless eating, I am referring to sitting with a bag of chips that have not been portioned out in front of the television and eating to the point where the bag is completely empty before you realize it. This is where re-educating our patient population, as well as ourselves comes in. We are not being taught true lifestyle management in our educational programs. That is part of why I have founded Health Interventions for patients and then a spin off of Health Interventions for Your Practice, produced a podcast AND an online training program for weight management in your practice. This is not just a plug for that online course that I’ve created. I have spoken to so many other NPs that don’t know how to teach patients about nutrition or even how to mange their own nutrition. BUT WE ARE EXPECTED TO KNOW it all! Society and patients look to us as medical professionals to guide them into the right direction. This is truly just A small window into what we are seeing in today’s society and what we are treating.
We can’t treat patients with just medications alone. COVID- 19 has shown us evidence of where we are in regards to health. To manage blood pressure, cholesterol, sleep apnea and diabetes with just prescription medications is impossible. When we go through our lesson on diabetes in a future podcast I’m going to go through several of the medications that are used for diabetes management and educate you on why they are not working. The cost of medications are astronomical for the minimal effects we gain. To lower hemoglobin A-1 C by 1% when your A-1 C is 10% or above is nothing. You have to put lifestyle modifications with it. Nutrition is the cornerstone. Many of these drugs, you will soon learn, have actually been created based on the research on the effects of certain food intake. By observing what a body does naturally when it is getting the nutrients that it requires, drug companies have created pharmaceuticals that are worth billions. When you start doing prior authorizations for medications, you will see insurance plans want you to continue to use the medications that are actually causing obesity rather than treating diabetes. The authorized medications often are increasing hunger rather than decreasing hunger. We are noticing a rise in body mass index just because of what we are told we need to prescribe to our patients based on the guidelines. I know that I’m getting a little bit worked up again! You’re probably seeing a fire that you haven’t seen in the previous episodes that we have done to this point, but it truly just makes me mad! Fighting against the food industry and the insurance companies! We are in a tough position and battling up hill all the way with managing Nutrition and health.
We are expected to follow protocols and guidelines that are based on pharmaceuticals. There is minimal information about how to actually educate patients on lifestyle modifications in their real life and every day life that will augment the action of those medications when they are truly needed. How many times do you say to a patient you need to lose weight. Your body mass index should be less than 25. You should eat less and exercise more. Well no joke!
We all know that. But what about an action plan for that? When we were doing care plans we were never taught how to make a detailed nutritional action plan. Certainly not an action plan that needs to be customizable no matter where you are geographically. Personally, I am in rural West Virginia. We have a different patient population. We have a different culture. we have a different lifestyle than someone would in New York City or Washington DC or the Midwest or California. You have to be able to take the basics of nutritional knowledge and put them into action no matter where you are. We are going to go into so many things that will help you with that. I’m trying not to put anyone on system overload. But what I AM trying to do is to start with the basics and let you see what we’re up against.I have spoken to so many other NPs that don’t know how to teach patients about nutrition or even how to mange their own nutrition. BUT WE ARE EXPECTED TO KNOW it all! Society and patients look to us as medical professionals to guide them into the right direction. So listen in for insights addressing this issue!
I hope that this is piquing your interest and that you will hang with me as we continue to go through Health Interventions For Your Practice. .
So, thank you again for taking your time to listen to this podcast. Let me know if you are enjoying the podcast! Subscribe so you don't miss an episode! Share your thoughts. And if you’re REALLY feeling the love, give me a review! That will help others find this podcast to help with their practice also!
You can find more of me and what I’m up to on healthinterventions.net Also, check out Facebook and Instagram, where I do cooking demonstrations and health tips. Not fancy, just me trying to make a difference where I can.
