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“This is a great program. My instructor was very encouraging and provided us with lots of useful information. The program helped me change the way I think about food, calories, and stress. “
– Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes participant
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“Great program overall. I really appreciated the online format which made attending classes, or making up classes I missed by viewing the recordings later, easy. I saw an improvement in my triglycerides and blood glucose.”
– Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes participant
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“Great program that encouraged great habits like tracking food and water intake, meal planning, trying new activities and recipes, and the importance of shopping and planning. All of these greatly contributed to my success. Our instructor encouraged us to take care of ourselves and keep moving forward. She helped us problem solve, find resources, and cheered us on. She made sure that we were kind to ourselves. Great 10/10 experience. Would recommend!”
– Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes participant
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“Overall I am very glad that I participated in this program. While I knew most of the information, there was a sense of community with my instructor and accountability that came with knowing that we would be together on a regular basis. It was more helpful than I anticipated.”
– Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes participant
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At one point or another, we have all debated eating or throwing away a food product after the date on its label has passed. But do we need to throw away food as soon as the date on the label arrives? Oftentimes you will see the phrases “Best if used by,” “Sell by” and “Use by,” among others. It can be confusing but these dates refer to product quality and flavor and are not expiration dates. Next time you notice a food product whose label date has passed, check for signs of spoilage like color, consistency, or texture before deciding to consume or throw away. This is another small step you can take to reduce food waste at home!
For more information, watch “What Do Food Expiration Dates Really Mean?” created by our colleagues at NC State’s Homegrown .
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“Outstanding! The instructor was outstanding and very helpful. Great program! I feel so much healthier because of this program.”
– Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes participant
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“This class has changed my life. My awareness about food, portion size, reading labels, sleep, managing stress, use of electronics, exercising, and other tools this class provide is of tremendous value and aided in my weight loss of nearly 41 pounds. I can not believe I made such a drastic change in my body, mind, and how I inspire others to be healthy. I know I can continue to be the healthiest person I can be. THANK YOU! This program was an AMAZING experience.”
– Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes participant
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“Although I did not achieve my weight loss goals during the program, I am exercising more than I ever have before. My cholesterol was high before I started the program and now is in the normal range. The reality is that I am healthier now than I was before even though the number on the scale did not go down. Health is not just about weigh. This program taught me how to live a healthier lifestyle. My favorite lesson was the last one on lapsing and relapsing. I have learned how to change my mindset to prevent a relapse. I have relapsed many times before and have started and restarted my weight loss journey countless times. Now, I get myself back on track sooner by thinking positively and not giving up.”
– Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes participant
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Have you ever thought about how the food that we eat can affect our mental health, either positively or negatively?
There has been a lot of research done recently on the connection between food and mood. As a matter of fact, the Food and Mood project led by several large government agencies is an effort to examine this connection in order to improve the emotional wellness of our youth.
On a smaller more personal scale, I recently witnessed this connection first-hand with my 16-year-old. I picked her up from a friend’s house and noticed that she was very on edge and ravenously hungry. When I asked what she had eaten for breakfast, she mentioned waffles with maple syrup. As her dietitian mother, my first thought was, ‘Ok, she did have breakfast, that is good!’ My next thought was, ‘What she ate had very little staying power.’ Her breakfast contained virtually no fiber, protein, or fat, the three components in food that help us feel full longer and stabilize our blood sugar. What she had done was spiked her blood sugar with refined carbohydrates in the white flour waffles and sugar in the maple syrup, which then came crashing down a short amount of time later leaving her feeling hungry and irritable. The food that she had eaten most definitely affected her mood, and not in a good way.
If we take this example of my daughter back to a larger and more long-term scale over many years, we can see why a poor diet can be linked to poor mental well-being. Researchers at the Center for Innovative Medicine at Johns Hopkins University are looking at the connection of food and mood at the microscopic level to examine the brain-gut connection and its effects on mental health. These researchers have found that the enteric nervous system (ENS), also referred to as the “brain in the gut” is important for understanding how food affects our mood and conversely how our mood affects everything in our gut. They note that “the gut produces 90 percent of the body’s serotonin and half of its dopamine.” These two “powerful neurotransmitters that affect mood, help the mind stay calm and focused, and are natural anti-depressants.”
One of the most important ways that we can take care of our gut so that it can do its job to positively affect our mood is to keep it in the right balance of different types of bacteria. These bacteria also help us digest our food, prevent infection and inflammation, manage our weight and blood sugar and maintain healthy liver function.
Conversely, eating a diet high in red meat, fried foods, foods containing antibiotics, alcohol, and too much caffeine is detrimental for our gut health, as these foods can disrupt the balance of bacteria in the gut and help bad bacteria grow.
You can probably guess that the next time I made my daughter waffles for breakfast that they were whole grain with some bananas sliced on top.
United States Department of Health and Human Services. Office of Disease Promotion and Health Promotion. ‘Food and Mood’. https://health.gov/news/202312/food-and-mood?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery. Posted on 12-13-2023. Accessed on 01.09.24.
Geng ZH, Zhu Y, Li QL, Zhao C, Zhou PH. Enteric Nervous System: The Bridge Between the Gut Microbiota and Neurological Disorders. Front Aging Neurosci. 2022 Apr 19;14:810483. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.810483. PMID: 35517052; PMCID: PMC9063565.
Best and Worst Foods for Gut Health. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/ss/slideshow-best-worst-foods-for-gut-health. Medically reviewed on 04-01-22. Accessed on 01.10.24.
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“This program was fantastic. In my many years of weight loss attempts, I have heard many of these same concepts before, but this class put them in a better perspective and added more details. The sequence of classes is geared toward success. We met frequently upfront to get us started and then were “weaned” off the program over the course of the year setting us up for long-term success. I can’t say enough good things about my instructor. Her approach was very reasonable and realistic – helping us feel better if we “slip”, go easy on ourselves, and use one of the MANY techniques presented to help us get realigned. She seemed very in touch with the realities of most people and could relate.”
– Eat Smart, Move More, Prevent Diabetes participant
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