What Your Patients are Reading

Food Justice. Poor people and particularly people of color have limited access to food resources. Vallejo has four food deserts and TU Nutrition Club is working to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Your patients in these communities see this injustice and it is important that we be educated and understand the issue so we can provide useful council and better understand patient barriers to good nutrition. (References: PMIDs 16997358, 16776877, 18366535, 16380567)
                                                
Fad Diets.  "So your friend lost 20 lbs on the Paleo Diet and now you want to do it?..." To be able to provide valuable advice, we need a general summary of these fad diets in our mind, know what is good about them, and what to make sure patients are cautious about.

We're still working to fill this in - e-mail us if you are willing to help us develop content:

	The Gist	Benefits	Caution
Atkins	Low carb
Cleanses	Various hypotheses for removal of toxins.
DASH Diet	Intended to lower blood pressure
Dr.Phil	Emphasizes habits, emotions, social support, and exercise as much as diet changes.
Elimination Diet	For most this is to detect what foods may cause allergies.
Gluten Free	For celiac patients this is a must, but some people without celiac find that they feel better and eat fewer processed foods when they avoid gluten products.
Juice Diet	Consuming mostly or all juice for a period of a few days to lose weight quickly and detox.
Mediterannean Diet	Emphasizes fruits and vegetables, fish, whole grains, and olive oil.
Paleo/Neanderthin	Eat what we evolved to eat. Lots of vegetables and meat, few fruits or grains. No processed foods.
Raw Only	Mostly produce, some raw milk or cheese, sashimi without the rice (but most raw foodists are vegetarian or vegan).
Slim Fast	Shake for breakfast and for lunch, balanced dinner
Suzanne Sommers	Food combinations can aid/inhibit proper digestion (ie: don't eat fruit with meat)
Vegan	No meat or dairy animal products, no eggs, only produce. For some, this includes honey also.
Vegetarian	No meat products. This may be for religious, political, environmental, or ethical reasons - there are many reasons people chose to avoid meat.
Weight Watchers	You have a certain number of points a day you can eat depending on your body type and activity level: healthy foods cost fewer points and unhealthy foods cost more points.
South Beach Diet	Replace "bad carbs" and "bad fats" with carbs low on the glycemic index and lean meats and oily fish.
Zone Diet	Balancing fat, protein, and carb intake (30:30:40) to try to maintain a certain insulin level and reduce inflammation.

Food Policy. Local and national policies direct economies and influence what is grown, where it is grown, how it is grown and distributed, and what consumers end up paying for it. Access to fresh, nutritious produce is dependent on voter influence on politics of all levels. Get in the know and tell others how to get involved - your phone call to a city council member or your letter to a chair of a congressional committee makes a difference. Rock the vote!
            
The Environment. What we chose to eat impacts the planet in many ways. Choosing local and organic produce is healthier for our bodies as well as the oceans, the land, the bugs, the fish... whole ecosystems are being destroyed and the toxins generated by irresponsible farming techniques don't stay on the farms. They move through the air and through our water systems to distant places and we are all impacted, though those living closer are at much higher risk of disease from these pollutants.