I know I have been a bit MIA – my apologies – but I do have a good excuse…I got a new job! Don’t fret – still seeing clients at The Bay Club…but thought I would add some more goodies to my bag of tricks.
I am working as a Health Educator at Stanford School of Medicine Prevention Research Center. Quite excited! The study is comparing a very low carbohydrate diet versus a very low fat diet. Crazy extreme diets! As a Health Educator, I will be teaching the study participants their diet and supporting them for the year they are on the study. The study is not just looking at weight loss, but also how these two diets affect a variety of things such as long term weight loss, gut microbiome, insulin sensitivity and many other outcomes. For a nutrition dork like myself, this is a little slice of heaven!
For years it has been said that a “healthy” diet should be high in fibrous whole grains and low in saturated fat. Many still believe in that philosophy, but there is a new camp of folks who suggest the exact opposite – they encourage large amounts of saturated fat and eliminating all grains. How can both diets have research to support them, true believers in each camp and convincing arguments, yet be so fundamentally different?? It is good to note that high vegetable intake is encouraged on both diets…vegetables are a key to healthy living!
It is an exciting time for the field of nutrition. Slowly (very slowly!) but surely, people are beginning to pay attention to how food affects so many aspects of our culture. As exciting as it is, it is also quite confusing. We still do not know the answer!
So here I am, part of a great group of folks who are trying to ask questions and get some possible answers.
I will keep you posted as I get more scoop – stay tuned!