Summer Vacation

We're celebrating our first year of the podcast by taking a vacation to rest, recuperate, and work on some new, exciting projects. We hope you enjoy your summer too! It's a great time to make lifestyle changes that could help reduce your chances of developing chronic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes. Listen in for some tips! 

Shownotes: yournutritionprofs.com

Do you have a nutrition question you'd like us to answer? Let us know! Contact Us on our website or any of the following ways:

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Transcript

M: I’m Professor Megan 

S: and I’m Professor Susan, and we’re

Both: Your Nutrition Profs!

M: We are registered dietitians and college professors who have taught more than 10,000 students about health and nutrition. We have answered a LOT of questions about nutrition over the years – 

S: Some questions we get asked every year and some are rarely asked but very interesting.

M: We’re here to share our answers to these common (and uncommon) nutrition questions with you.

S: So bring your curiosity and let’s get started. 

Both: Welcome to our class!

M: Welcome everyone?! Susan, can you believe it’s June already and we just posted our 50th episode!

S: What? 50 episodes! OMG! Wow, it really has been an amazing year. 

M: Yeah it’s hard to believe we’ve been doing this for a year, but I have learned so much while answering these interesting and sometimes… quirky nutrition questions that our students and listeners send us.

S: You know, I really have too. Ok, so Megan, what have been your top 5 episodes?

M: Oh, that’s hard. I think my top 5 are “All about #2,” “Should we be eating insects?”

S: Oh, that was a good one! 

M: I loved the chocolate one – “Is eating dark chocolate good for us?”

S: Oh we got to eat chocolate! 

M: I know, a lot of it! “Can you eat for your genes?” Remember our nutrigenomics episode.

S: Oh yeah that was a good one.

M: And I really liked the episode about lab grown meat.

S: Yeah, I can’t wait to try it. 

M: Yeah, it’s so hard to pick, I could name at least 10 more... What about you? What are your top 5?

S: Oof, man, I liked the alpha-gal meat allergy episode. 

M: That was fascinating!

S: About the tick bites, that one was really cool. And then I liked “Is ghee better than butter?” “Are food dyes safe to eat?” That was a good one, I learned so much about food dyes after doing the research on that one. I liked the episodes about pellagra and scurvy, cause I do like a good detective story!

M: Yeah the detective stories! 

S: And you know, I love to eat so ALL of the unusual food episodes that we  had - those were really good. Pretty much any episode where food was involved, where we were actually eating–

M: Agree!

S: –were probably in my top – I don’t even know how many that would be, probably a lot. But you know maybe my absolute favorite episode was last week’s that we posted that was about bees and honey because I really loved meeting Jane and learning all about her bees. That was really fascinating! 

M: I agree and I hope you guys all enjoyed it too. We have so enjoyed making this podcast and we are so grateful to all of you for listening. 

S: We are! So here’s to the first year year! Yay! 

M: Yay! 

S: So Megan what are we going to talk about today?

M: Well, did you know that about 80% of chronic diseases like obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes are related to your lifestyle? This means that by making healthier lifestyle choices, you may be able to reduce your risk of these conditions...

S: So genetically, it might be more likely you’re going to develop a chronic disease, but if you can delay the onset of symptoms by making lifestyle changes that might be able to give you months, years, or even decades of healthy life.

M: Right. So what do we mean by lifestyle? Well, scientists have determined there are 5 areas of focus if you want to reduce your risk of developing a chronic disease. 

S: Well one is pretty obvious – what you eat. And since this is a nutrition podcast, we’ll focus on that one  first. Always focus on healthier whole food options like vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, and lean meats. And choose things that are minimally processed. 

M: And summer is a great time to eat more of these! The markets are full of beautiful and colorful fresh fruits and veggies this time of year that you can be eat raw, steamed, you can grill… So aim for eating one piece of fresh fruit and one additional veggie every day this month. 

S: I love summer when you go to the markets and it’s just so beautiful! All of the options that you have. Summer is also a good time to get outside and move! Physical activity is another of those lifestyle factors. Any movement helps – a 10 minute walk around your neighborhood is a really great way to start. 

M: Or head out to a local park or trail! Walking outdoors not only provides physical activity, it can also help to relieve stress – another lifestyle factor related to chronic disease.

S: I love a good two-for-one option!

M: It could even be a three-for-one if you’re walking with a friend. Social connections help us be healthier too. 

S: The last thing is to have consistent, restful sleep patterns. And you know what? Being physically active in the fresh air can definitely help with that. 

M: Oh I always sleep more soundly when I’ve done some physical activity during the day. 

S: Oh me too! Absolutely. So your walk outdoors with a friend could actually be a four-for-one! 

M: Amazing! 

S: And eat an apple while you’re doing it! Five-for-one!

M: Five-for-one! So these lifestyle changes don’t have to be drastic or stressful. Following the latest health fad you see on social media probably won’t make much difference in your overall health.

S: Yeah, it probably won’t. Think of these changes as a marathon, not a sprint. Start small. Small changes over time can really make a big difference. 

M: And choose achievable goals walking for 10 minutes a day for a week to start and gradually adding more time. Or adding one minimally processed veggie to lunch and dinner. 

S: And don’t be too hard on yourself. If you miss a day… just get back on track the next day and get rid of the guilt. 

M: Think “progress, not perfection”. 

S: Or my favorite quote – “perfect is the enemy of good”. 

M: I love it! So we hope you all have a fantastic summer! It’s a great time to enjoy time with friends and family.

S: And to try new things! And that’s what we’re going to do. We’re taking a break from the pod this summer to work on some new projects that we hope you’ll enjoy too. 

M: But our first 50 episodes are still available wherever you get your podcasts if you need to catch up or if you want to re-listen to your favorites while you’re taking your walks!

S: That’s a great idea! And we’re not going away... Continue to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube @YourNutritionProfs. 

M: Or on our website at yournutritionprofs.com. You can still send us your burning nutrition questions that you’d like answered, or just send us a note to say hello!

S: Yeah, we’d love to hear from you. We’ll keep you posted on our new projects. And we are so grateful to all of you who have supported us this year!  

M: We love you!! 

S: We absolutely do! 

Both: Happy summer everyone! Class dismissed.

S: We hope you enjoyed this episode. You can find the show notes and a list of sources on our website, yournutritionprofs.com. 

M: Your homework is to follow us at your nutrition profs on Instagram and to listen to our next episode. You can listen on Amazon Prime, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or anywhere podcasts are found. We’d appreciate it if you’d “like” us, write a review, subscribe, and invite your family and friends to join us too. 

S: If you have a nutrition or health question you’d like answered, let us know! We may even do a show about it! Send an email to yournutritionprofs@gmail.com or click on the “Contact Us” page on our website.

M: Thanks to Brian Pittman for creating our artwork. You can find him on instagram @BrianPittman77

Both: See you next time!