The nutrients in the foods that we eat enable the cells in our bodies to perform their necessary functions. What you eat can greatly affect your health and well-being. Scientific studies have shown many times that choosing healthy foods can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.
Listen as Andrea Goergen, Clinical Dietitian, discusses diet and nutrition's effect on wellbeing, and how you can enjoy a variety of foods, eat healthy and have more energy.
Selected Podcast
Diet and Nutrition’s Effect on Wellbeing
Featured Speaker:
Andrea Goergen, RDN
Andrea is a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) at MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s bariatric clinic. She is also the owner of Cultivate Healthy, a nutrition and wellness company in Washington DC. Using an “all foods fit” approach, Andrea works with patients and clients to help them lose weight, prevent and manage health conditions like diabetes and hypertension, and improve their overall health. Andrea has been working in the field of health research, health education, and nutrition for over 15 years. She graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park in 2002 with a degree in dietetics, after which she joined the Peace Corps as a health extension volunteer in rural Guatemala. Andrea returned to the US to pursue a master’s degree in International Health with a focus on social and behavioral interventions at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Andrea’s work has been featured on Good Morning Washington, in multiple scientific journals like Public Health Genomics and the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and online on Reader’s Digest, WTOP, Women’s Health, and her own blog at www.cultivatehelathy.com. Transcription:
Diet and Nutrition’s Effect on Wellbeing
Melanie Cole (Host): The nutrients in the food that we eat enable the cells in our bodies to perform their necessary functions. What you eat can greatly affect your health and well-being. Scientific studies have shown, time and again, that choosing healthy foods can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. My guest today, Andrea Goergen. She’s a Registered Dietician/Nutritionist at MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s Bariatric Clinic. Welcome to the show, Andrea. Tell us about healthy eating and how it can help us -- because people hear about supplements in case they’re not getting all of the healthy foods that they should be getting. Give us a summary of healthy eating and really what it does for us.
Andrea Goergen (Guest): Sure, thank you, for having me. What happens with diet and exercise is it’s all working together to help optimize every function in your body. Having the right nutrition -- like vitamins, and minerals, and protein, and carbohydrates, and fat, and all of the good things like that in a reasonable balance helps everything work just a little bit better. You’re looking at energy production, support of the cardiovascular system, healthy bones, and teeth, all of that works together. You can usually get it from a balanced diet, but sometimes you have a little bit more trouble with that, so it’s easier to supplement to make sure you’re getting what you need.
Melanie: Let’s talk about getting what you need, and people don’t always know – they hear about these diets, and fad diets, and no carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are bad, and too much fat – so clear up a little bit about portion sizes and what we should see on our plate. Also, Andrea, please reiterate the importance of carbohydrates because even a tomato and a carrot are carbohydrates. People need these in our diets, so tell us what our plate looks like.
Andrea: Absolutely. I think it really depends on what your goals are. If you’re trying to lose weight, it might be slightly different than if you’re just trying to maintain your weight and optimize your energy levels and things like that. In general, what I do recommend is half your plate being vegetables and a quarter of your plate being starch – carbohydrates as we sometimes call them – and then a quarter of your plate being protein. Those vegetables are definitely carbohydrates, as you said. They’re considered complex carbohydrates, so they’re loaded with fiber, lots of vitamins, and minerals. They’re not going to be the starchy kind that people assume make up the section of carbs.
Carbs are important for energy production. A lot of research studies out there have shown that they’re good for reducing inflammation in the body and supporting a healthy cardiovascular system. Really, there are a lot of fad diets out there and a lot of misconceptions, really. For the most part, unless you have some sort of major allergy or intolerance, you really don’t need to be cutting out healthy ingredients in your diets like bread and pasta, rice, all the fruits, and vegetables. Potatoes are okay; they get a bad rap too.
It’s really about the portion sizes and making sure that you’re balancing what’s on your plate. I use a small plate. I actually use side plates, and I recommend that my clients and my patients do, as well. Use a side plate or salad plate, fill it half with vegetables, a quarter with starch, and a quarter with a nice, lean protein. That can give you a lot of the energy that you need -- a lot of the fiber, and vitamins, and minerals without leaving room for things that are not going to be your best friend in the weight loss process or the healthy eating process.
Melanie: If you wanted to use food as an energy source, which it is automatically, are there certain foods that you like people to – you’ve mentioned vegetables – and if we want to stay alert and really be as sharp as we can and have focus, what foods do you like us to eat?
Andrea: For alert and focus – you want proper brain function and nerve function for being alert and focusing, so a lot of the things you would be looking for would be your minerals. Magnesium is good for nerve transmission and things like that. You want to make sure that your central nervous system is at its peak, basically. Lots of vitamins and minerals are going to be very important for that. I don’t recommend targeting the vitamins and minerals unless you’re doing supplements because you’re missing things, but making sure that you have a good balance.
Lots and lots of fluid – water is your best choice there – can help boost the function of your vitamins and minerals and make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing. You can feel sluggish or fatigued with a little bit of a brain fog if you’re missing some fluid and are dehydrated. A lot of people are more dehydrated than they really think they are. It isn’t until you get thirsty that you think, “Oh, I should drink something,” but usually, you’re experiencing dehydration long before thirst comes in. That is a huge problem for energy.
Other things that are helpful, B vitamins are wonderful for keeping the energy going and making sure that you’re functioning at your best.
Melanie: How do we know how much we’re getting as far as Magnesium, and Calcium, especially for women and older women, and the B vitamins – B12, we hear about that for alertness and focus. How do we know, and if we are not getting what we should be getting from our food, what do you recommend as far as multivitamins or extra D or any of those kinds of things?
Andrea: That’s a good question. I think, for the most part, if you’re eating a balanced diet, and you really are getting in a good combination of things – that can be leafy green vegetables, some citrus fruits, you’re getting in lean protein sources including beans and eggs. Those are great options, as well, that are very packed with vitamins and minerals. When you’re getting all of those things – whole grain bread and fortified cereals and things like that have a lot of the things that we’re looking for. Most of the time, you’re not going to be deficient in these vitamins and minerals. It’s not very common to be deficient in these if you’re having a balanced diet.
One of the best things you can do if you’re feeling fatigued or you’re feeling sluggish -- there are other things that can happen, too, like muscle cramping or weakness. Other things could be strange things like tingling or numbness in your hands and feet, nausea, and vomiting, and things like that – some of that can come from lacking in vitamins and minerals.
I do recommend you go to your doctor, get tested, have your blood tested for nutrient deficiencies. They’re the best source for figuring out what levels your body requires – what you’re missing. Basically, they’ll send you to the right place to get the supplements you might need. Sometimes, you just need a little bit of Vitamin D. For instance, I am Vitamin D deficient on a regular basis, so I do have to supplement. I found that out at my doctor’s office.
Not everybody needs a multivitamin. Most of the time they won’t do you any harm. I would go for a complete multi vitamin unless you’re over 50 or so, you might need as much iron at that age. In general, for most adults, just a regular, complete multi vitamin can really give you everything that you need if you’re lacking. In general, I would go for specific vitamins and minerals that you’re missing so that you’re not overdoing it and you can really focus on your food.
Melanie: Well, I found that I am Vitamin D deficient, as well. Like you, I do supplement that because it is an important nutrient that many people – so it is a good idea to check with your physician to see if you are Vitamin D deficient – or any of those nutrients, as Andrea said.
Now, what about weight loss because eating for health to stay alert, relaxed, have more energy, that is different than necessarily losing weight, which is a whole different ballgame and quite hard to do. What do you recommend as your best advice about weight loss, and making sure that we’re still getting those adequate nutrients that we need, and what do you think about journaling?
Andrea: Sure. I think you have a really good point there. There are differences. The nice thing about an all foods fit approach, which is the approach that I take, is making sure that you have a generally healthy lifestyle, so when you are quote-unquote dieting, that you’re actually implementing strategies that you’re going to use for the rest of your life. You’re not creating some sort of unsustainable approach that once you finish, the weight comes back on. Really, they do go hand in hand – healthy eating and trying to lose weight.
My big suggestions for people are to make sure that you’re not skipping meals. I think people are under the assumption that if I don’t eat much, I’ll lose weight. That works for some people, but for the most part, it’s very tough. If your body isn’t getting what it needs, it starts to panic, and it goes into this starvation mode. It’s really going to be very hard to lose weight because your body thinks that it’s protecting you from starvation, basically.
Making sure that you’re eating three meals a day – you can make some small meals, and that’s fine – but making sure you’re getting three meals a day and making sure that you have some protein in each of those meals. When you cut your calories, you want to make sure that you have plenty of protein in your body. Otherwise, your body thinks that it’s starving and it’s going to look for – the amino acids that it would get from proteins, it’s going to find it in your muscle stores. Instead of burning off your fat stores, it’s going to burn off your muscle stores. That’s something you really don’t want because muscles help you really burn more calories. Making sure you have three meals a day, and that you have lots of healthy, lean proteins, that’s going to keep your body relaxed and allowing you to use the fat stores to burn off for energy.
Journaling, it’s tough to maintain. I think a lot of people struggle daily making sure that you get it in. I do think in the weight loss process you can come up with some really interesting information. I think information is incredibly valuable in the weight loss process in figuring out what you’re doing on a regular basis that might be helping you or that might be hurting you. I do recommend at least writing it down on a piece of paper. Any Dietician/Nutritionist can take a look at it and see what’s working for you and what’s not working for you.
Also using apps or a website that allow you to track your food and then automatically provides you with information, you might start seeing where there are some red flags. Maybe a food that you love is just too high in calories, or maybe you’re not getting enough protein, and you thought you were. A lot of those can also track your vitamin and mineral intake. That’ something you can look at to see if something needs to be shifted there, as well. Making sure that you’re getting plenty of vitamins and minerals, making sure that you’re getting your protein in and that you’re eating on a consistent basis, can really help you with the weight loss process.
My one last tip for losing weight is to make sure you’re not drinking your calories. If you’re bringing in calories from sodas, and juices, and Frappuccinos, and the sports drinks, and things like that, it’s so easy to overdo your calories that way. You’re not getting a whole lot out of that. A lot of times you're missing fiber and a lot of the vitamins and minerals that you could be getting from whole foods. Make sure that when you’re drinking that you're not drinking extra calories.
Melanie: That’s great information. Wrap it up for us with your best advice, Andrea, on really healthy eating and what we should be thinking about when we really want to see that good, healthy plate, to stay alert, to relax, to have more energy, and just really for our optimal well-being.
Andrea: I think a combination of things – I had a friend actually tell me something pretty interesting, which was nutrition is kind of boring. We know what we should be doing, but sometimes it’s hard to actually put it into place. Every once in a while, just doing a double check and making sure am I eating regularly? Am I filling my plate with fruits and vegetables, and a variety of foods – protein and even some starch – and making sure that you’re getting all of those things and that you’re satisfied and enjoying your meals. If you’re not, it’s easy to give up. It’s easy to throw your hands in the air and saying, “I’m not doing this.”
Look for a balanced variety on your plate. Do you have gorgeous, green, leafy vegetables and ripe fruits – which are amazing right now, locally – and some lean protein. The grill is a great place to get your lean protein right now. Make sure you’re getting that on your plate. It’s all about balance and making sure that it’s livable, it’s something you can adopt as a long-term lifestyle, and that you’ve got a good variety. If you ever are doubting what’s going on, seek professionals. We’ve got all of the information that you need, and we can really help you focus in on what’s going right and what’s going wrong.
Melanie: Thank you for being with us today, Andrea. You’re listening to Medical Intel with MedStar Washington Hospital Center. For more information, you can go to MedStarWashington.org, that’s MedStarWashington.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks, so much for listening.
Diet and Nutrition’s Effect on Wellbeing
Melanie Cole (Host): The nutrients in the food that we eat enable the cells in our bodies to perform their necessary functions. What you eat can greatly affect your health and well-being. Scientific studies have shown, time and again, that choosing healthy foods can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. My guest today, Andrea Goergen. She’s a Registered Dietician/Nutritionist at MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s Bariatric Clinic. Welcome to the show, Andrea. Tell us about healthy eating and how it can help us -- because people hear about supplements in case they’re not getting all of the healthy foods that they should be getting. Give us a summary of healthy eating and really what it does for us.
Andrea Goergen (Guest): Sure, thank you, for having me. What happens with diet and exercise is it’s all working together to help optimize every function in your body. Having the right nutrition -- like vitamins, and minerals, and protein, and carbohydrates, and fat, and all of the good things like that in a reasonable balance helps everything work just a little bit better. You’re looking at energy production, support of the cardiovascular system, healthy bones, and teeth, all of that works together. You can usually get it from a balanced diet, but sometimes you have a little bit more trouble with that, so it’s easier to supplement to make sure you’re getting what you need.
Melanie: Let’s talk about getting what you need, and people don’t always know – they hear about these diets, and fad diets, and no carbohydrates, and carbohydrates are bad, and too much fat – so clear up a little bit about portion sizes and what we should see on our plate. Also, Andrea, please reiterate the importance of carbohydrates because even a tomato and a carrot are carbohydrates. People need these in our diets, so tell us what our plate looks like.
Andrea: Absolutely. I think it really depends on what your goals are. If you’re trying to lose weight, it might be slightly different than if you’re just trying to maintain your weight and optimize your energy levels and things like that. In general, what I do recommend is half your plate being vegetables and a quarter of your plate being starch – carbohydrates as we sometimes call them – and then a quarter of your plate being protein. Those vegetables are definitely carbohydrates, as you said. They’re considered complex carbohydrates, so they’re loaded with fiber, lots of vitamins, and minerals. They’re not going to be the starchy kind that people assume make up the section of carbs.
Carbs are important for energy production. A lot of research studies out there have shown that they’re good for reducing inflammation in the body and supporting a healthy cardiovascular system. Really, there are a lot of fad diets out there and a lot of misconceptions, really. For the most part, unless you have some sort of major allergy or intolerance, you really don’t need to be cutting out healthy ingredients in your diets like bread and pasta, rice, all the fruits, and vegetables. Potatoes are okay; they get a bad rap too.
It’s really about the portion sizes and making sure that you’re balancing what’s on your plate. I use a small plate. I actually use side plates, and I recommend that my clients and my patients do, as well. Use a side plate or salad plate, fill it half with vegetables, a quarter with starch, and a quarter with a nice, lean protein. That can give you a lot of the energy that you need -- a lot of the fiber, and vitamins, and minerals without leaving room for things that are not going to be your best friend in the weight loss process or the healthy eating process.
Melanie: If you wanted to use food as an energy source, which it is automatically, are there certain foods that you like people to – you’ve mentioned vegetables – and if we want to stay alert and really be as sharp as we can and have focus, what foods do you like us to eat?
Andrea: For alert and focus – you want proper brain function and nerve function for being alert and focusing, so a lot of the things you would be looking for would be your minerals. Magnesium is good for nerve transmission and things like that. You want to make sure that your central nervous system is at its peak, basically. Lots of vitamins and minerals are going to be very important for that. I don’t recommend targeting the vitamins and minerals unless you’re doing supplements because you’re missing things, but making sure that you have a good balance.
Lots and lots of fluid – water is your best choice there – can help boost the function of your vitamins and minerals and make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing. You can feel sluggish or fatigued with a little bit of a brain fog if you’re missing some fluid and are dehydrated. A lot of people are more dehydrated than they really think they are. It isn’t until you get thirsty that you think, “Oh, I should drink something,” but usually, you’re experiencing dehydration long before thirst comes in. That is a huge problem for energy.
Other things that are helpful, B vitamins are wonderful for keeping the energy going and making sure that you’re functioning at your best.
Melanie: How do we know how much we’re getting as far as Magnesium, and Calcium, especially for women and older women, and the B vitamins – B12, we hear about that for alertness and focus. How do we know, and if we are not getting what we should be getting from our food, what do you recommend as far as multivitamins or extra D or any of those kinds of things?
Andrea: That’s a good question. I think, for the most part, if you’re eating a balanced diet, and you really are getting in a good combination of things – that can be leafy green vegetables, some citrus fruits, you’re getting in lean protein sources including beans and eggs. Those are great options, as well, that are very packed with vitamins and minerals. When you’re getting all of those things – whole grain bread and fortified cereals and things like that have a lot of the things that we’re looking for. Most of the time, you’re not going to be deficient in these vitamins and minerals. It’s not very common to be deficient in these if you’re having a balanced diet.
One of the best things you can do if you’re feeling fatigued or you’re feeling sluggish -- there are other things that can happen, too, like muscle cramping or weakness. Other things could be strange things like tingling or numbness in your hands and feet, nausea, and vomiting, and things like that – some of that can come from lacking in vitamins and minerals.
I do recommend you go to your doctor, get tested, have your blood tested for nutrient deficiencies. They’re the best source for figuring out what levels your body requires – what you’re missing. Basically, they’ll send you to the right place to get the supplements you might need. Sometimes, you just need a little bit of Vitamin D. For instance, I am Vitamin D deficient on a regular basis, so I do have to supplement. I found that out at my doctor’s office.
Not everybody needs a multivitamin. Most of the time they won’t do you any harm. I would go for a complete multi vitamin unless you’re over 50 or so, you might need as much iron at that age. In general, for most adults, just a regular, complete multi vitamin can really give you everything that you need if you’re lacking. In general, I would go for specific vitamins and minerals that you’re missing so that you’re not overdoing it and you can really focus on your food.
Melanie: Well, I found that I am Vitamin D deficient, as well. Like you, I do supplement that because it is an important nutrient that many people – so it is a good idea to check with your physician to see if you are Vitamin D deficient – or any of those nutrients, as Andrea said.
Now, what about weight loss because eating for health to stay alert, relaxed, have more energy, that is different than necessarily losing weight, which is a whole different ballgame and quite hard to do. What do you recommend as your best advice about weight loss, and making sure that we’re still getting those adequate nutrients that we need, and what do you think about journaling?
Andrea: Sure. I think you have a really good point there. There are differences. The nice thing about an all foods fit approach, which is the approach that I take, is making sure that you have a generally healthy lifestyle, so when you are quote-unquote dieting, that you’re actually implementing strategies that you’re going to use for the rest of your life. You’re not creating some sort of unsustainable approach that once you finish, the weight comes back on. Really, they do go hand in hand – healthy eating and trying to lose weight.
My big suggestions for people are to make sure that you’re not skipping meals. I think people are under the assumption that if I don’t eat much, I’ll lose weight. That works for some people, but for the most part, it’s very tough. If your body isn’t getting what it needs, it starts to panic, and it goes into this starvation mode. It’s really going to be very hard to lose weight because your body thinks that it’s protecting you from starvation, basically.
Making sure that you’re eating three meals a day – you can make some small meals, and that’s fine – but making sure you’re getting three meals a day and making sure that you have some protein in each of those meals. When you cut your calories, you want to make sure that you have plenty of protein in your body. Otherwise, your body thinks that it’s starving and it’s going to look for – the amino acids that it would get from proteins, it’s going to find it in your muscle stores. Instead of burning off your fat stores, it’s going to burn off your muscle stores. That’s something you really don’t want because muscles help you really burn more calories. Making sure you have three meals a day, and that you have lots of healthy, lean proteins, that’s going to keep your body relaxed and allowing you to use the fat stores to burn off for energy.
Journaling, it’s tough to maintain. I think a lot of people struggle daily making sure that you get it in. I do think in the weight loss process you can come up with some really interesting information. I think information is incredibly valuable in the weight loss process in figuring out what you’re doing on a regular basis that might be helping you or that might be hurting you. I do recommend at least writing it down on a piece of paper. Any Dietician/Nutritionist can take a look at it and see what’s working for you and what’s not working for you.
Also using apps or a website that allow you to track your food and then automatically provides you with information, you might start seeing where there are some red flags. Maybe a food that you love is just too high in calories, or maybe you’re not getting enough protein, and you thought you were. A lot of those can also track your vitamin and mineral intake. That’ something you can look at to see if something needs to be shifted there, as well. Making sure that you’re getting plenty of vitamins and minerals, making sure that you’re getting your protein in and that you’re eating on a consistent basis, can really help you with the weight loss process.
My one last tip for losing weight is to make sure you’re not drinking your calories. If you’re bringing in calories from sodas, and juices, and Frappuccinos, and the sports drinks, and things like that, it’s so easy to overdo your calories that way. You’re not getting a whole lot out of that. A lot of times you're missing fiber and a lot of the vitamins and minerals that you could be getting from whole foods. Make sure that when you’re drinking that you're not drinking extra calories.
Melanie: That’s great information. Wrap it up for us with your best advice, Andrea, on really healthy eating and what we should be thinking about when we really want to see that good, healthy plate, to stay alert, to relax, to have more energy, and just really for our optimal well-being.
Andrea: I think a combination of things – I had a friend actually tell me something pretty interesting, which was nutrition is kind of boring. We know what we should be doing, but sometimes it’s hard to actually put it into place. Every once in a while, just doing a double check and making sure am I eating regularly? Am I filling my plate with fruits and vegetables, and a variety of foods – protein and even some starch – and making sure that you’re getting all of those things and that you’re satisfied and enjoying your meals. If you’re not, it’s easy to give up. It’s easy to throw your hands in the air and saying, “I’m not doing this.”
Look for a balanced variety on your plate. Do you have gorgeous, green, leafy vegetables and ripe fruits – which are amazing right now, locally – and some lean protein. The grill is a great place to get your lean protein right now. Make sure you’re getting that on your plate. It’s all about balance and making sure that it’s livable, it’s something you can adopt as a long-term lifestyle, and that you’ve got a good variety. If you ever are doubting what’s going on, seek professionals. We’ve got all of the information that you need, and we can really help you focus in on what’s going right and what’s going wrong.
Melanie: Thank you for being with us today, Andrea. You’re listening to Medical Intel with MedStar Washington Hospital Center. For more information, you can go to MedStarWashington.org, that’s MedStarWashington.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks, so much for listening.