Joey Wahler (Host): It's something many Americans sorely lack; so we're discussing having a more nutritional diet. Our guest, Brandi Mingyar. She's a Bariatric Dietitian with Mount Carmel Health. This is Wellness in Reach, a Mount Carmel podcast. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Joey Wahler. Hi there, Brandi. Welcome.

Brandi Mingyar, MS, RD, LD: Hi, thank you for having me.

Host: Great to have you aboard. So first, perhaps it gets lost on some of us as we get older. Remind us please, what are some of the fundamental principles of a balanced diet?

Brandi Mingyar, MS, RD, LD: Great question. The biggest thing that comes to mind for me when I think of a balanced diet is variety. Trying to eat a variety of different kinds of foods, making sure that we're getting in all of the food groups. So those food groups specifically that I'm referring to are lean proteins of choice, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, legumes of course as tolerated and specific to any allergies one might have, but eating a variety of those, eating a variety of foods within those categories as well. So thinking about the different colors of fruits and vegetables. They mean something. They mean certain nutrients. Thinking about different sources of proteins. There's going to be a difference between steak versus chicken versus salmon. And so really the best way to ensure that we're getting in all the things that we need, is to eat a variety of different kinds of foods and trying to focus on minimally processed whole foods majority of the time, I think it's best.

Where I tend to think about a healthy diet, I tend to approach it from the sense of focusing on what can we add to our diet versus what do we take away. I think in today's culture, we're so like diet fixated. We think about that diet, and when we think about a diet, I think our brains immediately go to, okay, what do I have to take away?

So instead of thinking about that, I think, okay, what can we add? What variations of foods can we add to our diet? And overall, I think that helps to support a healthy body.

Host: And from your experience, what would you say are a couple of the main things that most people need to add the most?

Brandi Mingyar, MS, RD, LD: Yes, I think that most Americans are not eating enough fiber in particular. Calcium would be another one. Vitamin D, a lot of Americans are deficient in vitamin D. Magnesium would be another one. So I think the ways to kind of help best support making sure that we're getting those in our diet, again, is to eat a variety of different kinds of foods, but then also make sure that we're focusing on foods that have those nutrients in them.

So, examples of fiber sources are going to include your fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, like nuts and seeds, beans, that kind of thing. Good sources of calcium are going to come from dairy products, leafy greens, broccoli, seeds, even some fortified foods like orange juice, for example. Vitamin D, that one's a little bit tricky because there's not a lot of foods that contain vitamin D. Really, our best source of that is going to be the sun. But you can get vitamin D you through egg yolks, fatty fish like salmon for example, and even some fortified foods like milk. But I think vitamin D is definitely one of those things where it's not a bad idea to take it in supplemental form.

I do tend to encourage trying to get in the majority of nutrients that we need from whole food sources first, but definitely don't think that vitamin D is a bad supplement to consider adding into our routines. And then sources of magnesium are going to include nuts and seeds, legumes, avocados, leafy greens, whole grains.

So, yeah, focusing on, again, those, I think, help to kind of combat some of those common deficiencies that we see.

Host: So you've covered some of the content there in very specific form. What about just generally some advice for making balanced eating more a part of our daily routine? It's obviously something that, as you well know, is overwhelming to a lot of people. How can they simply and most easily get started down that road?

Brandi Mingyar, MS, RD, LD: Yeah, I think the first thing that comes to mind for me is planning out meals and trying to have that plan in place before you even go to the grocery store, because I know that the grocery store is a little overwhelming. There's a lot of different foods and food items. It can be really hard to figure out, okay, what do I need to choose?

Like what's going to be best? And so I think at first having a plan and incorporating that in can be really helpful in getting in that variety. Because we live in a culture where everything is fast. We're looking for quick, convenience, grab and go. And sometimes that can be okay, but a lot of the time it's not.

So especially when we're looking to have that variety. Again, like, having that plan, ultimately, I think is the most important thing.

Host: Excellent. Now, when reading food labels, what should people be especially attentive to since many people unfortunately just ignore them altogether, right?

Brandi Mingyar, MS, RD, LD: Yes, absolutely. food labels, I think, are a very helpful tool that allow us to see the quality of the nutrition and what it is that we're consuming. I think probably the most helpful part of a label is the percent daily value, or the percent DV, and that's something you would see on the far right column on a Nutrition Facts label but I think that's particularly helpful as it displays the percentage of the daily value of a nutrient in a serving of food, and these are basically reference amounts of nutrients to consume or not to exceed each day.

So when we're kind of thinking about that and trying to decode the percent daily value, when you see a product or a nutrient that says less than 5 percent of the daily value, that would be considered low versus more than 20 percent would be considered high. So depending on that, what that specific nutrient is, you kind of can understand that within the context of your day in terms of the foods that you're eating. Generally speaking, there are nutrients that you'll see on a label where the goal is to be less than the percent daily value. So those specific nutrients would include saturated fat, sodium, added sugar. The goal again is to be less than the percent daily value.

Versus other nutrients like fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. The goal is to be at least the percent daily value. So I think if you're looking at a product that says 20 percent of the daily value or higher then you can kind of understand when looking at that nutrient where that falls within the context of your day, you know, if we need to increase more of those food sources later on in the day or if that's maybe something that we need to limit for the rest of the day.

So that would be a big thing. I also think reading ingredients lists are so important as well. I think sometimes we tend to get really fixated on the nutrition facts label, and that absolutely is important. There's so much value in that. But I also think that looking at what's in your foods is really important too, especially considering that currently about 70 percent of the American diet is comprised of ultra processed foods.

And we understand that copious amounts of ultra processed foods lend to increased risk for chronic diseases and poor health outcomes. So, yeah, where the nutrition facts are really important, I also think what it is that we're eating and the ingredients that are in our foods are really important to look at as well.

Host: Switching gears a little bit, let's talk about the mental side of things. We all know stress impacts our eating habits. How exactly, in a nutshell, does stress impact our nutritional choices and what's your best advice for managing that so that it doesn't have as much of a negative impact?

Brandi Mingyar, MS, RD, LD: Absolutely. Yes, stress absolutely can impact our nutritional choices and what we're eating. I think though, when it comes to this subject, there's a little bit of variation depending on the person. I kind of see all different sides of this where some people, if they're feeling stressed, they feel like they want to eat or like emotionally eating is definitely something that people struggle with and usually in those moments, we tend to gravitate towards foods that maybe aren't quite as nutrient dense. So I see that side of it, but then I also see the side where people stress not eat.

We, like, we are, I don't know, it's the last thing we want to do is eat if we have like a day, again, where stress is high, we're nervous about something, and it's kind of common in those moments to kind of lose your appetite. So I think it depends a little bit on the person, but first figuring out, which category you're in and under which you feel that you fall, and then understanding that not eating isn't necessarily a good thing, but also stress and emotionally eating, like we're overeating foods as a means to cope with stress is not necessarily a great thing either.

So I think it, again, it kind of comes down to identifying that. And if you are somebody who falls into that camp of feeling like you stress eat or emotionally eat, I always like to recommend trying to associate a positive habit instead with that feeling of stress. So, instead of gravitating towards foods, maybe take a walk, work out, practice some breath work, you know, meditate.

I think that associating that instead can be a really helpful way to manage stress. And really, if you do have a day where you're stressed, you have a lot going on, when it does come down to mealtimes during those days, I think it's good to eat slow, be mindful, and kind of be present on what you're doing.

Host: Great. A couple of other things. You touched on this earlier, but when we talk about vitamins and minerals that Americans generally lack, you ran down a little bit of a list there earlier. What's the best way to know A, what we're lacking there, and B, to supplement?

Brandi Mingyar, MS, RD, LD: Well, I think it's always a good idea to do some food tracking if you feel like you're struggling a little bit in certain areas. And when I say food tracking, I am talking about paying attention to what it is that you're eating, reading food labels, but there are some apps that are out there that are really, really nice for this.

We currently live in a time where there's, again, there's several different apps. And I think a lot of them are great. But with these apps, what you essentially do is you go in, you put in the foods you had to eat for the day. A lot of them have barcode scan features where you can scan a barcode and put it into a log.

And then it kind of keeps track of the nutrition breakdown for you, which is really helpful. So I think for certain individuals that definitely can be a very helpful thing. And I'm not necessarily recommending that we do this all day every day for the rest of our lives, but I think if you want to just kind of get a baseline of where you're at, I think there's a, those apps again can provide a lot of insight, so that way you can see if you're lacking in something or not, and especially when it comes to like, vitamins specifically, I think it's also a really good idea to follow up with your general practitioner, your primary care doc, on getting blood work done. Thankfully, I've noticed that a lot of primary care docs will check vitamin D levels, especially in the area that we live in. So again, I think there's some value in that as well.

Host: And then in summary here, Brandi, for those that find dietary changes to be daunting, which I think is most of us, what's your best advice for keeping from being overwhelmed in those moments when you're like, I don't know what to eat right now or whatever the case may be?

Brandi Mingyar, MS, RD, LD: Yeah. No, I think when it comes to making changes, my biggest piece of advice is to slowly work on things, do things one at a time. Because I think if we try to change a bunch of things at a time, I see it happen frequently where we tend to feel overwhelmed by that. We try to go from zero to a hundred and then it's not sustainable. So I think trying to pick one thing at a time and then going from there. So like if you are somebody who really struggles with, I don't know, meeting your protein goal and your water goal and you feel like you're not eating enough calcium, I don't know, let's just for some examples there, instead of trying to do all of that at once, I think focusing on one thing first and then slowly building up with those changes is going to be more sustainable.

Host: So one step at a time, right? Excellent advice indeed. Well, folks, we trust you're now more familiar with having a nutritional diet. Brandi Mingyar, great advice. Thanks so much again. We appreciate it. And for more information as well as nutritional planning and dietitian services, please visit mountcarmelhealth.com/services/nutrition-counseling. Now, if you found this podcast helpful, please do share it on your social media. And thanks again for being part of Wellness in Reach, a Mount Carmel podcast.