Healthy Nutrition Habits Start Early

Mike Thomas: It's time for us to ask the expert. Joining me on the phone lines today for our ask the expert segment is Stacey Brouk. She's a clinical dietitian at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital. Stacey helps patients by customizing their nutrition plan during their stay and making sure that they recover fast and then continue to be healthy after they leave the hospital. She also works to get the community educated on proper nutrition and we're going to tell you about how you can do that yourself and learn a little bit more about nutrition issues. Stacey, good morning, welcome!

Stacey Brouk: Good morning!

Mike Thomas: Let's talk a little bit about nutrition. What role does that play in preventative health care?

Stacey Brouk: Well optimal health is actually achieved through establishing healthy lifestyles early in life. If we can make healthy food choices from a young age you can actually significantly reduce the occurrence and severity of a variety of chronic diseases. Ultimately, that leads to a healthier life... typically better quality of life as well. It's really important to aim for proper nutrition early in childhood because when kids start out on the right foot they are more likely to carry on these healthy eating habits into adulthood. If you're not sure where to start, you can always contact a registered dietitian, as we are uniquely qualified to provide nutrition education and intervention that can promote healthy lifestyles.

Mike Thomas: It can be a real challenge to maintain a healthy lifestyle. What are some of the common nutrition pitfalls?

Stacey Brouk: There is an awful lot of nutrition misinformation out there. It makes it really confusing to know what you should and shouldn't be doing. It seems like there's always a new study coming out saying you should go low carb, low protein, low fat, gluten free.... you know and the fact is really there is no one size fits all plan. Really what may be good for one person may not be so good for another. For example, you know somebody with diabetes... they would need to pay close attention to their carbohydrate intake... whereas somebody with kidney disease would have to pay more attention to protein, sodium, some other things.

Mike Thomas: One thing we hear about is the importance of drinking water. We're hearing today obviously with the heat, but how important overall is water intake?

Stacey Brouk: Yeah, especially important on hot days like today but it's definitely important all year round. Our bodies are made up of a good 60-plus percent water.. if we don't drink enough we can really quickly become dehydrated. We can really only survive three to five days without water. Putting that into perspective we can survive about three weeks without food.. so it's pretty important to help with the absorption of nutrients from our food.. helps with absorbing medication... all kinds of things so really in order for our bodies to work properly we have to make sure we're adequately hydrated.

Mike Thomas: What about fruits and vegetables and when we're talking about that.. what are considered to be in season now for the state of Missouri.

Stacey Brouk: This time of year is great for fresh produce. There's a lot that's in season.. you know all kinds of fruits like apples,... your berries like your blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries.. your melons.. cherries.. you've got broccoli, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, onions, all kinds of things... zucchini.. you name it it's probably in season this time of year.

Mike Thomas. Wow! Does it make a difference if it's frozen or fresh?

Stacey Brouk: Fresh produce.. you know you pick it.. it sits for days or weeks at a time on a shelf before you actually buy it. In the meantime, you can kind of still lose some of the nutrients whereas fruits and veggies.. they freeze them right away as soon as they pick them. They don't lose as many of the nutrients.. but really your canned veggies, your frozen, your fresh... all of them are good. They can all contribute to a healthy diet so I'm always happy as long as people are eating fruits and vegetables regardless of where they come from.

Mike Thomas: Sure, sure.. What about as we grow older and you know, our lives change and our physical appearances change and things like that. How often do our nutrition needs change through our lives?

Stacey Brouk: Our nutrition needs are changing constantly throughout our lives. A lot can affect our body's nutrition needs. If you're sick, that can make a difference. You have wounds... if you're pregnant, if you're a baby vs. when you're an adolescent... you know, a toddler.. all different ages have different needs. If you've got a certain disease like diabetes, kidney disease, those sorts of things.. certainly an athlete requires different things than a couch potato as well so the needs are definitely constantly changing.

Mike Thomas: Yes, some great news. I guess the key is that if folks need more information on dietary needs or whatever they can always contact you at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters and Progress West Hospital and/or check out the Facebook page or just give them a call at 636.928.WELL. That's the first step. If you think you have a need to find out more about nutrition, contact someone that knows what they're talking about like a registered dietitian like yourself.

Stacey Brouk: Absolutely.

Mike Thomas: You Bet. Stacey, thank you for joining us this morning. I appreciate it.

Stacey Brouk: Thank you!

Mike Thomas: Alright, that's Stacey Brouk she is a clinical dietitian at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital as we ask the expert right here on today's hot country KFAV.