Some random musings on nutrition………

Is bacon really so bad?
Chocolate should be classified as a supplement, like a vitamin or mineral.
Carbohydrates taste good.
Real sugar is healthier than saccharine and fake sugars.  Just ask your intestines!
Speaking of intestines….what about those low fat chips?  I’ll take my potato chips natural.
Fake butter?  I can’t believe it tastes like butter!

I really try to practice what I preach.  My diet is healthy (sans dessert with tea each night). I rarely miss a day without vegetables and fruit and when I do, I feel lousy.  So what am I grousing about?  According to my BMI, I’m obese. Do I hear a “join the club” out there? There’s no need to repeat that obesity is fast becoming America’s number one health problem. When I have the opportunity to speak with my patient’s about their BMI, I tiptoe around the “O” word.  As I sit there covering my bulging meno-pot, I feel like a hippo-crit (pun intended)!  It’s an insult for many to tell them that their BMI places them in the “obese” category. So the term “beyond the overweight category” creeps into the conversation.

We should be comfortable conversing about nutrition when caring for our home care patients.  We talk about foods high in Vitamin K with our patients on warfarin.  Discussing the need for adequate protein consumption with our wound care patients is second nature.  How about the ageless discussion of sodium’s impact on hypertension and CHF?  But when it comes to talking about our patients’ weight when we know it has caused their current condition, many tend to skirt around the issue.  As nurses we can talk about bowel habits and bladder incontinence without much discomfort.  Let’s try to work on developing a script for a more comfortable conversation about obesity with our patients. I’ll continue to tip toe around the “O” word for now.  But I won’t hesitate to try to open the conversation about weight and a healthy diet.  “Ya know Mrs. Smith…I hear you about how hard it is to get to a healthy weight…”

I’ll talk about exercise on another day!

Debra Bertrand, CHAMP Facilitator