Of course, as with most of my classmates, the thing I am most passionate about with regards to nutrition is… everything. But instead of trying to write a single blog post about everything, I suppose I could highlight just a few of my true loves, culminating in an ode to almonds. Here we go:
Heart Disease Prevention
Due to the sudden loss of my father to a heart attack that rocked my family to the core, I am extremely passionate about the prevention of heart disease. Heart disease is not always something that we can see in someone from the outside. A person can appear to be healthy while suffering from the detrimental effects of a poor quality diet. These cases really strike a chord with me because they highlight the ignorance of the American public regarding heart disease and preventive health care in general. My father thought that because he was not obese and barely 40 years old that he did not have to have regular blood work done, monitor his diet, or be aware of the signs of a heart attack- any of which might have saved his life. Increasing awareness of what heart disease is and how to adopt a heart-healthy diet before you need to are things I hope to help us, as a society, achieve in my lifetime.
Vegetarianism
Another of my passions which, not coincidentally, follows from the first is vegetarianism. A well-balanced whole-food vegetarian diet is very high in vitamins, minerals, and flavor while also being low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cruelty. Another of my life/career goals is to remove the stigma associated with a vegetarian diet; especially in rural areas where, for some reason, the culture tends to condemn plant foods and animal rights while priding itself on over-consumption of high-fat animal products like bacon and red-meat. Not only is a vegetarian diet animal-friendly, but because of it’s lack of animal fats and abundance of plant sterols and fibers, it also lends itself to heart disease prevention.
ALMONDS!
This brings me to my final nutrition passion: almonds. Almonds are my favorite “super food.” I don’t actually know if almonds are on the official “super foods” list or who gets to pick which foods make the cut, but I think almonds are the best thing since sliced bread.
Just name something that the American diet critically lacks. Did you say fiber? How about calcium? Potassium? Iron? Riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, or folate? Almonds are great sources of these nutrients and more! Plus, they are absolutely delicious and packed with protein and mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acids to keep you satiated– the perfect snack.
But wait, there’s more! Research suggests that almonds in particular can help lower LDL (atherogenic) cholesterol levels. Work done by Penn State’s own Penny M. Kris-Etherton, PhD, RD, and published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in 2009, links almond consumption with improved lipid profiles- namely, lower concentrations of serum LDL levels.
In closing…
So my nutrition passion really stems from the heart. I think we could all do a little more to give our hearts and those we love the best possible care we can. Whether we inspire behavior modification directly or simply shed light on the facts and figures of heart disease, the only way to live is with a healthy heart and it’s up to us to make sure people do just that.
