registered dietitian nutritionist

Jan 21 2025

Self-Care: The Role of Nutrition

Self-care contributes to your overall health. Self-care is about nourishment – physically, mentally, and emotionally. Nutrition is the ultimate form of nourishment for the health of body and mind.

Physical Health

Taking care of your body is essential for maintaining good physical health. Self-care can improve your immune system, helping you ward off illness and recover more quickly when you do get sick. Eating a healthful diet, including a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods, such as, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, provides nutrients your body needs and the fuel your body can use for exercise. When you prioritize these elements, you reduce your risk of developing illness.

Mental Health

Mental health is as important as physical health. The foods we eat have a direct effect on our mental health since approximately 95% of the body’s serotonin is produced by gut bacteria. Serotonin acts as a neurotransmitter that affects mood, cognition, and memory. Low levels of serotonin have been linked to depressive feelings, sadness, and fatigue. You can help boost serotonin levels in your body by feeding your gut prebiotics, such as, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and probiotics, such as, fermented foods.

Emotional Health

It is not uncommon to turn to highly processed, sugary, and fatty foods when stressed, sad, tired, or bored. Initially, it can be satisfying. However, it is always a temporary fix. A healthful solution is mindful eating. Mindful eating will help you take back control of what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat. Learn more about mindful eating here

By taking deliberate actions to care for yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally, you can improve your overall health. Incorporating self-care into your daily routine does not have to be complicated or time-consuming – small nutritional changes or lifestyle changes can make a big difference in your health and well-being.

Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or disconnected from your own needs? It’s time to pause, reflect, and embark on a transformative journey with Brandywine Nutrition’s 5-Day Self-Care Challenge. This free challenge is more than just a series of activities; it is an invitation to explore, understand, and nurture all aspects of your well-being.

What Is the 5-Day Self-Care Challenge?

The challenge is a 5-day email series that guides you through different facets of self-care each day. This series will help you better understand what self-care truly means for you and how you can integrate it seamlessly into your daily life.

Sign up now – FREE – Brandywine Nutrition’s 5-Day Self-Care Challenge

Sep 30 2021

What to Eat Pre Workout for the Best Nutrition and Fitness Benefits

I find that sharing questions I receive helps many people. Today I respond to a question about eating before your workout.

Q: How far in advance of working out should you eat and what should you eat?

A: Giving your body the right combination of nutrients before a workout can provide the energy to perform and recover better.

Each of the macronutrients plays a role in performance and recovery.

Protein stimulates muscle protein synthesis which aids muscle growth and recovery

Carbs provide your body with glucose which is your muscle’s main source of energy during shorter workouts and high intensity exercise

Fat plays a role in providing fuel for longer, low to moderate intensity exercise

For best results, consume a meal 2-3 hours before your workout. The meal should contain a balance of protein, carbs, and fat. The extra time you have before your workout allows your body time to digest the nutrients and make them available for use during your workout.

Good examples of meals to eat 2-3 hours before a workout include:

Lean meat with veggies and brown rice
Whole grain bread with egg, avocado, and a side of fruit
Oatmeal with peanut butter, blueberries, and a protein shake

If you are pressed for time, you can still eat a meal 45-60 minutes before a workout. The meal should be smaller. Instead of a balance of macronutrients, your meal should consist of mostly carbs and some protein.

Good examples of meal s to eat 45-60 minutes before a workout include:

Banana or apple with nut butter
Blueberry and banana protein smoothie
Hard-cooked egg and toast

Eating too much food before a workout may cause stomach discomfort, bloating, or nausea during your workout.

If you would like further information or would like to submit a question: Contact me by phone or email.

Jul 01 2021

How To Eat Healthy, Clean Meals When You Are Cooking Challenged

Are you cooking challenged? Do you want to make healthy, clean meals but you hate to cook, have no time to cook, or you’re just not a good cook?

Good news! You are not doomed to be unhealthy. It is possible to prepare healthy, clean meals that you won’t have to cook.

Here’s how:

“No Cook” Meals

What better choice for the cooking challenged person than not to cook at all! You can put together fresh healthy, clean meals without cooking a thing. A few tasty options include:

Bowls: Healthy bowl recipes are not only popular, moreover, they are delicious. Bowl meals are versatile.
Soup: Chilled soup is super easy to prepare because it is made right in your blender. In other words, no cooking required.
Smoothies: Smoothies seem super healthy. But a smoothie may not be all that nutritious. Be sure to use clean ingredients and don’t add unwanted calories.
Wraps: Almost anything can be rolled up into a wrap and if you are looking for a low-carb wrap option, lettuce or other greens can be used.

Fresh & Fully Cooked Meal Delivery Services

We can get pretty much anything delivered to our front doors these days. Fully prepared meals, for example. The following services deliver healthy, clean gourmet meals.

Take a look:

The meals can be customized to your dietary needs. They are comparably priced to eating at a restaurant.

“Dump” Dinners

Dump dinner recipe ingredients are prepped ahead and placed in the freezer until you are ready to use them. They do require a tiny bit of cooking.

However, three easy steps make it possible to prepare 3 or more dump dinners in an hour:

Assemble the raw ingredients
Wrap the ingredients tightly
Freeze

You will need:

Heavy duty freezer Ziploc bags
A marker
Recipes
All recipe ingredients
Space in your freezer

Dump dinners are perfect for anyone who is cooking challenged. When you are ready to use the dinner, just “dump” the ingredients from the freezer into the crockpot or a baking pan.

Many of us are cooking challenged. But with healthy, clean ingredients & some time to prep ahead, you can still put together healthy, clean meals without cooking.

If you are cooking challenged here is your solution:

Grab the FREE blueprint for building as many healthy, tasty bowls as you like & the blueprint for the perfect smoothie!

Feb 22 2021

A Heart Healthy Lifestyle: 5 Easy Steps

February is Heart Health Month

Today I would like to share easy steps you can take that will put you on the path to a heart healthy lifestyle.

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States. This is a good time to focus on heart health and what you can do to maintain a healthy heart.

Diet for a healthy heart

Choose food options that are low in saturated fat and sodium. Avoid sugary drinks and snacks. Eat more fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats. The nutrients, such as, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and phytonutrients, found naturally in whole foods, help maintain healthy blood vessels and protect against high blood pressure. This will protect you against heart disease. The best way I know to get the needed nutrients for a heart healthy lifestyle is a clean eating plan. Read more about a clean eating plan and why you should start one today.

Make exercise part of your heart healthy lifestyle

Plan for just 30 minutes per day. If you are short on time, any exercise is better than no exercise at all for a healthy heart. If you are bored with routine exercise, try dancing, playing games or a sport in the yard, or just take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Family history

Learn your family’s medical history to see if you are prone to heart disease. This will give you a heads up not only for yourself but also for your children.

Stress

Be aware of being stressed and have a plan to deal with it. Some stress management techniques are: yoga, meditation, and don’t forget, laughing. These techniques also help you sleep better.

Preventative measures

Be sure to get wellness exams. Maintain a healthy weight and don’t smoke.

Small heart healthy lifestyle changes can make all the difference in preventing heart disease.

Get my Tips & Tricks on How To Succeed on a Clean Eating Plan

Feb 27 2018

Top 5 Reasons To Avoid Store-Bought Salad Dressing

Most store-bought salad dressing is unhealthy.

Store-bought salad dressing is probably the last thing you would suspect to contain toxic ingredients. It does. The following toxic ingredients are good reasons to avoid purchasing salad dressing.

1. Cheap, highly processed oils

Processing strips the oil of nutrients. It also adds potentially toxic processing chemicals. Examples of processed oils are: vegetable, soybean, and canola.They are far from healthy. They are high in omega-6 fatty acids which can be inflammatory. Most are genetically modified. Even when the label indicates made with olive oil, most store-bought salad dressings still contain soybean or canola oil as cheap fillers.

2. Sweeteners and sodium

Sweeteners are a common ingredient in store-bought salad dressings because water is often added as a filler. So, added sweeteners are a way to add flavor. Some manufacturers use sugar as the sweetener. Many, however, use High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), likely because it is cheaper. Studies indicate that HFCS can contribute to several health risks including increased abdominal fat.

Sodium levels in store-bought salad dressings can be extremely high, once again, due to the use of water as a filler and the need to deliver more flavor.

3. Artificial ingredients

Artificial colors are used to make the salad dressing look more appealing. There is not much color In cheap oil and water! Common artificial colors used include:

caramel color
FDC yellow #5 & yellow #6
titanium dioxide (the same compound used to make paint brighter)

Also, in “light” varieties of store-bought salad dressing, artificial sweeteners are often used.

4. Stabilizers/emulsifiers

Manufacturers must give the salad dressing consistent texture. The only way to do this is with more additives. Water and oil do not naturally remain mixed together. The additive most used for this in store-bought salad dressing is xanthan gum. New research finds xanthan gum may have an adverse effect on our gut.

5. Preservatives

Although homemade salad dressing will keep for months in your refrigerator, it will not last long on a shelf. Therefore, manufacturers must use preservatives in their salad dressings. Some preservatives you will want to avoid include:

potassium sorbate
calcium disodium EDTA (known to cause skin reactions and GI upset)
sodium benzoate (research links to hyperactivity and behavior problems in children)

Don’t ruin your next healthy salad by pouring junk on it. Especially, when there are so many tasty alternatives.

See some quick, tasty, less expensive alternatives here.

Grab my FREE tip sheet How To Succeed On A Clean Eating Plan

These tips will help you make the changes needed to achieve a healthy, clean eating lifestyle.