News
Heart Health: Support your Heart with the Mediterranean Diet
While it's no secret that cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death regardless of age, ethnicity, or gender1, choosing a heart healthy diet can be overwhelming. But what if one of the heart healthy diets available could enable your own gut bacteria to help fight heart disease?The Mediterranean Diet has been long recognized as a cardio...
Nutrition for Diabetes Managment
By Kristen LaStofka, Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences student at UT AustinHealth Promoting Foods for Type 2 DiabetesDiabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States with 30.3 million people having diabetes and of that 90 to 95% of cases are type 2 diabetes.1 Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes and is the...
4 Tips to Getting Involved in Public Policy for UT Students
Being within walking distance of the Texas state capitol building has its perks. From taking iconic photos in front of the 311-foot historic building to lounging around on the green lawns of the Texas Capitol Grounds, we can all agree that this landmark building is a centerpiece of Austin and the great state of Texas. It is the influential work tha...
How Improved Nutrition Could Decrease Risk of Cancer
Today, obesity reigns as one of the leading risk factors for chronic diseases, including certain types of cancers, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and chronic inflammation. Over the past 40 years there has been a remarkable epidemic that has shown greater prevalence of early-onset and persistent obesity among young adults [1]...
It's National Nutrition Month!
March is National Nutrition Month! There are a few fun events being held at or around UT in order to promote health and nutrition.We kicked off the month at Explore UT with both Texas Nutrition and Coordinated Program in Dietetics presentations. Explore UT an annual event focused on bring science, exploration, and discovery to the larg...
To Plant or Not to Plant?
By Kellen Cantrell, MSNS StudentPlant based, vegetarian, flexitarian, or balanced diet Many individuals are considering diet and lifestyle changes to prevent disease, lose weight, and improve overall health. It is known that increasing vegetable consumption is associated with improved health,1 but does that mean that we should all be vegetarian or ...
Medical School and Nutrition
Jessica Wenzel, UT Nutrition graduate and medical student at Dell Med, talks nutrition education.Nutrition is among the hottest current health topics. In addition to being a moderator of chronic disease and a social determinant of health, nutrition spurs curiosity among health professionals and patients alike. In my experience, many physicians valu...
Nutrition Research Retreat: Event Spotlight
By Brittany Harlow, Doctoral Student in Nutritional Sciences at the University of Texas at AustinWith a new Data Blitz activity, this year's Nutrition Research Retreat proved even more engaging and interactive than the last. The program commenced with a talk by the newly appointed Dean of the College of Natural Sciences Dr. Paul Goldba...
Let's Talk About Fermentation
By Gracia Dala, Nutrition Student at the University of Texas at AustinWhat is fermentation?You might have noticed in recent years that kefir, kombucha, and kimchi have gained popularity, these products all share one distinct quality (no, it's not that they all start with the letter "k"). These three products have all gone through ferme...
UT Students Bring Culinary Nutrition to Austin Home Cooks
While some Longhorns lazed by the pool this summer, a few undergraduate nutrition student volunteers and students in the Coordinated Program for Dietetics (CPD) turned up the heat…in the kitchen. A new culinary nutrition program, Susie's Kitchen, kicked off this summer with four unique installments featuring hands-on days of cooking, n...
Ben Lecomte: The Longest Swim
It all began with an article in the Austin-American Statesman about Ben Lecomte's brave attempt to swim the Pacific Ocean to raise awareness of the increasing pollution filling our world's water resources. Dr. Molly Bray was teaching Sports Nutrition at the time, and she invited Ben to visit a class to describe the various challenges he would...
Factual Food Labels: Health Claims
With abundant nutrition and health information in our physical and virtual environments, it is easy to get lost in health claims made on food products. How often have you read a food label that claims a particular food will "boost your immune system," or is "heart healthy?" Yet, do you know what these claims truly mean? Are they consis...
Factual Food Labels: A Closer Look at the History
For many consumers, food labels are a primary source of information about the foods and products they eat. Because of this, it is important that these labels are trustworthy, and that companies are held accountable for the claims printed onto their products.First, to understand the importance of food labels, let's look at why food labels were creat...
Nutrigenomics: What Do Diet and Genes Have To Do With Health?
Have you ever wondered how the food that you eat is related to your overall health? Research shows that diet has a strong correlation with chronic disease, but why? What role does the human genome play in this relationship? The newly emerging area of nutritional science, Nutrigenomics, seeks to answer these questions and transform our current under...
A Growing Need For Health Professionals: Nutritional Education
Gut microbiome, nutrigenomics, vitamin supplements, omega-9 fatty acids, gluten free, GMO: we are all bombarded with these terms—and so many other—on a daily basis when we talk with friends, listen to the media, and even glance at an advertisement. The public routinely turns to health care or wellness professionals to understand what these nutritio...
What’s In The Name? Registered Dietitian vs. Nutritionist
Over the last decade, our understanding of health and delivery of health care has become increasingly focused on of nutrition as prevention and treatment of disease. Yet, when it comes to nutrition in healthcare, there is often confusion as to who is the nutrition expert. For many, the terms "nutritionist" and "registered dietitian" are interchange...
