Nutrition in the Age of Viral Trends: Separating Fact from Fiction

February 6, 2024 | Episode 9

Producer’s Note: The following is an AI-generated transcript of The Wellness Conversation, an OhioHealth Podcast

SPEAKERS: Missy Gleason, Marcus Thorpe, Priya Patel, RD

 

Missy Gleason  00:14

Hello and welcome to another episode of the wellness conversation and OhioHealth podcast, your trusted source for health and wellness insights. I'm your host, Missy Gleason.

 

Marcus Thorpe  00:23

And I'm your co host, Marcus Thorpe. Today we're exploring a topic that's on everyone's mind, especially in this digital age. It is nutrition, but not just any nutrition talk for you today, we're actually digging into how the viral world of how social media actually influences our dietary choices.

 

Missy Gleason  00:40

And to help us navigate these waters. We have a special guest OhioHealth dietitian Priya Patel. Thanks for joining us.

 

Priya Patel, RD  00:46

Of course,

 

Marcus Thorpe  00:47

This is an interesting topic we see everybody's obviously on social media almost all the time. And we're being fed a lot of different things, especially when it comes to nutrition. So we're gonna get deep into that with you. But first, we want to let our listeners know a little bit more about you. What led you to your journey? How did you become a dietitian here at OhioHealth?

 

Priya Patel, RD  01:06

Well, so for me, I've had a lot of family members with some medical issues. And they required specialized diets. And so that was my first introduction to nutrition. I started inpatient, but I felt like I could make a bigger impact in an outpatient setting, by being able to spend more time with my patients and seeing them on a regular basis.

 

Marcus Thorpe  01:25

Yeah, I was gonna say you're right, it is one of those things where it's more of that long term relationship.

 

Priya Patel, RD  01:31

Yeah, that makes a difference. It really does. Because I feel like patients are able to open up to you a little bit more rather than Okay, hi, I'm going to talk to you for five minutes and then not see you again. And that's what it was like in an inpatient setting. So I appreciate outpatient a little bit more.

 

Missy Gleason  01:47

That's awesome. So today, we're gonna start, we're gonna just lay the foundation to begin with. So very basic question, but an important one, can you help us understand what balanced nutrition really does look like?

 

01:59

 So balanced nutrition, I think you have to look at the bigger picture, right? It's very important to incorporate all the different food groups in your diet, veggies, non starchy vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, but then also make a little bit of room for food that you enjoy. Like the cheeseburger that you're talking about.

 

Marcus Thorpe  02:17

I do like cheeseburgers. So it's okay to have moderation. So if you include some of those things that you really, really want in your diet, it's okay, as long as it's not the only thing in your diet. Absolutely.

 

Priya Patel, RD  02:29

Because typically, when you try to avoid something that you love, you're gonna over indulge, when you do have that bite of cheeseburger, you'll probably have two cheeseburgers, right? And so it's important to allow yourself to enjoy the things that you enjoy. How

 

Marcus Thorpe  02:43

do you look at misconceptions in your line of work? I see them and I'm sure Missy, you see them too. But it's not my world all the time. So sometimes I'm like, maybe that is true that you can drink that kind of juice to lose 20 pounds. But I'm really curious how somebody in your world a dietician, looks at all the misinformation that's out there, do you just shake your head and go, I can't believe people are buying into this.

 

Priya Patel, RD  03:07

It's wild, what I see out there, I feel like something that I see typically is having to just eliminate one certain thing from your diet in order to be successful with something. And I usually say like, that's not going to be realistic for you long term because you are going to crave that cheeseburger, right? So everything in moderation, for sure.

 

Marcus Thorpe  03:30

We can't say cheeseburger anymore on this podcast. The podcast is

 

Priya Patel, RD  03:34

Turning into a drinking game right?

 

Marcus Thorpe  03:36

It's coming, it's coming for sure.

 

Missy Gleason  03:37

So a lot of the information that is out there nowadays is on social media. And so many people claim to be experts in the nutrition area, or they're just living their life and saying this worked for me, it's gonna work for you. And that's not necessarily the case for everybody. So, I would love to know, from your perspective, how can our listeners help identify credible nutrition sources as they're scrolling? throughout their day?

 

04:05

I usually say make sure that they have the title Registered Dietitian. So look for rd or LD, which is licensed dietitian, make sure you're following people with those credentials. And then make sure like if you're if it if there's like a link or something associated with that certain video, click on that link. Does it end in a .org? Does it end in a .edu? If so, then that's a realistic reliable source. But if it's taking you to Gatorade weight loss.com Like that's not realistic.

 

Marcus Thorpe  04:36

So how about some insights into the role that dietitians can provide you said, you know, look for those really important letters at the end of somebody's title to make sure what role then can a dietician playing, providing reliable and accurate information? What background have they had to even get to that point because you don't just hand out degrees for dietitians. They have to really go through the rigors of understanding every thing that comes with the right kind of diet?

 

Priya Patel, RD  05:01

Absolutely. So well, in order to be a dietician, you have to have a bachelor's, whether it's in dietetics or nutrition, and then you have to complete an internship. So rotations in patients that in outpatient setting, and then obviously take the registration exam and that's how you get your dietitian credentialing. There are a variety of dieticians out there, one that's mainly for weight loss or diabetes focused, some that are kidney related dieticians. But I usually say like most dietitians when we're looking at new information, and how can that apply to a certain patient, we look to see if it's sustainable. Is it realistic? Is there going to be a financial burden on that patient? Right, because most people can't afford meal delivery services that are like 500 a month, that's just not realistic for them. So you have to look at the whole picture.

 

Missy Gleason  05:50

Talking about social media and the impact it has on us as you scroll every day, you know, there's a lot of people out there on Tiktok and Instagram, specifically, that share a lot of diet trends. What are your thoughts on some of these trends? And honestly, I'd be curious to know, what are some that you're like, there is some good right there and what might be another one that you're just like this is just hogwash.

 

Priya Patel, RD  06:16

Before we get into this, I want to know have you guys tried any trends?

 

Marcus Thorpe  06:19

Oh my gosh. I've given up social media for a little while. So I'm not doing TikTok.

 

Priya Patel, RD  06:24

Well what have you heard?

 

Marcus Thorpe  06:26

That's a good question. My wife really drives what we do what we eat, I will say that, but she does find recipes on Tik Tok that say, you know, hey, this is so easy for you. This is so healthy. And I guess I just kind of take it for what they say, Oh, it must be healthy. But I don't really look at any of the ingredients. So do I really know if it is I probably fall into that trap quite a bit.

 

Missy Gleason  06:48

When I see a lot of on Tiktok are greens powders, okay. And just a lot of people pushing them and I've, I am very skeptical and critical by nature. Like I look at that stuff. And I get very curious about well, what are you selling me? Yeah, that's my first question. But then the other one is from a dieticians perspective, are those a good way to get nutritents?

 

Priya Patel, RD  07:13

Yeah well, it's funny because I think I know what posts you're talking about. A lot of people have been posting it. And I usually say if you see like, sponsored or ad within that post, then that individual is probably getting paid to post it. So I probably wouldn't do that. If I do see those. Like the hashtag sponsored or the hashtag ad. Personally, for me, what I've been seeing lately is Have you guys heard of lettuce water?

 

Missy Gleason  07:39

No,

 

Marcus Thorpe  07:39

1.  

 

Priya Patel, RD  07:39

Okay. So what people do is you take a cup, and then you put lettuce in it, and then hot boiling water. And apparently that's supposed to work as a sleep aid.

 

Missy Gleason  07:50

But isn't lettuce like mostly water to begin with?

 

Priya Patel, RD  07:53

It is yeah, and there's no like, where, where, where do people come up with this? There's no background. Nothing really associated to that. no science, no research. But once someone does it, and then someone else, repost it, someone else will do it and then see that their mom did it and it's working. But it's more of like a placebo effect. Right?

 

Marcus Thorpe  08:15

Yeah

 

Priya Patel, RD  08:16

Something that I saw last year was coffee, and lemon. So you take a coffee, you're nodding. You take coffee, and then you add a squeeze of like half a lemon or something like that to it. And that is supposed to cause weight loss. And over five days, nothing else, you don't have to change your diet at all, you just have to do coffee and lemon. If

 

Marcus Thorpe  08:40

If only it was that easy.

 

Priya Patel, RD  08:42

So I usually say if something seems too easy, or too fast, it's probably too good to be true.

 

Marcus Thorpe  08:49

I do see a lot of ads. And I think that's an important way for you to put it is if you see an advertisement or you see an ad and a lot of it is, you know the Keto thing or and I'm sure that there is some people that are doing keto successfully and there maybe there is a right way and a wrong way to do some of these diets or whatever you want to call them. But I watched the videos and it is it's mind boggling how somebody could be pulled into that, and the way that they're selling it. And people obviously are buying it if they're still advertising it. So there must be a lot of people out there that are falling prey to some of these things. Yeah, and

 

Priya Patel, RD  09:29

a lot of it has to do with like education too. If you're unsure, then reach out to your medical providers reach out to your dieticians and get some accurate feedback from them.

 

Marcus Thorpe  09:39

I guess that goes into our next question, which is what are some potential risks of following viral nutrition trends is sometimes it's not just oh, I'm out some money. It can be a lot worse than just losing a couple of 100 bucks on a bottle of medicine that you really don't know much about. Absolutely

 

Priya Patel, RD  09:57

will want it expensive. have. And most of the time, I feel like these trends lead to unrealistic results and expectations. It's funny my co workers and I, we were talking about this blogger that died last year because she only believed in a fruit and vegetable diet. And so typically when you're doing like drastic diets or trends that could potentially lead to body dysmorphia, or death. So, like I said, like if you're unsure of if something is realistic or accurate, then reach out to your doctor or reach out to your dietitian to see, will this be a positive benefit for me? Or is this just like a hoax?

 

Missy Gleason  10:41

I think well, Priya, you have helped us on our team with social media and debunking and also sharing what's legitimate and one of the things you talked about was tart cherry cherry juice.

 

Priya Patel, RD  10:54

Yeah

 

Missy Gleason  10:55

Can you explain a little bit about that.

 

Priya Patel, RD  10:56

So just like the the lettuce water that I talked about, people say that if you drink the tart cherry juice that kind of acts like melatonin, and it'll help you fall asleep a little faster, easier. From what the research that I did, that's not pretty accurate. And it doesn't, not everyone can drink juice right before bed, because it's a lot of carbohydrates. So if you have diabetes, and you are reading this article and trying to fall asleep, you drink a cup of juice, that's not going to help you because that's going to raise your blood sugar's right. And so that's what I mean by will take that information to your doctor and say, Does this fit my medical records? Does this fit my lifestyle? And as a diabetic, it probably doesn't.

 

Marcus Thorpe  11:38

So, in your line of work, how often when you're talking to a patient on a pretty regular basis, which I'm sure you do, how often are they talking about these things that they see tick tock videos or something on Instagram, or maybe just on Facebook or a website that they came across? Do you get that quite a bit from your patient base.

 

Priya Patel, RD  11:58

All of the time. And so what I actually do is like if they'll I get the most random as trends that they find some that I've never even heard of, or seen. And so I'll share my laptop with them. And then we'll Google together like, is coffee and lemon water mix together? Is that going to help with weight loss? And I'll kind of show them like, okay, let's click on the first couple of links. And if it doesn't end, like I mentioned in that dark.org or.edu, or a medical institution, that it's probably not accurate information that you're finding.

 

Marcus Thorpe  12:29

I will say it goes back to some of the discussions we've had on this podcast that everyone is searching for the quick fix. Everyone is searching for the magic pill. Yeah, instead of understanding that nutrition is truly a lifestyle change. It's not of just for 30 days, it's changing things to where you see it for the rest of your life.

 

Priya Patel, RD  12:48

Absolutely. Yeah. And I know you mentioned like the keto diet, and that's something that I get a lot of my patients come in and they do like the full on keto diet, lose a lot of weight. But then afterwards, the keto diet isn't sustainable. Right, you're you do miss your pizza, you do miss your burrito's you miss carbohydrates, and so you're gonna indulge, and then you gain the weight that you lost, plus more back, so it's not sustainable.

 

Missy Gleason  13:16

We have a wonderful series on the OhioHealth wellness blog, and it is about all the different diets that are out there. And it's we work with a lot of our dietitians on it. And one of the ones that is actually shown in a good light is the is mindful eating. Can you explain a little bit about what that is?

 

Priya Patel, RD  13:39

So mindful eating is basically allowing yourself to enjoy foods that you love, but in a mindful manner. So for example, if you're one that enjoys eating Oreos, if you're craving an Oreo, allow yourself to eat that Oreo, but mindfully eat it. So look, pick up that Oreo. Look at the texture of it. Look at the different colors. Take a small nibble of it. What flavors Are you tasting? Or is it the creaminess? Is it vanilla? Is it cocoa from that cookie? The texture, could you hear a little bit of that crunch. Oftentimes, when we're eating stuff like Oreos, and chips, we will sometimes pop an entire Oreo into our mouth, and then eat it really fast and grab another. And when you're not mindfully eating, you're more likely to grab more portions of that. But when you're doing all those things that I explained, like assessing that Oreo, eating it slowly, you're more likely to be satisfied from that experience of eating that one Oreo that you're not going to grab a second or third.

 

Marcus Thorpe  14:39

So first I've ever heard that

 

Missy Gleason  14:40

Really?

 

Marcus Thorpe  14:41

Really

 

Priya Patel, RD  14:41

Try it out. Try it out like even like with chips like or popcorn we grab a handful and put it in our mouth and it's just gonna lead to more and more and more but if you're doing one at a time and kind of appreciating the taste and the texture, it makes a difference.

 

Marcus Thorpe  14:57

My mind is blown. I'm not kidding around. I've never heard of that?

 

Missy Gleason  15:01

Go read the Blog

 

Marcus Thorpe  15:03

 I should read the blog a little bit more than I do.

 

Missy Gleason  15:05

I'm teasing. But it's I think it's a good combination. It's it's, it's having that balanced nutrition that we talked about at the start of the podcast, making sure that you are eating in all of your food groups, but also then spending time with the foods that you do enjoy, and you appreciate. But when you're doing that, slow down and enjoy it.

 

Priya Patel, RD  15:24

Absolutely.

 

Missy Gleason  15:25

That's I that's kind of what I live by, like my, my own person ever feel like

 

Priya Patel, RD  15:28

Never feel like you have to eliminate something. But I think it's also important to get the nutritious things in your diet as well.

 

Marcus Thorpe  15:36

I've kind of a personal question for you. It's kind of like when I go to the dentist, I sometimes want to ask the dentist, what do you do for your own teeth? Right? I'm curious about what experts in their field do to take care of themselves. And so being a dietitian, and I have one here available to ask this question to explain what you do from a dieticians perspective for yourself, how do you eat? How do you view food on a daily or weekly basis? I'm just curious about that

 

Priya Patel, RD  16:02

That's a really good question. So for me, I make sure whatever I eat is something I enjoy, right. And oftentimes, people tend to think like healthy foods, just mainly salads, or it's just blah, there's no flavor, but it doesn't have to be that way. For me, I try to incorporate all of my veggies, my whole grains, my lean protein, but in a way that I enjoy eating, I don't want it to be a chore, right? I am still able to have burgers and pizza. But I also have a side salad with that too, to get that balance.

 

Marcus Thorpe  16:37

Okay, breakfast, do you, you know you hear these trends? Hey, skip breakfast, don't do it. Do intermittent fasting and start eating at 11 and then close your window at six. How do you view breakfast? How do you view intermittent fasting?

 

Priya Patel, RD  16:50

So it's funny, I've actually tried intermittent fasting because I wanted to see well, a lot of my patients are doing it. Is it realistic? What's this hype about? I was starving by lunch, I over ate lunch to the point where I had food coma all week. And I'm like this is not realistic. Like it's, I'm better off eating something for breakfast eating something that has protein in it to fuel me throughout the day. And then I'm eating a balanced meal at lunchtime. And it's not multiple portions either.

 

Missy Gleason  17:20

So you mentioned at the start before we started recording that you have some suggestions on trusted or social accounts that you do trust for nutrition advice. So

 

Priya Patel, RD  17:31

I do like Zach Cohen ZACHCOEN on TikTok, okay. The dietitian. Andy does healthy. That's another account. Do you follow?

 

Missy Gleason  17:41

I follow her? Yes.

 

17:43

I love her a lot. And then the plants plant? Have you heard of that one? No, I haven't. So most of these accounts that I mentioned, they do a lot of like debunking of myths and these trends, and they have that nutrition background. Check them out.

 

Marcus Thorpe  17:57

We'll do. How about OhioHealth initiatives? Let's talk about big picture large health system with dieticians throughout not only central Ohio, but then some of the regional spaces too. Let's talk about initiatives that OhioHealth is doing currently to promote some balanced diet, some wellness to incorporate some of this into patient's daily lives.

 

Priya Patel, RD  18:16

Yeah so OhioHealth actually is starting a new program in central Ohio. It's called diabetes, self management and education and support. It's a program that starts with like a one on one assessment with a diabetes educator. And then from there, you are received, you receive the opportunity from attending for classes that are done within a month. And during these classes. Some of the topics that are discussed will include monitoring your blood sugar, a deep dive into healthy eating and learning how to continue your journey with diabetes. So in order to enroll in this program, you do need a referral from your provider. But if you want to get more details, please call us at 614-566-2700

 

Marcus Thorpe  18:58

I love that. It's a great idea. I do think sometimes the hardest part is just understanding the navigation of it. All right, I mean, just getting that, that solid start that you can move on because otherwise you're just grasping at straws forever, and you never quite get your feet into it.

 

Priya Patel, RD  19:15

The first place to start is talking to your healthcare provider because they were gonna they're going to provide you the appropriate path to where you need to go next and receive the help that you need.

 

Missy Gleason  19:26

And no worries if you missed the phone number that Priya gave we will have this information on the OhioHealth wellness blog. So no need to stop your car or stop down you can just navigate yourself to blog.ohiohealth.com and we'll have a corresponding article with this podcast too for you to get that other information. Anything we missed today.

 

Marcus Thorpe  19:50

Food is such a big space. It is it's amazing that you have so much to cover. I just don't I don't know how you keep on top of all the new things. I guess that The beauty of dietitians and what we do is there are some tried and true. But then it's always evolving to with new foods and introduction as different things. So you have to stay on top of an ever changing space.

 

Priya Patel, RD  20:13

I really liked the phrase, eat what you love. And sorry, let me let me repeat that again. I really liked the phrase, eat what you love and add what you need. So what that means is, for example, for me, I love mac and cheese. I mean, who doesn't love mac and cheese. And that's something I love. But that's missing veggies that mac and cheese doesn't have much protein. And so those are things that I need, right? You can still have mac and cheese, but let's add maybe a little bit of cauliflower to it, or broccoli and in the pasta that we're using, maybe switch it to like a fiber based pasta or like a protein like a lentil pasta. That way, I'm still getting my mac and cheese, but it's a nutritious well balanced mac and cheese. Yeah, very sorry, you don't need to give anything up.

 

Missy Gleason  20:58

So before we wrap up, we want to shift gears a little bit. We do this for all of our podcasts, we would like to get to know you on a more personal level with some fun questions Are you game? I'm game

 

Marcus Thorpe  21:08

How about one hobby or activity you enjoy outside of your work as a dietitian?

 

Priya Patel, RD  21:13

Well, this kind of ties into my work, but I feel like cooking. Cooking is something I truly enjoy. I love trying new recipes. And I love being able to take some recipes and turn it into like a healthier recipe like the mac and cheese I talked about, and being able to share that with my patients love it.

 

Missy Gleason  21:30

That's like helpful and fun. Is there a book or a movie that's had like any significant impact on you or just has stayed with you personally, professionally?

 

Priya Patel, RD  21:40

There's a book that I make myself read or listen to every year atomic habits. Have you guys heard of that? James clear. It's a really good book. And for me, I think it's important to learn how to make healthy habits, but build them in a appropriate way and then break bad habits. And that book teaches you and I feel like personally I can learn from it and then professionally help my patients.

 

Marcus Thorpe  22:06

So we know you love mac and cheese. So let's take let's take mac and cheese out of the equation. Okay, if you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?

 

Priya Patel, RD  22:15

So I have a bad obsession with Taco Bell.

 

Marcus Thorpe  22:20

There is no bad obsession with Taco Bell

 

Priya Patel, RD  22:22

I honestly could eat anything from Taco Bell. Every day. There's, I'm yeah, I'm obsessed with Taco Bell. Like, I honestly eat Taco Bell maybe once a week, and that's okay. That's okay. That's okay. Because once again, you don't want to eliminate anything from your diet. And let let yourself enjoy those foods but just don't have Taco Bell maybe three times today.

 

Missy Gleason  22:43

I think you just won over the hearts of like many of our listeners will you answer?

 

22:47

It's funny because you mentioned like dentists they probably have clean teeth. Dieticians they probably eat healthy, but we like to eat the not so healthy food once in a while to go.

 

Marcus Thorpe  22:58

Mexican pizza. Were you happy when it came back?

 

Priya Patel, RD  23:00

Oh, my God, I signed the petition I kid you not there's a petition for it. And I signed it.

 

Marcus Thorpe  23:05

Well thank you for all those people who love the Mexican pizza for for bringing it back.

 

Missy Gleason  23:10

And our last personal question, what is one piece of advice you'd give your younger self knowing what you know now?

 

Priya Patel, RD  23:18

For me, I would say put yourself in difficult situations, say yes to things that make you uncomfortable because you're just going to grow from that.

 

Missy Gleason  23:28

I love that a lot. Okay. Well, these have been really great insights, have loved our conversation with you today. Priya, thank you for joining us.

 

Priya Patel, RD  23:38

Yeah absolutely, thank you for having me.

 

Marcus Thorpe  23:39

It's been great to hear your knowledge, a little bit about yourself. And really a pleasure to have you on the wellness conversation. We hope to have you back sometime soon. So thank you so much for everything you do for us.

 

Missy Gleason  23:51

And thank you to our listeners for tuning in. We hope you found this episode helpful in understanding nutrition in the age of viral trends. Remember, it's all about making informed choices for a healthier you.

 

Marcus Thorpe  24:02

And before we wrap up this episode of the wellness conversation and OhioHealth podcast we do invite you to follow us on all major social channels so you can stay up to date on all of our new episodes, as well as other health and wellness topics. If you're looking for more information on OhioHealth services, enter locations, it's really easy to find@ohiohealth.com and as

 

Missy Gleason  24:21

I mentioned earlier, the information in this episode will also be available in written form on the OhioHealth wellness blog@blog.ohiohealth.com So no need to remember phone numbers or look for links. They'll all be right there. And thanks for joining us and be sure to subscribe as we continue our exploration of important health and wellness topics with OhioHealth experts