Check our Facebook page every weekday for our RD of the Day, as we put a much-deserved spotlight on a dietitian who's either making headlines or writing them and delivering their expertise through the media. Here are this week's featured RDs.
| Tamara Duker Freuman, MS, RD, CDN |  |
In her article for U.S. News and World Report, Tamara explains the dangers of indulging in the "eating for two" tradition and provides tips for how to enjoy a more healthful pregnancy. Many women are gaining much more weight than is medically recommended during pregnancy which puts them at risk for gestational diabetes and preeclampsia as well as complications during labor and delivery. Overweight moms can also predispose their children to an increased risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life!
In order to prevent excess weight gain and the associated risks, Tamara recommends focusing on quality over quantity. For example "instead of doubling down on cookies, you'll really want to double up on portions of folic-rich fruits and veggies," she says. In addition, she suggests knowing how many extra calories you actually need—and here's a hint: it's not even close to double your day's calories.
For her advice on how to "eat for two" in terms of nutrients instead of quantity of food and for explaining the dangers of excess weight during pregnancy for both mom and baby, Tamara was Monday's RD of the Day.
Read the article: The Dangers of 'Eating for Two'
| Jen Haugen, RDN, LD |  |
Working as a supermarket RD for Hy-Vee at the time of her epiphany, Jen Haugen, RDN, LD, was heavily involved in educating the public—especially children—on eating healthy, but the effort took lots of time. It was then that she faced "a tipping point."
"At that moment, I finally realized that I was teaching other people's kids, but who's teaching mine," the Down to Earth Dietitian blogger explains. "I was guilty at the lack of attention for them. I enjoyed my experience, but I wanted to have that experience with my own kids."
Jen uses her experience as an RD and a mom in her book, "The Mom's Guide to a Nourishing Garden," which touches on many subjects, including on food, on involving family and, of course, she includes recipes all centered on making sure the family is involved.
Jen's book is available on Amazon and, for sharing her life experience and knowledge with other moms, she was Tuesday's RD of the Day.
Read the article: Cultivating a Family: Dietitian releases book on gardening and the soul
| Alice Richer, RD, MBA, LD |
Wednesday's RD of the Day explains exactly what that entails in the amazing feature in GQ magazine "The Real-Life Diet of a Team Nutritionist Who Tells Pro Athletes What to Eat."
Alice Richer, RD, MBA, LD, is the nutritionist for the New England Revolution Major League Soccer franchise. In that role, she measures players' body fat, composes menus that meet the team's unique tastes and needs, and organizes meal plans at home and at hotels. She also helps them learn how to cook for themselves, and hosts cooking classes at Gillette Stadium after practice.
Since many of her team members live alone and, in some cases, are living on their own for the first time, "I'll take them to the grocery store, we'll read labels and compare different products, learn how to pick an avocado or how to tell if something is fresh or if it won't last."
RDs, of course, aren't exempt from the rigors of the pro-sports grind. Alice's own meals are mainly in the morning and at night, plus some snacking throughout the day.
On top of all that, like all dietitians, Richer has to keep up to date on new research and practices, and learning what's, well, crap. "Practicing as long as I have, I've seen a lot of fad diets. Everything gets recycled every 10 years, so experience is a big part in knowing what's a fad and what's not."
For doing what she does in such a high-pressure environment, while keeping up with all that an RD must, Alice earned Wednesday's RD of the Day.
Read the article: The Real-Life Diet of a Team Nutritionist Who Tells Pro Athletes What to Eat
| Natalie Rizzo, MS, RD | |
The author, Natalie Rizzo, MS, RD, from Astoria, NY, acknowledges that the weight-bearing aspect of running can strengthen bones, the high incidence of stress fractures should interest all runners, especially women, in knowing how to protect their bones and ensure good bone health throughout their lifetime.
Throughout the informative piece, Natalie discusses the causes and effects of osteoporosis and how important bone density is for runners because stress fractures comprise up to 15 percent of all athletic injuries, according to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
However, although these risk factors sound scary, Natalie says, osteoporosis and stress fractures can be easily prevented with the proper diet. She then uses her RD chops to inform that peak bone mass and bone mineral density are related to appropriate intake of calories, protein, calcium phosphorous, Vitamin D and Vitamin K.
For helping increase awareness of osteoporosis and how diet can improve and maintain bone density, Natalie earned Thursday's RD of the Day honors.
Read the article: What Women Runners Need To Know About Bone Health
| Connie Diekman, MEd, RD, LD, FADA | |
In a guest post for Forbes.com earlier this week, the esteemed Ms. Diekman provides expert insight in "How To Navigate GMO Labels."
RDs know all too well that food labels have become increasingly complicated and their meanings even more ambiguous. GMO food labels can be especially confusing since the science and actual genetically modified crops are not readily known.
Connie's piece is one that RDs can refer to clients that explains food labeling and what to look for on them, especially as it related to GMOs.
"Now that the conversation about labeling has shifted to "natural," "fresh" and the presence of "GMOs" not only has the conversation around the food label grown but the confusion has as well," she explains.
For passing along this important real-world expertise on a timely subject, we've chosen Connie as RD of the Day.
Read the article: How To Navigate GMO Labels
