“One fork at a time.” March is recognized as National Nutrition Month. As pharmacists, we know the benefits of a healthy diet and good eating and physical activity habits to reduce the complications associated with diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and hyperlipidemia.
This year’s theme is “Put Your Best Fork Forward,” encouraging individuals to make small changes as these will add up over time to produce beneficial results. How can pharmacists play a role in helping patients managing chronic disease states apart from clinical management of pharmacotherapy? As our clinical opportunities continue to expand, we have earned new avenues to educate patients on lifestyle changes, such as during medication therapy management sessions, immunization screenings and new medication counseling. During these interactions with patients, the pharmacist can empower the patient to make nutritional changes by guiding them to MyPlate resources as well as offering some of the following tips:
- Diets rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains have been shown to reduce the risk cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes
- When choosing between fresh, frozen or canned vegetables, all are equally healthy, but be sure to choose canned vegetables labeled as “low sodium”, “reduced salt” and “In water/No syrup”
- In persons with cardiovascular concerns such as hypertension, salt intake should be limited to about 1500 mg per day and keep in mind processed foods contain a greater amount of sodium
- Patients with budget concerns can be assured that dietary changes are still possible by choosing dishes that have more color (i.e., more vegetables), such as chicken with broccoli, vegetable stir-fry (with low sodium soy sauce), or steamed foods instead of fried foods
- Hypertensive patients should be guided toward dietary changes to increase potassium intake which has been shown to assist in combating high blood pressure
- Replace the dining table salt shaker with no-salt seasoning options such as Mrs. Dash
Most importantly, helping our patients understand that little changes, “one fork at a time”, can lead to long term benefits. Cutting back little by little on processed, fried and take-out foods allows our body to adjust and in turn our taste buds will begin to enjoy a new plate of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and protein.