The Fresh Focus Podcast offers Veterans, their families, and caregivers' credible nutritional advice from VA dietitians. On this episode listen in as Victoria discusses food security and insecurity. Food insecurity in the Veteran population is an important issue that affects millions of Veterans, impacting many factors of their health and well-being. If you are facing food insecurity, grocery shopping may be extremely challenging. Tune in to find out ways to eat healthfully with many great shelf...
Aug 04, 2025•8 min•Season 16Ep. 10
Being in the home versus the clinic setting allows us to have a hands-on approach to see how the patient lives from day to day, what they have access to regarding food for meals, and what they have available to prepare meals. Find out ways the Home-Based Primary Care Inter-disciplinary Team can assess if the Veteran has adequate equipment to prepare the food in the home or adequate fluids in the home for hydration. The team members can assess the Veteran’s strengths, limitations, internal/extern...
Jul 07, 2025•13 min•Season 16Ep. 9
Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) at the VA is unique because each member of the team works closely together to provide Veterans with the very best care. Listen in to this episode to find out more of what Dietitians and Occupational Therapists do overall, and as part of the Home-Based Primary Care program. HBPC dietitians visit Veterans in their homes so they can assess nutritional status and identify any nutrition needs to improve their overall health. Occupational therapy is a client centered hea...
Jul 07, 2025•13 min•Season 16Ep. 8
Are you a Veteran or do you know a Veteran that has a hard time getting out of their home for their medical appointments? Listen in to learn about a VA program called Home Based Primary Care (HBPC). This program is for Veterans that have complex and chronic disease(s) for which routine clinic-based care may not be effective. HBPC is commonly referred to as a primary care clinic on wheels because we come to your home for your primary care needs versus you coming into the clinic. HBPC uses an inte...
Jul 07, 2025•12 min•Season 16Ep. 7
Tune into this episode of the Fresh Focus podcast featuring Renal Nutrition, hosted by advanced practice renal dietitians Morgan O’Hara and Annelle Tschida. This episode filters through the latest in kidney health and the risks of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Did you know that 1 in 7 adults in the U.S. have chronic kidney disease, yet a staggering 9 out of 10 don’t even know it? Early-stage kidney disease often has no symptoms, which means it can sneak up on you without warning. Find out the im...
Mar 10, 2025•13 min•Season 16Ep. 6
Fresh Focus Episode #93: Application of Intuitive Eating Have you ever noticed any food restrictions that you follow but you are not sure where they came from or how they have impacted your relationship with food? Tune in to this episode where VA dietitian, Erin, provides 5 ways to start applying the principles of Intuitive Eating . Step one begins when you are able to notice strong emotions that come up during meal and snack times. Listen now to learn the additional steps to follow and how to i...
Jan 06, 2025•10 min•Season 16Ep. 5
Fresh Focus Episode #92: Intuitive Eating Myths There are a lot of myths surrounding Intuitive Eating. VA Dietitians review one possible cause being that people can still be connected to a dieting mentality, which makes it difficult to change your thinking and reconnect with yourself. Tune in to this episode to find out more information about how this journey may be for you. Intuitive Eating involves giving yourself permission, focusing on self-care, and learning to be instinctual and more in tu...
Jan 06, 2025•14 min•Season 16Ep. 4
Fresh Focus Episode #91: The Pursuit of Intuitive Eating Intuitive eating is a strategy to improve your relationship with food. VA dietitians on this episode share the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating . Learn how intuitive eating can help you come back to yourself by relearning your own internal cues and signals while becoming better able to trust yourself, make peace with food, reject the diet mentality and to be able to respect your body. Everyone is coming from different place with different...
Jan 06, 2025•15 min•Season 16Ep. 3
Fresh Focus Episode #90: Top 3 questions asked to an Intuitive Eating RDN If you are asking whether intuitive eating means you can eat whatever you want, whenever you want, listen in as VA Dietitians discuss the top questions they get asked by Veterans each day. Learn about how intuitive eating isn’t a diet and doesn’t include food restrictions. It doesn’t mean just eating whatever you want whenever you want, either. Focusing on how foods make us feel often leads us to choose quality over quanti...
Jan 06, 2025•10 min•Season 16Ep. 2
Fresh Focus Episode #89: Introduction to Intuitive Eating Intuitive Eating is a non-diet approach to eating that focuses on our internal cues such as hunger, fullness, and cravings to help guide our food choices. Tune in as VA dietitians dive into how Intuitive Eating can teach us how to listen to what our bodies are telling us and give us the tools to respond in a way that honors our bodies and our health. Intuitive eating not only has a positive impact on our nutritional choices, but also our ...
Jan 06, 2025•10 min•Season 16Ep. 1
Dr. Joel Hamilton brings awareness of the Juneteenth flag with this bonus episode highlighting the arc, which represents a new horizon.
May 17, 2024•8 min
For those with cancer, eating can become a frustrating task. Some foods can aggravate symptoms, whereas some foods can help. Your taste buds can begin to deceive you. Your appetite can vary greatly. There are many appropriate questions and concerns to have during this process, even in regards to snacking. In this episode of Fresh Focus, Kathy attempts to answer some of these questions, and also talks about some great snack ideas for anyone that may be dealing with cancer....
May 13, 2024•8 min•Season 15Ep. 6
Non-starchy vegetables can be a phenomenal go-to to when it comes to snacking. They are nutrient dense, provide a low calorie source of volume, and they are very affordable! Join Beth as she discusses the benefits of vegetables as snacks, and gives us five usable tips to incorporate more into our intake! #1 – Eat your vegetables first! #2 – Try convenient, and easy, options. #3 – Bring life to your sandwiches and wraps with vegetables! #4 – Go slow. #5 – Expand your palate....
May 13, 2024•9 min•Season 15Ep. 5
Snacking for people with diabetes !? Yes, of course! As with anything else, proper knowledge and the appropriate incorporation of snacks can absolutely be an option for someone dealing with diabetes. In today’s world, there are many advances to diabetes medication and insulin regimens, which allows for intake to be more individualized than ever before. Join Natalie as she shares her expertise on how to identify glucose patterns, understanding common diabetes medications, and determining when (an...
May 13, 2024•7 min•Season 15Ep. 4
Kerri knocks this topic out of the park by getting into the ins-and-outs of concession eats! There are many options to consider at sporting events, and not often are they the most nourishing. There are so many other factors that come into play as well, including what meal of the day it may be, if we plan to eat something small to keep us tied over before a meal, if we are eating just to be eating, are we trying to lose weight, and so on. Kerri takes us through the ringer of how we can plan ahead...
May 13, 2024•8 min•Season 15Ep. 3
In this episode, Sieger leads us down the rabbit hole in regards to the potential downfalls of snacking. Snacks, although enjoyable and sometimes appropriate, can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help. How can we identify the difference? Sometimes we do things that aren’t quite working in our favor. Sometimes we have bad habits. It’s all about optimizing our intake and improving our relationship with food, snacks included. Join us as we discuss the issues with common snack choices, variab...
May 13, 2024•9 min•Season 15Ep. 2
Whether you’re a parent with kids at home, or a grandparent, aunt, uncle, babysitter, or friend, this episode is for you! Lauren leads us through some practical tips and ideas to make your whole family’s snacks healthier. The typical American child eats about triple the recommended amount of added sugars and about double the recommended amount of sodium per day. We can help reduce that amount by starting with snacks and learning how we can make them healthier. We may not have a win with every re...
May 13, 2024•9 min•Season 15Ep. 1
Listen in as Yaqutullah and Hillary share practical tips to reduce food waste and help save you money and time with meal planning. VA Healthy Teaching Kitchen provides numerous recipes and meal ideas to fit your taste preferences and nutrition needs. Have a plan to use up items that you have on hand to make sure don’t end up in the trash as food waste.
Feb 15, 2024•19 min•Season 14Ep. 5
Eating a plant-based diet can provide both health and environmental benefits . Listen in as Jennifer and Becca talk about the benefits of gardening and composting. Composting offers a way to turn food waste into something that can benefit the environment. Consider starting your own garden. Gardening not only brings more plant foods into your life, but can also be good for the environment and help your budget too....
Feb 15, 2024•16 min•Season 14Ep. 4
If you are looking at incorporating more plant-based proteins in your meals and snacks, listen to this episode as Shelby and Selena talk about some of their favorite recipes. Be sure to visit the Healthy Teaching Kitchen YouTube Channel to watch videos and find plant based food items to try at home. You can have easy, delicious food choices while being more mindful on how they affect the environment. Check out the new VA Nutrition and Food Services Practical Plant-Based Cooking Cookbook to find ...
Feb 15, 2024•11 min•Season 14Ep. 3
Working towards being more sustainable is much easier than you might think! Listen in as Jamie and Becca discuss easy steps to start with during your next grocery store trip. Try to purchase foods that are versatile, can be stored easily and foods that you can use in more than one way. Remember it is always a good practice to push older fruits and vegetables to the front to remind you to use those items first!...
Feb 15, 2024•8 min•Season 14Ep. 2
This year, for National Nutrition Month®, the team at Fresh Focus Podcast partnered with the Green Environmental Management System Committee, GEMS, to bring you information on getting started with being more sustainable by reducing food waste, eating more plant-based food items, and learning to cook and prepare more food in your kitchen. Jaime and Selena have great tips on how to start by looking Beyond the Table . Sustainability and good nutrition are more than just what we cook, it’s how we sh...
Feb 15, 2024•10 min•Season 14Ep. 1
All of the lifestyle changes that you have made in the last several weeks of this program have led to a healthier you! We want to help you maintain all of these healthy habits moving forward, which brings us to today’s episode! The last episode of the series focuses on how to maintain the progress you have made while participating in MOVE!. We will talk about some things that will help you keep the progress moving forward and ways to maintain your motivation. Staying motivated is essential for l...
Jul 07, 2023•11 min•Season 13Ep. 6
Ever wonder about the connection between sleep and body weight? Tune in to this episode as Angie, Dietitian and MOVE! Facilitator at the St Louis VA Health Care System, talks about ways to improve your sleep hygiene and how the MOVE! Weight management program can help you reach your health goals. This episode will educate you on how sleep can influence weight and provides tips to increase sleep quality and quantity. Host Bio: Fresh Focus is a team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists at the Mar...
Jul 07, 2023•15 min•Season 13Ep. 5
A weight plateau can be a challenge and barrier we face when we are trying to better manage our weight. Find out how to set yourself up for success when experiencing this issue. Tune in to this episode to find the best way continue moving forward with your goals. Aimee Wittmaier with the Kansas City VA Medical Center provides specific strategies to help you along your journey! Host Bio: Fresh Focus is a team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists at the Marion VA collaborating with Dietitians nat...
Jul 07, 2023•12 min•Season 13Ep. 4
Exercise is such a great thing for our bodies and there are numerous ways to modify activities to avoid pain and to make them more comfortable. It is possible to increase activity throughout the day no matter what your circumstance is! Listen to this episode as Dr. Raine Bradshaw, a Physical Therapist for Truman VA in Columbia, MO, speaks with Amy and shares how Veterans can incorporate physical activity with the MOVE! Program. Find out how to increase your physical activity and exercise to help...
Jul 07, 2023•12 min•Season 13Ep. 3
Navigating recipes can be a challenge when you are cooking for one. Common recipes are created for 4-6+ people. It is important to include a variety of foods to help you get all of the nutrients that you need, but how do you do this? Tune in to find out more about how a VA dietitian can help assist you in creating anindividualized meal plan for yourself! If you are worried about being able to cook the meals due to lack of experience in the kitchen, we can work with you to modify your plan and in...
Jul 07, 2023•13 min•Season 13Ep. 2
Description: You may or may not have heard of the MOVE! program at your VA before tuning into today’s episode. However, MOVE has actually been around since 2006. MOVE! is the nation-wide weight management program designed to help Veterans lose weight and keep it off. Using weekly sessions to keep participants involved on a regular basis, MOVE! highlights making healthy behavior changes in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, emotional eating, stress management and other self-care areas. Li...
Jul 07, 2023•8 min•Season 13Ep. 1
March is a whole month dedicated to promote the profession of Nutrition Services as well as delivering nutrition education to the public. A Registered Dietitian Nutritionist can help you improve your overall health and wellness. Episode #70 focuses on the topic of health-related marketing, and more importantly, how we perceive, and engage, with this information. VA Dietitians help to observe the context in which these methods thrive, and how to shift our perception in a way that helps to protect...
Mar 01, 2023•15 min•Season 12Ep. 4
In episode #69 VA Dietitians discuss different meal planning strategies to better “fuel for the future” which is the 2023 theme of National Nutrition Month ®. For most people, hearing the word meal planning or meal prepping may elicit images of extra time cooking, pre-portioning the same meal into containers to be eaten throughout the week. And while that is one approach to meal planning that works great for some people, this episode explores different approaches to find a system that fits best ...
Mar 01, 2023•13 min•Season 12Ep. 3
