Almost 30 years after she got her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics and master’s degree in medical science, Jen Cleveland continues to unlearn a lot of things that were taught about nutrition.
She has spent 30 years in the same children’s big academic healthcare institution and she has seen an alarming increase in the number of children coming to them with type-2 diabetes. She has worked with kids with high triglyceride levels, high LDL cholesterol, and a big population of kids with non-alcoholic fatty liver.
Given her years of experience working as a dietitian with children, she opens up in this episode about her opinions on the status of nutrition, various patient experiences, and how food plays a significant role in disease prevention, particularly for the younger population.
Quick Guide:
01:07 Introduction
03:52 Prediabetes and type-2 diabetes cases of children
10:14 The story of why she went into dietetics
13:35 The a-ha moment that changed everything
16:12 Low-carb diet isn’t working
19:34 How to check that your kid isn’t on the road to diabetes
27:54 The right amount of carbohydrates for the young
31:09 What is the diabetes solution?
36:19 The perspective of other dieticians
41:13 Success stories and how her work has changed
53:09 Contacts and closing
Get to know our guest:
Jen Cleveland received her diploma in 1992, the year the famed food pyramid was implemented. She has spent 30 years working with young diabetics and believes that proper diet is a crucial step toward disease prevention.
“But I tried to encourage them and let them know that this can be, because the doctors honestly, they do not go into a room saying you can reverse this. They go into the room saying this is how we are going to treat this and the first thing we're gonna do is metformin and then we may have to add this and then we may have to add this and then I go in and I do my best to go, what I emphasize to the families is whole real foods. Ditch the processed foods. Number one, ditch sugary drinks. That's the absolute number one. Yeah, number one sugary drinks. Number two, whole real foods, meats, vegetables, little bit of fruit, if they are just starting out and move a little bit.” - Jen Cleveland
Connect with her:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-cleveland-mmsc-rd-cde-1598a263/
Episode snippets:
06:57 - 07:43 - Effect of diabetes on children
16:48 - 17:58 - It dawned on her that a low-fat diet isn’t working for
anybody
22:07 - 23:13 - Bloodwork would work for children, too
23:50 - 25:20 - What parents can do to help their children
43:41 - 44:21 - The changes in how she works
50:11 - 51:46 - Low-quality meat is better than any processed foods
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Theme Song : Rage Against
Written & Performed by Logan Gritton & Colin Gailey
(c) 2016 Mercury Retro Recordings
S3E26 Jen Cleveland