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Untold Physio Stories is sponsored by
Helix Pain Creams - I use Helix Creams in my practice and patients love them! Perfect in combination with joint mobs, IASTM and soft tissue work. Get your sample and start an additional revenue stream for your practice. Click here to get started.
Check out EDGE Mobility System's Best Sellers - Something for every PT, OT, DC, MT, ATC or Fitness Minded Individual
My PT Insurance - Insurance just got easier. check out the self employed and employed plans. Easy sign up and coverage that follows you wherever you practice in the United States. Save $20 if you sign up using our link.
A Guide to Processed Foods for PTs
By Dr. Sean Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, CNPT, Cert-DN
Physical therapists are leading the charge to help clients improve not only their rehabilitation status but also their health problems. Many of these chronic health problems stem from poor lifestyle choices like poor sleep patterns, excessive stress, and bad nutrition. One key element in nutrition that Doctors of Physical Therapy can make a big impact on is education around reducing processed foods.
In the past my team and I have recommended using Dr. Greger’s stoplight method for limiting processed foods. The system was easy to understand and convey during patient education; plus, Dr. Greger loves his information being spread in order to improve health. Now, a new method of categorizing processed foods has emerged: NOVA.
NOVA is a food classification system that groups foods based on the extent of processing they undergo. The system was developed by researchers in Brazil and is widely used in nutrition research.
The NOVA system categorizes foods into four groups:
Group 1: Unprocessed or minimally processed foods - These foods are the least processed and include fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and lean meats.
Group 2: Processed culinary ingredients - These foods are usually derived from Group 1 foods and include oils, fats, sugars, salt, and vinegar.
Group 3: Processed foods - These foods are made by adding salt, sugar, or other culinary ingredients to Group 1 foods. Examples include canned fruits and vegetables, bread, cheese, and cured meats.
Group 4: Ultra-processed foods - These foods are the most heavily processed and often contain additives such as colors, flavors, and preservatives. Examples include packaged snacks, soft drinks, and fast food.
The NOVA system aims to help people make healthier food choices by encouraging them to choose more foods from Group 1 and 2 and limit their intake of foods from Group 3 and 4. As such, DPTs can help their clients by focusing them on Group 1 and 2 food items by providing them a list of food, pictures of the food, and/or offering sample menus of meals that include Group 1 and 2 foods.
If you like what you see here then know there is more in our 3 board-approved continuing education courses on Nutrition specific for Physical Therapists. Enroll today in our new bundled course offering and save 20%, a value of $60!
- NEW - Online Discussion Group
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Untold Physio Stories is sponsored by
Helix Pain Creams - I use Helix Creams in my practice and patients love them! Perfect in combination with joint mobs, IASTM and soft tissue work. Get your sample and start an additional revenue stream for your practice. Click here to get started.
Check out EDGE Mobility System's Best Sellers - Something for every PT, OT, DC, MT, ATC or Fitness Minded Individual
My PT Insurance - Insurance just got easier. check out the self employed and employed plans. Easy sign up and coverage that follows you wherever you practice in the United States. Save $20 if you sign up using our link.
Discs are always either filling or emptying with water. Intervertebral discs are the large hydraulic structures between vertebrae that separate them in the spine. They undergo significant compression forces while we are upright, walking and sitting, and decompress when lying down. And this change is also known as the diurnal change.
Helix Pain Creams - I use Helix Creams in my practice and patients love them! Perfect in combination with joint mobs, IASTM and soft tissue work. Get your sample and start an additional revenue stream for your practice. Click here to get started.
Check out EDGE Mobility System's Best Sellers - Something for every PT, OT, DC, MT, ATC or Fitness Minded Individual
My PT Insurance - Insurance just got easier. check out the self employed and employed plans. Easy sign up and coverage that follows you wherever you practice in the United States. Save $20 if you sign up using our link.
Preventing Muscle Mass Loss
By Dr. Sean Wells, DPT, PT, OCS, ATC/L, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, CNPT, Cert-DN
As physical therapists (PTs) we do our best to optimize our older clients' strength, balance, and functioning. Obviously, our mainstay interventions focus on exercises, balance training, and adaptive equipment. In our courses, we highlight the importance of Vitamin D status and protein consumption for older adults, to improve balance, strength, and prevent sarcopenia. A recent study in Nature Aging highlights yet another potential dietary component that impacts muscle function: ceramides.
Ceramides, a sphingolipid, which is a type of fat, has been shown to reduce muscle mass and functional capacity in rodents. Moreover, it has been shown that offering ceramide-inhibiting medication effectively reverses sarcopenia, which is very promising for human studies. In the current study the authors examined older adults with a genetic variant to inhibit ceramides. The results showed these adults with the variant had significantly better grip strength, walking distance, and sit to stand function: all metrics that Doctors of Physical Therapy (DPT) routinely measure. The next big step for these researchers is understanding how to yield these results via medication and/or dietary changes.
Fortunately, other authors have highlighted how PTs and other clinicians can advise their patients on how to naturally reduce ceramides in their diet. In the FRUVEDomic pilot study, authors demonstrated that a diet low in fruits and vegetables, and high in saturated fat, facilitated an increase in hepatic ceramide production. The researchers concluded that even transitioning patients from a standard Western diet to even the US Dietary Guidelines would yield positive responses for aging. Imagine the impact on aging and physical functioning if we took the diet to a bit more extreme, such as the true Mediterranean or predominant plant-based diet? More research is needed, but PTs need to be aware that fruit and vegetable consumption is important for many health outcomes, and screening tools are available and easy to use. We discuss this and more in our courses!
If you like what you see here then know there is more in our 3 board-approved continuing education courses on Nutrition specific for Physical Therapists. Enroll today in our new bundled course offering and save 20%, a value of $60!
Via Dr. Sean Wells, Nutritional Physical Therapy
- NEW - Online Discussion Group
- Live cases
- webinars
- lecture
- Live Q&A
- over 600 videos - hundreds of techniques and more!
- Check out MMT Insiders