Parkview Health

Hi, I'm Kathy Wehrle, RD, a Community Outreach Dietitian with Parkview Health.

In all my years in the nutrition field, I've seen the gamut of how people eat and navigate their health behaviors.  Some cruise along, reading the latest on nutrition - then do a great job of eating. But many others may not know where to go at all to find solid, reliable information.  Lots of us lack the time and energy to devote to this topic or think it's not a priority.

That's where this blog comes in.

I'm hoping to give you bits of advice to help with some decision-making for the way you eat and care for yourself. My goal is to make your "food" life a little easier and healthier. I promise to help you decipher what's  "in" and what's "out" in healthy eating and provide tips to help you create the optimum you!

As for me - it's been a busy life as a nutrition educator, wife and Mom to five kids.  I know how easy it might be to let healthy eating slip to the bottom of the list.  But both in my personal and professional life, I've witnessed the power and tremendous benefits that come from great eating - energy, vitality, wellness and much more.  No matter where you are in your life situation, join me on the journey to a healthier you. 

Together, let's keep getting our region moving in the right direction. You can help by sharing this blog with family, friends and neighbors. I want to be one of your health champions!

My weekly rite of passage had begun – a trip to the grocery store. 

Trekking boldly into the produce aisle, I immediately spotted my usual purchase. I cradled it ever so gently as I placed it in my grocery cart. I smiled as I beheld that beautiful thing of nature, a miniature tree of sorts – the underrated and under-appreciated broccoli. If only broccoli could leap into your grocery cart with every pass, you can bet your health would be better.

I recently learned that soluble fiber from broccoli...

February is American Heart Month and a time to reflect on ways to keep our hearts healthy. After all, when we treat it well, the heart dutifully beats 100,000 times a day without complaining.

While many of us are trying to do a decent job of going light on fatty meat and dairy products and boosting our consumption of vegetables and fiber, adding more fish to our diets would be a beneficial move.

A great source of protein, fish is low in saturated fat and replaces less healthful forms of protein...

Are you one of the 31 million people who don’t do it? 

You know, wake up early enough to put the most important meal of the day in your stomach.

I can always tell the non-breakfast-eaters when I speak to kids at school. They have a glazed look, or they are fidgety and distracted, as if their bodies are screaming, “Feed me!”

Breakfast, after all, “breaks the fast” after slumber and is one of the most important things you can do for your health. It is the first healthy habit on our “8 to LiVe by”...

Let’s be honest. Did you push it with work and family responsibilities, again, in 2012 and engage in little self-care?  Our performance-oriented lifestyles would exhaust Superman! Let’s all pledge in 2013 to do a little more TLC – tender loving care, that is – to those bodies and minds. A little nurturing can go a long way.

TLC health tips:

• Eat real, eat natural. Examine your diet and ask yourself, “Is the food I’m eating as pure and unadulterated as I can get? Is it in natural form from the good...

With finals behind them, our beautiful cherubs are making their way home from college, exhausted and hanging on by a thread, with dark circles under their eyes, pale, and a little rough around the edges.

But, oh, we are so happy to see them, dirty laundry and all.

We all want that mental edge. And science tells us that we can keep our brains functioning at peak capacity well into our "rocking chair" years. 

But here’s what you need to know: a healthy brain requires a healthy heart, healthy kidneys, a healthy liver and other key organs. We must keep the whole body well! 

Many of us have heard about “protective” brain food – fish, especially fatty fish rich in omega 3’s (salmon, tuna), and dark fruits and vegetables, for their antioxidant power...

As a parent, I was always astounded at the fervor my kids had when it came to Trick or Treating.  No holds barred, it was a race to see how much candy they could amass by the end of Halloween.  As a parent, I offered advice about slowing down their consumption and savoring their sugary treats.  They would survey the “goods,” trade treats they didn’t like with their siblings, and then proceed to tear open and stuff as many sugary treats as they could into their drooling little mouths. We witness...

It’s all about you. We want you to live healthy, productive, fun and active lives!

With that goal in mind, we’ve launched Parkview LiVe! It’s a community health outreach initiative to help you achieve a healthier you.

Researchers know what lifestyle behaviors keep you healthy, and the LiVe campaign has compiled them into eight simple habits. Check out the 8 Healthy Habits on our web page. The site includes a link to an “8 to Live By Track It!” page you can use to track and monitor your results....

School supplies purchased:  CHECK. 

Book bag packed: CHECK.

New pair of jeans and shoes:  CHECK. 

Ready or not, it’s back to school they go!  Once again, summer has flown by at breakneck pace.

My kids’ big news was that their school lunches began to look a little different, a little healthier  – oh my!  Hurrah!  Kids now receive both a fruit and a vegetable. Their grains are whole grain. Inroads are being made on fat, sodium and calorie content of meals. 

Parents – I challenge you to do a little...