Lori Greene, faculty member in the Department of Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management and also a doctoral student in Communications, discusses with Sheena and John the plethora of health related propaganda that is posted daily on social media and how to filter through it to find the most reputable information. Original airdate: April 08, 2018.

John: Welcome to Fit2BTide with Sheena and John on 90.7, The Capstone. I want to thank you for joining us this Sunday afternoon, and we’ve got a great show lined up for you. Sheena, as a matter of fact, I’ve got a great story for you, right off the bat, about our topic today.

Sheena: Okay.

John: You know what our topic is today, right?

Sheena: I do. You know, usually, I’m totally oblivious right before coming into the studio, but I got a little heads-up today.

John: Okay. So, our topic is getting health information off the Internet, for the most part, and we’re going to stay around that. I actually sent … I’ve gotta be careful how I say this, but I forwarded an article that I got … I do that to a lot of people. A lot of people, I forward articles that I read. I think, “Hey, somebody that I know works out this way, I’m going to send them an article.”

Sheena: Yeah, you send me articles.

John: Yes. All the time. So, I sent a coworker an article that I thought had some very interesting information in it, and it would help her with the way she works out.

Sheena: Sure. Okay.

John: And, I didn’t read the whole thing, okay? I just read the title of the article. So I sent it to her, and she put it in a newsletter that went out to a whole lot of people because she thought I was sending it to her for that reason, not that I was sending it to her as a friend. But it goes very well with what we’re going to talk about today because it was actually a sponsored article. I’m not going to say the company that sponsored it, but they were promoting their own ideas.

Sheena: Sure, sure.

John: Obviously if I had read the article, I would have figured that out. But I will say that we got blasted a little bit about that. And rightfully so.

Sheena: Oh, sure, it’s like, “Why are you having some sponsored content up in our newsletter?”

John: I know. The moral of the story is, read all the article first before you forward it to anybody, point number one. But, point number two is what we’re going to talk about today.

Sheena: For sure. Well, speaking of newsletters, actually, our student health center we also do an internal newsletter as well. And our administrative assistant who handles it, she asked if I wanted to put something, you know, have a little nutrition corner. And I’m like, “Sure. I’ll do something else.” And so I actually did one talking about the new nutrition facts label that has come out.
You know, a lot of companies really, technically you don’t have to have the full roll out until 2020, but you’ve got some companies that have all ready rolled it out. Have you noticed a change in nutrition facts labels at all? Just out of curiosity.

John: The time that I spent looking at them, no, not the things that I eat. But go ahead.

Sheena: Okay, well, no. That’s mostly what I shared with my coworkers, and then kind of linked them back to the FDA website. But, I think the biggest thing that I really enjoy is that it makes the calorie amount larger so people can actually find that easily.
And the portion sizes are more realistic. So instead of assuming, “Oh, somebody’s just going to eat a fourth of a cup of potato chips,” it’s actually a realistic portion of like two thirds of a cup, or a cup’s worth, or whatever else. So they kind of changed up the serving size, portion size, that’s listed on there.
And then it lets people know if added sugars are in a product, because sometimes if you have a product like yogurt that has milk, or strawberries, or something else natural in it, it’ll say sugars on there, but people don’t realize where those sugars are coming from. And so now, the new label lets you know if they’ve added some additional sugars on top of it. So like, some high fructose corn syrup, some other stuff. I got some good praise with that, so a little opposite of experience of you.

John: Let me ask you this. Have you guys ever thought about doing it by the mouthful? That might be a better way to do it. That way you just do an addition. They can just add every mouthful and the number of calories.

Sheena: That’s true.

John: It’s something to think about.

Sheena: But there could be variability in what your mouthful would be versus mine.

John: I’m just saying. You don’t have to be so negative about everything all the time.

Sheena: I know.

John: Which is another wellness topic. Going back to what you were saying earlier, when you talk about nutrition stuff, you always talk about you’re getting a nutrition corner, or a nutrition minute. It’s not fair. I feel like you guys kind of get picked on a little bit.

Sheena: Yeah, it’s like dirty dancing. Nobody puts baby in the corner. Why is my nutrition information getting put in the corner?

John: That’s exactly what I was thinking, yup. Yes.

Sheena: Okay. I’m gonna start being more aggressive with information. You know what, I’ve even done it today because our guest is another registered dietitian.

John: I’m feeling a whole lot of self confidence building up in the room.

Sheena: I know. Yes, it’s gonna be two against one. Usually we’re-

John: Well, I mean, you don’t have to be that … Again, going back to the negative thing, you don’t have to be negative about everything.

Sheena: I know. I do get feisty. Okay, y’all. We’ve gotta shut this down before I get too crazy. We have a fantastic show this afternoon. As John mentioned, we’re gonna be talking about that health messaging that you see on social media, but we’ve gotta take a quick break. You are listening to Fit2btide with Sheena and John on 90.7, the Capstone.

John: Welcome back to Fit2btide on 90.7, the Capstone. You’re here with Sheena and John, and we’re continuing our conversation this afternoon. We’ve been kinda a little all over the place that first segment, but-

Sheena: We were.

John: Yeah. Going back. I want to continue our conversation a little bit about how dietitians get stepped all over, okay. Do you really feel like as a … Because we work so closely with dietitians in what I do.

Sheena: Yes.

John: And it is so opposite. The majority of people that come to personal trainers for weight loss.

Sheena: Yes.

John: That’s very high on the list.

Sheena: Right.

John: And it’s ironic that dietitians are an afterthought. I’m [inaudible 00:05:59] say this facetiously, but really.

Sheena: And honestly I think it’s important that you recognize that, but at the same time I appreciate that you know what the value of my career is to you just as far as as a professional. You’re looking at me like actually you do.

John: No, I’m being very serious.

Sheena: Honestly as a registered dietitian talking about food, food is something that is applicable to everyone. When it comes to nutrition I think it’s just really having consumers recognize that nutrition is a science. I think that healthy eating doesn’t have to be complicated, but I think there is definitely some evidence based science that needs to be taken into consideration when you’re thinking about someone’s health needs and how that correlates with their nutrition. We’re in a society where if someone thinks, “Oh, cool, I was successful losing 60 pounds. I have now got this awesome knowledge base to tell everyone this nutrition information including my neighbor who has all these chronic illnesses that I have no idea about, and maybe what I’m telling them is inappropriate.”
It’s a great thing just because the topic that we cover is applicable to everyone across the spectrum, but because it is something that everyone has to do as part of their daily living, you’ve got some folks that kind of feel like, “Hey, I could talk about this too. I don’t have to have a degree,” and try to explain to people like, “Hey, I could make a YouTube video talking about doing a knee replacement, but I am not a doctor.” Why do you feel like you can go on YouTube and talk about this with nutrition when you need a certain background.

John: Yeah, absolutely.

Sheena: And same thing with exercise. I’m sure you’ve seen people that they got in great shape, didn’t necessarily have the certifications, don’t understand that physiology about things, and then they’re kind of saying things that may not be appropriate client to client.

John: Right. Not knowing a client’s history, and same as you see all the time. It is funny. I use the analogy for people, I see a lot of people walking up to somebody in the weight room or doing cardio that looks like they’re in good shape, and they’re asking them, “Hey, how’d you get to looking like that? What’d you do? What’d you do?” And it’s like if you saw somebody with a good haircut you wouldn’t go up to them and say, “Hey, will you cut my hair?” It makes all the sense in the world, but people are just bad about throwing out information, and they think that because I lost some weight or because I did something a certain way it’s gonna work the same way for everybody else.

Sheena: Right.

John: But it’s funny that we were talking about that. I know we have to get on to our topic, but it’s funny that we were talking about that. And really you and I have talked about this so much. When it comes to weight loss it’s probably 80% nutrition or more, and the rest of it being physical activity that you can do.

Sheena: Yeah, and I think that’s why I love us getting to do this show together just because our work compliments each other just in terms of what people are trying to accomplish, so it’s kind of cool in that regard. But, when we think about our topic today and thinking about health messaging on social media and things on the internet, for you, John, do you see some crazy articles out there related to fitness? I know sometimes there’s the issues with the sponsored content, but have you ever seen headlines that have just seemed so outlandish when it comes to fitness recommendations?

John: Yeah. When it comes to fitness stuff, and I recognize that probably more than anything else. You probably notice the nutrition stuff. But I see so many times, even if an article is about one thing and having the title that is totally different or just attention grabbing when it doesn’t present what the article is about.

Sheena: Right, right.

John: And then there’s so much bad content out there. My wife and I were talking about it the other day because I was telling her about me not reading that article and forwarding. It’s almost like you have to have a PhD in exercise to know that this is that wrong. You see some things, and you’re like, “Wow. That’s completely wrong, and it’s on paper here, and they’ve put it out there for everybody to see.” And people believe it because they sound like they know what they’re talking about.

Sheena: Right. And I think you bring up a good point. Maybe people do feel like, “Goodness, how am I gonna know what’s valid or not. I don’t have a PhD in this area.” We’re hoping that today’s show can bring some clarity to that. We actually have a fantastic guest with us this afternoon. We have Lori Green. She is faculty with the Department of Human Nutrition and Hospitality Management in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. Lori, thank you for joining us.

Lori Green: Yes, thank you for inviting me.

Sheena: Of course. Lori, tell us a little bit about your position at UA and even before you were at UA what you did professionally and even your education.

Lori Green: Yes. I’m currently an instructor as you just mentioned. I grew up in Kentucky and did my Bachelor degree in nutrition at Western Kentucky University and ended up coming to Alabama for a dietetic internship, which everybody has to do to become a registered dietitian. So came to Alabama and never left, so no Alabama is my home, been here over 15 years, and it’s been great to be here.

Sheena: Nice, and I know that you do play an important role in the college with our dietetics program. Do you want to kind of tell people about your position with that?

Lori Green: Yeah, so we have something called a coordinated program in dietetics, which doesn’t mean much except for it’s basically an internship program.

Sheena: Okay.

Lori Green: Where they spend about a year to a year and a half getting some experience before they take that exam to become a registered dietitian. We have about 20 to 25 students every year that participate in that program, and then they’re eligible to gain that credential, really just what you all were talking about, to become a credentialed professional.

Sheena: Awesome.

John: Prior to that you worked in health education too for a little stint. Do you find that making that transition from a health educator to what you do now was helpful for you?

Lori Green: It definitely makes education and teaching easier to me when you’re able to share stories. I love going and listening to continuing education, and they talk about story telling is so important. So it gives me some of the stories and some real life experiences even though they start to feel a little bit old now, but I still use some of them in class. This week I was talking about a story, and I was like, “This is 15 years old. I know it says 2003, but it’s still so relevant to bring home the message that I’m talking about.” I love that it gives some of that real life experience.

John: Right.

Lori Green: Yes.

Sheena: And a fun fact for our listeners. As many of you who listen know, I work as a registered dietitian at the student health center, and our guest, Lori, was actually the dietitian in that position before I joined. So it’s kind of neat having just had that experience and you creating that position into what it was at that time for me to come into, so that’s kind of cool.

Lori Green: And really it’s only been me and you. So me and you have been the only ones in that full time position.

Sheena: I know, so you are in the presence of greatness today, John.

John: The present and the past or the present and the past, yeah. Something like that.

Sheena: And she’s teaching the future, so …

Lori Green: There we go.

Sheena: Present, past, future. You know, listeners, you may be thinking, “Okay, we’ve got Lori on here, but what ties this all in together?” When it comes to you going back to school and getting your PhD, tell us a little bit about what you’re pursuing and what brought that interest.

Lori Green: One of my first careers that I had right out of grad school was I was a research assistant. And it was amazing to be able to participate in just multiple different types of research in body image and diabetes and hypertension. I haven’t been doing that research being an instructor and just been teaching. I love to teach, but I do kind of miss the research side of it and investigating and figure things out. I am a doctoral student right now in communications with an emphasis in health communications.
I’m excited to do that because just as you all have been saying, there’s so much great information. There’s science that’s out there. There’s things that my colleagues are doing, but I don’t know that we always share that the correct way. It goes out in journals, and sometimes it ends up in the media, but sometimes the medias spin it even in a different way. I’m just curious of how we can really share those messages of what’s science based information.

Sheena: I agree, and I think just with you tying that in together it’s gonna make for a great afternoon just because especially when it comes to our topic with that health messaging on social media. Lori, I know you’re with us for the afternoon, so I’m gonna say, let’s take a quick break. You guys are listening to Fit2btide with Sheena and John on 90.7, the Capstone.

John: Welcome back to Fit2btide with Sheena and John on 90.7 the Capstone. We’re back here again continuing our conversation with Lori Green who is a registered dietitian and is pursuing a … I did not know you were pursuing your degree actually in communications.

Lori Green: Oh, you did not, okay.

John: I didn’t know it was actually communications, which is beautiful for what we’re talking about. This type of thing is just right up your alley anyway, but to tie it in with what you’re getting your degree in is really neat. I’m on Twitter. I’m not a big fan of Facebook and other social media.

Lori Green: Okay.

John: I’m just not big into taking pictures and that sort of thing. Speaking of taking pictures, you dietitians, I know how … Everybody likes to take pictures of food.

Lori Green: That’s right.

John: Can I ask y’all before we even go into the whole … My question for you, why do people like to take pictures of their meal before they eat it? Is there something psychological about that? If you don’t know, don’t say [crosstalk 00:16:05].

Lori Green: Maybe because people feel good about what they’re making like if they feel good about what they’re making. I see dietitians sharing pies that are beautiful or smoothie bowls that are beautiful.

John: But if somebody rolls you a steak out from Outback, and you go and take a picture of it and pop it up.

Lori Green: Yeah. There are some people that abuse that power of seeing food on Instagram and it not necessarily being like Instagram or social medial worthy. I would say for dietitians in particular we’re a little bit more intentional in how we curate our pictures of food versus having some real sad green beans and mac and cheese under yellow fluorescent lighting.

Sheena: Yes.

Lori Green: Because I’ve got some friends from my hometown that like to do that. They’re like, “Oh man, this looks so great,” and I’m like, “That is the most depressing plate of food I’ve ever seen.” But I feel like food can be joyful, so when it’s beautiful and its from some fancy restaurant, and they plate all pretty you’ve gotta document it.

John: That makes it okay.

Sheena: Right, yeah.

John: All right.

Lori Green: It’s a thing. It’s definitely a thing.

Sheena: That’s my answer, yeah.

John: You have sent me pictures of food before.

Sheena: I have. From restaurants that you have referred me to, so that’s why.

John: No, it’s great, yeah.

Sheena: Okay, yeah.

John: But you didn’t post it out there for everybody to see, which is totally different.

Sheena: No, no. Maybe I did, but you’re not on social media, so you don’t know.

John: That’s a good point. At least you didn’t Tweet it out. I would’ve caught that.

Sheena: Correct, yes, correct.

John: Out of all the things that are out there, and there are various methods of getting things out through social media, what advice would you give on if you’re looking at nutrition or physical activity, that sort of thing, how do you decide, how do you decipher through all of the stuff that’s out there?

Lori Green: There’s a couple of things that I would look for. Probably my number one is who it is, so go into their website or go into their blog because there usually is some tie in. They’re usually not just posting something.

John: Right.

Lori Green: So do they have a reason to be saying what they are saying. And then the other big one to me is are they selling something? If they’re selling something then we should be really careful about listening to that education and that information. That’s a big red flag.

John: Let me ask you this, and I know Sheena’s discussed this a little bit before on the show, but since we’re actually talking about this specific topic, a lot of times you’ll hear somebody calling themselves a nutritionist. And a lot of people don’t know the difference between they hear dietitian, registered dietitian, nutritionist, that sort of thing. I’ve learned to … She’s beat me over the head with it’s gotta be a registered dietitian. But you say look at somebody’s website, once you look at their website then what do you look for?

Lori Green: If it’s nutrition I would be looking for the registered dietitian credential because in most states actually you can’t call yourself a nutritionist. Here in Alabama it’s illegal to call yourself a nutritionist.

John: Okay.

Lori Green: It’s like that in most states but not all states, so it’s a little bit different. I would be looking for something that tells me that they have the education.

John: So somebody that’s a registered dietitian is going to call themselves a registered dietitian and not a nutritionist?

Lori Green: Our name actually includes both now. It changed a couple of years ago, so now it’s-

Sheena: We complicated things.

Lori Green: Yeah, we did, we did. So now we are registered dietitian nutritionists. We’re incorporating both because of that confusion. That was just a couple of years ago that that happened.

Sheena: Oh yeah, but if you’re looking at a website, and you were looking at the author of the website and the credentials behind their name, if you saw RD or RDN you’re golden.

John: Okay.

Sheena: Yes.

John: So I didn’t mess that up too bad for you guys.

Lori Green: No, no. No, that was awesome.

Sheena: That was a great question that our listeners needed to know. Gotta be informed.

Lori Green: But it is confusing, no doubt. Yeah, it’s confusing.

John: Let’s go a step further then. Once you get into somebody’s content then, just because they’re RD or RDN it doesn’t mean they’re gonna give you great information, right?

Lori Green: That’s true. Mm-hmm (affirmative).

John: There are fringe exercise physiologists that have crazy ideas about how to do things.

Lori Green: Right.

John: How do you know when information is good once you’re into what they have on the page?

Lori Green: You even have to see what their other sources are, so where are they getting their information from? Is it from a research study or is it from another credentialed person because usually they’re not citing their own information or their own research study. They’re getting it from other places.

John: Right.

Lori Green: Also have to think about things like is it too good to be true or does it offer something like lose 10 pounds in two weeks.

John: Right.

Lori Green: For me that’s unrealistic, so is it realistic and it’s not offering things that really they shouldn’t be offering.

John: Right.

Sheena: Yeah, and I think with patients that I’ve worked with, too, because there can, even among dietitians just as among physicians and other types of health professionals sometimes there can be some differing opinions depending on what population that person works with, so I think looking at multiple sources is always really helpful too. So if you’re looking at an ideal that an author is writing look up some other things that someone else may be writing on that topic too, but if everybody else’s information seems to conflict that person then maybe you can kind of make your own informed decision from that.

John: Let me ask about these. I know you, Sheena, and I see kind of some of the information that you put out there. Lori, do you see social media as a way to get information out? Do you utilize social media to get various messages out that you’re trying to?

Lori Green: I do sometimes. I kind of ebb and flow just because of business of life, honestly. I think there are a lot of other people that do a great job. I do, though, when I see something that really hits home for me that I think people need to know about I will send it out through Instagram or Twitter or Facebook usually.

John: Sheena, while we’re on the subject, how do you decide what you’re gonna?

Sheena: I’ll answer this, and it kind of segways into another question, I think for me one thing that I try to be careful with, and I think a lot of clinicians get hesitant is what can I share where I don’t have to worry that it could be harmful to someone else? So trying to put more population based information out there versus something that would be so specific to one population where if a random person came across it, and they had a completely different medical condition that wouldn’t be helpful. I’ve seen a lot of clinicians that use social media, they’ll put a disclaimer this is not going to be a replacement for actual medical advice with your personal physician or whatever else. I think that’s a huge piece, and my perception is maybe that’s why different types of clinicians, healthcare providers, might be a little bit leery about putting some information out there because it seems like we’re a lawsuit happy kind of culture.

Lori Green: Right, right.

Sheena: And there’s a little bit of a nervousness about that.

Lori Green: I think like you said earlier you really have to take the time to read it. Again, just going back to time factor, if I really like the topic but I don’t have the time to read it I’ve sent something out before, and I’ve actually had a dietitian kind of come at me because what I said was just slightly not what the article said. So I was like, “Okay, now I’ve gotta read the whole article, and I’ve gotta be 100% sure that what I’m sharing in this message is right.”

John: Right, yeah. I had a professor in college who it used to frustrate me. He was one of the best professors I had looking back, but at the time it was so difficult to get him to answer a question. And now I see why. It’s like the more you learn about different topics. 20 years ago, 30 years ago I was an expert on everything, and looking back I didn’t know anything. It was one of those things where I see now why he wouldn’t answer a question because he knows about five or six different answers to it or potential answers to it.

Sheena: Yeah, and it’s like how much do I want to put in there? And I think when it comes to social media messaging a lot of times it has to be short and succinct, and so you’ve gotta be really crafty with that limited character space putting out information that’s gonna be legit and evidence based but be efficient to the space that you have. We can talk more about that a little bit later on, but it’s time for another break, you guys, so we’re gonna take a deep breather. You guys are listening to Fit2btide with Sheena and John on 90.7 the Capstone, so stick with us, and we’ll catch you after the break.

John: Welcome back to Fit2btide with Sheena and John on 90.7 the Capstone. We’re back here with Lori Green who has a specialty in a little bit of everything we’re finding out, communication, nutrition-

Lori Green: I don’t know about that.

Sheena: Super mom.

Lori Green: All this stuff, yeah.

John: You are a jack of all trades.

Lori Green: There we go.

John: If you’re back with us, thank you for hanging in there with us so far this afternoon. I think we’ve been able to … We’re getting out some good information.

Sheena: We are.

John: People may not be getting out good information on social media, but we’re responsible, and we’re getting good information out today.

Sheena: The radio is a great place for information.

John: Yes, absolutely. The purest form of social media.

Sheena: That’s right.

John: I guess.

Sheena: Yeah.

John: Anyway, one of the things that I’ve seen, and I’ll ask both of you this question, is during the break we were talking about so many people throw in a workout video, this, that, and the other. You can do a Google search on how to get perfect abs, and you’re gonna pull up 20, 25 different people. You have no idea what their background is. They’re doing all kind of different ab exercises and this sort of thing. And it looks cool. I’ll admit. I’ve pulled some ab workouts off the internet like that before.

Sheena: Right.

John: Some things are bad. Some things are … And I feel like I have a good grasp. Even though I have a background I still struggle with it because there’s so much out there. Do y’all see that a lot with nutrition too, with people putting out … Because I’ve noticed fitness stuff that people put out there, and I look at it with a critical eye. Do you guys see that with nutrition a lot?

Lori Green: I would say it’s really similar.

John: Really.

Lori Green: Either sharing of meal plans or selling a plan, either sharing or selling, I think, yes. I would say it’s pretty similar.

John: Right.

Sheena: I agree. It’s one of those things where … And, honestly, I actually recently did a presentation to a group of students about factors that play into millennial food choices. We’ve become a society where not only food but even physical activity, those things that we do they kind of use it in the say way as a fashion statement. The way that we eat or the way that we dress, and I know John, we’ve talked about this with one of your past guests. When people are doing certain types of exercise habits or they’re eating a certain way they want to be seen as that person like, “Oh, I’m this fitness guy. I’m the vegan.” It’s kind of like a fashion statement for them in terms of how they wear their clothing.
When people are putting out their personal habits, whether it’s their eating or their exercise, it’s kind of this point of pride where they want to exploit what they’re doing because I’m sure their ultimate goal is they want people to do the same thing as them or say, “Oh, I saw John on social media. I want to have the exact same kind of protein shake and workout that he does.” I don’t know.

John: Right. There’s an ulterior motive involved, more than likely, in a lot of circumstances.

Sheena: I think so.

John: Yeah.

Sheena: Yeah, maybe somebody’s trying to make money or they’re trying to expose themselves just to put their name out there.

Lori Green: Build up their followers.

Sheena: Yeah, oh yeah.

John: Right. It, to me, is just one of those things that you see just so much. It’s so hard to discern what’s good and what’s bad. And me looking at nutrition stuff I’m clueless as to what’s good info and what’s bad info.

Sheena: I feel the same way about fitness.

Lori Green: Me too.

Sheena: I mean, you know, it’s like I know what to look for, but there’s so much out there it’s that decision we have to make of do I want to take the time to research this person and see if they have an actual website to give me their credentials versus the short description on the YouTube video?

John: Right.

Sheena: I don’t know. I don’t know if y’all feel that way too.

John: Yeah, it seems like whoever can come up with the shortest, like the gold now is to come up with the shortest, quickest workout. Pretty soon people are gonna have it down to like a 30 second workout for the day. Whoever’s the quickest to put that together, that will grab some attention.

Lori Green: Just like for quick weight loss, quick workouts, quick weight loss.

John: Yeah.

Lori Green: We want it quick.

Sheena: Oh yeah.

John: Yeah, people will definitely like this, the easy way out.

Lori Green: Yeah. That’s right.

Sheena: That’s for sure.

John: What other things do you guys see that are out there that are causes for concern for you? Yeah, there are some things that are out there that’s just bad information, but do you see things that could be potentially dangerous?

Lori Green: I’d say some of the supplements that people sell. I keep going back to selling. I think some of those can be potentially dangerous just because of the lack of regulation that we have of supplements, and a lot of people don’t really think about what they’re taking. They just look at the marketing. So I think that can be potentially dangerous.

John: Right.

Sheena: And I would say just even from a personal standpoint my dad is a very severe type two diabetic, also needs a kidney transplant and everything else, so sometimes he’s actively searching for certain types of articles on Facebook or people will share certain articles with him, and it’ll be like, “Oh, this herb cured my diabetes,” and I’m having to tell him in a private conversation, “No, this would be dangerous or no this cinnamon is not gonna cure your diabetes,” or whatever the article mentioned. That’s where I feel like it can be really dangerous for someone who has those chronic health conditions, and they’ve gotten to this desperation point where they’re willing to try anything.

John: Right.

Sheena: And they are kind of feeding into whatever kind of website or article that they’ve seen that could be from a really dangerous source but just happens to have a good production value.

John: Right.

Lori Green: And we like to grab on to the latest fad diets too. Whether that’s a health person or someone with a chronic disease.

John: Right.

Lori Green: We don’t do much research, I don’t think, and we grab on to those fad diets. And some of those could be dangerous, maybe not all of them.

John: One of the things that Sheena just referred to is the look of someone’s website or their social presence or presence on social media, the way it looks. I’ve never thought of that before, but that really could play a role in it. You see something that looks legit just based on what you see on whatever format it’s on.

Lori Green: Right. Even somebody’s workout videos. You said you follow some of those. I said I’ve followed some. Some of them look like they did them at home, and some of them look like they’re professionals in the gym.

John: Right, exactly. You’re absolutely right. You’re more than likely going to follow that person that has a professionally done video whether or not it’s correct. And I could see that being the same way with nutrition and stuff.

Sheena: Yeah. And I think across the board for any kind of healthcare professional, I think when it comes to different types of professional development conferences they’re seeing the need for clinicians, healthcare providers to be more savvy in that area so that they can compete with those people that maybe that person had a marketing or PR background, and then they started dabbling in fitness or nutrition, so they’ve already got those skills for a beautiful website, so now it’s trying to teach people who do have that evidence based information how can I be savvy on social media? So I feel like it’s us with the great information trying to catch up to have those kind of internet skills that folks that don’t have the great information have but just make things look really pretty and legit.

Lori Green: In the past we haven’t done a great job of that I don’t think, so teaching those people.

Sheena: Yeah.

John: Logistically, though, I can see how that would happen. I see how both of you guys are from 7:00 in the morning until 9:00 or 10:00 at night you’re on campus working talking to students, helping people. How do you have time to get internet savvy? How do you have time to put stuff like that together? The people who are actually doing the real work, I could see where you wouldn’t have time to do stuff like that.

Lori Green: I get overwhelmed with all the social media. I will admit that I’m a Twitter only at conferences, so I only Tweet at conferences.

Sheena: Same here, same here.

Lori Green: I don’t know why that is. Twitter’s pretty big. It’s hard to keep up, and it changes so often.

Sheena: I think, John, you bring up a good point. I think the healthcare providers that are in the trenches of getting to see patients every day or they’re educating students, maybe those aren’t the people that are on social media, but you’ve got your fitness gurus and your dietitians and your other types of healthcare providers where maybe they decided their avenue is to be a social media based person. I see a lot of dietitians that have now dedicated their careers to exclusively blogging and connecting that to their social media channel, so maybe they’re at a point where they don’t even see patients anymore. They just know how much of a full time job it is for that production value of being on the internet. That’s kind of neat too.

John: Right, yeah. Oh well, I guess I shouldn’t have jumped to that conclusion.

Sheena: No.

John: There are …

Sheena: But, no, it brings up a good point.

Lori Green: It’s a growing number of people.

John: Right.

Sheena: I think Lori and I, we dabble. We’ve got some good nuggets of information here and there. Gosh, we’ve had a great afternoon. This has been great discussion. Lori, you have been fantastic. Do you mind sticking with us for our last segment of the day?

Lori Green: Yes, I can.

Sheena: It is food-related, so maybe you will guess our mystery food.

Lori Green: Oh yay. Okay, I’ll give it a try.

Sheena: John, you could guess our mystery food today.

John: We’ll see.

Sheena: I tried to throw you a bone with potatoes last week.

John: I know, and I can’t believe I missed that. I went for the obvious, the Easter egg. I thought we were on the same wavelength.

Sheena: I know. You guys, stick for the challenge. We have our Sheena Talks About a Food segment. I got it right, John.

John: There you go.

Sheena: You guys, stick with us. We’ve got one more little break. You are listening to Fit2btide with Sheena and John on 90.7, The Capstone.

John: Welcome back to Fit2btide with Sheena and John on 90.7 the Capstone, and we’re back here with Lori hung around with us for this last segment for my favorite, favorite part of the week. I live for this five minutes where Sheena talks about a food. This is great. I know this is your first experience with this.

Lori Green: I’m excited, yeah, a little nervous.

John: When Sheena talks about a food it’s always exciting.

Sheena: Well, you know, I’m so glad that you’re happy about it even though you’ve not guessed correctly yet, but third time’s a charm. This is the third time we’re doing this.

John: You’re gonna call me out on …

Sheena: I know. That’s what we do.

Lori Green: Do we have to take turns or we can just guess?

Sheena: Well, I’m gonna go through all of the facts.

Lori Green: Okay.

Sheena: And then at the end I’ll be like, John, what’s your guess? Lori, what is your guess? Okay, so, mystery food facts. This food is native to Asia. This mystery food is a fruit, so I’m already giving y’all a heads up there. It’s used in both dessert preparation and is called for in a lot of savory recipes. However, it is hardly ever eaten on its own. This fruit is technically a berry, though not ever thought of in that capacity. The trees of this fruit bloom year round. This fruit is less than 10 grams of carbohydrate for one whole fruit, so it could potentially be a good lower carb option for someone. There’s also only 15 calories per the whole fruit. This fruit is also used for many non eating needs such as helping clear up blemishes, whitening teeth, treating oily skin, and deodorizing a garbage disposal. I will say I personally use it to deodorize my garbage disposal.

John: I’ve got this.

Lori Green: I think I might have it.

Sheena: Okay.

Lori Green: I didn’t know it came from Asia.

Sheena: I want y’all … I’m like, I really want y’all to get it. John, what’s your guess?

John: I’m going with the Asian Arm and Hammer miniature apply berry.

Sheena: Okay.

John: That’s as close as I can get.

Sheena: What is no?

John: Lori?

Sheena: Lori, what is your guess?

Lori Green: I’m gonna go with the lemon.

Sheena: Yay. It’s a lemon.

John: Awe. You come in here with your nutrition friends, and you take over my show.

Sheena: Not my show.

John: My show.

Sheena: You want me to go back into the corner, don’t you?

John: We’ll put you in the nutrition corner.

Lori Green: Who does the cleaning at your house?

John: I’m sorry.

Lori Green: Who does the cleaning at your house?

John: Um.

Lori Green: That one gave it away for me. That one gave it away for me.

Sheena: Yeah. I think I was like I really wanted it to get guessed this time.

Lori Green: Deodorizers.

Sheena: So, we’ve got-

John: If you’d a said it’s in Mountain Dew, boom, I’m on it.

Lori Green: Oh, yeah.

Sheena: Okay. But you would’ve had to choose between a lemon or a lime.

John: I would’ve been on it there maybe.

Sheena: Well. I’ve got a recipe using lemons.

John: Okay. Can you [crosstalk 00:38:56].

Sheena: I’ll go ahead an give it-

John: Okay. So we’re transferring now from Sheena talks about a food to Sheena talks about a food and a recipe.

Sheena: Yes.

John: Okay.

Sheena: I like how we segwayed into that official next title.

John: Yeah, there we go. All right.

Sheena: I will say you would never eat this, John, but I think our listeners would. We have a lemon garlic hummus recipe. Your face looks really funny right now. But there’s not a lot of ingredients. You can use canola or olive oil. You’ve got two cups of canned garbanzo beans that are rinsed and drained. You’ve got three tablespoons of lemon juice. You’ve got some garlic and some salt, and then you’ve got some pita chips. Just to dip them there are some carrot sticks. Are you a hummus person, John?

John: You’re gonna put me on the spot like that?

Sheena: I am. You’ve always been very honest with me, so I just was curious.

John: I couldn’t be further from a hummus person.

Sheena: Have you ever tasted hummus, like have you tried it?

John: And I will not ever try it.

Sheena: Okay, that’s fine.

Lori Green: You’re missing out. I tried some dessert hummus yesterday for the first time.

Sheena: Did you? Is it the one? Okay.

Lori Green: Dessert hummus made out of chickpeas.

Sheena: Yes. Okay, John, I am going to … We need to bet on something at some point in time, and if you lose I’m gonna force you to try this vegan cookie dough. Chickpeas is the base. But I’ll put actual chocolate chips in there versus vegan chocolate chips.

John: Okay.

Sheena: You will like … It’ll be life changing to you. It’ll be the greatest victory of my life as a dietitian. We’ve gotta think of something to challenge each other, and then if you are a loser that’s your …

John: See, I don’t know if I will ever trust any food that you make because I know you will slip something in on me.

Sheena: Of course, yeah.

John: I will tell you real quickly, my wife when we first got married was amused by the fact that I didn’t like any type of beans, so she made separate chili for her and separate chili for me.

Sheena: Yeah. Mm-hmm (affirmative).

John: And she thought it would be funny to put one bean in mine to see if I would notice that one bean.

Sheena: Oh I like that, yeah.

John: Yeah.

Sheena: I bet you noticed, yeah.

John: Yeah, and I don’t trust her to this day, I’m sorry, when it comes to food.

Sheena: Well, I do have a friend who’s a dietitian, and her husband is the same way. When I used to be their third wheel I noticed that his crock pot of chili looked distinctly different from ours or vegetable soup like his was meat soup.

John: Exactly.

Sheena: It was really different. So you are not alone. But, listeners, you don’t have to be like that. You can at the vegetables. You guys, we have had a great afternoon, and we hope that you have a fantastic week and you join us next week. You are listening to Fit2btide with Sheena and John on 90.7 the Capstone.