Women's Nutrition

		Lona Sandon, MEd, RD/LD Section Editor, Current Trends in Nutrition Section Editor, Women's Nutrition - Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Nutrition; UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas - American Dietetic Association Spokesperson

Women's Diets: Preventing Disease
Posted: October 2005
Source: UT Southwestern Health Watch

We're talking about women's diets this week on Healthwatch. Many chronic diseases and health problems are related to diet. High blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and high cholesterol all may be caused by your genes, but they're affected by your diet. It may be possible to prevent or treat these diseases with lifestyle changes, including diet.

Lona Sandon , a registered dietitian at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, says a registered dietitian can develop an eating plan that will help you reduce your risk for disease. Adding fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy foods to your diet in the right amounts and at the right calorie level is key to preventing health problems. Even if you don't have these problems yet, you may be at increased risk if you have family members with these diseases, and you should make lifestyle changes to protect yourself.