First, let me just say Combichrist song titles make great blog titles, and great carbohydrate puns.
Second: I am not a baker. But that did not stop me from making and having fun while making bread. I was going crazy with doing new things, like a 3-braided loaf, and then a 5-braided rope with cinnamon and sugar. I think the fun-factor is a component many nutritionist and dietitians miss when discussing food. Saying I like food is an understatement. I mean, I am making an entire fucking career out of it. I like eating new foods sometimes, especially new produce. But I know not everyone enjoys food as much as I do.
There are many people unable to eat healthy from a mental point. It could be the flavor of the foods, the stigma behind eating healthy (which does not really seem to exist in urban American West Coast places), or some other reason causing people to be unwilling to do new things with food. Plus, things like prepackaged or fast foods are quick, cheep, and easy. The Deadly Trifecta, I call them.
In behavioral psychology, there is Exchange Theory. In shorter terms, the benefits from doing something must outweigh the costs. For me, the outcome of having fun while making bread was worth more than the fear of failing to make it correctly, or the costs of materials and time. For others, not so much. I think one of the ever-expanding roles a dietitian should try to do is show people food can be fun when opposition arises. Sometimes it takes a bit of imagination to turn cooking and/or eating healthy something to dread to something to look forward to.
Another thing a lot of dietitians need to be aware of is the culture of the people you deal with. Foods that are acceptable and palatable in one environment might not even be feasible in another. An example we had in class was with an Asian woman and a dietitian. She was seeing the dietitian after being diagnosed with diabetes. Her meal was very rice heavy, and she had sodas with dinner. In the “bad” scenario, the dietitian was unrelenting with recommending brown rice instead of white rice, despite her resisting every step of the way. She was not in charge of making food, only eating it. He was not aware of her culture, and that caused her to be uncomfortable.
Now, when I made bread, I posted about it online for my friends and family to see. I was getting notifications left and right from my relatives and friends. It’s cool that my friends and family appreciate my love of food, but I was NOT expecting to have as wide of a response as I did.
At least with the older generation of people in my family, homemade bread is a big thing. My grandma used to make homemade bread. My mother even told me that she had fond memories of breaking into the fresh loaves of bread and eating the end slices with her mother-in-law and eating them with butter.
To wrap things up, I think that medical personnel need to understand that discussing health is not enough. Sometimes one’s culture makes it difficult to change food behaviors, and sometimes it’s the patient’s own mentality that prevents the change.
What do you guys think? Any cool food stories? Any stories about the foods served in your family? Feel free to comment them below.
The Nutrition Punk 