Baptist Health Lexington Nutrition Education and Diet Counseling provides many services on a variety of health topics, including:

Brain Health: Have you heard of the Mediterranean diet or the DASH diets before? Did you know that the MIND diet, which is a combination of these two diets, has been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease? Let us help show you how eating certain foods can help promote brain function for years to come.

Cancer and Cancer Recovery Diets: Are you undergoing cancer treatments and experiencing issues with weight loss, difficulty swallowing, nausea, or taste changes? We provide nutrition counseling to assist with gaining weight, modified consistency diets, and general diet modifications to help with decreased appetite and taste changes. 

Cardiac and Heart Healthy Diets: The American Heart Association 2019 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics indicate that 46% of Americans have high blood pressure. On average, every 38 seconds someone dies from cardiovascular disease and someone dies from stroke every 3.7 minutes. Nutrition can play a large part in heart health. We provide guidance on many heart healthy diet modifications such as low sodium, low fat, and cholesterol-lowering to help with conditions including:

• Heart Disease
• High Blood Pressure 
• High Cholesterol
• High Triglycerides
• Atrial Fibrillation

The Mediterranean Diet and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diets are two popular and effective diets to improve heart health. The U.S. News & World Report ranked the Mediterranean diet as the #1 best diet overall. The Mediterranean diet is an eating approach that does not restrict any food group but focuses on fruits, vegetables, olive oil, and fish. The DASH diet, is ranked as the #2 best diet overall by the U.S. News & World Report, and is promoted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood institute to manage and possibly reverse high blood pressure. 

Diabetes Diet Education 

Diabetes is a growing problem in the US and Kentucky. There are different forms of diabetes: Type 1, type 2, gestational diabetes and pre-diabetes. The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes. Diabetes occurs when your body is not using food correctly. Normally when you eat food and it is digested, it is turned in a liquid fuel known as glucose. When this fuel moves into the bloodstream, normally our pancreas responds by creating a hormone known as insulin. Insulin helps move the fuel from the blood to the body parts to use for energy.

• In type 1 diabetes, your body no longer makes insulin.
• In type 2 diabetes, your body still makes insulin but it does not work as well.
• In gestational diabetes (occurs in pregnancy), the hormones of pregnancy keep the insulin from working well.
• Prediabetes is a condition showing that changes are happening that could lead to diabetes.

Diabetes is diagnosed by looking at the amount of glucose in your blood in a lab test. You may or may not have symptoms. Symptoms include:

• Feeling tired
• Increased hunger
• Increased urination
• Feeling thirsty
• Blurred vision
• Poor healing

Diabetes also occurs more often in:

• Older adults
• People who are not very active
• People who are overweight or obese
• People who have family history of diabetes

It is recommended to get tested regularly for diabetes, check with your provider about your risk and screening options.

Based on your results, you may be diagnosed with diabetes. If you are diagnosed, you are not alone! There are over 38 million people living with diabetes in the United States.

The good news is there is help available! Ask your health care provider about classes that you can take to better understand diabetes and provide you with the information and skills to help you prevent problems and live a long and happy life. By learning about diabetes and working with your health care team, you can reduce your risk of diabetes complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, nerve damage, and circulatory problems. It is important to get accurate information about how to manage diabetes. The key factors in managing diabetes are staying active, a healthy meal plan, monitoring your glucose levels, and following up with health care providers.

Diabetes educators have comprehensive knowledge and experience in providing you with information and guidance on managing diabetes. Ask your provider to refer you to Baptist Health Lexington’s Diabetes Education services to get started with learning about diabetes, improving your control if you have had it for awhile, or to learn about new technology and treatments in diabetes.

Our program at Baptist Health Lexington has professional and caring nurses and dietitians. Many of them are Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists. Our program is nationally recognized by the American Diabetes Association for meeting national standards in quality and outcomes.

Eating with Food Allergies and Intolerances: Are you allergic to a certain food? Do you have many food allergies? Are there specific foods you have trouble tolerating? The top 8 food allergens include milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans. Our team of dietitians can work with you to develop a meal plan and meal ideas that will take into account your food preferences as well as your food allergies or intolerances. 

Gastrointestinal (GI) Diets: Are you experiencing uncomfortable GI symptoms including abdominal pain or discomfort, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, or vomiting? Then we can help! Our dietitians have experience with many diets and eating patterns to help relieve GI symptoms including elimination diets, low FODMAP, gluten-free, and low or high fiber diets. Some common GI complications we see in our office include: 

• Gastroparesis
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
  • Crohn’s
  • Ulcerative Colitis
• Celiac Disease
• Sucrase-Isomaltase Deficiency (CSID)
• GERD/Acid Reflux
• Eosinophilic Esophagitis 
• Diverticulitis
• Chronic Constipation

Indirect Calorimetry: Indirect Calorimetry is a quick, proven procedure to provide you with an accurate measurement of your calorie needs. In just a little over 10 minutes, you will be provided with information on your body’s calorie needs as well as how your metabolism compares to other individuals your age and gender. This service does not require a referral from your provider, but is only available for adults. People who may want to schedule for indirect calorimetry services include:

• Those who are frustrated with weight loss efforts
• Athletes
• Those who are underweight and trying to gain weight
• Anyone who is curious to know a little more about how their body works

Renal (Kidney) Disease: The kidney is responsible for filtering waste and excess fluids from the blood to be excreted in urine. With kidney disease, the kidneys are not able to filter the blood as well and your diet may need to be adjusted based on the stage of your kidney disease. Your RDN can help make an individualized meal plan based on your electrolytes of concern with kidney disease as well as provide kidney-friendly recipe ideas. Kidney disease is often classified by the following:

• Stages 1-4
• Stage 5 with dialysis

Liver Disease: Liver disease can be caused by genetics or other factors including trauma, viruses, obesity, or alcohol use. There are multiple stages and types of liver disease including:

• Fatty Liver
• Hepatitis
• Cirrhosis

The liver primarily functions to help digest food and rid the body of toxins. With liver disease, the liver may not be able to perform its functions as well and diet may need to be adjusted to help reduce the strain on the liver. Whether it be the need for a low sodium diet or maintaining a healthy weight, our team of dietitians can help adjust a meal plan to fit your needs. 

Pediatric and Teen Health: Baptist Health Lexington’s nutrition services is available for both children and teens. The goal of the program is to provide the patient and family with information and tools to eat healthy for a lifetime. Some common pediatric and teen health topics we see include:

• Healthy Weight Goals
• Healthy Eating Habits
• Feeding Difficulties
• Failure to Thrive
• Gastrointestinal Disorders
• Allergies and Intolerances
• Picky Eating
• Sports Nutrition

Prevention

At Baptist Health Lexington we offer two options for preventing diabetes:

Prediabetes education class: Class taught by health care professionals about healthy lifestyle goals to keep you from developing diabetes. Focus is on healthy nutrition, weight loss if needed, coping skills, and staying active.

Diabetes Prevention Program: A nationally successful and enjoyable program from the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) that engages you in a dynamic small peer group to meet healthy lifestyle goals over a year. The program has been shown to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and improve their overall health. The goals of the program are to increase activity to at least 150 minutes of activity per week, and lose 5-7% body weight. These goals have been shown in research to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58%. Another key to the success of the program is the ongoing support of the instructors and other participants. Baptist Health Lexington has achieved recognition from both the CDC and CMS for having successful results. Call today to learn more about the program.

Talk to your provider and ask them to make a referral to our services. If you would like us to help you get a referral, call our office at 859.260.5122. We will work with you and find a class that meets your needs.

Vegan, Vegetarian, and Plant-Based Diets: There are many benefits to plant-based diets including benefits for personal health as well as environmental health. If you are thinking about changing your eating patterns to more of a plant-based, vegetarian, or vegan way of eating, our dietitians can help develop a well-balanced, nutritional meal plan fitting each pattern of eating. Using our computer software, we can also help patients who are currently following a type of plant-based eating ensure they are getting adequate nutrients for a healthy diet.

Sports Nutrition: We offer individualized nutrition counseling for all athletes, at any level. With our advanced computer software, we are able to provide a detailed food analysis based on current eating patterns to better customize a meal plan to help optimize an athlete’s nutrition. We are also able to offer indirect calorimetry services (adults only) to be able to provide a better, more targeted calorie recommended based on level of activity.

Weight Loss Counseling/Weight Management: Are you looking to lose weight and aren’t sure where to start or having problems keeping the weight off once you lose it? Our team of RDNs can assist with calorie recommendations for weight loss, research-based meal plans for weight loss, additional meal planning ideas, goal setting, and lifestyle changes to lead to long-lasting weight loss. We provide weight loss counseling, in both small group and one-on-one, based on your preference. 

Women’s Health: Some nutrition related topics are specific to women and our team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) can help develop appropriate meal plans for those topics and stages of life. Whether the need is for healthy nutrition during pregnancy, knowing the calories that are needed while lactating, or weight loss, we will individualize a meal plan for you. Some women’s nutrition-related health topics include:

• Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
• Pregnancy
• Lactation
• Menopause
• Gestational Diabetes