Healthy nutrition happy life
Many people want to eat healthy, but it’s not always easy.
Fortunately, there is help available for anyone seeking to eat more nutritiously and to live a healthy lifestyle. That assistance is as close as the nearest grocery store, juice bar or hospital wellness center.
Hy-Vee
2700 DeKalb Ave. | Sycamore
(815) 756‑6174 | hy-vee.com/stores
Hy-Vee, a nationwide grocery store chain with a location in Sycamore, provides many opportunities for customers to learn to make better food choices, to cook well balanced, nutritious meals and to keep track of their important health indicators.
Hy-Vee’s commitment to providing their customers with paths and tools to educate themselves and take care of their health is evident in the range of health services they provide.
The opportunities include cooking classes, lunch-and-learn sessions and biometric screenings that offer important information about glucose and cholesterol levels. For people who want more focused attention, the store offers one-on-one nutritional counseling, which is sometimes covered by insurance.
A one-time session is $125; a package of four one-hour sessions is $160. Participants keep a food log and then meet with a registered dietitian to discuss any particular health concerns or goals they are trying to address through diet. The dietitian works with them to develop a meal plan that they can follow to achieve their particular health goals.
Lisa Brandt, a registered dietitian at Hy-Vee, loves working with her clients.
“I really enjoy helping people,” she said. “It’s a great way for me to be one-on-one with customers and help them eat healthy and have fun.”
Customers are glad to have counseling that is easily accessible.
“I get a lot of feedback from customers about what I offer,” she said. “They tell me they are so glad I am right in the grocery store.”
Kate’s Place
114 W. California St. | Sycamore
(779) 222‑4141
Need a nutritional boost? Then head to Kate’s Place – Nutrition & Wellness where owner Kate Huftalin makes it easy to eat healthy. The store offers meal replacement shakes in any of 35 flavors, complete with 21 vitamins and minerals and 17 grams of protein. Customers create individualized meal replacements by making three selections: first, a shot of aloe, from one of three flavors, then they choose either a regular tea or a Boosted Tea to speed up their metabolism and give them a caffeine boost, and finally a shake. Customers can also take part in a fitness evaluation or weight-loss challenges by purchasing products for
at home.
NM Kishwaukee Diabetes Education Center
Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee
Health & Wellness Center in DeKalb
626 Bethany Rd.
(815) 748‑8378
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 100 million Americans are now living with diabetes and prediabetes. Nutrition is a crucial component of fighting the disease that can cause serious health consequences.
The NM Kishwaukee Diabetes Education Center in the Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Health & Wellness Center in DeKalb helps patients diagnosed with prediabetes, Types 1 and 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes.
Peggy Marchini, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator, said the center helps patients learn ways to prevent or manage diabetes through making healthy lifestyle choices including choosing healthy foods, increasing activity, reducing stress and managing medication.
She noted that a recent study has shown that combining an increased activity level with a weight loss of just five to seven percent can prevent diabetes.
The center offers one-on-one nutritional counseling and group classes that help patients learn how to eat more healthy. Patients learn to count carbohydrates or to become more aware of carbs. They also learn how to use a glucose meter or sensor to assess their sugar levels.
Marchini said every patient eats differently, but she stresses eating a variety of foods including colorful fruits and vegetables.
Patients are advised to participate in at least three counseling sessions so they can learn what the results of the glucose meter mean.
“It’s important for them to get feedback and decipher what those numbers from the meter mean,” Marchini said.
Medicare approves 10 hours of education that covers diabetes nutritional counseling. The amount of education covered by other insurers varies according to their plans.
Marchini also provides clinical expertise to the hospital’s Leishman Center for Culinary Health, which provides classes for people with diabetes and the general population to learn to cook at home.