Top 10 Reasons...

Top 10 reasons to take advantage of being a SCAN member and plug your information into the Find a SCAN RD section of the SCAN website (Thanks to Jenna Bell, PhD, RD, CSSD).

You may think that you don't want to be found, but think again...here are the top 10 reasons to add your info NOW:

10. Consumers need your advice and they don't sell RDs at the supermarket.
9. Athletes need you to help them perform better.
8. Coaches are confused by nutrition.
7. A professional organization wants YOU to speak at their next conference.
6. A publication wants to quote you for their next great piece.
5. Magazines and newsletters want you to write for them.
4. Doctors don't know where to find dietitians.
3. Fitness clubs have their personal trainers do nutrition because you're no where to be found!
2. A company wants your services to help them with their latest product.
1. SOMEONE WANTS TO PAY YOU FOR YOUR EXPERTISE!

I've posted instructions below for changing the information that shows on your Find a SCAN RD profile. For those of you who DO NOT want to be listed in the Find a SCAN RD feature, there is an option for opting out. Just a reminder, if you make any changes be sure to click on the SAVE button.

Have you been contacted through the Find a SCAN RD feature? If so, you might want to write about your experiences by posting a comment to this blog. Best, Marie

Marie Dunford, PhD, RD

SCAN's Volunteer Web Editor

To update MyProfile (the place to change your Find a SCAN RD profile, opt out of Find a SCAN RD, and sign up for a subunit):

Sign in as a member on the SCAN website

Click on My Profile (located to the right of where it says Welcome [your name])

Note: There are three green EDIT buttons on this page

To edit General Information, Contact Information or Membership Details:

Click on the green edit button located directly above Member Profile (you may have to scroll down)

If you want your address, city, state, email, etc. to be public and show in FIND a SCAN RD, click on the Is Public box next to the ones you want public. For privacy reasons, only you can make your contact info public.

If you want an active link to your website, put your URL in the website field, located under Fax Number

If you want an area of expertise to show up in Find a SCAN RD, click on the box(es)

If you want to join one or more of the subunits, click on the appropriate box(es)

You may specify services offered (e.g., individual and group counseling)

If you DO NOT want to be listed in the Find a SCAN RD feature, click on the Exclude from Find a SCAN RD Search box

If you make ANY changes be sure to click on the SAVE button

To edit Member Profile (This is the About Me section on Find a SCAN RD):

Click on the green edit button located right under Member Profile

A yellow shaded box comes up and you can add written info there

If you make ANY changes be sure to click on the SAVE button

To add/edit a picture or image:

To add or edit a picture or an image (personal photo, logo, etc.,) click on Change (located under the image box)

Select a file to upload (a dialog box appears)

To add/edit your social networking information:

Click on the green edit button located under Blogger:

If you want to add social networking sites, enter the full URL for any of your social networks

If you make ANY changes be sure to click on the SAVE button

Tip: Once you make changes to MyProfile, go to Find a SCAN RD, enter your zip code, and view the changes that you made.

SCAN Symposium keynote speakers were on fire!

The SCAN Symposium keynote speakers certainly lived up to their top billing.

Louise Burke (far left) opened the 2011 symposium on Friday with her presentation, Fueling Athletes with Carbs: From Research to Practice. What I love about hearing Louise speak is that first and foremost she is evidenced-based. However, so many aspects of sports nutrition have not been studied extensively (or at all). Faced with that void, she gives thought to what we might tell athletes now. No one does research to practice better than Dr. Burke. One take home message: match intake to functionality. A sliding scale for carbohydrate intake based on intensity and duration of training makes sense.

On Saturday, Michael Roizen, MD from the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute gave an interesting presentation that got the audience thinking and talking. One message was that moderation doesn't work. He told the crowd about being in the green room prior to an appearance on a morning TV show in Canada. Another of the show's guests was there and reached for a donut. Dr. Roizen described grabbing his arm, grabbing the donut, throwing it on the floor and stepping on it. It got me to wondering--if dietitians took this approach would we be praised for our passion or be scorned and scolded as being diet police?

The Sunday keynote speaker did not disappoint. Dr. John Hawley gave a brilliant presentation titled, How Low Can You Go? Training-Nutrient Periodization for Endurance Performance. I wish I had the ability to present information so clearly and precisely. The talk was humorous and engaging, particularly appreciated since we'd all lost an hour with the time change. He too suggested the benefit of a sliding scale for carbohydrate intake that is closely matched to the athlete's training and recovery schedule. Dr. Hawley reviewed some of the evidence in support of low carbohydrate availability and the promotion of endurance training adaptations. Of course, more research is needed to determine if these manipulations and adaptations result in improved endurance performance. To translate the research to practice, we'll look to his wife and colleague, Dr. Burke.

If you have a comment about any of the sessions, please feel free to post. Best, Marie

Marie Dunford, PhD, RD

SCAN's volunteer web editor

SCAN symposium gathers champions

This year at the SCAN symposium in Chicago I noticed a few new things about the professionals surrounding me:

1. The traditional dietitian is becoming increasingly diverse and specialized, which shows that adaptability is a valuable skill set for all nutrition professionals. Whether it be working for the US military or a high school soccer coach there is no telling where your career may lead you.

2. As much as I enjoy the larger FNCE meeting, this trip in particular I was very motivated to connect in a different way. I spent time talking to interested SCAN'ers at the Member Cafe who signed up for volunteering opportunities and shared stories of their journeys to the present. I walked away feeling more inspired and positive about the association that we all share with SCAN.

3. In Louise Burke's presentation she ended with the thought that "we have gone where the research has led us, we should be asking the questions first and then going out to do the research". Who better to come up with those hypothesis than the dietitians working with patients, athletes and community members? It's an empowering message and this audience in particular is primed to lead research of this kind into action.

4. Lastly, it was refreshing to be in easy to navigate, peaceful enviroment. From the silent auction to the healthy snacking sponsored breaks to morning exercises, I appreciated that thought was put into how attendees were feeling as well as learning.

Thank you to the SCAN Symposium committee members for creating a wonderful meeting!

A Bag of Goodies From SCAN Symposium

SCAN Symposium is a bag of goodies--literally and figurately.

Upon check in each attendee received a big purple bag FILLED with goodies.

There's Gatorade 02 Perform, 03 Recover, and 01 Prime energy bites...Ironman Perform and two enegry bars from PowerBar...Rockin' Refuel...Detour bar...Tera's Whey and BiPro whey supplements...Omega-3 soft gels.

Other goodies include: Welch's grape juice, CALIFORNIA almonds, dried cherries, cheerios (regular and honey nut)and Lipton tea. Lip balm from rkteamnutrition.net saved my life as I had forgotten to bring mine (still in the pocket of my tennis bag).

A nice surprise was the measuring cups (from Unilever) and measuring spoons (from Canola). I was on a cooking frenzy before I left and I found myself thinking I needed more measuring cups and spoons. Voila, they appeared in my SCAN bag and will make their way home to my kitchen.

And then there are the inserts! Coupons for Yoplait Greek Yogurt and POM Wonderful. Info from CALIFORNIA walnuts and Washington red raspberries, Eating Recovery Center, Subway, and much more. There's a copy of Today's Dietitian for the plane ride home.

Now off to the real goodies---the sessions.

From Chicago...Best, Marie

Marie Dunford, PhD, RD
SCAN's volunteer web editor

NMCD--what's in it for you?

Have you checked out the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (NMCD) lately? NMCD provides unbiased, scientific clinical information on complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies. And the best part for SCAN members is that access is free, one of many SCAN member benefits.

Today I put in the search term: omega-3. As you can see from the screenshot below there is a full monograph that summarizes safety, effectiveness, mechanism of action, etc. and a reference list.

If you are a SCAN member, it is easy to access the NMCD. Here are the instructions:

Login as a member to the SCAN website (http://www.scandpg.org/)

Under Nutrition Info, click on Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (in the pulldown menu or near the bottom of the column on the left hand side of the page)

Click on the NMCD icon

You should be automatically logged in. You will know you are logged in by looking at the top upper left corner. Next to Home, it should say Logout (meaning you are currently logged in).

Many of you have a lot more experience with the NMCD than I do. Please post any tips or suggestions so we can all learn more. Best, Marie

Marie Dunford, PhD, RD

SCAN's volunteer Web Editor

A Resource for Educators

Need a resource for teaching students about evaluating dietary supplements or how to organize, plan, and present a heart healthy culinary demonstration? SCAN can help.

SCAN's webinars have been popular and some educators have asked about showing some of the webinars in their classrooms. There are currently two Educators versions of webinars available for purchase:

Be Supplement Smart (http://www.scandpg.org/store/products/10087/)

The Registered Dietitian's Heart Healthy Culinary Kit (http://www.scandpg.org/store/products/10090/).

The Educators version allows for unrestricted access to the files for educational purposes (no commercial use is permitted). The files are available as both a QuickTime Video file and a Window Media file for use with both Macs and PCs. Any handouts, such as powerpoint slides or other resources, are included and may be copied and distributed to the viewing audience.

Videos add another dimension to a classroom presentation and are a life saver if the faculty member needs to be away to attend a conference or is ill (let's hope not, but it does happen sometimes). When I was a faculty member I always tried to make it as easy as possible for one of my colleagues to "cover" my classes while I was away at a conference. These are resources I wish I had had. Best, Marie

Marie Dunford, PhD, RD

SCAN's volunteer web editor

Finding Resources

Researching food and nutrition information can be an overwhelming process and often finding the right information is dependant on your ability to search on specific topics in the right places.
Fortunately I have had the help of our corporate library manager who has pointed me to some helpful websites. These resources are useful if you are an employeed, consultant or freelance RD- go ahead and try them out when you begin your next research project.

- http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/gw/Cmd
- www.doaj.org (Directory of Open Access Journal)
- www.biomedcentral.com
- www.nafwa.org (The Nutrition & Food Web aRchive)
- www.dogpile.com

Another great tip that I recieved is to set up Google Alerts, Bookmark and Reader accounts so that I can collect and organize information all online. The sites are easy to navigate and can be the gateway to using other online features.