Here at Aroga, we recognize how each person has a unique story—each person’s experiences and circumstances play a significant role in developing your relationship to food and eating patterns. Examining and changing your relationship to food is a core pillar of lifestyle medicine, and the Aroga nutrition philosophy is something we work on with every patient and client.

Nutrition Philosophy: Awareness is the First Step

What and how you eat has a deep impact on your overall health and well-being. The Arogaclinic is a safe space where we understand the complexities of behavior, and we always practice without judgement. Our practitioners will guide you throughout your journey towards optimal health, within a framework grounded in scientific evidence. As health professionals, we are inspired by our patients who continuously strive to make changes for themselves and their families. We hope to also inspire you by encouraging self-reflection practices, and prioritization of your well-being. We’ll gently help you shine a light on your current nutritional habits so you can see where improvements can be made, and we’ll support you in making positive changes.

Aroga’s Approach is Whole Foods and Plant-Based Nutrition

Within our programs you will learn how to create meals that fit into your life and contribute to your health, not harm it.And it’s never too late to change and improve your diet to reap health benefits. A study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2017 explored the relationship between changes in diet quality over time and the risk of death.¹ The study followed 47,994 women in the Nurses’ Health Study and 25,745 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study from 1998 through 2010. Their diets over that time were assessed using three different tools: The Alternate Healthy Eating Index–2010 score, the Alternate Mediterranean Diet score, and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet score. Once again, the results are profound:

“Among participants who maintained a high-quality diet over a 12-year period, the risk of death from any cause was significantly lower—by 14% when assessed with the Alternate Healthy Eating Index score, 11% when assessed with the Alternate Mediterranean Diet score, and 9% when assessed with the DASH score—than the risk among participants with consistently low diet scores over time. Improved diet quality over 12 years was consistently associated with a decreased risk of death.”

Most people understand that what they eat affects their health, but it’s useful to see large, well-designed scientific studies backing the idea up with real evidence.

Our programs are centered around a plant-based, whole foods lifestyle.  Whole foods are real foods in their most basic form and are free from food additives like excess sugars, salts, preservatives, and other chemicals. Plant foods include everything from vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, spices, and roots.

If the idea of shifting towards a plant-based diet doesn’t pique your interest, we invite you to consider the scientific evidence. In a 2016 study that explored the relationship between the source of protein in people’s diet and mortality, the results were simple yet profound.²Researchers followed nutritional data for 131,342 from the 1980s to 2012, controlling for various other major dietary and health factors. The conclusions they reached included the following:

• High animal protein intake was positively associated with cardiovascular mortality.
• High plant protein intake was inversely associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
• Substitution of plant protein for animal protein, especially that from processed red meat, was associated with lower mortality.

In other words, the source of protein in your diet does matter, and you’re better off with plant-based protein than animal-based protein.

Nutritional Services Available at Aroga

We warmly invite you to take full advantage of the following Aroganutrition and diet services:

• Comprehensive Nutrition Review: Our Registered Dietitian will complete a detailed analysis of your nutrition intake from a 3-day survey. This service is designed to empower you with professional advice and specific instruction to ensure your diet supports optimal health and/or weight loss, specific to your unique needs.
• 7-day Personalized Meal Plan: Includes a comprehensive dietitian consultation, 7-Day customized meal plan, tested recipes, and a grocery list.
• 14-Day Personalized Meal Plan: Includes comprehensive dietitian consultation, 14-Day customized meal plan, tested recipes, and a grocery list.
• 1-Hour Grocery Store Tour: An interactive tour guided by our Registered Dietitian. Book one-on-one or as a household. By the end of this tour, you will be a pro at reading labels and ingredient lists, choosing great-tasting produce and shopping within your budget, and creating shopping lists for tasty, healthy meals.

Within each of us, at each life-stage, there is a great capacity to grow and learn. In each other, we can find wisdom, compassion, and connection. We look forward to meeting you and connecting you with the Aroga community.

Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update:

During the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic, grocery shopping is a very different experience. Many stores have new hours, special hours for at-risk shoppers, and are even limiting the number of shoppers allowed inside at one time to help enforce social distancing guidelines. Check store websites to be aware of these kinds of changes. Use disinfectant wipes to sanitize any and all surfaces you touch in the store, including carts and baskets, opening refrigerator cases, and so on. And be sure to express gratitude to the supermarket employees who are working so hard to ensure you can still purchase the food items you need to cook healthy meals at home. They are true heroes in these trying times.

REFERENCES

1. Sotos-Prieto, M.,Bhupathiraju, S.N., Mattei, J.,Fung, T.T., Li, Y.,Pan, A.,Willett, W.C., Rimm, E.B.,and Hu, F.B. (2017). “Association of Changes in Diet Quality with Total and Cause-Specific Mortality,”New England Journal of Medicine, vol.377, pp. 143-153.
2. Song, M., Fung, T.T., Hu, F.B., Willett, W.C., Longo, V.D., Chan, A.T., and Govannucci, E.L. (2016). “Association of Animal and Plant Protein Intake with All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality,” JAMA Internal Medicine, 176 (10), 1453-1463.