Hi, I’m Carrie. I’m a former newspaper reporter who switched tracks about 10 years ago to become a health writer. I’ve written about everything from how to treat a sprained ankle to how to prevent diabetes. While it’s good to know what to do if you sprain your ankle, what really caught my interest was the fact that the same theme kept repeating itself as I wrote about controlling or preventing various chronic diseases.
Hypertension, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and many types of cancer have much in common, in that they are largely lifestyle-related. Yes, genetics plays a role in each of these, but our genes are not our destiny. Eating a nutritious diet, getting regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol intake, getting enough sleep and finding healthy ways to reduce or cope with stress…these things play a HUGE role in your odds of developing these diseases, there’s no way around it.
The knowledge I picked up (and passed along) in my day job, combined with my personal struggles with weight and my observations as family members coped with some of the chronic health conditions I’ve mentioned steered me toward a new direction in my life. I wanted to do more than write about health. I wanted to directly help people become healthier. I wanted to become a nutritionist.
More to come...
