This thesis project will discuss how the three macronutrients, protein, carbohydrate and fat, benefit the body and what happens when the body is lacking in any of them. It also delves into micronutrients and supplements and how those can aid in the recovery process following an injury. Inflammation and sleep as well as mood disturbances are also explained. Meal options are available in the second half of this paper displaying pictures of nutritional meals along with their ingredients, instructions and calories. This project displays how a lack of protein can decrease muscle protein synthesis, how carbohydrate deficiency can lead to fatigue and more injury and how Omega-3 fatty acids are more beneficial than Omega-6 fatty acids. In addition, the paper discusses how vitamins, such as vitamin D and C, are important in providing bone strength and preventing excess inflammation. Supplements are reported to be beneficial, however, a disadvantage of consuming nutrients from a synthetic source can rob the athlete of a healthy mixture of nutrients and minerals. Overall, consumption of proper nutrients can aid in the recovery process following an injury and sleep is an important factor that should also be considered while the body heals.

College is the first time many students will experience living away from home and with learning how to manage college course loads, students also need to figure out how to feed themselves for the next four years. The focus of this thesis will be to assess the current food environment available at Arizona State University. The Perceived Food Environment (PFE) Model was used to evaluate the accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and adequacy of the residential dining halls, restaurants, and marketplaces.<br/><br/>The Tempe and Downtown Phoenix campuses’ food environments were used in this paper to determine what they offer and how healthy the food options are for students. Both campuses combined offer 32 possible choices for students to dine. The Tempe campus has 4 dining halls, 15 fast-casual restaurants, and 5 Provisions on Demand (P.O.D) Markets. The Downton campus has 1 dining hall, 6 fast-casual restaurants, 1 P.O.D Market, and 1 marketplace. <br/><br/>Both campuses have good accessibility to all their dining options, even though Downtown lacks many options compared to Tempe. Dining halls also have good accessibility for students who have meal plans. Affordability did vary among locations, it seemed as though many of the healthier restaurants were either too expensive or, in the case of Engrained on the Tempe campus, open for a short amount of time. The fast-casual restaurants seemed to be more affordable and appear in larger amounts than the healthier options. Marketplaces on campus lack fresh food to choose from, so they also promote the habit of poor eating choices. For acceptability, all dining options are popular on campus and accept payments in cash, card, or Maroon & Gold Dollars (M&G). <br/><br/>Overall, the food environment at ASU seems to favor more unhealthy food options. Students do not have much of a choice when needing to find food on campus because there is a lack of fresh ingredients or a kitchen to use. There are also barriers that risk promoting poor food choice that needs to be addressed to solve this problem.

The various health benefits of vinegar ingestion have been studied extensively in the<br/>literature. Moreover, emerging research suggests vinegar may also have an effect on mental<br/>health. Beneficial effects of certain diets on mood have been reported, however, the mechanisms<br/>are unknown. The current study aimed to determine if vinegar ingestion positively affects mood<br/>state in healthy young adults. This was a randomized, single blinded controlled trial consisting of<br/>25 subjects. Participants were randomly assigned to either the vinegar group (consumed 2<br/>tablespoons of liquid vinegar diluted in one cup water twice daily with meals) or the control<br/>group (consumed one vinegar pill daily with a meal), and the intervention lasted 4 weeks.<br/>Subjects completed mood questionnaires pre- and post-intervention. Results showed a significant<br/>improvement in CES-D and POMS-Depression scores for the vinegar group compared to the<br/>control. This study suggests that vinegar ingestion may improve depressive symptoms in healthy<br/>young adults.

Anxiety is one of the most common mental illnesses in the United States. In this project, I chose to explore how food is one of the most accessible and inexpensive ways of treating anxiety. This creative project examines the major key components of gut health including the balance of neurotransmitters and bacteria in the gut, restoring hydrochloric acid through celery juice, removing heavy metal toxins through food, eating fermented foods, and limiting refined carbohydrates, and high-sugar consumption. Additionally, this creative project explores my own personal journey through the implementation of foods that influence anxiety revealed in a systemic review over the course of a 6-week period.

All organisms perform best at a balanced point of intake where nutrients are ingested in specific amounts to confer optimal performance. However, when faced with limited nutrient availability, organisms are forced to make decisions which prioritize intake of certain macronutrients. While intake regulation has been more thoroughly studied in omnivores and carnivores, no research exists regarding lipid regulation in generalist herbivores. Traditionally, proteins and carbohydrates were thought to be the most important macronutrient for herbivore intake; however the large differences in lipid nutritional content between different plant species offers lots of potential for regulation of an important macronutrient. We studied whether generalist herbivores can regulate lipid intake, using the migratory locust (Locusta migratoria). Though herbivore protein and carbohydrate intake is well studied, less research studies regulation of lipid intake. We tested this by offering choice diets of varying carbohydrate and lipid content makeup and measuring consumption of each diet choice to determine overall carbohydrate and lipid intake. Four different lipid sources were used in order to control for taste or texture related confounds; canola oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, and a lab designed synthetic oil based on the four most abundant fatty acids in common plant oils. On three out of four diet sources, groups evidences strong regulation of narrow intake target, with little disparity in overall intake of carbohydrate and lipid content between various choice diet treatments. Groups feeding on canola oil and sunflower oil based diets displayed the best regulation based on their having small disparities in intake between treatments, while those feeding on grapeseed oil based diets displayed wide variation in feeding behavior between treatments. Groups feeding on the synthetic oil based diet choice unexpectedly consumed much more carbohydrates than lipids when compared to all other groups. In conclusion, generalist herbivores are capable of regulating lipid intake.

Since 1975, the prevalence of obesity has nearly tripled around the world. In 2016, 39% of adults, or 1.9 billion people, were considered overweight, and 13% of adults, or 650 million people, were considered obese. Furthermore, Cardiovascular disease remains to be the leading cause of death for adults in the United States, with 655,000 people dying from related conditions and consequences each year. Including fiber in one’s dietary regimen has been shown to greatly improve health outcomes in regards to these two areas of health. However, not much literature is available on the effects of corn-based fiber, especially detailing the individual components of the grain itself. The purpose of this preliminary study was to test the differences in influence on both LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides between treatments based on whole-grain corn flour, refined corn flour, and 50% refined corn flour + 50% corn bran derived from whole grain cornmeal (excellent fiber) in healthy overweight (BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2) adults (ages 18 - 70) with high LDL cholesterol (LDL ≥ 120mg/dL). 20 participants, ages 18 - 64 (10 males, 10 females) were involved. Data was derived from blood draws taken before and after each of the three treatments as well as before and after each treatment’s wash out periods. A general linear model was used to assess the effect of corn products on circulating concentrations of LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides. From the model, it was found that the whole-grain corn flour and the 50% refined corn flour + 50% corn bran drive from whole grain cornmeal treatments produced a higher, similar benefit in reductions in LDL-cholesterol. However, the whole grain flour, refined flour, and bran-based fiber treatments did not influence the triglyceride levels of the participants throughout this study. Further research is needed to elucidate the effects of these fiber items on cardiometabolic disease markers in the long-term as well as with a larger sample size.

Chronic diseases place a financial burden on the United States and claim the lives of nearly 2 million Americans every year. Among the chronic diseases that plague American people, type 2 diabetes is particularly prevalent and injurious. Thus, action is warranted to improve prevention and management of this disease. Nutrition plays a significant role in prevention and management of type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. Registered dietitians, as nutrition experts, are qualified to use medical nutrition therapy as a method of prevention and treatment for chronic diseases using a nutritional approach. However, there is no consensus as to which eating pattern is the most efficacious. The aim of this review of research was to examine how plant-based eating patterns impact chronic disease conditions, with an emphasis on type 2 diabetes mellitus, as compared to omnivorous eating patterns. A literature search was conducted through the ASU Library, PubMed, and CINAHL using terms related to plant-based diets and chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. The results revealed that a plant-based eating pattern may be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of certain chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. Specifically, adults who have type 2 diabetes and consume a plant-based diet may exhibit enhanced glycemic control as evidenced by less insulin resistance, increased incretin and insulin secretion, greater insulin sensitivity, and improved HbA1c levels. There is sufficient evidence for registered dietitians to recommend a plant-based approach to patients with type 2 diabetes who would like to achieve enhanced glycemic control.

The purpose of this cookbook and ingredient index is to simplify the reasoning behind eating a plant based diet--including how it can be beneficial to your health, and what benefits each ingredient provides. These recipes have been cultivated and modified over time to provide nutritious meals that are also tasty. I was introduced to healthy eating at a young age, and have been fascinated by it ever since. The recipes and information conveyed about a plant based diet have come from the many books read and research I have done on the subject. This paper will walk you through how I started this journey, and go on to show a basic overview of what makes up the foods we consume and why we need them. The cookbook portion of my Thesis contains recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, sauces, and dessert. Following the cookbook is an ingredient index that goes through the majority of ingredients used in my recipes, and what health benefits they provide. I hope that by reading this, others will be inspired to use more plant-based whole foods in their diet, and realize the healing that can come from them.