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Linda Arpino, RDN, CDN, FAND
VN DPG HOD Representative
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1. What are some of your health related values, beliefs and practices?
In practice I believe food is a binding component of every culture and I have both Italian and Finnish roots. I became a dietitian because as much as I enjoyed those family Italian Sundays at my father's parents house, and eating from noon until the evening, I saw how certain lifestyle habits can hinder health. In high school I watched my grandfather struggle with the complications of uncontrolled diabetes and later my dad pass from similar complications. My mother is part Finnish, and Finland's population is known to struggle with high cholesterol, and where Bencol was developed to combat this. In high school, I realized, if I didn't learn to maximize my nutrition, I might see the complications of some relatives. As a dietitian that eats a plant based diet, I have integrated family recipes into my daily life and believe we can all learn to adapt with the evidence that plant based nutrition can be our medicine in any culture. My culinary palate has broadened greatly since then! I was an all round gymnast in High School and saw the connection with diet and sports even then. Both sides of my family love cheese. Over time I realized I had to modify this practice for the sake of my cholesterol and other reasons I will mention.
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2. What kind of foods do you like to eat on a daily basis? And what do you prefer on the day you do not feel very well?
My day always begins with an oat cereal fruit and soymilk or soymilk cappuccino, whole grain toast with avocado and fruit. Legumes with any vegetable and grain is my standard lunch and dinner. It could be pasta with fresh tomato and basil, and a side of escarole and beans or eggplant casserole with a salad or soups with wheat berries or lentils or beans and a side of roasted vegetables such as red peppers. All dark greens are a must; Spinach, swiss chard, kale, love them all with oil and garlic! A good slice of crusty bread is at least with one meal a day! Of Course Tomatoes are infused in at least five meals a week! Growing up we always had a vegetable garden and made homemade tomato sauce. We had a second home in the Catskill mountains with over 200 acres which we sold just last year, It was a dairy farming area and I watched as most farmers have been replaced with what I refer to as factory farms. (The Farm picture is attached but no need to include )
And what do you prefer on the day you do not feel very well? Broth types of soups with loads of veggies, rice or other grains such as wheat berries or pastina. I love Rooibos Tea both feeling well and not.
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3. Do you avoid eating any foods for your cultural or religious reasons? Which ones?
Ironically, I have a diverse background merging Jewish heritage into my life with a former marriage. I gave up eating pork and never went back. Yes an Italian can easily eat a cheese free, meal free Mediterranean diet. Now I eat plant-based more for humane eating principles and environmental importance not religious reasons.. I have children that celebrate both Catholic and Jewish traditions and we have a blended family respectful of each other.
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4. We all have favorite remedies that we use when we are sick, which home remedies do you use?
I am all for the nutrient rich, power of plant based nutrition. Ginger tea, lemon and green cardamom (like Indian cuisine, Finnish people use cardamom a lot especially in bread. The power of phytonutrients in healing has been evident especially in the past year. My husband was diagnosed with vocal cord cancer, underwent chemotherapy and radiation with it being only a slight chance for remission. Now we are almost a year since that journey, last December the treatment ended. So far there are not further signs of cancer and he is doing remarking well! I used all types of herbs in cooking, focused on plant based eating habits with much greater variety of legumes not just the chickpeas, cannellini, kidney beans and lentils but sprouted moong beans for example! I make nori burritos with sticky rice, asparagus, carrots and red peppers, brown rice, sweet potato and quinoa burgers to name a few!
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5. What steps do you take counseling a patient from a different culture and racial group?
I have registration forms both in Spanish and English and ask for an interpreter if necessary. In family assessment forms for example, it is important to list parent 1 and parent 2, to be respectful of different sexual orientations. Also my private practice offices are both in Connecticut and New York. In New York I see a lot of immigrants from South America such as Peru, Guatemala, Mexico and Brazil. Others may have roots from the Caribbean- such as Jamaica, Haiti or Puerto Rico, but every hour I have to shift gears to provide culturally appropriate guidelines. Patients may have roots from India, China or Israel, Ireland, Japan, the list goes on...…..I have created "My Plates" for many different cultures and a basic meal guide that includes diverse foods. My food groups are different than many you see. I have a calcium rich group (not called Dairy), a Protein rich Group, Fruit, Vegetable, Grain and Fat Group. I have a stockpile of culturally diverse recipes I use and written materials that I share as well as dining out recommendations. On my website, under resources I have downloadable plant based recipes as well. Among doctors who refer their patients, I am known to encourage plant based foods for chronic disease prevention and weight management. I am pleased to say my practice is always busy.
Over the years culturally diverse student interns have worked in my office. Here are some of those recipes as well as a few from my original book, Eat Fit, Be Fit: Health and Weight management Solutions. This was published in 2007. I got the rights back because the publisher wanted to update it to reflect eating not just for chronic disease prevention but for a sustainable planet. That book had animal protein but was focused on teaching people to add more plant based recipes to their eating habits. It had over 250 recipes. Wahida Karmally, Director of Nutrition, staff at Columbia University Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research department did the nutrient analysis of all the recipes, it was quite a project gathering culturally diverse recipes from patients, family, colleagues and friends which were in the book.
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