Achieving Balance (Part 1): Food as Medicine to Fuel Stroke Recovery
Episode 64 – Achieving Balance (Part 1): Food as Medicine to Fuel Stroke Recovery
A comprehensive stroke recovery plan of care often includes a combination of physical, occupational, and speech therapy, along with other medical interventions. These therapies are vital for regaining physical and cognitive abilities. Often overlooked, however, in the stroke recovery pathway is the quality of a stroke survivor’s diet. Quality nutrition offers the potential to improve stroke outcomes by promoting healing, providing high performance fuels to support the physical demands of rehabilitation as well as offering key nutrients for boosting brain resilience to reduce the risk of future strokes.
We needed to look no further for an expert than our show co-host David Dansereau for today’s episode on using food as medicine in stroke prevention and recovery. When David had a stroke at 39 from a congenital heart defect, he realized the challenges a stroke presented and took action by setting smart goals to optimize his diet in support of his long term rehabilitation plans. He ultimately achieved his goal of returning to running and completed the Boston Marathon.
In this episode David shares his nutrition playbook and breaks down 3 key nutrition principles (his 3F’s) that can provide a solid foundation for improving your nutrition IQ and complimenting your healing journey along with the help of your own health care team.
About David Dansereau
David has a clinical background as an experienced physical therapist as well as a former registered dietitian and nutritionist in private practice. On this episode David will be sharing what inspired him to study nutrition and later write a best selling book (Body in Balance) and how these early experiences in healthcare, corporate wellness and behavioral health research have shaped his career today.
David’s mission is to promote the use of nutrition and therapeutic exercise as the best medicine for extending health span and managing all chronic conditions. This proactive mindset paved the way for David to build several businesses, including private practices and mobile rehab offerings. Most recently, as the founder of both PTC Physical Therapy and SmartMovesPT his continues his focus on patient engagement and using technology to enhance access to care and improve outcomes.
Connect with David on Linkedin | Twitter/X | Web: SmartMovesPT.com and Know-Stroke.org
Show Mentions:
Co-host Michael Garrow and fiancé Meg were featured in a spotlight by the American Heart Association. They recently had the opportunity to share their story of how stroke brought them together and offered advice for other caregivers. See AHA article
David’s nutrition toolkits and a replay of his Foods That Fit Nutrition Module from his new Achieve Balance Course can be accessed free for our stroke community by registering for the special instant replay or joining a rebroadcast session here.
Visit his Know Stroke Blog for his latest post Feed Your Brain: Using Food as Medicine to Fuel Stroke Recovery
Show Credits:
Music intro credit to Jake Dansereau. Our intro welcome is the voice of Caroline Goggin, a stroke survivor and our first podcast guest! Please listen to her inspiring story on Episode 2 of the podcast.
Be sure to give the show a like and share, & follow and connect with us on social or contact us to support us as a show sponsor or become a guest on the Know Stroke Podcast. Visit website to to learn more: https://www.knowstrokepod.com/
