Sylvia Escott-Stump CNE Workshop

(from left to right) Aubrey, Sylvia Escott-Stump,
Kalie, Me, and Beatriz Dykes at the conference!

Today was awesome! Aubrey, Kalie, and I went to the Sylvia Escott-Stump CNE Workshop. When we first arrived we had no idea how professional it was going to be, but it was actually ended up being a huge conference! So many of the professionals we have worked with were there, so it was awesome to see them one last time before we conclude our internship (tomorrow). The speakers were Sylvia Escott-Stump, who was the prior Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics President (funny that we should meet her in South Africa), Prof. Beatriz Dykes, Prof. Corinna Walsh, and Prof. Edelweiss Wentzel-Viljoen. The talks were on osteoporosis prevention, nutrient profiling, ethics, management in dietetics practice and strategies for dealing with stress, nutrition and genetics, clinical leadership, and prebiotics/probiotics/synbiotics. I loved every minute of it, and cannot believe that I had this amazing opportunity that is so relevant to my major! I am not going to go into every minute of the conference, because it was 8 hours long (8:00am-4:00pm), but I will say that my favorite part was the talk that Sylvia Escott-Stump gave, which was titled "Nutrition and Genetics: the Missing Link." She went into detail talking about how what we eat is very much connected to our genetics, and when a woman is pregnant it is important that she keeps up a healthy diet because the food she eats will have an impact on the child. Some of the diseases discussed were Alzheimer's Disease, which can be linked to a folate deficiency and can be treated or prevented by methyltetrahydrofolate supplementation, autism, which can be linked to an IgA deficiency, etc. The key nutrients discussed were folic acid, vitamin B-12, and vitamin D because they affect gene expression or gene suppression. There will be research opportunities in this area of study in the future!
Today was by far one of my favorite experiences so far in South Africa, and the food was awesome too!

Us, Sylvia Escott-Stump, Beatriz Dykes, and
the UFS dietetic students at the conference!

Us, the UFS dietetic students, and
Beatriz Dykes at the conference!

Aubrey, Kalie, Dr. Lategan, and I at the conference!

After the conference, the four of us and Anna-Marie,
one of the dieticians we worked with (at the Medi-Clinic)
went out for tea to say goodbye!