RIVERSIDE,CA - The California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recently announced that Geeta Sikand will receive its prestigous 2019 Dolores Nyhus Memorial Outstanding Dietitian of the Year Award on April 11 at the Riverside Convention Center, here. This is the highest honor bestowed by the Academy of to a dietitian each year. Sikand is a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN),
Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine in Cardiology at University of California Irvine School of Medicine and Director of Nutrition at the U C Irvine Preventive Cardiology Program. Ms Sikand specializes in the prevention and treatment of high cholesterol and related heart disease risk factors. She co-chairs the National Lipid Association Nutrition Task Force and is a principal author of the recent National Lipid Association Nutrition Recommendations for the management of high cholesterol. She also co-chairs the National Lipid Association South Asian Expert Work group tasked with making clinical recommendations for the prevention and treatment of high cholesterol and heart disease risk factors in South Asian Americans. "South Asians have a higher rates of heart disease than other Asians as well as Caucasians. Diet is a key factor in most South Asians even if they are vegetarians, they may eat a a lot of saturated fat from ghee, coconut oil and other full fat dairy products and refined carbohydrates such as sugar, white rice, white flour and highly processed foods. They may also be re-using oils for frying which increases their trans-fat content, a dangerously unhealthy fat for the heart. Ongoing studies are looking at improving diet quality among South Asians by re-introducing our traditional whole grains and healthy non-tropical oils. Physical activity is also very important. A recent study found that only 49% of South Asian Americans believed that exercise was important in preventing heart disease," said Sikand. In addition Sikand has published book chapters and award winning articles in scientific journals in the areas of blood cholesterol improvement with nutrition counseling by a registered dietitian.
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