DASH Diet Seminars Marla Heller, MS, RD

Marla Heller, MS, RD is available for providing DASH diet seminars for healthcare professionals and for lay audiences. Call 847-461-9822 or email at info@dashdiet.org. Programs are often organized by public health departments for public health nurses and dietitians, students, dietetics groups, and by hospitals or community organizations for the general public.

Here is a link to a recent teleseminar on the DASH diet. http://ds1.downloadtech.net/cn1086/audio/91515325301236-001.mp3

Marla's recent consumer, healthcare professional, and corporate seminars have included the following:

"Fad Diets Trends Update"

"The DASH Diet for Managing Hypertension"

"Nutrition Today: Experts, Policy, and Diet Books"

"Healthy Eating for a Healthy Weight"

"Protein, Carbs & Fat - Making Sense of Today's Diets"

"Menopause and Weight - What to Do When the Hormones Stop"

"Healthy Meals on Hectic Schedules"

"Guilt-Free Holiday Eating"

"Taking It To Heart - Nutrition and Heart Disease"

"Nutrition and Diabetes"

"Avoiding the Supersizing of America"

"How to Get Your Child to Eat . . . But Not Too Much"

"Nutrition for Peak Performance"

"Healthy Weight for Kids"

"Nourishing Your Newborn"

Marla has extensive experience providing health, nutrition, and food-related services for corporations. Her current experience includes:

• Speaker.  Employee seminars.
• Corporate weight loss programs.
• Spokesperson.
• Author. (Book chapters, articles, newsletters.)
• Menu development.
• Recipe development, modification, and analyses.
• Market research.
• Expertise in weight management, obesity, nutritional management of heart disease (hypertension, cholesterol, triglycerides, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome), consumer behavior for food, nutrition and health, low carb diets, childhood weight management.
• Corporate clients have included: Crate & Barrel, Searle, Grainger, Baxter Healthcare, Weight Watchers, Weight Watchers Publishing, Quality Catering, CCH, CDW, the Bannockburn Club, Mead Johnson, GE Capital, Edelman, Leo Burnett, Phillips+Co, and Seed Strategy.

Marla is the author of The DASH Diet Action Plan, she wrote the 4-week menu plan for Win the Weight Game by Sarah, the Duchess of York, and Weight Watchers Publishing, and wrote the healthy eating chapter in "I Always Start My Diet on Mondays!" by Janice Alpert.  She has been a featured nutrition expert for the Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Pioneer Press, the Daily Herald,  about.com, WGN-AM and WNUR-FM.  She frequently speaks at corporations, schools, health clubs, and athletic facilities.  She was a recipe contributor to MasterCook Deluxe Low Carb v7.0. She was recently awarded the prestigious Emerging Leader Award from the Illinois Dietetic Association, and is a spokesperson for the Greater Midwest affiliate of the American Heart Association.

She is expert in providing employee seminars featuring realistic advice on how to adopt healthy behavior and fit it into a real life. Corporate weight loss programs are based on her knowledge of corporate-life "from the inside," including being experienced in extensive travel (domestic and international) and in working long hours.

Marla Heller is a Registered Dietitian, and holds a Master of Science in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where she has completed coursework towards a PhD in Public Health, with concentrations in Health Education and Health Promotion, and Epidemiology. (She is now preparing for preliminary exams as part of the PhD process). 

She has been an adjunct clinical instructor in the Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics at UIC, teaching courses on introductory food science and nutrition counseling, and has also taught for several years at Dominican University, National-Louis University, and the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago.

Her experience providing nutrition counseling for individuals keeps her up-to-date with consumer issues and concerns around food and nutrition. Her PhD work at the University of Illinois at Chicago in health behavior and health promotion provides her with a unique perspective on consumer nutrition and food behavior. And she has a variety of resources and networks with which to meet any and all needs for the latest information. She recently completed a term as President of the Illinois Dietetic Association (2002-2003), and is a Past-President of the North Suburban Dietetic Association.