Experts in This Article
Julia Zumpano, RD, is a preventive cardiology nutritionist at Cleveland Clinic.
Many providers are also offering virtual appointments as well as in-person.
These appointments may or may not be covered by your insurance.
It depends on your plan and also what your risk factors are, says Zumpano.
And some insurance providers cover virtual appointments while other providers only cover in-person providers.
Besides figuring out insurance and payment, many people wonder what to expect when scheduling an appointment.
Julia Zumpano, RD, is a preventive cardiology nutritionist at Cleveland Clinic.
Questions To Expect From a Preventive Cardiology Nutritionist
1.
What is your family health history?
If anyone in your family has experienced any heart problems, she wants to know.
Zumpano will of course ask aboutyourhealth history, too.
Are you on any medications?
Do you have diabetes?
Have you had a stroke or any other cardiovascular issues before?
This is the appointment where you want to bring it up.
What do you like to eat?
Julia Zumpano, RD, is a preventive cardiology nutritionist at Cleveland Clinic.
Heres the good news about heart disease: Its largely preventable.
One way to prevent heart disease is choose a healthy diet.
Its Amazing How Its All Connected.
This is why Zumpano asks what people like to eat.
From there, she can help clients brainstorm heart-healthy meal ideas that theyre sure to enjoy eating.
Watch the video below to learn more about the Mediterranean diet:
3.
How much time do you have and whats your food budget?
Similarly, a persons income and food budget also shape Zumpanos recommendations.
Inexpensive, heart-healthy foods includebeans,chickpeas,canned tuna, andfrozen vegetables.
What is your favorite way to stay active?
Preventing cardiovascular disease isntjustabout food;physical activity is important, too.
Then, we come up with concrete ways to meet these goals.
If someone expresses interest in yoga, for example, she may share with them someyoga videos on YouTube.
Again, it really depends on the individual, Zumpano says.
How are you managing the stress in your life?
High levels of psychological stressdirectly increase the risk for cardiovascular disease.
I also often recommendjournalingormeditation, she says.
What happens next?
The follow-up appointments are used to determine whats working and to make any necessary changes to the plan.
Most important to remember is that we have a lot of control over our cardiovascular health.
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