Food Nutrition Expo and Conference (FNCE®) in Washington, DC 2018 -

I am so happy of being able to go to my favorite city away from home - Washington, DC for the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo!! Not only was I here for FNCE ® but I was also there for my alumni college Howard University Homecoming week!!! HU! Also, I had a great time hanging with my college registered dietitian buddy Dionne Frost who I have not seen for over 25 years!! It is a shame that I let alots of years and life go by and not able to reconnect sooner. Thank God for social media, we were able to reconnect in time for me to come to DC! I also had a wonderful time hang with my DIFM and NOBIDAN buddies particularly my DIFM rommie Melissa Groves! Check out her social media postings and website at www.avocadogrovenutrition.com

Excellent time with fellow Howard University Alum Donnie Frost, RD, CDE

So let me tell you what fun I had at FNCE ®! This was the 20th Anniversary of Dietitian of Integrative Functional Medicine (DIFM) and we started with a bang!! DIFM had an incredible symposium called Extinguish the Flame: Integrative & Functional Approaches to Neuroinflammation, Neurodegeneration, and Cancer on the first day of the conference. The speakers were Mary Beth Augustine, RDN, CDN FAND, Dr. Lise Aschuler, Terry Wahls, MD and Robin Foroutan, MS, RDN. Mary Beth Augustine presented on Preview of Best Available Evidence: A New Clinical Decision Tool to Guide Critical thinking which is a new evidence tool from DIFM. Dr. Lise Aschuler presented on Metabolic Drivers of Cancer and Associated Integrative Strategies where she explained that cancer being a problematic disease with dysregulated metabolism participating as a central role and she showed how practitioners could equip themselves with ways to target the metabolic drivers of cancer. Dr. Terry Wahls presented on the Approaches to Treating Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration. She discussed the use of diets to treat Multiple Sclerosis (MS) related symptoms. Robin Fouroutan presented on Tackling Difficult Cases: Where to Begin where she shows a systems-based approach to use for analyzing difficult cases. What exciting information Integrative Functional Medicine that was given during this DIFM Symposium!

The fun did not stop there with DIFM! There was a DIFM 20th Birthday Bash Celebration Party where we all dance all night long! Thank you so much to the sponsors of the DIFM events - Pure Encapsulations, Gaia Herbs and Innate Response Formulas!

Partying with Miho Hatanaka - DIFM Chair and Cynthia Johnson - the first DIFM Diversity Award recipient!

I also had a chance to go to the FNCE ® Opening Ceremony to hear an remarkable speaker Bonnie St. John who is a Paralympic Medalist Fortune 500 Business Consultant, Rhodes Scholar, Former White House Official and Best-Selling Author. Ms. St. John was able to challenge audience to question their own limitations while providing research-based tools and techniques that re-energize our lives to achieve peak performance. She was able to address these challenges by guiding the audience through a series of practical exercises and techniques that enhance our capacity to offset the negative effects of stress, increase resilience and play to win.

After all of the DIFM and FNCE events, I had a chance to visit my alma mater Howard University - School of Allied Health Science -Nutritional Sciences Department which I have not been back since I have graduated. I was very honored to meet with fellow dietitians alumnus and students at this Homecoming Event. I am so glad that I had a chance to go and congratulations to fellow alumnus Paul Cotton, PhD RDN for receiving the Griot Award with National Organization of Black in Dietetics and Nutrition - NOBIDAN.

Homecoming Week with Howard University - School of Allied Health Science - Nutrition Sciences Department

I was able to help out with National Organization of Black in Dietetics and Nutrition - NOBIDAN (MIG) and Dietitian of Integrative Functional Medicine DIFM (DPG) in the Dietetic Practice Groups (DPG) & Member Interest Groups (MIG) Showcase where Dietitians have a chance to increase their professional growth potential and to get involved with volunteering in the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Truly had a great time and was excited to see the membership group in both groups!

Last but not least I had a chance to go to the FNCE ® Expo and I had a chance to explore all of the latest and new food products. I sampled so much food there and I was excited to talk with the many vendors there.

Make sure that you do not forget to vote on Election Day, Tuesday November 6th, 2018! For those who did early voting, thank you so much for doing this and make sure you encourage friends, family and co-workers to vote!