S TU D E N T S IN ACT ION
LOGAN SCHMALTZ, MEDICINE WOMAN Third-year medical student Logan Schmaltz talks with North Dakota Medicine about whole foods, rural practice for women, and diabetes management. O N T H E R O AD AG AI N Logan Schmaltz (right) and Dr. Bryan Delage present at WONCA 2019 in Albuquerque, N.M.
“If you’re at Thanksgiving dinner and you’re not eating turkey,
breastmilk, one of the most nutritious products on the planet—
grandma is not happy.”
she explains that her decision to adjust her diet several years
Laughing at the thought is Logan Schmaltz, a third-year medical student at UND on the phone from her clinical site
“I was 12 years old when I was diagnosed with Type 1
in Fargo. The Rugby, N.D., native was explaining the social
diabetes,” Schmaltz, now 30, continued. “I am at greater risk
challenges of eating a whole-foods, plant-based diet in the
for other chronic diseases, especially high blood pressure and
upper Midwest.
cholesterol, heart attack, and stroke. Heart attacks are the top
She’s heard all the quips of course: How do you get enough protein? Don’t you crave meat? Isn’t avoiding meat unnatural? Although she has responses for such questions—including reminding skeptics that newborns thrive on a diet of only 24
ago was less about ethics or politics than necessity.
North Dakota Medicine Spring 2020
killer of patients with diabetes of all types. So I choose to eat this way to decrease my insulin resistance, keep my blood pressure down, and hopefully prevent heart attack or stroke.”
