Back by popular demand, registered dietician Stephanie Correnti’s free “Healthy Foods for a Healthier You” class will be held at the SCV Senior Center this fall.

A registered dietician for 30 years and an SCV resident for 17 years, Correnti has a passion for teaching people how to eat healthy, balanced meals on a budget.

“It’s hard to do that sometimes,” she said.

Among the topics covered in class will be alternative sources of protein. Meats like chicken, fish and beef are the main source of protein in most diets, but Correnti hopes to teach her students about the benefits of beans and soy, which are low in fat and inexpensive.

Correnti also stressed the importance of vitamins, minerals and whole grains in senior nutrition.

“There are some special needs for seniors, making sure they get lots of good vitamins and minerals for their immune system, because as we age our immune system is not as strong as it was when we were younger, so I do a lot of cooking with vegetables and fruits and talk about their vitamin and mineral content,” she said. “Seniors also need to be eating lots of whole grains, because that has a lot of fiber in it for good bowel function.”

While the class will focus on general principles of good nutrition, class size is limited to 20 students, which will allow Correnti to address the questions and needs of individuals who may have dietary restrictions or medical conditions.

“Some of my participants may have been told by their doctors that they’re diabetic, so their diet might need to be a little bit different, but it’s still healthy,” she continued. “They may have high cholesterol; it may be a little bit different, but it’s still healthy.”

Correnti assures her students that healthy food can taste good, too. Seniors may have to cut back on fats, sodium and processed foods, but Correnti knows that all it takes is “just a little bit of tweaking here and there, maybe adding things that they’ve not used before… I show them by seasoning with certain herbs and spices, then it can taste really good, and they like that.”

The classes will be held on Sept. 21 and 28, Oct. 12 and 16 and Nov. 2 and 9. Pre-registration is required, but admission is free as part of the Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging program ENHANCE (Effective Nutritional Health Assessments and Networks of Care for the Elderly). Admission is limited to only 20 students. To register or for additional information, contact Karin Kelly at (661) 259-9444 or kkelly@scv-seniorcenter.org. For more information about the SCV Senior Center, click here.