Hooray for the winners of Round Four of our Perfect Smoothie Bracket Challenge, and here they are!

• Bases: Fruit Juice v. Ice Cream. Winner: Fruit Juice!
• Vegetables: Seaweed v Kale. Winner: Seaweed!
• Add-ins: Ginger v Maca. Winner: Maca!
• Fruits: Pear v Avocado. Winner: Avocado!

Here's our updated bracket:

It's time to announce the winners from Round Two of our Perfect Smoothie Bracket Challenge, and to present our next round of smoothie ingredient face-offs!

First, the winners:

• Bases: Almond Milk v. Soy Milk. Winner: Almond Milk!
• Vegetables: Celery v. Cucumber. Winner: Cucumber!
• Add-ins: Chia Seeds v. Hemp Seeds. Winner: Chia Seeds!
• Fruits: Banana v. Pineapple. Winner: Banana!

Here's our updated bracket:

Our graduates are doing amazing things. From developing food and wellness products to opening private practices, we love sharing stories from successful students and grads that are working to change the world for the better. 2009 graduate Susan Roberts, of New York City, is a special case. She’s making strides in an area where the importance of good nutrition is not explored or emphasized enough.

Susan applied what she learned in the Health Coach Training Program to her work as an occupational therapist. She already addressed other areas of wellness with her clients, such as the importance of primary food, but for this advanced scholar, author and lecturer, her nutrition education provided the final piece of the puzzle in her practice: eating well. This interview with Susan highlights her thoughts on where the “mealtime” process went wrong, and her essential work to restore a healthy, positive diet for even the pickiest kids out there.

What type of work have you done since completing in Integrative Nutrition's program, and what are you up to now?

I began touring the United States teaching other professionals (primarily occupational therapists, speech therapists and registered dietitians) the role of primary foods and real foods to helping children eat a wider variety of healthy foods and the importance of having "happy" mealtimes. My presentation is called "Mealtime Success for Kids on the Spectrum: Holistic Nutrition for Picky Eaters." I educate 200 to 300 professionals every month. I also wrote a book on the same subject for families, My Kid Eats Everything: a Journey from Picky to Adventurous Eating.

We'd like to wish you the happiest of holidays, filled with all the joy and love of the season. Whatever your traditions at this time of year, we just want to say that we appreciate you, and we are so glad you are a part of our community.

Offering gifts that promote wellness is a great way to help others get on the path to better health just in time for the New Year. Enter our holiday gift guide – consider us your personal elves. We’re here to help you give a gift you can feel good about.

You’ll find some make-it-yourself ideas so you won’t have to break the bank as well as special gifts from the heart so you can spread joy to those in need. From your great aunt to your daughter’s first grade teacher, we’ve got something for everyone on your list.

2010 Integrative Nutrition graduate Jessica Idleman had an existing background and knowledge in health that supported her work as a nutritionist. What she was missing, however, was the ability to turn this expertise into a thriving business. Through new connections and a gained sense of confidence acquired in the Health Coach Training Program, Jessica found the direction she needed for her practice, Glow Nutrition, and catapulted into success. Now she’s sharing her knowledge and expertise in healthy cooking with members of her community in Springfield, MO, a place where health coaches are hard to come by and many people rely solely on counting calories to stay slim. Read more about what this grad is up to below!

What were you doing before Integrative Nutrition?

I was working as a nutritionist doing essentially the same thing I am still doing. Integrative Nutrition helped me take my practice to the next level and solidify a business model.

What led you to explore Integrative Nutrition's program?

As our graduates have proven time and time again, health coaching truly can help people improve their wellness, happiness, and quality of life. But can the same effects achieved through in-person counseling be replicated over the phone?

A new study from the New England Journal of Medicine says absolutely! Scope, the Stanford University Medical blog concluded, "Remote weight loss interventions, such as online or phone counseling by health coaches, are as equally effective as programs requiring face-to-face contact, according to findings presented this week at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla."

It’s a familiar story for many Integrative Nutrition graduates: leaving the corporate world to pursue a career in nutrition and wellness, a field they are passionate about, and have always kept in mind, but never imagined they would work in fulltime.

For Amie Valpone, a 2008 grad who currently lives in Manhattan, the story began a little differently. She suffered from many health issues including gluten and dairy intolerance, which led to an interest in nutrition and then to enrolling in the Health Coach Training Program. As this interest in nutrition increased, so did her desire to follow a new job path. With experience as a culinary marketing consultant, a recipe developer, a brand ambassador and now a publisher, the blog she used to work on late at night and on weekends years ago has flourished into an entirely different career. Read more about this incredibly successful graduate below!

What were you doing before Integrative Nutrition?

I held many corporate jobs: design at Ralph Lauren Corporate, advertising sales at VOGUE Magazine and marketing at the NBA (National Basketball Association). It all started while working in these corporate jobs here in Manhattan. My jobs were ‘glamorous’ to everyone but me. I loved the idea of my jobs but at the end of the day, I was not fulfilled nor inspired. I became interested in food and nutrition when I was faced with gluten and dairy intolerance. I went to Integrative Nutrition to study nutrition and spent my days, nights and weekends walking the aisles of Whole Foods Market and health food stores throughout Manhattan, jotting down names of brands and researching new products.

It is a sorry state of affairs when food contamination has become a regular feature in the news cycle. From tomatoes to spinach to E. coli to Salmonella, the particulars vary, but the take-away is the same: there is something wrong with our food production system.

This time, it's cantaloupes contaminated with listeria. The outbreak of this foodborne illness, linked to a contaminated batch of melons from Colorado a few weeks ago, has already been blamed for the deaths of 18 people. More than 100 have fallen sick, and new cases are still being reported. While most of the contaminated cantaloupes should be out of the food supply by now, the symptoms of listeria can take up to one month to appear after infection, so if you think you may have been exposed, see a doctor as soon as possible.

As children, many of us were told that putting food into our bodies is akin to pumping fuel into a car. In a way, this is true. Just as gas is burned to power an engine, we all know food provides the calories that fuel our movements and involuntary systems.

Unlike a car, however, we are living organisms. Our cells die and need to be replaced. Our fluids must be replenished. Rather than running on only one type of high-octane gasoline, our bodies require a varied diet of different foods to properly support our organs, muscles, bones, and brain. Bits of our food actually become part of our bodies.