WSU prof pushes for healthy living and positive thinking

Amy Wissman, a biologist and professor here at Wright State University spoke of her passion for healthy lifestyle and food.

“You need to drink a lot of water, you need to move every day. As well as putting positive out there with your actions,” Wissman said. “When our bodies are positive, our food can be positive and as well as our movements. It’s a lifestyle and I think it can really maintain good health.”

Wissman works to promote this type of lifestyle for herself, her family and her students.

With a masters in biology from Wright State and an undergrad in medical laboratory science from Indiana University, Wissman has been a teacher at Wright State since 2009. She has taught at other colleges such as IV Tech, Edison, and Miami Jacobs College. She currently teaches classes such as Biology of Food, Human Parasitology and Mycology, Microbiology, Health and Disease as well as several honors courses that reinforce biology of food and health.

Growing up in an agricultural community and having a strong passion for the connection of health and biology brought her to teaching health related classes. According to Wissman, “I had this own personal passion about food and nutrition and that interplay with how important nutrition is to maintaining health.”

Her passion brought her to working with the Nonsmoking Movement at Wright State and encouraging students to utilize the healthy options on campus.

Wissman believes that over the last seven years students are starting to make healthier choices like choosing water over sugary soda drinks. She also contributes the change in student’s choices to the extra information they know more now about health and nutrition from Michelle Obama’s healthy plans and studies done.

“For me it’s important that several times a week I make a meal from scratch. And I’ll make enough that I have left overs for the family,” Wissman said.

She continues to advocate healthy living for her three children. Wissman advises those who want to start eating or living healthier to take the steps a little bit at a time, such as eating foods that have simple ingredients or natural food.