All Entries For nutrition
Fresh fruits and vegetables serve as a nutritional powerhouse for most healthy diets. Loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals, they also help protect against disease. Sure there are small health risks from pesticides, but those are easily dealt with by selecting organically certified produce. While fresh produce can be more costly and make them challenging for a tight budget, there are tips to make them more affordable. Fresh produce can require more time to peel, slice, dice, and chop, but pre-cut, pre-washed, and ready to serve options save time for a slightly higher cost.
When fresh vegetables are not available, practical, or economically feasible, canned and frozen provide another alternative. Both are convenient and readily available but which is better nutritionally?
Posted 8/26/2010 11:05:08 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 71 comments
I’ve blogged in the past about my love for farmers’ markets. They have such a wide array of fruits and vegetables that I’ve been able to try things I might never have noticed otherwise. Now a unique program in Massachusetts is using farmers’ markets to expose low-income children to these foods and help combat childhood obesity.
Posted 8/24/2010 12:00:29 PM By: Jen Mueller : 53 comments
Last week we learned eating a less than ideal breakfast is better than skipping breakfast all together. Planning ahead helps make breakfast selections healthful and limits the need to face that choice. Working out first thing in the morning can make breakfast schedules difficult and planning that much more important. One member shared her morning routine includes getting up at 3:30 AM to be at the gym by 4:00 AM for a workout. I myself head out for my workouts at 5:30 AM most mornings. Although everyone is different, some people like me have no problem exercising on an empty stomach while other people experience negative effects. Professionals and experts alike do not recommend exercising on an empty stomach. Other points of view suggest not eating breakfast especially before a work out is more beneficial. This caused me to ask the question, "which is better, exercising before or after breakfast?"
Posted 8/19/2010 11:56:50 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 123 comments
Balancing energy intake with energy expenditure is a key to successful weight management. Nutrition tools like databases, trackers, and fact labels can help. However, the help they provide is limited by the accuracy of the information each tool includes.
The same is true with calorie information on restaurant menus. The nutrition calculations are derived from a variety of sources. Restaurants frequently use laboratory testing, published resource information, and food supplier information to help them calculate estimated nutrition information. If the source information is not accurate, the inaccuracy will be handed down and perhaps multiplied. Tufts University researchers tested meals from several familiar chain restaurants. The tested meals were eighteen percent higher in calories on average than the listed menu information. The scariest part of their findings to me was the wide range of variation between actual calorie content and reported content. Some meals were 36 percent lower than the restaurant calculation. For most of us, that is an error in our favor that doesn't bother us too much. Others were 200 percent higher than the reported calorie information. That variation can make a large impact that is more unsettling.
Some people have ordered their lifestyle so that eating away from home isn't something they do often. Others of us eat away from home from time to time for a variety of reasons. When we do, we rely on helpful recommendations to plan before we go in order to successfully navigate the menu for the healthiest choices. We also try to apply many of the healthy eating habits we have learned as well. Unfortunately, we also trust in the nutrition information provided for the restaurant we are visiting. Here are some things to consider when reviewing and relying on menu nutrition information while dining away from home.
Posted 8/12/2010 5:59:35 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 46 comments
About three years ago, a friend and I were at a natural foods store in the vitamins aisle. I needed more calcium and magnesium, which I take upon my doctor's recommendation to alleviate premenstrual mood swings. While my friend perused the multivitamins, I strolled up and down the aisle, reading labels. Then I spotted inulin, which I'd read was a great source of prebiotics. As a then-frequent sufferer of stress-related GI distress (this was during my "old life"), I was (and still am) a regular consumer of probiotics, those microorganisms found in your gut and in fermented foods like yogurt and kimchi, which can benefit your immune and digestive systems. In short, prebiotics are what feed probiotics. Anything that helps the good bacteria in your gut thrive and flourish sounded like a great product to me. Besides, I had just read that probiotics were the next big thing in nutrition.
I grabbed a jar, shelled out $8.99, and, upon returning home, stirred two tablespoons into water, just as the jar suggested. It tasted mildly sweet but not too bad. Within an hour, I learned the importance of doing your research before buying any supplement! (Who impulse shops at a health food store, I ask?)
My stomach was visibly distended, hard to the touch, and gurgling loudly. I felt as though I had just gorged on Thanksgiving dinner--I was full and bloated. Later on, I had horrible stomach pains that left me doubled over. Forced to cancel my Saturday night plans, I headed to the Internet and read up on inulin, then chucked my jar in the garbage.
A few months ago, I ate a piece of high-fiber flatbread--something I do not eat--for an afternoon snack and ended up with the same symptoms, primarily stomach pains that kept me from a training run! I read the label after the fact, and a type of added fiber was the culprit. Since then, I avoided these ingredients in all quantities. As I recently read, I'm not the only one who has trouble digesting these added fibers.
You might not have heard of inulin, but if you've eaten high-fiber foods--granola and snack bars, breads, crackers, cereals, and even yogurt--that have popped up on the market in the last few years, you've probably eaten a form of it. Inulins, which are a type of carbohydrate considered to be soluble fiber, are increasingly being added to processed foods as "stealth fibers." What's a "stealth fiber"? Any fiber that is added to a food that wouldn't naturally have it. In addition to inulin, products also use polydextrose and maltodextrin, among others.
Posted 7/27/2010 2:12:57 PM By: Stepfanie Romine : 219 comments
One of the valuable lessons I learned during my track and field days was the importance of running the correct pace for the distance. When running 100-meters, I would run as fast as I could right out of the blocks. If I were running 800-meters, I needed to start out at a slightly slower pace to be certain I could sustain the pace for the entire distance.
Sprinting requires a very fast pace sustained for a short distance. A marathon on the other hand is a longer, more arduous undertaking. Is your weight loss journey a sprint or a marathon? If you are not sure, perhaps that is where part of your barrier to success originates.
Posted 7/26/2010 6:35:21 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 97 comments
Successfully achieving weight loss goals usually requires reaching many smaller goals along the way. Whether you are trying to lose 15 or 150 pounds, experiencing peaks and valleys throughout the journey is common.
I previously worked as a Clinical Dietitian in a large teaching hospital. Part of my work included nutrition education for patients (and the family members that cared for them) with various medical conditions. This nutrition education was a mix of healthy eating guidelines and necessary nutrient modification information. For those that were dealing with poor kidney function, low potassium and low protein nutrient modification were typical. Those with heart or liver dysfunction needed information for a sodium restriction. I learned many valuable lessons over the years sitting in hospital rooms and outpatient clinic offices. People wanted to do the right thing but saw the mountain of the prescribed eating plan too high and the valley they were currently in too low for success to ever be possible. Many times my number one goal was to help both the patient and their family understand that success could be achieved taking one step at a time.
Posted 7/19/2010 12:45:30 PM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 159 comments
Whether enjoying an 18-hole game or a 72-hole tournament, golf is a great way to enjoy the great outdoors. For my father, it is the perfect mix of physical activity, mental challenge, and social interaction and he looks forward to league play a couple evenings each week. Holiday weekends provide a great opportunity to fit in an extra round or two with family or friends.
Proper nutrition is important for everyone, but for golfers looking to shave a few strokes off their scores this is especially true. These tips can help you facilitate a game day nutrition and hydration plan to maintain energy and mental acuity that may help you improve your game.
Posted 7/1/2010 6:18:19 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 14 comments
When it comes to the healthfulness of menu items and information shared by restaurants, just think about how far we've come in just the last decade. Nutrition facts for most restaurant foods are available not just online, but on menu boards in many states. Happy Meals can be bought with apples and milk instead of fries and soda. And we're no longer limited to greasy burgers when we stop at a fast food joint: salads, yogurt parfaits, and even oatmeal are standard these days. Healthful options abound where once there were none!
Sometimes it seems like restaurants are listening to consumers who want healthier options. But are they taking two step backwards when they release items like the KFC's Double Down or promote the inclusion of a "fourth meal" in their commercials (as if we really need to eat more than we already do)?
This week I read about a new menu item from Friendly's, a burger that replaces the bun with TWO GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES for a reported 1,500 calories and 79 grams of fat. Have they gone completely mad?
Posted 6/25/2010 11:14:07 AM By: Nicole Nichols : 186 comments
I'll admit it: I'm a total snob when it comes to processed meats. I like the taste of hot dogs and salami as much as the next person, and I used to eat those foods frequently. But when I got pregnant 4 years ago, I became much more conscious of the foods I eat and what is in them. Now I'm a label reader, and if something has a long list of strange ingredients in it, I won't eat it. Consequently, I won't serve it to my kids, either.
My friends and family always raise an eyebrow when they see me take the pepperoni off of my kids pizza, or politely decline breakfast sausage at a family brunch. Then they chuckle because it's just "Jen being slightly crazy about the foods her kids eat." My kids don't even notice. If my daughter wants to try a piece of sausage, I'll give her a bite. But I'm not going to load up her plate with it, because I just don't believe that foods like that have much of a place in a healthy diet. New research suggests I might be right.
Posted 5/28/2010 6:25:49 AM By: Jen Mueller : 124 comments
Both California and New York City have led the way with health-promoting laws that require certain chain restaurants to post calorie counts (and other nutrition information) on their menu boards. And coming soon, thanks to the recent passage of the healthcare bill, chain restaurants will have to follow suit nationwide.
Here in Ohio, I have yet to see calorie counts posted on menu boards, but I admit that I am scarcely in a restaurant that actually has a menu on the wall (I prefer "sit down" restaurants or simply cooking at home). I was in Panera the other day and noticed calorie counts posted with three new smoothies they offered and much to my surprise, they had fewer calories than I would have guessed.
Whether these nutritional facts really make a difference has been up for debate. Some research shows that they do not promote changes in ordering behavior, especially in low-income areas where people want more (food, calories) for their money. More recently, I read about a newer study that showed calorie counts on menus do affect people's choices for the better, although the demographic researched (Starbucks patrons) was quite different than the aforementioned study (fast food goers in poor neighborhoods).
This led me to wonder: Have posted nutrition facts on a menu board affected your order?
Posted 5/12/2010 6:23:42 AM By: Nicole Nichols : 450 comments
Both my husband and I have been milk drinkers our entire lives. Some of our fondest memories growing up include milk. For my husband it was spending summers working on his grandfather's dairy farm. For me it was greeting our milkman Mr. McVay each week as he delivered our milk and collected the empty bottles from the silver milk box on the front porch. I think I have just dated myself! Our teen children are wonderful milk drinkers as well and today our family goes through many gallons each week.
Of course, I have heard the many comments that milk from animals is only for animals and that many people are lactose intolerant especially if they are of non-European ancestry. Some opponents of milk say it is only promoted to benefit dairy sales and that alternatives such as rice, almond or soymilk are more nutritious. National Nutrition Month presents a wonderful opportunity to talk about why dairy offers superior nutrition and value.
Posted 3/25/2010 6:16:21 AM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 336 comments
Did you down a couple of green-tinted beers this past Wednesday? What better time than post-St. Patty's Day to talk about how alcohol affects your weight. One new study questions if what we thought we knew about alcohol and weight management holds true. No, I'm not trying to send you into a shame spiral for indulging on Wednesday's famous drinking holiday, so don't worry. But since you may still have alcohol calories on your mind, well here it goes.
When it comes to weight management, one of the easiest things many people can do to cut back on calories is to drink less alcohol—or give it up altogether. After all, alcohol contributes non-nutritious ("empty") calories to your diet, can make you more likely to overeat when you're under its influence, and often results in more calories being stored as fat. Plus when you're on a calorie-controlled diet, you need to make the most of the calories you consume, choosing super nutritious foods to give you the most bang for your calorie budget. Makes sense, right?
If that's true, you may say, then people who drink the most are probably more likely to be overweight and people who drink the least (or not at all) would be more likely to maintain a trim, healthy weight. That is logical, but a recent study published in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine found that nondrinkers were actually more likely to gain weight than people who consumed "moderate" amounts of alcohol. (Yes, that is counterintuitive.) So is there more to this story or should you go back out to the bar and chug another beer in an effort to keep your weight down?
Posted 3/19/2010 12:11:08 PM By: Nicole Nichols : 201 comments
The Panera Bread Company announced last Wednesday they will introduce new calorie containing menu boards.
Panera has willingly shared full nutrition information on their web site for a while. We used their information to share our Panera Bread Food on the Run review. Now in addition to complete product nutrition information, you can also find an online nutrition calculator to evaluate and customize choices before your next visit. So with their existing commitment to complete disclosure, why the need to change the menu boards?
Posted 3/15/2010 12:41:38 PM By: Tanya Jolliffe : 214 comments
My mom resurrected the Girl Scout program at my elementary school when I was a Daisy.
We moved and she was the co-leader of my Brownie troop.
I was a Junior, a Cadette and a Senior.
Though I wasn't the most active Girl Scout in later years, I proudly wore my sash and uniform for 13 years.
My mom was involved in Girl Scouts for 25 years, and my grandmother for about 20.
Needless to say, I like Girl Scout Cookies. We always had several boxes in the pantry and plenty more in the freezer. Because those cookies were always around, it wasn't a big deal when cookie time came around. Sure, I was excited to sell them. (And by sell, I mean call my family members and send the forms to work with my parents. I wasn't the most aggressive saleswoman.) But my appetite for them didn't grow.
Fast forward to college, and a life without Thin Mints, Samoas and Tagalongs.
When I came home for a weekend and found the familiar green box of my favorite cookies. I ate an entire sleeve of them in two days!
I will admit that wasn't the last time I ate an entire sleeve of Girl Scout cookies, but it's an event that hasn't happened lately. I can exercise self control around my beloved Thin Mints, and I keep them in the freezer for slower eating.
Wonder what kind of caloric damage those little cookies can do?
Posted 1/28/2010 5:50:34 PM By: Stepfanie Romine : 427 comments 
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