How Much Added Sugar Are we Consuming?

Our Nutritious Bites column looks at extra dietary sugar.

Nutritious Bites

How is Your Sleep? Are You Getting Enough?

Our dietician looks at how sleep impacts your overall health.

For many people getting enough sleep remains a constant battle. With longer business days, demands of children schedules, finishing college semesters and simply the desire to do more in a day, more and more people are sleeping less and this might be impacting what they eat and their weight. A variety of studies are looking, or have looked at, the issue of sleep and weight, and while the research is still early stage it does seem to indicate that the less you sleep, the more likely it is that you are not eating properly and that you are overweight.  In a recent study in the journal Metabolism, researchers found that even a 90 minute reduction in your sleep can contribute to changes in the hormones that trigger feelings of satiety causing …

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Nutritious Bites

What to Do With All Those Easter Eggs?

Our registered dietician shares some helpful hints.

One of the delightful signs of spring is the brightly colored Easter eggs but now that Easter is over, what do you do with all those leftover eggs? The key to what you do with the leftover eggs lies in how you prepared them and how you handled them after they were cooked. Eggs, like all other protein foods, are susceptible to food-borne bacteria if they are not stored at the right temperature. Hopefully you hard cooked the eggs and put them into the refrigerator right after cooking – sitting at room temperature is when food-borne bacteria grow. The same recommendation about keeping them out of room temperature applied to when you colored the eggs. If those beautiful, bright eggs were a part of your Easter display this weekend, and they …

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Nutritious Bites

Eat Right, Every Day: It's National Nutrition Month

March is National Nutrition Month.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of National Nutrition month and the theme this year is “Eat Right, Your Way, Every Day.” Healthy eating is often thought to be one set diet or a specific set of guidelines whereas the reality is that healthy eating can be about what you eat if you learn how to monitor portions and how to balance food preparation methods. If you enjoy fries with your burger or maybe it’s real salad dressing on your salad you can maintain both of these choices If you balance other foods around them; try this: You might try the same type of changes at lunch and dinner so that you can maintain a focus on more produce and whole grains, while keeping protein and fat choices the smaller part of your meal. In addition to …

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Nutritious Bites

Produce Can Enhance the Flavors of Your Menu

Fool your brain by putting more fresh produce on your plate.

Recently I attended the Culinary Institutes “Worlds of Healthy Flavors” conference at the Greystone, CA campus. The theme of the conference was “Bringing together the best of world cooking and the latest in nutrition research.”  Conference sessions focused on what we currently know about balancing food choices on the plate and the evidence presented continues to support the important role of produce in menu planning. At one session a researcher from Harvard Business School discussed how we can “fool” our brains by placing fresh produce more prominently on our plates. This technique appeals to our “slow” brain which often doesn’t respond to visual cues until after our “fast” brain has made a choice. If we can serve produce and whole grains …

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Nutritious Bites

Produce Found to Impact on Strokes, Blood Pressure

Studies show the benefits of adding apples, tomatoes and cranberry juice to your diet.

How is your produce intake? The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that at least one half of your plate should contain fruits and vegetables but for many Americans this desirable balance is still a goal and not a reality. Three recent studies might push you to achieve the goal a bit sooner. The first study appeared in the journal Neurology and it looked at the lycopene content of tomatoes related to reduction of stroke risk in men. Lycopene is an antioxidant that works in the body to counter act free radicals which contribute to aging and disease risk. Lycopene is found in reddish colored fruits and vegetables like watermelon, grapefruit and guava but the content in tomatoes, especially cooked tomatoes, is higher. The study of more…

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Nutritious Bites

Lower Your Sodium Intake: Six Surprising Salty Items

Our Washington University columnist shares tips for cutting down on sodium intake by watching six foods with high salt content.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends keeping sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams or less each day, yet most Americans are consuming a little more than 3,400 milligrams each day. Reducing sodium intake requires cutting back on salt used in cooking and added to your food but the AHA says six foods might be the real source of sodium in your diet.  The AHA points to six foods as the top sources of sodium in diets. These foods are: In the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for American's breads and rolls, cold cuts, pizza and chicken and chicken dishes were all listed as top contributors but the other two top items were pasta and pasta dishes, along with condiments.   If a part of your New Year’s resolution is to eat healthier, paying more …

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Nutritious Bites

Finding a Comfort Level with Comfort Foods

Make your family's comfort foods a bit healthier this holiday season.

Over the course of this week and next many traditional or “comfort” foods will likely grace your table and since these foods might only appear once a year the inclination is to enjoy them as much as you want. While this is fine, you can find a midpoint that allows for enjoyment and some degree of healthy eating. Enjoying the special foods of the season is part of what makes the season special but if recipes still retain the more traditional high fat, high sugar, high calorie bent it might be time to make some modifications. Recipe changes that are easy to make include the following: In addition to recipe changes, you can maintain the comfort of traditional foods by choosing smaller portions, by eating more slowly to savor the flavor and by…

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Nutritious Bites

Holiday Eating: Use Smaller Portion Sizes

Our dietician says to enjoy the tastes of the season - just do it in moderation.

Holiday eating is often a time of lots of cookies and candy and eating on the run, two behaviors that can pose a challenge to a goal of healthy eating. Have no fear you can enjoy your holiday treats and still keep a healthy eating plan.  If you’re spending the next two weeks baking for holiday parties you know that cookies, cakes, bars and candy are plentiful not only in your house but also at work – after all that’s where we take those “too many to keep” items. Manage your sweet eating by trying these tips. When it comes to grabbing meals on the run, studies show that we make poorer food choices and we eat more when we aren’t focused on what we are eating. If your day is packed with work, decorating, baking and shopping make sure you keep…

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Nutritious Bites

Hydration: How Much Fluid Does Your Body Need?

Do you know how much liquid your body needs each day to remain hydrated?

Water, water everywhere but how much do you really need? The question of how much water is needed for adequate hydration is one that has more answers than many other nutrition related questions. The answer to the question is very simple. In 2004, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) assessed hydration status by reviewing research studies and food and nutrition surveys. The IOM stated that the vast majority of healthy people adequately meet their hydration needs by letting thirst guide them. The IOM did not set exact requirements but set recommendations for women at about 91 ounces of fluids per day and for men 125 ounces per day. The recommendations also stated that all fluids count so water, milk, coffee, tea and soft drinks count to body …

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