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Examining Your Pediatrician's Feeding Advice
Tweet Share on Facebook October 16, 2012 CommentFew medical specialists are asked to dispense as much nutrition-related advice as pediatricians, whose guidance is often taken as gospel by nervous, first-time parents. Unfortunately, future pediatricians receive no more nutrition training in medical school than their peers heading into other specialties. And most doctors freely admit that such nutrition education rarely accounts for more than one day among their four years of formal study.
It probably shouldn't surprise you then that even your fabulous, competent, and well-meaning pediatrician may be prone to dispensing some feeding advice that isn't accurate, up-to-date, or evidence-based. I've heard my fair share of doozies; among them are these four common kinds of flawed feeding advice that originated from otherwise terrific pediatricians.
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How to Put Winter to Work for Your Garden
Tweet Share on Facebook October 16, 2012 CommentYou may be feeling short-staffed at work, but when it comes to your garden, you have a full and willing team out there that's ready to work for you all winter long. What's more, these workers—leaves, microbes, and cover crops—don't take coffee breaks or spend their working hours surfing the Internet. However, they focus on helping you grow your garden, not your business (unless, like me, gardening is your business).
Here's how and why to put these helpers to work:
• Leaves. Autumn leaves provide a wide variety of benefits to a garden. Trees usually have long roots that draw up many trace minerals from the earth, and these trace minerals become concentrated in the trees' leaves. Putting leaves on your garden adds these necessary trace minerals to your soil as the leaves decay.
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10 Fantastic Fall Veggies, and How to Cook Them
Tweet Share on Facebook October 15, 2012 CommentWith the change in season comes new fall vegetables. From parsnips to pumpkin, these nutritious foods are just waiting to be added to our plates. My favorite way of preparing the fall harvest is simply roasting veggies in a bit of oil, salt, and pepper. Of course, you can get creative with bold herbs like rosemary or thyme if you would like.
Why Roast Vegetables?
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The Skinny on Trick or Treating
Tweet Share on Facebook October 12, 2012 CommentTrick or Treat.
For children, Halloween is a candy dream come true. You would think it's a nutritionist's worst nightmare. It's hard to look past the sugar, calories, and fat consumed on this holiday. But that's just it—it's a holiday, and sometimes you have to let kids be kids.
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How to Eat Healthy on a Budget
Tweet Share on Facebook October 12, 2012 CommentYou may have heard of the "Freshman 15," a reference to the amount of weight some students seem to gain during their first year of college. But what about the "Recession 15"? That's right. If we're not careful, thinner paychecks could lead to heftier waistlines. But you can eat healthy on a budget.
Here are some tips to help you get the biggest bang for your buck without blowing your calorie allowance:
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Soda, Calories, and a Full Accounting
Tweet Share on Facebook October 11, 2012 CommentThe American Beverage Association (ABA) announced this week, with predictable fanfare, its plans to put calorie counts on soda vending machines in San Antonio, Texas, and Chicago, Ill. In principle, national expansion will follow, but those details are not yet in place. For now, the program can only do good so far as it goes geographically. The question then is: What good is that? What, exactly, will soda calorie counts do for the San Antonians and Chicagoans, as the rest of us watch from the sidelines?
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5 Food Trends to Watch
Tweet Share on Facebook October 11, 2012 CommentI just got back from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, the world's largest annual meeting of food and nutrition professionals. Registered dietitians (RDs), like myself, from all over the country (and even overseas) attend for up to four days of cutting-edge nutrition science research, educational presentations, lectures, debates, panel discussions, and culinary demonstrations.
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Quick and Healthy Lunch Tips
Tweet Share on Facebook October 10, 2012 CommentWith the days getting shorter amid busy school and work schedules, it's easy for many of us to forget to plan lunch. Constructing healthy meals is my job, and I slip too!
As a dietitian, I'm always asked for suggestions to help people eat well on a tight schedule. In this blog, I'll be bringing you the inside scoop on what the Nutritious Life team is brown bagging. See what we're packing for lunch, and pick up some healthful tips that might work for you.
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It's Time to Reclaim Our Kitchens
Tweet Share on Facebook October 10, 2012 CommentI have a confession to make. Last weekend, I took my two youngest children out to breakfast. I was supposed to be joining my wife and oldest at a charitable race, but because the weather outside was dreary, I lazily decided to head to a local greasy spoon with the wee ones as the outing would serve to not only feed, but also entertain them. My 3-year-old ordered the $3.99 kids' chocolate pancake and my 5-year-old got the $3.99 waffle with whipped cream. When the meals arrived, I was flabbergasted to see two full-size dinner plates—one with a gigantic pancake, and the other, with a plate-filling waffle.
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The Energy Drink, Deconstructed
Tweet Share on Facebook October 9, 2012 CommentDespite a recent spate of bad press, the popularity of energy drinks has not waned. Energy drinks and shots represent a $9 billion business in this country, and the category has been growing consistently since Red Bull introduced the first such product in 1987. Domestically, Red Bull alone is a $3 billion brand, and the leading energy shot product, 5-hour ENERGY, boasts $1 billion in retail sales. A 2011 study published in the journal Pediatrics reported that 30 to 50 percent of teens and young adults use energy drinks and that people under the age of 25 account for half of all sales. Teen and young adult males are reportedly the leading consumers of energy drinks.
Clearly, there are plenty of people who are convinced that energy drinks deliver on their promise. But is there science to support the purported benefits of these formulations?
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