Living a healthy life means making sure that your body is receiving all the proper vitamins and minerals it needs to function correctly. It’s also important to make sure that you’re maintaining a healthy mouth, since research suggests that poor oral health may be a link to certain health issues, including heart disease, obesity, stroke and even cancer.
Here’s a list of some of the top vitamins and minerals your body – and mouth – need to stay strong and healthy.
Whenever I tell someone that I’m a dietitian, they automatically think that I’m going to tell them what they cannot eat – the “bad” foods. Similarly, many of my clients look to me as the person who will take their favorite foods away from them. Across the board, people are surprised when they find out that I’m a “nice dietitian”.
Our hearts do so much for us, it’s important we feed them well. Fortunately when you choose Diet-to-Go you can be assured you are getting all the nutrients your heart needs to be healthy and work it’s very best. But what about when you’re not eating Diet-to-Go? What are the best foods for a healthy heart?
The key to losing weight, and keeping it off, isn’t some secret potion or magic pill. The way to lose weight is by breaking bad eating habits and in exchange, adopting good ones. Despite promises by many advertisers, losing weight isn’t a quick fix. Losing weight (and keeping it off) is about establishing a common sense approach to healthy eating and exercise. It’s about changing habits in a way that is achievable and sustainable over the long haul.
Water is amazing! Water can reverse the signs of aging, increase energy level and improve your overall health. In fact, water may be the single most important nutrient in our lives. Every system in our body depends on water from removing waste, to regulating body temperature, to lubricating joints, to name just a few. But, not only does water play a vital role in our general well being, it’s also a key...
Imagine a food so powerful that it can help you lose weight, reduce your risk of cancer, make you look younger, strengthen your bones and has even been purported to even help you live longer? Imagine if this food tasted good, was readily available and relatively inexpensive. No need to imagine, it’s a reality and they're called...
Consider all the places you eat: home, restaurants, at friends’ houses, maybe even your car? Opportunities to thwart healthy eating are everywhere! But if you take the time to plan ahead you’ll be better able to handle the situation and won’t succumb to last minute temptations or just the (perceived) exhaustion of planning out a meal. Meal planning may seem like a daunting task but consider the benefits...
We can't digest it, and it passes through our system without adding any nutritional benefits, but we still need it! We're talking fiber. Fiber is one of the most effective weight loss weapons out there. And chances are, you’re probably not getting enough.
Portion sizes have become huge! Over the last couple of decades the portion sizes of everything from pasta to hamburgers to bagels have doubled (sometimes tripled!) in size. And countless studies have shown that the bigger the portion size, the more we tend eat. We need to stop. The problem: We can’t control our portions if we don’t know what a proper portion size is.
You knew it was coming. It starts with the pumpkins, some hay bales, and then before you know it…it’s everywhere. Candy. Giant bags of candy everywhere you turn. And it’s all at irresistible prices. I mean, who can pass up a 5-pound bag of candy corn for only $1.50? The allure is overpowering. It’s almost Halloween and Halloween Candy is upon us, and that’s just plain scary when it comes to our diet. But it doesn’t have to be that way. This year you can...
Ooh imagine it...hot, salty French Fries or what about warm, gooey chocolate brownies, just out of the oven…are you suddenly hungry? Or are you just craving them now? Can you tell the difference?
We often confuse these terms -- hunger and craving -- but there really is a big difference between the two. And, before you can get your weight under control (and keep it there) you need to understand the difference between them, how to identify when you’re experiencing one or another, and manage your responses accordingly.
In our time starved world the last thing we want to do is waste time trying to lose weight. You put the effort in…you want to see results. Since the dawn of time, at least the dawn of dieting, people have tried practically everything to lose weight from eating only lemons for days on end to purposely swallowing poisons to induce vomiting. Not only are these weight loss methods dangerous, but most are also completely ineffective and a waste of time. While they may cause some initial weight loss, the results are not permanent.
Don’t waste your time with these!
Think of fall and what comes to your mind? Chances are it’s something along the lines of cooler temperatures, leaves changing colors and pumpkins. You’d be hard pressed to find another food that is so closely associated with a season. Pumpkins just...
It used to be you could only get cherries in summer or parsley in the spring. But in today’s world of global commerce, eating almost anything, at almost any time of the year is commonplace, but is that a good thing? Should we try to eat foods that are in season more often? We hear about eating locally, but what about seasonally? Are there benefits to eating foods in season? Yes. Eating foods that are in season is...
Knowing what to eat and what to avoid to be healthy can be confusing at best; especially when it comes to fat. For years we were told to avoid eating any fat at all. Then we were told that it’s important we eat some "good" fats, but to stay away from "bad" fats. And no matter what, never, ever eat trans fats...
You know that eating a healthy breakfast is important. You've probably heard about all the studies that have shown that eating a nutritious breakfast will help you lose weight. But knowing what you're supposed to do and what you actually do, are two different things, especially when you are short on time. Preparing and eating a quick, healthy breakfast is not always feasible; or so it may seem. It seems inevitable, no matter what time you set your alarm for, your mornings are rushed. Well, maybe not always but definitely...
Human chorionic gonadotropin or HCG is a hormone that is naturally produced by the body during pregnancy. In a pregnant woman, HCG signals the hypothalamus to mobilize fat stores, which helps the body bring nutrients into the placenta, fueling the fetus with the energy it needs to grow. So how did a pregnancy hormone become synonymous with weight loss? HCG...
For years it has been the go-to punishment for parents, "eat your broccoli or else..." But maybe those parents were on to something. We should be eating our broccoli. Broccoli is a nutritional gold mine. Broccoli has been shown to...
High fructose corn syrup: it's the added sweetener that can be found in everything from soup to juice to muffins to peanut butter. But, for something so sweet, it sure does stir up a lot of sour feelings. You'd be hard pressed to find a food product out there that causes as much controversy as high fructose corn syrup; but why? What is High Fructose Corn Syrup? Before we can understand the controversy...
