healthy living for women + their families
By Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD
When heat and humidity soar, keeping your body hydrated matters more than ever. Did you know you can hydrate with what’s on your plate — not just what’s in your cup?
The following foods are heavy on the water content, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s nutrient database. In several cases, they’re also full of nutrients that will help you fight disease. So eat up, and beat the heat with your fork.
1. Cucumbers
To help Americans make better decisions about what they eat, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this year proposed significant changes to the Nutrition Facts label found on nearly every food product in the U.S. An July 2014 article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly news magazine of the American Chemical Society (ACS), explains the suggested updates — and the fight that has ensued.
After analyzing 217 menus and the selections of over 300 diners, Cornell Food and Brand Lab study published in July 2014 in the International Journal of Hospitality Management showed that any food item that attracts attention with bold, hightlighted or colored font or set apart in a text box makes people more likely to order it. Unfortunately, according to a release from Cornell, lead author Brian Wansink, author of , said, “In most cases, these are the least healthy items on the menu.”
By Sara Gottfried MD
“My husband and I had the most amazing sex in years,” Martha began, slightly cautious she was oversharing.
When my facial expressions suggested otherwise, she continued:
Coping with anxiety can be a challenge and often requires making lifestyle changes. There aren’t any diet changes that can cure anxiety, but watching what you eat may help. Try these steps:
Eat a breakfast that includes some protein. Eating protein at breakfast can help you feel fuller longer and help keep your blood sugar steady so that you have more energy as you start your day.
We’ve heard a lot about gluten-free foods; most supermarkets even have a gluten-free section. But what does it mean, and how do you tell if you should be eating gluten-free food? Here, from the federal Food and Drug Administration, are some answers as well as information on the new labeling that’s going into effect right now:
What is it?
Gluten means the proteins that occur naturally in wheat, rye, barley, and crossbreeds of these grains.
Why can it be a problem?
Here’s another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
Here’s another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
As older adults typically have one or more chronic health conditions that can affect dietary intake, malnutrition has been identified as a serious for this population. For this reason, nutrition screenings should be a mandatory part of the comprehensive geriatric analysis (CGA), according to a review article published on July 3rd 2014 in the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition’s (A.S.P.E.N.) Nutrition in Clinical Practice journal.
By The Bone, Muscle, and Joint Team at HealthHub from Cleveland Clinic
Contributor: Kylene Guerra, RD
Do you stand in the aisle of energy bars and sports gels wondering what to choose? When it comes to offering you the best health benefits and fuel for your sports performance, not all energy bars and sports gels are equal. Below, find tips to choosing the best ones for you.
Energy bars
The nutrition facts-label on packaged food is one of the most important consumer tools for determining how healthy food products are. But the label, which lists fats, proteins, sugars and fibers, hasn’t changed since 1993, except for one alteration in 2006, when details of trans fats were added.
Now, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing an update to the label. Although the update isn’t approved yet, the agency has been holding public hearings and soliciting comments on the proposals.
Daily headlines on Internet pages and blogs claim: “New ingredient X is harmful to your health.” Such warnings can scare people into avoiding these ingredients without actually knowing the facts, leading some people to have food fears about ingredients such as sugar, fat, sodium, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), mono sodium glutamate (MSG), and others. While some of these food fears are merited, others can be misleading.
By Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD
Americans love hitting the open road, especially during summer. Road trips mean long hours in the car, with pit stops at gas station convenience stores — often the only options on long stretches of highway.
Too often, when we fuel up our cars, we fuel up our bodies with snack choices we regret 20 miles down the road.
Health-related buzzwords such as “antioxidant,” “gluten-free” and “whole grain,” lull consumers into thinking packaged food products labeled with those words are healthier than they actually are, according to a research done at the University of Houston.
A release from the university reports that the team suggests that false sense of health as well as a failure to understand the information presented in nutrition facts panels on packaged food may be contributing to the obesity epidemic in the United States.
Whether it’s to cut down on the number of calories they consume or any of a variety of other reasons, some people use sugar substitutes – also called high-intensity sweeteners – to sweeten and add flavor to their foods. They can be used alone to sweeten foods and beverages such as iced tea or coffee, or as an ingredient in other products. There are a number of sugar substitutes on the market from which to choose.
Here’s another addition to our ThirdAge Video Collection. Press play to start learning!
By The Beating Edge Team HealthHub from Cleveland Clinic
When it comes to cooking with oils, do you have to choose between cooking for taste or cooking for health? People have strong opinions about what’s best.
Health Hub sat down recently to chat about cooking with oils with James D. Perko, CEC, AAC, Executive Chef for Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Institute and its Center for Lifestyle Medicine and nutritionist Katherine Patton, MEd, RD, CSSD, LD.
By Sondra Forsyth
Plenty of people assume that fresh produce is healthier than the frozen and canned versions, but that’s not always the case. Flash-frozen fruits and vegetables are actually better for you than most fresh produce. The same goes for many canned vegetables if the salt content is low, and for many canned fruits if no sugary syrups are added. (Tip: Rinse canned vegetables to lower the salt content, and buy canned fruits packed in their own juice.)
Why Frozen and Canned Products Are Healthy
