Keep Snacks Interesting with New Snack Ideas

Snacks can be an important part of a healthy meal plan.  They prevent people from getting overly hungry which can help to prevent overeating or making poor food choices at meals.  However, it is important to PLAN for healthy snacks that are portion controlled.  So many of the snacks that are readily available (chips, cookies, […]

Updated Exercise Guidlines by American College of Sports Medicine

Frequently, people ask me “how much exercise and what type of exercise should I be doing?”  While the answer varies depending on individual goals (weight loss, muscle gain, general health, etc.), the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) does provide some guidelines to follow.     In July, ACSM just released new recommendations. The recommendations for cardiovascular […]

Prenatal Vitamins May Help Protect Against Autism

This week, in the New York Times, there was an interesting article about emerging research which suggests that prenatal vitamins could potentially help reduce the risk of Autism.  Over the past decade, the rate of Autism has been on the rise and it is still unclear why this is the case.  There has been speculation […]

Food, Inc: An Eye Opening Documentary

I just finished watching “FOOD, Inc.”, which is a movie that has been on my “to-watch” list for some time.  Just in case you haven’t heard about it, this is a documentary about the American food supply.  It shows how our food is produced, where it comes from and how large corporations have changed the […]

Food Guide Pyramid was Replaced with a Plate

Yesterday, the USDA released a new icon to replace the old food guide pyramid.  The pyramid has now been switched to the image of a plate with the various food groups on it (see below).  This gives visual representation of how to fill up a plate to create balance among the various food groups.  I […]

Supplements: Helpful or Harmful? Learn to Recognize the Difference

Americans’ spend 10’s of billions of dollars each year on dietary supplements.  Often, supplements are purchased based on exaggerated marketing claims made by the supplement manufacturers.  Unfortunately, many people don’t realize that the supplement industry is not regulated and that manufacturers do not have to prove that there is research to support the claims that […]

Help Get Menu Labeling into Movie Theatres

When you go to the movie theatre, the smell of popcorn consumes you when you walk in the door and can be very alluring.  However, would you still buy it if you knew that a large buttered popcorn often has over 1,600 calories, 126 grams of fat and 70 gm of artery-clogging saturated fat?  That […]