yydjjk

Welcome to March and welcome to National Nutrition Month sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.   Their theme this year is “Go Further with Food”.   The theme reminds us to “eat healthfully for ongoing energy and plan meals and snacks in advance..”     When I told my husband that March was National Nutrition Month, he asked, “and how do I celebrate National Nutrition Month, eat an extra carrot?”   Well, planning healthy snacks is a good nutritional practice – so yes, you can eat the extra carrot. To have more energy during the day, dietitians recommend you start your day off with a good breakfast.   There are foods that one should skip at breakfast and there are foods we should add for better health. Foods to Skip at Breakfast – Skip the high calorie Danish, donut, chocolate croissant - yes, they make look tasty in that glass window but eat them and you’ll get that sugar high and then the sugar low.   These are loaded with added sugar, ...

Can what you eat affect the mood you are in?   Can eating better actually affect whether you get down in the dumps or not?   My sister sent me an interesting article, Eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains slashes depression risk by more than 10%.    Now 10% doesn’t sound much but eating more of certain foods can improve the mood you are in and can help you have more energy throughout the day.   So often we hear that to eat healthy we have to cut things from our diet.   A current fad is cutting gluten from our diet which is not really a healthy thing to do unless you have Celiac disease.    Now many people are on the Whole30 diet that cuts out grains and dairy.   One person on this diet told me how tired they were, too tired to exercise.   No wonder, cut out the grains from your diet and you are cutting out the carbs needed to energize yourself for the day and you are cutting back on the many B vitamins our bodies need to make energy...

Are you at risk of diabetes?   About 1 in 4 Americans have diabetes and don’t even know it.   About 23 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes and 7 million of us don’t even know it.   Another 79 million Americans have prediabetes.   We can take some steps to lower our risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.   The American Diabetes Association has a wealth of information on diabetes and even a Diabetes Risk Test you can take. There are two types of diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2.   They used to call these juvenile diabetes and adult diabetes.   However, so many Americans, even those at a young age are getting Type 2 diabetes that they no longer refer to this as adult onset diabetes.   Type 1 – Usually kids or young adults get this type of diabetes, that is why it used to be called juvenile diabetes.   This type affects about 5% of Americans.   The body does not produce the insulin needed to get sugar (glucose) into the cells so blood sugar rises...

So much added sugar in our diets.   We notice most of the added sugar in our diets, like the added sugar in candy, ice cream or desserts.   But so much added sugar is “stealth sugar” in our foods.   Manufacturers love to add sugar to common foods like bread and pasta sauce.   There is also so much confusion about “sugar” as some people avoid “sugar” and then end up avoiding milk because it has lactose, a natural sugar in milk. Or they stop eating fruit like bananas, as they mistakenly say, “bananas are high in sugar”, when bananas have NO ADDED SUGAR.   So, what should you know about added sugar?   Consumer Reports has provided an excellent guide called, Eat Smarter, Eat Healthier which includes information about we can cut back on the added sugar in our diet.    Can you enjoy some added sugar? Yes.   Who doesn’t like dessert, some ice cream, some cookies or other treat every day?   I do.   The problem is we eat way too many foods ...