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Can you eat healthier when flying?   We just got back from a trip to the West Coast.   Delta now offers “Flight Fuel” with a range of healthier food choices.   Downside is the cost, no more “free lunches” on Delta.   They still offer free beverages but to fuel up, you pay up.   The good side is they now offer quite a few healthier choices for a snack or a meal.    Healthy Snacks Fruit and Cheese – you get 3 cheeses:   Muenster, Apple-smoked Gouda, and Vermont Sharp White Cheddar, some Flatbread crackers, almonds, red grapes, one strawberry and if they remember some chocolate.   We were supposed to get Ghirardelli’s dark chocolate square but this was missing from our snack packs on the west bound flight.   We ordered it again on our East Bound flight and didn’t get Ghirardelli chocolate but Hershey chocolate covered Acai Berries which were quite good. Pretzels or Peanuts :   When the flight attendant comes around offering pretzels o...

Are there foods that can fight inflammation?   In the nutrition classes I teach, students often ask what foods are anti-inflammatory.   Livestrong has a great article on Inflammation-Fighting Foods to Eat Every Day .   Another great resource is WebMD at: 11 Food Do's and Don'ts to Tame Inflammation Why fight inflammation?   Inflammation isn’t all bad as it is a way for our bodies to respond to an injury or infection.   But chronic inflammation can lead to more serious problems.   Inflamed arteries can make way for heart attacks or strokes.   Others try anti-inflammatory diets for help with arthritis pain.   What foods cause inflammation? Just as there are anti-inflammatory foods, there are foods that contribute to inflammation.   According to Livestrong, these foods include: o    Fried foods, especially foods fried in lard or hydrogenated oils. o    Foods high in added sugar such as candy, sugared soda.   Limit added ...

What city is going to tax soft drinks and other beverages?   New York City tried and failed to do this.   This week, the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, decided to be not so friendly to soft drinks and other beverages.   The City Council passed a 1.5 cent per ounce tax on many beverages.    Doesn’t sound like much, but buy a 20 ounce soda and the tax would be 30 cents.   Want a 12 pack of sodas?   Then add $2.16 to your bill.   This doesn’t include the 8% sales tax that would be charged on that soda.   What beverages are being taxed? Sugary beverages including sugared sodas, sports drinks, Iced Tea like Snapple Iced Tea, lemonade, Gatorade, Energy Drinks like Monsters Energy Drink, Powerade Mountain Berry Blast would be taxed. Diet sodas like Diet Coke, Coke Zero are also taxed.   V8 Splash Carrot Orange Drink would be taxed as it is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup and contains only 15% juice.   Vitamin Water such as G...

Every month I get the Diabetes Forecast magazine.    It always has some interesting articles on nutrition.   The January/February and May/June 2016 issues have many interesting updates on nutrition and health.   Here are a few.   Sit Less, Move More.   Can sitting increase your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes?   Apparently so.   To study this researchers gave 2,497 adults 24 hour activity monitors.   The 2,497 adults included 1,395 with normal glucose, 714 with type 2 diabetes, and 388 with prediabetes.   Study participants were tracked for 8 days.   The activity differences didn’t seem like much as those with Type 2 Diabetes sat 26 more minutes a day.    Every hour sitting and not moving can increase your chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 22%.   This doesn’t mean you have to run a marathon as study authors noted just standing up every hour helps.   Watching TV, then stand up and walk around during com...

Ever go to the grocery store and find “All Natural” written across the package front?    Doesn’t that sound healthy?    A good for you food?   As some of your friends what “natural” means and you will get a lot of different answers.   So what does a food labeled “natural” or “all natural” mean?   As noted in What Does "Natural" Mean to the FDA? ,   Unlike “organic,” which is legally regulated, “natural,” when seen in the aisles of your local supermarket, can mean pretty much anything the processors like. The federal government has yet to regulate the term “natural” or “all natural” so manufacturers use the terms to sell you on their product.   I was buying something once that said, “all natural ingredients”.   Then I looked at the ingredients and found “sucrose” or white table sugar listed. There is nothing “natural” about table sugar, it is highly processed food almost devoid of vitamins and minerals.   What is FDA doing about regu...

At long last, SUMMER!!    With the heat and humidity, we need to focus on staying hydrated.   Water is always a good choice for hydration.    MSN has an interesting article on  5 Easy Ways to Stay Hydrated This Summer .   Stay away from the sugar sweetened beverages loaded with sugar and calories.   Yes, enjoying some lemonade is fun but it is not a juice and it is loaded with added sugar.    What are some ways to stay hydrated?   How do you know you need hydration?   Thirst is the first sign of becoming dehydrated.   Your body is telling you to drink more fluids.   Eight cups is a good goal but you may need even more when exercising outside or being outside in the heat. Unsweetened Coffee – most people think coffee dehydrates you, but coffee is a fluid and can count towards your daily fluid intake.   And coffee can help you feel more alert and keep you energized.     Unsweetened Ice Tea – ice tea is ...

Skipping breakfast?   Not a good idea for your health.   Your body has “fasted” all night and is ready to refuel every morning.   People who skip breakfast, really don’t.   They may not eat anything before they leave for work each day, but then hit the snack machines at 9 or so for a “not-so-healthy- breakfast”.   Breakfast really means, Break the Fast.    Our breakfast habits are changing given time constraints and other food options.   So what are people eating for breakfast?   A recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Cereal-Makers try to get millennials back , highlighted how cereal consumption is down and especially the millennials are opting for other choices such as a granola bar.   Simple, easy to carry and fast to eat.   Cereal – many people still enjoy cereal for breakfast but it is dropping from 31% of us in 2009 to 26.8% in 2015.   What are the top 5 breakfast cereals? Cereal Market Share Maker Hon...