Diet and Nutrition

What Do Americans Eat? Kale, Gluten-Free, and Organics Top 2024 Food Trends

Food trends come and food trends go. One year we’re all raving about Sriracha, the next we’re falling for the cronut. For the last 30 years, Parade has surveyed those trends and other American eating habits.

This year, foods like snack bars and frozen sandwiches have risen in popularity. As more people eat on the go, convenience foods are going to see a natural rise. According to Parade‘s survey:

27 percent of main dishes made at home are frozen or ready-to-eat meals.
80 percent of our meals are prepared at home, and over half of them are made from scratch or fresh ingredients.

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Posted on October 22, 2024 by Elizabeth

9 New (Yet Very Old!) Gluten-Free Grains

Whether you’re going gluten-free and need a change of pace from quinoa and potatoes, or you’re just looking to add more nutrient-dense grains to your dinner routine, you’ve got more options than you may have thought! Here are nine new-to-you (yet very old!) options you’ve probably never heard of or tried. They are certainly worth becoming more familiar!

1. Amaranth

Aztecs ate amaranth for thousands of years–and for good reason! One cup of cooked amaranth has 9 grams of protein and 29% of your daily iron.

How to Eat It: Boil one cup grains in 6 cups water for 40 minutes, then drain off excess water. Use it in tabouli salad instead of bulgur, or with bananas and cinnamon as an alternative to oatmeal.

2. Buckwheat

Believe it or not, there is no wheat found in buckwheat. It’s actually a fruit seed originally from China. Kasha is the roasted kernel form that we eat. One cooked cup has only 155 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 5 grams of fiber to keep you feeling full.

How to Eat It: Stir-fry 100% buckwheat (soba) noodles with shrimp and veggies, or cook buckwheat groats (kasha) like rice and add lemon, olive oil, and fresh herbs. (more…)

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Katie McGrath

Easy 5-Ingredient Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip with Homemade Graham Crackers

This time of year I find any excuse I can to invite people over. Saturday afternoon football games, Friday night TGIF-ing, or just because, Autumn feels like the most inviting season of all. Halloween night, especially. Our patio always turns in to the must-be spot for family and friends. Everyone pitches in goodies for the trick-or-treaters, and we provide the turkey & black bean chili.

While a healthy dinner that fuels our party and little costume wearers, I’m always trying to find some new and exciting to serve for dessert. This year, we’re going with a crazy-kind-of-simple Pumpkin Cream Cheese Dip. Part appetizer, part dessert, wholly scrumptious, there’s nothing not to love about these seasonal creation. (more…)

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Natalie K

Win a Week of BistroMD Meals on Us! It’s Weight Loss That Actually Tastes Great!

It’s one of the best and most popular meal delivery programs around; so good that we want you to try it for free! BistroMD delivers to you ready-to-eat meals with lean proteins and satisfying sides, all portion-controlled, nutritionally balanced, and very delicious!

Win a 7-Day Meal Program from BistroMD

1. LIKE our Facebook page, and comment on THIS POST!

2. FOLLOW us on Twitter, and RETWEET THIS MESSAGE!

It’s that simple! Each action counts as an opportunity to win our drawing for the 7-Day Meal Program from BistroMD.*

What You Win

BistroMD will ship to you their 7-Day Meal Program, which includes 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 6 dinners. All of this is customizable, and you’ll choose from the more than 150 delicious entrees they offer using the member portal at MyBistroMD.com. (more…)

Posted on October 20, 2024 by Health Buzz

Breaking Bread: Drew Manning’s 4-Month Gluten-Free Diet Experiment to Bust the Hype

You can’t swing your purse or raise your hand these days without hitting something or someone that is without the gluten. The gluten-free label has been stamped on as many products as possible and created a $4.2 billion industry almost over night. So what gives? Why all the hype? That’s what Fit2Fat2Fit Drew Manning, the trainer who gained a ton of weight just to lose it, is taking on in his newest “wellness” experiment.

He’s not alone in the “how did this happen” curiosity. Jimmy Kimmel recently did a spoof on the gluten-free fad, taking cameras to the streets to ask people if they are gluten free. If they said yes, he asked them to explain what gluten was…and not a single respondent knew. Frankly, we aren’t surprised.

We’re all avoiding this stuff like the plague, but nobody is exactly sure why.

Manning’s newest journey focuses on educating the American people that gluten-free does not always equal healthy. “People look at gluten-free as weight-loss diet food, and that’s not the case,” says Manning. “It’s a disease. When people have Celiac they can’t process that protein found in wheat and grains. It’s not for everyone.” (more…)

Posted on October 17, 2024 by Katie McGrath

The 9 Best Gilmore Girls Food Indulgences, or the Gastronomic Nightmare That is the Gilmore Girls’ Diet

If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent the last 10 days or so in a Gilmore Girls-induced haze. Ever since the entire series was added to Netflix on October 1, I confess that I’ve been binge watching almost every night.

Several things have stuck out to me while re-watching the series. I’ve marveled at the quick, witty script, cringed at the awful early 2000’s fashion, and enjoyed pre-Bridesmaids Melissa McCarthy. However, the thing that’s stuck out to me the most has to be the food. It’s a running gag that the titular Gilmore Girls eat like crap and somehow manage to still look amazing. To celebrate (and condemn) the gastronomic nightmare that is the Gilmore Girls diet, here’s a countdown of some of their top indulgences.

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Posted on October 16, 2024 by Elizabeth

Ed Sheeran’s Vodka Diet Helps Him Shed 35 Pounds in 3 Months

While one star this week cited giving up vodka for his impressive weight loss (see Zach Galifianakis’ before and after), Ed Sheeran credits the Russian booze for helping him shed 35 pounds.

The English singer-songwriter said, “I have dropped like 35 pounds in three months just from not drinking beer. I have replaced it with vodka.”

We’re not sure how that would work exactly, and the comment even has our Mary Hartley, RD scratching her head.

“I just doubt that he replaced beer calories with an equal number vodka,” she told us. “A six pack is replaced with one pint of vodka. Do you think he drank a pint (16-ounces) of vodka a day?”

Well, just looking at him, we’re going take a stab that, no, Sheeran wasn’t downing a pint of vodka a day. What does a beer to vodka comparison really look like?

In a 12-ounce bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale (a bloody right English beer) there are 138 calories. The same 12-ounces of 80 proof vodka has 770 calories!

If he did make a swap from beer to vodka, we’re going to guess his consumption went down significantly. But as Sheeran and Hartley both pointed out — the bottle wasn’t the only thing helping him lose weight. (more…)

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Health Buzz

The Brown Fat Takeaway TIME Magazine Missed

Full confession: I love to read about brown fat, a relatively newly discovered form of fat that burns calories directly. Brown fat might be the key to weight loss, writes Alice Park, who covers breaking health news for TIME magazine. Last week, she published, Why Brown Fat May Be the Key to Weight Loss. Kudos to TIME for covering valuable research (when others did not.) But there’s a lot more to add. First, some words about brown fat.

The body makes two kinds of fat: white fat, familiar to all, the storage form of energy, and brown fat that is not stored but burned directly as fuel. When triggered by exposure to the cold, brown fat generates heat (white fat just sits there). Hibernating animals produce brown fat to stay warm during the winter. Newborn babies have lots of brown fat, their own little furnaces, to protect against the cold. We used to think that adults could not make brown fat, but now we know everyone can turn white fat into brown when there is need. (more…)

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Natalie K

WHOA! Zach Galifianakis Gets Sober, Loses Weight, and Looks Better Than Ever

When you work in Hollywood, having your weight scrutinized by the tabloids is a given. Men are typically under less pressure. And comedians? It’s almost seen as a bonus if they’re at least slightly overweight.

5 Overweight Entertainers Who Died Too Soon

So when funny man Zach Galifianakis stepped out in public for the first time in many months looking more like his blue-eyed Hangover co-star Bradley Cooper and less like, well, Zach Galifianakis, many were shocked.

Now many are wondering, how did he do it? In typical Zach Galifianakis fashion, his explanation has an element of humor.

“I stopped drinking and I just kind of put the weight off…I was having a lot of vodka with sausage…delicious but bad for you.” (more…)

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Cat Poland

Jennifer Lawrence Bashes Gwyneth’s Gluten-Free Eating Disorder; Ed Sheeran’s Vodka Diet

When Celebrity Diets are No More Than an Eating Disorder

Leave it to Jennifer Lawrence to keep it almost too real. This time, the Hunger Games and X-Men actress is making headlines for sharing her not-so-flattering opinion of Gwyneth Paltrow’s gluten-free diet.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lawrence called the Gwyneth’s diet choice “the cool new eating disorder,” describing it as “I just don’t eat carbs.”

Those are pretty harsh words for a diet that’s purportedly followed for medical reasons.

“It doesn’t follow that gluten-free dieters are then eating disordered. Many people have aberrant eating patterns but don’t meet the diagnostic criteria for an eating disorder,” explained our resident nutrition expert, Mary Hartley, RD.

In her new book, It’s All Good, Paltrow wrote, “Every single nutritionist, doctor and health-conscious person I have ever come across…seems to concur that (gluten) is tough on the system and many of us are at best intolerant of it and at worst allergic to it.”

While gluten intolerance may be a real medical issue for Paltrow and her family, Lawrence wasn’t entirely in the wrong for labeling gluten-free eating as the latest “it” starvation diet. (more…)

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Elizabeth

Cherry Vanilla Chia Protein Balls are a Post-Workout Blast from the Past

You know that craving you get for a Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper? It’s a pretty killer flavor combo. While we couldn’t carbonate these protein balls, we were able to capture that taste we all love. Only we did it with real cherries and real vanilla and zero caramel coloring. We didn’t even use high fructose corn syrup or Red #40.

Nope, we’ve got six very natural, very wholesome ingredients literally rolled in to one ball of tasty, craveable goodness. Pop one, pop two, it’s a taste that will take you back to your childhood while satisfying your very grownup hunger before or after you hit the gym. (more…)

Posted on October 13, 2024 by Natalie K

Diet and Nutrition

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