Diet and Nutrition

Hungry for Change Leaves Viewers Utterly Satisfied with a Healthy Lifestyle

By Karen Sherwood for NutritiousAmerica.com

Last week nearly half a million people tuned in to see the free online premiere of a new documentary, Hungry For Change. Happily, I was one of them.

Hungry For Change challenges your perception of food, diet, wellness, sickness and happiness. This film is a must see for every person old enough to eat and conscious enough to care.

It is narrated by a team of wellness warriors, namely Kris Carr, Christiane Northrup, David Wolfe, Jason Vale, and others who gently push the film along by highlighting the urgency to change what you eat and how you live. They call for a new hunger, one for real food and self love.

The film follows the daily routine of a struggling thirty-something career woman whose lackluster routine and poor food choices fail to support her. Her routine is all too familiar as she throws away the remnants of last night’s dinner; pizza box, tub of ice cream, and liter of diet soda, only to find herself filled with self loathing, and body rejection as the new day begins. We connect with our heroine’s food regret, and self consciousness. As the film progresses we become emotionally invested in her struggle and desire for change.

The message of the film is quite clear; there is no diet, pill, surgery, or quick fix that will bring you true everlasting health. Health is so much more than fitting into your skinny jeans, it is in fact, a new lease on life. (more…)

Posted on April 5, 2024 by Nutritious_America

Medifast Diet vs. Nutrisystem Diet

Medifast and NutriSystem are two of the most popular meal delivery diets on the market today. Both provide you with pre-portioned, calorie controlled meals and snacks that take most of the guess work out of preparing a healthy diet for around the same price. So which diet is right for you? We take a look at the similarities, and a few differences, between these successful diets.

Overview

Medifast is a home meal delivery service that provides you with portion controlled, high protein meals. Named #7 on the list of the Best Commercial Diets by US News in 2024, Medifast claims dieters can lose up to 20 pounds in their first month. The success of the Medifast program has been proven in multiple clinical studies, including a Johns Hopkins study that found Medifast helps dieters lose weight quickly and safely, and helped type 2 diabetics lose twice as much weight as those following the American Diabetes Association’s dietary recommendations. Medifast also showed improvements in those with hypertension and high cholesterol.

NutriSystem is also a meal delivery service that provides meals and snacks that are calorie-controlled and pre-prepared, only requiring you to supplement in a few fresh foods. NutriSystem meals are available in both shelf-stable options and their fresh-frozen line of meals.

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Posted on April 4, 2024 by Kelly

Burger King’s New Menu Isn’t Any Healthier

Fast food giant Burger Kingis launching 10 new menu items as an attempt to gain back their place as the number two fast food burger chain after being edged out by Wendy’s last year. This is the first time since opening in 1954 that Burger King has undergone a menu expansion of this size. When you see the new items on Burger King’s menu, you might think you wandered into a McDonald’s. The new items Burger King is offering bear a striking resemblance to items that number one burger chain McDonald’s has introduced over the past few years. Burger King now offers chicken strips, caramel frappe coffees, Caesar salads and strawberry-mango smoothies.

There’s no denying that Burger King’s previous stance to cater to young men in their menu offerings has seen a struggle recently. Between a down economy and people looking for healthier options, Burger King’s focus on big beefy burgers has helped contribute to lax sales. “Consumers wanted more choices,” said Steve Wiborg, president of Burger King’s North America operations. “Not just healthy choices, but choices they could get at the competition.” The new menu items offer consumers those choices as well as some healthier options than the standard Whopper and fries. (more…)

Posted on April 4, 2024 by Descygna

Join Biggest Loser on The PALA Fitness Plan

This week starts the eagerly anticipated “Biggest Loser” makeover episode. During this two-part event, the contestants go to the White House. There they reunite with their loved ones, visit with first lady Michelle Obama and take part in the show’s first-ever White House workout.

During their visit with Mrs. Obama, the contestants learn about PALA (Presidential Active Lifestyle Award), a six-week pledge based program. The program is designed to get both adults and children more physically active and healthy. Anyone can participate in the challenge. From children to senior adults, it is geared towards helping people get on the path to a healthier lifestyle through positive changes in physical activity and eating behaviors. Anyone with strict dietary needs, such as vegetarians, vegans and diabetics. You can sign up for just yourself or you can get a form a group and sign up together.

The challenge is broken down into two age groups, one is for adults and the other is for kids and teens between the ages of 6 and 17 years.

For the adults, the first part of the challenge involves becoming physically active. To meet this challenge you need to be active 30 minutes a day, at least five days of the week, for six out of eight weeks. An alternative can be to use a pedometer and reach a daily goal of 8,500 steps. (more…)

Posted on April 3, 2024 by Kristina

School Lunches From Scratch May Soon Be a Nationwide Reality

“Since I don’t know what it is, I’d rather not put it in my body.”

Those are the words of Ryan Lonnett, a parent and an advocate with the group Real Food For Kids. His words are referring to the ingredient disodium inosinate and other unknown ingredients found in his children’s school cafeteria foods. Lonnett’s fight for real food in schools may actually be making an impact and soon, real, pronounceable, food may be served across the country.

Thiamine mononitrate, disodium inosinate, and pyridoxine hydrochloride are some of the other ingredients often found in processed school lunch foods. In Fairfax County, Viginia schools many parents want to see these ingredients wiped from the menu.

If Real Food For Kids (RFFK) succeeds in their campaign the kids will no longer be served grilled cheese from a bag, a jumbo turkey frank, or a cheese quesadilla loaded with preservative chemicals. In addition to eliminating these items, RFFK wants to see the county purchase new kitchen equipment and begin preparing some foods from scratch.
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Posted on April 3, 2024 by Lacy

5 Allergy Fighting Foods to Help You Breathe Easier this Spring

Most spring allergy sufferers rely on medication to take care of their annoying symptoms, but there are a few natural ways to prevent allergies from ruining your day. Incorporate these foods into your diet on a regular basis to build a foundation that will protect your immune system and prepare it for battle against spring pollen.

Nuts:

Nuts are high in magnesium and vitamin E, which will protect you against the wheezing and coughing that comes from allergies. Magnesium and vitamin E also boosts immunity while fighting free radicals. Try Multigrain Soy Trail Mix.

Salmon:

Salmon and other seafoods have natural anti-inflammatory properties to boost immunity. Aim for 6 ounces of fish, two times a week to get the full effect. Try these Salmon Patties.

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Posted on April 3, 2024 by Kelly

Film Producer Lisa Cortes Documents Her Journey on the Martha’s Vineyard Diet Detox

Lisa Cortes has had a fulfilling career. As a Yale graduate, respected figure in the music industry, and co-founder of Rush Management, Inc., with hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons, it was no surprise that when she tried her hand at the film industry, she succeeded.

As executive producer of the Academy Award Winning Film “Precious,” it became even more apparent that one of her strengths was identifying voices not often heard, and telling stories not often told.

But ironically enough, what she didn’t realize in the process was that she’d been ignoring her own voice for quite some time, specifically in the area of health.

“The stress of these [music and film] industries puts pounds on me and I’ve struggled with my weight for years,” writes Cortes in this month’s cover story for Essence Magazine. “I’ve seen artists go on extreme diets. It’s a roller coaster. I want to do something healthy for me.”

In her article, Cortes documents her 21-day detox experience at the Martha’s Vineyard Holistic Retreat in Massachusetts – a resort created by Dr. Roni DeLuz for total mind and body revitalization.

According to DeLuz – creator of the popular Martha’s Vineyard Diet –  the most effective way to lose weight is to cleanse the body of harmful toxins. And one of the ways to do that is by flushing the body with liquids to remove the toxins that hinder our metabolism. And theoretically, once the toxins are removed, the metabolism is sped up and the body can burn through fat more efficiently, resulting in rapid weight loss.

This is what Cortes is hoping for. (more…)

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Dana

Egg in an Avocado for a Healthy Easter Breakfast or Brunch

Some people never leave the house in the morning without coffee. Others can’t walk out the door without first catching the news. And some claim their cell phone as their one necessity item. But for me, it’s breakfast. I cannot leave my house without first figuring out what’s to eat.

I’m a huge fan of breakfast and treat it as a special part of my everyday routine. Weekdays are a bit rushed leaving me little time for elaborate items like pancakes or quiche. But weekends? That’s another story. I find few things more alluring than waking up at a leisurely hour, moseying to the kitchen and making a delicious breakfast to be eaten over coffee in bed.

Although pancakes are my all-time favorite morning item, I’m always up for trying new recipes. So when I saw this idea to crack an egg into an avocado and bake it, I knew I had to try it. (more…)

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Dana

FDA Denies Ban of BPA in Food Packaging

The Food and Drug Admisnistraion is denying The Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) request to ban BPA from the United States.

The Food and Drug Administration’s assessment is that the scientific evidence currently suggests that the very low levels of human exposure to BPA through the diet are not unsafe.

With the support of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Toxicology Program (NTP), scientists at FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) have been studying BPA. The NCTR researchers have been conducting in-depth studies of BPA since September 2024 to see if there are potential toxic effects of BPA on fetuses, infants and children.

According to a statement released from the FDA, the findings showed the level of BPA from food that could be passed from pregnant mothers to the fetus is so low that it was immeasurable. Researchers fed pregnant rodents 100 to 1,000 times more BPA than people are exposed to through food, and could not detect the active form of BPA in the fetus eight hours after the mother’s exposure. The study also showed BPA exposure to infants were lower than previously believed. In fact, 84 to 92 percent lower than previously estimated. (more…)

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Kristina

How to Cook with Arugula

Arugula is most commonly known as a salad green. But had you ever cooked with it? If not then get ready, because digging into this nutrient-rich green and showing you all the versatile ways it can be used so it can become a healthy staple in your kitchen in no time.

What is it? When I think arugula, I think leafy green with a peppery taste. And that’s true. But more accurately, it’s a cruciferous veggie that’s been dubbed a superior salad green. Arugula is in the same family as broccoli, brussels sprouts and kale. And compared to iceberg lettuce, arugula – also known as rocket or rucola –  has 70% more calcium, 50% more magnesium, 60% more beta-carotene, and 60% more Vitamin A. Now that’s one seriously nutrient-packed green.

Health benefits: Arugula is an excellent source of folate, a B Vitamin that supports the health of red blood cells and helps with energy production. A 2-cup serving contains plenty of Vitamin K and Vitamin A, and is a plant-based source of iron, making it an incredibly healthy nutrient option for vegans. (more…)

Posted on April 1, 2024 by Dana

Rachel Beller’s Plate for National Nutrition Month

This is my absolute fave breakfast solution, and something the Biggest Loser contestants all love! The Fiber Fix Yogurt Parfait quickly became one of their go-to options for a quick, easy, delicious and good-for-you breakfast.

Despite the word “cake,” the stats are anything but dessert-like: each mini cake contains only 80 calories, and a hefty 13g of fiber. The contestants call these cakes “hockey pucks” because of their appearance, but they’re surprisingly moist and tasty.

It takes one minute to warm the cake up and crumble it over Greek yogurt, add a dash of cinnamon and some fresh berries on top for an antioxidant boost and you have a guilt-free homemade parfait. (more…)

Posted on March 31, 2024 by Health Buzz