Diet and Nutrition

Savannah Smiles No Healthier Than Other Girl Scout Cookies

It’s that time of year again! Girl Scout Cookie season is upon us. Among the classic favorites like Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs, the girls will be offering a brand new cookie this year as part of the organization’s 100th anniversary.

A new lemon cookie called Savannah Smiles will be sold. The name is a nod to the hometown of the Girl Scout’s founder Juliette Gordon Low. The new cookie is designed to look like a smile shape. It is a hard cookie covered in powered sugar with a lemon flavor.

Taste testers haven’t been overly impressed by the Savannah Smiles, mentioning that the flavor lacks the uniqueness that many come to expect from a Girl Scout Cookie. Many Girl Scout flavors are attempted to be replicated and offered on the shelf all year round, but few succeed at really edging out the original. However, the review of the Smiles seem to indicate that many lemon cookie alternatives offer more flavor than the new Girl Scout version. (more…)

Posted on January 10, 2024 by Lacy

Voicing Concerns Made Dining Safer for One Gluten-Free College Student

By Shelby Kaho

Choosing the right college can be tough, especially with each college offering different academics, athletics, people, and so many other things to take into consideration. For me, I also had one other very big thing to take into consideration: my gluten free diet. Could the dining hall accommodate my needs?

I decided on a small liberal arts school about an hour and a half away from home. I loved the atmosphere and how comfortable I felt there. Since it was a small campus where you could really get to know everyone, I had confidence that I could work out a plan with the dining hall to make sure my food was safe. The first day I arrived on campus, I sent an email to the dining director of operations explaining my situation and concerns about getting safe gluten-free meals. I also talked to the sous chef and asked what was safe. While they promised me gluten-free meals when I visited the campus before deciding to attend, their understanding of what gluten free really means was inaccurate. They were both very helpful and willing to do whatever I needed, which gave me hope for being able to get safe, reliable meals. (more…)

Posted on January 10, 2024 by GuestBlogger

New Chick-Fil-A Grilled Nuggets Kid’s Meal Boasts 60 Percent Fewer Calories

We’ve all been there – the kids are in the backseat, everyone is hungry, and you’ve got to be at a soccer game in twenty minutes. You have no choice; you’ll have to stop at a fast food restaurant and pick up dinner. Your fast food options historically have left much to be desired, but one company has listened to consumers and is working to change that.

Today, Chick-Fil-A unveiled a revamped kid’s meal. Focused on their newest entree, grilled chicken nuggets, this kid’s meal clocks in with fewer calories and lower sodium levels. This new kid’s meal is predicted to be one of the most nutritious fast food kid’s meals in the country. Chick-Fil-A is already known for having some of the healthier food choices at a fast food restauran, but they are by no means a saintly choice, boasting some of the worst choices as well.

Compared to a typical hamburger fast food meal, the four count grilled nugget meal (with a fruit cup and a low fat milk) contains 60% less calories and an estimated 85% less fat. In addition to the fruit cup side offering, Chick-Fil-A is adding Buddy Fruits Pure Blended Fruit To Go Applesauce into the options.

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Posted on January 9, 2024 by Carmen

Vegucated Documentary Now Available on DVD

If you’re curious about a vegan diet, but don’t know where to start, Vegucated is a good place to start. Directed by vegan educator and filmmaker Marisa Miller Wolfson, the documentary follows three individuals as the go from serious meat-eaters to complete vegans. The movie is funny at some moments, while eye-opening and dark at other moments.

The film explores not only these individual’s social and emotional journeys as they try out a vegan diet by cutting animal products out of their lives, but also educates the viewers about the realities of the industrial meat industry and shows viewers some of the first steps to becoming vegans themselves. “My hope is that people will watch this and say, veganism is not only not crazy, but it’s also a common sense solution to some of the world’s most serious environmental problems,” Wolfson told DietsInReview at a NYC screening in October. Watch our full interview below.

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Posted on January 9, 2024 by Margaret

LG SmartFridge Equipped to Help Manage Your Diet

What will they think of next? Apparently a refrigerator that will help you diet.

At the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, LG introduced a fridge like no other. LG, one of the largest appliance companies in the world, is recognized for its innovative technologies. Among the newest additions to its Smart ThinQ appliance line is the refrigerator that contains a health manager feature. The health manager, built in to the refrigerator, claims to help the user maintain their diet. It also sends recipes to a Smart Oven and alert the user when particular groceries need to be restocked. All of this can be managed from an iPhone app.

The health manager is customizable and can set individual family member profiles to cater to each of the unique dietary needs in the home. The manager can also be controlled through voice recognition. (more…)

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Lacy

DietGuru Is a New Online Customized Diet Plan

John Spencer Ellis

Another player has entered the field of online weight-loss plans. Created by Dr. John Spencer Ellis, DietGuru.com is a diet program that’s advertising customized diet and meal plans for as little as 33 cents per day, which uses a system that is designed to help you reach your goals using a great deal of your input. This system aims to educate the user not only about eating the right number of calories, but also about getting the right balance of macro-nutrients. The site also provides tools to help you track your food choices, and will suggest meals and snacks that will correct any daily vitamin or nutrients deficiencies for the day.

Dr. Ellis is a fitness and wellness expert who holds a doctorate in education. He has had a life-long passion for fitness, and is the CEO of the National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association, the International Triathlon Coaching Association and the Spencer Institute for Life Coaching. He has also created a number of fitness programs, most notably Adventure Boot Camp.

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Posted on January 9, 2024 by Margaret

Meet Biggest Loser’s New Nutrition Expert, Rachel Beller

There’s a new face on the Biggest Loser ranch, but not one you’re likely to see very often. While her handiwork is witnessed throughout the season, we rarely get to see her teaching the nutritional skills the contestants rely on. Meet Rachel Beller, MS, RD, the new nutrition expert for Biggest Loser. She’s filling a position vacated by Cheryl Forberg, RD at the end of season 12, the co-creator of the current Biggest Loser diet.

“If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” she told us, saying there aren’t any plans to change the Biggest Loser diet. It’s certainly not in need of change, since the plan, based on the program outlined in 6 Weeks to a Healthier You written by Forberg, was recognized as the best diet for weight loss and diabetes by US News and World Reports last week. “We at Biggest Loser are so pleased to receive top ratings from so many of the world’s leading nutrition experts who served as judges,” Michael Dansinger, MD, the Biggest Loser Nutrition Doctor and co-author of the plan, told us. “There are many great eating strategies for maintaining or regaining great health and we are proud to be among the very top of a very important list.”

So far Beller calls her new job “a lot of fun and very hands-on.” She has an impressive background in nutrition, coming to the ranch from her own Beller Nutritional Institute, where she translates clinical research into real-world results. Dr. Dansinger, her new colleague, had this to say about Beller: “Rachel is a nationally recognized nutritional authority who knows how to motivate people to be the best they can be. She knows that good nutrition is the best medicine and has a special way about her that helps people gain clarity and perspective about the importance of healthy eating.” (more…)

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Natalie K

5 Things That are Wrong With Your Diet

Sometimes, good intentions go horribly wrong. How often does that happen with food and fitness goals? You aim to do the right thing but you don’t quite get it. If only the rules would stop changing! Here are a five diet errors I commonly see. Don’t let them happen to you.

You Eliminate Entire Food Groups

We all need a balanced diet to get a full complement of nutrients. The elimination of an entire food group – be it milk, meat, starchy grains, or whatever – calls for fancy diet maneuvers to make up for missing nutrients. In nutrition school, they teach us that eliminating entire food groups places people at risk for malnutrition.

You Neglect Healthy Fats

The focus is no longer on how low can you go with your fat intake. Those old, low-fat diets were often high in sugar and did not deliver health benefits as well as diets rich in healthy fats. The Mediterranean Diet, featuring nuts and seeds, olive oil and fatty fish, is the way to go. Just remember to eat healthy fats within your calorie budget.

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Posted on January 9, 2024 by Natalie K

Super Foods of 2024 Include Adzuki Beans, Black Garlic, and Hemp Seed

By Alison Lewis

I am so excited to write this article about a few of the top super foods for 2024. If you’re asking yourself, “What exactly are Super Foods?”, let me explain. Super foods are those with high nutrients and antioxidants with proven health benefits. When I asked Carolyn O’ Neil, dietitian and co-author of The Dish on Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous, about her take on health trends this year, she said, “The worlds of nutrition and cuisine continue to collide in 2024. And that’s a good thing for diners who want great tasting, healthy food choices including more interesting vegetable side dishes and use of flavorful spices instead of relying on salt and fat.”

Even this morning on Today Show nutritionist Joy Bauer was sharing her picks for this year’s super foods, which matched many of our choices. Joy’s list included seeds, and we mention hemp and chia, and she also included pumpkin seeds. She named Brussels sprouts as the “food of the year,” and said mini desserts and protein powders will also be quite popular.

Below are some of our picks for the top 10 super foods of 2024.

Also Read:

10 Sensational Spring Super Foods

No Bake Cookie Chia Bar Recipe

The Best Diet Tips You’ve Never Heard

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Health Buzz

Tennis Star Venus Williams Starts Raw Vegan Diet

Venus Williams, the seven time Grand Slam winner known for her colorful appearance both on and off the tennis courts, has decided to go vegan. Specifically, she has begun a raw foods vegan diet in a quest to manage her recent diagnosis of Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease which has no cure in which the body attacks itself.

Williams has taken up her new dietary regimen to try to get a handle on her disease. She hopes that by swearing off of all animal products she can manage the symptoms of her disease, which include dry mouth, joint pain and often crushing fatigue. Sjogren’s presents in a similar fashion to fibromyalgia, and studies have shown that those who suffer from fibromyalgia have found some relief by choosing a vegan diet. In some cases, people who suffer from Sjogren’s have experienced kidney disease.

Venus Williams was diagnosed with Sjogren’s a month before the U.S. Open began. She attempted to compete, although she was forced to pull out just before her second match. She’s visited multiple doctors to try to determine why she’s suffered from so much pain and a lack of energy over the years, reporting that at times, it’s been difficult to even lift her tennis racket.

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Posted on January 9, 2024 by Carmen

When Bad Choices Happen to Good People

Maruchy Lachance is president of Running Ninja!, a lifestyle brand for runners by runners. Running Ninja! offers a wide variety of apparel and gifts for runners to keep you happy and inspired while you’re on the run.

You would be proud to hear that I am still living up to my New Year’s resolution to run every single day in 2024. You would then be surprised to hear how on the sixth day I drove to a popular fast good joint where I ordered from the super size menu.

Without any sense of irony or guilt I ate the entire thing. What followed was a terrible food hangover and not 10 minutes later I felt sluggish and bloated then came the “indulger’s remorse” – those feelings of regret. I felt as if I could never eat again, but three hours later I was ready to eat a small country. Thankfully I opted for a big salad with all kinds of veggies and a Thai chicken pizza on honey wheat crust. When I finished eating I felt satisfied and energetic – nothing like my lunch experience left me feeling. (more…)

Posted on January 8, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Diet and Nutrition

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