Diet and Nutrition

Chokeberries May Help Manage Weight, Blood Sugar

Have you ever heard of a chokeberry? Me neither, until I attended a nutrition research conference and learned that they are helping rats manage their weight. Intriguing, especially if they can help do that for people too. So, if you’re curious about the chokeberry, look no further.

Chokeberries, a distant relative of the cherry, grow in the U.S. But, they are inedible in raw form; hence, the name “choke,” I’m thinking. They have a very high anthocyanin content, a plant chemical that gives all berries their color. Anthocyanins are really good, even if it is hard to pronounce. In fact, laboratory studies show potential benefits of anthocyanins to combat:

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Posted on May 13, 2024 by Rebecca

Hunt’s Ketchup Drops Corn Syrup

Hunt’s Ketchup, the perpetual number two in the business behind Heinz, has found a healthy way to steal the spotlight, however long that may last. ConAgra, which makes Hunt’s Ketchup, reformulated it’s condiment to exclude high-fructose corn syrup.

While one could say that it’s the altruistic idea of making a healthier product, truth be told, it’s good old-fashioned business sense. There has been a groundswell of anti-high-fructose corn syrup activism through traditional and social media. As a result, its sales have declined in recent years.

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Posted on May 11, 2024 by Jason

Is KFC’s Double Down Calorie Count Accurate?

The newest culinary celebrity to hit the red carpet is a cute little sandwich called the Double Down, courtesy of KFC. A fast-food chicken lover’s dream and a health foodie’s nightmare, (DIR actually called it “frightening”), the Double Down is cheese, sauce, and bacon between two pieces of chicken, either fried or grilled.

The Original Recipe (read: fried) Double Down has 540 calories, 10 grams of saturated fat, 1,380 mg of sodium, and one gram of fiber. The grilled Double Down (for the health conscious, of course) is 460 calories, nine grams of saturated fat, 1,430 mg of sodium, and zero grams of fiber.

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Posted on May 10, 2024 by Rebecca

Tune In: Rocco DiSpirito on the Rachael Ray Show

Tune in this Tuesday, May 11 to the Rachael Ray Show when chef Rocco DiSpirito transforms school lunches into healthy and creative meals that will leave kids of all ages making a mad dash for the cafeteria.

When a group of middle school kids are fed up with their constant PB & J sandwiches, they turn to Rocco DiSpirito for a cooking lesson that transforms their lunchtime.

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Posted on May 10, 2024 by heather

Busting Common Food Myths

With so much information at our fingertips from the news on TV and online, it can be overwhelming to try to distinguish fact from fiction. For example, how many times have you heard or been told that sugars are bad for you? Well, the truth is that not all sugars are bad. But, depending on your source you may have heard a different opinion. Let’s get started and bust six common food myths:

Myth: Eggs cause your cholesterol to rise.

Fact: Our bodies generate and create their own cholesterol, so rarely do we need any help with getting more or less through food and diet. Saturated fat and trans fat are the bad fats that impact our body’s cholesterol levels, leading them to rise above regulated levels. Eggs are rich in vitamins and minerals that are good for you and have a relatively small amount of saturated fat that, when eaten in moderation, should not cause any increase to cholesterol levels. Go ahead and keep eggs in your meals.
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Posted on May 8, 2024 by Amy

Enjoy Delicious Mother’s Day Meals

So, it’s Mother’s Day, but you just don’t want to fight the crowds at your favorite local restaurant. If you prefer something a little more low-key on this day, there’s nothing wrong with staying home with the family, and having a quiet get-together with your loved ones over a delicious and healthy meal.

If it’s breakfast in bed you want, try our Low-Carb Waffles.

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Posted on May 7, 2024 by Jason

Food Choices Affect Your Grandchildren

We all know that eating a diet high in fat will have an adverse affect on our own health, causing weight problems, heart attacks, diabetes and a myriad of other issues. It’s even somewhat easy to see that your dietary choices can have a negative affect on the health of your children. Recent obesity research has backed this up.

But, can a mother’s diet during pregnancy even affect her grandkids? New research seems to point to this reality.  The research was presented last week at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting in Washington D.C.

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Posted on May 7, 2024 by Carmen

Chocolate Baby Formula Concerns Nutritionists

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding baby food recently. You have the Baby Food Diet, which has been linked to celebrities like Jennifer Aniston. And, now we have a controversy over baby food made, well, for actual babies.

Nutritionists and others concerned about the childhood obesity epidemic in the U.S. are crying foul over new chocolate- and vanilla-flavored baby food.

We already know that there has been research linking obese parents to the likelihood of obese children. But, do we have to make it even more of a certainty by getting babies attached to chocolate basically at birth?

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Posted on May 6, 2024 by Jason

Do Heavy Parents Forecast Obese Kids?

A study recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition points implies that having two overweight parents substantially raises a child’s risk of becoming obese. More than ever, an overweight mother seems to play a particularly important role.

The results are based on a five-year study of more than 4,000 families in the United Kingdom who took part in an annual national health survey. A study nurse measured each participant’s weight and height, and parents and children were classified as normal-weight, overweight, obese or severely obese based on their body mass index.

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Posted on May 6, 2024 by Carmen

Baby Food Diet Hot with Celebrities

Just when you thought you heard it all in diet fads, here comes the Baby Food Diet. That’s right, revisit your time as a newborn when all you ate was jars of whipped sweet potatoes, and mixed vegetable with chicken.

As is often the case with some fad diets, the Baby Food Diet is hot in Hollywood. There is talk of Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and even some of the cast of Desperate Housewives taking part in this back-to-the cradle weight loss plan.

There has been a particularly strong buzz surrounding Jennifer Aniston of late. She is still one of the few in the elite “America’s Sweetheart” club. And, even at 41, she still has the body of a twentysomething.

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Posted on May 5, 2024 by Jason

Enjoy a Healthy Cinco De Mayo

Cinco De Mayo – the 5th of May; a holiday that commemorates the victory of the Mexican militia over the French army at The Battle Of Puebla in 1862. More importantly, it is a day to celebrate Mexican food! Mexican food is my very favorite, and it’s my weakness. But tortilla chips, cheese and margaritas can really wreak havoc on your diet, leaving you with tight jeans and a caloric hangover worse than any fruity mixed drinks.

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Posted on May 4, 2024 by Carmen