I recently watched the movie, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. In this self-made documentary, Joe Cross chronicles his 60 day juice fast during which he loses 80 lbs, completely turns around his health and inspires others to do the same in the process. While most of us are not going to embark on a physician monitored juice fast, we can all experience some of the benefits of juicing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. [More]

On a daily basis, Americans consume an average of 22.2 teaspoons of sugar per person, adding an extra 355 calories to their diet. That adds up to 8,000 teaspoons annually. [More]

I love having my kids help me in the kitchen. It wasn’t always easy to get them off the couch and into the kitchen. But taking the time to teach them to cook and be independent in the kitchen is something that I believe will benefit them for the rest of their lives. [More]

Hello Readers! Many students think that the information on a food label doesn’t apply to them or is a waste of time to read. You may glance at the how many calories an item has but there is a lot of other information you need to make a good decision about buying products! Leah Kittle, a registered dietitian for the University of Tennessee Medical Center has a short clip about how to read the label and use the information. I will go through some specific parts of the label Kittle says are important to us as consumers and what to look for in a label. Step 1: Serving Size: This is important to notice because all the information that follows in the label will be based off of one serving size of that food. Step 2: Calories: Along with serving size, look at the calories. The label should show the total calories and the calories from fat. You don’t want more than 30% of the total calories to be from fat. For example, if you had 200 calories total, you would not want the calories from fat to exceed 60 calories. If you are looking for a free calorie counter try the SuperTracker from choosemyplate.gov! Step 3: Total Fat: The label further breaks down the total fat in the food into Trans fats/saturated fats and monounsaturated/polyunsaturated fats. Avoid foods with trans or saturated fats as these raise bad cholesterol but mono and polyunsaturated fats are actually good for you. The percent values down the right side of the label are called the daily percent values (%DV). A low %DV is 5% or less and a high %DV is 20% and up. Aim low in total fat, saturated fat, and trans fat. Step 4: Cholesterol and Sodium: The next part of the label is the cholesterol portion. You don’t want to consume more than 300mg of cholesterol per day so look at the label to know how much you are eating and how much you have left to still be able to consume. Along the same lines, you want to watch how much sodium you are eating. The total sodium intake is 2,300mg per day. Watch ou... [More]

After many years of trying different forms of vitamin, mineral, herbal and whole food supplements, I have come to the conclusion that less is more. I am far more cautious and conservative in regards to supplements than I used to be. [More]

Hello Readers, Do you ever have problems fitting fruits and vegetables into your daily meals? I know when I ate in the cafeteria it was hard to get all of my servings in. But now that I live off of campus I am forced to plan and buy for my own meals so I get to decide what goes into them. I have found some good ways to save money and also to help myself eat more produce from choosemyplate.gov! Give them a try and hopefully you’ll find them as useful as I did! First of all if you are buying produce from the store it is usually cheaper if it is in season and if you have coupons! But even if you are buying from the dining center or markets, buy in small and frequent amounts so that the food doesn’t go bad before you get a chance to eat it all! To eat more fruit, try these tips from choosemyplate.gov:  1.Try to add fruit to every meal: Have some berries in your cereal for breakfast, some apple slices on the side of lunch and some dried cherries on your salad at dinner.  There is always a way to get your fruit in! 2.Visible reminder: Have a fruit bowl so that you can see the fruit and have it remind you to get your servings in! 3.Canned Fruit: A lot of times canned fruit can be cheaper and easier to pull out for a meal but when buying it look at the label and make sure that it is stored in 100% fruit juice or water. Avoid those sugary syrups! 4.Juice versus Fruit: Eating whole or cut up fruit gives you added fiber that 100% juice doesn’t have!  To eat more veggies, try these tips: 1.Choose vegies rich in color: These vegetables are rich in vitamins and will make your meals look and taste more delicious! 2.Save time: Cut up vegies and pack them away for snacks! I like to dip carrots or celery in humus. 3.The dinner side: Quickly steam or broil veggies for a side dish! My favorite is steamed broccoli and carrots! 4.On the side: It is easy to go to the salad bar and put some vegies on your plate before checking out! These tips and many more ... [More]

Heart disease is probably the last thing on a college student’s mind. You may know all the factors that increase the risk of heart disease; high BMI, blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and a family history of heart disease. Maybe none of these risk factors apply to you. But according to a recent study done by Dr. Eric Larose, heart disease may still be lurking in the shadows. [More]

The Greek root of the word diet means “a way of living.” Americans have given a whole new meaning to the word by inventing a 1,000 different ways to limit what you eat in an effort to lose weight. As a nation, we are obsessed with appearance and weight loss. So much so, that we are willing to go to extremes to lose a few pounds. How extreme? [More]

Veggies are a large portion of the MyPlate servings, as they should be. Veggies have so many benefits but here are a few that really stand out. [More]

Everywhere you go you see gluten free products, gluten free symbols, gluten free menus. According to a recent Nielsen report, American’s spending on gluten free products increased 37 percent just in the last year. But is gluten intolerance on the rise or is it just another food fad? [More]