The threat out there against us is very real: a tiny speck of a incomplete bit of genetic material is taking down hundreds of thousands of people, wreaking havoc on mankind, on the economy, on life as we know it ... on 'normal', and there is seemingly little we can do to combat this. Except there actually is. With very little effort you can help give yourself and your family a bit of armor against this virus. How? By wisely choosing foods that boost your immune response,

We are at a very interesting and confounding point in our human evolution: Never before have edible items been so readily available. At the same time, never before have diet-related diseases been the number cause of death. We have access - easy, ready access- to food, and yet we struggle so much with making wise food choices. Why can’t we help ourselves do better? Make smarter choices, take better care of our nourishment, and reduce our path toward disease. (I know that

A study released recently and resulting slew of articles came out questioning the influence of eating breakfast on weight gain/loss. Now, any of us grew up shoveling in bowl after bowl of spackle-like gruel with our parents incessantly reminding us of those 'starving children in Aftica’ and how much they would appreciate our bowl of goo. We were reminded repeatedly about the importance of ‘breaking our hours long fast.' We were told that without breakfast our brains would

You know what I am talking about. It’s been a long long day, you forgot to finish your bottle of water at work, you forgot to bring your lunch so had to buy something from the Caf, you had a long afternoon meeting about something completely non-important and it ran right up until the end of the work day so you didn’t get to clear out your inbox before leaving, you get home, and you - sigh - still have to cook dinner. Or. Your kids normally buy school lunch but you like to

I have to say, I find one of the greatest insults to our attempts at proper childhood nutrition (both as parents, as someone who attempts to guide others on a path for proper nutrition) is the Child Menu at restaurants. Who are you, restaurant X, to tell me that my child only likes and so should choose from chicken nuggets, pizza or a burger? Who are you to tell me that my child wants to drink juice or soda? Who are you to undermine my attempts to get my child to enjoy the

Eating is complicated; it’s hard to know what you should or should not put in your -and your family’s collective mouths. Rules and suggestions change, oftentimes flip-flopping from year to year. The rules for eating we grew up with are not the same suggestions we see today. Partly, this is due to the amazing developments scientists have made in the fairly new realm of dietetics (the science of nutrition), as well as leaps and bounds in the knowledge about human development.

We’re in the middle of an epidemic. You’ve heard it before, and I think you’ll hear it many more times: our kids are fat. Not just heavy, but obese. I’m not going to throw more statistics at you. They are out there, easy to find; google it if you’re interested. Let’s look instead at the main underlying causes: Kids are not moving as much; kids are not eating well; and kids are not spending quality time eating meals with their families, learning appropriate food-related

At our house, broccoli is king. And brussels sprouts actually elicit a cheer. We also love (and eat) peppers, kale, cauliflower, all sorts of veggie-based dishes, and think bread only comes in brown. This is no small feat considering I have three boys 12 and under in the house. Eating and getting your kid to eat can be one of the most frustrating parts of being a parent. Why? Because you have to feed your kid at least three times per day, and you want him/her to eat at

A heart healthy diet does not mean weight loss plan. Not always. I’m not going to tell you to go on a diet. Promise. The word 'diet' here refers to your regular intake of food, and NOT/NOT a plan to lose weight. Perhaps your regular eating plan should be a plan to lose weight; perhaps your regular eating plan is an every-day way of eating. You know best what category you fall into. Your diet should include all food groups; there are no 'bad' foods, there are only inappr

What goes in must come out Admit it: you’ve taken a gander at what ends up in the bowl when you are assisting your kid(s) with clean up after going to the bathroom. It’s a parents’ job, right, to know what’s going in and (much to our chagrin, likely) what’s coming out. Color, shape, amount. It’s all good info. The thing is, though, that a lot of our kids aren’t eating enough fiber – yes, the F-word – so what’s coming out isn’t looking quite as quality as it should. So w

Great news! In the next three years, the very foods that Americans love – the stuff of long, unpronounceable ingredient lists – are going to be a bit less toxic! You know, rereading that sentence actually doesn’t accurately describe that REALLY is good news. You don’t know what I am talking about? Perhaps you aren’t a nutrition-geek like me, so you haven’t heard: the FDA ruled that trans-fats are a no-no and must be removed from foods within the next three years. Trans-

Did you know that Ma nature has color-coded nutrition for you? Wasn’t that nice of her? She wants to help you and your family to eat as healthfully as possible, and wants it to be as easy as … well, as easy as knowing your colors. If you can get away from FD&C colors, you begin to realize that there is something beautiful about the color combinations you can find in the foods that have not been processed or come from a can. Veggies from a can are not always that attractive