In 2018, I had multiple nutrition counseling clients come to me, seeking refuge after trying extreme fad diets. The side effects they experienced run the gamut, but they were all negative -- severe GI distress, food preoccupation, unnecessary guilt, dramatic weight loss followed by more weight gain than lost, feelings of failure and more.
It’s that time of year: Folks are renewing fitness memberships and resolving to move more in 2019. And that’s a wonderful thing because we all know exercise can help improve our health. In fact, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee published brand-new, science-based guidelinesand research-backed reasons (in their executive summary) why regular exercise can significantly enhance our lives.
Nutrition studies are published constantly. Whether you’re a health pro or a health-minded consumer (or both!), sometimes it’s hard to navigate the world of nutrition research. One of our industry partners, The Peanut Institute (TPI) just launched a brand-new research data-base to help clear up the confusion when it comes to peanut nutrition research.
I’m a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) who is not an advocate for extreme diets that cut out whole food groups. But there are two eating patterns I can get behind: Flexitarian and Mediterranean. I view them as eating patterns because they are relatively sustainable and health-promoting. Both the Mediterranean and Flexitarian diets include all food groups and provide more variety than fad diets.
With the latest research suggesting early peanut introduction, we’ve rounded up eight ways on how to feed peanut butter to baby.
Turning six months was a big milestone for our sweet baby boy. He started crawling forward on his half birthday, cut two teeth, began pulling himself to standing and started solid foods. He’s still our happy go lucky baby and it’s been fun to watch him discover new things, especially as we begin our baby led weaning journey.
One-third of consumers worldwide prefer to buy food from sustainable brands.
That’s according to a recent surveyof 20,000 adults from five countries, including the U.S, which was conducted by Unilever – a transnational consumer goods company.
After attending Menus of Change(MOC), an annual summit hosted by the Culinary Institute of America and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, I learned how the food service industry is making moves to listen to consumers’ concerns. The good news is that chefs and other food service leaders are working to improve environmental health – but there is still great need for change in one specific area: water sustainability.
Take a moment to ask yourself: What motivates me to eat well?
If your key motivators behind eating a healthy diet are weight control and/or weight loss, you are not alone. As a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN), I notice the driving force behind many people’s desire to develop a healthier diet is typically weight-focused.
But there are often forgotten physical and mental health benefits of eating a balanced, varied and nutrient-dense diet– that have nothing to do with your body size:
All foods can fit into a healthy eating plan – to an extent. Sometimes, certain conditions make it medically necessary to avoid specific foods or ingredients, and to pay more attention to what you eat.
One in three U.S. consumers are following a specific diet on their quest for better health.
That’s according to the 2018 International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation survey of more than 1,000 American ages 18-80[1]. The survey also showed people between ages 18 and 34 are more likely to diet, and the number of people dieting has more than doubled from the same survey last year.
The survey also highlighted participating consumers’ top nutrition behaviors and concerns, which include carb avoidance, fatigue and weight. As a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN) I constantly hear from clients, friends and family members that they’re trying to avoid XYZ to lose weight and/or be healthy. That’s why I feel a responsibility to help well-intentioned consumers understand why extreme diets are not a solution to their health concerns.
Here are some reasons why following restrictive diets will hurt your health more than help it.