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I’m a dog lover and I’ve learned a lot about eating from observing my dogs. Bella, a 10-year old shepherd-collie mix, eats like an intuitive eater, not like a dog. Her good eating habits include: Eating slowly Chewing every bite before swallowing Eating to hunger and leaving food in her bowl when full Drinking plentyContinue reading “Food coma? What I’ve learned about eating from my dogs.”

On a recent trip to Ireland I was browsing in a gift shop when my friend and fellow dietitian said, “check out the diet book section.” Sure enough, just like in the U.S., diet books are big sellers. A quote attributed to Andy Ronney is one of my favorites, “The biggest seller is cookbooks andContinue reading “Diet Books…They are Everywhere!”

Move over Ancel Keys, there is a new seven countries study that could have a global impact on the way we eat when we eat out. Unilever Food Solutions, the food service arm of Unilever, today released the “World Menu Report.” They randomly selected 3500 people (500 from each country) who eat out at leastContinue reading “A New Seven Countries Study”

ConsumerLab.com posted survey results about popular supplements. While not a “scientific” study in that the respondents were self-selecting (that always introduces bias into a study) it did show some interesting trends about supplement use. The five most popular supplements were fish oil, multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium and CoQ10. The first four didn’t surprise me givenContinue reading “How do you choose your vitamin/mineral supplements?”

On a recent trip to Austin my friend introduced us to her latest culinary obsession, “the nasty green drink.” She had recently had an infection and took a strong course of antibiotics and said her body was crying out for a large dose of healthy fruit and veggies. Since it is hard to eat aContinue reading “Nasty Green Drink”

People always ask me what is the “best” food to eat or supplement to take for healthy aging. Despite the hype surrounding the latest and greatest magical food or pill (acai, pomegranate juice, glucoasamine, etc.) the better question might be what is the best dietary pattern for long life? A recent research paper published inContinue reading “No Magic Foods but Maybe a Magic Diet for Longevity”

The Institute of Medicine Report was published yesterday and I watched the national news outlets do the report a disservice–those darn sound bites just can’t capture the complexity of the report. (The complete report can be found on the IOM website http://www.iom.edu/). The report concluded that there is not enough evidence to increase the recommendedContinue reading “Calcium and Vitamin D are still important!”

I was excited to see that one of Mintel’s 2011 “megatrends” is recognition of the demographic shifts and the aging workforce. http://www.foodnavigator.com/Financial-Industry/Demographic-shifts-to-determine-food-trends-in-2011-Mintel Today’s food products are geared toward the youth (think energy drinks) but Mintel predicts that more products will be targeting “vitality and health” for those of us who are older. And why not,Continue reading “Food Trends Recognizing Aging”

Until this weekend I had only enjoyed pomegranates in a pomegranate martini. That changed when my sister brought me a bag full of pomegranates from our neighbor’s pomegranate tree. I didn’t even know that this fruit grew in Georgia! I dug out The Essential Eating Well Cookbook (350 recipes from that great magazine, EatingWell) toContinue reading “Joys of Pomegranates”

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and I just reached survivor status this month by being cancer-free for 5 years. The American Cancer Society estimates that there are 11 million cancer survivors and by the year 2020 there will be 20 million of us. Every cancer survivor celebrates beating cancer but also worries about itContinue reading “Cancer Survivors and Lifestyle Changes”