The Diet Dish

Thank You Health Business Blog

2008-05-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Thank you David Williams of Health Business Blog for hosting Grand Rounds 4:34 this week. He included my post about the difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist. Grand Rounds is a compilation of medical blogs from all over the internet. Interesting stuff to read. Check it out!

Farm Bill

2008-05-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

The House and Senate finally reached agreement this week on the almost $300 billion five-year farm bill last week. Word is that President Bush is going to veto the bill, but work is already being done to override the veto. Some of the people who will benefit are the millions of low-income Americans who are hungry and don't have healthy food due to rising food prices. Here are some...

Blackberries

2008-05-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

I thought I remembered all of the black foods in my post yesterday on the black food trend, but I forgot one very important black food! BLACKBERRIES! Blackberries are really tart and quite large compared to most of the other berries. I like to mix them with raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries. They complement the other berries nicely. Blackberries are really high in antioxidants and...

Black is the New...Black

2008-05-09T04:28:00.000-07:00

You have heard about eating a wide variety of colors on your plate, but have you ever thought about eating black foods? Can you even think of any black foods? Like other deeply colored foods, black foods can be very high in antioxidants and vitamins and minerals, depending on the food. The most nutritious and popular of the black foods I can think of are black beans. You know I love beans, so...

Nutritionist vs Dietitian

2008-05-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a nutritionist and a dietitian? To put it simply, a nutritionist has no concrete definition, while a dietitian has credentials to go with the term. Any person working in a health food store or otherwise can call themselves a nutritionist. A Registered Dietitian (RD) is a credential just like a Registered Nurse (RN) or Medical Doctor (MD). ...

Slow Down

2008-05-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

I am busy. Period. Now that I have a child, I have learned why people say that you blink and life is passes by at warp speed. Basil is still only 10 months old, but life has definitely taken on a new speed--fast! In order to survive, efficiency is necessary. Do you find that as your life continues to get busier everything moves faster, including how fast you eat? We are speeding through...

Too Much Information

2008-04-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

You may have heard that New York City is requiring more than 2,000 chain restaurants to post the caloric content of foods. The regulation was supposed to take effect yesterday, but a judge has delayed the enforcement after the New York Restaurant Association protested. The only restaurants required to post calorie counts are chain restaurants with at least 15 outlets nationwide. While the...

Thank You Doc Gurley

2008-04-29T04:30:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Doc Gurley for hosting Grand Rounds "Smack Down" this week and including my TV Turnoff Post. I have to say it is the most creatively themed Grand Rounds I have seen yet. He managed to make a story revolving around wrestling for all of our medical blog posts. Entertaining and informative. Check it out!

Eat a Banana for a Boy

2008-04-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

You know I will look for any excuse to post a picture of my beautiful boy, Basil (10 months tomorrow). So when I saw this story on how the diet of a mother may affect the gender of her baby, I perked up with interest. The study was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The researchers found a few interesting correlations between a mother's diet and whether she has a boy or girl....

Turn It Off

2008-04-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

We are mid-week through "TV Turnoff Week," a week devoted to turning off the television and focusing on other activities instead of zoning out in sedentary fashion in front of the boob tube. The Center for Screen-Time Awareness started TV Turnoff Week, and their mission is to provide information so people can live healthier lives in functional families in vibrant communities by taking control of...

Do You Eat TOO Healthy?

2008-04-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

Are you a health food junkie? Do you refuse to eat anything that isn't totally healthy? Do you shun sugar and crave carrots? Or does this describe someone you know? One doctor thinks eating too healthy can actually cross the line and he has named the disorder, orthorexia. Translated, it means "fixation on righteous eating." People with orthorexia are at risk of a more serious eating...

Taste-y Tidbits Part 2

2008-04-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

I started talking in my last blog post, Taste-y Tidbits about what goes in to tasting food. I think this is a fascinating topic, especially when you think about how our tastes develop. Would you believe that you start tasting food when you are still in the womb? The amniotic fluid of Mom carries the flavors of the foods she is eating. And guess what flavor we prefer? Sweet! Even before we...

Thank You Women's Health News

2008-04-16T07:09:00.001-07:00

Thank you to Rachel of Women's Health News for posting my blog post on Vitamin D in Grand Rounds 4.30 this week. Grand Rounds is a compilation of medical blog postings. Check it out!

Taste-y Tidbits

2008-04-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a cold and eating wasn't any fun because you couldn't taste your food? Why is that? Because our sense of smell is connected to how we taste foods. We breathe in as we put food into our mouths, and that is the start of tasting the food. We generally have 5 flavors that we taste: SweetSaltySourBitterSavory (also known as umami)Try this little experiment. Take an orange and...

Pot Luck

2008-04-14T10:12:00.001-07:00

Do you go to Potluck parties? I went to one last night and had a fabulous time! Some people hate pot luck's because they don't know who made what and what is in anything they are eating. I love the mystery and excitement of not knowing if I will love or hate what I am about to eat. Mmmm....that looks good! We eat food based on sight. If it looks good, we eat it! We also tend to eat food...

Philly Schools Cut Weight

2008-04-10T06:19:00.000-07:00

I read this story about 5 Philadelphia elementary schools who made some positive nutrition changes in the Washington Post the other day. I was so impressed with the results that I thought I would write about it and help to spread the word. These schools made simple changes: Replaced soda with fruit juice, water, and milk Handed out raffle tickets for wise food choices (and won bikes and jump...

More D-Tails on Vitamin D

2008-04-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of interest and more questions about the Vitamin D post from yesterday. Hopefully the following info will answer your questions. You can find out if you are deficient in Vitamin D by getting a blood test. Your doctor can order a 25(OH) D blood test. If your level is research on Vitamin D and Autism. Sun facts: It takes 6 times as long for dark skin to make the same amount of...

"D" Deficient?

2008-04-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

Vitamin D is the new "hot" vitamin that everyone is talking about. We have known for a long time that Vitamin D is necessary to build bones because it helps the body absorb calcium. A deficiency of Vitamin D is known as rickets, or softening of the bone. New research shows that Vitamin D may have a very important role in the prevention of numerous diseases such as: Cardiovascular...

Kids Love Flavored Milk

2008-04-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

Milk does a body good. I grew up in Wisconsin and milk was a staple at every meal. I still love milk, but I confess I don't drink as much as I should. I get my calcium and protein from cheese and yogurt in addition to milk to get my three servings of dairy per day. An interesting study came out in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association on the benefits of milk...

Too Much Fiber?

2008-04-01T05:46:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought about whether you are eating too MUCH fiber? Most people probably don't have this problem, but it could be a problem if you are eating some of the very tasty new high fiber products on the market. One of my clients asked me this the other day, following a discussion we had on how yummy the new Fiber One granola bars are. These Fiber One bars a tasty 140 calories with 9...

Does Our Water Need Enhancing?

2008-03-28T08:08:00.000-07:00

What ever happened to grabbing a glass at home and filing it up with water from the tap? This is so 1970's....now we have bottled water and "enhanced waters." To read all you want to know about the difference between tap and bottled water and how it is regulated, check out a previous post, Water, Water, Everywhere. What is enhanced water? It means that it is not your mother's water...it has...

Grocery Deals

2008-03-27T07:12:00.000-07:00

After reading the blog post on What's Gobbling Your Grocery Bill, a reader turned me on to a website that I wanted to share with you. It is a live nationwide, free service that allows you to go online, do your grocery pre shopping based on advertised local grocery flyer specials, look at nutritional information, create your shopping list and then head out to your selected store with list in...

What's Gobbling Your Grocery Bill?

2008-03-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but it seems like all of my money these days goes to Publix, my grocery store of choice here in Florida. I also love to shop at Whole Foods, but their nickname is "Whole Foods, Whole Paycheck." I can never get out of that place spending less than $50, even if I intend on going in for one or two things! Groceries gobble up the largest part of the typical American...

Fertility Diet: For MEN

2008-03-24T06:58:00.000-07:00

All of you women out there know how important it is to eat a healthy diet while trying to become pregnant (and of course once you are pregnant, too!). But did you know that the diet and other lifestyle choices of your man can also affect fertility and potentially the health of your baby? And of course, writing about babies allows me to post a picture of my little boy, Basil. He is nine months...

Easter Eggs

2008-03-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

With Easter Sunday right around the corner, I wanted to devote another post to eggs. I wrote The Incredible Edible Egg post just over a month ago, so please visit that post to learn about all of the amazing positive nutritional properties of eggs. Which came first...the chicken or the egg? We may never know! Eggs can be traced back to 3200 B.C. in India. Today China is the world's largest...