Good choices

Healthy spring salad recipe with fresh peas and crispy fried shallots

Nifer — Wed, 15 May 2013 17:44:04 +0000

Now’s the time to head to the farmers’ market to find just-picked fresh shelling peas. Peas thrive in the cooler weather of late spring and early summer and they’re a good source of fiber, and with vitamins A and K they can help keep your eyes and bones healthy. Keep in mind that unlike their frozen counterparts, fresh peas take a little work. You do need to shell them, after all. But it’s worth it! Especially when you build a special salad around them.

How to make a healthy smoothie: best smoothie ingredients & 10 to ditch

Nifer — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:04:46 +0000

Whether you enjoy smoothies for breakfast, a snack or even dessert, they’re a great way to increase your daily servings of fruits and vegetables. But depending on the ingredients they’re made with, smoothies can quickly turn into unhealthy calorie-bombs filled with sugar and saturated fat. And drinking too many high-calorie smoothies could counteract their health benefits and sabotage your efforts to stay—or get—slim.

Health benefits of juicing vs. smoothies

Nifer — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:17:47 +0000

Juicing and smoothies are all the rage right now. While both can boost your fruit and vegetable intake (something most Americans need to do) and are great for getting a variety of produce into your diet, one is the better choice.

Is organic food healthier than conventional food?

Nifer — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:17:23 +0000

Here’s why you can feel good about organic: USDA–certified organic means your food is produced without synthetic pesticides, bioengineering or radiation; animals are raised without antibiotics or growth hormones. But the debate about whether organic foods are healthier for you continues. And two new studies add to the controversy. (Here are 14 foods you should buy organic.)

Gluten-free? Not so fast. Watch out for this list of surprising foods that contain gluten

Nifer — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:02:37 +0000

If you have celiac-disease, gluten-sensitivity or for some other reason you’re not eating gluten—the protein found in wheat, rye and barley—you probably know to steer clear of big, obvious offenders like bread, pasta and baked goods.

Related: 4 Easy Ways to Avoid Gluten

Better than the $1 menu: Superfoods that ring in for 99 cents or less

Nifer — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:57:19 +0000

Every few months, it seems, there’s hype about the latest, hottest superfood—chia seeds and acai berries spring to mind. But LOTS of foods, many of which are stocked in nearly every grocery store in America, are “superfoods”—foods brimming with various disease-fighting nutrients, usually without providing too many calories.

Don't Miss: 7 of the Healthiest Foods You Should Be Eating (But Probably Aren’t)

11 anti-aging drinks

Nifer — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:12:13 +0000

Aging is inevitable. Sadly. And there are many variables involved in how long you live. But you can also add years to your life by making smarter food choices. Keep your mind razor-sharp and body finely honed with these 11 anti-aging drinks.

Retrain your cravings: 5 ways to learn to love healthier foods

Nifer — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 18:16:36 +0000

Trying to clean up your diet and eat healthier this year but having a hard time loving the new healthy foods you should be eating? I’m the same way: there are so many bad foods I love and so many good ones I feel like I’m forcing myself to eat.

9 “Bad” Foods You Can Feel Good About Eating

How to eat to lose weight: what a 1,500 calorie day looks like

Nifer — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:24:52 +0000

Did you know that one-third of New Year’s resolutions pertain to weight, diet and health? It’s true. Unfortunately, the majority of us are successful for no more than one week. You’re 10 times as likely to keep your healthy-eating resolutions, however, when you set an explicit goal—like, say, by following a meal plan.

Can probiotics keep you from getting sick?

Nifer — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:51:21 +0000

With cold and flu season just around the corner, our precautionary routine has shifted from sunscreen for skin protection to immune defense. There are so many immunity-boosting products out there, and the search for a natural way to enhance your germ resistance has potentially generated an almost endless list of possibilities. (Don’t be duped by these 4 immune-boosting myths busted.)

Is cooking with nonstick pans healthy or not?

Nifer — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:57:04 +0000

More nights than not, I cook dinner in a nonstick skillet. It’s easy to wash up and can lend itself to healthy cooking…but is it safe? Here’s what you should know when cooking with nonstick pans:

3 "green" habits that can make you sick

Nifer — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 15:51:05 +0000

In the past few years I’ve made some “green” swaps. I usually bring my own bag when I go grocery shopping, I choose tap water over bottled, I ditched paper towels and conventional sponges for cloth dishrags. But when Karen Asp wrote about these eco-friendly practices in EatingWell Magazine, I learned that sometimes going green isn’t all that clean. Find out some of the hidden dangers in these green swaps and, more importantly, how to do them right so that you’re being good to the environment and to your health.

How not to overdose on salt

Nifer — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:31:57 +0000

Limiting sodium is important for healthy blood pressure and overall heart health. Yet most of us consume, on average, 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day. That’s much more than the daily 2,300 mg recommended limit put out in the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines. (If that sounds like a lot to you, keep in mind it’s the equivalent of just 1 teaspoon of table salt.)

Don’t Miss: 6 Easy Ways to Cut Salt in Your Diet

How to cut 31 grams of saturated fat from your diet

Nifer — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:42:04 +0000

You might already know that you should limit your saturated fat intake to no more than 10 percent of your total daily calories. Why? Because it raises your cholesterol and is bad for your heart. (Are all saturated fats unhealthy? Find out how to tell the difference between good and bad fats here.) So, if you're eating 2,000 calories a day, that's 22 grams of saturated fat.

Are “natural” sweeteners really any healthier than sugar?

Nifer — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:29:22 +0000

People often look to me, as a registered dietitian, for my seal of approval as they douse yogurt with agave or flood their coffee with turbinado sugar because “it’s natural.” But you won’t find me giving a nutrition green light to use copious amounts of sugar, regardless of where it comes from. (How much sugar should you be eating?