by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN on May 8, 2012

Back when Hippocrates counseled his followers to let food be their medicine, he wasn’t really advising an alternative course; he was stating the obvious. Back then, dietary cures were about all that doctors had to offer. In today’s there’s-a-pill-for-that medical culture, of course, Hippocrates’ advice takes on a different tone. And although it’s not really how he originally meant it, it’s still pretty good advice–especially when most of today’s chronic illnesses are caused by dietary excesses and indiscretions.
Regular readers know that I always advise getting your nutrition from foods, not supplements. Case in point: a recent study finding that, while vitamin E-rich foods offer lots of benefits, vitamin E supplements are largely useless. On the What’s Cooking blog this week, I’ve got the top foods for vitamin E, along with some delicious ways to enjoy them. Meanwhile, following last week’s good news about nitrate-rich vegetables ability to lower your blood pressure, I included some additional information about how to put this research to work in this week’s Nutrition Diva newsletter.
For those taking blood-thinning medications, this week’s Nutrition Diva podcast explains why people taking these drugs are sometimes instructed to avoid broccoli, spinach, and other super-nutritious vegetables. I’ve also got tips on how to enjoy the benefits of these great foods without interfering with your anticoagulant therapy.
Of course, it’s also possible to over-estimate what foods can do for us. On the Quick and Dirty Blog, I respond to a reader who wonders whether she should be eating more brown rice in order to get the benefits. Can you guess what my answer is?
by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN on May 3, 2012
by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN on April 24, 2012
Can beets lower your blood pressure?
After some prominent Harvard scientists sniffed that the idea of an optimal ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 is “a myth with absolutely no data to support it,” I devoted an episode of the Nutrition Diva podcast to a quick review of this “non-existent” data. On the Quick and Dirty Blog, I check into rumors that foods high in choline might offer help for kids with ADD and in my weekly newsletter, I field questions about beets and blood pressure. On our monthly Smart Nutrition segment on WYPR-FM, Tom Hall and I unpack the Pink Slime controversy and on the What’s Cooking blog, I’ve got tips on foods that help protect your skin from UV damage without interfering with Vitamin D production.
by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN on April 16, 2012
by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN on April 10, 2012
by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN on March 26, 2012
Some researchers believe that environmental pollutants and industrial chemicals are to blame for the obesity epidemic. This, of course, bucks the conventional wisdom that our increasing girth is simply the result of eating too much and exercising too little. What’s the evidence to support the idea that chemicals are the true cause of our ever-expanding waistlines? Find out in this week’s Nutrition Diva podcast.
by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN on March 19, 2012
I don’t know if this is good or bad but the topics of this week’s off-site posts read like the cover blurbs on a popular magazine! This week’s Nutrition Diva podcast reviews a product that claims to keep you from losing muscle tone as you age (and offers tips on how to stay strong). Over on the What’s Cooking blog, I review an amusing research study finding that adding 3 extra servings of certain fruits and vegetables to your diet can give you a rosier, healthier looking complexion in just a few weeks. On the Quick and Dirty Blog, I tackle claims that eliminating grains will cure, well, everything. Finally, the Huffington Post picked up my piece on how to break a weight loss plateau.
by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN on March 12, 2012