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Are there nutritional benefits to dehydrating fruits and veggies?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

“I read that dehydrators are the in thing this year. Clearly dried fruits are going to contain more sugars per handful than the original fruit but might there be nutritional benefits from drying foods?”

Food dehydrators can be a great way to preserve fresh fruits and vegetables and to create portable, nutritious snacks. Although dried fruits are ever-popular, you can also dry vegetables and herbs.

So, when fresh garden tomatoes are overflowing your counter-tops in September, you can load them into your dehydrator and dry them to use through the winter. Green beans or kale leaves can be lightly salted and turned into addictive crunchy snacks. With a little extra prep, you can make your own homemade fruit leathers, crackers, and jerky! More ideas here. Continue reading “Are there nutritional benefits to dehydrating fruits and veggies?” >

Should our toddlers really be eating this much fake sugar?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Would you let your two year old drink diet soda?

Would you let your 7-year-old drink diet soda?

How about your 2 year-old?

A disturbing new study finds that 27% of elementary-school kids and 20% of our preschoolers are consuming artificial sweeteners on a daily or near daily basis.  This represents a 300% increase since 1999.

[bctt tweet=”20% of preschoolers consume artificial sweeteners on a daily basis.”]

With all the scary news about sugar these days, many parents may imagine that they’re doing their kids a favor by offering them sugar-free pudding or low-calorie fruit “juice.”  And the fact that artificially sweetened foods are “sugar-free” might make them seem safe for every day consumption. I suspect they are anything but. Continue reading “Should our toddlers really be eating this much fake sugar?” >

Should I stop being vegetarian to reduce my risk of diabetes?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

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Q. I am a healthy, normal weight woman in my early 20s. I am also a vegetarian. Because there is a strong family history of type 2 diabetes (both parents and all four grandparents), my doctor suggested I adopt a relatively low-carb diet to reduce the risk of getting the disease myself.  But does going low-carb require me to give up my vegetarian lifestyle? Can a plant-based diet also reduce my risk, even if it’s high in complex carbs like whole grains and beans?

A.The good news is that being a vegetarian does substantially reduce the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes, despite the fact that vegetarians diets tend to be higher in carbohydrates than omnivorous diets.  Much of this risk reduction has to do with the fact that vegetarians are less likely to be overweight.

However, does this still hold true when diabetes runs in the family? Keep in mind that genes aren’t the only things that are passed down from generation to generation.  We also tend to inherit lifestyle habits and eating patterns. Continue reading “Should I stop being vegetarian to reduce my risk of diabetes?” >

Calories vs kcals vs joules

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

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I just ate an apple that had 116,000 calories.

No, it wasn’t the size of my house. That’s really how many calories a large apple contains.

As calorie, as you might remember from high school, is the amount of energy it takes to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius.  Turns out that an apple contains quite a bit of energy–enough to raise the temperature of 116,000 grams (or about 30 gallons) of water by 1 degree Celsius. Continue reading “Calories vs kcals vs joules” >

NYT protein piece generates more heat than light

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

imagesThere’s been a lot of buzz this week about a column in the New York Times on the potential consequences of eating “too much” protein.

Well columnist Roni Rabin worries that the popularity of protein powders, drinks, and bars are “making it possible to effortlessly consume protein in amounts that far exceed dietary recommendations.”

She goes on to write that “the vast majority of Americans already get more than the recommended daily amounts of protein.”

But are they really? The Institutes of Medicine–a relatively conservative bunch–recommends that we get between 10 and 35% of our calories from protein. For a 150 pound adult, that translates into a range of 55 to 180 grams of protein per day. Continue reading “NYT protein piece generates more heat than light” >

Is coffee good or bad for PCOS?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

coffee-722270_640Q.  My 22-year-old daughter has a mild case of PCOS and we are wondering about the effect of coffee on this condition. There is conflicting advice about this online. What are your thoughts?
A. You’re right! There are conflicting points of view regarding coffee/caffeine and PCOS. Many PCOS experts list coffee as a food to avoid. Yet this PCOS support website recommends coffee in an article on “Best beverages for PCOS”.

Much of the confusion centers around the effects of coffee on insulin sensitivity. As you may know, PCOS sufferers are more likely to develop insulin resistance, which increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Continue reading “Is coffee good or bad for PCOS?” >