Blog

Are Your Nutrition Priorities in the Right Order?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

I’ve been giving a lot of interviews surrounding the launch of my book this month and reviewers seem fascinated by the subtitle: What to Eat, What to Avoid, and What to Stop Worrying About.

As I wrote in the introduction to the book, “that last category may be the most important of all…In addition to helping you make the best choices at the grocery store and navigate the many decisions you make throughout the day, my ultimate goal is to help you prioritize the things that will make the biggest difference in your health.”

I can’t think of a better illustration for this than the e-mail I received this morning:  Continue reading “Are Your Nutrition Priorities in the Right Order?” >

Does a High Fat Breakfast Burn More Fat?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Hold the skim latte and bring on the butter? High-fat breakfasts are enjoying a comeback in some circles, after a study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that rats who ate a high fat breakfast burned more fat throughout the day than rats who ate a high carbohydrate breakfast.

But the reality on the ground looks a little different. Multiple studies have found that people who eat high fat breakfasts end up eating more calories over the course of the day–almost certainly trumping any increase in the fat-burning metabolism observed in the mouse study.

That’s not to say that a breakfast high in refined carbohydrates (corn flakes, toast, jelly, juice, etc.) is the way to go.  The ideal breakfast for appetite and weight control appears to be one that’s high in both protein and fiber. So bring on the eggs, tofu, cottage cheese, yogurt, oatmeal and other whole grain cereals.

As a bonus, research suggests that this type of low-glycemic breakfast may help you burn more fat during your lunch-time workout.

____________________________________________

Special Live Event!

Join me tomorrow night, March 8th, at 9pm Eastern for a forum on breakfast, fitness, and weight management. Joining me for this live webcast are Ben Greenfield of BenGreenfieldFitness.com, Darya Pino, PhD of  SummerTomato.com, and Gloria Tsang, MS, RD of Healthcastle.com.  Your questions and comments are welcome.  The event will be broadcast right here on NutritionOverEasy.com.  Click here to RSVP.

_________________________________________

The Studies:

Time-of-day-dependent dietary fat consumption influences multiple cardiometabolic syndrome parameters in mice.

Energy and macronutrient composition of breakfast affect gastric emptying of lunch and subsequent food intake, satiety and satiation.

The effects of high-carbohydrate vs high-fat breakfasts on feelings of fullness and alertness, and subsequent food intake

Fat oxidation during exercise and satiety during recovery are increased following a low-glycemic index breakfast in sedentary women.

 

Is Salt Unfairly Demonized?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Q. In a recent interview,  you mentioned cutting back on added sugar as one of the most important things you can do to improve your diet. I noticed you didn’t mention the importance of limiting sodium.    Do you think the concerns over sodium are over-blown?

A.  In a word, yes.  In the recently released 2010 Dietary Guide for Americans, they really came down hard on salt, stressing the need for all Americans to reduce their sodium intake.  Given all the things about the typical American diet that could use fixing, I thought it was a little odd how much emphasis they put on this. (Obviously, the salt lobby was asleep at the switch during the hearings…)

The rationale for universal sodium restriction rests a string of loosely related statistics:

Continue reading “Is Salt Unfairly Demonized?” >

Read a sample chapter of my new book!

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

March 1st  was the official release date for my new book, Nutrition Diva’s Secrets for a Healthy Diet. After working on hard on the book for the last year with my wonderful editor, Emily Rothschild, and the great folks at Quick and Dirty Tips, it’s so exciting to be holding the actual book in my hand!

If you’d like to check it out, there are sample chapters and all kinds of other goodies on the book’s QDT webpage. Continue reading “Read a sample chapter of my new book!” >

Debunking Breakfast: A Live Webcast

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

[Updated March 9th] Thanks to Darya Pino from SummerTomato.com, Ben Greenfield of BenGreenfieldFitness.com, and Gloria Tsang of Healthcastle.com, the folks at Vokle.com, and all of you who joined us for our live round-table on breakfast. It was a fascinating discussion!   For those of you who might be interested in looking at some of the primary research that we discussed, I’ve posted links to those studies below.  Continue reading “Debunking Breakfast: A Live Webcast” >

Fish Oil to Reduce Cholesterol?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Q. I’ve listened to your podcast on fish oil and omega-3s and shared it with some people I know who take fish oil. But today my physician told me that my “bad” cholesterol is borderline and that a way to get it down without statins would be to take fish oil twice a day. I’m wondering what you think about that.

A.   In the podcast you’re referring to, I was talking mostly about prophylactic or preventive use of fish oil supplements.  Here’s the point I was trying to make:  Taking fish oil supplements, which are high in omega-3s,  is one way to balance out  diet that’s too high in omega-6 fats. But another way to improve that balance is to reduce your intake of omega-6.   Reducing omega-6 intake (which come mostly from vegetable oils and processed foods) can reduce the need to take fish oil supplements.

Continue reading “Fish Oil to Reduce Cholesterol?” >