Category: Fact or Fiction?

The straight dope on nutrition myths, trends, and fads

This week: dangers of moderation, herding calcium, a very modern “ancient” grain, and flax recipes

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN
How to keep calcium in bones and out of arteries

In last week’s podcast, I talked about the merits of moderation. But I’m not one to leave the dark side unexplored! This week’s Nutrition Diva show takes a closer look at the possible pitfalls of an “everything in moderation” philosophy.  Following up on last week’s post on the  new calcium recommendations, I’ve got an answer to a reader question on how to make sure calcium ends up where it’s supposed to.  On the Quick and Dirty Blog, we ask how an “ancient” grain ended up with a registered trademark. And for all of you with flaxseed in the cupboard and no idea what to do with it, I’ve got some recipe suggestions on the What’s Cooking blog.

This week: Glycerin, apricot pits, shelf-stable milk, curry recipes and more!

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Name an ingredient that can be used to sweeten your coffee, lather up your hands, or blow up a mountain.   Give up? I explain what glycerin is and what it does for you in this week’s Nutrition Diva podcast.   I’ve also got the scoop on apricot pits as a cancer preventive on the Quick and Dirty Blog. And in this week’s Nutrition Diva newsletter, I explain the mysteries of milk that doesn’t need to be refrigerated.

There was also good news for curry lovers this week! New research finds that, in addition to fighting free radicals and reducing inflammation, the active compound in turmeric also stimulates the immune response.  I’ve got details–along with a handful of summer-friendly curry recipes to try– on the What’s Cooking Blog.

And finally, in this interview with Paula Wolfson for WTOP in DC, I’ve got advice on the pros and cons of going gluten free when you aren’t gluten intolerant.

Water, water, everywhere…plus amber waves of grain

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

how much water do you really need?Oh dear.  I’m afraid I tipped another sacred cow  in this week’s Nutrition Diva newsletter.  In response to readers who find water “boring” and want to know what they can drink instead, I suggested that we stop viewing beverages as sources of entertainment.   One dietitian wrote to say that she found my advice “deplorable,” citing the conventional wisdom that people who only drink when they are thirsty are likely to be clinically dehydrated.  (I’ve never seen any evidence to support this assertion.)  Judging from the comments,  however, most readers seemed to understand the point I was trying to make.  Staying with the water-y theme, I have tips on seasonal vegetables that help fight water retention over on the What’s Cooking Blog.

In recognition of National Celiac Awareness Month, we reissued a Nutrition Diva episode on gluten free diets this week.  And, as long as we were on the topic of grains, I tried to clear up a listener’s confusion over the pros and cons of brown rice on the Quick and Dirty Blog.

Thanks for all of your great questions and comments. Your curiosity and enthusiasm (and even the objections and complaints) keep my job interesting!

This week: Fructose fears, apricot cures, and grilling tips

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

A public service campaign on one of the networks has as its tagline, The More You Know.  And information is, in general, a good thing. But sometimes it seems to me as if the constant stream of nutrition information and advice coming at you from all directions serves only to ratchet up needless anxiety.  Take, for example, the alarmist rhetoric about fructose that circulates around the internet these days.  I regularly hear from people who are now afraid to eat fruit. In this week’s Nutrition Diva podcast, I explain the two crucial details that the fructose fear-mongers forget to tell you.

In this week’s Nutrition Diva newsletter, I address internet rumors that eating apricot pits can help prevent cancer.  And on the Quick and Dirty Blog, I calm one reader’s fear that eating too many vegetables could  lead to vitamin toxicity and perhaps even cause her hair to fall out.

On a lighter note, as we Northern Hemispher-ites get ready to kick off the summer barbecue season, I have some reminders on how to keep those cook-outs healthy as well as delicious over on the What’s Cooking Blog.  (Don’t you love it when the thing that tastes better is also better for you?)

 

Pink Slime, foods for ADD, benefits of beets, and omega ratios

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN
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.

 

Are Industrial Chemicals Causing Obesity?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Quick and Dirty Nutrition Tips from Monica ReinagelSome  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.