Category: Healthy Eating Tips

Practical tips for improving your nutrition

Sweetened with Dates: How Healthy Is It Really?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN
Photo by Mona Mok on Unsplash

Q.  I watch my sugar intake and I’ve been searching for a healthy granola bar. Finally, I found Larabars at my grocery store: Only three ingredients and no added sugar. Awesome! My only concern is that the sugar content, while derived completely from dates, is very high.  If I’m limiting my added sugar intake, should I also pay attention to sugars from natural sources? Thank you for your advice!

A. You have to be impressed by a processed food with only three ingredients!  But I’m glad you didn’t let the glare of that health halo blind you to the high sugar content.

In terms of “added sugars,” the Larabars squeak through on a technicality.  Added sugars usually refers to refined sugar and other concentrated sweeteners like honey or maple syrup. (Yup, even though they’re natural, they’re considered added sugars!)  The naturally-occurring sugars in whole fruit and dairy products are usually given an exemption.

By the usual definition, the dates in your granola bar wouldn’t be considered added sugar. But, frankly, dates are about as close as you can get to sugar and still call yourself a fruit.  (For that matter, I guess sugar cane could technically be considered a whole grain!)

How Nutritious are Dates?

An ounce of medjool dates contains 19 grams of sugar and 2 grams of fiber. An ounce of honey provides 23 grams of sugar and 0 grams of fiber. Neither one is a significant source of vitamins or minerals. (Click the links to see the complete nutrition facts.)

Aside from a gram or two of fiber, a bar sweetened with dates is really not that much different from a bar sweetened with honey.  Ask yourself this: If the bar were sweetened with honey instead of dates, would it be more sugar than you’d be willing to eat?   Although I’m all for whole foods and short ingredient lists, I agree with you that a bar with less sugar might be a better choice.

See also:How much fruit is good for you?

When is White Bread Preferable to Whole Wheat?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

In my recent post “Are Your Nutrition Priorities in the Right Order?” I observed that portion size has a bigger impact on blood sugar than whether a grain product is whole or refined.

Laura’s not buying it! She comments:

So you’re saying that eating 1 peanut butter sandwich on white bread is better nutritionally than eating 2 on whole wheat bread? I find that hard to believe.

Fair enough. Let’s take a look at how these two options stack up. Continue reading “When is White Bread Preferable to Whole Wheat?” >

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?” >

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?” >

Avoiding Pesticides: Beyond the Dirty Dozen

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

People buy organic foods for lots of reasons:  They are produced without chemical fertilizers and pesticides and  (in the case of animal products) without hormones and antibiotics.   But a 100% organic diet may not be possible.  So people often ask me which foods are  most important to buy organic. Here’s my short list, in order of priority:

Fruits and Vegetables

Of all food types, pesticide residues are most common in fruits and vegetables. According to the FDA’s most recent (2007) Pesticide Monitoring Program Report, pesticides were detected in slightly over a third of all fruits and vegetables (domestic and imported) tested.

You’re probably familiar with the Environmental Working Group’s  list of the Dirty Dozen–12 commonly eaten fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide residues. I talked about the Dirty Dozen in my podcast on getting the biggest bang for your organic dollar. Continue reading “Avoiding Pesticides: Beyond the Dirty Dozen” >