Category: Food/Nutrition Columnist

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Most people enjoy messing about in the kitchen, trying and altering recipes to produce tasty food to eat. People ask me a lot of questions about baking. This is an area where a novice cook is more likely to fail if they attempt to change a recipe or invent a product of their own. Cooking or more precisely baking is a chemistry experiment and certain principles are necessary to produce an edible product.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – It is estimated that 10% to 15% of all couples have trouble getting pregnant. Fertility testing and treatment can be both very expensive and create an emotional roller coaster that may eventually affect a couple’s relationship. Though many factors affect a woman’s ability to get pregnant, improving your diet and your partner’s diet may be an easy step that could improve your chances of having a healthy baby.
 

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – The beverage aisle seems to grow and grow every time to you visit the supermarket. I recently had the opportunity to try some interesting new drinks. See what you think.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Last week the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) released new regulations to define gluten-free. These long awaited regulations will finally standardize the $4 billion market for gluten-free foods and assure those who must eat a gluten-free diet that they can buy foods with confidence.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Each time you go to the supermarket you see more brands of kefir in the dairy case. We all know about yogurt. Many of us have switched to the ever-expanding Greek yogurt line, but know there is kefir, used and enjoyed for years in Europe. What is the difference between kefir and yogurt?

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – It’s 10:30 in the morning and you are starving and can’t wait for the coffee cart to get to your floor at work, even though you had coffee and a buttered roll for breakfast.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – It is summer and everyone is going on a road trip. It doesn’t matter if you take a day trip or an extended vacation by car, at some point you will get hungry.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – In the good old days you went to the store and bought eggs – brown or white, large, medium or small. Today it’s not so simple anymore. It’s a good thing eggs are sold by the dozen because egg cartons have become billboards for a wide range of information – nutrition information, grading, food dating, safe handling guidelines, and certification seals. Even the eggs themselves can be stamped with logos or dates. Sorting this out isn’t easy.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Bottom line: We don’t yet know if green coffee bean extract might aid in weight loss. This is a good example of evolving research that got out of control because of media hype.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – I like coffee to get me going in the morning, to finish off a good meal, or to just relax and enjoy at some point during the day. I traditionally make electric drip coffee and enjoy exploring new varieties of beans.

(HealthNewsDigest.com)) – Every so often you run across a truly unique product – red walnuts are one. They are just beautiful with a smoother, creamier taste than English walnuts. Tasted side by side, English walnuts are slightly more astringent, whereas red walnuts are milder but deliver a full walnut taste. It is hard to believe they are naturally red.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – In the last decade Americans have gained a total of more than 1 billion pounds — 68% weigh too much. Wherever you turn people are talking about calories. Eat too many you gain. Eat too few and you lose. Move and you burn calories faster and lose weight quicker. The Calorie Counter, 6h Edition, just released, by Karen J. Nolan, PhD and Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is the most comprehensive calorie counter and the least expensive, most effective, diet book in the marketplace with calorie counts for over 20,000 foods and 112 restaurant chains.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – I attended a conference where a noted health professional closed his talk by saying one of the best things you can do for your health is drink regular coffee daily. In this column I recently examined the downside of caffeine consumption, the main stimulant found in coffee. Let’s look at the brighter side and the reason why coffee may actually provide more benefits than hazards when used in moderate amounts.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – The conversation about coffee and the caffeine it contains has shifted from caution to who is drinking it and how much. In this column we will look at the downside of caffeine. In the near future the positive effects of caffeine will be explored.
 

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Most people believe that eating too much sugar will negatively impact on their health. Many scientists adhere to this idea as well. It is called the dilution theory – the more sugar you eat the fewer quality nutrients you get. Logically, this sounds correct. But, as with many hypotheses (sound scientific guesses) when put to the test against actual evidence, the idea does not hold up.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Before modern food processing techniques were used many of our grains sprouted accidentally. Any cereal kernel will begin to grow when exposed to the right temperature and degree of moisture.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanza or nothing at all, everywhere you turn at this time of year someone is offering you something to eat and everyone is telling you that you will gain weight over the holidays. Is there any truth to this yearly barrage of advice?

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Food companies are in business to make money and they are always competing to get you to buy their brand. To stand-out in today’s market, many brands are giving their products a good-for-you twist.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – When asked what they know about sugar, people usually say we eat too much of it and it is bad for you.

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – If you are anything like me, you have the same favorite pots and pans for years. I recently had the opportunity to cook with two new lines of nonstick skillets – Emeril Stainless Steel 8-inch and 12-inch Skillets and the Technique 8-inch and 10.5-inch Enamel Lightweight Cast Iron Frypan Set. Both took me out of my usual comfort zone of well-worn frying pans but the experiment proved both instructive and worthwhile.