Did you know that there’s a massive difference between “cereal” and “breakfast cereal?’ Cereal means grain, such as brown rice, bulgur wheat, oatmeal (not microwave-able), millet, amaranth, spelt. Breakfast cereal means Coco Krispies, Frosted Flakes, Life Cereal, Raisin Bran (one of the highest sugar breakfast cereals on the market). Cheerios and Kashi, too, in case you were wondering. Cereal comes from the field; breakfast cereal comes from the factory. Continue reading
Category Archives: Nutrition
What About Weight Watchers?
A while ago I got a letter from a reader named Emily, who reported that she had joined Weight Watchers some time back, and found it especially helpful for portion control. Having watched the movie “Fat Head,” read Gary Taubes’s book “Good Calories, Bad Calories,” and read Your Health is On Your Plate, she wants to know if she can follow my recommendations and Weight Watchers at the same time. Plus, she wants to know what I eat. Continue reading
The Box-of-Real-Food Diet
I write Your Health is On Your Plate because there are a couple of things that I want everyone to really understand. First, I want you to understand that there’s a big difference between real food and manufactured calories. A huge difference, really. Real food nourishes; manufactured calories entertain (at best). Manufactured calories also cause a lot of very serious medical problems. Like diabetes and obesity, for starters. And strokes and heart attacks. Continue reading
The Seasons Change, and So Do You
A this time of year, many people start wondering why they were doing such a great job staying active a few months ago, but haven’t been doing much of anything recently. If this describes you, then this post is yours. Continue reading
Book Groups and Crackers (with recipe)!
My book group makes the most amazing meals. There are never any assignments; creativity runs wild. One week Brigitte brought tomato-basil soup with homemade croutons, Lynne contributed a quinoa-feta-cranberry salad in a bowl lined with kale, Elaine made a rum cake, or maybe that was Diane. Beth brought rice balls filled with melting cheese, Nancy brought a claypot filled to the top with her macaroni & cheese, and these are just the dishes I remember! Continue reading
Stripped Carbs First Thing in the Morning? No!
Having a hard time understanding why breakfast is the one meal of day that you should not eat toast, bagels, muffins, waffles, pancakes, cereal, biscuits, bread or grits? Here’s why:
When you eat foods that are rich in fiber, fat and protein, it takes quite a while for your body to break them down. So they get absorbed into your bloodstream very slowly. But whenever you eat items made primarily from sugar and other kinds of stripped carbs, your digestive system absorbs the ingredients very quickly. Continue reading
Trying to Eat in a Hospital
My mom doesn’t take diabetes medicine; she keeps her blood sugars normal through a combination of common sense and careful carbohydrate consumption. A few years ago, she had to be hospitalized at her local hospital for what she called a “minor procedure.” The procedure went fine, but the food did not. Continue reading
A New Cookbook called Love Thy Legumes!
Dear readers,
I just finished reading a new cookbook called LOVE THY LEGUMES, and it was great! It’s an educational cookbook by public health nutritionist, Sonali Suratkar. Lucky for us, Sonali is passionate about cooking and nutrition education. Continue reading
Nourish Your Heart and Soul with Real Food
Nowadays there’s a lot of talk about “real” food. What is “real” food? It’s food that has not been processed, refined, stripped, polished, fortified, enriched or otherwise modified. It’s basically fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, grains, fish, eggs, dairy products, and meats, like poultry, beef, and game, and including all the wonderful variations of these things that our brains are capable of inventing. If it’s not food, then it’s manufactured calories. This post is designed to help you figure out how to tell the difference. Continue reading
Should I Be Drinking Whole Milk?
After medical school, my friend Brian moved to Baltimore and became a pain management specialist. He wrote to ask my opinion about the newly re-constituted controversy about whole milk vs. skim milk. In Brian’s pain management practice, he has noticed that diabetic and pre-diabetic patients seem to struggle with more pain and arthritis than patients without these diagnoses.