"Fuel your body...Delight your senses"
Stephanie Brina-Herres , MS, RD, CDN
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May
3
2012
Fame.
It influences people, whether members of the public are willing to admit that or not. Fame allows others to get their message out and have the opportunity for it to possibly be heard.
RDs have been trying to convince people for decades that taking “small steps” when it comes to eating real food and changing food buying, storage, preparation and eating patterns do matter–that they can really make a HUGE collective difference in people’s lives when all those small steps are added together. Yet many people have simply either ignored/tuned out the RDs in far too many instances, or have not felt strongly enough influenced to give the approach a solid effort and learn how success breeds success.
(Spices photo courtesy of Assiewin via rgbstock.com and a reminder that appropriately using vibrantly colored and flavored herbs & spices can often contribute in 10 minutes or less to the flavor of so many food items when cooking real food).
Well, now some “celebrity chefs” are using their FAME to say some of the same things RDs have said for decades, and who knows, maybe now some more members of the public will listen?!
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May
1
2012
Warmer weather usually means more rain storms and thus the potential for more rainbows as well.
Virtually all of us should be aiming to consume a “Rainbow of Color” when it comes to fruits & veggies.
There are many health benefits associated with the colors of the rainbow nature so graciously provides, and particularly for those discussing prostate cancer prevention, incidence & progression, treatment, and survivorship as noted in the 4 part series we started late last month and will be continuing with this month.
Beyond their beneficial vitamin content, consider the rich antioxidant & anti-inflammatory content of some deeply colored fruits & vegetables. How familiar are you really with nature’s rainbow of fruits & veggies when it comes to matters of prostate cancer and actually overall health for anyone?
(Photo of basket of organic vegetables courtesy of Dahlia via rgbstock.com).
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Apr
30
2012
Since this blog post is Part 2 of 4 in a series focusing on how food and nutrition consumption can potentially influence prostate cancer prevention, incidence & progression, treatment, and survivorship, let’s review how the intake of a rainbow of fruits and vegetables mentioned in part 1 of 4 can actually be part of the silver lining in the clouds surrounding this type of cancer diagnosis.
(Double rainbow photo courtesy of Stuart Bran, taken in Rousseau, Dominica)
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Apr
29
2012
Since there is ongoing research indicating that some food & nutrition approaches show promise in dealing with prostate cancer prevention, incidence & progression, treatment, and survivorship, this post is dedicated to those seeking that type of information.
Sometimes the silver lining in the clouds winds up actually revealing the benefit of a rainbow…read on for more details…
(Rainbow image courtesy of Photonut via rgbstock.com)
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Apr
28
2012
Mother’s Day is coming up on Sunday, May 13th, 2012 and now seemed to be a very appropriate time to post this blog entry.Many times mothers or mother figures are automatically equated with being caregivers.
Sometimes caregivers get so busy doing so many things for others, that they may forget what they need to do just for themselves!
This blog post will hopefully serve as a little reminder that sometimes caregivers need a little care and sometimes caregivers simply need to be good to themselves.
Don’t forget to care for the caregiver!
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Apr
10
2012
Ah, spring time is in the air in some parts of the country.
Spring time makes us think of existing or upcoming Farmers Markets and their wonderful, fresh, local bounty that is available to any & all consumers willing to make the extra effort to shop there.
(Photo of flowering peach tree courtesy of Berenika at rgbstock.com)
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) though its Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has a website for its USDA AMS Farmers Market awareness program. USDA would like to make it easier for those living in the USA to shop in Farmers Markets.
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Apr
4
2012
The National Retail Federation expects Easter candy sales (of all types of candy, including chocolate) to top 2 billion in 2012.
(European Chocolate Easter Eggs photo courtesy of Gesinek at rgbstock.com)
Let me preface the following remarks by saying that the females involved in running the sensory nutrition blog site appreciate really good cacao sources as much as any other real women, but as with all such goodies, moderation goes a long, long way combined with a dash of common sense.
A little high quality chocolate will provide more intense sensory enjoyment per kcal so if you treat yourself, why not make every bite count?!
Now if only fruit & vegetable sales for the Easter holiday were also measured in the billions with steady double digit growth most years!
FYI–as an aside, you can find a curious view comparing the sugar content of filled candy Easter eggs (as sold in the USA by a well-known manufacturer) to the sugar content of a 12 oz. can or 20 oz bottle of soda pop here).
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Mar
30
2012
We’re in the process of updating the blog site a bit and wanted to share some details quickly this Spring:
1. A Gluten-Free Play Dough recipe is available at the Celiac Kids Recipes website (courtesy of the Celiac Sprue Association) as of the date of this blog post. Please consider that if a child (or an adult who plays with a child!) in your circle either is sensitive to gluten or has gluten enteropathy, or plays with another child (or adult!) who might need to remain gluten-free, this could be a worthwhile consideration.
(Graphic courtesy of Alexbruda over at rgbstock.com)
2. A Celiac Disease Screening Tool is being offered by the joint efforts of The University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center, along with The General Mills “Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition” and General Mills brand of Chex cereals (gluten free), that is available to the public through the Gluten Freely site. Diagnosis of any medical condition goes beyond initial screening, of course, but awareness can sometimes be the first step to obtaining a full screening and eventually an applicable diagnosis. It can be beneficial to focus on known factual information, not rumor or pop culture fiction.
There is also a review piece published in 2012: Advances in Coeliac Disease by Matthew J, Armstrong; Vinod S. Hegade; and Gerry Robins in Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2012;28(2):104-112. © 2012 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, available for those who can access Medscape. The authors note that the review “critically summarizes the key clinical and scientific advances in coeliac disease between July 2010 and 2011.”
3. A listing of potentially Gluten-Free candies for Easter time from 2009 (with some updates in 2010), including chocolate products, is listed at Heather’s “Celiac Family” site. Although we don’t promote willy nilly candy consumption, the reality of life is that children of all ages may be drawn to Easter candy and it is better to be as informed as possible about options. As always, PLEASE check labels carefully, since manufacturers can change formulations and processing without prior notice in many instances, as that way you can avoid anything that might potentially contain gluten in it or have been potentially subject to cross-contamination with gluten.
4. After Passover, sometimes there are sales on “Kosher for Passover” items which might happen to be gluten-free. NOTE: “Kosher for Passover” is different than standard Kosher designation so do NOT confuse the two designations! Purim cleansing of any residence of anything Chavetz means all leavened products are removed from the residence for that time. “Kosher for Passover” items are unleavened and thus typically Gluten-Free, however, again, PLEASE check labels carefully, as always, so that you avoid anything that might potentially contain gluten in it or have been potentially subject to cross-contamination with gluten. Our thanks to Cheryl Harris for mentioning this.
5. An informal gluten-free menu swap is hosted on the www and over time has moved around a bit in terms of where you can find the archived information through the most current listings. Years back it started with Natalie’s Gluten Free Mommy site; and then moved over to Cheryl’s site of Gluten Free Goodness; and since Oct 17, 2011 is now housed at Heather’s Celiac Family site with some previous weekly schedules also available there.
Enjoy Spring!
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Mar
29
2012
Springtime marks a time of renewal on so many levels for individuals throughout the world.
People look forward to celebrating it in many ways. In Part 1 of 2 we mentioned a bit about Celebrating Easter in Springtime. In this Part 2 of 2 we will focus on those who choose to commemorate Purim through Passover.
(Passover lens graphic courtesy of Resabi over at Squidoo.com)
Disclaimer: Please consult your local Rabbinical Authority to determine whether any items you chose qualify as being specifically certified “Kosher for Passover” (Kosher L’Pesach certification) vs. use at other times as being certified “Kosher” (aka Kashrut, Kashrus or Kashruth) per se. Your local Rabbinical Authority is the best source of information on Pesach and can suggest version choices of the Haggadah which in turn will influence your Passover Seder celebration and following meal planning accordingly.
There are a wide variety of tips that can enable almost anyone to enjoy healthier version options of favorite food items prepared and served as part of any Passover Commemoration should you decide you want to explore updating them.
Some of these tips might be applicable and appeal, depending upon whether or not you need to consider any other special diet restrictions for medical or other reasons.
As always, please check with your medical professional when it comes to matters pertaining to your individual health or that of your family members.
Besides the tips below and elsewhere on the www, there are also various cookbook options with recipes by others, etc., for purchase, should you wish to pursue adding any new paper cookbooks to your physical book library. (One such physical paper book option would be EnLITEned Kosher Cooking from the Jewish Diabetes Association available through their website with more than 140 recipes for Pesach along with what they consider to be easily adaptable year-round recipe choices emphasizing vegetables and vegetable combinations per their website). You can see a full list of their recipes on their website.
That site has a good approach for anyone living with a condition such as diabetes to keep in mind when dealing with any holiday “Remember that failing to prepare is preparing to fail!”
When it comes to food choices, any decision is always yours to make.
Some individuals without a specific medical condition may be able to and choose to allow themselves a little indulgence one day and make up for it on some other days.
We fully respect your right to follow the approach that works for you!
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Mar
28
2012
March is National Nutrition Month(NNM)!Springtime marks a time of renewal for individuals throughout the world on so many levels. People look forward to celebrating it in a variety of ways, including those who will choose to celebrate Easter and others who will commemorate Passover, etc., in April this year.
In this two part article, we will focus on Celebrating Easter in Part 1 of 2. Part 2 of 2 will focus on Commemorating Purim through Passover.
(NNM “Widget” (aka image code) courtesy of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)
There are a wide variety of tips that can enable almost anyone to enjoy healthier version options of favorite recipes should you decide you want to explore updating them. Some of these tips might be applicable and appeal, depending upon whether or not you need to consider any other special diet restrictions for medical or other reasons.
As always, please check with your medical professional when it comes to matters pertaining to your individual health or that of your family members. Remember that we only offer infotainment on this site.
Besides the tips below and elsewhere on the www, there are also various cookbook options with recipes by others, etc., for purchase, should you wish to pursue adding any new paper cookbooks to your physical book library or eBooks to your electronic library.
When it comes to food choices, any decision is always yours to make.
Some individuals without a specific medical condition to the contrary may be able to and choose to allow themselves a little indulgence one day and make up for it on some other days.
We fully respect your right to follow the approach that works for you!
Read the rest of this entry >
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