Author Archives: Nan Windmueller
Empowerment and Good Health
It saddened me to read the headline, “Few Adults Follow Healthy Habits,” leaving the health risks, associated with their lifestyle choices, to luck. Prevention of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers, as a deliberate choice, with the goal of a better quality of life, and increased longevity, is possible. Populations living in the Blue […]
Produce Intake Among Adult Pasta Eaters
Yet again, the Mediterranean Diet demonstrates its value to preservation of health, with its emphasis on eating al dente pasta, prepared as it would be in Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy. We Americans can learn so much from our Mediterranean cousins, as reported in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, quoting data from […]
Overlooked Link Between Diet and UTIs
As reported in the International Journal of One Health, scientists have discovered that approximately 8% of E. coli caused urinary tract infections [UTIs] in the US are caused by bacterial strains found in chicken, turkey, and pork, sold in stores for human consumption. Most of us think of gastrointestinal symptoms being caused by E. coli, […]
Consider the Mushroom
An increasing number of Americans are adopting a Mediterranean style of eating due to the increasing number of studies demonstrating the health benefits of a plant based diet. Valued for thousands of years by Asian, Roman, and Greek cultures, humans have enjoyed including many different varieties of mushrooms in their meals. While white button mushrooms […]
Benefits of Walnut Consumption
Consuming tree nuts has been linked to improved health outcomes for years. Tree nuts include hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, cashews, among others. Peanuts are often counted among tree nuts, but that is inaccurate. Peanuts [despite the second syllable in their name] are actually in the legume category, and like legumes, grow underground…not on trees. While […]
Dietary Choices Linked to Longevity
Inspired by epidemiological evidence pointing to the link between diet and longevity, researchers evaluated the diets of nearly 120,000 people using a system called the Alternate Healthy Eating Index [AHEI]. As reported in the Journal of Internal Medicine, this system adds points for vegetables, whole fruits, whole grains, nuts, beans [legumes], and omega 3 and […]
Non-dairy Sources of Calcium
Calcium is a required mineral, used for building bone, nerve conduction, and muscle contraction, among other activities of our bodies. Dairy products are usually thought of as the most obvious source of calcium in our diets. But, many people are allergic to dairy products, suffer from lactose intolerance, or prefer eating a vegan diet [exclusively […]
Dietary Choices and Prostate Enlargement
Men may well have more influence over the anticipated enlargement of their prostate glands, as they age, than they realize. Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy [BPH] is a condition many men expect to face after middle age. An article published in the November 2021 issue of the journal Nutrients, by Italian scientists, challenges this notion. Their research […]
My Advice…Reject New Year Resolutions as a Strategy for Weight Loss
Decades counseling clients, who want to lose weight, have taught me that all weight loss diets work. The problem is they work only when one is on them, and no one wants to stay on a weight loss diet with their predictable restrictions. People may diet to fit into a dress or a pair of […]
Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain & Diet
Many years ago I became aware of the benefits dietary changes might offer to people with rheumatoid arthritis [RA], an auto-immune disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its joints, making them swollen and painful. The suggested dietary change involved removing all animal products from an RA patient’s diet. I made a mental […]