Dr. Justin Sonnenburg is an expert on the bacteria living in our digestive system, and an associate professor at the School of Medicine at Stanford University.  Recently interviewed by Environmental Nutrition, Dr. Sonnenburg said we have 100 times more genes in our microbial genome than in our own human genome, adding, “We are a fancy culturing flask.”   Our […]

I’m a subscriber to www.consumerlab.com , an independent laboratory that tests nutritional supplements to evaluate whether the contents match the claims on the labels.  There is little FDA oversight of this massive industry, and the principal Buyer Beware needs to be heeded.   Using the information on this website is very helpful to the wise supplement […]

Lutein is a nutrient found in many yellow and green vegetables.  Chopping, pureeing and cooking lutein-rich produce makes this nutrient more available for use in the human body. Research, reported in Environmental Nutrition, has demonstrated the value of lutein for maintaining the health of the retina of the eye, and the integrity of the skin.  Some studies have […]

The  January/February 2016  Journal of Clinical Lipidology [lipids are fats that float in the bloodstream, some line the blood vessel walls as dangerous plaque] reported on a meta-analysis of 10 studies with 229 subjects who replaced saturated dietary fat [butter, lard, mayonnaise, cheeses] with avocados.  This substitution resulted in a significant reduction of total cholesterol, LDL [“bad”] cholesterol, […]

A report from www.consumerlab.com discussed a recent finding as follows:  “Although multivitamin supplementation (3 to 5 times a week) in pregnant women is associated with a reduced risk of autism in their child, excessively high blood levels of folate (>59 nmol/L) in pregnant woman is associated with an approximate twofold increased risk of autism in […]

I’d finished my pilates class at 5:45PM and dashed to the supermarket on the way home to pick up some mainstays for the kitchen.  By the time I got home it was 6:30PM and dinner had to be made.  Earlier in the day, anticipating a dinner crunch, I’d nuked a couple of large baking potatoes, […]

I’m a fan of frozen vegetables for people in a hurry.  I prefer buying the 16 oz. plain vegetables in a plastic bag- no sauce, no salt.  The steam-in-the bag versions contain only 12 oz. of produce. [Not a good value.]  I also do not like heating plastic that touches food, because I want to […]

I recently ran into a former client, a woman of a certain age.  She’d struggled with her weight for many years…unsuccessfully.  But, when I met her, she looked fabulous, and had clearly lost a good deal of weight.  Delighted for her, I asked her to reveal the secret of her success.  She told me that […]

For more than a decade I’ve been discussing the importance of Vitamin D with my clients, urging them to have their serum 25 OH Vitamin D levels checked with a simple blood test.  The response often is, “I take lots of supplemental Vitamin D, my diet is great, and I spend lots of time outdoors.”  […]

Molly Belmont posted an article on the Times Union blog about what we could learn from our grandmothers with regard to eating and nutrition. I was asked (along with a few other nutritionists) to contribute. Meat, if they had it, was used more as a “flavoring agent,” Windmueller says, for soups and other filling one-dish […]