Focus on good nutrition while making use of pre-prepared foods and you’ll find that healthy eating is easy.

One of the biggest complaints people have about eating healthily is the perception that it requires more hours in the kitchen to prepare nutritious meals.  But there are so many convenience items available now that preparing healthy meals is a snap.

For protein, you can buy fish or poultry that’s already seasoned and ready for quick grilling or frozen pre-cooked shrimp that can be tossed with some pasta and veggies for a quick dish.  And don’t overlook canned tuna, salmon or chicken breast that can be added to salad greens, rice dishes or soups.

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Spend some time around kids – or your household pets – and you’ll see that frequent grazing is the instinctual way to eat over the course of the day.

We certainly evolved as frequent foragers, not meal eaters, and frequent snacking isn’t necessarily a bad thing – if the foods you choose are appropriate, and if you are truly hungry, it can be a healthy habit.

We usually get hungry about every three to four hours, so several smaller meals spread throughout the day may actually prevent you from eating too much at meal time.   Snacks should have some healthy carbs – like fruit, veggies, whole grains (like crackers) – along with some protein (like nuts, soy protein products or nonfat dairy foods).

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If you’ve spent any time in the yogurt section of your local supermarket lately, you might see more and more products that highlight their “live active cultures” – a nice way of saying that the yogurt is full of bacteria.

While the idea of consuming bacteria in the diet may not sound appealing, probiotic bacteria found in yogurt and other fermented dairy products can promote digestive health.

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that help maintain the proper balance of the microorganisms (called flora) that live in your digestive tract.  Your digestive system is home to hundreds of types of probiotics, and these helpful bacteria keep the growth of other, potentially harmful, bacteria at bay – thus promoting healthy digestion.

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A recent article in the LA Times carried a headline that said, in effect, that watching television makes you gain weight.

No news there – after all, unless you’re doing sprints across the living room while watching your favorite show, you’re not burning calories.

But it isn’t television itself that’s the problem (although we often add insult to injury by snacking while we watch – more on that later). Simply sitting for long periods – whether it’s in front of the big screen or the little one – leads to biochemical changes in the way the body stores fat and sugar that negatively impact health.

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Burgers will probably never have a reputation as a health food, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about what you slap between two halves of a burger bun. The concept – some meat (or meatlike) product, condiments, and the equivalent of a couple of slices of bread – doesn’t have to fly in the face of healthy eating. 

Let’s start with the patty. Some people have been known to choose a fish sandwich over a traditional burger – figuring that fish is always better than beef. This is true as long as the fish is grilled or broiled. But if the fish is fried – and slathered with tartar sauce – then the grilled beef burger is the clear winner, with half the fat and a third fewer calories.

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When it comes to barbecued food, almost every person, it seems – thinks theirs is the best. We’re fiercely loyal to our barbecue traditions – and it’s funny how this one method of dining establishes our identity like nothing else.

We have the Spanish to thank for starting the barbecue tradition. Without the pigs and cattle they brought to the New World in the 1500’s, the whole idea might never have gotten off the ground – the native bison and wild turkeys weren’t the best candidates for grilling. But, thankfully, the pigs thrived on the corn in the south and cattle drives turned places like Kansas City and Omaha into cow towns. And the rest – as they say – is history.

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So many changes take place as kids move from childhood to adolescence that it’s hard to keep up. For one thing, their diets – which you might have had a little more control over when they were young – now leave a little something to be desired. At the same time, pimples and breakouts start to literally rear their ugly heads. So it’s no wonder that the food-pimple connection seems to be a no-brainer.

Pimples and acne are largely due to hormonal changes, but that’s not to say that diet doesn’t play a role. The latest research tells us that there likely is a connection, but one that’s a bit more complicated than most people think.

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Just because foods have less fat, sugar, or calories doesn’t make them healthy foods.

Remember when carbs were the bad guys? The food manufacturers do, I’m sure. A few years back, when everyone was doing the Atkins thing, we were deluged with everything from the impossible-sounding low-carb bread to carb-counter’s chocolate fudge. Trouble was, everyone was too focused on the details – in keeping close tabs on their carbs, they lost track of calories. And many of them gained weight.

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We’re getting too much salt in the diet – largely from processed foods and restaurant items. There are several hidden sources of salt and health risks that can be associated with them.

Lately, we’ve been witnessing nutritional crackdowns on several fronts – the dangers of excess calories, fats, trans fats and sugars have all been recent targets. It seems, though, that salt (or, more technically, sodium chloride) is finally getting its turn in the spotlight.

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Those who live the longest share common healthy habits.

When you read stories about people who’ve lived a century or more, they’re almost always asked to reveal the secret to their long life. And their answers are often all over the map. Some think the key is abstinence from alcohol and tobacco, while there are others who attribute their endurance to a daily breakfast of bacon and eggs.

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Farmer’s Markets help you mark the changing seasons with fresh, local produce.

I know that it’s easier to simply buy all your food in one place, but the supermarket can’t give you that sense of local, seasonal eating the way your Farmer’s Market can. The whole idea of eating what’s in season can get lost on the average supermarket shopper.

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Food commercials on television push us to eat more than our recommended daily intake of salt, fat, sugar and calories.

Watching television can really be dangerous to your health. And it’s not just because we sit for so long – although that’s certainly part of the problem. A recent study revealed just how bad a diet could be if it were based entirely on foods advertised on television (and yes, there are people who actually eat like this).

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I have to admit that I’m a little bit overzealous when it comes to food safety, and I take the expiration dates stamped on food labels and packages pretty seriously. Sometimes too much so… If I have some raw chicken in my fridge that’s going to ‘expire’ the next day, I won’t eat it. I know it’s safe, but in my mind, that chicken is on its death bed and doesn’t belong in my stomach.

At the same time, I’ll keep mayonnaise in my fridge until it’s gone – and at the rate I use it, that could be past the expiration date – and I don’t give it a second thought. But if you fear old mayonnaise the way I fear expiring chicken, there’s no need – as long as mayo is properly refrigerated, it doesn’t really go bad (by that I mean, it won’t make you sick).

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I’ve been reading more and more reports recently of a little-known phenomenon –– something called ‘pine mouth.’ People who suffer from it find that within a day or two after eating pine nuts – popular additions to pasta dishes, salads and cookies – they develop a bitter, metallic taste in the mouth.

Not much is known about pine mouth – what might be the cause, exactly how the nuts are affecting the taste buds, whether a particular species of pine nut is to blame, or if the source of the pine nuts is the problem. People who suffer from pine mouth would sure like to know, since the effects can make everything taste terrible for as long as two weeks.

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Smart shoppers usually look for value – whether they’re buying a car or a computer, they want to get the best bang for their buck. The same rule should apply to food, too. When the currency is calories, it’s smart to spend them as wisely as you can.

Clearly stated, the concept of nutrient density is pretty simple. It refers to getting the most “nutritional value” for your “calorie intake.” Foods high in protein are going to give you an abundance of nutrients in exchange for relatively few calories.

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