Most of my clients know the healthy eating drill pretty well – keep your fats down, eat plenty of fruits and veggies, make most of your whole grains and focus on low fat protein. But many of them have adopted some eating habits that they truly believe are healthy – and I have to spend some time trying to convince them otherwise. These eating habits sound like they’re healthy – but they really end up being less so when they’re put into practice. Are your eating habits as healthy as you think they are? Read more »

You can always tell when it’s the start of a New Year.  Everywhere you turn – newspapers, magazines, radio, television or the internet – there’s another article about how to shape up.

I’ve already had visits from several patients who are ready to ‘turn over a new leaf’ for the New Year, but what I often find is this – with this flood of diet and fitness information coming at them, many of my patients have more questions than solutions.  Should they go vegetarian? Stay away from fruit?  Not eat after 5 pm?  Throw away the salt shaker?  The list goes on and on.  So today, I’m turning to you – what nutrition questions are on your mind?  Let me know what you’re wondering about …and check back here in the upcoming weeks to find the answers.

People often ask me if there are certain foods that they should – or shouldn’t – eat at the same time.  Some people have heard, for example, that “if you don’t eat proteins and carbs at the same meal, you’ll lose weight” – but a study published about ten years ago¹ debunked that idea.  On the other hand, there is another concept around ‘food combining’– sometimes called food synergy – which recognizes that certain foods offer bit more nutritional benefit when eaten together than if you eat them separately.  Think of it as a nutritional ‘one and one makes three’. Read more »

As professional cyclists are racing down the coast in the Tour of California this week, I wanted to share these ideas from Dr. John Heiss of Herbalife on how to ‘Eat to Compete – 5 Reasons Why Endurance Athletes Need Fuel 24/7.’

1.  Athletes need to fuel up in the morning, since their stored fuel reserves will have dropped during an overnight fast.  Training and racing take a toll on the body, and starting the day with a healthy meal balanced with carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals provides a solid nutritional foundation for performance.  

2.  Hydration is an essential need all people share.  Because hydration directly impacts athletic performance, it is even more important for athletes to keep fluid levels topped off – especially during an event as demanding as a multi-day tour when cyclists can lose multiple liters of fluid in a single stage. Hydration is essential, as are electrolytes – important body salts which support proper muscle function and help regulate body temperature.   It’s important to hydrate during the event, but also important to sip fluid throughout the day to fully rehydrate before the next stage.  Sports drinks provide not only necessary fluid, but also electrolytes that have been lost through perspiration.  Sports drinks contribute carbohydrates, too, to help fuel working muscles during the event.

3.  Carbohydrates are the primary fuel during exercise and they’re essential to keep the body running.  In an endurance race, calories are king and getting enough is essential for performance.  Making sure to get plenty of carbohydrates both before and during the race is key, and proper nutrition on the bike also helps shorten recovery time, which is very important in a multi-day event.  In addition to carbohydrates, a small amount of protein during exercise can help speed recovery.  

4.  After a race, the body needs the right ratios of carbohydrates and protein to begin recovering.  Recovery is two-fold, and requires carbohydrate for replacing glycogen stores as well as protein for rebuilding damaged muscle.    

5.  Supplementation in a race is essential, as the nutritional needs of cyclists are so extreme that they can’t be met with food alone.  But that being said, it is important to keep in mind that supplementation is just that – a supplement to a regular healthy diet.  Every athlete should get the majority of their calories and nutrients from whole foods, primarily healthy sources of healthy carbohydrates – whole grains, fruits and vegetables – and protein from lean meats, poultry, fish, low fat dairy products and plant sources such as soy.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD. Susan is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

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). Read more »

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

Fresh fruit equals good nutrition.

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. Read more »

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. Read more »

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. Read more »