Fueled by media reports of health benefits coupled with convincing marketing materials, fish oil supplements have now become the 3rd most widely used dietary supplement in the US. Fish oil supplements provide omega-3 fatty acids, whose reported benefits include reducing…
You may have noticed that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans have been a hot topic in the news lately. That’s because the group of health and nutrition experts charged with updating them recently released their recommendations. Why is this important?…
Chances are you know someone with high blood pressure, or hypertension. According to the Centers for Disease Control, almost 1/3 of all Americans suffer from hypertension, characterized by a blood pressure measuring 140/90 mmHg or more (normal blood pressure is…
If you’ve been following the vaccine debate, you know that enough people are convinced that the potential risk of vaccination is greater than its benefits that we are experiencing an upswing in cases of measles, a disease once thought to…
On Friday December 5th I flew out to San Francisco to observe and provide crew support for a former student who recently joined the ultra-running world and quickly achieved elite status. He would be running the next day in…
“I qualified as an elite!” When my former student proudly told me this, and gleefully said that he had been asked to compete in The North Face Endurance Challenge Championship Race in the Marin Headlands, the sports nutritionist in me…
First there was the sports drink. Modeled after rehydration fluids used for medical purposes, sports drinks provide fluid, electrolytes (sodium and potassium) and an energy source (sugar). These drinks can be more effective than water in aiding performance as they…
The media was all over it. “A Call for a Low-Carb Diet That Embraces Fat” announced Anahad O’Connor in the New York Times (9-1-14) . Even Medscape Medical News responded to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine…
Nuts are often avoided by those following low-fat or low-calorie diets. After all, 1 cup of shelled pistachios have 702 calories, 67% of which are from fat. Recent research has suggested, though, that the type of fat as well as…
Earlier this year the Environmental Working Group (EWG) issued a report that examined the levels of vitamin A, zinc, and niacin in fortified foods. They found that fortified cereals and snack bars could lead to an excessive intake of these…