With the warm weather comes a plethora of farmer's markets that sprout up every spring. They can be an overwhelming experience, with so many stands and so much fresh produce to navigate. Here are my tips for making your trip to the farmer's market cost-effective, successful, and fun.
I think the common problem for most people is that fish is not part of their regular routine, and because of this, many are not comfortable or don't know how to cook fish. I know this is the case for me. I'm a fish out of water when it comes to cooking fish, so to speak.
I couldn't have been much more than 7 or 8 years old the first time I remember being recruited for a nutrition label recon mission. I may not have understood exactly why at the time, but I was scouting for the words "partially hydrogenated."
I would say it is unfortunate that the weight-loss pills, programs, and bonus DVDs haven't really worked out, but now that I'm a foodist, I see the failure of the dieting industry to make us thinner or healthier as one of the luckiest mess-ups of our generation.
Truly, Mark Bittman's new book Vegan Before Six is offering a way of eating that could be transformational: Readers will lose weight (if they have weight to lose), have more energy, and suffer much lower risk for diabetes and heart disease. And animals and the earth will be better off.
The irony is that we're in a culture in which energy is sold in tiny, expensive bottles or packaged in cellophane with an energy promise printed on the label. In fact, real food will give you real energy -- the key is making sure what you're eating isn't draining you of it.
Time and money are the biggest perceived obstacles to eating well. Neither is real. We have bought in to the insidious marketing messages: "You deserve a break today." Give me a break!
What we eat, nutritional deficiencies, how we move (or don't move), and stress levels all impact our well-being. Here are a few simple strategies you can use to take care of the following common health problems.
As a physician, I always encourage patients to make lifestyle changes to improve their health. We aren't able to change our genetic makeup, but we should choose what we eat more carefully because the right foods may be able to prevent kidney disease.
A new study out of Temple University suggests that one solution to helping kids eat less is to give them smaller plates. With childhood obesity rates so high, we need effective strategies to help youngsters eat more healthfully and eat less.
"On occasions when they ask why they can't have Cheetos, Froot Loops or yogurt in a tube I tell them it's because these things aren't real food. They taste good, but they don't help their bodies grow strong or give them big muscles."
I work out. I rarely eat baguettes, cheese or chocolate (except when on assignment -- I'm a food writer). And like many women, I like to fit into a small pair of jeans. But I wanted it both ways when I spent a week in Paris with two girlfriends last summer.
We've all been there. Those moments of boredom, exhaustion or sadness when we reach for a slice of cake or a bag of chips because they're there, we're craving a sugar rush or we think they'll make us feel better. Try as we might, maintaining a healthy diet is difficult for most Americans.
So many of us have been taught that we need to "weigh less in order to live more," but I really believe we have to live more in order to weigh less. We have to stop waiting on the weight and start having fun -- only then will we finally stop being a slave to food and get out of body jail.
The cause of obesity is complex, to be sure -- increased stress, environmental toxins, our sedentary lifestyle, and our sleeplessness as a nation all play a role. But the elephant in the room here is our toxic industrial food supply, specifically sugar.
The sustainability of our planet, our health, and our food supply are inextricably linked. The ecology of eating -- the importance of what you put on your fork -- has never been more critical to our survival as a nation or as a species. The earth will survive our self-destruction, but we may not.
Due to its worldwide popularity, coffee is probably the greatest source of antioxidants in the global diet. And while having lots of it isn't recommended for everyone, for some of us, it may just be the superfood of the century. Here are nine reasons to start the day with this healing drink.
Fast food restaurants aren't able to tout strong nutritional value or low fat in their burgers, burritos and shakes. So they're hoping by saying their food is fresh you'll falsely assume it's healthy. As if our country's obesity epidemic has been caused by people splurging on frozen foods.
While some habits are commonly accepted as unhealthy, there are other everyday behaviors that don't seem harmful but in actuality may be damaging your body. Could you be harming your kidneys without realizing it?
Anyone living and eating in the modern world, and paying even a little attention, knows that we are a very long way from eating food, not too much, mostly plants. Not only does our food come mostly in bags, boxes, bottles, jars and cans -- but mostly, it isn't really food.
