What do bagged spinach, canned tuna, olive oil, granola bars and frozen burritos have in common? They all are processed foods. Yet, we have been inundated with warnings about the harmful effects of eating processed foods. In fact, these foods have been blamed for our nation’s obesity epidemic, high blood pressure rates and the rise…
When it comes to discussing behavior change and nutrition with your clients, it is outside of your scope of practice as a health and exercise professional to provide psychological counseling or detailed menu plans (unless you have additional credentials in that field). However, if you aren’t talking to your clients about their health behaviors and…
Carbohydrates: Why are They So Confusing? Carbohydrates can be a source of confusion for athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike, many of whom believe they should avoid pasta, bagels, juice, bananas, sugar… the list goes on. In reality, people who are physically inactive whose bodies do not readily metabolize carbohydrates may need to take a different…
The American Cancer Society has updated its guidelines on diet and physical activity for cancer prevention, identifying the four key elements of reducing a person’s lifetime risk of developing or dying from cancer: Staying at a healthy weight Staying active throughout life Following a healthy eating pattern Avoiding or limiting alcohol consumption Only “not smoking”…
Just a few days before the calendar turned to 2021, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health & Human Services released the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. This document is updated and published every five years, with the intention to present the most current scientific evidence about what people should eat and…
Imagine a world where packaged foods and drinks do not contain consistent and uniform nutrition facts labels. Consider how challenging it would be to make healthy food choices regarding the quality and quantity of the foods you consume. This was the case before 1990, when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) passed the Nutrition Labeling…
March is National Nutrition Month® (NNM), an annual campaign from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association). This year’s theme, “Personalize your Plate,” invites people to learn about making informed food choices and developing healthful eating and physical-activity habits. Because there is no single approach to optimal nutrition, programming should be…
This article is from our friends over at Precision Nutrition and is republished here with their permission. Check out the Precision Nutrition course! There is no perfect person (No matter how awesome you are.) Yet when many of us contemplate a health plan, weight-loss program or other lifestyle change, we start with the expectation that…
This article is from our friends over at Precision Nutrition and is republished here with their permission. Check out the Precision Nutrition course! When it comes to nutrition, there’s plenty we don’t know Although it may be hard to accept, the jury’s still out on, for example, red meat, eggs, low-carb versus low-fat, and Paleo…
This article is from our friends over at Precision Nutrition and is republished here with their permission. Check out the Precision Nutrition course! “You’re either with me, or you’re against me.” This kind of binary mindset does fuel plenty of heated debates. Especially when it comes to one topic in particular: “calories in vs. calories out,” or…