Author: Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N, CNS

I have another little piece of bonus content for you. A little something extra between our regular episodes of the Nutrition Diva podcast. I really wanted to share a response to a study that has been getting a lot of publicity. And this was another study that was linking the consumption of ultra processed foods or UPFs to all kinds of chronic diseases. You probably saw it in the headlines. And this is just the latest in a very long string of similar studies showing this connection between the consumption of ultra processed foods and various. Health conditions and disease…

There’s a new series on Netflix called “You Are What You Eat,” one of a growing number of documentary films advocating for vegan diets. I don’t have enough time to go through the entire series point by point. But in this review written by my colleague Abby Langer, she raises some excellent points about the various claims made. But I want to point out that these filmmakers are not seeking to present a balanced view of a complex topic in order to allow you to come to your own conclusions. They know what conclusion they want you to draw, and they…

Food as medicine: A different approach The notion of food as medicine is certainly nothing new. You’ve probably heard the saying “Let food be thy medicine.” This is usually credited to the ancient Greek writer and physician Hippocrates. While this phrase does not actually appear in his written texts, he did believe that food and nutrition play key roles in health and medicine. And now, 25 centuries later, the Food as Medicine movement is gaining steam as an organizing principle of medicine. While I think the movement is well-intentioned, I would like to push back on the idea that food…

Are you participating in Dryuary (or Dry January) this year? If so, you have plenty of company! This month-long observation, in which people commit to abstaining from alcohol during January, originally started as a public health campaign in the UK in 2013. It has since grown in popularity and become a world-wide phenomenon, with millions of people participating every year. Similar events are now sprinkled throughout the calendar, including Sober October, Sober Spring, and Dry July. There are a few converging phenomena playing into this. During the pandemic, we heard a lot about a pretty dramatic increase in alcohol consumption,…

Nutrition Diva listener Holly wants to know whether mushrooms are a vegetable. And the short answer is: No. But I think we should grant them honorary vegetable status. Technically, mushrooms are not vegetables because mushrooms are not plants. They are a type of fungi–a biological kingdom that also includes molds and yeasts. In some ways, fungi are actually more similar to animals than plants. While plants are able to produce their own food through the process of photosynthesis–which, as you should remember from 6th grade science, involves converting sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates, or energy.  It’s really quite…

This article, and episode 731 of the podcast (listen in the player above), was prompted by an email from Sandi, who wanted to know if I’d ever done a podcast on creatine. Sandi is 75 years old and apparently something of a “super senior.” She says that her personal trainer has recommended creatine for both its muscle-building benefits as well as for cognitive function. Creatine is one of the few topics I haven’t covered over the course of the last 15 years. To be honest, I thought of it primarily as a supplement for bodybuilders—so I left it for my…

I have gotten a ton of questions recently on a compound called berberine. Is it safe and/or beneficial? So, let’s talk about berberine, a natural compound that has been gaining a lot of attention lately. This molecule is found in a variety of different plants that are used in herbal medicine, including goldenseal, Oregon grape (which, despite the name, is unrelated to the grapes we eat or make into wine), and an herb known as Chinese goldthread. Berberine benefits There are a lot of different health benefits popularly attributed to berberine, including cardiovascular, neuroprotective, and immune-boosting properties. Most of these…

Fiber may seem like a somewhat frumpy nutrient, but it is actually one of the hottest nutrition topics right now. That’s partly because fiber plays such a big role in the health and function of the gut microbiota. And anything to do with the microbiome is trending—for good reason! Fiber 411 The way we define and categorize fiber has also gotten a complete overhaul in recent years. We used to think of fiber simply as “roughage;” the parts of plants that our digestive system could not break down and convert into energy. The list of benefits attributed to fiber now include reduced…

Today we’re going to talk about how to lower high triglycerides. But first, a quick listener Q & A. Ken writes: “Strolling through the farmers market last weekend, we came across a merchant selling blue-shelled eggs, who claimed that their eggs were lower cholesterol than typical tan or white-shelled eggs. Is there any evidence supporting their claim?” Cholesterol in Eggs The cholesterol content of eggs does vary somewhat, according to the breed of chicken, its age, and the type of feed and housing conditions. And there is a rumor that the lovely, pale blue-green eggs, produced by a South American…

I recently had an episode about the difference between powdered cacao and cocoa powder. But the day AFTER that episode was released, Consumer Reports published their findings that many popular brands of dark chocolate contained concerning amounts of lead and cadmium.  You can also listen to that episode by clicking this player while you keep reading.  My inbox filled up with emails from listeners asking how to evaluate or avoid this threat. So today, in light of the inbox and the upcoming Valentine’s holiday, I have part two of my unplanned series on the benefits and risks of chocolate. Specifically,…