According to the National Institutes of Health the average American adult gains one pound every holiday season. Those who are already overweight tend to gain even more. Unfortunately that weight is usually there to stay; holiday weight gain is the primary reason weight creeps upwards with age. With so many reasons to overeat during the holidays, it’s surprising we don’t gain more. The holidays are traditionally a time for feasting and drinking. But historically, this occurred in the context of food scarcity; many pilgrims starved to death before food sources were established, and abundance was something to be celebrated. We hardly need to celebrate food abundance today, but that hasn’t stopped us from bringing out the cookies, cakes and pies for the holidays. We combine this with alcohol, which impairs inhibitions, stimulates appetite and intensifies the brain’s reward center in response to food! Then there’s stress. Our already challenging to-do lists expand during the holida…

We all want to get the most out of our diet and there has been much talk about supposed Superfoods that are more nutritionally dense then other foods. For most, these fruits and vegetables, with a few meats and dairy, are the Holy Grail of foods.People expect them to turn their lives around, but these so-called superfoods aren’t the miracles they appear to be. Many people don’t understand what a superfood is and how vitamin and mineral supplements can be just as good.What Are Superfoods?There aren’t any criteria put forth by the Food and Drug Administration on the definition of a superfood. It is commonly assumed they contain high levels of vitamins and minerals without a lot of calories. People get more bang for their buck. One of the most important aspects of superfoods is the number of antioxidants. Free radicals are negative biological elements in the body that can lead to a number of issues from heart disease to cancer.Antioxidants can decrease or even reverse the impa…

Do you eat to live or live to eat? Neither could be called a healthy relationship with food. Eating to live—using food simply as fuel—takes the joy out of one of life’s great pleasures. On the other hand, giving food too much importance, either by living only for our next meal or obsessing lest we eat too much or eat the wrong things, isn’t a joyful or healthy relationship either.In a healthy relationship, we would look forward to our encounters with food. We would respond appropriately to our hunger cues by supplying ourselves with nourishing and tasty food (in the words of nutrition expert Mark Hyman, MD, “foods we love that love us back”), and we would eat until satisfied and no more. We would trust our body cues to maintain a weight that is perfect for us (although it might not conform to the latest fashion). But according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), almost 10% of our population is struggling with one or more of the thre…

How much thought do you give to dietary fiber? If you’re like most of us, it’s not a priority—but it should be! Dietary fiber is one of the most important determinants of your health! Almost everyone today does not get enough fiber in their diet. Our lack of fiber awareness has created a health crisis. Lack of fiber is a major contributor to our epidemic of chronic disease and can be a significant factor in causing diabetes, cancer, heart disease, obesity, depression and other mental illness, allergies, autoimmune syndromes, and infections.   Why is fiber so important? Dietary fiber, plant material that can’t be digested, is essential to our health because it nourishes the healthy flora in our guts known as the microbiome and helps to maintain the health of our gut tissue. Your health is completely dependent on the health of your gut flora. Healthy flora helps to digest our food and enhance the absorption of nutrients. They produce certain essential vitam…

About 75% of the American population is chronically dehydrated, and it’s seriously undermining their health.  Even the remaining 25% could benefit from drinking more water than they do. The problem is easily fixed—just drink more water—but most people don’t realize that waiting to get thirsty isn’t enough to ward off mild dehydration, nor do they realize what’s at stake.    Even mild dehydration stresses every system in your body and can lead to fatigue, feeling groggy, irritability, loss of focus, impaired memory, headaches, muscle cramps/weakness, pain, poor digestion, nausea, constipation, increased allergy reactions and asthma symptoms, bad breath, sugar cravings and false hunger, dry skin, increased heart rate and higher risk of heart attack and stroke. Dehydration lowers metabolism, thwarting weight loss; good hydration helps weight loss by making the conversion of stored fat into energy more efficiently.  Dehydration can make any pai…