Food and Diet. Find daily health food tips and ideas from Dr. David Samadi. Discover healthy food for healthy living. Explore major food issues and debates related to health such as buying and cooking with organic food, genetically modified food (GMO versus Non-GMO), nutrition, dieting epidemic, obesity, disease prevention, best digestion foods.
Athletes, whether weekend or pro, what to know what foods are best for enhancing athletic performance, help speed up recovery and build muscle mass. There are certain foods that have scientifically been shown to appear to have that athletic enhancing ability helping a person reach their peak performance.
Read MoreDiscerning between food truths and food myths is really hard sometimes. There is a multitude of some excellent nutrition advice to extremely bad to downright dangerous nutrition advice. As a consumer and partaker of food (we all are), knowing the truth of how to follow a healthy, nutritious diet can get lost in the shuffle of nutrition myths that have grown exponentially over the years.
Read MoreIt’s a commonality we all share – finding healthy foods that create a full but not a stuffed feeling. What we are really looking for are foods giving us a feeling of satiety - the perception of fullness that lingers in the hours after a meal and keeps us from eating until the next mealtime.
Read MoreHave you ever tried mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes? How about chocolate cake made with black beans? Probably not your usual method of cooking but making healthy swaps with not-so-healthy ingredients is becoming more popular as people are becoming more aware and informed about what they eat.
Read MoreGrocery shopping – you either love it, hate it or maybe you are somewhere in between. No matter how you feel about it, we have to eat in order to live so we might as well be good at it.
Read MoreAccording to a new study, it looks like there are 10 influential foods that could make or break your risk of heart disease. Ten foods that are attributed to almost half of all heart disease deaths in the United States. Research conducted at Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy came up with this list after reviewing 16,000 individual’s surveys from 1999-2012. During that time span, the participants kept food diaries of what they ate and then were followed during that time to assess their health.
Read MoreWhile men have been warned away from soy, there are new reasons to believe it can save women's lives. A recent study from Tufts University in Massachusetts investigated the link between dietary intake of the isoflavones found in soy products and breast cancer mortality, and unearthed some surprising data.
Read MoreIf you want to make sure every chamber is loaded and you're not shooting blanks, better crack open a walnut.
Read MorePeople often ask me “What kinds of food should I be buying and which foods should I not?” I could rattle off a long list of both healthy and not so healthy foods but instead I’ve narrowed it down to just 3 foods to always buy and 3 foods to seldom buy.
Read MoreAmaranth, teff, spelt, kamut, freekeh, farro – strange sounding words for grains most mainstream shoppers were unfamiliar with just a few years ago. But now, they are turning the grocery store grain aisle into a hotspot attracting consumers looking for healthier alternatives to wheat.
Read MoreTurmeric. Turmeric is an important spice for the liver. It supports enzymes in the liver which help rid the organ of harmful dietary toxins, such as carcinogens. Turmeric also promotes the production of bile in the liver, which helps our bodies digest fats in the small intestine.
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Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, corn, or another cereal is a grain product. This includes bread, pasta, oatmeal and grits are all grain products. There are two main types of grain products: whole grains and refined grains.
Whole grains contain the entire grain (bran, germ and endosperm). Ex: whole wheat, oats/oatmeal, rye, barley, corn, popcorn, brown rice, wild rice, buckwheat, triticale, bulgur, millet, quinoa, and sorghum. Refined grains have been ground into flour or meal which results in the bran and germ being removed. This gives grains a finer texture and improves their shelf life. This process removes some important nutrients, including B-vitamins, iron and dietary fiber. Ex: wheat flour, enriched bread and white rice.
Whole grains are nutritious because they have a lower glycemic index. They lead to a smaller rise and fall in blood-sugar levels after a meal than refined grains do. Including whole grains in your diet plan may help you reach or manage a healthy weight.
Whole grains contain important source of many nutrients:
· Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3 and Vitamin B9
· Folate (folic acid & B vitamin) helps the body form new cells and can prevent certain birth defects
· Iron is used to carry oxygen in the blood
· Magnesium is a mineral that is involved in more than 300 processes in the body.
· Selenium is important for a healthy immune system and regulating thyroid hormone action
It is important to include a variety of grains in your eating plan because grains differ in their nutrient content. Whole grains can be a good source of fiber - refined grains usually are not
Choose whole grain foods that contain one of the following ingredients first on the label’s ingredient list:
· Whole wheat, graham flour
· Oatmeal
· Whole oats
· Brown rice
· Wild rice
· Whole-grain corn
· Popcorn
· Whole-grain barley
· Whole-wheat bulgur and whole rye
Men and women have one thing in common when it comes to weight loss – they will do whatever it takes to get the weight off fast. One method individuals commonly resort to for fast weight loss is fad diets. Fad diets promise dramatic weight loss results but their unfounded promises usually do not result in keeping the weight off long term and are not considered a healthy way to lose unwanted pounds.
Read MoreWhat did you have for breakfast today? If you’re trying to lose extra pounds or prevent them to begin with, consuming a high protein breakfast may be an answer. There’s more research than ever demonstrating how a high-protein breakfast is being used as a successful strategy in promoting weight loss and/or preventing weight gain both in teenagers and adults.
Read MoreHave you ever started getting real snappy with people for no reason at all? Has it always been after not eating for a few hours? Do you feel instantly better once you have a meal? What you are experiencing is the feeling of being “hangry”, a real thing.
Read Moreoy is a protein made from the soybean plant. It has garnered much attention and almost become somewhat trendy in the food and health industry as being a nutritiously edible bean with multiple uses. It is rich in omega-3 fats, B-vitamins, zinc, iron, polyunsaturated fat, fiber, phytochemicals and antioxidants. Soy is most popular among vegetarians as they use soy protein as a replacement for animal protein. Soy can be found in foods such as edamame, tofu, soy milk, and tempeh.
Read MoreThey say everything in moderation, however with junk food, it's important to stay as far away as possible. Junk food, especially processed foods are simply never a good idea. The problem is, sometimes it can be hard to decipher what junk food is. Some things common sense tell us to stay away from, even though fighting cravings can feel impossible. Other foods seem healthy, but are just junk food in disguise. What should we be cutting from out diet, forever?
Read MoreIt’s hard to tell from week to week whether fat is supposed to be your friend or your foe. When we talk about fats, understand it’s the type of fat that matters. There are really good, healthy fats for you – monounsaturated and polyunsaturated - and then there are the not-so-good fats you should avoid – saturated and trans fat. Being able to sort out the “wheat from the chaff” or in this case, the “healthy fats from the unhealthy fats” can set you on the path towards making smart choices impacting your health.
Read MoreAlthough most are preventable, foodborne illnesses continue to be a big problem in the United States. It seems as if every few months we hear about another food-borne illness outbreak, whether it is caused by the well-known culprits Salmonella and E. coli, or less familiar organisms like Listeria, or Vibrio. The CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) estimates that there are almost 50 million illnesses linked to foodborne illness annually. Why are these outbreaks so common and how can you stay safe?
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