5 Lessons Learned from Going Sugar-Free for 10 Days
The World Health Organization recommends that we consume less than 25 grams of added sugar per day, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) just updated their dietary guidelines to recommend people consume less than 10 percent of calories per day from added sugars. Do you know how much added sugar the average American—myself included—actually consumes daily? Eighty-three grams, more than triple what our most esteemed health orgs suggest. Yikes. As if weight gain and cavities weren’t enough, high sugar intake has also been linked to diabetes, heart disease, and breast cancer—it’s enough to scare anyone into taking a closer look at their diet. I consider myself a healthy eater. I know to add protein or fiber to every meal, avoid processed foods, and eat my fruits and veggies. I don’t have a candy or two-a-day soda addiction to kick to the curb, but a big…
22 Overlooked Kitchen Tools That Deserve Your Attention
A couple weeks ago, while I was at home cooking dinner with a friend, I reached for a pair of kitchen shears to cut up bacon. We were making some kind of salad with bacon bits in it, and rather than using a knife—which can be difficult because bacon is slippery and gummy—I decided kitchen shears were the better tool for the job. Sure, it looked kind of funny, but it made the whole process way easier. My friend, however, was in complete shock as she saw me take the shears to the bacon like a preschooler cutting up construction paper. She’d only ever used them to cut open packages or plastic containers, things you’d conventionally use scissors on. She’d never used them to prep food, but she swore that was about to change. The whole incident got me wondering: How many…
Major supermarkets recall more frozen vegetable products amid listeria fears: do you have them in your freezer?
Lidl, Aldi, Tesco, Iceland, Waitrose and Sainsburys all originally urged customers to check their freezers for a list of 43 products and return them, for fear that they could contain the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause listeriosis. And now, a further six have been added to the list, making a total of 49, as fears grow. Some of the new products being recalled including ones from the brand Oriental Express. The move to recall the products was made after health organisations revealed that a recent outbreak of listeriorsis across Europe had been linked to frozen vegetables that weren’t cooked properly. The European (Efsa), shared that there has been 47 cases of listeriosis since the 8th June. Reportedly, the 11 people in the UK have been affected by listeriosis since 2015 – and two people have died, last…
9 Things Nutritionists Say You Should Eat Less in 2018
Although it’s totally unnecessary to eliminate certain foods or entire food groups in the name of health, if you have grand aspirations to eat just a little bit healthier in 2018, registered dietitians recommend moderating your intake of these: 1. DIET SODA Soda gets a bad rep for its high sugar content, but emerging science suggests diet soda made with artificial sweeteners is no better, since the stuff may be linked to a reduced sensitivity to sweets and lead to greater cravings for them, according to registered dietitian Maya Feller, who’s based in Brooklyn, New York. “Drinking diet soda does not seem to encourage the majority of its drinkers to make healthier choices,” she says, speaking to the increasingly irrefutable research. 2. ARTIFICIALLY-COLORED FOODS Registered dietitian Frances Largeman-Roth, author of Eating in Color, says many of the colorful foods that went viral in 2017 contain artificial…
My Fast Food Addiction Almost Ruined My Life
I gave up fast food because it was killing my spirit and probably my body too. Fast food used to be my crutch. Each time I’d receive disappointing news, get into the headspace of not being “good enough,” feel fat (ironic much?), or have a hangover, I would buy fast food. It was so easy. When I was younger, I had become idle in pursuing my passions. I was addicted to harmful romantic relationships and completely detached from my body. I used to have a ritual of starting each Sunday like this: Brunch with my girlfriends, which would turn into mimosas on the beach, followed by a movie, so we could take a nap. On my route home, feeling tired, hungry, and sad, I would pass a McDonald’s, a Taco Bell, and a Wendy’s, side by side. For a while my pattern was to go…
McDonald’s Breakfast Sandwiches Might Be Linked to 22 Food Poisoning Cases
Fresh off of the news that McDonald’s was pulling salads from about 3,000 locations after a parasite outbreak that infected at least 436 people, the chain is now dealing with another possible issue with food safety, though on a much smaller scale. As Business Insider reports, 22 people have reported that they have become sick with common food poisoning symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea between the dates of August 4 to 21. The New York Department of Health interviewed 15 of those people, and they all said that they had eaten breakfast sandwiches at a McDonald’s location in Jamestown, New York. “McDonald’s is fully cooperating with this investigation and is readily following all recommendations of the State and County Health Departments while this investigation continues,” the department said in a collaborative statement with the Chautauqua County Department of Health. The franchise’s owner has temporarily…