Everywhere we go, we are assaulted by claims of “Enriched with Vitamin C!”, “Added B vitamins!”, “More Vitamin A than the leading brand!”, and so on. We all know that vitamins and minerals are essential to the proper balance and function of our bodies, but which supplements are vital and necessary to our health and well being, and which might we avoid, lest we end up with an expensive bathroom trip? Here are my top five choices for essential supplements:
- Calcium – According to the National Institute of Health, the recommended total calcium intake is 1,000 mg a day for women between 25 and 50 years of age, 1,200 – 1,500 for pregnant or lactating women, and 1,500 mg per day for postmenopausal women. The average calcium consumption among North American women is currently only 600 mg per day. I take a calcium magnesium supplement and find that it really helps me with nighttime leg cramps.
For some, cottage cheese is an abhorred diet food. But to others like myself, I go through cottage cheese like water. For me, it’s a near perfect food – low-fat, low-carb and filled with satiating protein and bone-strengthening calcium.
Therefore, when on a recent trip to Whole Foods, I discovered Rachel’s Wickedly Delicious single-servings of cottage cheese, I knew I had found a gem of a food find.
That is why, this week, We Love Rachel’s Cottage Cheese.
The dairy lovers at Rachel’s took plain ole cottage cheese and jazzed it up with sun-dried tomatoes, cranberries, dill, cucumbers and all sort of other tantalizing seasonings, including fruits and veggies. So rather than you adding a bit of this and a bit of that to your cottage cheese, Rachel’s does it for you. Trust us food-lovers, here at DietsInReview, this is no ordinary cottage cheese; This is as gourmet as cottage cheese can get.
While we’ve always been told to bone-up on our calcium intake to strengthen our bones, there may be an unlikely helper – moderate alcohol drinking.
A new study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says that one or two drinks a day can improve your bone density. The study looked at the effect moderate drinking has on older men and women. It included 1,182 men, 1,289 post-menopausal women, and 248 pre-menopausal women, from as young as 29, to 86.
The lead researcher, Dr. Katherine Tucker of Tufts University, says that it’s not the alcohol (of course), but the high silicone content and resveratrol in beer and wine that benefit our bones. Liquor has less of a positive effect.
This week, we love Greek Yogurt. For breakfast, a mid-afternoon snack or even as a dessert, this creamy and super nutritious snack is one of our trusted go-to foods.
Greek yogurt has a tangier and richer texture than most other yogurts. Sorry Dannon and Yoplait, but when it comes to nutrition, Greek yogurt has you beat. With 15 to 20 grams of protein, 25% of your calcium needs, immune-boosting live bacteria and 120 to 150 calories per serving, it is no wonder that Greek yogurt has become a staple food for health devotees and nutrition connoisseurs.
Greek yogurt has a heaven-sent texture of being super rich and yet also light and fluffy at the same time. The most popular brands are FAGE (pronounced “fa-yeh”) and Oikos, but specialty stores like Trader Joe’s have their own brands as well. Most varieties come in full-fat, reduced-fat and fat-free versions. Trust us: They are all divinely decadent!
While the possibilities of eating Greek Yogurt are endless, we like ours best topped with crushed almonds, fresh berries and drizzled with honey.
It’s likely that you’ve been on a diet at one point in your life. And everyone can easily name a few friends or family members who’ve been on one. Did you succeed? Did they? Or did you find yourself right back where you started? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, then you’ve likely made one or some of the most common dieting mistakes.
1. Have you ever followed a crash or fad diet? These are the ones that promise unrealistic weight loss, like 10 pounds in a week, or have you consume terribly low calories, like >1000 each day.
2. Skipped breakfast to stay on schedule? You can get where you need to be sooner and you’ll save yourself a few hundred calories, that’s what you’re telling yourself. However, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day and you should make the time to eat it.
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