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April 13, 2011

A Muffin Top May Cause Brittle Bones

Hi Everyone! When you hear the word osteoporosis, do you think about yourself or your family? Protecting your bones is likely not at the top of your to-do list. Maybe you down a calcium supplement when you think about it…but that’s about it.

What if I told you there are simple smart choices you can make to keep your bones and your kids’ bones healthy? The goal is to prevent thinning of your bones and fractures down the road.

Joining me on this week’s podcast to talk about four easy ways to protect your bones is Regina Ragone, registered dietitian and Food Director at Family Circle magazine.

You may be shocked to hear that extra weight around your middle can lead to bone loss. The first prime way to protect bones is to lose weight around the middle. A recent study from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School found that women who had high amounts of visceral (belly) fat had less bone mineral density than women who did not.

Call it a muffin top or menopot but this belly fat appears to produce an inflammatory response in the body, which can accelerate bone loss.


Just as important is to eat more calcium-rich foods at every age…a must-do for preventing bone loss and osteoporosis. Did you know that the best way for your body to absorb calcium is from food sources versus supplements? Milk, yogurt, cheese, spinach, almonds, fortified soy milk and cereals are all sources of calcium.

If you find it hard to get enough calcium through food, supplement with calcium citrate. Take it after meals since food helps with absorption of calcium from the supplement.


Each month Family Circle shares a tasty recipe with us. If you’re in the mood for Mexican, you’ll want to try the Turkey-Vegetable Fajitas with a simple Avocado & Tomato Salsa on the side. With a fresh marinade of lime and orange juices plus ancho chili powder, cumin, and a host of veggies, it’s time to get your family in the kitchen to cook together.

Want more? Listen to this week’s podcast below. Don’t forget you can now find our podcast with Family Circle at familycircle.com, keyword ‘podcast’.

Listen to this week’s podcast


November 3, 2010

Five Foods to Help Fight Colds and Flu

Hi everyone…how are you doing this week? Did you notice that we changed the name of the blog to Diet Tricks…Fresh Tips on Food, Nutrition & Health? Thank you for your input and feedback. I hope you like the change.

A few weeks back I caught a nasty cold that turned into a sinus infection (more than you want to know) on a flight from LA to Orlando. When you feel like someone hit you in the head with a sledgehammer, your food selections can help fortify your immune system and help with some of your cold and flusymptoms.

Healthy food, which provides an array of needed nutrients to your body such as vitamins and minerals, is essential for optimum function of the immune response.

So, first up on your list of cold and flu fighting foods:

1. Vitamin D-rich foods. The research is young but the bottom line is that adequate vitamin D in the diet everyday (most people do not get enough) has a role in overall immune function. New on the research front…mushrooms are an excellent source of vitamin D. When exposed to ultraviolet light under controlled conditions, the natural ergosterol in mushrooms converts to vitamin D. This concept is along the same lines as when humans absorb sunlight through the skin and convert it to vitamin D. So, add mushrooms to your salad, omelets and pizza.

2. Hot Tea: all types of tea including green, black, white and red offer health benefits in the form of antioxidants. Besides feeling really good on your throat and warming your body when you have the chills, hot liquids temporarily thin out the mucus in the nose and throat. Here’s a little unexpected tip. Regular tea (not decaf) contains enough caffeine to gives you a slight energy boost when you feel so bad you don’t want to lift your head off the pillow.

3. Blueberries, red peppers, kiwi and other vitamin C-rich foods: Surprise, most people don’t think about red peppers but they are a very nice source of vitamin C and potassium. By the way, so are potatoes. Add them both to your chicken soup or bake a potato quickly in the microwave when you don’t have much of an appetite.

Other vitamin C-rich foods include blackberries, cherries, tomatoes, broccoli and the traditional sources you think of such as tangerines, oranges, grapefruit pineapple and strawberries.

4. Chicken Soup: The zinc found in chicken is good for your immunity. Load chicken soup up with garlic, onions, red peppers, potatoes and lots of broth.  The veggie-loaded broth will help ease congestion and thin out mucous. If Mom isn’t around to make that chicken soup for you, there are some really good canned versions on the market.  Be sure and shop for a lower sodium version as canned soups can be over the top when it comes to added salt and sodium.

5. Spicy foods such as hot sauce, wasabi, chili or spicy sauces help to temporarily open sinuses and help with congestion. A bowl of chili or spicy tortilla soup with a dash of hot sauce may cause your nose to run and eyes to tear but right now, that could be a good thing.

For more information, listen to this week’s podcast below.

Listen to this week’s podcast


June 10, 2009

Can Your Calcium Intake Affect Weight Loss?

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For the past few years research has been back and forth on the role of calcium in weight loss. A new study in the March issue of the British Journal of Nutrition looked at overweight/obese women who reported consuming less than 600 milligrams of calcium per day. In food terms that’s less than two glasses of milk. One group of women was given supplemental calcium and vitamin D along with their calorie reduced diet and the other placebo group received the calorie reduced diet only. The results indicated that in the group taking the calcium and vitamin D supplements, fat loss increased. This fat loss may be due to a calcium specific appetite control. So as we learn more about the role of calcium in weight loss, it’s a smart idea to consume adequate calcium and vitamin D every day. For most people this need is somewhere between 1000-1300 milligrams for calcium and 400 or more IUs of vitamin D. Many people have low vitamin D blood levels so you may want to ask your doctor to check it with a blood test.

One of my favorite ways to start my day and get a big boost of calcium is to make my favorite peanut butter smoothie. It’s so easy. I keep those bananas that are looking a little ripe, cut them up and put them in the freezer. Then I always have bananas ready to go. Toss about 3 banana pieces into a blender along with 1-2 Tbsp of peanut butter (almond butter works too), ½ cup or so of high calcium/high protein milk and ¼- ½ cup of Greek yogurt. That’s it…blend and drink…yum! Sometimes I use the vanilla Greek yogurt and that’s really tasty.

Some other good calcium sources courtesy of Family Circle (July issue) besides milk, cheese and yogurt include:

Breakfast  

  • ½ cup oatmeal made with 1 cup skim milk, 300 mg
  • A smoothie made with 1 cup low-fat yogurt, ice, ½ cup strawberries and 1 peach, 400 mg

 Lunch   

  • 2 cups tomato soup topped with ½ cup grated low-fat cheddar cheese, 235 mg
  • 2 cups vegetable chili made with black beans, 160 mg

 Snack   

  • 1 piece of low-fat string cheese and 3 Tbsp almonds, 225 mg
  • 1 cup mixed veggies with ½ cup low-fat yogurt dip, 225 mg

 Dinner   

  • 3 oz canned salmon with bone, 2 cups mixed greens with 2 Tbsp low-fat dressing, 235 mg
  • 1 ½ cups whole-wheat pasta with 1 cup frozen spinach and ½ cup broccoli, 290 mg

Each month Family Circle Senior Health Editor Margit Ragland shares a tasty recipe that we post at the WDBO Nutrition and Health Center. For July, it’s a Sausage & Pepper Hero. Guys, you are going to love us for this recipe and ladies, if your man is a sausage kind of guy who loves an overflowing hot dog bun, we have a healthy version that only you will know is good for him.

Listen to this week’s podcast


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