Monthly Insights
Do we need to eat cleaner? Clearing up the confusion (September 2025)
By Carrie Dennett, MPH, RDN Clean eating has been a full-fledged trend for almost 20 years, emerging in the women’s bodybuilding world before expanding into nutrition and wellness spaces, despite the lack of an official “clean eating” definition or diet. One person might define clean eating as trying to eat more nutrient-dense “whole” foods while […]
Has Iceland Found the Fountain of Youth? (October 2017)
Over the summer, I spent three weeks traveling through the Nordic countries Sweden, Denmark and Iceland. Something they all have in common is that smoked fish are staples in their diet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Being Jewish, and going to my fair share of delis, I thought I knew about smoked fish, however […]
Imagine a lunch with Friends without Body or Weight Talk (September 2017)
When was the last time you went to lunch and enjoyed the company of the guests you were with? I was considering this because of a recent experience I’d had with two childhood friends of mine. Growing up, I had two very close friends. We called ourselves the “Three Musketeers” and we truly were. We […]
Nutrition 101: Understanding Why We Need ALL Foods (August 2017)
Due to the various trends floating around, it’s easy to be confused about what to eat. So many discussions tout the best “clean” foods or “super foods.” For someone that does not work in nutrition, it can be overwhelming to constantly learn about, and follow, these trends. A crash course in nutrition can be helpful […]
Working “Play Food” Into Your Diet (July 2017)
The title may sound strange to you! After all, what is “play food,” and how can it help me? “Play Food” is a term that I use with my clients but it is also sometimes referred to as “fun food.” Diets teach us to deprive ourselves and not honor what we are craving. In return, […]
The Fad of Drinking Charcoal…(June 2017)
Did the title catch you by surprise? No, you did not read it incorrectly! The latest fad in the health and nutrition sphere is, indeed, drinking charcoal. I first learned of this several months ago when a client told me that she bought a bottle of Charcoal Lemonade (www.juiceservedhere.com). I had never heard of such […]
How to Break Free from the “Diet Mentality” (May 2017)
As we are in spring, there are messages everywhere reminding us that it’s time to “get in shape for summer,” “start working on our beach bodies,” and “lose all of that winter padding.” Our society has such an obsession with dieting that January is known as “National Dieting Month.” The constant push to have our […]
What is the Hype Behind Spirulina? (April 2017)
Have you bought a green drink at the juice bar that contains something called spirulina? Or a green powder that notes spirulina as a listed ingredient? Perhaps your multivitamin includes spirulina, too. This concentrated blue-green algae is reported to have many health claims and seems to be in the press quite a bit lately. So, […]
What does “Body Gratitude” mean to you? (March 2017)
Have you ever thought about thanking your body for everything that it does for you? After carrying your groceries up the stairs or your purse on your shoulder? When standing on your feet at work or as you prepare a meal? Even simply allowing you to get out of bed in the morning or hug […]
The Mysterious Matcha Tea (February 2017)
In December, 2014 I went on my cycling trip in Southeast Asia. During that trip, I noticed that there seemed to be a considerable amount of hype surrounding matcha tea, which is in the green tea family. Not only is it the only tea that is produced and used in a powdered form, it is […]
Eating Disorder Screening for Health Care Providers: What you see is not always what you get… (January 2017)
I hear this scenario all the time from clients: “my doctor has no idea that I have an eating disorder, since I don’t look like I have one,” or, “I have fallen back into my eating disorder and my doctor is not aware how to handle it.” For those familiar with the eating disorder and […]