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Posted on March 30th, 2021 in Individual Resources

Each month we send members tips and insights on how to improve their nutrition and diet in our monthly e-newsletter. Check here to find those and other timely articles and resources.

A few months back I asked all of you to tell me your food related money saving secrets. Read How to Save Money on Food for a sampling of the creative feedback I received to my six questions. Thank you for sharing your tips! Also, congratulations to Pamela Babcock who won the 4 cookbooks raffle.

According to one study, food inflation is the highest it’s been in over 46 years. Food, for many, has become their household’s biggest expense. How do you save money on food? Read Saving on Food Bills. Share your money saving secrets and enter a raffle for 4 cookbooks from our Chefs Around the World Series! We will share your answers in the next newsletter. 

Most of us were raised on “meat heavy” meals. It may feel intimidating to switch to a plant-based diet. But it doesn’t have to be accomplished all at once. Try to make small changes to include more plant-based foods. Read Power Through Diabetes with Plants to learn how these changes may help you lose weight, better manage diabetes, or prevent pre-diabetes from transitioning into type 2 diabetes.

Mediterranean grilling recipes are usually quite simple, full of flavor and very healthy. Learn how to prepare Mediterranean Dishes on Your Grill.

The uncertainty of the past several months has challenged our ability to obtain a good night’s sleep. Sleep is an important contributor to overall health and well-being but getting enough quality sleep is another matter. Read Foods for Sleep to learn the foods to avoid and those to eat to help promote a night of sound sleep.

The gut microbiome is a diverse microbiome in your digestive system.  When a microbiome gets out of balance, often from antibiotic use, stress, lack of sleep and/or poor diet, your risk of many diseases including cancer, diabetes, obesity and heart disease increases. Learn Signs That Your Microbiome Might Be Out of Balance and how to improve your gut microbiome.

Since most of us are spending more time at home and more time cooking, we are also creating Too Many Dishes!!  We prepared 7 tips decreasing dishwashing fatigue and some 1 pot meal recipes. May your food be delicious and your dirty dishes few!

A strong immune system is always important but even more critical given the prevalence of the coronavirus. As we slowly return to being with groups of people, our immune system will have to work harder to keep us well. 12 Foods to Boost Your Immune System highlights the foods that will help you boost your immune system.

As we spend more time at home, many of us are returning back to basics, especially around cooking. Read The Magic of Cooking Beans from Scratch and learn how cooking beans from scratch can save money, reduce sodium and produce more flavorful dishes. Think this involves a high level of skill? Well cooking beans is not rocket science especially if you follow our 5 cooking steps.

People often ask, “what are the first dietary steps I can take to be healthier?”  When I suggest foods to remove, I always answer: ultra-processed foods. Many studies show they are quite detrimental to your health and should be avoided most of the time.  Learn the health benefits by reading 7 Reasons You Should Stop Eating Ultra-Processed Foods.

Recently, over 11,000 scientists agreed there is no doubt our planet is facing a climate emergency.  What can you do to help impede the environmental crisis? Luckily you can improve your health and the health of the planet with eco friendly eating! Read Eco Friendly Eating and learn 3 things you can do to preserve, promote and protect yours and the planet’s health! 

If you want to spend some time getting super frustrated and losing your mind, try going online and looking up something like “should I eat a high fat or low fat diet?” or “how much protein should I be eating in a day?”. Read Stop Reading Online Diet Advice First and Do this Instead and try our 3-step approach to finding out what is good for your body and mind.

You probably know that olive oil is good for you, but there is more to olive oil than meets the eye.  Besides being delicious in recipes, olive oil is also really good for you and produced not only in the Mediterranean, but also in California and increasingly in Texas.  Read 7 Things to Know about Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Preserving fruits, vegetables and herbs is a great way to have ripe, highly nutritious produce all winter long. You will also save a lot of money as this food is very inexpensive at this time of the year. Preserving it now means you will be eating amazing produce during the winter when it is the most expensive at the store. Read Preserving Fall Vegetables for a Healthy Winter to learn more.

When the new hypertension (high blood pressure) guidelines came out in 2017 they created quite a stir, by adding 30 million new Americans to the high blood pressure list. Read Do You Have High Blood Pressure? The New Hypertension Guidelines to review the guidelines and lifestyle treatment options.

Fresh herbs will not only add tremendous flavor to your recipes, but they also all have amazing potential health benefits. Most herbs will decrease inflammation and help with digestion, but they have other benefits as well. Read Seven Fresh Herbs of Summer, How to Use Them and Their Health Benefits to learn more.

We all have moments when we are under an increased amount of stress and everyone has different ways to deal with it.  Some stress eat, gorging on non-nutritious comfort foods to satisfy emotional needs. Read Are You an Emotional (Stress) Eater? What to Do Instead. to deal with stress without overeating unhealthy foods.

Are you a candidate for Full Catastrophe Cooking?  If you have little time, are in the middle of a big move or other change, and are under a lot of stress, yet still want to have healthy meals…then you are a candidate. Read our article for helpful tips.

The best part about food cooked on a sheet pan is that you can prepare the ingredients quickly, throw everything on the pan and let it roast as you do other things. Food comes out tender with a caramelized flavor that is out of this world! Read Time-Saving Kitchen Tools for Healthy Eating: Part 3– The Sheet Pan and give it a try.

The slow cooker blends well with our lack of time and our obsession with tasty food.  You can purchase a crock pot for as little as $20. With a crock pot you can create amazingly delicious foods that are also good for you. Another great aspect of the crockpot is that recipe preparation is usually easy. Learn more by reading Time Saving Kitchen Tools for Healthy Eating: Part 2 – The Crock Pot (Slow Cooker)

The Instant Pot is wonderful for soups and stews and rivals a slow cooker for flavor and tenderness, but it might it take 20 minutes instead of 6 hours to finish cooking your dishes. Read  Time Saving Kitchen Tools for Healthy Eating: Part 1 – The Instant Pot  and learn how you can save an incredible amount of time in the kitchen and cook healthy meals with minimal effort.  

According to a recent survey on New Year’s resolutions, 70% of respondents resolved to eat healthier or go on a diet, 65% made an intention to exercise and 54% set a specific goal to lose weight. Unfortunately, about 80% of people’s resolutions fall by the second week of February. Read  How to Keep your New Year’s Health Resolutions to knock those stats out of the water.

Tis the season for tailgating meals and parties! For those who make this a regular occurrence, you may consider some healthier (but still tasty) choices for your tailgate.  Rah, Rah, Rah! Tips for a Healthy (yet delicious) Tailgating Party provides some simple ways to make your tailgating party delicious, healthy and still loads of fun!

Did you know one 20-oz. Coca Cola has 16 ¼ teaspoons of sugar? Read How Much Sugar Is in Your Drink (and how it affects you) to learn the sugar content of other popular drinks and more importantly, how reducing these drinks can improve your health (weight loss is just one of many benefits).

It is natural for us to want heavier, fattier foods as winter comes. Unfortunately, at the same time, we are slowing down, spending more time indoors, having holiday parties and hibernating into the Netflix cave. So now is the time to read 7 Tips to Eating Well During Fall and Winter.

MIIA Wellness representative and dietitian, Bill Bradley, shares his insights on his personal journey maintaining a 45-pound weight loss and lessons learned from many of his clients. Lessons About Weight Loss takes a more “weight neutral” approach and strives to promote health and wellbeing at any age and size. 

Read Is It OK to Drink 1 Soda Per Day? to learn what may happen to your body if you drink only 12 ounces (1 small can) of sugary soda per day. The potential problems include obesity, heart disease, diabetes, drops in fertility and cancer. Includes tips on how to wean off soda and enjoy healthy, tasty, thirst-quenching drinks.

Fermented foods have become all the rage lately, with products that were once popular returning into favor among those who are looking for healthier foods to eat.  As more and more studies are released, the answer seems to be yes. Read Should I Be Eating Fermented Foods? to learn how to add fermented foods into your diet.  

Springtime is the beginning of our local growing season and we are already reaping the harvest!  Locally grown fruits and vegetables picked when ripe are the healthiest produce around. Here are 5 local crops that are considered superfoods that are also delicious and good for you.

Avocado has been touted as a superfood, which is, along with its exquisite creamy flavor, a big reason why everyone goes cuckoo over avocados.  But is it really that good for you?  Let's find out.

A quarter of the population experience constipation, which tends to get worse as we get older.   Severe constipation is a serious matter and requires medical attention.  Whether constipation is severe or mild,  7 Lifestyle Tips to Relieve Constipation can help.

What does science tell us about how nutritious and filling smoothies are? Learn all the nutritional benefits of smoothies along with some delicious recipes in The Ups and Downs of Drinking Smoothies.

You want to give up sugar, because it isn’t helping with your weight or because it can lead to increased risk of inflammation, heart disease, cavities and diabetes.  How do you give up something that tastes so amazing and delicious? Read Giving Up Sugar? Here’s What to Eat Instead to keep your sugar cravings at bay.

Eating healthy can be expensive, unless you know how to maximize your purchasing value. Read Eating Healthy for Less. You will see it is possible to eat nutritiously and economically. Your food bills may go down in some cases!

Today's tumultuous times are stress inducing. Some of us take care of our stress is by eating, which may cause problems. Soothing our Soul with Food provides healthy options for "stress eating."

Most of us spend too much time on our technical devices. Read A Digital Break in the Kitchen. Discover how this can help you find peace and relaxation. You may also find you can make something more delicious than usual.

Looking for nutrient-packed, local, organic produce? Would you like a weekly, wonderful shopping experience in nature along with chance to meet new people? Read The Next Best Thing to Being a Farmer: CSA Farms then consider buying a share in a CSA farm.

Even mild dehydration can make you irritable and tired, because 80% of our brains are made up of water.  Read Staying Hydrated this Summer to learn how water can help you stay healthy and alert.

The research on eating as a family is very conclusive.  Eating together, at home, will decrease risk of depression, stress, and addiction.  Learn more by reading Family Eating Time.

The foods and drinks you consume during the day have an impact on your sleep. Read Eating, Drinking and...Sleeping to learn which foods and drinks contribute to restful slumber and those to avoid. 

Eating out can quickly add up to thousands of dollars per year.  You can use some of the extra money you save by not eating out to pay off debt, invest, or save for the future. Discover new tips and ideas for cooking and eating healthy at home when you are in a hurry. Check out The Financial, Health and Taste Benefits of Eating at Home.

A high quality, extra virgin olive oil is delicious and incredibly good for you. But fraudulent olive oil in supermarkets is increasing. Read Olive Oil: Healthy Nectar or Unwholesome Fraud? so you know what to look for and some brands that have passed the authenticity test.

Avoid the crowded Valentine’s Day restaurant scene and long waits for a table. Instead, create your own romantic dinner at home. Foods of Love recipes are quick, easy, healthy and you’ll save money too!

Learn how MIIA dietitian Bill Bradly lost 40 pounds. There are lessons for all of us in his story Lessons Learned from Losing 40 Pounds

Read 7 Tips for Healthy Traveling… Without Your Digestion Going South  to avoid unfortunate food issues on your vacation. 

Learn how food can boost your mood by reading Love “Comfort Food?” Try Good Mood Food Instead.

Feel lethargic? Gained weight over the winter? Have trouble concentrating? Add superfoods to your diet. Spring is one of the best times to start. Learn what to eat and quick superfood recipes.

Cravings for sweets become hard-wired into our brains. Learn the “ok” amounts of sugar and some “sweet” alternatives by reading The Sugar Conundrum.

Comfort foods can be good for you. Nourish your body and soul with these delicious recipes and food choices.

Add the healthy benefits of olive oil to your baking. Learn how by reading Healthy Baked Treats Using Olive Oil 

Read Happy Healthy Thanksgiving! and learn how to take stress away with easy, simple serving tips while adding some healthy food choices to your feast.

October means football and tailgating. Plan a Healthy Tailgate Party with tasty, guilt-free foods.

Mediterranean grilling recipes are usually quite simple, full of flavor and very healthy. Learn how to prepare Mediterranean Dishes on Your Grill.