I just finished enjoying my morning fiber-rich snack that I made myself with buckwheat, chia, hemp seeds, goji berries and cinnamon. As I was sitting here feeling my bowels thank me, I got to thinking, “what is it that many other people eat for a snack if they want to increase the fiber in their diet?” I asked around the office and a common response was All-Bran bars or Fiber1 bars. The names themselves scream, “You need to eat me! I’m healthy and full of fiber!” Being the skeptic that I am when it comes to product packaging and marketing, I decided to look into what these products contain to see if they lived up to all their claims. Let’s have a look at what I found out about the All-Bran bars when I started to undress their dirty little secrets. Read full post

Let’s talk beans. Are your canned beans keeping a dirty little secret? If you are buying canned beans that are made by any company other than EDEN, chances are they can’t be trusted. If they aren’t EDEN then they contain Bisphenal-A (BPA). Yikes!! This is harmful stuff. It is an endocrine disruptor and can wreak havoc on your hot bod. In just a minute I’ll go into more detail about this pain in the butt toxin, so keep reading! Furthermore, many canned beans contain preservatives, refined salt, and other unwanted substances. The naked truth about these canned products is that they could be harming you and your family unless you are buying the right ones. Let’s undress this issue further to see what we can do to protect ourselves. Read full post

While breezing through a local grocery store the other day, this WeightWatchers Chocolate Chip cookie box caught my eye. Being the label-reading sleuth that I am, I immediately flipped it over to see what the ingredients were. My heart quickly sank as I read through a list containing many ingredients that I consider to be harmful to human health (ingredient list provided below). Read full post

I came across this video today and laughed hysterically! It is hilarious. It blatantly illustrates in a comedic way the problems shoppers face today when looking for healthy products to put into their grocery cart. The video pokes fun at the fact that the General Mills cereal called TOTAL Blueberry and Pomegranate cereal actually contains no blueberries and no pomegranates. This is a classic example of a company trying to mislead consumers with their fancy marketing. Read full post

Fall is in the air and that means it’s time to preserve!! Today we’re going to get our groove on as we be jamin’ with some concord grapes. Being the health nut that I am, I wanted to do something different and make this jam in a more healthful way than many traditional recipes or store bought jams. As you’ll see in the video, I undress two great products that are fantastic substitutes for traditional white sugar and the common pectin found at the grocery store. Read full post

The one thing I have noticed about being in the nutrition industry, is the increased number of “poo” chats I have with people. I remember saying to Steve last Christmas time that at 100% of the holiday parties we attended, at some point the topic of bowel movements would creep into the conversation. From people informing me of their one bowel movement a week to their fecal matter resembling Maltesers, I heard it all. Read full post

The artificial sweetener industry would like us to believe that we can have our cake and eat it too. They want us to feel like we are doing our body good when we choose a diet soda, or low calorie cookie. They have made their millions by convincing consumers that their products are superior because they don’t raise blood sugar and they don’t have calories. However, what are the trade-offs? What harm are we causing to our bodies in order to have these benefits and is it worth it? Read full post

This past weekend I was discussing how much I love tofu and someone asked me “What is tofu?”. I realized there and then that he along with many others have not had the opportunity to experience this delicious and rather odd looking food specimen. Read full post

I’m not going to beat around the bush on this one. If your goal is to eat a healthy breakfast, stay away from Nutella! I think deep down most of us know that spreading chocolate on our toast can’t be healthy. Unfortunately, this hasn’t stopped Nutella from focusing their marketing efforts towards convincing us (especially mothers) that their product is nutritious and an important part of a balanced breakfast. To me, positioning a chocolate spread in this way is misleading to consumers.  Read full post

Let’s face it, most of us like to reward ourselves with a treat once in a while. This may be a homemade chocolate chip cookie, a piece of pie, a few potato chips, soda, or maybe a handful of french fries. I don’t have a problem with the occasional (key word being occasional) treat of something that really brings a smile to my face. The trick however, is in understanding what goes in the treat pile and what belongs in the “good for me” pile.  Read full post