The Junk Food Nutritionist

 I've been taking a multivitamin for years, probably starting around when I started studying nutrition in college. But, I started the search for a good quality multivitamin only about two years ago.  Before that, I bought my multivitamin & any other supplements (primarily calcium, vitamin D, & flax oil) at the grocery store or a mass retailer, like Target. I knew that multivitamins & supplements weren't well-regulated, but I didn't really care about it. I was satisfied with the products I'd been buying...until I bought a store-brand supplement that seemed to give me severe headaches in 2020.  Characteristics I Look For In a Multivitamin:  1. Quality Testing. This is now a must for me. Testing is important to ensure that the product I am buying contains what it says it contains & does  not contain unwanted contaminants. Sone of the brands available in stores do test their products. For example, many Nature Made products have the USP-verified seal ...

When I first decided to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), I thought the bulk of my job would be educating people on how to make healthier food choices. But, I learned that nutrition isn't just about reading food labels to make healthier choices at the grocery store. A large part of my current work is recommending supplements. Here are the 3 supplements I most often recommend to my current clients and why... #1: Multivitamin This probably is not a surprise. Most clients come to a dietitian because they aren't eating well. If they aren't eating well, they aren't getting enough vitamins & minerals. So, of course, I recommend a multivitamin-multimineral supplement. The particular multivitamin formula does vary. Clients who are menstruating often need more iron, for example. There are also specialty formulas for people for health conditions including kidney disease & macular degeneration. Some formulations, like the New Chapter Every Woman's One D...

  This is a hotly debated question in the health & wellness community.  Some people say that we can meet our nutrient needs through food & that taking vitamins just makes expensive urine, because we will pee out excess nutrients.  On the other hand, others say that most people probably don’t actually meet their nutrient needs because many people don’t actually eat a nutritious diet. Furthermore, our nutrient needs are affected by many factors, such as genetic mutations, disease, amount of exercise, age, pregnancy, breastfeeding, menstruation, gender, & even amount of sunlight exposure.  My Professional Opinion  Admittedly, my professional perspective may be warped. Most people don’t come see me because they’re already healthy.  In my opinion, most people are not meeting their nutrient needs through food.  Reasons Why People Don't Get Enough There are many reasons that people might not get enough of the vitamins & minerals they need....

Have you ever noticed that the reported "superfoods" on the market are foods you've never even heard of? Who eats Sacha inchi seeds? What's maca? Where do you buy maqui berries? A lot of these "superfoods" are not foods that you grew up on, if you ate the Standard American Diet. That’s okay. We’ll explore them together. Today, I want to introduce you to the wolfberry, one of the main ingredients in Young Living Ningxia Red products. This post contains affiliate links, if you choose to buy from Young Living .  When I first heard of the wolfberry from a former colleague and Young Living distributor, I thought this was some exotic fruit I'd never heard of.

When we're social distancing, it can be really hard to get an appointment with a Registered Dietitian or take a nutrition class.  Everyone should have access to basic nutrition information to help them make informed decisions.  Photo by Louis Hansel In my Nutrition Basics blog series, I have a lready talked about the Macronutrients--carbohydrates, protein, and fat. I also singled out Omega-3s fats to discuss in more details.  Today, I start to tackle the Micronutrients or nutrients we need in small amounts. You probably know them as Vitamins and Minerals .  There is a lot to talk about, so I will focus on Vitamins for now...