Much of the time when people are talking about gluten, the conversation seems to involve praising or denigrating someone who has declared themselves gluten-free even though they do not have celiac disease. (Perhaps you’ve even seen this video about how to be gluten intolerant?) Since there seems to be some misunderstanding about what gluten does […]
Everywhere you look someone is talking or writing about “leaky gut”, especially how to determine if you have it (usually a reference to Googling symptoms) and how to fix it. While symptoms and resolution of any digestive problem are important, it’s jumping the gun a bit if we don’t really understand what leaky gut is. […]
People often use the terms sodium and salt interchangeably. However, they are not the same thing and the misnomer causes confusion (at best) and health problems (at worst). Salt is a molecule made of ~40% sodium and ~60% chloride. This distinction is important because sodium and chloride have some distinct functions in the body. As […]
Potassium is the 3rd most abundant mineral in the body behind calcium and phosphorus, which makes it really important. (Not that the other micronutrients aren’t also important. I’m not showing any favorites here!) There is a lot of information here and it can be kind of confusing because some of the symptoms for too much […]
In the spring of 2003, I was living in Texas with my incredible fiancé. We had returned there five months earlier after an 18 month stint in Paris, where we had become engaged (très romantique!) and completed our first triathlon together. We had just moved into our first house, my wedding dress had arrived, and […]
Since we’ve covered all of the macronutrients, we’re moving onto the micronutrients. And we’re starting with the minerals because so many of us are deficient in them. (Women, especially, are familiar with the need for calcium, but the other minerals are just as important and often lacking as well!) Magnesium makes up ~1% of body […]
I hate to admit it, but it makes me happy that I hear fewer people talking about calories. (I hate to admit it because it means I’m a nutrition nerd! Ha!) However, there are still way too many people who think “a calorie is a calorie” and that weight maintenance happens when calories in equal […]
** Fair warning: if you don’t like to read about bodily function, this is probably a post you want to skip… unless you want to understand how your digestive system should be working. ** According to the National Institutes of Health data from 2009, at least 60 – 70 million people (19 – 23% of […]
Ah… carbohydrates. Probably the most controversial and possibly the most misunderstood of the macronutrients. So let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this vilified nutrient… What are carbohydrates? Carbohydrates are organic compounds (ie, they contain carbon) that are soluble in water (think of how sugar dissolves in water, but oil does not) […]
Although water counts for 45 – 70% of the weight of an adult human body and is the most essential nutrient for survival, protein seems to me to be the critical macronutrient to keep the body functioning. Our muscles, organs, blood cells, enzymes, hormones, and other bodily components are made of protein. Given this fact, […]