Carolina Nutrition Specialists

06/11/2022

07/17/2020

What foods cause inflammation? Here are inflammatory foods to avoid and what to add to your diet to reduce inflammation.

03/03/2020

This is a helpful visual aid of how to eat for weight loss. The emphasis is on having protein and vegetables at every meal. If you need less calories, just cut out one or more of the snacks.

MyFitnessPal Blog

02/05/2020

“Back in 2013, I wrote about the importance of eating breakfast,” says functional-medicine practitioner Susan Blum, MD. “Today I say, ‘Most people can skip it.’”

For many, IF is as simple as extending the window between dinner and the first meal of the next day: If, for instance, you finish eating at 7 p.m., don’t snack before bedtime, skip breakfast, and have an early lunch at 11 a.m., you would go 16 hours without food. This is enough time between meals to trigger specific healthy changes in your body — and you’re asleep for much of it.

“The research on the benefits of intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating continues to accrue,” says functional-medicine physician Terry Wahls, MD, author of The Wahls Protocol. “Studies show that these strategies improve insulin sensitivity, reduce obesity, and reduce inflammatory cytokines. They also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our mitochondria and increase nerve-growth factors in the brain. This a very exciting area of research.”

For many people, taking longer breaks from eating — known as “intermittent fasting” — can produce substantial positive health effects. Here’s what the latest research says.

01/26/2020

"Nutrition is one of the strongest tools we have to fight inflammation, but it can also be a major cause of inflammation, depending on your diet. “Some foods can be pro-inflammatory, such as refined carbohydrates, alcohol, sugar, saturated and trans fats and other processed foods,” Huether says.

These foods cause us to have higher levels of oxidants.

Luckily, there are a lot of foods you can eat to help stave off inflammation.

Leafy vegetables, fatty fish, nuts, olive oil and fruits such as berries are known to be anti-inflammatory, Huether says. For her part, Ruiz-Noriega cites bright-colored fruits and vegetables, avocados, nuts and seeds, and beans and legumes (if well-tolerated) as anti-inflammatory foods to focus on."

MyFitnessPal Blog

11/14/2019

“We can’t talk about these products without pointing out the use of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, which Impossible Burger uses for two different ingredients: soy leghemoglobin and soy protein. We don’t yet have the complete picture of what GMOs can do to our health, but we do know that GMO crops like soy and wheat are heavily sprayed with toxic herbicides like glyphosate.”

Dr. Mark Hyman reveals all you need to know about meat substitute burgers

11/05/2019

Prevent or reverse diabetes with diet and some help from these plant medicines.

Research indicates that you don't need drugs to control blood sugar. Food, herbs, and spices are the future of medicine

10/23/2019

"What can we do about this? In the interest of your own well-being, until biodynamic farming becomes more prevalent through consumer demand, vote with your dollars, prioritizing organic produce (don’t touch conventional soy, corn, or canola!), pastured animal foods, and non-GMO labelled products."

In this study published in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology, researchers examined the effects of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) on gut microbes.

10/22/2019

Mercury in your sushi. Arsenic in your brown rice. Unfortunately, everyone has some level of heavy metal in their body. Here’s what you can do about it.

10/16/2019

“...these foods are often made in a factory, broken down from their whole or fresh form and treated with thickeners, colors, glazes, and additives. They may be fried before they're packed in cans or wrappers. They might contain high-fructose corn syrup, protein isolates, or interesterified oils (replacements for trans fats, which are now widely banned). Examples of ultra-processed foods include packaged granola bars, carbonated soft drinks, candy, mass-produced breads, margarine, energy drinks, flavored yogurt, chicken nuggets, and hot dogs.”

Scientists have clear ways of defining which foods are processed. A lot of it has to do with the ingredients that keep items shelf-stable.

10/10/2019

Our keto chicken parmesan is dredged in pulverized pork rinds, nestled in tangy tomato basil sauce, and topped with gooey bronzed cheese in a version we think is better than the traditional recipe.

10/02/2019

Most bottles contain more than just grapes and yeast. Find out which ingredients find their way into wine — plus 9 tips to make healthier choices without sacrificing taste.

09/16/2019

Food is medicine.

Carrie Golden believes the only reason she’s diabetes free is that she has access to fresh, locally grown food. A few years after the Boston resident was diagnosed with prediabetes, she was referred to Boston Medical Center’s Preventative Food Pantry as someone who was food insecure. The food pa...

08/30/2019

From tahini to guacamole, you may not have thought to try some of these simple, healthy salad dressings.

08/19/2019

It’s probably not news to you that fermented foods are good for you. Fermenting foods is an age-old preservation process that extends the shelf life of foods, as well as

08/05/2019

Food is the road to your fully expressed life.

Like I’ve said before, real food heals. Food has the power to prevent and reverse disease, and the more we know about it, the more power we have to curate a targeted diet to help us reach our health goals.

I truly believe that what you eat is the single most important thing you do every day to affect the health of your body and mind.
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Relying on inexpensive, overly processed food is tempting, given our demanding lifestyles and schedules, but the cost to our health is quite large. Feasting on the sodium, fat and sugar bombs disguised as food can lead to serious diseases that cost hundreds of dollars in doctor’s visits and prescription drugs.

What you choose to eat has profound implications for your own health and the health of our society, environment and economy. We have more power than we think to change our health and the world and it all starts with food.

Here are the 5 pillars of my Pegan diet:
Choose real, whole foods.
Fill 75% of your plate with vegetables.
Eat plenty of healthy fats.
Choose sustainable protein .
Eat low glycemic foods.

07/27/2019

By now you probably know how important your gut health is to your overall health. If not, you need to! 80 percent of your immune system is in your microbiome, your body’s bacteria, which help your body with just about every process, including helping you to digest your food, think clearly and even...

06/16/2019

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