healthy eating for healthy aging

Nutrients

Should you be taking zinc?

Should you be taking zinc?

Zinc has been getting a lot of publicity lately, thanks to our understandable obsession with immune function. The human immune system is extremely complex, but one thing is clear: immune function depends on several key nutrients, one of which is zinc. When your immune system 

Yogurt has jumped the shark

Yogurt has jumped the shark

In the 1960s, Dannon was the only the yogurt brand available at my local grocery store. The flavors were: vanilla, lemon, coffee. Yes, coffee flavored yogurt. My mom ate yogurt; I wouldn’t touch it. Now I have some almost every day, for the protein, calcium, 

Immune-critical nutrient check list

Immune-critical nutrient check list

‘Tis the season: for colds, flu and other respiratory infections. Viruses cause most of those but strep throat — caused by bacteria — is also making the rounds. What can you do? When it comes to immune function, be proactive. Support your immune system by 

Cabbage is the new lettuce

Cabbage is the new lettuce

Thanks to inflation, the price of lettuce has been creeping up alarmingly over the past few months. At my grocery store, it’s now $3, so I’m done with lettuce for the foreseeable future. It’s a sad situation. I love tossed green salads. What to do? 

21st Century impact on vitamin D status

21st Century impact on vitamin D status

Strictly speaking, vitamin D isn’t a vitamin at all. It’s more of a hormone, produced in skin cells exposed to UVB rays of sunlight. The form that’s produced in skin cells is metabolized to an active form by the liver and kidneys. Not just for 

Vitamin C deficiency in the 21st Century?

Vitamin C deficiency in the 21st Century?

I recently listened to a webinar about nutrition for surgery patients. The speaker — a fellow Registered Dietitian Nutritionist — has years of experience evaluating surgical patients’ nutritional status. This evaluation is important, because several nutrients are essential for wound healing. Successful recovery from surgery