Eating once a day

Know what to expect before you give up on meat and dairy.

[brightcove:5159960154001 default] If you love starting your morning with a bowl of Raisin Bran or another healthy-sounding cereal, we have some bad news: The majority of cereals are packed with sugar and really aren't the best way to kickstart your day. To drive home the point that crunchy and sweet flakes shouldn't be your go-to breakfast, one nutritionist suggested a surprising replacement for your daily dose of Kellogg's: a slice of pizza. RELATED:   The 20 Best Foods to Eat for Breakfast Chelsey Amer, MS, RDN, CDN, a nutritionist based in New York, told The Daily Meal that "a slice of pizza contains more fat and much less sugar than most cold cereals, so you will not experience a quick sugar crash." One cup of Raisin Bran, for example, has 18 grams of sugar (close to the 25 gram daily limit recommended for women) and zero healthy fats. Amer also noted that pizza has more protein than a typical bowl of cereal, so it can satisfy your appetite for longe...

[brightcove:5718489415001 default] You've spent the last four weeks meal prepping, snacking less, upping your protein intake, and decoding food labels for hidden sugar. But now that your month on Whole30 is just about over, you're probably asking yourself one question: How will you re-enter the world without sabotaging your newfound healthier relationship with food?  RELATED:  5 Things You Should Know Before Trying an Elimination Diet For answers, we reached out to Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, Health 's contributing nutrition editor. Here's what she says are the next crucial steps, plus the right way to navigate them. Reintroduce food groups slowly Whole30 is an elimination-style diet; the point is to find out which food groups affect your body in negative ways, so you could then abstain or cut down on these offenders and feel healthier. So before you dive back into your usual lunch of a slice of cheese pizza or order ...

[brightcove:5583091373001 default] So much is going on in the first few months of a baby’s life, it’s no surprise that what a baby eats can have an effect on how important structures and connections in the brain develop. To help parents understand what babies need, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a set of recommendations for foods that ensure healthy brain development in babies’ first 1,000 days. In the guidelines, just published in the journal Pediatrics , the AAP’s Committee on Nutrition say that certain nutrients, including protein, zinc, iron, folate, certain vitamins and polyunsaturated fatty acids are critical for healthy brain development. Diets lacking these nutrients can lead to lifelong issues in brain function, they note. Dr. Sarah Jane Schwarzenberg, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital and member of the AAP Committee on Nutrition, says that breast milk is recommended for newborns until they are abou...

Seems like everyone is chatting about chia lately. Check out the the video to find out if these little seeds are worthy of all the hype.

[brightcove:5672527937001 default] For some people, buzzy meal plans like Whole30 and the ketogenic diet are the only things that motivate them to overhaul their eating habits. For others, diets can be seriously problematic. That’s one reason New York City–based nutritionist Brooke Alpert , RD, wrote The Diet Detox . An anti-diet guide to making healthy food choices, the book provides “ten simple rules to help you stop dieting, start eating, and lose the weight for good.” According to Alpert, diets don’t work because they have expiration dates; you're only supposed to be on them for a fixed amount of time. When they end, so does your weight-loss success. A better idea, she believes, is to follow a meal plan that helps you develop lifelong healthy eating habits. Here, three bite-size pieces of nutrition advice we ate up from Alpert’s new book. RELATED: 3 New Breakfast Rules You Should Follow, According to an RD Have protein and fiber at every meal Rule number one of Alp...

Chocolate made the list!

[brightcove:5680351746001 default] If you're trying to clean up your diet, preparing your own meals is key. But when you come home exhausted after a long day at work, the last thing you want to do is dice onions or wait around for a chicken to roast.   The way to avoid giving in and calling Seamless is to do your food prep ahead of time, say on Sunday, so you have all your ingredients ready to hit the microwave—or even better, a stash of pre-made meals ready to put on your plate. To help you organize your prep time, we reached out to five nutritionists for the easy tips they use in their own kitchens. RELATED:   10 Nutritionists and Health Editors Share What They Actually Eat for Dessert Chop a bunch of veggies If you're prepping meals just for yourself or one other person, it shouldn't take more than an hour to wash, peel, and chop all the vegetables you'll need for the entire week ahead. Julie Upton, RD, suggests preppin...

[brightcove:4421266034001 default] There’s no shortage of trendy,  healthy breakfast options online. We’re talking smoothie bowls , overnight oats, yogurt parfaits, and even flourless breakfast cookies. Pinterest and Instagram feeds are filled with thousands of melt-in-your-mouth posts gushing about how these nutritious and balanced morning meals will jumpstart your day by giving your body the fuel it needs to conquer the world. There’s just one problem: While the Insta-famous breakfasts tend to have sinful names—think: hot chocolate oatmeal and blueberry pie smoothie—and are promoted as clean, wholesome, and nutritious, the truth is many of these meals resemble a decadent dessert rather than a powerhouse breakfast. If nutritionists were asked to rename these recipes, we’d most likely call them berry milkshakes, yogurt sundaes, and oatmeal cookies! RELATED: The 20 Best Foods to Eat for Breakfast Before mistaking a sweet treat for a morning meal, check out these breakfast culpr...

[brightcove:5116093205001 default] When you’re feeling frazzled, it’s easy to be tempted by a handful of M&Ms, a couple of cookies, or an entire pint of ice cream. Stress and anxiety are known to trigger cravings , and not necessarily for a grain bowl or kale salad . But it is possible to   harness those cravings for good: Turns out a handful of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients can actually help relieve negative feelings . The magnesium, zinc, and omega-3s in nuts, for example, may help stabilize cortisol levels and keep your mood steady. Even dark chocolate  (in moderation, of course) could help calm your nerves on harried days. "Research has shown that it can reduce your stress hormones," Health  contributing nutrition editor, Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, said in a prior interview. "Also, the antioxidants in cocoa trigger the walls of your blood vessels to relax, lowering blood pressure and im...

[brightcove:4928971444001 default] The latest New Year’s trend has nothing to do with alcohol—literally. For millions of people, January 1 marks the first day of not just a new year, but a “dry” January, or month-long break with booze. Started by the UK's  Alcohol Concern organization in 2013, the movement’s main goal is to help people "reset their relationship with alcohol." But what happens to your body when you become a temporary teetotaler? “Nothing bad,” says Jamile Wakim-Fleming, MD, a hepatologist at the Cleveland Clinic. “[Abstaining temporarily] is only going to be beneficial.” (One caveat: heavy drinkers should only quit with medical assistance, since they can experience a life-threatening form of withdrawal .) Thirty-one days of sobriety might even help you cut back long-term: A 2016 study  published in Health Psychology  found that six months after the end of Dry January, people who had participated in the movement (even those who ...