February is "Wise Health Consumer Month"  and I believe that becoming more involved in your own health care is essential. My sister-in-law was finally diagnosed with Celiac Disease after doing some research and convincing her Dr. to test her for it. 

The American Institute for Preventive Medicine developed a Top 10 list of ways you can become more involved in your own health care.

One way you can become a wise consumer in the grocery store is learning how to decipher your packaged and boxed foods.  Here are three simple tips to get you started.

1.) Ignore the words on the front and back of the box. Catch phrases like "antioxidants" "more fiber" "natural" are simply a sales pitch.
2.) Read the ingredient list.  You should be able to recognize the words you are reading.  Better yet, if it's a grain-based food (as many packaged items are) the 1st ingredient ought to be "whole grain..." 
3.) Check out the number of servings in a package.  It's often more than one.

I recently met with a client who wanted some nutrition counseling for PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). She had already made great strides with her diet and was seeing me for "fine-tuning." At our first session she brought in a food label of a Kashi bar she likes to eat.  She thought it seemed like a healthy way to take care of her sweet tooth and wanted my opinion.  So, we dissected the food label together (too see the nutrition facts, click on this link then click on the button that says nutrition facts).

Together we learned that the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ingredients are all sugar!  By the looks of the wrapper, you'd think she was making a healthy snack choice.  Besides, Kashi has a reputation for selling pretty healthy foods.  But in reality, all of those highly processed sugars would actually do more harm to her PCOS than simply having a small serving of dark chocolate after dinner (which what she really wanted!).

So don't be fooled by your packaging.  It's the ingredients that count.  I have a simple handout called "Decoding the Ingredient List." If you'd like a copy, send me an email to marci@marciRD.com.

For those of you who listened to President Obama's State of the Union address on January 27th, you likely heard him introduce his wife's initiative to tackle childhood obesity.

Is sugar addicting? I recently received an email from a friend who had this question. She felt that she was completely addicted to sugar and wanted to know my recommendations on how best to detox her system.  Little did she know, she was asking a question that researchers and scientists seriously debate.  Just google the term "sugar addiction" and you'll see a litany of results and no real consensus.

Since it's Heart Month, I thought it would be appropriate to highlight a whole grain food product I absolutely love.  A few months ago I found Kashi's 7 Whole Grain Pilaf in the hot cereal aisle.  It looked interesting so I bought it.  And to my delight, it is an absolutely scrumptious grain that cooks a lot like brown rice.  Warning, it does take 25 minutes so you may want to make it ahead of time.  Because it is plain, I recommend consulting Kashi's website for recipe ideas or get creative and spice it up on your own.

Most of us associate February with Valentine's Day.  And we all know what that means- chocolate.  But February isn't just for celebrating love and candy.  The American Heart Association has deemed the month of February American Heart Month.

Did you know that this week is National Salt Awareness week?  Weird, but true. If you're interested in learning about the effects of a high salt diet, check out this link. Salt is usually a guilt by association kind of ingredient. It tends to be excessive in highly processed and packaged food items. On the flip side, it tends to be low in minimally processed whole grains, fruits, and veggies.

In February I will be teaching a new nutrition class at the Wellbridge Athletic Club in Harvard Square

Marion Nestle, author of “Food Politics,” “Safe Food,” and “What to Eat” and professor in the nutrition, food studies and public health department at New York University was recently interviewed by the San Fracisco Chronicle about her food prediction trends for 2010.  I highly recommend checking out Nestle’s blog for a ton of really reliable/non-biased nutrition information.  But in the mean time, here are Nestle’s Top 10 predictions with regards food, nutrition, and diet.

Q: What do you think will happen with food and nutrition in 2010?

A: I wish I could read the leaves while I drink tea, but the best I can do is tell you which issues I'm going to be watching closely this year. Hunter Public Relations recently asked 1,000 Americans which food-related issues they thought were most important in 2009. The top three? Food safety, hunger and food prices. For the decade, the winner was childhood obesity.

I have my own top 10 list of hot-button issues for 2010, and here they are:

Hunger: More than 35 million Americans get benefits to which they are entitled under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly, food stamps). The economy may be improving, but not quickly enough for millions who have lost jobs, health care and housing. Will Congress do anything this year to strengthen the safety net for the poor? It needs to.

Childhood obesity: Rates of childhood obesity may have stabilized, but we all want to figure out how to prevent kids from gaining so much weight that they develop adult chronic diseases. I expect to see more efforts to improve school food and make neighborhoods more conducive to walking to school, riding bikes and playing outside.

Food safety regulation: Congress is sitting on a bill to give the Food and Drug Administration some real authority for food safety. The bill does not do what is most needed - establish a single food-safety agency - but is a reasonable step in the right direction. Let's hope Congress gets to it soon.

Food advertising and labels: The long-dormant FDA and Federal Trade Commission are getting busy at last. In the wake of the Smart Choices fiasco (go to sfgate.com/ZIZT), the FDA is working to make package labels less misleading and easier to understand.

The agencies have proposed nutrition standards for products marketed to children. These voluntary standards fall far short of my preference - an outright ban on marketing junk foods to kids - but puts food companies on notice that their products are under scrutiny.

The FDA is also working on designs for front-of-package labels. I'm hoping it chooses a "traffic-light" system that marks foods with a green (any time), yellow (sometimes) or red (hardly ever) dot. Expect plenty of opposition from the makers of red-dotted products.

Meat: The meat industry has been under fire for raising food animals under inhumane conditions, using unnecessary hormones and antibiotics, mistreating immigrant labor, and polluting soil and water. Now it is also under fire for contributing to climate change.

Recent films like "Food, Inc." and "Fresh" and books such as Jonathan Safran Foer's "Eating Animals" are encouraging people to become vegetarians or to eat less meat to promote the health of people and the planet. I'll bet the meat industry pushes back hard on this one.

Sustainable agriculture: The back-to-the land movement has loads of people buying local food, choosing foods produced under more sustainable conditions and growing their own food. The number of small farms in America increased last year for the first time in a century. Seed companies cannot keep up with the demand. It will be fun to follow what happens with this trend.

Genetically modified (GM) foods: My book, "Safe Food," comes out in a new edition this year, so I am paying especially close attention to debates about GM foods. The FDA's 1994 decision to prohibit labeling of GM foods continues to haunt the food biotechnology industry. By now, nearly all American soybeans and sugar beets (95 percent) are GM, as is most corn (60 percent). But when the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved GM sugar beets in 2005, it neglected to perform the required environmental impact assessment. On that basis, environmental groups want to ban further planting of GM sugar beets. The dispute is now in the courts.

Chemical contaminants: The FDA has yet to release its report on the safety of bisphenol A, the plastic chemical that acts as an endocrine disrupter. Shouldn't it be banned? The bottling industry says no. Watch for fierce arguments over this one.

Salt: Nutrition standards allow 480 mg sodium (the equivalent of more than 1 gram of salt) per serving. A half cup of canned soup provides that much. A whole cup gives you 4 grams and the whole can gives you 8 grams - much more than anyone needs. Nearly 80 percent of salt in American diets comes from processed and restaurant foods. Companies are under pressure to cut down on salt. Will they? Only if they have to.

Dietary advice: The new edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which the government publishes every five years, is due this year. What will it say? I can't wait to find out.

Those are the issues I am tracking these days. My one crystal-ball prediction? We will be hearing a lot more about them this year.

As I a dietitian who is constantly thinking about food and nutrition, I have some ideas about what will be hot topics this year.  What are your predictions?

In my first blog posting on New Year’s Resolutions, I promised to provide some guidelines that may help you figure out how to make some resolutions that work for you.  Here they are.

Step 1: refer to the questions in my last blog post and spend a bit of time thinking and journaling about them

Step 2: based on the information you gathered, decide whether or not any of your past resolutions are worth keeping

Step 3: select one goal and use the “SMART goal” strategy to re-define it

S: Specific
M: Measureable
A: Attainable
R: Realistic
T: Timely

Here is an example of a goal that is not-so-helpful:
Eat healthier in 2010. (In fact that little picture I posted has a list of 7, totally unhelpful goals.)
This goal is vague, all-encompassing, intangible, and provides no action plan to changing your habits.

Here is an example of a SMART goal which actually helps you accomplish something:
Eat two pieces of fruit each day.
This goal is much more specific and trackable.  You can sit down at the end of the day and know whether or not you’ve accomplished it.

I’d also encourage you to consider using a tracking sheet for your goals.  I have one that I use with some of my clients.  If you’d like a copy, send me an email at marci@marciRD.com and I’d be happy to send you a copy.

Creating specific, realistic goals that actually empower you to make positive change is really hard work!  And changing nutrition habits is particularly tough because our food habits are heavily engrained from years of eating.  Plus they are also influenced by relationships, emotions, and even logistical planning!

So if you feel stuck with your goals- send ‘em in.  I’d be happy to give you a little feedback.

Wish you all the best for a healthy 2010.
Marci, Registered Dietitian