Today I'm appearing on the Money Matters Network Radio Program at 2:00.  You can tune in live here or listen at WBNW AM 1120 Boston.

I will be mentioning a handout: Nutritious Eating on a Budget. Click here to access the handout.  And to those of you who tuned in and listened- thank you!

Feel free to call in and ask me an easy question. :) 888-205-2263.

Hey Friends,
I will be making my first radio appearance this Friday at 2:00 on the Money Matters Radio Network.  You can tune in live here or listen at WBNW AM 1120 Boston.

I'll be talking about nutrition myths and facts relating to eating healthy on a budget, dieting, and metabolism.  So get your questions ready!  You can call in to  888-205-2263.  I'd love to hear a friend on the other end of the line. :)

Wish me luck!

Watch CBS News Videos Online
I thought this news clip was really interesting.  Another testament to the value of eating whole, non-processed, real food!

In March I wrote a blog post about Oprah's interview with Geneen Roth.  And just last week, she had Ms. Roth on her show.  Unfortunately I missed the show but have been thinking a lot about her vow to never diet again.  And several questions came to mind:

* How many billions of dollars will the dieting industry lose now that Oprah has hopped off the band wagon?
* How many women will decide that they are tired of going on/off diets?
* If not dieting, what will Oprah have time to think about instead?
* What will happen to Bob Green, her nutritionist?
* She may not be dieting, but is she dealing with her emotional/compulsive need to eat?
* How do we define dieting and are all diets bad?
* What's the difference between dieting vs. embracing a healthy/balanced lifestyle?
* Does giving up on dieting mean total self-indulgence?

One of my colleagues noted that Oprah is heavier now that she has decided to "stop dieting."  I will just say that there is a big difference between ending a diet and actually dealing with the underlying issues of emotional eating.  Oprah may be feeling less emotional stress now that she doesn't have the stress of dieting in her life, but she will likely continue to gain weight if she isn't dealing with the triggers which encourage her to reach for food.

I fully believe that Oprah, along with anyone else who can identify with her emotional connection to food, can work through this emotionally painful stuff, learn to cope without food, and begin to embrace a much physically and emotionally healthy way of living.  

And most of us will be interested to watch her along the way. Let's hope that she is on to something permanent this time.

Save the date!  A fabulous food documentary, Food Inc will air on PBS April 21st.

It changed the way I think, buy, and prepare my food. 

Below is a summary from the PBS website, but click here for the full article.

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that's been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. We have bigger-breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, even tomatoes that won't go bad, but we also have new strains of E. coli — the harmful bacteria that causes illness for an estimated 73,000 Americans annually. We are riddled with widespread obesity, particularly among children, and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults.

So I am a chocolate LOVER. And I was intrigued by an article introducing a new product- Le Whif.  It's an inhalable, calorie-free chocolate.  It was developed by a Harvard professor (the same guy who brought you breathable insulin).  Here's a short article and interview with the product developer.

Le Whif is already being sold in France and Japan.  But what do you think?  If it was available in the US, would you buy it?  Do you think it would help tame your chocolate cravings?  Does it have the potential to heighten cravings?  What about causing chocolate binges when the calorie-free version isn't quite satisfying your sweet tooth (I'm thinking back to the Snackwell's binges from a decade ago).

I have to admit, I'm a total skeptic.  I can't imagine taking a puff of chocolate tasting air would fix my need for chocolate.  I get total satisfaction from taking a bite out of some high quality chocolate (no Hershey's for me!) and savoring it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)

For any of you ladies out there, you may be interested in attending Harvard's WECAN event on Saturday, March 27th.  WECAN stands for Women's Empowerment Convention & Network.

Event details are listed here.

I'll be giving a workshop on "How to Become Your Own Nutrition Expert & Love Food Too!" I'll be raffling off a free nutrition session.  There will also be a ton of other great speakers, workshops, and free giveaways. Hope to see you there!

Marci

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.

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?