Portion Control: National Strawberry Sundae Day

National Strawberry Sundae Day

July 7th is designated as National Strawberry Sundae Day. Many people associate sundaes as a high calorie dessert, but with portion planning you can turn a sundae into a nutritionist snack.

The Registered Dietitian Melissa Villar, MS, RD, LDN - Miss Chef RD

Melissa Villar, MS, RD, LDN

Miss Chef RD

Website.  Miss Chef RD

Blog. Miss Chef RD Blog

Facebook. Miss Chef RD
Twitter.  @MissChefRD
LinkedIn. Miss Chef RD

 

Miss Chef RD, also known as Melissa Villar is a registered dietitian (RD). Melissa has a diverse background in the field of dietetics and nutrition.

She developed a love for food and cooking at an early age. The services Miss Chef RD provides reflects Melissa's creative use of her talents and knowledge as a RD. Some of the programs  include "RD to the Rescue",  "Cooking Healthy for Two" and Kitchen Cupboard Home Consultation.

Melissa, also has worked with indigient families to help improve their nutritional status, managed a hospital kitchen and consulted with nursing homes. Melissa currently works with patients seeking Weight Loss Surgery.

In her free time, Melissa enjoys spending time with her family, keeping abreast of the latest trends in Nutrition and as an avid animal lover, playing with her mini-lop rabbit, Trudy.

Happy Birthday America

America turns 234 years old

From our Pets

From Wellness News and Dietitians-Online

July Wellness News and Events

July Featured Causes and Events


God bless the USA
Independence Day Tribute

 

National Blueberries Month

The North American Blueberry Council (NABC) is a non-profit agricultural association representing cultivated blueberry growers and marketers in the United State and Canada. The NABC as established in 1965 and its members currently represent approximately 70% of the North American cultivated blueberry crop

National Ice Cream Month

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day. He recognized ice cream as a fun and nutritious food that is enjoyed by a full 90% of the nation's population. In the proclamation, President Reagan called for all people of the United States to observe these events with "appropriate ceremonies and activities."

The International Ice Cream Association (IICA) encourages retailers and consumers to celebrate July as National Ice Cream Month. In 2010, National Ice Cream Day will be Sunday, July 18.

National Recreation and Parks Month

NRPA encourages recreation facilities and parks across the country to kick-off summer programs, promote outdoor physical recreation, and pull together volunteers to make their outdoor space a thriving center of community activity.

This year’s theme is “Celebrate, Advocate, Recreate!” NRPA is encouraging members, agencies, and citizens to plan events and initiatives that remind local decision makers and the community of the exciting and vital role that parks and recreation play in the lives of Americans.

National Grilling Month

Grilling is applying food directly to the heat and flame of a grill. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has prepared a fact sheet on Grilling and Food Safety. Armed with the fact sheet, you can enjoy many delicious, healthy and safe meals.

UV Safety Month

Fireworks Safety Month

Cell Phone Courtesy Month

National Make A Difference to Children Month

Social Wellness Month

National Wheelchair Beautification Month

Smart Irrigation Month

Baked Bean Month

Family Reunion Month

National Culinary Arts Month

National Horseradish Month

National Hot Dog Month

National Veggie Hot Dog Month

National Recreation and Parks Month

Sandwich Generation Month

The Registered Dietitian Jenna A. Bell, PhD, RD, CSSD

Jenna A. Bell, PhD, RD, CSSD

Website. Swim, Bike, Run, Eat!

Blog. Eat Right Around Chicago 

Blog. Swim, Bike, Run, Eat

Twitter: @EatRightAround 
LinkedIn. Jenna Bell

Facebook.  Jenna A. Bell 

Newsletter. Swim, Bike, Run, Eat Newsletter

Jenna A. Bell-Wilson is a nationally recognized nutrition writer/presenter and co-author of Energy to Burn: The Ultimate Food and Nutrition Guide to Fuel your Active Lifestyle (John Wiley & Sons 2009). She is a Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, registered dietitian and a nutrition advisor to international sports nutrition companies, and co-founder of Swim, Bike, Run, Eat!. She has provided nutrition seminars at major athletic events like the Boston Marathon, the ING New York City Marathon, Bank of American Chicago Marathon and the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, HI.

She is the Heart Beat columnist for Today’s Dietitian and her expertise has been featured in Us Weekly, Fitness magazine, Pilates Style, Men’s Health, Runner’s World, IDEA Fitness Journal, IDEA Health and Fitness Source, IDEA Personal Trainer and related publications and on the web. She has been published in scientific journals, and has had nationwide TV appearances on ABC, NBC and FOX affiliates, radio programs and podcasts. Dr. Bell-Wilson is also featured in ten Healthy Learning videos and is an annual presenter at IDEA Health and Fitness International Conferences.

Dr. Bell-Wilson has been a media spokesperson for the food industry and has aided in the development of nutrition communications programs for a variety of companies in the food industry. Her clients have included brands such as Kraft, Nestle, Unilever, the Cranberry Institute, Ocean Spray, USA Rice Federation, Lactalis Sorrento, Inc and others.

Short collection of highlights from the work
Dr. Jenna Bell has done for TV, print, radio, and online.

Eat Right Around Chicago

Dr. Bell is dedicated to eating her way around the the city of Chicago and still fit in her jeans. She refuses to miss out on the offerings of Chicago's established and up-and-coming Chefs, neighborhood gems, foodie-hot spots, late night diners and fine dining temptations.

Armed with her appetite and nutrition credentials, Jenna's mission is to eat RIGHT around Chicago.

"I have made it my mission to eat my way around the city, but I'm going to EAT RIGHT around each and every neighborhood. I refuse to starve my taste buds, deconstruct a chef's creation to save waist and I won't miss a local hot spot. Simultaneously, I will maintain my weight, make nutritious choices and keep my nutrient dense diet."

 

"My aim is to give easy to digest diet tips, nutrition insights and ideas to dine right at any eating establishment. I don't believe in compromising taste to eat right; good food and a healthy body are not mutually exclusive. I rate restaurants based on their "yummy-ness" as well as their healthiness."

The Registered Dietitian Karen Giles-Smith, M.S., R.D.

Karen Giles-Smith, M.S., R.D.

Website. The Wellness Writer®

Blog. The Wellness Writer® Blog

LinkedIn. Karen Giles-Smith, M.S., R.D.

Director of Nutrition Communications at Dairy Council of Michigan

Karen Giles-Smith, MS, RD is the Manager of Nutrition Communications for Dairy Council of Michigan/United Dairy Industry of Michigan (UDIM) where she provides health professionals, the media and consumers with current information on nutrition and health. She serves as a media spokesperson on a variety of issues including child nutrition, dental health, lactose intolerance, and osteoporosis prevention. In addition, Karen is a freelance writer at the Wellness Writer® and Contributing Editor at Healthy & Fit Magazine.

Karen Giles-Smith, MS, RD Interviewed
by WJBK FOX 2 on Healthy Snacks

Karen is active in the state and local district dietetic associations, serving as the annual conference co-chair for the Michigan Dietetic Association and as President of the Lansing Dietetic Association. She received the 2004 Michigan Registered Dietitian of the Year Award and the 2008 Public Relations Individual Award from the Michigan Dietetic Association.

Karen specializes in nutrition, health, wellness and nature writing for consumer and trade magazines and offers the following Freelance Writing Services:

For magazines:
Features and columns

For businesses:
Annual reports
Manuals and brochures
Newsletters
Press releases
TV and radio interview scripts, PSAs and tags
Web site content

For the media:
Expert resource for credible nutrition information

Question from Reader Is Aspartame sweetener harmful to our health?

Aspartame and its Relationship to
Science, Politics and Industry

Question:
Is Aspartame sweetener harmful to our health? I was reading online that the acid included can burn a hole in the brain. Is this true?  FW

The safety of aspartame has been the subject of several political, industrial and medical controversies.

Science.
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener used as a sugar substitute in many foods and beverages. The body breaks down aspartame into two common amino acids, aspartic acid and phenylalanine, and a third substance, methanol. These three substances are available in foods we commonly eat. Because its breakdown products include phenylalanine, aspartame must be avoided by people with the genetic condition phenylketonuria (PKU).


Politics, Government and Industry.
 In 1980, the FDA convened a Public Board of Inquiry charged with examining the relationship between aspartame and brain cancer. The board concluded aspartame does not cause brain damage, but it recommended against approving aspartame at that time, citing unanswered questions about cancer in laboratory rats.

FDA task force investigated allegations of errors in the research conducted by the manufacturer (G.D. Searle & Company) and found only minor discrepancies that did not affect the study outcomes.

In 1981, G.D. Searle & Company then led by CEO Donald Rumsfeld, re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener. The new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hull Hayes, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board’s decision. The panel upheld the ban by a 3-2 decision. Hayes then added a sixth member to the commission, and the vote was tied. Hayes personally broke the tie in favor of aspartame. Hayes later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety. He later took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for G.D. Searle and Company. Since that time he has never spoken publicly about aspartame.

In 1983, the FDA further approved aspartame for use in carbonated beverages, and for use in other beverages, baked goods, and confections in 1993. In 1996, the FDA removed all restrictions from aspartame allowing it to be used in all foods.

Critics claim FDA’s approval of aspartame was impaired by conflicts of interest and questionable research. The validity of these claims were examined and dismissed. In 1987, the U.S. Government Accountability Office concluded that the food additive approval process had been followed properly for aspartame.

Aspartame has been found to be safe for human consumption by more than ninety countries worldwide, with FDA officials describing aspartame as "one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved" and its safety as "clear cut" (2). The weight of existing scientific evidence indicates that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a non-nutritive sweetener.


Aspartame (1) as listed in the Food Additive Status List
NUTRS (Nutritive Sweetener).
REG (Food additives for which a petition has been filed and a regulation issued).
GMP (In accordance with good manufacturing practices; or sufficient for purpose; or quantity not greater than required).

Sweetening agent, sugar substitute uses stated in - 172.804. Sugar substitute tablets, breakfast cereals, chewing gum, dry bases for beverages, instant coffee and tea beverages, gelatins, puddings, fillings, and dairy product analog toppings, ready-to-serve nonalcoholic flavored beverages, tea beverages, fruit juice based drinks where food standards permit such use, fruit flavored drinks and ades, imitation fruit flavored drinks and ades, frozen stick-type confections and novelties, breath mints, hard and soft candy, refrigerated ready-to-serve gelatins, puddings, and fillings, fruit wine beverages with EtOH <7%, yogurt-type products where aspratame is added after pasteurization and culturing, refrigerated flavored milk beverages, frozen desserts, frostings, toppings, fillings, glazes and icings for precooled baked goods, frozen, ready-to-thaw-and-eat cheesecakes, fruit and fruit toppings, frozen dairy and nondairy frostings, toppings, and fillings, fruit spreads, fruit toppings, and fruit syrups, malt beverages with <7% EtOH and containing fruit juice, baked goods and baking mixes 0.5 wt.-% of ready-to bake products or of finished formulation and prior to baking.


References
1. Listing of Food Additive Status Part I.
2. Sugar Substitutes: Americans Opt for Sweetness and Lite. John Henkel, writer for FDA Consumer.