Haley Kreft, RD, LDN, Registered Dietitian, MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center

What we eat affects all the systems of the body, from how we look and feel to how well our bodies work. If you look online, you’ll find site after site tells you what you should eat and drink and what supplements to take for just about anything that ails you.But it’s important to remember that every person’s body and nutritional needs are unique. And with all that information floating around online, how do you know what’s healthy for you and what potentially could be harmful? The scary part is, you don’t—unless you work with a nutrition expert. Registered dietitians specialize in helping people find personalized food choices that fit their lifestyle and help them feel healthier. Instead of providing generic advice such as "eat at least five portions of fruits and vegetables daily" or "lower your salt intake," registered dietitians offer a tailored nutrition approach. As a registered dietitian, my colleagues and I give tailored recommendations based on a person’s health history and unique needs. Registered dietitians and licensed dietetic nutritionists are extensively trained in nutrition. We stay updated on current evidence-based practices so we’re always on top of the latest recommendations. We assess an individual’s current nutritional status, taking into consideration any current or past medical problems, and we educate people about healthy food and lifestyle choices. Nutrition experts understand healthy meal planning and portion control, and we can help with more complex nutrition needs, such as: Adapting to food allergy restrictions and special dietary needs Recovering and regaining strength after surgery Ongoing nutrition counseling for health, management of chronic illness, and weight loss Finding this type of information on your own can be tough and even unsafe. For example, search online for “how food helps the body heal,” and you’ll find ample articles about superfoods, miracle foods, and what to eat after surgery. But none of these recommendations online take into account your personal health and nutrition needs. It’s also important to note that nutrition information and recommendations can change over time. What you read in an online nutrition article from just a few years ago may be the opposite of what is considered healthy today. I’ll give you an example: Past recommendations stated that eggs should be eaten in moderation due to their high cholesterol levels. However, updated guidelines no longer restrict the consumption of eggs, as we believe dietary cholesterol intake minimally affects blood cholesterol levels especially when compared to the intake of trans fats and saturated fats. A nutrition expert will be aware of these updates and can help you make the best nutrition decisions for yourself and your family. Another perk of working with a registered dietitian is that we’re great resources for information you can use on a daily basis. While a lot of our recommendations come from talking with you about your nutrition goals and health history, we also provide national guidelines that you can use to help get your nutrition on track. Here are a few of our favorite national resources: Choose MyPlate: This easy-to-follow site offers visual tips to balance your plate with healthy food choices. EatRight: The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website offers up-to-date general nutrition recommendations for families. Parent Tips: How to use nutrition facts labels: Do you know what’s in your kids’ food? This resource provides tips about what to look for to make healthy choices for them. If you’re ready to start eating healthier, it’s OK to look online for basic information. But when it comes to making lasting changes to improve your health and well-being, consider seeking support from a registered dietitian. You are what you eat—you deserve the knowledge to make choices that will keep you healthy, strong and energized for years to come! Learn More

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), obesity affects more than one-third of adults and one in five children in the U.S. This trend is associated with a combination of the amount of food we eat and a decline in physical activity—we gain weight when we eat more calories than we burn. A key contributor to this imbalance is oversized food portions. Over the past 20 years, U.S. food portions have doubled or tripled, making it easier than ever to overeat. When we order meals in restaurants, there's often enough food for two or even three people. It can be challenging to determine appropriate portion sizes when we’re used to seeing massive sandwiches and huge side dishes. This “portion distortion” affects what we think of as normal portion sizes when we cook at home, too. Although our food portions are much larger today than they used to be, it doesn’t mean we need to eat everything just because it’s in front of us. You can battle the tendency to overeat by working with a registered dietitian and by following three easy tactics to control your calorie intake and make healthier food choices. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers the ChooseMyPlate website, which provides a visual example of what a healthy meal should include for most Americans. You can use the visual aid to plan meals, eat out, or cook at home. The plate is divided into the five healthy food groups—fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. Ideally, half of the plate should be fruits and vegetables, one-quarter should be a lean protein, and the final quarter should be grains. Dairy is shown as a side cup or dish next to the plate. ChooseMyPlate also offers recommended daily amounts for each food group, all of which vary based on an individual’s unique nutrition needs and level of physical activity. Below are some guidelines to think about when you use ChooseMyPlate: Vegetables: Any type of vegetable or 100 percent vegetable juice. Fresh vegetables—cooked or raw—are recommended, but canned, pureed and frozen are acceptable as well. Fruits: Any fruit or 100 percent fruit juice. Like vegetables, fruits can be fresh, canned, pureed or frozen, and also can be dried.   Proteins: Lean meat, lean poultry, seafood, beans and peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts, and seeds. Red meat is recommended just every now and then. Grains: Foods made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley or other grains. Common foods in this group include bread, pasta, oatmeal, cereal, tortillas, and grits. At least half of the grains you eat should be whole grains. Dairy: Milk and many foods made from dairy are considered part of this food group if they have calcium. Eligible foods include yogurt, cottage cheese, and calcium-fortified soymilk. Dairy products that don’t have calcium are not included in this group, such as cream, butter, and cream cheese. A recommended serving size is the amount of each food you should eat during a meal or snack, while a portion is the amount of food that you actually eat. If you eat more than the recommended serving size, you likely will get too many calories or too much of a certain nutrient. An easy solution is to measure the food we eat. But how can you determine a proper serving without specific measuring tools? You can use your hand and fingers to measure appropriate food portions. Use this cheat sheet for estimating portions of specific foods:   Cheese Peanut butter Your closed fist is about the size of one cup Vegetables Milk or yogurt Cooked rice, pasta, or cereal Fruit, raw or cooked Fruit juice can be one-half cup, or half a fist Leafy salad greens can be 2 cups, or the size of two fists A handful is about an ounce Nuts or dried fruits, such as raisins Larger snacks, such as chips, pretzels, or popcorn can be about two handfuls Your palm is roughly equivalent to 3 to 5 ounces Meat, fish, and poultry While it’s not an exact science, this method can help you keep proper portion sizes in mind wherever you go. For example, if you get a piece of chicken at a restaurant that’s the size of both your palms, cut it in half and share it or save the other half for tomorrow’s lunch. You can train your brain to avoid portion distortion. Every now and then, measure your favorite foods on a food scale as well so you can have a visual of the appropriate portion size. Many of us grew up starting our mornings by pouring a heaping pile of cereal into a bowl. How much cereal we ate depended largely on the size of our bowl. However, many cereals suggest a serving size of less than a cup, and many of us eat much more than that in a sitting. We all need to understand food labels, not only to learn the recommended serving size, but also to use the nutrition information in the context of our entire day. The nutritional elements included in the label, such as total carbohydrates, sodium, or sugar are suggested amounts in the context of a serving size. If we have double the serving of cereal, for example, we’ll eat double the amount of sugar or sodium listed on the food label. Use these tips when reading food labels and incorporate the recommendations into your daily food intake: Check the serving size. Sometimes more than one serving is listed. Follow the USDA’s 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Unless otherwise directed by your doctor or dietitian, eat and drink: Less than 10 percent of calories per day from added sugars. Less than 10 percent of calories per day from saturated fats. Less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day of sodium. Pay attention to the order of food ingredients. They’re listed in order of quantity, from greatest to least. Keep in mind that just because something is far down the list doesn’t mean there’s just a little of it. For example, tomatoes may be the most prevalent item in salsa, but it might have a lot of sodium, even if salt is the last ingredient listed. Check how many ingredients are in the food. A long list of ingredients may be a sign of artificial additives. Understand the daily recommended amounts of ingredients. Using sodium as an example again, the recommended daily amount for adults without health complications is just 2,300 mg per day, or just a little more than one teaspoon. The percent of daily value number on the label is an easy way to see how much of a day’s worth of a certain nutrient is in the food you’re about to eat. Eat foods that don’t have labels. In other words, opt for whole foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, more often than processed foods. Use these tips to beat portion distortion at home and while eating out. If you need a little extra help, consider working with a registered dietitian to get your nutrition on the right track. Before you know it, portioning, choosing healthy foods and reading food labels will become second nature.     Learn More

Many of us are so busy that we don’t think about what to make for meals until it’s crunch time. We zip through the store on our lunch break or after work, before our son’s piano lesson and our daughter’s soccer game. Grabbing food that’s easy (but also usually lower in nutritional value and more expensive) and then race home to cook. But what if you could skip the worry and rush with just an hour of planning?As a dietitian, I always recommend that patients try meal planning. Cooking is an important way to pay attention to our diet and focus on our health. When you plan your meals ahead for a week at a time, you can save money and time, lower your stress levels and eat healthier. Click to Tweet It can sound like a daunting task to plan out a week's worth of meals at a time, but it's a lot easier than it looks! Streamline the process with these tips: Double healthy recipes or make meals in bulk so they’ll stretch for more than one night or can be frozen for a future meal Plan out two or three meals per week Stick to a budget Make a list Wander (or worse, race!) through the store aisles Grab less healthy, more expensive choices Overspend or overshop The same tips work for locally sourced shopping and farmers markets. It’s fun to wander around and learn what’s in season as you shop. Just make sure you buy what you like and what your family can eat or freeze before it spoils. Schedule time to plan and cook. Do it all in one day, such as Saturday, or split it into two—whatever works for you. Set aside 20 minutes or so to think about a menu of two to three dinners for the week. I encourage planning two to three meals and planning to eat leftovers the rest of the week. I also recommend planning the week’s lunches, so you’re not tempted to “grab and go” with fast food. For lunches, I love to use my slow cooker to make healthy recipes, such as bean and vegetable chili or lemon chicken, and then portion them out into separate containers for the week’s lunches. Very little work or thinking for five days of healthy meals! Meals don’t have to be gourmet or perfect every time. Pick recipes you like and are good at making while aiming to include all food groups. Repeat meals are fine—most of us have favorites we rotate over and over. At the same time, try to be open to new variations and recipe ideas. Creativity can make food planning and cooking much more fun and easy.Sometimes patients say, “I’m a lousy cook,” but I believe everyone can cook if they want to learn! I recommend starting with simple recipes using foods you love. When people start to get a little more confident at the cooking process and find meals they enjoy, they can start working on variations. For example, if you have Fajita Friday, you can use leftover salsa, avocado and shredded cheese for Salad Saturday. Other popular themes to try are Meatless Monday or Taco Tuesday. People tend to be black and white about what they will and will not eat. The idea of something like Meatless Monday helps us find an interesting balance and can encourage us try meals beyond our usual comfort foods. For example, Meatless Monday gives people who generally eat meat with every meal an opportunity to try foods they may not eat otherwise, such as legumes or tofu. And even better, it’s heart-healthy to go meatless once in a while to reduce the amount of cholesterol and saturated fat the family eats.Gaining in popularity the flexitarian lifestyle, which follows a primarily vegetarian diet with the occasional addition of meat or fish. It’s about flexibility, but also keeping your health in mind. You could try going meatless on Mondays, eat fish one day, and eat a different lean meat the other three days of the workweek. Try to plan for healthy recipes that overlap in ingredients to stay within your budget. For example, if I’m going to make a recipe with bell peppers, I’ll find another recipe or meal that also includes bell peppers but isn’t in the same genre. The key is to put together meals with the same ingredients without creating boredom. This is especially useful for herbs and spices that we generally don’t buy and that tend to be expensive, for example, fresh rosemary or basil. Break down the planning into four easy steps: Look at what’s in your fridge and pantry Find tasty and healthy recipes Make your grocery list Check your store’s flyers or clip coupons There are two schools of thought regarding store sales flyers and coupons. The first method is to check for specials after steps 1 and 2, so you’re not tempted to buy more than what you need. The second method, which works better for some budgets, is to find what’s on sale first and then plan your meals around those groceries. It’s OK to eat out or order in every now and then. Remember that restaurant meals tend to be higher in calories, fat, and sodium and more expensive, with much larger portions than necessary. Planning meals in advance also allows you to look forward to a fun meal out with family or friends. Just make sure you dining out or ordering in doesn’t become a frequent, last-minute decision.   Take advantage of digital tools, such as meal planning apps for Apple or Android devices and phones. Check out Choose MyPlate for an interactive weekly planning calendar you can type your menus on and sample two-week menus, both of which you can download and print. Meal planning is all about awareness, variety and efficiency. I encourage my patients to consider meal planning. When we plan and think about what we eat, we make healthier, more budget-friendly food choices. And let’s be honest—all of us could use a little more time efficiency in our lives! Try these tasty recipes for a healthy, delicious dinner your family will enjoy: Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers Spaghetti Squash Learn More

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that about 48 million people—roughly 1 in 6 Americans—get sick each year from food borne illness, such as food poisoning, caused by unseen, harmful bacteria. Of those, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die from food borne disease. In cross-contamination, harmful bacteria are inadvertently transferred from foods, surfaces, utensils or hands to other foods. Hand-washing is a crucial step many of us forget when we’re cooking at home. We can prevent most cases of contamination and foodborne illness at home if we practice four effective steps for proper cleanliness and food preparation. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds each time to prevent the spread of bacteria—before, during and after cooking. Make sure to also wash everything your food touches when cooking: Appliances Countertops and surfaces Cutting boards Utensils Click to Tweet Fruits and vegetables also need to be cleaned well. Imagine all the people in the grocery store who may have sorted through a pile of apples, looking for just the right one! In the process, they’re also spreading germs. Fruits and vegetables also may contain small amounts of chemicals or pesticide residues used in the farming process as well as dirt from the ground. Give fruits a good rinse in cold water before that first bite to eliminate germs they may have picked up before making their way to you. You don’t need a special fruit wash—water is good enough. When preparing meals or snacks with raw vegetables, make sure you rinse them so they don’t spread bacteria to your hands, knives or any other food items. Keep surfaces clean as you go along. Sometimes not washing is just as important as washing—specifically when it comes to poultry. I don’t recommend rinsing chicken or turkey at all. Instead of eliminating bacteria, washing or rinsing causes it to spread. Instead, take the meat out of its packaging, trim it if needed, and proceed with cooking. Any bacteria on the skin of the bird will be destroyed as long as the meat is cooked thoroughly. Keep foods separate in your shopping cart and in your grocery bags. When you store things in the refrigerator, seal well any raw foods that need to be cooked and place it in the lower part of the fridge so it won’t ruin other foods if it drips or leaks. Keep eggs in their original carton for that same reason. Separating foods is especially vital for people with allergies. A very small amount of an allergen, such as nuts, could cause an allergic reaction. If you’re the kind of cook who washes utensils while preparing food, keep the items you’ve hand-washed well away from your sink. That way, if you’re adding dirty dishes to the sink or rinsing utensils, they won’t splash up on the items that you’ve already cleaned. As often as possible, use separate cutting boards, utensils and knives for raw poultry or eggs, raw meat or seafood and produce. Multicolored cutting boards and utensil handles can help keep equipment separate. You can also cut up your vegetables first, then your meats to avoid cross-contamination and save cleaning time. As soon as you get home from the store, put away items that require freezing or refrigeration. Check every now and then to make sure your refrigerator and freezer are set at the right temperatures: Set the refrigerator temperature at 40 degrees or colder. Keep the freezer at 0 degrees to avoid bacteria growth. Make sure items in the fridge or freezer aren’t crowded so the cold air can circulate. Use inexpensive appliance thermometers to monitor the refrigerator and the freezer. While cooking, make sure food reaches the correct internal temperature, such as 165 degrees for chicken or turkey and 145 degrees for steak. These temperatures will destroy any potentially harmful bacteria. Never assume meat is done cooking because it "looks OK." I highly recommend using a food thermometer to ensure the proper temperature has been reached, as color and texture are not reliable indicators of doneness.  Microwaves are handy for cooking and heating foods, and we should follow safe food practices when using them, too. Microwave directions often state that the food should sit for a few minutes after the cooking time. This is because the temperature will continue to rise, allowing for a more even heat distribution. After waiting a few minutes, check the temperature with a food thermometer to make sure it’s 165 degrees or above for chicken and beef. Food poisoning can be very dangerous, especially for vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women, young children and the elderly. By following these basic steps for food safety, we can avoid food poisoning and help keep our families safe. Learn More