Small Nutrition Shifts for the New Year

For many of us, the new year brings pressure to overhaul our lives with diet and lifestyle changes. Our 2020 New Year’s diet survey, released in February 2020, found that 42% of Americans reported making dietary changes in January. But by the end of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic had been waging for nearly a year, the tone had changed—understandably. According to our 2020 year-end survey, only 15% of consumers said they planned to make a food or beverage-related resolution in the coming new year. So far, your January may not have involved massive health goals, and that’s okay. In fact, smaller and more manageable shifts in your lifestyle can also set you on a path toward improved health—and one that may be more sustainable and lasting over the long term. If you’re looking for a few ideas to try, the following options can all be implemented steadily over the next year. Try one (or more) and see what best fits with your current lifestyle. 1. Choose fiber-rich whole grains for half of your daily grain servings Did you know that most Americans consume about half the amount of fiber recommended by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and only about 5% of the population meet the recommendations for dietary fiber intake? Fiber is an important nutrient that can reduce your risk for several chronic diseases, and choosing whole grains can help increase your fiber intake. In fact, the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that we make half of our daily grain servings whole grains. Here are some tips to increase your whole grain intake: 2. Try some alternatives to reduce your added sugar intake While avoiding added sugars completely isn’t entirely realistic, it’s fair to say that many people could benefit from eating less added sugar—most […]

article

Diversifying MyPlate: Gujarati Indian Cuisine

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and its associated MyPlate graphic are commonly referenced resources for learning about healthy and nutritious eating. The recently-updated 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans put a stronger focus on meeting dietary recommendations while keeping cultural preferences in mind, and resources highlighting culturally inclusive approaches are valuable tools for translating the general messages of MyPlate and the Dietary Guidelines to more Americans. This article is part of a series that shows how healthy eating can take on many different forms outside of the Western diet. While for many, meals might not exactly resemble MyPlate, the featured guest authors will demonstrate what healthy eating looks like in their culture, and how many of the food groups and principles can translate across cultures and cuisines. Each article in this series is written by a registered dietitian who is experienced in integrating culturally inclusive approaches into their work. About the Author Hi, I am Sarika Shah. As a registered dietitian, I have practiced for 20 years in multiple sectors. Having been raised in an Indian household, I understood the difference between my Western education and ethnic diets. I am able to use my knowledge of my patients’ food, culture and tradition to help them find healthy eating patterns that are in their comfort zone. I am a dietitian to most; but to my Indian patients, I am their dietitian. For any generation of Indians in America, there is so much confusion about whether the Indian diet is healthy or not. Understandably, many believe they need to give up traditional foods to be “healthy.” Fundamentally, I am a firm believer that we should not deprive ourselves of any food, especially our cultural foods. My practicing philosophy is to incorporate the foods we love into our daily lives with awareness, education and […]

article

Tips for Balanced and Healthy Eating

    Most of us want to eat in a healthy and balanced way that fits our lifestyle, schedule, and budget. But what does that look like, practically? While more information about healthy eating exists than ever before, many of us frequently encounter conflicting information about nutrition—especially online—which makes it hard to know what to eat daily. While it may be tempting to test out the latest diet craze, research tells us that overly strict dieting does not lead to positive health outcomes. As boring as it can sound, eating with balance, moderation, and variety is sound nutrition advice and your surest bet for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, as this dietary pattern ensures that we’re eating a range of foods and taking in all the micro- and macronutrients our bodies need. A balanced diet also helps us enjoy our food—which is important, too! You might already have an idea of what kinds of foods work best with your lifestyle, and that’s great! But if you need a tune-up on general healthy nutrition advice, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s explore a few tried-and-true tenets of healthful and balanced eating. 1. Be flexible and use various forms of food to your advantage. That might sound strange at first, but what we hope you understand is that nutrition is not one-size-fits-all, and our food choices often change from day to day. For example, if you’re on the go or short on time, you may want to choose a combination of packaged, frozen, canned and/or fresh foods to help simplify meals and snacks (while still meeting your nutritional needs). Maybe one day you cook your food completely from scratch, while the next you rely on canned or packaged foods to augment your meals. Most of the time, you may fall somewhere in […]

insights

What is Erythritol?

Highlights Erythritol Essentials  Erythritol (pronounced Ear-rith-ri-tall) is a type of carbohydrate called a sugar alcohol, or polyol, which are water-soluble compounds that occur naturally in many fruits and vegetables. It is also commercially produced by fermentation from a simple sugar derived from corn, called dextrose. It’s used as a zero-calorie sweetener to help replace calories from carbohydrates and added sugars in packaged foods and beverages. In addition to providing sweetness, erythritol also helps foods retain moisture.  Erythritol safety has been reviewed and confirmed by health authorities around the world. Based on these extensive reviews, erythritol is approved for use in more than 60 countries. Japan was the first country to approve erythritol for use in foods in 1990. The World Health Organization confirmed its safety in 1999 and in 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also recognized erythritol as safe. Since then, the European Commission and European Food Safety Authority have issued scientific opinions on erythritol and approvals for its use.    While the safety of erythritol and other sugar alcohols is is well-documented, some sugar alcohols, when eaten in excessive amounts, can cause gastrointestinal discomfort, including gas, bloating and diarrhea. As a result, foods in the U.S. that contain the sugar alcohols sorbitol or mannitol must include a warning on their label about potential laxative effects. Erythritol is better tolerated than sorbitol or mannitol, so foods that contain erythritol do not need to carry that warning label.    Erythritol and health  Like most sugar alcohols, erythritol is not as sweet as sugar: It’s only about 60-80 percent as sweet. When we consume erythritol, we don’t completely digest it so it does not provide calories. Its lack of calories makes erythritol unique among sugar alcohols, most of which have around two calories per gram (for reference, sugar has about four calories […]

article

How To Navigate the Center Aisles: Budget-Friendly, Nutritious Foods You Might Have Overlooked While Grocery Shopping

Are you one of those shoppers who tend to peruse only the perimeter of grocery stores, where fresh produce, dairy, and meat live? While there are undoubtedly benefits to shopping for fresh food, it’s worth knowing that there are many hidden gems to be found in the center aisles of grocery stores, where non-perishable and packaged foods tend to reside. In fact, if you’re avoiding the center aisles entirely, you may be missing out on a world of affordable and nutritious options that could help stretch your food budget and decrease your food waste. Yes, center aisles might seem daunting—with shelves frequently stacked high with an overwhelming selection of ready-to-eat and/or packaged goods. But fear not! Read on for tips to help you travel with confidence through the heart of the grocery store and make the most out of your shopping. So put on your adventure hat, grab a cart, and let’s explore the center aisles! Stop 1: Cereals and Oats Are you in search of budget-friendly breakfast options, convenient and healthy snacks, or essential ingredients for baked goods? The cereal aisle has you covered. Oats, grits, granola, and cereal can be packed with whole grains, which provide us with sustained energy and support our gut health. Many enriched cereals also contain essential nutrients, such as iron and B-vitamins. And reading the labels can help you choose cereal and grain-based options that are low in added sugar and high in fiber. Learn more about how to read food labels here. Stop 2: Nuts and Seeds Nuts and seeds are powerhouses of energy and nutrients! And research has also found that nuts and seeds can help lower blood lipids, which may reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Nuts and seeds are also great sources of healthy fats (more on this in […]

insights

Nutrition 101 Video Series: The Principles of Protein

This is the fifth installment of our “Nutrition 101” video series in partnership with Osmosis, a group that focuses on health science education, highlighting the basics of several nutrition topics. For a look back at what we’ve covered so far, watch our videos on fats, carbohydrates and sugars, hydration and low-calorie sweeteners. Protein is an essential part of the human diet. It’s found in a large variety of foods, including eggs, dairy, seafood, legumes, meats, nuts and seeds. Regardless of the source, the protein that we eat gets broken down and re-formed into new proteins in our bodies. These proteins do everything from fighting infections to helping cells divide. At its simplest, a protein is a chain of amino acids bound to one another by peptide bonds like a string of beads. These strings get twisted and folded into a final protein shape. When we eat protein, it gets broken down into its individual amino acids. Although there are hundreds of amino acids in nature, humans use only about 20 of them to make basically every type of protein we need. One way to categorize them is by defining which ones our bodies can make ourselves and which ones we cannot. There are five amino acids—alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, and serine—that we can get from foods but that our bodies can also make. These five are called nonessential amino acids. There are six amino acids that we call conditionally essential because healthy bodies can make them under normal circumstances but not in some conditions, like when the body is in starvation mode or when there are certain inborn errors of metabolism. These conditionally essential amino acids are arginine, cysteine, glutamine, glycine, proline, and tyrosine. Finally, there are nine amino acids that we can get only from food: histidine, […]

insights

Time To Flex: Bridging The Protein Knowledge Action Gap

Protein is a multi-tasker in the body – not only can it provide energy, but it also supports muscle health, builds and repairs tissues, and produces enzymes and hormones. As one of three macronutrients that form the foundation of our diets, protein seems ubiquitous in today’s food supply, with nearly every food group offering options that contribute to intake. It’s also widely perceived as healthy – by both healthcare professionals and consumers – and is a focal point in many popular eating patterns and food conversations. Just Can’t Get Enough The IFIC Food & Health Survey supports protein’s prominence and dominance as a top performer. Not only has the percentage of Americans trying to consume more protein grown over the past several years – with 59% saying they were trying to consume more in 2022, 67% in 2023, 71% in 2024, and holding high at 70% in 2025 – but it also consistently ranks as the top nutrient consumers are trying to optimize. Recently released 2025 IFIC Food & Health Survey data reveal that the top diet followed by consumers is “high protein” – and this doesn’t even include specific protein-heavy eating patterns also selected by respondents (e.g., low-carb, ketogenic, and paleo). Consumers also report using “good source of protein” as the top criteria to define a healthy food. It seems as if consumers can’t get enough of protein – or can they? On average, Americans are largely consuming recommended amounts of sources from the Protein Foods group associated with U.S. dietary guidance. Still, this doesn’t necessarily mean that intake is fully aligned with recommendations. In fact, according to dietary intake data, many protein subgroups are chronically underconsumed in the U.S. – including nuts, seeds, soy, and seafood. Additionally, there are certain population segments that have higher protein requirements than […]

insights