By Nicole Muller, Dietetic Intern at Meredith College and the Duke Lifestyle & Weight Management Center Nutrition Team. Every March, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics celebrates nutrition and food and encourages everyone to spend some time learning how to make the best choices for themselves! This year's theme is "Personalize Your Plate". You nourish and fuel your body through ...

By the Duke Lifestyle & Weight Management Center Nutrition Team The nutrition label you are used to seeing is more than twenty years old, so it is certainly time for an update! In an effort to give consumers the information they need to make more informed decisions about the food they purchase and consume, the FDA has decided to update ...

The Duke Diet and Fitness Center will now be called the Duke Lifestyle and Weight Management Center. The center’s director explains why the new name more accurately represents his team’s holistic approach to health. Darla Olson has lost 80 pounds in one year. She’s traded breakfast biscuits for fruit and yogurt parfaits. She’s walked five miles daily. And she’s embarked ...

By: Duke Diet & Fitness Center Nutrition Team Cooking meals at home is an important component of a healthy eating plan. But making healthy meals that actually taste good can be time-consuming and overwhelming— especially for cooks who don’t know a whisk from a spatula! But there’s good news for home cooks. Kitchen gadgets can help! Learn more about multi-cookers (like ...

Studies in sports and exercise have shown that music can improve performance in several areas. For instance, during repetitive exercise such as running, music can narrow a person’s attention away from sensations of fatigue. In other instances, it can be a stimulant before a competition or have a calming effect on anxious athletes. Music can often be an untapped source ...

By: Duke Diet & Fitness Center Nutrition Team A low-carbohydrate diet is a sensible and research-proven approach to weight loss. However, the most important part of any eating style is making it enjoyable and varied. Breakfast - Low Carb Pancakes Ingredients 1.5 cups almond flour ½ tsp baking soda Pinch sea salt ¾ cup unsweetened almond milk 2 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 3/4 cup fresh blueberries (optional) Cooking spray Cooking ...

You may have heard that the Mediterranean Diet was named the best diet for 2019. Every year, health experts with U.S. News evaluate and rank various diets that are on the market. According to their report “to be top-rated, a diet had to be relatively easy to follow, nutritious, safe, effective for weight loss and protective against diabetes and ...

By: Duke Health & Well-Being Nutrition Team We know there are certain foods and eating patterns that are conducive to sleep. In this post, we take a closer look at the neurological mechanisms involved. The food we eat influences the body’s release of specific neurotransmitters related to sleep. Neurotransmitters are messengers released from nerve cells that communicate with neighboring cells. ...

By: The Duke Health & Well-Being Nutrition Team Sleep plays an important role in health and well-being throughout the lifespan. Like most aspects of health, nutrition can play an important role. Sleep and nutrition have a cyclical relationship; sleep quality can affect hunger cues and lead to increased risk for weight gain, while proper nutrition and meal timing can improve ...

By: Duke Health & Well-Being Nutrition Team We have all heard the cliché that "you are what you eat." But what if it's not that simple? Perhaps instead we should say that "you are what your gut bacteria eat." Each of us is home to trillions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that peacefully coexist in and on our bodies. These microbes ...