Healthy Eating

FDA’s New Nutrition Labels Reflect Actual Servings, Not What Americans Pretend They’re Eating

Your days of glancing at a nutrition label and pretending you'll only eat the recommended twelve chips are numbered. On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration will announce the biggest changes to nutrition labels on food packages since they became mandatory in the early 1990s. The proposed redesign, which won't be finalized for months, looks similar to the current labels, but calories are in a much bigger font, serving sizes will be more realistic, and most controversially, added sugars must be listed. "I really like them.

Planned food safety rules rile organic farmers

Local growers are discovering that proposed FDA regulations would curtail many common techniques, such as using house-made fertilizers and irrigating from creeks.

HUSTONTOWN, Pa. — Jim Crawford was rushing to load crates of freshly picked organic tomatoes onto trucks heading for an urban farmers market when he noticed the federal agent.

A tense conversation followed as the visitor to his farm — an inspector from the Food and Drug Administration — warned him that some organic-growing techniques he had honed over four decades could soon be outlawed.

10 Vegetables & Herbs You Can Eat Once and Regrow Forever

There are some ingredients I cook with so often I can never buy too many of them, and most of them are produce. Onions, garlic and fresh herbs are staples in a lot of dishes, and they may be inexpensive, but when you use them on a daily basis it can add up.

Some foods are easy to regrow at home from leftover scraps, and some of them can even be grown right on your kitchen counter. Here are 10 vegetables and herbs you can buy once and regrow forever.

LePage signs bill to label genetically modified food

Maine becomes the second state to pass a law requiring food producers to label GMO food, but other states must follow before it goes into effect.

Gov. Paul LePage has signed a bill that would require food producers to label foods that contain genetically modified ingredients. The law makes Maine the second state in the country to pass such a measure. However, other states must adopt similar legislation before Maine’s labeling provision goes into effect.

More Helpful Fatty Acids Found in Organic Milk

Whole milk from organic dairies contains far more of some of the fatty acids that contribute to a healthy heart than conventional milk, scientists are reporting.

The finding, published Monday in the journal PLOS One, is the most clear-cut instance of an organic food’s offering a nutritional advantage over its conventional counterpart. Studies looking at organic fruits and vegetables have been less conclusive.

Study says nut eaters have lower cancer, heart disease risk

Help yourself to some nuts this holiday season: Regular nut eaters were less likely to die of cancer or heart disease — in fact, were less likely to die of any cause — during a 30-year Harvard study.

Nuts have long been called heart-healthy, and the study is the largest ever done on whether eating them affects mortality.

Snack Healthy on a Budget

Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly

When Ria Chhabra, a middle school student near Dallas, heard her parents arguing about the value of organic foods, she was inspired to create a science fair project to try to resolve the debate.

Three years later, Ria’s exploration of fruit flies and organic foods has not only raised some provocative questions about the health benefits of organic eating, it has also earned the 16-year-old top honors in a national science competition, publication in a respected scientific journal and university laboratory privileges normally reserved for graduate students.

9 Ingredients Nutritionists Won't Touch

1. Potassium benzoate: When you crave something sweet, bubbly, and perhaps caffeinated but don't want the calories, it can be tempting to crack open a diet soda-but resist that urge. "Sodium and potassium benzoate are added to some diet soft drinks and fruit drinks," Leslie Bonci, R.D., says. "They can form benzene, which is a carcinogen when combined with vitamin C, the ascorbic acid in juice or soda."

Organic Tomatoes, While Smaller, are More Nutritious than Conventional Counterpart, Study Shows

Tomatoes, which are actually a fruit and not a vegetable, contain a number of valuable nutrients, and according to recent research, organically-grown tomatoes are even more nutritious than their conventionally-grown counterparts.

One of the most well-known nutrients in tomatoes is lycopene — the compound that gives tomato its deep red color.

Lycopene is a vital anti-oxidant that has been shown to have potent anti-cancerous activity. This compound is not naturally produced in your body, so it must be supplied via your diet.

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