My Grocery List at a Glance (requested)

In my line of work I get asked a lot of questions regarding groceries - what to buy, what to look for, what I recommend, etc. I have patients that would give anything to look into a dietitian's shopping cart and frequently I get self conscious when buying my own groceries that lead me to "hide" my vices (i.e, kit kats). Here are some things I love that are "regulars" on my shopping list.

1. Low fat string cheese
2. Greek Yogurt
3. Arnolds whole wheat sandwich thins
4. Canned Tuna Gourmet Choice Low Sodium Chunk Light
5. Hummus, any variety
6. Canned or Dried Beans
7. Walnuts or Almonds - I buy mine in the baking aisle, unsalted and toast them myself
8. Sunsweet Ones - any dried fruit honestly
9. Fiber One Honey Clusters
10. Blue Diamond Almond Milk Original
11. Fiber One or Fiber Plus Bars My meat and produce vary from week to week depending on what I'm cooking but these items are pretty much mainstays for me, most of them can be eaten on the go which I love. This post was requested from a friend of mine who likes to poke fun of my job and how it "interferes" with my everyday life.

Review: Bee Luscious Oolong Tea and Carrot Oil Eye Cream

From the website: Ooolong Tea is known to help deflate puffiness and calm irritation. Vitamin rich carrot, plus avacado and sweet almond smooth fine lines. The Company is Bee Royal Products. Price $24.

I've been using this product for several weeks now at night before bed and unfortunately I don't notice any difference between this and any other eye cream I've used. It does tingle a bit when you put it on which is nice and the consistency is thicker then some creams than some I've used. The biggest red flag for me is the smell, it's absolutely heavenly (think cake batter) and I love creams that smell delcious but not necessarily ones that I'm about to apply to my eye area. If this was a body cream or a hand cream I would love the smell. I am also dissappointed in the cheap plastic packaging, I guess it's better for maybe recycling reasons but certainly not very luxe. My CVS brand eye cream had nicer packaging along with no smell and moisturized just as well. I will finish the rest of my container but I'll probably go back to the aveeno or olay regenerist eye products that I've been using for years. I do love the Bee Royal website and in the future I wouldn't mind purchasing some of the face masks and retinol products.

A Word on Supplements

I get asked daily at work what supplements are recommended. Honestly this is different for everyone depending on your nutritional status and current health conditions. There aren't any recommendations necessary for a healthy male with a varied, healthful diet. If you are a healthy female without any medical conditions I urge you to take a folic acid supplement, or you can take a complete multivitamin. Folic acid can help prevent neuro deficits and conditions such as spina bifida in fetal development; these conditions happen within 12 days after conception before a woman knows she is pregnant. Folic acid combined with B vitamins are also great for your heart and can help with growing healthy hair and nails. Personally I take a Vitamin D supplement (look for D3 ergocalciferol), I only take 1 per day because I get quite a bit of it in my diet. Daily recommendations for Vitamin D are rumored to be changing in the near future. I also take a fish oil supplement daily (look for burpless or coded / enteric on the label) for Omega 3 nutrients. Many of us do not get enough omegas in our diet and they are awesome for your heart as well as for your skin and hair. Depending on what I've eaten each day I might have a calcium chew, I always keep a box just in case. Do not take supplements all at one time. I try and take a multivitamin with a Vitamin C source (ie. orange juice), Vitamin D goes with my lunch, fish oil with my after work snack, and I might have a calcium chew before bed - if taken together they can compete for absorption. Sometimes you have to evaluate your diet to determine what you might need, my system is not going to work for everyone. Please do your research; don't take advice from sales associates that work in health food stores or supplements shops, many make commission from their sales and do not have any nutritional training. It isn't uncommon for me to have patients who have been given really bad supplement advice. Remember - Supplements are not food and they are in no way a replacement for a balanced, varied diet

Tag: Favorite Candy

In honour of Halloween! Or

Tag: 5 Things That Gross Me Out

#5 The words: Hemorrhage, Diarrhea, and Aneurysm. I don't mind the meaning of the words but I really don't like the spelling and I hate the way they sound when I say them. I work in a hospital so these are pretty common words in my day to day life.

  #4 Wet tissue paper. Ugh, the thought of this makes me gag. You know people who take a piece of facial or bath tissue and wipe the counter and the paper gets all wet. I can't touch it, I just can't.

  #3 Soggy Food. I had a roommate once that left food on the plate when she put it in the sink and it would get all soggy, especially the bread - yak, I have trouble thinking about it. Just put it in the garbage disposal already, don't let it get soggy and stick to everything.

  #2 Roaches. I think of roaches as being dirty. I hate the way they crawl all ever everything with their little antennas feeling all over all my stuff. Just nasty, and they're almost impossibly to get rid of. You spray them and it takes them forever to die! Actually that is a big reason I decided to keep Lilly, when she came to live with me, I never saw another roach...alive.

  #1 Slugs. This has to be the most useless creature in existance. They're wet and leave trails of slime! Have you ever accidently stepped on one while barefoot..no, just no. Honorable mention, jumping spiders - not necessarily gross but they freak me out big time!

The Beauty Diet: Top 10 Foods

Just wanted to share this article with everyone on the top foods to eat for "The Beauty Diet" by Lisa Drayer. This diet was written and is endorsed by a licensed, practicing dietitian (the only source you should trust, especially if you have a health condition). Dietitians spend years in school learning medical nutrition therapy and biometabolism of macro and micro nutrients. There is A LOT of untrue information about diet and health on the internet, some of it can be potentially harmful. Many fad diets lack essential nutrients and many foods are "forbidden" or given a negative reputation. I found the original article on the AOL home page, the goal is to incorporate these foods into your diet most days of the week for beautiful skin, brighter eyes, and healthy bones.

1. Wild Salmon
2. Blueberries
3. Low Fat Yogurt
4. Oysters
5. Kiwifruit
6. Sweet Potatoes
7. Spinach
8. Tomatoes
9. Walnuts
10. Dark Chocolate

 The Beauty Diet: Looking Great Has Never Been So Delicious by Lisa Drayer, MA, RD can be bought here. I will not endorse any "diet plans", I just don't believe in them. What I do endorse is information that has been gathered through medical and nutritional research and found to be truthful. I personally love a clean eating approach and all of the above foods fit into that category. If you must follow a diet plan or want information on how to keep yourself looking and feeling your best get your information from a trusted source (i.e, not a body builder, a personal trainer, or a model - I can go on and on about the inaccurate information on current diets on the market now from sources such as these).

Top 6 Halloween Movies

I like doing "Top 5" lists but sometimes you just can't fit everything in such a small list. These are not necessarily scary movies, I enjoy the occasional horror movie (provided I'm not expected to sleep alone afterwards) but most of them aren't movies I'd watch over and over again.

6. Interview with the Vampire
5. Nightmare on Elm Street (the original, this reminds me of childhood sleepovers)
4. Hocus Pocus
3. Corpse Bride
2. Legend of Sleepy Hollow
1. Edward Scissorhands

 *Honorable mention to the Saw series, they freak me out for sure but again I don't own any of them and I don't think I'd watch them multiple times.