Eating Right

Asian food is everywhere. Cheap packets of ramen noodles make up a large portion of a typical college student’s diet. Green tea is a common sight on grocery store shelves, not only as a drink but also as a dietary supplement. Egg rolls, wonton soup and chicken lo mein taste delicious when eaten out of those cardboard take-out boxes. But how healthful are those soy sauce-soaked noodles? The nutritional value of Asian food directly relates to how the food is prepared, how large the portion size is, and how "Americanized" the food is.

Many restaurants now include nuts in many different dishes, especially salads and desserts. And with the recent low-carb craze, nuts have been recognized as nutritional protein powerhouses that are great for snacking. Many children today don’t just respond to nuts with a sniffly nose or scratchy throat; they are literally deathly allergic. In fact, nut allergies are among the most deadly; they cause 100 to 200 deaths every year, mostly in children and adolescents.

As commercial agribusiness tightens its control, maintaining the right to choose what’s on our plates has never been more important. Since the 1970s, a countercultural seed-saving movement has blossomed in an effort to maintain our biological heritage. Preserving heirloom vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers keeps the world’s available genetic diversity alive.

Using a shake as a meal replacement can be a safe way to manage weight, and get vitamins and nutrients you may overlook at other meals.

Gluten is the elastic, water-insoluble protein found in wheat and other grains such as rye, barley, kamut, spelt and oats. For someone suffering from celiac disease, all forms of gluten are toxic to the digestive system.

If you’re all grown up and still wince at the thought of eating dark leafy greens, it may be because you haven’t found the right ones, or the right preparation. There are enough different greens and enough ways to prepare them that they can find a place in any menu, from protein-loving to low-fat to raw to, of course, vegetarian or vegan. Greens are too delicious to miss, and their health benefits too great to overlook.

Nothing beats the aroma and taste of homemade soup on chilly autumn evenings. These days, however, market leaders like Campbell’s are not seeing their customary growth and profits. The reason may be because people are becoming more aware of what they eat, and many no longer consider typical condensed soup—loaded with sodium, and filled with overcooked vegetables, limp noodles and some type of animal-based stock—to be part of a healthy diet.

The smell of fresh-baked bread or sizzling onions may soon go the way of the dodo in some American kitchens. Will the oven itself become a passé appliance as increasing numbers of health-conscious individuals decide to eat most of their food uncooked? Raw foods are being touted as one of the newest ways to eat healthfully and have a low impact on the environment, but can a person get all the nutrients they need without cooking their food?

Modern Kitchens Try Their Hand at Dairy-less Desserts On the holiday dinner table, a delectable bounty of homemade goodies greets your eye—a veritable sea of fudge, cookies, meringues and mousse stretching out to the horizon of red-and-green tablecloth. Most people would slip into a sublime coma at the very first pass, but if you’re in […]

The Natural Egg-In the past 10 years, the egg has undergone a remarkable transformation, from a humble provider of protein, vitamins and minerals to an all-purpose edible conduit through which beneficial nutrients or potentially harmful chemicals can pass into the human body. As Americans become more critical of what they eat, small farmers and large-scale agribusiness have responded with a bewildering array of choices. And with the increasing variety of food products, even basics like eggs can confuse consumers.