"healthy eating" news and stories

Meet Slashfood's newest blogger, Jennifer Iserloh, a.k.a. The Skinny Chef. Twice a week, Chef Iserloh will be sharing smart, savory ways to make your favorite dishes healthier, without sacrificing flavor.

I was raised in a small town outside of Pittsburgh in my Granny's little brick house, complete with a large dine-in kitchen. Granny is an amazing cook and almost all our meals were from scratch. ­ She began passing all her knowledge and cooking traditions on to me when I was tall enough to reach the counter. Cooking became an integral part of my life, but overeating and serious weight issues were another, unfortunate part of my family's heritage.

As I grew older, I steadily gained weight from my teen years into my early 20s. I felt a real dissatisfaction with the way I looked, and more importantly, being overweight really hurt my self-confidence. I knew that I had to make changes, and I began to learn about nutrition - mimicking my slender female friends' healthy habits. I started to lose weight, but I never lost my love for food.

After I moved to New York City, I finally had the courage to follow my dream to become a chef and truly honor my passion. After graduating, I studied with the masters of New York City restaurants. As my professional scope widened, I experienced food on many levels, working as a private chef, learning how to style foods for photo shoots, and starting a career in food writing. To this day, I combine my best experiences from the food world into delicious, healthy food that is also beautiful.

Based on studies conducted on mice, mushrooms can protect the immune system. But, can they strengthen our immunity? A recent report from Reuters explains that the most common and inexpensive mushroom, the white button mushroom, had the strongest "immune-boosting effects." Dr. Keith Martin of Arizona State University goes as far as stating that these fungi are "powerhouses for boosting the immune system."

Assuming that these studies apply to humans, this is great news for those of you who are already taking mushroom extracts as dietary supplements. Scientific studies also reveal that mushrooms may help increase the immune system's ability to fight tumors. So, just how many mushrooms would we have to consume to reap these health benefits? Martin explains that to get the equivalent amount of mushrooms consumed by the mice in the study, a person would need to eat about 100 grams (3.5 ounces). That's roughly two and a half cups of raw mushrooms -- daily.

It's time to start thinking of the many ways to incorporate mushrooms into your diet. Fellow blogger, Amy McDaniel, recently posted about a delicious dish of jasmine brown rice and barley pilaf with mushrooms and pearl onions. What are some of your favorite mushroom dishes?

Less than two months into her term as first lady, Michelle Obama has emerged as an outspoken advocate for healthier eating. Last week Obama brought eight cases of fresh fruit to a D.C. soup kitchen, where she served steamed broccoli, mushroom risotto and homemade apple-carrot muffins as she talked about her desire to increase access to healthy food all over the country, reports the New York Times.

"We can provide this kind of healthy food for communities across the country, and we can do it by each of us lending a hand," Obama said.

This comes after a speech to the Department of Agriculture last month in which Obama talked up community gardens, followed a few days later by her press tour of the White House kitchen where chefs were preparing healthy items like creamed spinach sans cream. Obama has also talked to various magazines, from Vogue to Parents, about how she's struggled to get her girls to eat veggies and cut out sugary treats.

Apparently Laura Bush also served fresh, organic foods in the White House, but didn't discuss her family's eating habits with reporters. I think it's great that Obama's raising the profile of healthy food - this country could certainly use it. As the New York Times suggests, parents can always use the "But Sasha and Malia eat their veggies..." tactic!

Do you think Michelle Obama's healthy eating campagin will create permanent change in the way Americans eat?

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When I signed up for fitness boot camp, I had no idea that I'd also be expected to follow a new eating regimen. Six am workouts sounded rigorous enough, but come to find out, this is about more than sit-ups, squats, and sprints. Alcohol, fried food, and sweets are all outlawed during the 30-day program, and we campers are to eat five to six small meals, each packing some protein and carbs, every day.

Everything in me rebels against depriving myself of any kind of gustatory pleasure, but it really wouldn't hurt to give my heart and liver a break from butter and booze. I do wonder, though, how well I will be able to stick to the 6 meal per day plan.

In theory, this is the part I like the most about the regimen. I can imagine that it would be much easier on the digestive system, and would also curb cravings to some degree. it just sounds so difficult to plan so many little menus. Just after noon on Day 2, I'm three meals in, wondering how I'll segment the other half of lunch and the two halves of dinner. Does anybody out there manage to stick to this kind of routine day after day? I'd love to hear about people's experiences of it.

This past weekend, Reuters reported the death of an elder woman in Minnesota due to Salmonella infection. She is the seventh person in the U.S. to die from this bacteria. As of last Wednesday, 491 people have been infected during the current outbreak. And, 125 products have been recalled by the FDA, including cookies, crackers, ice cream and even some pet foods.

Below are some ways to avoid possible infection:

1. Washing your hands and kitchen surfaces before working with any food may seem obvious, but many people forget.
2. Wash your hands and counter tops or cutting boards in between working with vegetables and raw meats to avoid cross-contamination.
   
3. Antibacterial soap or simple soap and water work well.
   
4. Use fresh, clean dish towels and change often.
5. Thoroughly wash all fruit, even if you are not going to eat the skin.
6. Any fruit that might touch the ground, such as tomatoes, is susceptible to Salmonella. So, spend even more time scrubbing these fruits.
   
7. Cut off any vines or parts that were attached to the plant. When eating tomatoes, make sure to cut off and discard the hard nib on the top of the fruit, because the bacteria can implant itself there easily.
   
8. Take off the outer leaves of cabbage and lettuce, and the outer skin of onions.
9. When baking, make sure to thoroughly cook the baked foods before eating them. Salmonella usually comes from raw eggs. Do not eat raw cookie dough no matter how tempting it may be!
   
10. Salmonella poisoning often occurs from poultry and raw eggs that haven't been properly cooked, or frozen and not properly cooked, or left sitting too long after being cooked.
11. Got pets? Make sure after handling them you wash your hands.