Donna T. from Bismarck, North Dakota, writes: “When the variety of fresh veggies is limited, I buy frozen. I do, however, like to keep store-purchased canned veggies in my pantry and use them in tight squeezes. I am confused by statements that canned veggies are highly nutritious and comparable to frozen. Comparing nutrition labels does not ...Read more

A reader writes, “I have an 18-year-old grandson who started college this year and sustained a knee injury during football practice. He is recovering but my concern is that the team trainers have told him to 'bulk up' with supplemental pills and protein shakes from the health food store.

"He has 6 bottles of pills and most of the bottles ...Read more

After a long hot summer, we’re finally feeling the chill of fall. So the rush is on to get the last of the apples off the two trees in our yard before frost hits. I enlisted the help of my grandkids with an enticing offer of a prize to the one who bagged the most apples. It worked.

My neighbors have also been encouraged to pick as many apples...Read more

I read where statisticians are predicting Americans will spend “about” $3.5 billion this year on Halloween candy. Believe it or not, this is down slightly from last year. Still, that’s a lot of candy. And from my experience, children are not the only ones who delight in all those sweets.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy having grandkids and ...Read more

We dietitians take joy in communicating the results of ongoing research in the field of nutrition—the science of how substances in food interact with our health. But if you’ve ever lived through a major disaster, you know that food and water take on a much wider meaning during times of emergency.

As I watched the immense hurricane ...Read more

Now that the school year is in full swing, I’ve volunteered to pick up anywhere from two to five (depending on the week) grandkids from school each Wednesday, feed them dinner and deliver them to their weekly youth group.

It’s a bit more complicated this year. One has volleyball practice after school. The other practices with her cross ...Read more

My daughter just spent two weeks recovering from COVID-19. And she doesn’t want to do that again. She did, however, request that I write something about foods that help strengthen the immune system.

Glad to, my dear. After all, experts tell us that a strong immune system is one of the strongest weapons we have against viral illnesses like ...Read more

Yes, I know the current wisdom for feeding kids. They need foods loaded with nutrients — vitamins, minerals (like calcium), protein and other substances to support their rapid growth and development. They need to acquire these substances in a variety of foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, seafood, eggs, beans, peas, lentils, nuts ...Read more

A scene from the 1978 western comedy “Goin’ South” is not easy to forget. At a wild get-together with his old gang, Jack Nicholson’s character asks, “Anybody hungry?”

A scraggly-looking fellow spits out that he’s so hungry, he could “eat a frozen dog.”

“Well, we’ll just go out to the kitchen and see if we got one already ...Read more

A recent column about breastfeeding brought some varied responses. Dan G. from the Monterey Peninsula writes: “Not sure about humans but with cattle the essential ingredient is colostrum. My parents and I ran a cow/calf operation in central Montana for 20 years. Once the newborn was up and got the colostrum, it was almost indestructible. If ...Read more

It was truly a trip down memory lane. After more years than I wish had gone by, we revisited the small town in northwest Colorado where—during my college years—I had spent summers on my uncle’s ranch.

Driving through this familiar country was more emotional than I had expected. Although the ranch is no longer in our family, it is still ...Read more

Joan G reads this column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and writes: “I'm always eager to learn about nutrition from an expert versus the people trying to push products. Speaking of products, do you have any knowledge about Ka'Chava? I was wondering if you would recommend it?”

I did some digging and this is what I’ve learned. Ka’Chava (...Read more