Danielle VenHuizen
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Danielle VenHuizen Quick Facts
Danielle VenHuizen, MS, RD, CLT is a Registered Dietitian who helps her clients achieve health and vitality through food, not pharmaceuticals. She specializes in working with food sensitivities, Diabetes, Cardiovascular health, Digestive Disorders, and healthy pregnancies. For more expert health advice visit her blog at http://www.FoodSense.net
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National Nutrition Month: New Changes Ahead for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
It's National Nutrition month, and what better way to celebrate than to get excited about the upcoming changes to the Dietary Guidelines? I know, it might sound a little dry, but there really is reason to take an interest. Some BIG and much needed revisions are on the horizon.
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Is Instant Oatmeal Evil?
As I was pouring myself a packet of instant oats a few months back, topping it with scalding water and then other condiments, I got to thinking of a headline I'd read somewhere online about how seriously unhealthy instant oats were for you. I didn't actually read the article, but the message stuck with me: somehow instant oats are bad. Bad like doughnuts? Bad like high fructose corn syrup? Bad like TV dinners? I wasn't sure. I just knew that someone (and in fact many) had deemed it unhealthy. I bookmarked it in my brain to loop back around to that topic sometime in the future.
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Bolster Your Immune System Naturally
Happy New Year! I hope all of you enjoyed a happy and healthy holiday season. My family had a wonderful time, with no sickness (knock on wood), but I must admit, getting ill in December is always a worry, especially since we were sick as dogs just a few Christmases ago. Since then I've been much more proactive in warding off illness every opportunity I get. I've been reading, consulting the advice of naturopaths and other dietitians, and looking for any way I can to keep things sanitized without becoming a germaphobe.
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Food Additive Watch: Azodicarbonamide
If you are like me, the only reason you might recognize this lengthy word is because of Food Babe, the online food sleuth, who popularized it last year by calling it the "yoga mat" chemical. Subway was the main target, being called out for having this compound in their breads. While they took most of the heat, the truth is a number of other companies in the food industry have been using this chemical as well and likely they are breathing a deep sigh of relief that no one came after them first. Many of them, in fact, have quietly removed it.
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A Guide to Food "Allergy" Etiquette
Likely you've noticed, but there are a growing number of people with food "issues." It might be a food intolerance, a food sensitivity, or even a very serious, life threatening food allergy. I'm one of them. Maybe you are too.
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Smoothies: Are You Friend or Foe?
I feel like I've been recommending smoothies a lot recently, and the interesting thing is that I tend to get one of two responses when the word "smoothie" is brought up in discussion. I either get enthusiastic approval or a general look of disgust. There is no in-between.
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Food Additive Watch: Should You Avoid Carrageenan?
I realize carrageenan has already been all over the news, so you'd think by now most people would have a good grasp of what it is and whether it's safe or not. Strangely, that's not the case. Most of the time when I mention the addition of carrageenan to a product, I get asked whether or not they should care. In fact many say they've heard of the ingredient but aren't quite sure what the conce is. Dare I admit I wasn't sure either?
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Food Additive Watch: Guar Gum
Guar Gum. It's always seemed harmless to me, a simple gum used to thicken many familiar foods like yogurts, dressings, ice creams, pie fillings, etc. I really never gave much though to its presence, surprisingly, assuming it was a more natural product. Of course as a food sensitivity Dietitian I have reminded clients that they could react to additives like guar gum, but beyond that I've never found any reason for alarm. So what is guar gum exactly?
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Book Review: Attract Your Ideal Weight: 8 Secrets of People Who Lose Weight and Keep It Off
Attract Your Ideal Weight: 8 Secrets of People Who Lose Weight and Keep it Off - By Zaheen Nanji Have you ever wondered how some people manage to lose weight successfully and maintain it while others never succeed despite repeated attempts? I ponder these questions myself, frequently in fact. Well this book seeks to uncover why. The author, a health coach and motivational speaker who has clearly worked with hundreds of clients in the area of weight loss, wrote out what she has seen as the 8 reasons people are successful at permanent weight loss.
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How to Practice Moderation During the Holidays: Giving Yourself Permission
It happens every year. Right around mid-November onwards, the bakers start baking and the stores start displaying vast arrays of holiday goodies. Office break rooms start filling up with ginger cookies, sweet breads, candy canes and truffles. In fact, one of the biggest complaints from many of my clients are that there are so many well meaning folks bringing all of these treats into offices, meetings and as gifts, and it's extremely difficult to resist. Knowing the impact this has on our weight and health, why do we keep doing this?
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Everything in Moderation?
I got to thinking about this phrase recently. We definitely use it a lot, often towards the purpose of helping ourselves eat healthier. But then I started thinking about what this means and what it says to society given the abundance of fast food, junk food, and processed foods.
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Aflatoxin Exposure: Reason for Conce ?
I'll admit it. I haven't been paying much attention to aflatoxins. Sure, I've seen news clips about them here and there, particularly related to peanut contamination (and rather sensationalized at that), however instead of digging further into the health implications I more or less put my fingers in my ears. "La la la la la." I mean honestly, like I need one more thing to worry about, especially when it relates to peanuts, the most child friendly food on earth. But I keep seeing the topic pop up and it's become clear I can't... and shouldn't... ignore it.
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