dietician

'Tis the season for family gatherings and plenty of turkey. This Thanksgiving, be sure to keep your family and guests safe from foodborne illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 1 in 6 Americans (48 million) get sick with foodborne illnesses each year. Broken down further, 128,000 people require hospitalization and 3,000 die of these illnesses, with the most vulnerable being children and the elderly. Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program dietician Angela Murad offers insight and tips on how to keep your family and guests healthy this holiday. Thawing Your Turkey

• Plan ahead when thawing turkey. If needed, thaw turkey breast-side down in a clean, sanitized sink (use 1 tablespoon of chlorine bleach to one gallon water). Change the water every 30 minutes and allow 30 minutes to thaw for every pound. Be sure to clean and sanitize the sink again after thawing the turkey.

Most Common Food Safety Mistake

There are so many suggestions for what makes a healthy diet that sometimes it can seem a little overwhelming!  On Saturday, June  28, at 9 a.m. CT, Mayo Clinic dietitian Kate Zeratsky will join us to cut through some of the confusion.  We'll discuss how to create healthy meals without being a gourmet cook, how to match your diet and your lifestyle, and why you should be thinking more about fruits and vegetables and less on protein.  Plus we'll get an expert's opinion on carbohydrates, fats, sugar and salt. Join us! Myth or Matter of Fact: Mini meals throughout the day are better for losing weight than three big meals a day. To hear the program LIVE on Saturday, click here. Follow #MayoClinicRadio and tweet your questions. Mayo Clinic Radio is available on iHeart Radio. Listen to this week’s Medical News Headlines: News Segment June 28, 2014 (right click MP3)  

WASECA, Minn. — Poor diet can obviously lead to health problems and weight gain. Conversely, proper food choices help people become healthier and manage certain conditions. For those with diabetes and prediabetes appropriate monitoring and management of diet is extremely important. Mayo Clinic Health System registered dietitian Sue Seykora offers these meal-planning tips to help keep diabetes under control and maybe avoid it all together. Carbohydrate counting Carbohydrate counting is a meal-planning approach that focuses on the total number of carbs consumed. It's an easy method to follow and allows variety in food choices that fit preferences and lifestyle. Most of the foods you eat contain carbs: breads, crackers, pasta, rice, potatoes, milk and many more. Carbs are often thought of as bad foods. In reality, your body needs carbs to create energy. The problem is that many people don’t choose healthy types and amounts of carbs.  “People should consume healthier carbs like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy foods. All foods – even healthy foods – need portion control,” says Seykora.

A healthy approach to eating is important for everyone but for people with diabetes and prediabetes – having a higher than normal blood sugar level – appropriate monitoring and management of diet is crucial. Mayo Clinic Health System registered dietitian Sue Seykora offers these meal-planning tips to help keep diabetes under control or maybe avoid it all together. For more information, please click here.  Carbohydrate counting Carbohydrate counting is a meal-planning approach that focuses on the total number of

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently updated its recommendations for its “Smart Snacks in Schools” proposal, including limiting in-school snacks to 200 calories a day. Mayo Clinic Health System registered dietitian Diane Dressel offers parents snack options that meet caloric standards, while also taking into account portability, perishability, food allergies and dietary restrictions. Dressel says, “What better time to get kids into healthy eating patterns than at a young age,” and encourages any snack idea to include fruits or vegetables.  Here are some suggestions:

• Grapes and pretzels
• Apples and string cheese or baked chips
• Carrots and fat-free dip
• Yogurt with strawberries or blueberries

Mayo Clinic dietitian Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.,L.D., offers more tips. Zeratsky says that while you can't go through the school lunch line with your child, you can offer some guidance ahead of time about making healthy choices. Journalists: Sound bites from Katherine Zeratsky on student nutrition tips and healthy food b-roll video are available in the downloads. 

Can you imagine running every single day for four decades? Mayo Clinic dietician Steve DeBoer recently hit that 'mile' marker. He has run at least [...]