Friday Food Tips

On my professional twitter page (@MattChrismanPhD), one can find many things, including recipes, links to relevant nutrition and physical activity websites, and interesting articles from nutritionists, dietitians, and government organizations. I also have made it a point to provide brief but important tips about food that I feel are helpful and important for improving health. These tips will come from my research, education and training, and from the many years that I have taught nutrition education. I mention this because I have noticed that a lot of nutrition information is lost when people do not understand, do not care, or do not relate to the information. Therefore, I have done my best to ensure that these food tips, which are posted as #FridayFoodTips on Twitter, are easy to understand, directly relevant to all or most consumers, and hopefully help you care more about the food that you buy. I have decided to re-post the food tips here on this space as well, to ensure that my readers who do not use Twitter or do not follow me (give me a chance!), can still access them. As always, please feel free to email me (matthew.chrisman.ms@gmail.com) with any questions you may have - I am always happy to talk nutrition and health! Below are the food tips (in all their 140 character limit glory!), please enjoy and take heed!

Friday Food Tip #1
Choose foods with more than 2 grams of fiber per serving. Best sources of fiber? Oatmeal, beans, berries, spinach, nuts.

Friday Food Tip #2
Choose smaller tomatoes at the grocery store. They have more nutrients per oz. Cook them to absorb more lycopene!

Friday Food Tip #3
Tear your leaves and lettuce. Ripping spinach and kale and iceberg helps release extra antioxidants!

Friday Food Tip #4
Canned beans and tomatoes are excellent choices since they are high in nutrients per serving

Friday Food Tip #5
To avoid Trans Fats, look for the phrase "partially hydrogenated oils" in the ingredients list.

Friday Food Tip #6
Brown eggs are the same nutritionally as white eggs. They just come from a diff type of chicken!

Friday Food Tip #7
Give your Valentine dark chocolate this weekend (60% cocoa or greater). In moderation, it gives antioxidants, fiber, iron

Friday Food Tip #8
If drinking wine for Valentine's, choose Pinot Noir, which has higher levels of resveratrol, a healthy antioxidant

Friday Food Tip #9

Red foods are GREAT for Valentine's: 

Tomatoes: Lycopene 

Strawberries: Folate 

Raspberries: Fiber 

All w/lots of Vitamin C!

Friday Food Tip #10
Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Friday Food Tip # 11
Eat the skin of apples/potatoes, etc. They contain dietary fibers, vitamins & minerals, and are low in calories 

Friday Food Tip #12
The Japanese control their calories by "hara hachi bu" - which means eat only until you are 80% full. Try it yourself!

Friday Food Tip #13
Try drinking a glass of water before every meal. It might help you feel more full and eat less!

Friday Food Tip #14
NEVER go grocery shopping when you are hungry. Shopping when full reduces impulse buys and junk food in your cart

Friday Food Tip #15
Try eating more hummus - it provides lots of protein & fiber. Can help with weight control and lowering cholesterol

Friday Foot Tip #16
A serving size of nuts fits in the palm of your hand. Nuts provide healthy fats, protein and fiber. Eat some every day!

Friday Food Tip #17
To cut back on sodium, try rinsing canned vegetables and beans or buy the reduced-sodium versions

Friday Food Tip #18
Make half your grains whole. Check the food label and make sure the 1st ingredient is a whole grain!

Friday Food Tip #19
Try eating seafood twice per week. Good sources are salmon, trout, sardines, and herring.

Friday Food Tip #20
Brown rice has more fiber, protein, manganese and selenium than white rice. Choose brown over white! 

Friday Food Tip #21
Add ground flaxseed to soups, yogurt, baked goods, cereal. Easy way to add fiber and Omega-3 fatty acids to your diet! 

Friday Food Tip #22
Cut down on saturated fat in your diet by choosing low-fat dairy. Choose plant-based oils (canola, etc) instead of butter!