B E T T E
H E A L T H
M
e e t
o u r
p a n e l
o f
d i e t a r y
t r o u b l e s h o o t e r s
M E L IN A B . J A M P O L IS ,
B R IA N W A N S IN K ,
G R O C E R Y S H O P P IN G
D I N I N G O U T
M A R K B I T T M A N ,
H O M E C O O K IN G
D A V ID K E S S L E R ,
S N A C K IN G
“As a doctor, I
believe th a t m ore
and m ore A m eri-
cans are becom ing
in terested in eating
nutritionally, in th e
pow er o f food as
m edicine. T he idea
th a t h ealth fu l food
can prevent disease
isn 't ju st som e-
th in g h ealth nuts
are talk in g about
anym ore. T hese
days w e all w an t
to m ake b e tte r
choices. A nd for
m any o f us, th ese
choices begin w hen
we plan o u r w eekly
m enus and m ake
o u t a shopping list.
Now we go to th e
sto re and w e w ant
to know ,
H o w w i l l
t h i s f o o d a f f e c t m y
f a m i l y ' s h e a l t h
?”
—Melina B. Jampolis,
M.D., author of
T h e
N o T i m e t o L o s e D i e t
(Thomas Nelson,
2 0 0 7
) and health and
nutrition adviser to
B e t t e r H o m e s a n d
G a r d e n s
“M ost people assum e
th ey m ake about
15
food-related
decisions a day. In
reality, th a t num ber
is m ore like
2 2 7
. It's
not ju s t a m a tte r of
choosing th e soup
o r th e salad; it's,
D o
I a d d c r o u t o n s ? D o
I f i n i s h t h e w h o l e
b o w l ? D o I g o b a c k f o r
s e c o n d s ?
Since w e're
not alw ays conscious
o f th ese decisions,
w e're easily sw ayed
by cues in th e envi-
ro n m en t— and th e
en v iro n m en t alm ost
alw ays nudges us to
eat m ore th a n we
really need to. T he
good new s is th a t
once w e becom e
aw are o f th ese
en v iro n m en tal cues,
we can nudge th em
to w ork for us ra th e r
th a n ag ain st us.''
—Brian Wansink, Ph.D.,
author of
M i n d l e s s
E a t i n g : W
h y W e E a t
M o r e T h a n W e T h i n k
(Bantam,
2 0 0 6
), and
director of the Food &
Brand Lab at Cornell
University in Ithaca,
New York
“To m e, th e m essage
is so incredibly
sim ple: T he m ore
unprocessed foods
you eat— especially
plant-based foods—
th e h ealth ier you're
going to be. T h at's
it. It d o esn 't really
m a tte r w hat th e
plants are, w hat
o rd er you eat th em
in, o r w hat p ro p o r-
tio n s you eat them
in. If you s ta rt
eatin g m ore fru its,
vegetables, w hole
g rain s, legum es,
nuts, and seed s— and
less o f ev ery th in g
else—you’ve rad i-
cally im proved your
diet. O ne o f th e b est
w ays to do th is is to
cook at hom e. I’m
living p ro o f th a t
cooking d o esn 't have
to be com plicated
o r difficult, and th e
in v estm en t pays off a
billion tim es.”
—Mark Bittman, author
of the cookbooks
F o o d M a t t e r s
(Simon
& Schuster,
2 0 0 9
)
and How
t o C o o k
E v e r y t h i n g
(Wiley,
2 0 0 8
). His weekly
cooking column, “The
Minimalist,” appears in
T h e N e w Y o r k T i m e s .
“By now A m ericans
know th a t th ere's
overw helm ingly
stro n g evidence of
a link b etw een diet
and h ealth . But at th e
sam e tim e th ey seem
to be asking th e m -
selves,
W
h y d o I f e e l
s o p o w e r l e s s t o c o n t r o l
w h a t I e a t ?
T he fact is,
w hen food is highly
processed and loaded
and layered w ith
sugar, salt, and fat, it
becom es so stim u -
latin g th a t it hijacks
th e b ra in — and o u r
behavior. People
are sta rtin g to say,
‘E nough!’ T hey're
ready for a re tu rn
to au th en ticity and
m o d eratio n .”
—David Kessler,
M.D., author of
T h e
E n d o f O v e r e a t i n g :
T a k i n g C o n t r o l o f t h e
I n s a t i a b l e A m e r i c a n
A p p e t i t e
(Rodale,
2 0 0 9
) and a former
commissioner of the
U.S. Food and Drug
Administration
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS | MARCH
2011
| BHG.COM
T R A C E E Y A B L O N -B R E N N E R
& J E A N N E T T E B E S S IN G E R ,
F E E D IN G F U S S Y E A T E R S
“W e believe th a t
adults and kids
alike are n atu rally
designed to eat w hole
foods in reasonable
am o u n ts, according
to individual cues for
h u n g er and satiety
th a t change as people
grow and develop.
Today, one o f th e
biggest challenges
for us as p aren ts is
to m eet th ese needs
by p rep arin g tasty,
healthy, real food for
o u r fam ilies in th e
sm all am o u n ts o f
tim e we have avail-
able to us each day.”
— Tracee Yablon-
Brenner, R.D., and
Jeannette Bessinger,
certified holistic
health counselors,
coauthors of
S i m p l e
F o o d f o r B u s y
F a m i l i e s
(Celestial
Arts,
2 0 0 9
) and
G r e a t
E x p e c t a t i o n s : B e s t
F o o d f o r Y o u r B a b y
&
T o d d l e r
(Sterling,
2 0 10
),
and cofounders of
realfoodmoms.com
P H O T O S :
BOB F IL A -C H IC A G O T R IB U N E . SALLY S T E IN . PA O L O V E S C IA . G IU L IA N N A PIST O L E SI. J O H N W . C O R B E T T
