Food and Drink
What is Annatto? A Natural Food Coloring Exposed
Have you heard of annatto? It is a red plant extract that is used as to color food, textiles and even body care products. Annatto comes from achiote shrub seeds, and is mainly used as a red food coloring. Produced in South America, achiote seeds have been used by tribes f...
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How to Avoid Contaminated Fish
Fish presents a tricky tradeoff--it’s a low fat, protein-filled source of healthy omega 3 fatty acids, but it can also be loaded with dangerous contaminants including mercury, PCBs, and pesticides. Contaminants end up in fish as a result of industrial and municipal discha...
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Beef and Chicken Carry Highest Risk for Contamination
Meat and poultry are popular in the American diet. The average American eats about 130 pounds of beef, pork and poultry every year. Some of that can carry dangerous pathogens, particularly chicken and ground beef, which are responsible for the largest numbers of outbreaks...
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Banned in Europe: Controversial Food Practices Approved in U.S.
Unfortunately, food practices and safety regulations are not entirely universal. Different governing bodies may place different rules and regulations on the manufacturing of food products. According to a recent article on Mother Jones, the European Commission “voted to pl...
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Subway is Almost as Unhealthy as McDonald's
There is a perception that Subway offers healthier fare than its fast food counterparts like McDonald's. That is not necessarily the case, as a recent study shows. Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found that adolescents who bought S...
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Dark Chocolate Can Enhance Your Mood
The health benefits of consuming dark chocolate are becoming more well known; and the antioxidant makeup in chocolate is a great way to justify indulging in your sweet tooth (on occassion, of course). Furthermore, there is evidence that dark chocolate can also lower your ...
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FDA Rebuts EWG Report on Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs
The Environmental Working Group’s recent report Superbugs Invade American Super Markets seems to have provoked a harsh rebuttal from the FDA. The agency found fault in the report saying, “the EWG report oversimplifies the NARMS data and provides misleading conclusions. We ...
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Supreme Court Sides with Monsanto Against Indiana Farmer
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled against an Indiana farmer and in favor of biotech giant, Monsanto, in a case involving patented soybean seeds.The 75-year-old farmer is Vernon Hugh Bowman, who bought Roundup Ready soybeans from a company affiliated with Monsa...
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FDA Sends Warning Letters to Food Companies
The Food and Drug Administration recently sent out some warning letters to food companies located in Seattle, WA, Melville, NY, and San Juan Bautista, CA. The letters addressed issues that arose during routine inspections. These issues involved both food management as wel...
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FDA Less Than Thrilled with Caffeinated Snack Products
There are a number of products in the launch queue of big food companies which contain added caffeine. PepsiCo's Frito Lay created a caffeinated version of Cracker Jack's, called Power Bites Cracker Jack'd. The two-ounce snack contains 70 mg. of caffeine, ...
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Oatmeal Can Keep You Fuller Than Regular Cereal
When compared to those ready-to-eat (often sugar-coated) cereals, it turns out that oatmeal can do a much better job of keeping you full. Oatmeal is a versatile food as you can experiment with different flavors and added fruits and nuts, ultimately increasing your caloric...
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Confessions of a Food Blogger: 7 Items That Are in My Fridge and Why
You never want to be caught with your pants down. As a health blogger, that consists of getting caught at the grocery store with junk food in your cart. It’s happened to me and it isn’t fun. But let’s be real. I eat healthy and I write about eating healthy, but that doesn...
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Bad News Bubbles: The Trouble with Sodas
A recently published European study found an association between drinking just one 12-ounce sugar-sweetened soft drink and type 2 diabetes. Published in Diabetologia, researchers for the study looked at information from approximately 12,000 people with type 2 diabetes, an...
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Should You Supplement with Resveratrol?
You know when doctor's typically tell you that it's a good idea to have a glass of red wine a day? Most of that advice has to do with the health benefits that resveratrol--the potent antioxidant in red wine--can provide. Resveratrol has been known to help peopl...
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Can Egg Whites Lower Blood Pressure?
What if yet another common everyday food could help to lower blood pressure? This is a question that scientists investigated and the initial findings are intriguing. High blood pressure, defined as consistently more than 140/90 mm Hg, is a well-established risk factor for...
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Lawmakers Introduce GE Labeling Food Bill
A California ballot initiative that would have required genetically engineered (GE) foods to be labeled was narrowly defeated last November. Since then, a number of states have introduced GE labeling legislation. If even only a handful of the state bills are passed, there...
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The Western Diet Could Affect How You Age
The Western style diet contains plenty of fried and sugary foods, processed and red meat, refined grains and high fat dairy products. It is not a healthy diet, and can effect how well someone ages. A British study recently published in The American Journal of Medicine loo...
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9 Awesome-For-Your-Health Morning Beverages
Often times it’s not the caffeine addiction that makes giving up coffee so difficult, but the place it holds in our culture. Coffee is the American ritual--a treat for getting out of bed in the morning and starting your day. While coffee in moderation isn’t necessarily a ...
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5 Recipes to Escape the Pesto Doldrums
It’s hard to believe that there was ever a time before pesto in the U.S., but it’s true. Prior to the 1980s culinary revolution in the States – the dark age before fresh pasta and triple-cream cheese were commonly on the table – pesto was mostly known only on the other si...
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3 Not-So-Natural Food Dyes to Avoid
Artificial food colors have been linked to attention problems, including attention deficit disorder (ADD), and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Many adults and children suffer from ADD and ADHD, and want to avoid artificial food dyes. Natural food dyes are...
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The Benefits of Spirulina
Recently, my 10 year old daughter asked me: “if you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?” I think she expected me to say “chocolate” – instead, I answered “spirulina.” A terrible grimace came over her face as she thought about the dark-gree...
Read more...Coca-Cola Creates World's First "Edible Ad"
No, its not an April Fools Day joke (and yes, you are awake): Coca-Cola has published what its calling the worlds first tastable print ad for its Fanta brand soft drinks. Thats right, Coca-Cola has created soda-flavored paper.Leave it to Fanta to inject some flavor –...
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Green Alternatives For St. Patrick's Day
Tradition on St. Patrick's Day often involves going out and ingesting any and everything green. Unfortunately, this usually includes food and drink that are infused with artificial food coloring and dye. Given the recent news about food dyes, on this St. Patrick's ...
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Court Overturns NYC Ban On Soft Drinks
New York State Supreme Court justice Milton Tingling overturned the New York City ban on large soft drinks just one day before it was set to go into effect. The ban would have prevented food establishments in NYC from serving soft drinks, including sodas and sweetened coffees, ...
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Fermented Drinks Improve Your Health
Many cultures around the world use fermented foods to add nutritional value to their diet. Fermentation is a process where bacterial cultures are added or developed naturally in foods in order to change their biochemical make-up. Foods prepared this way contain microorgan...
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Hearing Me Out: The Benefits of Red Wine
I’m sure there’s more than a few of you out there who look forward to a glass (or two) of red wine after a long day at the office. And of course, what’s wrong with that? Numerous studies have illustrated the way in which an occasional glass of red wine can be beneficial t...
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Eat The Skins, Stems and Tops!
Stems, skins and tops of fruits and veggies carry even more nutrients than the fruit or vegetable themselves. If you are already going out of your way to buy beautiful, fresh, and perhaps even local and organic produce, then why waste a quarter to a half of it? Unless you...
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The FDA Should Set Limits For Sugar In Sodas
The American Heart Association recommends that adult women consume only 20 grams of sugar a day, men 36 grams, and children only 12 grams. Unfortunately, the average can of soda far exceeds that amount. Take colas, for example. A can of Pepsi contains 41 grams of sugar, a...
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The Top 8 Natural Sweeteners
We know that processed sugar is a no-no. It can lead to weight gain and diabetes. It speeds the aging process, suppresses immunity, causes tooth decay, can throw our hormones out of whack and leads to a whole host of other health problems. Still, try telling all that to y...
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Diet Soda: 5 Reasons To Kick The Habit Now
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2010 revealed that women between 40-59 years old consumed the most diet soda out of anyone else in the United States. Approximately 20% of the population drinks diet sodas and this has increased since 1999. This is not ...
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Does High-Fructose Corn Syrup Raise Liver Fat?
Past studies found that consuming high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) increases fat in the liver. However, a new study found that consuming either HFCS or sucrose (table sugar) doesnt increase liver fat when consumed at average levels. The study, by James Rippe, MD, Founder and Di...
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Dangerous Trans Fats In Frozen Pizza
For many of us, pizza is a convenient and cost-effective way to feed our family.But as convenient as it may be, frozen pizza is not the healthiest choice, espcially if it is the plain variety devoid of anything green.Well, for one woman in California, it seems s...
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The New Coca-Cola Machine
Coca-Cola has been a global staple for decades now with an irrefutable brand and iconic imagery. For years they have been associated with polar bears and Santa Claus. However as more and more studies emerge about the dangers of excessive soda consumption, the Coca-Cola ma...
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The Health Benefits Of Greek Yogurt
One of the more popular foods that have recently exploded onto the health and wellness scene has been Greek yogurt. Commercials have been popping up all over television sets about this new product, and it appears to be the latest in a line of must-have health items. So w...
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The Worst Restaurant Meals In America
The Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) released its Xtreme Eating 2013 report this week. A look at the winners provides an indication of why Americans are leading the world in obesity. While the recommended caloric intake for the average adult is 2,000 calories p...
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Study Links Diet Drinks To Depression
At Naturally Savvy we do not recommend consuming anything with artificial sweeteners. Studies have linked artificial sweeteners to cancer, and a whole slew of side effects. A new study links artificially sweetened drinks to depression. The study found surveyed over 260,000 Ame...
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The Scary Ingredient In Orange Gatorade
One of the ingredients in orange Gatorade is brominated vegetable oil (BVO). According to a Scientific American article BVO is derived from soybean or corn and contains bromine atoms that weigh down the citrus flavoring so it mixes with sugar water. The FDA pulled BVO from its...
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U.S. Food Safety System Needs Improvement
Our food safety practices are falling short, declares a report by U.S. PIRG. Titled, Total Food Recall, the report analyzes food recalls issued by the FDA and the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) from January 2011 to September 2012. During that time period 1,753 people be...
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Better Halloween Candy for Trick-Or-Treaters
Halloween means trick-or-treating, and that means buying candy to pass out to children who knock on your door expecting a treat. The trouble is that most of the candy given to children on Halloween is filled with artificial ingredients, corn syrup (which means GMO), and trans ...
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New York City Bans Large Sodas
New York Citys Board of Health passed a ban last week on the sale of sugary soft drinks over 16 ounces at restaurants and most other public venues that sell soft drinks. Proposed in the spring by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the ban starts on March 12, 2013, and excludes soft drin...
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