1-Healthy Eating Clarity

Another Quick Marketing Quiz: Guess the Message

This mac ‘n cheese ad looks like a perfectly normal ad, right? Lusciously tempting food pic + catchy tagline. You see it, it registers, but likely as not it “goes in one ear (or eye) and out the other.” At least that’s what we think happens. The creators of these ads are not stupid. There … Read more

Want to Save Money?

With grocery prices front and center in the news, who doesn’t want to save a few dollars? Here’s a simple way to save both dollars and your health: Steer clear of the snack aisles. In almost all cases, snack foods are highly processed (i.e., ultra-processed) and provide little in the way of nutrition or, more … Read more

Sunscreen for Dessert? for Dinner? in Your Coffee?

You might remember this post: “Do You Put Antifreeze on Your Skin? In Your Mouth?” That article explained how propylene glycol, an ingredient in anti-freeze, is also used in both cosmetics and food. Since posting that article, I’ve run into a couple readers who mentioned that they were now taking a closer look at ingredient … Read more

It Ain’t Easy! Learnings from a Garlic Party

How Does This Happen to Smart People? (Part 3: Learnings from a Garlic Party) This is part of a continuing series on Food Marketing that explores why we need a different kind of smarts to stay healthy in an unhealthy food environment, i.e., “marketing-smarts.” (Find Part 2 in the series here) A few days ago … Read more

What Is an Ingredient Listing? How Do You Read One?

This is part of a continuing series on Food Marketing Shenanigans that explores: How does it happen that when it comes to food, smart people are often not so very smart? It’s because we need a different kind of smarts to stay healthy in an unhealthy food environment, i.e., “marketing-smarts.” Ingredient Listings: The best defense … Read more

How Does This Happen to Smart People? (Part 2: Test Your Marketing Smarts)

This post is part of a continuing series on Food Marketing Shenanigans that explores: How does it happen that when it comes to food, smart people are often not so very smart? It’s because we need a different kind of smarts to stay healthy in an unhealthy food environment, i.e., “marketing-smarts.” (Find Part 1 in … Read more

Feel like the Lone Ranger on the healthy eating frontier?

Earlier this summer I had a classic “post-college-finals crash.” After closing a big house sale, I turned into a pile of mush, unable to do much besides stare out the window. Of course the workaholic part of me demanded that I get up and do something productive. But fortunately, I got calls from each of … Read more

The hidden health risks of a 5-Minute Kitchen: Mary in the News

In the healthy eating world, most of the conversation revolves around what’s healthy and what’s not. Great starting point, for sure, but once you figure out what’s healthy, where do you go? The kitchen of course, because we’ve already established that most ready-made foods are definitely not healthy and are often health-damaging. Real, whole foods … Read more