Newsletter Archive

1/28/2008: The biggest challenge to your healthy lifestyle

What's your biggest challenge to eating healthily? For most people, it's not that a healthy diet takes too much time, effort, or cash (although these are factors for some). According to our recent poll, lack of willpower is the number-one hurdle to keeping your healthy resolutions. (You can still vote in this poll and add your comments on the ND Blog.)

"Willpower," as Elaine Murphy recently wrote on the Nutrition Data Dieting & Weight Loss blog, "is a learned behavior, not something you simply have or don't have." In other words, you can develop stronger willpower just the way you can develop stronger muscles.

Once you've made up your mind to make a change, Elaine recommends writing a list of the most compelling reasons behind your decision—and reviewing them daily to keep your willpower strong. Sharing your motivations with others, as many of you have done on the ND Blog, can also be a powerful way to strengthen your resolve.

Even if you've slipped a little on your good intentions, it's not too late to renew your commitment to a healthier lifestyle in 2008. We're here to help with information, tools, expert advice, and—most importantly—a supportive community of people with similar goals.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S., C.N.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrition Research: Effects of Fast Food
We all know that fast food isn't the healthiest choice, but how much damage can an occasional trip through the drive-through do? Well, it turns out that fast food is much more harmful to some than to others.
Find out more on the ND Blog.

Nutrition Connection: Cancer
Eating more fruits and vegetables and limiting your intake of meat, salt, sugar, and alcohol are among the latest dietary recommendations of an international panel of cancer researchers.
Read more on the ND Blog.

Nutrient of the Week: Cholesterol
Watching your cholesterol? A growing body of research suggests that avoiding foods that are high in saturated and trans fats is more important than avoiding foods high in cholesterol.
Read more on the ND Dieting & Weight Loss Blog.

Healthy Food Facts

Caloric Ratio Pyramid for Shrimp
Shrimp is a naturally low-fat food, with only 10% of its calories coming from fat. It contains no carbohydrates.
For a complete nutritional analysis of shrimp and 10,000 other foods, click here.

1/14/2008: A new look for Nutrition Data.com

One of our new year's resolutions at Nutrition Data was to upgrade the look and feel of the site to make it more user-friendly and easier on the eye. We've spent the last several months working with our design team, user interface specialists, and the ultimate usability experts—Nutrition Data users—to find ways to make Nutrition Data's tools and reports easier to find, use, and understand.

Next week, we'll be unveiling the first phase of our "makeover" with a brand-new homepage. Over the next several weeks, we'll also be rolling out a new look for our food and recipe detail pages and some terrific new search and pantry features. I hope you'll agree that the new designs are not only attractive but make it easier to access and use all the great tools and information Nutrition Data has to offer.

Let us know how you like our new look by e-mailing us at feedback@nutritiondata.com, and stay tuned for more exciting changes in the coming weeks.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S., C.N.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrient of the week: Fructose
Recent research suggests that fructose, found in fruit and sweetened beverages, can have harmful effects on the liver and cardiovascular system. Should you be limiting your fruit intake? Find out on the ND Blog.

Nutrition Safety
Drinking enough fluids is important to your health, and carrying a water bottle with you can help you stay hydrated. But concerns have been raised over the safety of a popular type of hard plastic water bottle. Read more on the ND Blog.

Customized recipe collections
Design and print your own hardcover cookbook, customized to your dietary preferences and goals. Choose from any of the more than 25,000 chef-tested recipes on Epicurious.com—including hundreds of gluten-free, diary-free, low-carb, low-sugar, and low-fat dishes—or add your own personal recipes. Read more on the ND Blog.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutrition Facts for Pineapple
Pineapples are an excellent source of vitamin C and are also relatively low in fructose.
For a complete nutritional analysis of pineapple and 10,000 other foods, click here.

1/2/2008: Make 2008 your healthiest year ever!

Happy New Year! As you turn the page on the calendar to a fresh new year, it's a great time to renew your commitment to a healthy diet and lifestyle. There are so many good reasons to eat healthier—to lose weight, to have more energy, to set a good example for your kids, to live longer….What is your primary motivation? Vote in our poll and then see what inspires other ND users to make healthy changes.

Whatever your motivation, Nutrition Data can help you make 2008 your healthiest year ever. The first step is to know what you eat: Analyzing your diet with Nutrition Data's diet-tracking tools is a great way to jump-start your healthy-eating resolutions, and pre-stocked pantries make it quick and easy to get started. Choose from low-fat, low-carb, heart-healthy, and other options. One click, and you're on your way to a healthy diet.

For more inspiration, why not sign up for our free Healthy Dinner Tonight feature? Every day I select a healthy, great-tasting, and quick-to-prepare recipe from the chef-tested collection at Epicurious.com and do a complete nutritional analysis. Sign up to have my daily pick delivered your e-mail in-box (or feed-reader) every day, and you'll never have to worry about what's for dinner again. (For tonight's healthy recipe, see below.)

Wishing you good health and good eating in the New Year!

Monica Reinagel, M.S., C.N.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Healthy Dinner Tonight!
Thinly sliced eggplant stands in for pasta in these cannelloni, reducing the carbs and adding extra fiber. A brilliantly colored sauce of roasted red peppers, garlic, and shallots ups the nutritional ante and provides an entire day's supply of vitamin C (which makes the iron in this vegetarian dish more easily absorbed by the body). And even with a creamy goat cheese filling, this dish remains low in fat and calories.

Go to the healthy recipe on Epicurious.com.

See the complete nutritional analysis on Nutritiondata.com.

Sign up to receive a new healthy recipe every day.

12/17/2007: Can food take the place of sleep?

The longest night of the year is coming up this week, and many of us will burn the lights into the wee hours. But could living in a round-the-clock society be taking a toll on your health? An international panel of cancer experts just announced its conclusion that working the night shift (and other disruptions of the natural wake/sleep cycle) is a probable risk factor for cancer.

Read more about this research—and foods that can reduce the danger—on the ND Blog. Hint: The best breakfast for shift-workers may be oatmeal with ginger and bananas.

Elsewhere on the blog, we've been talking about the latest jumble of conflicting research on low-carb diets and whether or not you should limit your salt intake. As usual, there's a little bit more to both stories than tends to make it into the headlines. And, as always, your views are welcome. Come join the discussion!

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S., C.N.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

New From ND
Your ND Pantry, where you can store your favorite foods and recipes for easy access, is the gateway to many of Nutrition Data's most powerful tools and features. Our new quick start feature allows you to add a customized selection of healthy foods to your Pantry with a single click. Choose from low-fat, low-carb, heart-healthy, and other prestocked pantries. Read more on ND.

Nutrient of the Week: Sodium
The recommended daily amount of sodium is 2,400 mg per day, or less for those on a sodium-restricted diet. But a diet based on packaged and prepared foods can easily exceed this limit. For a list of prepared foods that are highest in sodium: Get the ND facts.

The Nutrition Connection: Dementia
A healthy diet can help protect you from age-related mental decline. In particular, eating more veggies and grains and less saturated fat appears to preserve the gray matter as you age. Avoiding sugary foods may also help. Read more on ND.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutrition Facts for Bananas
In addition to being a good source of potassium and fiber, bananas are a rich natural source of melatonin, which helps to regulate your body clock.
For a complete nutritional analysis of bananas and 10,000 other foods, click here.

12/03/2007: Take the 100% challenge!

Not long ago, a Nutrition Data user posed an interesting question: Is it possible to get 100% of the recommended amounts of essential nutrients without taking vitamins or eating foods that have been fortified with additional nutrients, such as milk with added vitamin D or cereal with added iron? As it turns out, it's a little more difficult than you might think!

I took a stab at it myself, putting together a balanced meal plan made up of nutrient-rich, unprocessed foods. And yet, when I analyzed my meal plan using Nutrition Data's total consumption report, I was surprised to see that I came up short in vitamins D, E, and B12! Since then, other users have posted their own attempts with more success! For the purposes of this exercise, we've been using the standardized Daily Values (DV) recommended by the National Academy of Sciences, but you can establish your own nutrient targets. See ND Tips and Tools, below, to learn how.

To view all the sample meal plans (or submit your own), visit the ND Blog and take the 100% challenge. Even if you choose to take supplements or eat fortified foods, it's a fun way to challenge yourself to get the most out of what you eat.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S., C.N.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

ND Tips and Tools
At Nutrition Data, we use the government-recommended Daily Values as the default setting in our nutrition analysis reports. But one size doesn't fit all: You can create your own Individualized Daily Values by editing your preference settings. Read more on ND.

Nutrition Connection: Diabetes
Researchers have found a way to uncouple the link between obesity and diabetes—at least in lab rats. It appears that inflammation (which usually accompanies obesity) may be the true culprit in the development of diabetes. Could this discovery lead to new preventive therapies? Read more on ND.

Stay on Track for the Holidays
Why are New Year's resolutions so popular? Because the holiday season so often sabotages our healthy eating patterns and exercise routines. ND blogger Elaine Murphy offers simple but effective strategies that will help you enjoy all the festivities without overindulging. Read more on ND.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutrition Balance Indicator for Monica's Sample Meal Plan
The Nutrition Balance Indicator for my sample meal plan shows that I'm still short on several important nutrients, such as vitamin D.
For a complete nutritional analysis of my sample meal plan and 10,000 other foods, click here.

11/19/2007: Thanksgiving without the misgivings

This Thursday, millions of Americans will sit down with family and friends and consume two days' worth of calories in a single meal. That's right: The average Thanksgiving dinner contains from 3,000 to 4,000 calories! Of course, a single day of overindulging isn't going to ruin your health—but it might set you back on your diet. Here are some tips on how to enjoy Thanksgiving without the misgivings.

Eat breakfast. You might be tempted to skip breakfast and/or lunch on Thanksgiving day to "save" calories for the big meal, but if you're ravenous when you sit down to dinner, you're more likely to end up as stuffed as the turkey.

Enjoy it all, but in moderation. Stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy can hardly be considered health food—but it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them. Don't deprive yourself of your favorite dishes, but do keep portions small.

Include healthful dishes on the menu. Round out the menu with plenty of healthful seasonal vegetables, such as puréed squash, steamed green beans, sauerkraut, beets, or Brussels sprouts. Fill your plate with vegetables first, and it will be harder to overdo it on the stuffing and gravy.

Slow down. My mother always bemoaned the fact that it took us about 20 minutes to consume a meal that she had spent 12 hours preparing. Eating more slowly will not only increase your enjoyment of this special meal but will help prevent overeating.

Wishing you a safe and happy Thanksgiving celebration,

Monica Reinagel, M.S., C.N.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrient of the Week: Tryptophan
Tryptophan is an amino acid that can induce sleepiness by increasing serotonin levels. However, the nutrient is only effective as a sleep-inducing agent when taken on an empty stomach: If you feel sleepy after a big turkey dinner, it's probably not the tryptophan in the bird but rather the effort of digestion (or the wine!). For a list of foods high in tryptophan:
Get the ND facts.

ND Tips and Tools
Take your food diary to the next level! You can now download your total consumption report to keep a permanent, detailed record of your day-to-day intake. Look for the "download as CSV file" link at the top of your total consumption report. Read more on ND.

Healthy Recipes for Thanksgiving
WNutrition Data blogger Dana Lilienthal, M.S., R.D., has collected some terrific recipes for a healthy Thanksgiving feast. Each recipe also includes a complete nutritional analysis that can be added to your ND Pantry with a single click. For a new healthy recipe every day, visit ND's Diet and Weight Loss Blog.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutrition Facts label for cornbread stuffing
A half cup of cornbread stuffing (about the size of an ice cream scoop) contains 179 calories and 22 grams of carbohydrates, so enjoy it in moderation.
For a complete nutritional analysis of cornbread stuffing and 10,000 other foods, click here.

11/05/2007: More upgrades and new features!

In our continuing effort to provide you with the most complete and accurate information about the foods you eat, we've just updated the nutrient information on NutritionData.com to reflect the latest release from the USDA (SR20). The current set of food composition data includes dozens of new foods, including prepared foods (such as soups and sauces), fast-food menu items, and traditional and ethnic foods.

Of particular interest to Nutrition Data users may be new listings for different kinds of soy milk, tofu, omega-3-enhanced peanut butter, and trans-fat-free margarines. I'm particularly excited to see several new alternative grains in the database, such as quinoa, teff, kamut, and spelt. In addition, the USDA has updated the nutrient values for many existing foods with new and/or more accurate information. Choline content has also been added for several thousand foods. (See ND's Nutrient of the Week, below.)

To learn more about the recent data updates, and how they affect you, please also see the ND FAQ. For details on another exciting new ND feature, see ND Tips and Tools, below.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrient of the Week: Choline
Choline is needed for proper nerve function and cellular signaling and also helps to recycle homocysteine in the body, thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. As a building block for important neurotransmitters, choline may also protect against age-related cognitive decline. For a list of foods high in choline:
Get the ND facts.

ND Tips and Tools
NutritionData has teamed up with our sister site Epicurious.com to produce a new daily recipe feature. Every day, we select a healthy, gourmet recipe and do a complete nutritional analysis of it. You can save the recipe (and all its ingredients) to your pantry with a single click. Read more on ND.

ND User Poll
Would you be willing to cut your food intake by a third or more in exchange for 20, 30, or even 50 extra years? Almost half of ND users say they'd consider it. To register your vote and join this provocative discussion: Go to the ND Blog.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutrition Facts label for teff
Teff is an ancient grain native to northeastern Africa. Higher in calcium and iron than wheat, teff is also acceptable for gluten-free diets.
For a complete nutritional analysis of teff and 10,000 other foods, click here.

10/22/2007: Can antioxidants really protect you?

Antioxidants are supposed to keep you healthy, right? They help prevent disease and slow aging by stabilizing damaging free radicals—or so the theory goes. But lately, several studies have found that increasing your intake of antioxidants doesn't, in fact, reduce your risk of various diseases. What gives?

I suspect that we've simply been too narrow in our focus. Antioxidants by themselves may not be the panacea we hoped, but antioxidants do play an important role in reducing inflammation. As I wrote this week on the ND Blog, I think research will ultimately reveal that a diet that is rich in antioxidants as well as anti-inflammatory is the key to living longer, healthier lives. What do you think? Join the conversation on this and other topics on the ND Blog.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrient of the Week: Zinc
Zinc is critical for neurological and immune function. It also affects your sense of taste and smell. To learn about a surprising sign of zinc deficiency: Get the ND facts.

The Nutrition Connection: Inflammation
An anti-inflammatory diet may lower your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, and depression. It can also help reduce symptoms of arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. ND's IF Ratings guide you to the most and least inflammatory foods. Learn more on ND.

ND Tips and Tools
The new Nutrition Data Diet and Weight Loss Center offers tools, guidance, and motivation to help you reach your weight-loss goals. Check in daily for new low-calorie recipes, fitness tips, and dieting strategies. Read more on ND.

Healthy Food Facts

Inflammation Factor Rating for Yellowfin Tuna
With an IF Rating of 116 per serving, yellowfin tuna is moderately anti-inflammatory.
For a complete nutritional analysis of yellow fin tuna and 10,000 other foods, click here.

10/08/2007: Gaining or losing…the healthy ways

There's more exciting news from Nutrition Data this week! We are launching a brand-new section of the Web site dedicated entirely to healthful weight loss. At the Nutrition Data Dieting and Weight Loss Center, you'll find reliable and responsible information, tools, and daily advice from weight loss, nutrition, cooking, and fitness experts that will empower and inspire you to reach your personal health goals. Come see what it's all about, and you'll be one step closer to your target weight!

If you have ever struggled to lose weight, it may be difficult to believe that anyone would find it challenging to gain weight. "How hard can it be, when I can gain weight just smelling a chocolate chip cookie?" you might be thinking. But for those who struggle to gain weight, it's not just a matter of gorging on doughnuts and milkshakes. Healthful weight gain takes just as much effort as healthful weight loss. Read more about Nutrition Data's tools for healthy weight gain on the ND Blog.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

ND's Recipe for Better Health
Make every day a little healthier with a nutritious recipe hand-selected by registered dietitian and new ND blogger Dana Lilienthal. Each delicious recipe comes with a complete nutritional analysis that can be added directly to your own ND pantry. Find out more.

The Nutrition Connection: Meal Replacement Bars
Energy or weight-loss bars can be a convenient substitute for a nutritious meal or snack. But all food bars are not the same. Nutrition counselor and new ND blogger Elaine Murphy explains what to look for in a meal replacement bar: Learn more on ND.

Nutrient of the Week: Phosphorus
About 1% of your body weight is phosphorus! Most of that is in your bones, and the rest helps store and transfer energy, ensure cell membrane integrity, and maintain the pH balance of your tissues. Good sources include meat, dairy products, nuts, and grains. People with kidney disease sometimes have to limit phosphorus intake. For a list of foods high or low in phosphorus, use ND's Nutrient Search Tool.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutritional Target Map for a Krispy Kreme Doughnut
Nutrition Data's Nutritional Target Map shows that a Krispy Kreme doughnut (with 240 calories) is not very filling, with a Fullness Factor of only 1.3, nor is it particularly nutritious, with an ND Rating of 0.6.
For a complete nutritional analysis of a Krispy Kreme doughnut or 10,000 other foods, click here.

09/24/2007: Nutrition Data News

I'm happy to announce that a recent performance upgrade has all but eliminated server time-outs that some users were experiencing when using our recipe analysis function. We're sorry for any frustration the problem may have caused and appreciate your patience while we worked on the solution. (We're also working on some terrific new features that I will be writing more about in the near future!)

If you've never used the recipe analysis tool, I invite you to give it a try. It's a great way to get a detailed nutritional picture of what you're eating every day or to modify your favorite recipes to make them healthier. See my recent post on the Nutrition Data blog for more details on how to get started analyzing your recipes or meal plans.

While you're visiting the blog, be sure to vote in our recent poll on whether you think simpler labeling conventions at the grocery store, such a 0 to 3 star "healthy rating," would simplify the process of choosing healthier foods. So far, almost half of Nutrition Data users think a healthy rating would be helpful, while more than a third would rather read the ingredient list and draw their own conclusions. Share your ideas on this and other nutrition-related topics on the Nutrition Data blog.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

ND News
Want to help us improve Nutrition Data? We'll be testing some changes to ND in the coming months and are looking for Nutrition Data users who live in the New York metro area to give us feedback. If you'd like to be involved, drop us a line at feedback@nutritiondata.com

The Nutrition Connection: High Blood Pressure
A diet that is low in sodium and high in potassium, magnesium, and calcium can help you maintain a healthy blood pressure. In addition, certain foods like celery and garlic may actually lower elevated blood pressure. Learn more on ND.

Nutrient of the Week: Iodine
Iodine is essential for the production of thyroid hormones, which regulate metabolism, body weight, growth, and reproductive function. Iodized salt is the primary source of iodine in the American diet. Could cutting back on salt lead to iodine deficiency? Read more on ND.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutritional Target Map for Celery
Nutrition Data's Nutritional Target Map shows that celery is both nutrient-dense, with an ND Rating of 4.5, as well as filling, with a Fullness Factor of 4.5.
To learn more about Nutrition Data's Nutritional Target Map, click here.

09/10/2007: A Healthful Harvest

Summer may be drawing to a close but the fruits of the harvest continue to be bountiful. Most areas of the country will be glutted with tomatoes, cucumbers, and summer squash for a few more weeks. Apples, pears, broccoli, and winter squash (including pumpkins!) start to peak toward the end of the month. (See my post on the Nutrition Data Blog for local harvest guides.)

With all this produce at its flavorful and nutritional peak, it's a great time to focus on getting more fruits and vegetables into your diet (and into your kids' lunch boxes). For healthy recipes that make the most of the harvest, visit the Nutrition Data Blog.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrient of the Week: Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 works with folic acid and vitamin B6 to control homocysteine levels. An excess of homocysteine has been linked to an increased risk of coronary disease, stroke, and other conditions, such as osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease. For a list of foods high in vitamin B12: Get the ND Facts.

The Nutrition Connection: Soft Drinks and Diabetes
New evidence suggests that soft drinks sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may play a role in the development of diabetes, particularly in children. But is HFCS really the chief culprit? Learn more on ND.

ND Tips and Tools
From acacia to xanthan gum, Nutrition Data's food additives guide explains exactly what those strange-sounding ingredients on the label are and what they do. Find out more.

Healthy Food Facts

Caloric Ratio of Corn on the Cob
Nutrition Data's Caloric Ratio Pyramid shows that corn on the cob contains mostly carbohydrates but also provides small amounts of fat and protein.
For a complete nutritional analysis of corn and nearly 10,000 other foods and ingredients, click here.

08/27/2007: Diet soft drinks and your heart

Soft drinks are one of the primary sources of sugar in the American diet, and many experts blame our rising obesity rates on our national addiction to soda pop. (On average, Americans drink one supersized soft drink every day.) But lately, sugar-free soft drinks are coming under increasing scrutiny as a threat to health. Both regular and diet sodas contain phosphates, which leach calcium out of bones and increase your risk of osteoporosis. Ironically, diet sodas may also increase your appetite and cause you to eat extra calories.

But most recently, researchers have demonstrated that drinking more than one soda a day (diet or regular) increases your risk of metabolic syndrome by 40%. Metabolic syndrome is a major risk factor for heart disease and diabetes. You can read more about this study on the ND Blog.

It may be time to get serious about kicking that soft drink habit. Iced herbal teas or spring water will wet your whistle just as well. But if it's the bubbles you're hooked on, try making your own sparkler using plain seltzer and a splash of an antioxidant-packed fruit juice, such as pomegranate or grape. Your heart, bones, and waist will thank you for it!

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrient of the Week: Fructose
You might have heard that fructose (the kind of sugar found in fruit) is better for you than regular table sugar (sucrose). But new research suggests that fructose-sweetened beverages may raise triglyceride and LDL cholesterol levels.Read more on ND.

The Nutrition Connection: Probiotics
Probiotic supplements and foods containing "live cultures" are touted as a way to promote immune function and digestive health. Find out what beneficial bacteria can do for you and whether probiotic products are worth the money. Learn more on ND.

ND Tips and Tools
Nutrition Data's Daily Needs Calculator can help you work out how many calories you should be eating to lose, gain, or maintain your weight. You can also find out how many calories you will burn with various kinds of exercise.Learn more.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutrition Facts for Watermelon
Watermelon is a great source of vitamins A and C and has only 46 calories per cup.
For a complete nutritional analysis of watermelon and nearly 10,000 other foods and ingredients, click here.

08/13/2007: How to start eating healthier

Every 20 seconds or so, an American is diagnosed with diabetes and someone else suffers a heart attack or stroke. For many people, a medical crisis (either their own or that of someone close to them) is a turning point that motivates them to eat healthier. But how do you start? This week I got a note from a recently diagnosed diabetic who was sure ND could help her gain control over her health—she just wasn't sure where to begin. I suggested that she begin by setting up a personalized pantry and getting familiar with the concept of glycemic load. (You can read my complete answer on the Nutrition Data Blog.)

Of course, Nutrition Data offers a wealth of tools that can help you understand the ways foods affect your health and how to make positive changes in your diet. But at first, all that information can be a little overwhelming—especially for someone who hasn't thought that much about nutrition before. Fortunately, other Nutrition Data users are always eager to help, as the comments posted in response to this blog topic demonstrate.

If you have questions about your health and nutrition, feel free to post them on the blog—you can also share your tips and experience with other ND users.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrient of the Week: Chromium
You need only small amounts (25 to 30 micrograms a day) of chromium to be healthy. Nonetheless, it is a very important nutrient. Chromium helps your body process sugar (glucose) correctly. What are good sources? Find out on ND.

The Nutrition Connection: Juicing
Juicing your own fruits and vegetables can be an enjoyable way to get more produce into your diet. But how many valuable nutrients get left behind in the pulp? Read more on ND.

ND Tips and Tools
People who want to track the glycemic load of their diets are often frustrated by the fact that glycemic index values are only available for a fairly limited number of foods. Nutrition Data has developed a formula that provides an estimated glycemic load (eGL) for every food in the ND database. Learn more.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutritional Target Map for Dried Apricots
The Nutritional Target Map shows that dried apricots, with an ND rating of 3.7, are nutritious. But with a Fullness Factor of only 1.6, they may not be the best choice if you're trying to cut calories.
For fruits that are better for weight loss, click here.

07/30/2007: Winning the battle against obesity

It's been a big week for nutrition research. An article in this week's New England Journal of Medicine urges the government to quadruple the recommended daily intake for vitamin D. The author claims that a billion people are currently suffering from vitamin D deficiency, causing skeletal problems in children and osteoporosis in adults. Read more on the ND Blog.

Meanwhile, researchers at Johns Hopkins released their dire prediction that 75% of Americans will be overweight or obese by the year 2015. But early results of our poll suggest that NutritionData users are winning the battle of the bulge. Learn how the Better Choices tool is helping ND users take (and keep) the pounds off.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel, M.S.

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrient of the Week: Vitamin D
This frequently overlooked vitamin is critical for absorption of calcium and phosphorus, minerals that help prevent osteoporosis. Fortified foods (and sunshine) are the primary sources of this vitamin for most people. The primary natural source is fish. For a list of fish high in vitamin D: Get the ND facts.

The Nutrition Connection: Exercise
A new sport drink features carbohydrates plus whey protein to help muscles recover faster. Could a designer drink pump up your workout? Find out.

ND Tips and Tools
You're the decider. NutritionData's preference settings let you customize your daily nutrient targets to match your body size, health goals, and the latest research. Learn more.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutrient Balance Indicator for Canned Sockeye
The Nutrient Balance Indicator shows that sockeye is an excellent source of protein, calcium, and vitamin D, but not nutritionally complete. For a higher Completeness Score, eat sockeye with spinach, which is high in fiber, folate, vitamin C, and vitamin K.
To learn more about NutritionData's Nutrient Balance Indicator and Completeness Score, click here.

07/16/2007: Calcium pills not the best protection against bone loss

Are you taking a calcium supplement as a hedge against bone loss and osteoporosis? It's not a bad idea, but a new study suggests that eating calcium-rich foods, such as kale, yogurt, and Chinese cabbage, may be a better way to protect your bones. Researchers from the Washington University in St. Louis found that women who got most of their calcium from foods had denser, healthier bones than those who took calcium supplements, even though their total calcium intake was slightly less.

As we've discussed before on the ND Blog, vitamin supplements have their place as part of a healthy lifestyle, and our recent poll shows that four out of five ND users take at least one supplement a day. But as this study demonstrates, the more nutrients you can get from actual foods, the better! You can use ND's tools to track your daily nutrient intake and to find foods rich in calcium or other nutrients you may be missing.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrient of the Week: Calcium
Calcium builds strong bones but also has many other essential roles, including regulating blood clotting and muscle contraction. For a list of foods high in calcium: Get the ND facts.

The Nutrition Connection: Joint Pain
Nightshade plants (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and potatoes) can worsen joint pain in certain individuals—but they don't affect everyone the same way. Are nightshades contributing to your joint pain? Find out.

ND Tips and Tools
ND's recipe analysis tool lets you see how your favorite home recipes add up nutritionally. A few easy pointers will help you get the most accurate analysis. Learn more.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutrition Facts for Low-fat Yogurt
Just one serving of low-fat yogurt provides 30% of your daily calcium requirement.
For a complete nutritional analysis of low-fat yogurt and nearly 10,000 other foods and ingredients, click here.

07/02/2007: Healthy Tips and Recipes for the Fourth

Planning a cookout for your Fourth of July celebration? There's nothing like the smoke-infused flavor of chicken or steaks grilled over coals. However, grilling meat can also produce carcinogenic compounds, formed when protein and fat are exposed to open flames or high temperatures. Fortunately, you can dramatically reduce the danger with proper grilling techniques.

Marinating meats before grilling can reduce the formation of carcinogenic chemicals by more than 90%. As a bonus, marinades also tenderize and add flavor to meats. You can improvise your own secret sauce using virtually any combination of vinegar or citrus juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire, honey, mustard, herbs, and spices. Or, browse hundreds of interesting marinade recipes on our sister site, Epicurious.com. For more ways to minimize the formation of harmful chemicals at your next cookout, see our section on Grilling Meats.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Healthy Holiday Recipe
Looking for something a little different to serve at your Fourth of July picnic? This easy Wild Rice Salad is high in protein and vitamin C, and makes a nice break from the same old potato and macaroni salads. Get the delicious details.

Heart Health Tip
Folate (or folic acid) helps your body metabolize homocysteine—which can increase your risk of heart disease—into harmless methionine. Leafy greens and lentils are both good sources. Learn more.

Weight-Loss Research:
A new study finds that a low-glycemic diet is more effective for some types of dieters than others. Find out more.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutritional Target Map for Wild Rice
The Nutritional Target Map illustrates that wild rice is both nutritious (with an ND Rating of 3.2) and satisfying (with a Fullness Factor of 2.5).
For a complete nutritional analysis of wild rice and nearly 10,000 other foods and ingredients, click here.

06/18/2007: Healthier fast foods?

I've been on a couple of long road trips this month and have wrestled with that eternal question: "What can I find to eat at this gas station/rest stop/strip mall that is reasonably healthy?" While it can be very challenging to find healthful food on the run, I'm here to report that—in a pinch—it can be done. Healthier options such as salads, grilled sandwiches, yogurt, and fresh fruit are starting to show up at most of the fast food restaurants—and the quality is pretty consistent.

The Black Bean Soup from Subway is a good choice, for example. As you can see in the Nutrition Facts at right, it's got plenty of fiber and protein and is low in sugar, fat, and calories. Or, try the Bean Burrito from Taco Bell. If you order it "al fresco," they will omit the cheese and sauce and pile on fresh salsa instead, which reduces the fat even further and boosts the antioxidant content. (Plus, they don't have French fries at Taco Bell, which I sometimes don't have the will-power to resist!)

Many fast-food restaurants now have brochures readily available on the counter that detail the nutritional information of the various menu items. These materials make it much easier to zero in on the lower-fat and -calorie options. To help you stay healthy this travel and vacation season, you'll also find nutritional information from several dozen fast food and convenience restaurants on Nutritiondata.com.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrition Trends
A new nondairy beverage on the market is made from organic hemp seeds. Its high omega-3 fatty acid content sets hemp milk apart from other nondairy milk alternatives—but how does it taste? Find out more.

Nutrient of the Week: Thiamin
Thiamin (vitamin B1) is a water-soluble vitamin that helps the body break down carbohydrates, fat and protein and convert them into cellular energy. Vitamin B1 is also essential for the proper functioning of nerve cells. For a list of foods that are high in thiamin:
Get the ND facts.

Weight Loss Tip
Researchers found that snacking while watching entertaining television shows can increase your calorie intake by almost 50%. Which late night host is worst for your diet? Find out on ND.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutrition Facts: Subway's Black Bean Soup
NutritionData.com provides a downloadable Nutrition Facts label as part of every food and recipe analysis.
For a complete nutritional analysis of Subway's Black Bean Soup and nearly 10,000 other foods and ingredients,click here.

06/04/2007: Healthier diets are in season

Summer's here, and that means that fresh, locally grown produce is available in virtually every part of the country. Make the most of it! The seasonal vegetables at your local farmer's market are healthier for you and the environment—and they taste better, too. You'll find more information and local food resources on the ND Blog.

We've also been talking about vegetarian diets for pregnant women and children in the wake of a recent court case involving the tragic death of an infant. This child clearly died of neglect and not of veganism, but the story has triggered a heated debate over the merits and dangers of vegan diets for growing children. As always, your comments have been thoughtful and thought-provoking. Thanks for making ND a more valuable forum for important food and nutrition issues.

Good health and good eating,

Monica Reinagel

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Only on ND
The Nutrient Balance Indicator appears in every ND analysis and as part of ND's Total Consumption report. The colored wheel (shown at right) is a graphic representation of a food or recipe's nutritional balance and completeness, based on 23 essential nutrients. Find out more.

Nutrient of the Week: Potassium
Potassium is an essential mineral that is important for a healthy heart, bones, and nerves. Diets that are high in potassium and low in sodium are associated with lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of strokes. For a list of foods that are high in potassium and low in sodium: Get the ND facts.

Most Popular Foods on ND
Check out the 50 most commonly analyzed foods on ND and give yourself a big pat on the back for your healthy diet choices!
See today's list.

Healthy Food Facts

Nutrient Balance Indicator for Asparagus
The Nutrient Balance Indicator illustrates the balance and completeness of foods, based on 23 essential nutrients.
For a complete nutritional analysis of asparagus and nearly 10,000 other foods and ingredients, click here.

05/21/2007: Best-tasting diet foods

This month, I teamed up with our sister site Epicurious.com to see how meals from diet delivery services stack up in terms of both nutrition and taste. The good news? The diet foods that we thought tasted the best were also the best for you! Coincidentally, Consumer Reports brought out an evaluation of several popular diet plans the same day. The results raised more than a few eyebrows in the nutrition community (including mine). Get the whole story—and add your viewpoint—on the ND Blog.

Other topics of discussion on the blog this week included your thoughts on whether beef has gotten a bum rap in the media, foods that can help prevent a sunburn, and ways to improve iron absorption. (See the Nutrient of the Week, below.) Keep all the great questions and comments coming. I love to hear what's on your mind (and your plate)!

To your health,

Monica Reinagel

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Nutrient of the Week: Vitamin C
Vitamin C improves iron absorption and helps protect your skin from sun damage. Your body can't store vitamin C, so be sure to replenish your supply frequently. For a list of foods high in vitamin C: Get the ND facts.

Only on ND
The Fullness Factor helps make weight loss easier by showing you foods that fill you up with fewer calories. Need to gain weight? The Fullness Factor will also help you find nutritious foods that are calorie-dense. Find out more.

Get in the Zone
ND's Food Category Explorer can help you zero in on foods with a specific ratio of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. For example, the popular Zone diet recommends 40% carbs, 30% fat, and 30% protein. For a list of foods that are close to that ratio: Get the ND facts.

Healthy Food Facts

Caloric Ratio Pyramid for Taco Bell Chicken Fiesta Burrito
The Caloric Ratio Pyramid shows you the percentage of calories that come from fats, carbohydrates, and protein.
For a complete nutritional analysis of Taco Bell's Chicken Fiesta Burrito and nearly 10,000 other foods and ingredients, click here.

05/07/2007: In defense of beef

I'm glad to see more people tuning in to the message that an anti-inflammatory diet can help you live longer, feel better, and look younger. But it drives me a little bit crazy when I see articles that tout chicken as anti-inflammatory and beef (or red meat) as inflammatory. As I explained in this recent blog post, it ain't necessarily so! Lean beef is also a healthy choice—and can be less inflammatory than chicken.

You can rely on ND for the most accurate information about the foods you eat. Our detailed analysis includes IF Ratings, which indicate whether foods tend to promote or quell inflammation, as well as values for fat, calories, antioxidants, and 100 other nutrients.

Elsewhere on the blog, we've been discussing the best protein sources for vegans, whether algae extracts can help those with diabetes, and ways to make your diet more enviro-friendly. Come join the conversation!

Wishing you the best of health,

Monica Reinagel

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

New on ND
Ever wonder how cooking or storing food affects its nutrient content? A new section on ND explains how various preparation methods affect the amount of vitamins and minerals in your food. Learn more.

Get in Shape for Summer
Not quite beach-ready? The Self Challenge at Self.com is a fun and free online program that will help you trim down and tone up in time for summer. No gym, no dieting, just lots of fun and serious results. Learn more.

Nutrient of the Week: Lycopene
Lycopene is an antioxidant from the vitamin A family that may help prevent heart attacks and also prostate cancer in men. Cooked tomato sauce is a particularly rich source of this nutrient. For a list of others: Get the ND Facts.

Healthy Food Facts

IF Rating for Beef Tenderloin
The IF Rating shows you whether foods are inflammatory or anti-inflammatory, based on their nutrient composition.
For a complete nutritional analysis of beef tenderloin and nearly 10,000 other foods and ingredients, click here.

04/23/2007: Soy: Can you have too much?

As you can see, today's issue of the ND newsletter marks the debut of our new design. I hope you like our fresh look! Nutri-News and Views will continue to come to you every two weeks, highlighting what's hot in the world of nutrition and on NutritionData.com. (For more frequent updates, please also bookmark or subscribe to my ND blog, "Notes from the Nutritionista.")

Recently on the blog I discussed pros and cons of soy foods. As one of the few vegetarian sources of complete protein, soy is often a mainstay of a meatless diet. You can learn more on ND about protein quality and why it matters to your health. However, eating too much soy can interfere with your absorption of important nutrients and may also impair thyroid function. For this reason, I suggest limiting soy foods to a couple of servings per day and, where possible, choosing less highly processed soy foods, such as steamed soy beans, tempeh, and miso. To read the entire post or join the discussion on this topic, click here.

See you on ND,

Monica Reinagel

Quick Tips From ND's Nutritionista

Secrets of Weight Loss
Butter, mayonnaise, and a lot of the "special sauces" used by restaurants are very concentrated sources of calories. If you want to add flavor to your food, try using lemon juice, soy sauce, salsa, or fresh herbs instead. Read More.

Nutrient of the Week: Vitamin K
Adequate vitamin K intake can help prevent both osteoporosis and heart disease, but those taking prescription blood thinners, such as Coumadin or warfarin, may need to restrict their intake of foods high in vitamin K. Read more.

How Many Calories Did You Burn?
Whether you spent the day playing shuffleboard or skydiving, ND's Calorie Calculator will show you how many calories you burned.Read More.

Healthy Food Facts

Protein Quality of Soybeans
For a complete nutritional analysis of soybeans and nearly 10,000 other foods and ingredients, click here.

04/09/2007: New Research Links Blood Sugar Levels and Cancer Risk

A recent study revealed a newly discovered link between elevated blood sugar levels and the risk of developing cancer. Further research is needed to confirm this preliminary finding, but I think we'll be hearing much more about this in the near future. In the meantime, though, it gives us one more reason to pay attention to how dietary choices affect blood sugar levels. Maintaining a healthy blood sugar level also lowers your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

But some of the commentary that accompanied this news story points out just how much confusion and misunderstanding there is on this topic. For example, the news media quoted a physician who recommended that people who wanted to maintain healthy blood sugar levels switch from white rice to brown rice because whole grains are thought to cause a smaller rise in blood sugar than refined grains.

But as I commented on the ND Blog, the difference in the effects of whole grains and refined grains on blood sugar is much less than most people think! When it comes to high-carbohydrate foods such as breads, pastas, and grains, the size of the portion is far more important than whether the food is whole grain or not.

ND can help you understand how foods affect blood sugar levels. As a start, read our articles about the glycemic index and glycemic load. We also have tools that will help you manage this aspect of your diet. For every food, recipe, and total consumption report, ND includes the estimated glycemic load as part of its complete nutritional analysis.

To your health,

Monica Reinagel
Chief Nutrition Advisor, NutritionData.com

Quick Tips from Monica

Get an extra antioxidant boost. The best sources of antioxidant nutrients aren't vitamin supplements but fresh fruits and vegetables. Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and artichokes are particularly high in antioxidants. Find other high-powered produce.

What to eat before your workout. As a general rule, wait two hours after a large meal before working out. If it's been more than four hours since you've eaten, have a small, quickly digested carbohydrate snack (such as a piece of fruit) before working out. But save the protein, fats, and fiber (all of which are slowly digested) for after your workout. Read more.

Nutrient of the Week: Fiber. A high-fiber diet can help lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, and keep your heart and digestive system healthy. High-fiber foods also keep hunger pains at bay and help maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Here's a list of fruits that have the most fiber per 100-gram serving: Get the ND Facts.

03/26/2007: Nutri-News & Views

Recently on the ND Blog I wrote about a major new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association that took a lot of people by surprise. Researchers reported that people taking antioxidant supplements have increased mortality rates. Many people are now wondering whether they should stop taking vitamin supplements based on this research. It's a confusing topic that deserves further thought, and I invite you to join in the discussion on the blog.

Elsewhere on the blog, we've also been talking about everything from dealing with food allergies to decoding confusing nutrition labels to the globalization of the organic industry and what that means for consumers. Thanks to your contributions, the discussions have been lively and enlightening.

To keep up on all the latest news and views, bookmark the blog or subscribe via RSS and have the latest delivered right to your desktop. Below, find some quick tips that will help you make this week just a little healthier!

To your health,

Monica Reinagel
Chief Nutrition Advisor, NutritionData.com

Quick Tips from Monica

Maintaining healthy blood-sugar levels. Diabetics aren't the only ones who may be concerned about how foods affect blood sugar. Research shows that maintaining healthy blood-sugar levels also helps you manage your weight and appetite, and also decrease your risk for heart disease. It may even slow down the aging process. ND can help with tools to calculate the glycemic load of your diet. Read more.

Cutting calories without feeling hungry. Just because you're counting calories doesn't mean you need to go hungry. ND's Fullness Factor shows you which lower-calorie foods keep you feeling satisfied longer. Learn more.

Nutrient of the Week: Monounsaturated fat. For a healthy heart and trim waistline, try to get at least 70% of your dietary fat as monounsaturated fats. To get you started, here's a list of the seafoods that are highest in monounsaturated fats. Get the ND Facts.

03/12/2007: Nutri-News & Views

I'm always interested to learn more about the people who make up the ND family. For instance, a user recently posted a question on the ND Blog about vegetarianism. That got me wondering how many vegetarians we have in the ND community. According to the results of our poll, about 11% to 12% of ND users are vegetarians—almost four times the national average. To read more about how ND can help vegetarians build healthy balanced diets (or to cast your vote in the poll), visit the ND Blog and join in the discussion.

Here in New York, we've lately been embroiled in a debate about whether certain restaurants should be required to list the calorie count of their dishes on their menus. Lobbyists and lawyers for these eateries, which include many fast-food and chain restaurants, are pushing hard to keep this information off the menu. (If you've ever looked up fast-food items in ND's extensive restaurant database, I'm sure you can imagine why.)

Just like the controversial trans-fat ban that was passed in New York City earlier this year, this new initiative (and industry resistance to it) will also, I predict, spread to other cities across the nation. Whatever the outcome of these battles in your neck of the woods, you'll find nutritional information from dozens of popular fast-food and chain restaurants on NutritionData.com.

To your health,

Monica Reinagel
Chief Nutrition Advisor, NutritionData.com

Quick Tips From Monica

Looking for healthy recipes? The Advanced Recipe Search function on Epicurious.com allows you to search for expert-tested recipes that are also low-fat, low-calorie, low-sodium, low-sugar, or gluten-free. Read more.

Customize your ND. You can choose which categories of foods are displayed in your ND searches and adjust the Daily Values for calories, fat, carbohydrates, and other essential nutrients with ND's Preference Settings. Learn more.

Research alert. Several of the most commonly prescribed medications can increase bone loss. Here are four ways to keep your bones strong. Read more.

02/26/2007: Re: Tools for Transformation

Tom Seabourne plans to eat about 10,000 calories today. No, he's not competing in a pie-eating contest. That's just how many calories it takes to get him through the day, which typically includes an hour of heavy-duty weight training, three hours of high-intensity cardio, teaching a one-hour karate class, and a couple hundred miles of outdoor biking. Then he goes to work.

This June, Tom will be competing in the Race Across America, a bike race that begins in California and ends in New Jersey. Although the route is 50% longer than the Tour de France, Tom plans to finish it in about half the time it took Lance Armstrong to complete the Tour. He'll cycle 300 miles a day and sleep 20 minutes every six hours.

As you can imagine, Tom has to plan his diet very carefully, and ND plays an essential role. Tom uses ND's Daily Needs Calculator to figure out how many extra calories his various workouts will burn off. (Most of us use this tool to see how many calories we can afford to eat without gaining weight. Tom, on the other hand, has to work pretty hard to make sure he eats enough.)

Tom also has to pack a lot of nutritional value into those 10,000 calories. ND's Total Consumption tool makes it easier for Tom to ensure that he's getting enough protein, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals to keep his 51-year-old body performing at its peak.

What's more, Tom's also diabetic, so he has to watch his blood sugar. ND's Glycemic Load estimator helps him select the foods that will provide enough carbohydrates during and after workouts without sending his blood sugar soaring or crashing.

Tom Seabourne is obviously an extraordinary guy. Few of us have the energy and drive to fit in eight hours of exercise a day, in addition to working 40-plus hours a week and raising five teenagers. "But if I can find eight hours a day," he insists, "you can find 30 minutes."

Tom, who has a Ph.D. in sports psychology, strongly believes that setting goals—even small ones—is key. "It doesn't have to be a marathon or a 3,000-mile bike race," he says. "Even registering for a 5K walk/run can be a powerful trigger for transformation."

For more information on how you can support Tom and his mission, read the ND Blog.

What's your goal? Whatever you choose, ND can help—with simple but powerful tools that help you calculate your nutritional needs, plan your exercise, track your intake, and manage health concerns. Visit NutritionData.com to learn how to put these tools to work for you.

If ND has helped you reinvent yourself in ways large or small, and you'd like to share your story with the ND community, send an e-mail to champions@nutritiondata.com.

To your good health,

Monica Reinagel
Chief Nutrition Advisor, NutritionData.com

P.S. Downloadable Nutrition Facts labels are back! You can once again download and print official Nutrition Facts labels for any food or recipe on ND. Look for the link at the bottom of the Nutrition Facts label on any nutritional analysis page.

A noted nutrition researcher, best-selling author, and professionally trained chef, Monica Reinagel is the author of The Inflammation Free Diet Plan and creator of the IF Rating system.

02/12/2007: The Best Chocolate For Your Heart

Now that chocolate counts as health food, we don't need Valentine's Day as an excuse to indulge anymore. As you probably know, cacao beans contain potent flavonoids that help protect your heart in many important ways. They increase the elasticity of your blood vessels, help keep blood clots from forming, and improve cholesterol profiles. Although chocolate can be high in fat and calories, most experts now agree that a small daily serving (1 to 1½ ounces) of dark chocolate can be a very healthy habit.

You can't judge a bean by its color

It's widely believed that the darker the chocolate is, the more flavonoids it contains. But this is not entirely true. The beneficial flavonoids are found in the cocoa solids (as opposed to the cocoa butter). In general, the darker the chocolate, the more cocoa it contains. But much of the flavonoid content may be destroyed in processing, so you can't judge a chocolate bar entirely by its color or even its cocoa percentage.

Some chocolate manufacturers have been working to develop new processing methods that leave more of the valuable flavonoids intact. If you decide to treat your valentine or yourself to a gift of chocolate, look for CocoaVia^TM products (made by the manufacturers of Dove chocolates) or Acticoa^TM chocolate and cocoa powder by Callebaut. Both brands are processed using methods that preserve maximum flavonoid content.

One last tip: When you combine cocoa with milk (as in milk chocolate or hot cocoa), a protein in the milk binds to the flavonoids in the chocolate and makes them less absorbable. If you enjoy hot cocoa, consider using soy milk instead of cow's milk.

Be sure to check the ND Blog regularly for the latest nutrition research and discussion on food, health, and nutrition issues. Past blog entries are also archived by topics (such as Heart Health and Weight Loss) to help you find the information that interests you most. As always, your comments, questions, and ideas are welcome. Click on the comment link at the bottom of any post to join the conversation.

To your good health,

Monica Reinagel
Chief Nutrition Advisor, NutritionData.com

A noted nutrition researcher, best-selling author, and professionally trained chef, Monica Reinagel is the author of The Inflammation Free Diet Plan and creator of the IF Rating system.

01/29/2007: Your Healthy Heart

Thanks for all the great questions and comments that you've been posting on the ND Blog. We've been discussing everything from New Year's resolutions to the pros and cons of dairy foods. But the topic that really got everyone going was the FDA's draft opinion that food from cloned animals does not need to be specially labeled.

According to our poll, about half of you feel that we don't yet know enough about the safety of food from cloned animals, and the vast majority of you disagree with the FDA's position that these foods don't need to be labeled. The FDA is accepting public comments on this issue until April 2^nd. Visit the FDA's website to find out how to voice your opinion to the nation's nutrition policy-makers.

If there are other issues or questions that you'd like to see discussed on the ND Blog, please let us know by posting a comment.

Did you know?

You can add foods that aren't included in the ND database to your personal ND Pantry using ND's Custom Entry Tool. If you can't find your favorite kind of cereal or breakfast bar in the database, simply create a custom entry using the nutritional information from the package. ND can then include your custom foods in the nutritional analysis of your recipes or meals.

In honor of National Heart Month, the ND Blog will shine the spotlight on heart health in February. Look for updates on the latest nutrition research along with some great heart-healthy recipes and menus from our sister site, Epicurious.com. Just to get you started, try their wonderful recipe for Orange Roughy with Arugula, Garlic, and Tomatoes.

Heartfelt warm wishes,

Monica Reinagel
Chief Nutrition Advisor, NutritionData.com

A noted nutrition researcher, best-selling author, and professionally trained chef, Monica Reinagel is the author of The Inflammation Free Diet Plan and creator of the IF Rating system.

01/16/2007: Kick-start a Nutritious New Year!

My name is Monica Reinagel, and I'm delighted to be a new member of the ND team! As ND's nutrition advisor, I'll be writing the ND newsletter as well as contributing to the new ND Blog.

I hope your New Year is off to a great start! It's said that more than half of all New Year's resolutions are abandoned by January 15. What do you say we buck the odds? In my experience, the people who succeed in making long-term positive changes are the ones who have a plan, the right tools, and the support of others with the same goals. You'll find all three at NutritionData.com—along with the most complete nutritional information and analysis available anywhere. Log on today to keep your healthy resolutions on track!

Curious about the new calorie-burning sodas? Got an opinion on the FDA's ruling on cloned foods? Looking for something healthy and delicious to make for dinner? You'll find all this and much more on the new ND Blog. We'll be talking about the latest nutrition news, diet and fitness tips, answers to your health and nutrition questions, healthy recipes, and all sorts of other fun and helpful stuff. I hope you'll chime in by posting your comments and questions as well.

Pantry users: To import your personal food lists to the new ND servers, you'll need to complete a quick, one-time registration on the new NutritionData.com web site from the computer you usually use to access your pantry. Then, simply log on from any computer to access your personal food lists and recipes. You'll also have lots more pantry space! (If you haven't used the pantry tool on ND before, simply click on the Pantry tab and register to start building your own personalized food and recipe database.)

ND healthy weight-loss tip: Watch what you drink. Beverages containing sugar (including fruit juice and sports, energy, and soft drinks) as well as alcoholic drinks can add hundreds of extra calories a day—without your even realizing it. These extra calories don't fill you up. In fact, people tend to eat as many calories (or more) when they drink beer or cola with their meal as they do when they drink water. To reduce calories without feeling hungry, replace at least some of those high-calorie drinks with zero-calorie options like tea, water, or sugar-free drinks. Read more secrets of healthy weight loss.

Wishing you the best of health,

Monica Reinagel

10/03/2006: SR19, Additional Nutrients, Important User Survey

Exactly two months ago, I wrote to tell you that CondeNet had purchased NutritionData. That announcement resulted in a flood of positive feedback. ND is growing faster than ever before and still improving, thanks to the attention and leadership of more than a dozen very capable professionals. As evidence of that improvement, consider ND's latest changes...

SR19
CondeNet's team just finished updating ND's database with data from Release 19 of the USDA's National Nutrient Database. This latest release provides revised nutrient levels for many foods, plus more than 200 new food listings.

Choline, Betaine, and Fluoride
For some of its food listings, ND now provides data on three additional nutrients -- Choline, Betaine, and Fluoride. You'll find these nutrients in the Nutrient Tables segment of ND's Analysis and Total Consumption reports. You can also now search for foods highest in each of these nutrients by using ND's Nutrient Search tool: http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/nutrient-search

Note: These three nutrients are being studied by many nutritional researchers, but the FDA has not yet established Daily Values or other definitive guidelines related to their consumption.

Help Us Make ND Even Better!
CondeNet just unveiled a detailed user survey that's designed to help us determine which new features are most important to ND's users. Every member of CondeNet's management team will be combing through the results of this survey. Don't miss this opportunity to have your voice heard and help shape the course of ND's future: http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;52153559;14309825;k?http://www.insightexpress.com/s/Nutr107955

Stay tuned -- in the weeks and months ahead, you'll begin to see some exciting new features at ND, all aimed at making the site more useful to you.

Best,
Ron Johnson

07/24/2006: A New Beginning

I'm writing to you today to tell you that NutritionData has been sold. In this update, I'll introduce you to ND's new owner, and explain to you why this change in ownership is some of the most wonderful news I've ever delivered...

Meet CondeNet
CondeNet is the Web division of Conde Nast Publications. While you might not know this company by name, you're undoubtedly familiar with many of their high-quality products. Conde Nast produces Gourmet, Bon Appetit, The New Yorker, House & Garden, Architectural Digest, SELF, Wired, and over a dozen other popular magazines. CondeNet creates and manages several award-winning websites, including online versions of the above publications and stand alone web sites, including one of my favorites, Epicurious.com. Over the past eleven years, CondeNet has demonstrated its passion and commitment to the Internet by providing enjoyable, useful sites and services that have attracted over 9 million unique visitors in 2006.

Why Did We Sell ND to CondeNet?
Lori and I created ND because we wanted consumers to have easy access to unbiased nutritional information. Over the past three years, we've been able to forge our dream into a dynamic and informative website. And along the way, we've been rewarded by feedback from thousands of people who have used ND to help improve their diets and positively transform their lives.

We believe that many more people can benefit from ND, but the continued growth of our site has been straining our limited resources. After meeting with CondeNet, we immediately knew they could take ND to a higher level. Not only do they have the ability to better manage and promote our site, but they share the dream of making ND the best it can be.

Changes to ND
At the bottom of each ND page, you'll see a new footer which identifies CondeNet as ND's owner and provides links to many of CondeNet's other sites. (If you haven't already been there, I specifically recommend that you check out the feature articles and recipes on Epicurious.com.)  Other than that, the visible changes will probably be minimal. ND will continue to be a free resource for all consumers, and ND's expanded IT department will continue to hone the quality and performance of this site.

Lori and I will have a less active role in the new ND, but we're not disappearing. For the next few years, we'll continue to consult with ND's new owner to help insure that ND becomes all that it can be.

Thanks in advance for your support of the new ND!

Best,
Ron Johnson

06/26/2006: Estimated Glycemic Load, IF Rating, More Omegas

Today, I'm proud to announce the addition of two fascinating new features -- Estimated Glycemic Load and IF Rating(TM) -- which further extend the scope of ND's information-rich analysis. Please read on to learn more about these two new features...

Estimated Glycemic Load (eGL)
For a number of years, we've looked at ways of including glycemic data in ND's analysis. Our biggest obstacle was that glycemic data did not exist for the majority of foods in ND's database. Furthermore, there wasn't a reliable way to generate glycemic values for your recipes or custom entries. After much research, however, we've finally found a practical way to estimate Glycemic Load when the food's Glycemic Index is unknown. Estimated Glycemic Loads are now provided on all Analysis and Total Consumption reports, for benefit of those users who follow GI-related diets.

To learn more about ND's method for estimating Glycemic Load, please see:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/estimated-glycemic-load

For general information about Glycemic Index and Load, please see:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/glycemic-index

IF (Inflammation Factor) Rating
In ND's previous update newsletter, I introduced Monica Reinagel, a nutritional researcher who has developed a method for gauging the inflammatory effect of foods. You've undoubtedly heard nutritional authors talk about "good fats" and "bad fats", and how fish oil or other sources of Omega-3 fats can improve your health. Monica's IF Rating system goes way beyond that, by quantifying the anticipated health effects of more than 20 separate nutrients. For example, some nutrients are known to alter your body's production of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, others help control free radicals, and some work to moderate homocysteine levels. Various research has shown that these actions may significantly influence your resistance to many diseases.

Monica's system represents the "cutting edge" of nutritional analysis, and requires some nutrient data that is not yet consistently available for all foods. We think she's on to something, though, and are pleased to include her analysis as a supplement to our own. ND now provides IF Ratings and related commentary for more than 6,000 foods in its database. To learn more, please see:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/inflammation

Note: ND provides IF Ratings for benefit of those users who follow Monica's Inflammation-Free Diet Plan. For guidance in the use of IF Ratings, we recommend that you consult Monica's book and website. Information about these resources is available through the above link.

Turn it On/Off
If you're like me, you'll find that the above two features really enhance ND's Analysis. If you don't appreciate the extra information, though, simply turn those features off with the customizable display settings on ND's Preference page:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/preferences

More Omegas
During our previous update, ND added the reporting of Total Omega-3 and Total Omega-6 Fats to its nutrient tables. For this update, we've further improved that feature.

The challenge to accurately reporting Omega-3 and Omega-6 totals is that the available fatty acid data is often limited. For example, 18:3 is a polyunsaturated fat which is commonly known as linolenic acid. There are two common isomers of linolenic acid: 18:3 n-3 c,c,c (alpha-linolenic acid, an Omega-3) and 18:3 n-6 c,c,c (gamma-linolenic acid, an Omega-6). The data available to ND for some food listings only includes a value for undifferentiated 18:3. In other words, nutritional laboratories (such as the USDA) don't always break out these individual isomers.

For the previous update, ND totaled Omega-3 and -6 fats based on only the positively identified isomers, which represents a very conservative approach. Upon further review of our data and methods, and discussions with other nutritional experts, it became clear that a more accurate and practical way of determining Omega totals was to also include a portion of the undifferentiated values for certain fatty acids. We've revised our methods accordingly, and now show (estimated) totals that we believe more accurately reflect the total Omega-3 and -6 content for most foods.

Best,
Ron Johnson

05/23/2006: Total Omega-3s and Omega-6s

We frequently receive emails with questions about omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-3 is a type of polyunsaturated fat that's found in fish and certain meats, nuts, and seeds. Omega-6 is more common in vegetable oils. Omega-3s and omega-6s are not yet considered "essential" nutrients by the FDA, but many health experts do believe they play an important role in nutrition. Their general consensus is that most people consume too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3. This encourages your body to produce more inflammatory chemicals (called prostaglandins), which may make you more susceptible to some diseases.

ND now provides you a better way to monitor your omega-3 and omega-6 consumption...

Total Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fats
ND's Nutrient Tables have always reported values for individual omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. (There are several, which can be identified by the "n-3" or "n-6" in their names.) For your convenience, ND now includes two rows at the bottom of the fatty acids table, which report "Total omega-3 fats" and "Total omega-6 fats". If you track your omega-3 or omega-6 intake, this will save you the step of adding up the individual values. These totals are now included in all Analyses and Total Consumption reports.

Omega-3 and Omega-6 Searches
ND's Nutrient Search tool (http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/nutrient-search) has also been updated to allow you to search for foods highest in total omega-3s or total omega-6s.

Other Inflammatory Factors
Omega-3 and omega-6 fats aren't the only nutritional compounds that are linked to inflammation in the body. I'm pleased to announce that we're now consulting with Monica Reinagel, who's a leading researcher in this area of advanced nutrition. Within a few weeks, with Monica's assistance, we plan to introduce a tool that will help you gage the overall inflammatory effect of your diet. For additional background on this concept, visit Monica's site (http://www.inflammationfactor.com) or pick up a copy of her Inflammation-Free Diet Plan.

DV Adjustment for Vitamin E
As part of the latest update, we've made an adjustment to the Daily Value that ND uses for vitamin E. The reason for this is that there have been changes in the way our data suppliers measure and report vitamin E content. The FDA's official Daily Value for vitamin E is 30 IU. Vitamin E content, however, is most commonly reported in milligrams, and different forms of vitamin E (i.e. different tocopherols) convert differently between mgs and IUs. Up until this point, ND had been using a Daily Value which was conservatively based on the vitamin E being in one of its less active forms. For the majority of foods in ND's database, vitamin E is now reported as alpha-tocopherol, the natural and most active form. Because of this, ND has adjusted its Daily Value for vitamin E downward, from 30mg to 20mg.

Interesting Products
ND doesn't accept advertising for this newsletter, but we do occasionally mention some of our favorite health-related products. Here are three new ones to take a look at...

Mu2 Sportsmask -- ND's office is near Phoenix, AZ. Because of a recent drought and some large local land development projects, the air here lately has been very dusty. Lori and I love to exercise outside, but have been plagued with respiratory infections triggered by the reduced air quality. We now use the Sportsmask to completely block dust and pollen when we're biking or even mowing the lawn. Unlike other respirators, it provides unrestricted airflow, is reusable, and is durable enough for sports use: http://www.betterfitnessproducts.com/00001-mu2-sportsmask.html

WIN Detergent -- I never thought I'd be discussing laundry detergent with you, but this one does an unbelievably good job of removing sweat odor from exercise clothing. It's guaranteed to work with all types of natural and synthetic fabrics: http://www.betterfitnessproducts.com/00001-win-detergent.html

Full Strength Sample Program -- In the past, we've raved about the Full Strength nutrition shake. Lori and I use it daily as a meal replacement, because it's more nutritionally balanced and satisfying than any other product of its type. Earlier this month, Full Strength's manufacturer launched a new sample program. If you'd like to try a single serving of Full Strength, register and claim your sample now before they run out:
http://www.betterfitnessproducts.com/rd-000-1.html

Best,
Ron Johnson

02/28/2006: DV Summary, Google Toolbar Button

Over the past few weeks, we've received many emails about our recent improvements to ND. Most of the feedback has been very positive, but there were a few complaints because we no longer list %DVs in the summary section of ND's Total Consumption report. If you're one of the people that miss that feature, I've got some good news for you...

Back by Popular Demand: %DV Summary
The next time you run a Total Consumption report, you'll see that it now includes a section that provides a summary of your %DVs for Calories and essential nutrients.

We weren't satisfied with simply reinstating the old %DV table, though, so we made some improvements. The new %DV Chart graphs each percentage, so that you can more easily spot high and low values. And each of the nutrient tabs on this chart can be used to launch a nutrient-specific search. So, for example, if your %DV Chart indicates that your intake of selenium is low, you can simply click on the "Se" tab to find foods that are highest in selenium.

The above explanation may not make sense if you haven't been using the Running Total feature of ND's Pantry. To learn more about this feature, please see ND's Pantry Help page:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/pantry-help#total

Google Toolbar Button (new)
The power of Google's latest toolbar was demonstrated to us by Michael Swanson, a software consultant at Cylosoft (http://www.cylosoft.com). Michael had produced a Google toolbar button for his own use, and showed us how it allowed him to highlight an ingredient in a recipe on another site, right-click, and submit it as a search to ND. With Michael's help, we've built a toolbar button that gives you that same capability:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/google-toolbar-button

Google's toolbar is currently only available for Internet Explorer, but versions for other browsers should be available in the future. If you use Firefox instead of IE, you can also get similar benefits from ND's Firefox plugin:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/firefox-plugin

Refresh the Page!
Every time we update ND, we immediately receive feedback from a few of our users that the site isn't working properly or that some of the pages "look funny". Usually, this is because their browser has cached an older version of the page that isn't compatible with the new features.

Your browser isn't always smart enough to automatically check for the newest version of a page. So whenever you notice a display error on ND, please click your browser's Refresh button as a first step. This will force your browser to reload the most current version of our page, and will often correct the problem.

Best,
Ron Johnson

01/28/2006: Improved navigation and reporting

At the end of 2005, we took a hard look at NutritionData, and found several things we thought we could do better. We still have a lot more planned for 2006, but here are over a dozen improvements to kick off the new year...

A Better Home Page
Over the past two years, we've added so many new features to ND, that the home page was starting to look like a junkyard. We discovered that many of our new visitors were abandoning ND before they learned how to use it, simply because the home page was too overwhelming.

So we changed it. ND's home page now sports a cleaner design, with features grouped by the tasks they help you perform. Take a look, and mouse over the center links to see what I mean:
http://www.nutritiondata.com

One-Click Dropdown Menu (new)
Although we had received many compliments on our site's structure, we were less than satisfied with our navigational menu. Some of our submenus were beginning to get crowded, and it bothered us that it took two clicks (and two page loads) to get to some parts of our site. ND's new dropdown menu eliminates these problems by allowing you to select any tool, topic, or help page with a single click. Just mouse over the menu tabs to see ND's new dropdown menu in action.

Google Searchbox (new)
What do you do when you can't find what you're looking for on a website? If you're like me, you probably go back to the search engines, and search again. Note that ND now includes a Google searchbox in the lower right corner of every page. So save yourself another page load simply by running your web searches directly from ND.

FoodSearch Memory (new)
When you use ND's FoodSearch tool, it now remembers your original query, and re-displays it in the FoodSearch tool on the Search Results page. This makes it much easier to continue or refine your search.

Nutrient Balance Indicator (new)
The next time you view ND's Analysis page, you'll see a completely new format. One of the most obvious changes is the inclusion of a new symbol, which we call a Nutrient Balance Indicator (NBI). The NBI replaces ND's nutrient density table, and gives you a simpler and more intuitive visual reference to the density and distribution of essential nutrients within the food. For a complete introduction to the NBI, please see the following help page:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/nutrient-balance-indicator

Note that, while ND's Rating is most applicable to individual foods, the Nutrient Balance Indicator provides better feedback for determining how close an entire meal or recipe comes to meeting your needs for all essential nutrients.

Expanded Help Pages
In addition to the new help page for the Nutrient Balance Indicator, ND now also maintains separate help pages for the Caloric Ratio Pyramid and Nutritional Target Map:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/caloric-ratio-pyramid
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/nutritional-target-map

Moisture Content (new)
We often receive emails from users who think there's an error in our listing for corn (or some other grain). They're looking at a serving of 1 cup of corn, and can't understand why it contains more than 600 Calories. What they hadn't realized is that ND maintains listings for both raw and cooked versions of many foods, including grains, beans, and legumes.

To help you differentiate between some of these multiple listings, we added moisture content to our analysis. Directly above the Caloric Ratio Pyramid, you'll see a new box that displays the moisture content as a percentage of total weight. Raw uncooked grains typically have moisture contents near 10%, while the cooked forms have much higher moisture contents -- something closer to 70%.

Note that data on moisture content is currently only available for food listings that were supplied by the USDA.

Calories from Alcohol (new)
For alcoholic beverages, ND has always shown the alcohol content in grams in the Nutrients per Serving segment of its analysis. Now, it also shows the number of Calories contributed by alcohol. (Previously, the Calories from alcohol were included in the total, but weren't broken out separately.) In addition, ND's Caloric Ratio Pyramid now indicates when a food contains alcohol.

Here's an example analysis of red wine that illustrates this new feature:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-B00001-01c2103.html

Improved Fullness Factor
Through continued testing, we determined that ND's Fullness Factor overstated expected values for certain types of dry ingredients, such as whole wheat flour. Because of this, we've made a slight adjustment to our calculation methods. This adjustment affects only a small portion (approximately 2%) of our listings, but should improve the overall quality of our Better Choices recommendations.

Simplified Better Choices Search
You'll probably notice that we simplified the Better Choices Substitutions segment of ND's analysis and moved it to its new position directly below the Summary. This specialized tool now allows you to search for foods ND considers to be better for weight loss, optimum health, or weight gain.

Expanded Commentary and Ratings
ND's "In Simple Terms" commentary is now called "ND's Opinion". This commentary is identical to the prior version, except that it also now makes note if the food contains any amount of Trans Fat.

Within this section of the Summary, ND's original 5-Star Rating is now labeled as the rating for "Optimum health". ND also now separately rates each food with respect to its suitability for weight loss and weight gain. These two additional ratings are in line with ND's Better Choices methodology, and are generated by combining the food's optimum health rating and Fullness Factor.

Protein Quality Indicator (new)
The Protein Quality section of ND's analysis is the same as prior versions, except that a new graphic symbol replaces the prior amino acid table. This symbol makes it easier to see, at a glance, which amino acids are missing or limited.

Improved Printing
Have you ever tried to print one of ND's reports? If so, you probably noticed that many of the report's graphic images did not appear on the printout. ND's Analysis Report, Total Consumption Report, and Comparison Report have all been restructured so they now print properly.

Improved Comparison Report
ND's Comparison Report now allows you to compare more than two foods at one time. In fact, there's no limit on the number of foods that you can compare -- other than that imposed by the display width of your monitor.

Here's one example of a 3-way comparison between apples, oranges, and bananas:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/compare.php?q=B00001-01c20TB.B00001-01c20Vi.B00001-01c20Tm

Improved Total Consumption Report
ND's Total Consumption Report has a simpler format, and now includes the new Nutrient Balance Indicator.

And it's Even Faster!
Despite the additional programming code needed to support this expanded set of features, we were still able to find some ways to streamline our pages and further reduce ND's average page loading times. :-)

Best,
Ron Johnson

11/28/2005: SR18, Starbucks, ounces for all

We hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We certainly did, but we also found time to squeeze in a little work. Over the weekend, we updated ND's database with more than 600 new listings. Below are the details...

SR18
Included in this update is data from Release 18 of the USDA's National Nutrient Database. This latest release provides revised nutrient levels for several foods, plus a handful of new listings. Our data for individual sugars and trans fats is still relatively sparse, but did increase considerably with this release. And among the new listings are several common wines, including Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.

Starbucks
After many requests from our users, we finally added Starbucks to our fast food line up. Follow the link below (which is also available on our home page) to see listings for nearly 300 different foods and drinks available at Starbucks coffee shops. Note that there are separate listings for each blended coffee, based on the type of milk used -- i.e. nonfat, whole, breve (half and half), or soy. None of the coffee listings include whipped cream, but we do maintain separate listings for whipped cream and other optional toppings. Don't forget to add those toppings to your total if you're counting Calories.

Foods and Drinks from Starbucks:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-059000000000000000000.html

Ounces for All
One complaint that we've frequently heard is that ND's analyses didn't provide enough "convenient" serving sizes. Well, we just expanded our serving options, and every food in ND's database now includes both 100 gram and 1 ounce serving sizes. The new 1 ounce serving size is very useful for those who aren't comfortable working with grams.

If you weren't already aware of it, please note that ounces and fluid ounces are not the same thing. An ounce is a weight-based measurement equal to 28.3 grams, and a fluid ounce is a volume-based measurement equal to 1/8 of a cup. You can't always reliably convert between weight and volume measurements for foods, because most foods are compressible to some degree. In other words, the amount of an ingredient that you can put in a cup depends on how tightly you pack it. That's why many packaged foods include the statement, "Contents sold by weight, not volume. Some settling may occur." For the greatest accuracy, it's usually best to weigh non-liquid ingredients rather than trust volume-based measurements.

Happy Holidays
This will likely be ND's last update newsletter for 2005, but we're working on many more improvements for 2006. Please have a happy and healthy holiday season. If you exchange gifts with your family and friends, consider giving gifts that help them improve their health and fitness. Here's one place to get some great ideas:
http://www.betterfitnessproducts.com

Best,
Ron Johnson

10/31/2005: Improved Custom Entries, Recipes, and Labels

Over the weekend, we upgraded ND's software to give the Pantry and its related features some additional capability. While this upgrade has minimal impact on the appearance of ND, it was quite substantial, and involved thousands of lines of our computer code. During the upgrade and final testing -- from Saturday night until Sunday morning -- certain portions of ND were temporarily disabled, and I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused. This upgrade enabled the improvements explained below...

Better Custom Entries
ND's Custom Entry tool (http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/data-entry) was expanded to allow the input of 18 additional nutrients. If you use the Pantry to analyze your total consumption, that means that you can now make custom entries for some of the nutritional supplements that you currently use, and add them into your daily total.

For example, here's a link to a custom entry that I just created for the nutrition shake mentioned in ND's last update newsletter:
FullStrength Nutrition Shake, vanilla, mixed w/ water

Larger Recipes
Thanks to this latest upgrade, recipes can now be created for up to 60 servings. (The previous limit was 32 servings.) This makes it easier for chefs and food service employees to create and analyze larger recipes. It also makes it easier to input a recipe for a large batch of holiday cookies!

New Nutrition Facts Labels
ND's Nutrition Facts label images now include a line for trans fats. This complies with the FDA's new label requirements, which go into effect on January 1, 2006. Only a small percentage of the foods in our current database include trans fat information, but this percentage will expand in the coming months as we continue to update our data. Many food producers -- and especially the fast food restaurants -- are still working to reduce trans fat levels, and are not yet reporting complete information.

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Nutrition Shake Follow Up
Our discussion of nutrition shakes in the prior update created a flood of responses, and I'd like to make an additional clarification...

Today's nutrition shakes aren't just for athletes. For people with busy lifestyles, they offer the convenience of fast food without any of the downside. The best ones (like FullStrength) provide greater satisfaction per Calorie than other foods because they contain higher concentrations of three of the components that contribute most to satiety -- water, protein, and fiber. This helps lower caloric intake without increasing hunger, which is exactly what dieters need.

In the 20 years that I've been a consultant in the fitness and nutrition industries, I've seen plenty of over-hyped nutritional supplements, and there are very few that I would recommend. FullStrength, however, is a quality product that I think is worthy of your consideration.
http://www.betterfitnessproducts.com/fullstrength.html#001

Best,
Ron Johnson

10/25/2005: Nutrition Shakes, Pantry Upgrade

We receive a lot of email from ND's users about our Better Choices Diet. Many of those emails thank us for making weight loss easier, but some of our users struggle to make Better Choices work for them. For example, here's one typical comment:

"I love your Better Choices concept, but when I use your system to search for the best weight loss foods, it finds things like alfalfa sprouts and amaranth leaves. I can't eat that stuff. Aren't there any high-FF foods that taste good?"

First of all, this person is making the mistake of thinking that they'll only make progress if they eat foods with the very highest Fullness Factors. But that's not true. Better Choices simply recommends that you eat foods that are more nutritious and filling than what you were previously eating. If you're accustomed to eating cheeseburgers with extra mayo, anything on the list between that and alfalfa sprouts is a better choice. Better Choices is not about depriving yourself of the pleasures of eating. It's about intelligently substituting more filling and nutritious foods for a portion of the less filling and less nutritious foods in your normal diet. So instead of a cheeseburger with extra mayo, you might substitute a hamburger with mustard, salsa, and extra lettuce. Or you might have a skinless chicken breast instead of the burger. Or you might swap the bun for whole-grain bread. Any of these changes translate into a similar level of satiety, but less total Calories.

Yes, there is somewhat of an inverse relationship between Fullness Factor (FF) and taste. In other words, many high-FF foods don't taste that great on their own. One notable exception, however, is the nutrition shake...

Nutrition Shakes
You may know nutrition shakes by one of their alternative names, such as "protein shake", "meal replacement" (MRP), or "smoothie". What you may not realize, though, is that there are big differences among the different brands of nutrition shakes.

A good nutrition shake should contain abundant amounts of high-quality protein, fiber, and other nutrients, very little saturated fat, sugar, or additives, and should be delicious, satisfying, and easy to digest. Unfortunately, it's been nearly impossible to find a product that meets all of those criteria. That changed, however, with the recent introduction of FullStrength:
http://www.betterfitnessproducts.com/fullstrength.html#001

Lori and I have been using FullStrength for several weeks, and it's the best nutrition shake we've ever tried. Best ingredients. Best taste. Best everything. Nutrition shakes have been a staple of our diet for over 15 years, but we always had to add extra ingredients to them to improve their flavor or nutrient profile. FullStrength is the first one that actually exceeds our expectations.

Why FullStrength is Perfect for Dieters
FullStrength includes a unique blend of high-quality protein, dietary fiber, and key nutrients that will completely nourish your body, banish your hunger, and help prevent fat storage. And take my word for it, this is one high-FF food that truly tastes great! I don't normally recommend specific food products, but FullStrength is significantly better than other nutrition shakes. Even if you're happily using a different meal replacement product, I really think it's worth your time to try it.

Four Ways to Use Nutrition Shakes
For dieting purposes, consider replacing one or two of your existing meals with a nutrition shake. It's a better choice than most foods, and is a convenient and enjoyable way to cut Calories. Here are four different ways to fit it into your day:

1. Grab a nutrition shake when you don't have time for a full breakfast. It's quick and convenient, elevates your metabolism, and will keep you energized until lunch.
2. Enjoy a nutrition shake instead of rushing to lunch at a fast food restaurant. It's better for your body, and saves you time, money, and excess Calories.
3. Take a nutrition shake break instead of a coffee break. It provides your body with the fuel it really needs, not just another shot of caffeine.
4. Enjoy a nutrition shake instead of an evening junk food binge. It satisfies your cravings without doing damage to your diet.

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Pantry Upgrade Notice
Over the next weekend (Oct 29 - 30), we'll be adding additional capability to ND's Pantry. I'm giving you advance notice of this upgrade, because it will have an effect on how data is stored in ND's cookie. The data in your existing cookie will be automatically converted to a new and improved format. However, to fully safeguard against any of your Pantry contents being lost during this conversion, please backup your Pantry prior to the weekend, using ND's Export feature.

If you haven't saved any foods to ND's Pantry, you may disregard this notice.

For more information about the Export feature, please see:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/pantry-help#exporting

I'll email you next week to explain the wonderful new features that we're adding to ND.

Best,
Ron Johnson

06/21/2005: Search Preferences, Exercise Progression

Over the past few months, several of ND's users have submitted requests similar to this:

"I never eat at fast food restaurants, so I really don't care about those foods. Is there some way to tell ND not to include fast food listings in my search results?"

I'm happy to say that the answer to that question is now, "Yes!"  Read on to learn about this great new feature...

Search Preferences
ND's new Preferences page organizes all of ND's customizable settings into one large easy-to-use form. It also adds an exciting new option -- the ability to decide exactly which food categories to include in your searches. So if you don't want to see fast food listings, you can now turn them off. If you're not interested in the nutritional content of baby foods, you can turn that category off. And if you don't eat beef, pork, or poultry, you can turn those categories off, too.

All of your preferences are stored in a cookie on your computer, and are automatically applied whenever you visit ND. Change your preferences at any time by visiting ND's Preferences page:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/preferences

Weight Loss Tips
ND's Secrets of Weight Loss page provides a common sense approach to weight loss, and is periodically updated with new resources. If you're working to transform your body, we recommend that you review this page from time to time.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/dieting-weight-loss

Occasionally, our update newsletter will also include a weight loss tip, such as this one...

Exercise Progression
It's very common for dieters to see their weight loss slow after they've been on a diet for several weeks. There are many possible reasons for this; however, one contributing factor that's often overlooked is your body's decreasing metabolism. For most activities, the rate at which you burn Calories is dependent on your body weight. As you lose some of that weight, your muscles are able to move your body more easily, and your caloric expenditure is reduced.

One of the best ways to counter this metabolic slowdown is to progressively increase the intensity of your exercise sessions. Higher intensity exercise helps you in two ways. First of all, it burns Calories at a faster rate than lower intensity exercise. Secondly, if the load that the exercise places on your body is high enough, it will help your muscles develop further. That's desirable because muscle tissue is denser and more "metabolically active" than fat. With more muscle and less fat, you'll look leaner and shapelier, and burn more Calories, even when your body is at rest.

One of the primary methods for increasing exercise intensity is to perform the exercise against added resistance. This technique can even be applied to basic exercises, like walking. For example, you can progress your walking program by gradually incorporating one or more of these higher intensity alternatives:
1. walking up hills, or
2. walking on an inclined treadmill, or
3. walking with a weighted vest:
http://www.betterfitnessproducts.com/xvest.html#001

Each of these exercises will place a greater load on your muscles, and help you burn more Calories in the same amount of time.

Best,
Ron Johnson

05/24/2005: Protein Complements, improved Recipe Editor

We just made some improvements to our system that benefit ND's advanced users. If you only use ND as a reference for basic nutrient data, you may not have use for these features, but you can take comfort in knowing that the extra capability is there when you need it. Here are the details of these latest changes...

New Protein Complements
ND's analysis has always included information on protein quality. Until now, however, it's been difficult to make use of that information. For example, if a food was low in tryptophan but high in lysine, there wasn't a good way to find another food with a complementary amino acid profile (i.e. one high in lysine but low in tryptophan). Our newly revised analysis changes this by allowing you to find complementary proteins with a single click.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a quick refresher: Protein is made up of chemical building blocks called amino acids. Of the many amino acids required by your body, nine are considered essential, because your body can't synthesize them. Foods that contains protein include varying amounts of these nine amino acids. Foods of animal origin (e.g. milk, eggs, and meat) typically contain large amounts of every one of these essential amino acids, and are considered "complete" proteins. However, many foods of plant origin (e.g. vegetables, grains, nuts, and legumes) contain limited amounts of one or more of these amino acids. These foods are sometimes called "incomplete" proteins. In order for your body to fully benefit from the protein they contain, you need to combine them with other foods that supply larger amounts of their "limiting" amino acid(s).

ND's analysis includes a segment on Protein Quality whenever the analyzed food's amino acid content is known. When the calculated amino acid score is less than 100, ND now also includes a link to that food's Protein Complements. Clicking on this link causes a special search to be done that helps you find foods with complementary amino acid profiles.

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Sidebar: When Protein Quality Matters
If you consume a typical American diet, you probably don't need to be concerned about protein quality. Most Americans consume excess protein, making protein quality less critical. However, if you're a strict vegetarian, or you live in a country where food isn't so plentiful, your diet may not supply adequate amounts of some amino acids. By adding the right foods to your diet, you may be able to correct this.
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Look for the Protein Complements link near the bottom of the Analysis page. And for additional information about protein quality, please refer to ND's Analysis Help page:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/analysis-help#protein-quality

Improved Recipe Editor
If you've saved recipes to your Pantry, you may have used ND's recipe editor. This function is activated when you click on the "edit" link immediately to the right of the recipe's listing, and is used to make changes to the recipe's ingredients. Unfortunately, the recipe editor had one major limitation. It only worked properly when every one of the recipe's ingredients was still present in your Pantry's ingredient list. If you had removed any of those ingredients from your Pantry, the edited recipe wouldn't be complete.

The improved recipe editor automatically retrieves all missing ingredients and insures that you're editing the complete recipe. This means that you can even make changes to ND recipes that your friends email to you.

Higher Quantity Limits
As an added bonus, we also increased the maximum quantity that you can enter for recipe ingredients. It was previously limited to 12, but is now much higher. :-)

Best,
Ron Johnson

05/03/2005: Side-by-Side Comparisons

Is that new recipe that you shared with your friends more nutritious than a Big Mac? Can you prove it? In just a moment I'll show you how...

The Importance of Nutrient Density
Hundreds of years ago, man's primary focus was simply getting enough to eat. Everyone hunted or raised their own food, which consumed a great deal of time and energy. Today, however, we're surrounded by a plethora of affordable food choices. Food manufacturers now compete for our attention through endless improvements to each food's taste and packaging. Unfortunately, though, these "improvements" often degrade the overall nutritional quality of the food. Special processing methods can leach nutrients from the food, and many taste enhancements involve the addition of sugar or fat, which boosts Calories, but nothing else. We now have an abundance of convenient high-Calorie foods -- a poor match for our less active lives.

To help counter overconsumption of these high-Calorie foods, many diet practitioners focus on reducing serving sizes. By choosing smaller servings, you decrease the total number of Calories that you consume. Yes, this is an effective approach for weight loss, but it's only part of the solution for improving your health. For optimal health, you also need to choose foods that provide your body with sufficient amounts of each nutrient.

For example, imagine that you're fond of eating doughnuts (That's pretty easy to imagine, isn't it?). If you replace all of the doughnuts in your life with doughnut holes, you'll reduce your total caloric intake, but you'll have done nothing to satisfy your body's need for dietary fiber, protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, and many other nutrients. If your diet is filled with nutritionally weak foods, cutting Calories is not a complete solution. You'll also need to replace some of the weak foods with ones that supply more nutrients per Calorie (i.e. have a greater nutrient density).

It's not easy for consumers to tell which foods have the highest nutrient densities, because food labels don't directly report that information. However, ND does. In fact, it uses nutrient density as the basis for its 5-Star Rating. Nutrient density also plays an important role in ND's new A:B Comparison Report. You can use this report to make direct comparisons between any two foods, including your own recipes.

A:B Comparison Report
We just redesigned ND's Comparison Report to make it more useful than ever before. It now provides you with very detailed side-by-side comparisons. Here's one example:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/pantry
(Comparison of Apples and Oranges)

To create your own A:B Comparisons, simply mark any two foods in your Pantry, and then click the Compare button.

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Warning: There's a LOT of information included in ND's A:B Comparison Report, and it might seem a bit overwhelming at first. However, if you take time to study this report, you'll see that it provides you with an unparalleled view of some of the most important differences between any two foods.
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If you're a nutritionist:
Use A:B Comparison Reports to show your clients the differences between the foods that they're currently eating and ones that they should be eating.

If you're an educator:
Use A:B Comparison Reports to illustrate the nutritional weaknesses of specific junk foods.

Regardless of who you are:
Use A:B Comparison Reports to make more educated decisions about your diet.

Best,
Ron Johnson

04/22/2005: Smarter Analysis, ND Explorer

Last week, I received a very heart-warming message from Rick, one of ND's users. Rick wrote to explain how he had used ND to learn about food and nutrition. Thanks to the knowledge he acquired through our site (and undoubtedly a lot of hard work), he was able to shed nearly 100 POUNDS of excess body weight in less than a year!

Rick is one of many people who are using ND to help make positive changes in their lives. That keeps us inspired, and working hard at making ND even better than before. Today I'd like to tell you about some of our latest improvements...

Smarter Analysis
ND generates its 5-Star Rating and Simple Terms summary from a formula that compares the nutrients contained in equal-sized servings of each food. By default, a 200-Calorie serving size is used for these comparisons. This serving size equates to 10% of the FDA's 2000-Calorie reference diet, and represents a reasonable serving size for most foods. However, until now, ND's summary often overstated the nutrient content of very low-Calorie foods. For example, it would indicate that brewed coffee was a good source of magnesium, potassium, copper. That statement was true, but only if you consumed an amount equal to 200 Calories. And with less than 1 Calorie per cup, 200 Calories represents several gallons of coffee! To improve ND's analysis, we refined our calculation formula to improve its assessment of these very low Calorie foods. This refinement only affects the Ratings of a small fraction of the foods in ND's database (<1%), but I think you'll appreciate the results. The refined rating formula now provides a more accurate representation of each food's nutritional worth.

ND Explorer
Many of ND's users are intrigued by the Better Choices Diet, but are still struggling to understand its Nutritional Target Map (NTM). So we decided to create a tool to make the NTM easier to use and more intuitive. We first revised the NTM graphic to give it a cleaner look and clearly defined legend. Then we built a tool that allows you to click on the NTM to find foods that correspond to a particular Fullness Factor and Rating.

We combined this new search tool with all of ND's other specialty search tools, to form one master tool, call "the Explorer". ND's Explorer completely replaces ND's Caloric Ratio and 5-Star Search Tools. That means that there's now one less page under the Tools menu, but three new ways to search. With this one multi-purpose tool, you can:

1. Search by Caloric Ratio, or
2. Search by Fullness Factor and ND Rating, or
3. View Better Choices for healthy weight loss, or
4. View foods with the highest ND Rating, or
5. View Better Choices for healthy weight gain

Here's the link to ND's Explorer:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/explorer

A Few Fun Things to Try
When you select a food category from the Category dropdown on ND's Explorer, the Caloric Ratio Pyramid and NTM images change to reflect the types of foods within that category. These image maps provide an interesting "birds-eye-view" of the categories. For example, look at the differences in the images between Vegetables and Nuts. See how the Vegetables category lights up more squares in the upper right quadrant of the NTM (nutritious and filling), and the Nuts category lights up more squares in the lower right quadrant (nutritious, but not filling)? Then take a look at the Fats & Oils category, with more squares in the lower left quadrant (not nutritious or filling). Of even greater interest are the fast food categories. Take a look at the differences between Subway and Cold Stone Creamery or McDonald's and Long John Silver's. Yes, it is possible to find a few diet-worthy foods at McDonalds (thanks to their salads), but you'll have considerably more trouble at Long John Silver's (due to a menu that's almost entirely fried foods.) ND's Explorer gives you a quick overview of these nutritional strengths and weaknesses, without studying the menus.

When you get tired of playing with the Explorer's birds-eye-view, select a restaurant and use the lower dropdown to do a "Better Choices for healthy weight loss" search. At the top of the resulting list, you'll find foods that ND picks as the best choices for dieters (as compared to other items on that same menu). You'll still probably want to take a closer look at the individual foods, but this search will quickly sort entire categories to find some of the best potential foods for your needs.

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Sidebar: Learn More About the NTM
ND's Nutritional Target Map isn't just for dieters. If you haven't yet read about it, do so on this page:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/better-choices-diet#target
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Coming Soon
ND's Explorer is one of several improvements that we have planned for ND in 2005. More new features are coming very soon...

Best,
Ron Johnson

04/13/2005: 15 New Restaurants, Expanded News, Favorite Links

We updated ND over the past weekend, and I'd like to share with you the latest improvements...

ND's Reorganized Home Page
You might note that the layout of our home page is a bit simpler and cleaner than before. We also moved ND's registration form and all help-related links to the far left column. We hope this simplification helps ND's first-time users more quickly get oriented to our site.

15 New Fast Food Restaurants
We nearly doubled ND's fast food listings by adding foods from the following restaurants...

Back Yard Burgers:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-049000000000000000000.html

Blimpie:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-044000000000000000000.html

Chick-fil-A:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-051000000000000000000.html

Cold Stone Creamery:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-053000000000000000000.html

Culver's:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-057000000000000000000.html

Dippin' Dots:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-047000000000000000000.html

Donatos:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-056000000000000000000.html

Hardee's:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-054000000000000000000.html

In-N-Out Burger:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-045000000000000000000.html

Jamba Juice:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-058000000000000000000.html

Krystal:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-052000000000000000000.html

Long John Silver's:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-048000000000000000000.html

Papa John's:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-046000000000000000000.html

Papa Murphy's:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-055000000000000000000.html

Rubio's:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-050000000000000000000.html

ND has contacted several other restaurant chains, but many of them do not yet have the ability to supply complete nutritional information on their foods. We will add more restaurants as soon as reliable data becomes available.

Note: The data for ND's fast food listings is supplied by each restaurant chain's corporate office, and is believed to be an accurate representation of the menu items available at most restaurants within the chain. The actual menu selections and nutritional information may vary from one restaurant location to another, however, due to adjustments that the restaurants make for regional taste preferences, seasonal variations in supplied ingredients, and frequent tests of new products. Because of this, ND can't guarantee that every item on your local restaurant's menu will exactly match what appears in our database.

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SIDEBAR: Why Fast Foods?
ND is occasionally criticized for promoting fast foods. The fact is that we don't promote fast foods. We merely provide data on fast foods so that consumers can learn more about them, and make their own intelligent decisions. Like it or not, fast food restaurants provide a significant portion of the Calories in the average American diet. For many of our visitors, learning more about these foods is a first step toward improving their diet. Fast food is also starting to evolve. Because nutritious meals are in increasing demand, nearly all fast food companies are starting to add healthier selections to their menus. And as more consumers opt for those healthier options, even more will become available.
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ND's Expanded News Feature
We've been very pleased with the daily nutrition news feed that Nubella.com has been supplying ND for the last several months. To improve this popular feature even more, we moved it to its own page, and expanded both the number of news summaries that we display and their length. We also now include a date line with each summary, so that you know when each news story was released. This page is updated each hour, and two or three new summaries appear each day.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/nutrition-news

ND's New Links Page
With this latest update, we also added a new page that contains some of our favorite health-related links. Each company featured on this page is a trusted supplier of interesting and beneficial products:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/links

Don't miss the first listing on ND's Links page, which is for a company (Better Fitness Products: http://www.betterfitnessproducts.com#001) that sells some of the fitness products that Lori and I personally recommend.

Help Us Help the World
ND's goal is to positively affect the world's health by making nutritional information easier to understand and available to all consumers. While we've made some progress, there's still much work to do. You can help by supporting the companies that are featured on ND's Links page. When you do business with these companies, a portion of your purchase goes to ND, and is used to further improve our services. Your patronage of these companies is very much appreciated.

Best,
Ron Johnson

03/16/2005: Introducing SearchLever

How many Internet searches do you think you've done this week?

If you're like me, the answer to that question is "more than I could count". It seems that every time I sit down in front of my computer, I've got five or six new things to search. Of course, around here, we're always researching nutrition and health topics. But, I've also got a lot of outside interests that keep me busy, and I keep bumping into new companies, products, and ideas that I want to learn more about.

Late one night, a few weeks ago, I was overcome with the thought of how much time I actually spent searching for information. Part of the problem was not just the "searching" part, but surfing back and forth between the different search forms. For example, Google is fantastic, but if I need nutritional information about a food, I'm obviously going to go to ND to do my search. If I'm specifically looking for a book, I go to Amazon.com. If I'm trying to locate an industrial part, I use Thomas Register. And if I'm hunting for a product that's no longer being produced, I try to locate one on eBay. If I want a stock quote, I go to MarketWatch.com. If I need to track a package, I go to UPS.com. And, well... you get the idea. Now, Google and ND are both pretty streamlined sites, but some of those other sites have big, bloated homepages that bombard you with ads and images and videos. I don't always have a high-speed connection, so I'm constantly playing the game of "click and wait".

Well, I finally got so sick of this inefficiency, that I decided to do something about it. I gathered up every Internet resource that I regularly use, and created a powerful new search tool. This new tool got so big, that we had to give it its own separate site. I'd like to share with you:
http://www.searchlever.com

I keep SearchLever in an open browser window on my desktop at all times. Now, whenever I need to find something, I can launch a new search in seconds. Less wasted time, more productivity -- just the way I like it. Give it a try, and see what you think.

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SIDEBAR: What About Firefox?
SearchLever is compatible with all modern browsers, including Firefox. If you're a regular Firefox user, though, you probably realize that Firefox's browser includes a quick search feature that functions much like SearchLever. So why should you use SearchLever instead of the quick search? Here are three good reasons: 1) SearchLever includes a wider range of pre-entered sites; 2) SearchLever makes it much easier to add or remove new sites; and 3) SearchLever allows you to conveniently organize your sites with categories and search reminders.
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As a registered user of NutritionData, you're one of the very first people to know about SearchLever. If you find it to be a useful tool, please tell your friends.

Best,
Ron Johnson

01/04/2005: Fullness Factor, Better Choices, and more

Today, I'm proud to announce the launch of ND's new diet plan. We created this new diet, simply because we believe that we discovered a more effective method of dieting. If you're trying to lose weight, this diet is a great way to start off the new year. And even if you're happy with your current weight, you may still be interested in our theories...

The Glycemic Index
Before I tell you about ND's new diet, I want to discuss something that helped trigger our discovery -- the Glycemic Index. In case you're not familiar with the Glycemic Index, it's a measurement that relates to a food's ability to impact blood sugar levels. We have received many requests to include GI values in ND's analysis. Unfortunately, the Glycemic Index has several limitations that make it unsuitable for use with our data. GI testing hasn't been done for the vast majority of foods in ND's database, and the GI numbers for existing foods aren't completely reliable. To fully appreciate what I'm talking about, I encourage you to read this informative report:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/glycemic-index

The Fullness Factor
While studying the Glycemic Index, we discovered an entirely new type of dietary index, which overcomes many of GI's limitations. We call this new index the "Fullness Factor" (FF). Unlike the Glycemic Index, which only applies to carbohydrate-rich foods, the Fullness Factor supports all food types. In addition, it's a calculated value instead of a measured value, so it can instantly be determined for any food for which we have nutrient data. The primary purpose of the Fullness Factor is to predict the satiating effect of a food. In other words, it helps determine which foods are better at creating a feeling of stomach fullness. Making high-FF foods a bigger part of your diet is a natural way to avoid hunger while consuming less Calories. You can learn more about the Fullness Factor on this page:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/fullness-factor

The Nutritional Target Map
Consuming less Calories is only half of the battle when dieting. It's also very important to consume enough nutrients to properly nourish your body. So we integrated the Fullness Factor with ND's 5-Star Rating, in order to be able to select foods that were both filling AND nutritious. This integration was the real breakthrough in our development. The result, which we call a "Nutritional Target Map", provides an instant visual indication of a food's dietary benefit, and forms the heart and soul of ND's new diet.

The Better Choices Diet
ND's new diet plan, called "Better Choices", is both powerful and easy to use. It combines the Nutritional Target Map with a simple food substitution strategy. Follow this link to learn more about how it works:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/better-choices-diet

The Improved Total Consumption Report
To simplify your use of Better Choices, components of this diet have been incorporated into ND's Analysis and Total Consumption reports. Even if you aren't dieting, I think you'll find the improvements to the Total Consumption Report to be extremely helpful. The report's listing of foods consumed now shows the number of Calories that each food contributed to your total. This allows you to quickly see where the bulk of your daily Calories are coming from.

Also, there are now two ways to undo a Running Total addition! In other words, you can now add a food to your total, and then remove it if you don't end up eating it. This means that you can now use this tool to play the "what if" game -- e.g. "What if I eat another piece of chocolate cake? How much will that hurt my diet?"

You'll find an explanation of the improved Total Consumption Report on the Pantry Help page:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/pantry-help#daily

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SIDEBAR: Have you used the Running Total?
ND's Running Total is one of the most powerful features of our entire website. It's also one of our most under-utilized features. Your interface to the Running Total is a button, marked "Total +", that appears at the bottom of your ingredient list on the Pantry Page. This button allows you to continuously add foods to a recorded total, and displays a Total Consumption Report, which is an aggregated total of everything you've consumed. If you haven't yet tried this feature, we encourage you to do so. You can learn how on our Pantry Help page:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/pantry-help
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Ratings and FF's in All Search Results
The next time you visit the Pantry, you may notice that we've added more preference settings. By default, the Better Choices display is already enabled. If you find the Better Choices analysis to be helpful, you may also want to enable the settings that allow Ratings and Fullness Factors to be displayed in the results of your searches.

Plus ND's New Nutrition Glossary
With these latest revisions, we've added a large number of new pages to our site, and introduced a lot of new terms and concepts. If you're having trouble keeping everything straight, you may appreciate ND's new nutrition glossary. It provides concise definitions of many common nutritional terms, as well as terms specific to ND's site. ND's glossary is a work in progress, which we'll revise as ND continues to grow:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/glossary

We Welcome Your Feedback...
Better Choices is the culmination of nearly 16 months of research. It's one of the biggest improvements that we've ever made to our nutritional analysis, and we truly hope that it benefits everyone. Will the Better Choices Diet work for you? If you try it, please let us know. :-)

Best,
Ron Johnson

12/21/2004: Firefox Search Plugin, and a new home for ND

I received an early Xmas present from one of ND's users, and I'm passing it on to everyone...

Last week, I was contacted by Todd Davis of Finial Software. Todd is a diabetic cyclist, and frequently uses ND's Pantry to track his nutrient intake. Todd is also a big fan of the new Firefox browser, and wrote a small program script that adds ND to Firefox's quick search dropdown. He gave me a copy of this script, and said he'd be happy to share it with all of ND's users.

At first, I wasn't sure exactly what Todd had given me, but when I learned more about it -- wow! Quick search is a very simple and really powerful feature of Firefox. It allows you to add all of your favorite search engines to a dropdown selector in the upper right corner of the browser window's toolbar. Then, whenever you want to do a search, you simply select the appropriate search engine and enter your search string right on the toolbar. By default, Firefox already includes the biggest search engines (like Google, Yahoo, and Amazon). Todd's script lets you quickly add ND to that list. What this means is that you can now search ND for food listings without even being at our website!

If you currently use Firefox, visit ND to get this new search plugin:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/firefox-plugin

If you don't use Firefox, you should consider switching, because it's faster and more secure than other browsers. Follow this link if you want to learn more about it:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/

And if you're struggling to get your own website launched, you might want to talk with Todd. His company specializes in custom database programming and website development:
http://www.finial.com

Thanks again Todd!

A New Home for ND
NutritionData has been using a Canadian-based company to host its website for the past 18 months. We've had a great relationship, but earlier this month, they contacted us to tell us to move our site elsewhere! What could we have possibly done to turn them against us? Well, it seems that our site has just gotten to be a bit too popular for them. In the prior month, they said we had used more computer resources than all of their other clients combined!

Ever since we got that "pink slip", we've been scrambling to find the best place to host our site. And we finally found it! ND just moved into its own dedicated server at one of the largest and best equipped data centers in the world. Yes, it costs a lot more, but it's definitely worth it. Now we have plenty of room to grow. And thanks to our new hyperthreaded dual-processor system, I think you'll find that ND is now even faster, especially during peak times. :-)

More New Features Coming Soon
Moving our website has put us a bit behind on ND's development schedule. However, now that the move is complete, we can get back to it. I'll have some exciting new features to introduce to you early next month. Until then...

Happy Holidays!
Ron Johnson

11/11/2004: Better Ads, Better Cookies

By now, you probably realize that ND takes a different approach to advertising than most websites. We refuse to clutter our web pages with stacks of flashing banner ads or popups. Why? Simply because we don't believe that these types of distractive, in-your-face ads are supportive of the ND experience. ND is about finding the information that you want in the quickest, cleanest, and most efficient way. We're not opposed to all advertising, though. The right types of ads are very beneficial, because they can help connect you with some excellent products and services.

Earlier this year, we began displaying Google ads on our site, because we believed that Google did the best job of delivering the type of ads that you wanted to see - i.e. ads that matched our content, were informative and easy to read, and that didn't interfere with the use of our site. But now we've got something even better. Over the last few months, we've developed our own advertising program. We are now signing up new advertisers, and their ads are starting to take the place of the Google ads. Although the format of these new ads is similar to Google's, there are some important differences. For example, we pre-screen all ads to insure that their content is in line with the focus of our site. We also have a better way of matching the content of these ads to the content of our pages (see sidebar below). This new advertising program improves our ability to display ads that are more relevant to your interests.

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SIDEBAR: How Content Matching Really Works
The context-sensitive advertising programs run by Google, Overture, and other major search engines use keyword bidding to help determine the placement of ads. In these systems, advertisers bid higher and higher amounts to control specific keywords. Consequently, the ads that appear on the page are most likely to be from the advertisers with the biggest advertising budgets. Unfortunately, these may or may not be the advertisers who have the products most relevant to your search.

Instead of relying on keyword bidding, ND's advertising program uses a sophisticated computer algorithm to select and display ads whose specific content is the most similar to the content of the page. ND's program is more cost effective for most advertisers, and also does a better job of supporting smaller advertisers (who often have the most interesting products), because it prevents larger competitors from monopolizing keywords.
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If you own a website, you can learn more about ND's new advertising opportunities at:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/advertising.

Better Cookies
For several months, an annoying problem has plagued a small percentage of ND's users. This unfortunate group - about 2% of our visitors - has never been able to successfully use ND's Pantry. Every time they tried to save a food to their Pantry, that item disappeared. Because of this, these users were unable to analyze recipes, compare different foods, or calculate running totals. For some of these users, the Pantry functions did work on some browsers (e.g. Internet Explorer) but not on others (e.g. Firefox).

Although it took a while to identify the origin of this problem, I'm happy to report that it has been fixed. It involved us making a small change to the header of ND's cookie, which makes that cookie compatible with a wider range of browsers and operating systems. I'll spare you the technical details, but if you're one of the people who previously experienced problems with the Pantry, please try it again.

And if your Pantry still doesn't work, please consult our new Pantry Troubleshooting Guide, located at the bottom of our Pantry Help page:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/pantry-help#troubleshooting.

Best,
Ron Johnson

08/28/2004: USDA SR17

Over the weekend, we updated ND's database with data from Release 17 of the USDA's National Nutrient Database. This latest release includes revised nutrient levels for many legume products, trans fat data for several commercial cooking oils, more listings for ice cream and frozen novelties, and a brand new category called "Ethnic Foods", containing 90 foods of Alaskan and Navajo origin.

Browse ethnic foods, including Agutuk, Walrus Liver, and Beluga Whale:
http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-043000000000000000000.html

Beware of Stale Data
We frequently receive email messages from people who challenge the accuracy of our data. They say that their other sources show different levels of nutrients for one of the foods in our database. Nearly every time that we investigate these differences, we find that these "other sources" are books or information services that are simply referencing an outdated version of the USDA's data!

The USDA is the world's largest supplier of food composition data, and is used by nearly every nutritional information provider. To the USDA's credit, they continuously test and retest the foods in their database. The accuracy of their testing continues to improve, thanks to larger numbers of test samples and improved testing methods. That's why it's so important to use their most current data. If you want the most complete nutrition data, avoid books that were published more than one year ago and beware of nutritional software. I'm not saying that it's all bad, but just because you paid several hundred dollars for a nutrition program, doesn't mean that the data is fresh. In fact, we know of some of these programs that are still using outdated information from the USDA's Release 13! In contrast to this, ND updates its database every time the USDA issues a new release.

Automatic Conversion of Your Pantry
Included among the changes imposed by the USDA's Release 17 was the addition or deletion of serving size options in a few (<1%) of the food listings. If you have saved recipes that contain ingredients that use any of the obsoleted serving sizes, these recipes may show slightly different ingredient listings when analyzed. The majority of our users will not see any change in their recipes, though, thanks to a conversion routine that was built into the Pantry's software to automatically handle this update.

What's an NLEA Serving?
Speaking of serving sizes, you may notice that more foods in our system now include a serving size option similar to "1 NLEA serving". NLEA stands for Nutrition Labeling and Education Act. This is a set of regulations, governed by the FDA, which, among other things, restricts the typical serving size that can be claimed on a US Nutrition Facts label. The intent of this regulation is to deter food manufactures from misleading the public by using serving sizes that are unrealistically small or large. Food manufacturers must now report serving sizes that are reasonably close to the NLEA standard. This standard is different for each type of food, and applies to virtually all foods except meats.

If you'd like to take a closer look at NLEA serving sizes and other laws applying to food labeling, see the National Archives and Records Administration's Code of Federal Regulations, Food and Drugs, revised April 1, 2002: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_02/21cfr101_02

New Update Archive
If you just discovered ND recently, you may not realize how much our site has evolved in the past year. To take a look at some of our history, or to catch up on a recent email update that you might have missed, see ND's new Update Archive: http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/archive.

Best,
Ron Johnson

08/19/2004: A New Look and Better Tools

This is one of our biggest updates yet! Here are the details of ND's latest improvements...

Our Brand New Look
The first thing that you'll notice about ND is our new color scheme. The added color brightens our webpages, improving their contrast and readability. Our home page is a little busier now, but it's also much better organized. The added links will allow you to more quickly navigate to some of our most popular features.

A Few Rearrangements
Note that we moved the FoodSearch tool to the upper right hand corner of every page. Now you can perform a new search from anywhere on our site, without having to scroll down the page. We also made our Registration form easier to find by moving it to the home page. (If your email address changes, please use this form to update your registration. That's the best way to insure that you keep getting these update newsletters.)

New Nutrition News Feature
Thanks to Nubella.com, we've added nutritional news briefs to our home page. Each brief covers a current nutritional topic, and links to an extended version of the story on Nubella's website. Two or three new briefs are added each and every business day.

New Unit Conversion Tool
If you're like us, there have been a lot of times when you've used ND to enter a recipe, and the serving size for one or more of the ingredients wasn't in a convenient form. For example, maybe the recipe calls for 3 fl oz of milk. How many tbsp's is that? Our new unit conversion tool will now answer those questions for you. It's simple to use, and is conveniently located at the bottom of every page on our site.

A Better Pantry
Instead of simply storing one serving size for each food, our Pantry now automatically stores ALL serving size options for each saved food, and displays them in a selectable dropdown. This gives you much more flexibility in creating recipes, and also helps conserve Pantry memory and display space. For convenience, the serving size that's selected when you add the food to your Pantry becomes the default serving size that appears next to that food in the Pantry.

If you add Custom Entries and/or Recipes to your Pantry, you'll see that the Pantry now displays those items in separate sections of the Ingredient List. This extra level of organization allows you to more quickly find these items when your list is long.

But the biggest news about the Pantry is that Custom Entries and Recipes are now editable! This makes it especially easy to experiment with different versions of a recipe. For details about this feature, please see its description on our Pantry Help page: http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/pantry-help#editing.

Running Totals for Everyone
We hate popup ads, and that's why you won't see them on our site. But we're also not fond of popup killer software. Popup killers (which are incorporated into some browsers) sometimes also prevent legitimate software from running. In particular, a few of our users have been unable to use our Running Total feature because their popup killer was terminating our program! So we fixed that problem by re-engineering this feature. If it didn't work for you before, please try it again.

FYI - Running Total is one of ND's most popular features because it allows you to easily analyze your total consumption over a full day (or even longer). To learn more about the Running Total, see http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/pantry-help#daily.

New Daily Values Editor
Our Running Total report now offers a new level of customization. Instead of using the U.S. Government's standard Daily Values (DV's), you can now set your own target levels for each nutrient. We call these target values "Individualized Daily Values" (or IDV's). They're stored in a cookie (the same one that stores your Pantry data), so that they're automatically available to you each time you return to our site. Set your own via our Daily Values Editor: http://www.nutritiondata.com/pantry.

Improved Calories Burned Calculator
Two months ago, we launched our new Calories Burned Calculator. In response to that introduction, we received hundreds of email messages. While most of these messages were compliments, a few of our users made critical comments about our choice of metabolic formulas. The fallout of that feedback was some very productive discussions with nutritionists and instructors about the most accurate ways to predict caloric expenditure. After thoroughly studying the research, we decided to revise this tool so that it now supports the most recent data and equations of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). In addition to some very thorough metabolic studies, the IOM developed different sets of metabolic equations to better fit different sectors of the population (e.g. infants, children, men, women, pregnant, lactating, obese, etc.) While no metabolic calculation is perfect, we're convinced that the IOM's equations are the best that are available.

FYI - If you want to take a first-hand look at the IOM's research, you can get a copy of their 936-page publication "Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids", from: http://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309085373/html/index.html.

In addition to improving the methods of our Calories Burned Calculator, we've made some refinements to the report it generates. I really think you'll like this new version. Try it at: http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/calories-burned.

Special tip: The Calories Burned Calculator also uses IOM data to generate recommendations for minimum levels of many nutrients. These recommendations can help you determine appropriate settings for your IDV's!

Faster Analyses
Although we get plenty of compliments on the speed of our website, we're never completely satisfied. We always think we can squeeze just a little more out of it. And thanks to some careful optimization of our software, we were able to reduce the average loading time of our Analysis page by nearly 40%. You broadband guys may not care, but that's some serious relief to our friends who have dial-up connections.

Customizable Hi-Res Images
For the past four months, we've given individuals and businesses the ability to freely download printable hi-resolution images of our nutrition labels. This service just got even better, with the addition of a new image generation tool that lets you control formatting options for the generated images. You can now edit serving descriptions, insert Servings per Container data, and even add a Daily Value information block to your Nutrition Facts labels. Access this new tool via the link that appears in the Summary section of our Analysis page.

Remember that ND's labels can be used on virtually any food-related product, from cookbooks to restaurant menus to packaged foods to ??. In fact, I'd like to leave you with a creative tip that we just received from one of ND's users...

"I used my laserjet to print ND's Nutrition Facts labels for every food that appears in the vending machines in my office. Then I taped those labels to the front of the vending machines, near each food. Now everyone in my office can make more informed decisions about what they eat." - John B., Boulder, CO.

Best,
Ron Johnson

06/15/2004: Daily Needs Calculator

Last week, I was busy creating some new content for ND, when I received an email message from one of our users, who asked,

"I weigh 130 lbs and run 2 miles per day. How do I figure out how many Calories I need?"

Now, that wasn't the first time we were asked that question. In fact, it's wasn't even the first time we were asked that question that day. But then that's exactly my point - we're always getting questions about caloric and nutritional needs. I usually just send these people a list of links that take them on a scavenger hunt across the Web - to one site to get a formula for estimating their resting metabolic rate, to another site to help them determine Calories burned during exercise, to 2 or 3 different sites for recommendations on specific nutrients, and to another site for calculating their BMI (Body Mass Index). However, this time I had a different thought. It should be easier than this. Our users should be able to determine their needs without spending all day doing the calculations, and I shouldn't have to spend my time repeatedly answering this same question.

To make a long story short, ND built its own Daily Needs Calculator. You simply input your height, weight, age, sex, and amount of daily exercise, and it gives you a report that estimates your need for Calories and 31 individual nutrients. There's even a link at the bottom of the report that lets you forward your findings to a friend. And just like all of ND's other tools, it's fast, reliable, and costs nothing to use. Please try it out, and see what you think: http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/calories-burned

Best,
Ron Johnson

06/01/2004: The N-Booklet

I hadn't planned on sending out an update this week, but something wonderful just came up...

Another Company That Shares Our Spirit
Two weeks ago, I received a call from an entrepreneur in Dallas, Texas, by the name of Matthew Combs. Much like ND, Matthew's company - Nubbella, LLC - provides nutritional information to consumers. Nubella, however, does this in the offline world, via a new publication called the N-Booklet. Matthew explained his publication to me over the phone, and offered to overnight a copy for my review.

Within a week of receiving the N-Booklet, I was on a plane to Dallas, just so that I could meet Matthew face-to-face. Not only is the N-Booklet is an extraordinary publication, but Nubella's plans align exactly with our own. The result of our meeting is an agreement between ND and Nubella to work together as a team to further nutritional education and help improve consumer health.

The N-Booklet combines short, informative nutritional articles with healthy recipes and special manufacturers' coupons. That may sound a lot like other health magazines, but, trust me, it's better. I'd really like you to see the N-Booklet, so we've created a special signup page where you can register to receive a complimentary subscription. Yes, you read that correctly - not just one complimentary issue, but an entire ongoing subscription, without cost. Please register now - you'll be glad that you did: http://www.nutritiondata.com/nbooklet (no-cost monthly subscription)

Over the coming months, ND and Nubella will be working together to create even better tools for nutritional education and analysis.

Best,
Ron Johnson

04/18/2004: Fatty Acids and Print Ready Images

Do you remember the new dieting tool that I mentioned in the last update? Well, it's not quiet ready...

Actually, the tool itself is ready, but WE aren't. We know that this new tool is going to be extremely popular with our users, and we're just not ready to answer all of the questions that it's likely to generate. One of the things that our research has shown is that a lot of people are very confused about dieting. We want to straighten out some of that confusion, so we're doing a lot of writing to explain our dieting concepts and strategies. This extra writing has turned our development into a much bigger project than we originally planned, but I promise you that the result will be worth the wait. So, please be patient - there's a lot of very good stuff coming later this year.

That's enough talk about what we haven't finished. Now let's shift gears and discuss the things that we did manage to get done...

New Fatty Acids Page
Speaking of confusion, there was a lot of it surrounding the Fats & Fatty Acids table on ND's Analysis page. We get questions about it nearly every day, such as: "Which ones are omega 3's?" (Answer: The ones with the "n-3" after the numbers), "Which one is linolenic acid?" (18:3), and "What exactly do those numbers mean?". To help everyone out, we created a brand new fatty acid reference page: http://www.nutritiondata.com/topics/fatty-acids (There's also a link to this page that now appears in ND's Analysis, directly underneath the Fats & Fatty Acids table.)

New High Resolution Images
If you publish information about foods or nutrition, you're going to love this new feature. ND will now automatically generate high-resolution print-ready images of the Nutrition Facts Label and Caloric Ratio Pyramid. We've always allowed our commercial users to download our Nutrition Facts images, but the quality of those images really wasn't good enough for most print work (e.g. product labels, menus, cook books, and newspaper articles). The problem has to do with the fact that the images were optimized for computer screens, which have a relatively low resolution of 72 dpi (dots per inch). Thanks to this latest improvement, though, you can now download these same images at a much sharper 300 dpi!

Say, for example, that you want to self-publish a cookbook on healthy Cajun cooking. You just can't convince people that your recipes are healthy unless you include nutrient information. But the time and cost to tally up the nutrients and typeset the Nutrition Facts information is astronomical. The Better Solution: Simply enter the ingredients into ND's Pantry, click one button to get the nutritional analysis, and then one more click to download the final Nutrition Facts images. It just couldn't be any easier!

You'll find the link to these new hi-res images directly underneath the Nutrition Facts Label on each Analysis page.

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Promote Your Product, Restaurant, Book, or Article
We don't accept ads for this update newsletter, but we will help publicize your work if you're using our images. Simply include ND's new hi-res Nutrition Facts images on your ingredient labels, in your restaurant menu, or as part of your next article. If you send us one of the finished items, I'll mention it here in our next user update.
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Best,
Ron Johnson

02/16/2004: Changes for 2004

Since ND's last update (on October 14th, 2003), we've been immersed in research on the nutritional aspects of dieting. Our recent research has led to an exciting new discovery and the creation of a tool specifically for dieters. Our team is still running tests on this new tool, but I expect to be able to tell you more about it in just a few weeks.

In the meantime, I do have a few minor improvements that I can share with you now...

Expanded Nutrient Search Capability
ND's Nutrient Search Tool (http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/nutrient-search) was just upgraded with a new feature that lets you control whether your search results are based on nutrient levels per 200-Calorie serving (the default) or per 100-gram serving. The most interesting effect of this change is that you can now use this tool to determine the foods with the lowest level of Calories per 100g (i.e. the lowest Caloric density). That particular search should prove especially interesting to individuals that follow "high-volume" diets like Volumetrics.

Expanded Results
Due to overwhelming demand, ND's Nutrient Search Tool, Caloric Ratio Explorer, and 5-Star Search Tool have been re-programmed to return a greater number of search results. Each of these tools will now return up to 999 matches (up from a previous limit of 50)!

More Nutrients per Serving Detail
The Nutrients per Serving section of ND's analysis report used to round all values to the nearest unit. It now rounds all values less than 100 to the nearest tenth of a unit. This refinement is most helpful for certain trace nutrients. For example, the Daily Value for Copper is 2.0mg, and many foods that contain Copper contain just a fraction of that amount. Previously, if a food contained 0.42mg of Copper, it would have shown in our tables as "0mg" due to the rounding of the displayed value. That same food will now display as "0.4".

FYI, this reporting enhancement does not represent any change in the accuracy of the data that we track. It merely improves how the data is displayed, and makes it a little easier to compare different foods.

And Kilojoules Too
What the heck is a kilojoule? A kilojoule is another unit of energy, equal to approximately 0.2388 Calories. Just as centimeters are used instead of inches, in some countries and in certain professions, kilojoules (kJ) are more commonly used than Calories for reporting food energy. For benefit of those that think in kilojoules, the Nutrients per Serving section of ND's analysis report now includes both Calories and kilojoules.

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Could This Happen to You?
About once per week we get an email from an ND user whose Pantry "disappeared". If you use the Pantry section of our website, you probably know that the ingredients that you save are stored in a cookie on your computer. Cookies are simply computer files, and they are sometimes damaged by crashes of your computer, or can be deleted by other application programs that you run. Because of this, if you use the Pantry, we strongly recommend that you back it up occasionally. This is very easy to do with the Pantry's Export function, which is further described on the Pantry Help page, http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/pantry-help#exporting.
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A Final Note: Growing Pains
Eight months ago, my wife and I launched ND so that our friends would have a place to quickly obtain reliable nutritional information. Well, apparently our circle of friends has grown :-)  We now provides over a million nutritional analyses to ND's visitors each month. We donate our time, money, and energies to continuously improve ND, but our costs to provide this service continue to escalate. Many of you have written to ask how we do it, and have even offered to pay a membership fee if necessary. While we appreciate your offers, we've rejected the idea of charging for this service. We believe that information about nutrition and health is most needed by those that can least afford to buy it. For that reason, ND will always be a free service.

Our solution for offsetting some of ND's operational costs is to display advertising on our site. As with everything else my wife and I do, this will be done in our own special way. That means absolutely no popups or flashing banners. The advertisements will be primarily text-based (to eliminate page loading delays), and will, as much as is possible, fit the context of the pages on which they appear. The ads should begin appearing later this month. We will do our best to insure that these ads provide you with additional valuable resources without detracting from your ND experience.

Best,
Ron Johnson

10/14/2003: Nutrient Search Tool Expansion

ND's Nutrient Search Tool (http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/nutrient-search) has always been one of our most popular features. However, up until now, it didn't allow certain nutrients to be included in the search query. For example, you couldn't use it to find foods "Highest in Total trans fatty acids". Well, that just changed. Now you can use the Nutrient Search Tool to access any of the 134 nutrients that ND includes in its analyses.

If you use the Nutrient Search Tool, please pay attention to the note on that page that explains that ND's database contains a limited amount of data for some of these nutrients. You see, our data is provided by the USDA, restaurants, and other food suppliers. Each of these data providers tests their foods to determine nutrient levels, and each nutrient is measured via a separate procedure. Every provider tests for levels of the most common nutrients like Protein and Total Carbohydrates, but not everyone goes to the trouble and expense of measuring levels of individual Sugars or less common nutrients like Campesterol.

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Side Note
My hat go off to the USDA for their success in compiling data on food and nutrients. No private or government agency anywhere in the world does a better job. It's for that reason that they're our primary data supplier. We update our system with every new release of their database, because each time it includes data on a greater and greater number of nutrients.
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Speaking of Trans Fatty Acids...
We've been asked a few too many times about Trans Fats, so we finally posted a Q&A about it on our FAQ page (http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/faq). In short, Trans Fats are required to be listed on all Nutrition Facts labels by January 1, 2006, but currently we have only a limited amount of data. Of our restaurant data suppliers, only Burger King has given us numbers. Many restaurant chains are experimenting with different cooking oils to try to minimize Trans Fats, but for now it's fairly safe to assume that the french fries, onion rings, and hash browns served by most other restaurant chains have levels similar to those of Burger King.

Other Changes
Another new Q&A was added to ND's FAQ page that explains Fatty Acids and tells you how to identify the Omega 3's and Omega 6's. We also simplified and reorganized our Quick Start guide (http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/quickstart) to make it easier to understand.

Best,
Ron Johnson

10/08/2003: A Message for Webmasters

If you've been with ND for a while, you know that we've made several recent improvements to our website, and many of these improvements have been in direct response to the feedback we've received from our visitors. Today, I address yet another one of our most frequent requests. This one, however, effects just a small portion of our users. If you own or operate a website, you should find today's topic interesting. If not, please pardon the interruption.

The frequent request that I'm talking about goes something like this...

"I'm a dietician [or nutritionist, doctor, personal trainer, or...]. I'm building a website, and would like to include nutritional search capabilities much like yours. Do you sell or license your database/technology?"

My basic answer to this question is, "No."

You see, part of the problem is that ND's database is large and very complex, and it's not a simple procedure to install it on someone else's server. Each search that we perform involves the interaction of thousands of lines of computer code and millions of bytes of data. It looks simple on the surface, but there are a lot of wheels turning in the background in order to deliver our results and analyses so quickly to your computer screen.

If licensed versions of our technology existed, it would also multiply the work necessary when we update our system. We could trust the webmasters with maintaining their own version, but then it's likely that some of the updates wouldn't get performed, and this ultimately hurts the consumer.

Despite these technical hurdles, we might consider licensing our technology, except that the email request usually ends with...

"I really hope you can help me. I don't have much technical experience, though, and our budget is very limited."

Hmmm...

A Better Solution - ND's Searchbox
After a great deal of thought and additional programming, we've found a way to give these webmasters much of what they're looking for, and without all the cost. In fact, we found a way to offer this feature as a completely free service!  Our new Searchbox is a special script that you can add to your website to give your visitors direct access to ND's powerful search engine. If you think you'd like to have this type of capability on your website, please continue to the following page to learn more about how it works and how to install it: http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/searchbox

Best,
Ron Johnson

10/02/2003: 5-Star Search Tool

Please pardon me for interrupting you twice in less than a week, but we've been working overtime to further improve ND, and I couldn't wait to share the news about our latest nutritional search tool. ;-)

Although we've received a lot of praise for building ND, we've also gotten a lot of requests from our users for additional features. For example, there's hardly a day that goes by without someone asking us,

"Is there any way to search for 5-Star foods?".

After weeks of saying, "No, there's not", I finally gave in...

Introducing ND's 5-Star Search Tool
This tool is so simple to use, that I probably don't even need to explain it. Just select a category (e.g. Foods from McDonalds) and click the button. The result is a list of up to 50 foods from that category that we rate the highest: http://www.nutritiondata.com/five-star-search

Why You Should Use This Tool
I'll be the first to admit that our rating system isn't perfect. But it is good, and it's consistent. It scores foods using a complex mathematical formula that's based on a weighted average of the nutrient densities of those nutrients that the FDA has deemed most important for human health. So what's that really mean? Well, it means that the foods that ND rates highest are the ones that are relatively low in Calories but have relatively high concentrations of Dietary Fiber, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Zinc, and/or Copper. Many of these foods would probably make good additions to your diet.

Warning: 5 Plus 5 Does Not Equal 5
That's my funny way of saying that ND's rating system is designed specifically to rate individual foods, NOT diets. Some of our users wrongly assume that if they only eat 5-Star foods, they'll have the perfect diet. Sorry, but it's just not that simple. A good diet requires a BALANCE of nutrients. A food that we rate highly will certainly have high concentrations of some important nutrients, but it may be deficient in others. If you don't completely understand this concept, please seek the advice of a nutritionist.

...And One More Bonus Feature
If you like ND's rating system, you'll be pleased to know that you now have the ability to access ratings not only with the 5-Star Search Tool, but also as a part of the search results for ANY type of search on ND's website. To enable the rating display, go to the Pantry (http://www.nutritiondata.com/pantry), check the new "5-Star Ratings" checkbox in the Preferences form, and click on "Save Changes". After doing this, all subsequent searches that you perform on ND will show our 5-Star rating next to the listing for each food. To turn this feature off, uncheck the selection, and save again.

Best,
Ron Johnson

09/30/2003: Calorie Counting Just Got Easier

When we first developed ND several months ago, our goal was merely to make a better online food database than the one operated by the USDA. We thought that we could build something that was a little bigger, a little faster, and a lot more fun to use. We wanted to create a place where anyone could go to quickly look up the nutrients contained in a food or recipe. And we thought that our average visitor might use our services about three or four times per year.

But then a funny thing happened. Many of our visitors started coming back again and again and again. In fact, we've received email from hundreds of people that come to ND on a daily basis to monitor their diet and track their total consumption.

ND's Pantry has always allowed you to analyze combinations of different foods, but it was really never optimized for tracking your total daily consumption. That is, until now...

Introducing ND's Total Consumption Tool
There are two new buttons in ND's Pantry (http://www.nutritiondata.com/pantry), marked "Total 0" and "Total +". These two buttons are the simple interface to an incredibly powerful "calorie counter" that's now built into the Pantry. This behind-the-scenes tool keeps a running total of not just calories, but every single nutrient that ND tracks.

How To Use It
To add foods to your running total, simply mark them in the Pantry (just like you do when you create a recipe) and click on "Total +". You can mark everything that you ate the previous day, or you can make several separate entries throughout the day. Use whatever method you like - it doesn't matter. Whenever you click the "Total +" button, all items that you've marked will be added, and you'll see a report of your current running total. When you're done reviewing this report and want to start the next day's entries, just reset your running total to zero by clicking the "Total 0" button. That's all there is to it! Simple, isn't it?

Download It To Excel
One of the greatest things about ND's Total Consumption report is the "Download as CSV" link at the top of the page. This link lets you download the totals in the form of a file that can be read by most spreadsheet programs (like Microsoft Excel). Why would you want to do this? Because you can then copy and edit the data, compare multiple days, build your own personalized graphs, and/or do your own separate analysis of the data. (Is that cool or what?)

Best,
Ron Johnson

P.S. A more detailed description of this new feature can be found on ND's Pantry help page (http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/pantry-help#daily).

09/21/2003: Search Tool Improvements

We just upgraded some of ND's search tools. Here are the highlights of the changes...

Caloric Ratio Tool Upgrade
One week ago, I introduced our Caloric Ratio Tool. This search tool received a lot of praise from our users, but the results that it returned were not quite what everyone expected. We received feedback from many users that went something like this:

"There appears to be an error in your Caloric Ratio Tool. I just used it to search for Baked Products that are 0% carbs, 0% fats, and 100% protein. It returned a list of 50 foods, but none of them has that caloric ratio."

And my response was:

"That's not an error - the program is doing what it was designed to do. Note that it says, 'with caloric ratios that are *closest to* your specification.' It actually calculates and sorts on the distance (in pixels on the pyramid) between the point you clicked and that of each food in the category. It's just that, in this case, some of the closest points are pretty far from your selected target."

I had to admit, though, that there was room for improvement with this tool. So today, I'm pleased to introduce an updated version of our Caloric Ratio Tool. This version limits the search results to within 20% of your selection, and has greatly improved instructions and graphics. Note that when you search within a category, the Caloric Ratio Pyramid even changes to indicate which ratios are represented by the foods in that category! http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/caloric-ratio-pyramid

Search Results - New Format
When you perform a Caloric Ratio search, you'll see that the Caloric Ratio for each food is now shown directly on the results page. That means that you don't have to click back and forth between Results and Analysis pages to see how the values compare. A similar Results format is now used for all of ND's searches. I think you'll find this new format especially helpful when using our Nutrient Search Tool. For example, look at this result for "Vegetables Highest in Zinc": http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-011124000000000000000.html

Isn't that a lot nicer than our old format?

Note that there are also two new links at the top of the Results page. The first, "Email a Friend", allows you to email a copy of the search results directly to someone else. The other link, "Download as CSV", lets you download the search results as a comma-delimited file, which can be opened by Microsoft Excel and most other spreadsheet programs. This feature is especially useful for publishers and researchers that want to reformat this data for their own use.

Misc bug Fixes
This latest upgrade also squashed a couple of minor bugs. One of these caused occasional errors to be generated when analyzing large recipes. The other caused "Calories from Carbohydrates" to be incorrectly calculated for some foods that were entered by our Custom Entry Tool.

Best,
Ron Johnson

09/12/2003: New Caloric Ratio Search Tool

In the past few months, we've received a lot of emails from ND's users that were similar to this one:

"I LOVE your Caloric Ratio Pyramid. I'm on the Zone Diet, and it helps me see when a food is 'in the zone'. But is there any way I can use your system to find those Zone-friendly foods? Your Nutrient Search Tool may be good for finding low-carb or low-fat foods, but that doesn't help me. What I want is a tool that will show me a list of foods with a caloric ratio of 40:30:30, or that match any other ratio that I specify."

I argued with these people that that's not really what they wanted, and that the idea behind the Zone diet (and many other diets of this type) is to consume a variety of foods. It's your caloric ratio for the entire meal that's important, not just any one food.

...But after a while I began to have second thoughts. I realized that there are times when your meal may be just a snack, consisting of a single food. Hmmm... Maybe this type of tool would be useful. And, I wondered, could a tool like this be helpful to all of ND's users?

Introducing ND's Caloric Ratio Tool
Well, I finally decided that it had to be built, and you can now find it under the Tools tab of ND's main menu: /help/caloric-ratio-pyramid

Even if you don't give a hoot about caloric ratios, I'd like you to give this new interactive tool a try - it's really pretty cool. Not only is it quick and easy to use, but it gives you a whole new way to explore ND's database. If you're new to ND, it's also a great way to get a better "feel" for ND's Caloric Ratio Pyramid.

Best,
Ron Johnson

09/06/2003: New USDA Release, Plus 4 New Restaurants

ND just upgraded its database with listings for more than 500 additional foods. The largest portion of this upgrade came from release 16 of the USDA's National Nutrient Database. Included in this release are revised listings for several fruits and vegetables, many brand name breakfast cereals, and certain cuts of beef. This new release also contains additional nutrient data, which allowed ND to expand its analyses to include values for individual carotenoids (Beta-Carotene, Alpha-Carotene, Beta-Cryptoxanthin, Lycopene and Lutein+Zeaxanthin) and Vitamin K.

While making this upgrade, we also took the time to add new listings from the following 4 restaurants...

Del Taco: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-038000000000000000000.html

Sbarro: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-039000000000000000000.html

Teriyaki Stix: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-040000000000000000000.html

and White Castle: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-041000000000000000000.html

Best,
Ron Johnson

09/04/2003: New Tools

I'm excited -- this is NutritionData's biggest update ever!  We just added three new interactive tools to the Pantry, and improved the performance of two existing tools. If you're a regular user of our site, I think you'll love these new features. Please see details below...

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Important side note: ND's three new tools only work on foods that you've saved to your Pantry (via the "Add to Pantry" link on the Analysis page). If you haven't yet taken advantage of this powerful feature, now may be the time. You can learn everything you need to know about using the Pantry on ND's Pantry Help page (http://www.nutritiondata.com/help/pantry-help).
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Here are ND's new and upgraded features:

Compare Multiple Foods
The first new tool lets you do a side-by-side comparison of any of the ingredients stored in your Pantry. Simply mark the ingredients, then click the "Compare" button. This will generate a new report that compares the nutrient densities of each.

Export Your Ingredient List
As you probably already know, ND's Pantry stores ingredients in a cookie on your computer. That makes it very fast and easy to use, but -- until now -- it also meant that the contents of your Pantry could only be viewed from that one computer. Our new Export tool changes this. If you use ND both at home and at work, you can now easily move the contents of your Pantry from one computer to the other. Just mark the ingredients you want to transfer, click the "Export" button, and enter your email address (one that you can access from your other location) in the popup window. The result is an email message that contains your list of ingredients, along with a special link that allows you to import that list into another Pantry with a single click.

ND's Export tool can also  be used to send a list of recommended foods to a friend or client. (What a great feature for dieticians and personal trainers!!)

All/None
Our third new tool may not be as impressive as the first two, but it's a time saver. The Pantry's new "All/None" button alternately marks or clears all ingredient quantities with a single click. It's especially helpful when you want to export your entire ingredient list.

Nutrient Search Ugrade
To be consistent with our practice of comparing foods based on nutrient density, we made a small change to the way our Nutrient Search tool (http://www.nutritiondata.com/tools/nutrient-search) operates. This tool previously searched for foods based on nutrient levels *per 100 gram sample*. Now it bases its findings on nutrient levels *per 200 Calorie sample*. This change has the greatest effect on beverages. For example, some prior searches included non-diet soft drinks among their list of low-carbohydrate foods, due to the extra weight of water that's contained in these items. The upgraded version of this tool now recognizes these foods more accurately as being high in carbohydrates.

ND Rating and Simple Terms Upgrade
And finally, in response to an overwhelming number of requests from our low-carb friends, we've modified the way our analysis reports high-fat foods. ND no longer identifies foods as "Bad" solely because of their Total Fat content. In practice, this change means slightly better ratings for certain foods like cooking oils, but it has very little effect on the average rating for all foods across our database. Our Simple Terms and Rating systems still discount foods for containing higher levels of Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, Sugars, and Sodium, and reward foods for containing higher levels of Vitamins, Minerals, and complete Proteins.

Best,
Ron Johnson

08/18/2003: Four More Restaurants

Foods from four additional restaurants were just added to NutritionData's database...

A&W: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-035000000000000000000.html

Carl's Jr: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-034000000000000000000.html

Domino's: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-037000000000000000000.html

and Wienerschnitzel: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-036000000000000000000.html

Best,
Ron Johnson

08/06/2003: Three New Restaurants

Last night, over 200 additional foods were appended to NutritionData's database. Visit us again soon to analyze foods from the following 3 restaurants...

Burger King: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-031000000000000000000.html

Wendy's: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-032000000000000000000.html

and TCBY: http://www.nutritiondata.com/foods-033000000000000000000.html

Also, we recently uncovered a Javascript error which was preventing ND's Analysis page from displaying properly in some Netscape browsers. This error has now be corrected.

Best,
Ron Johnson