Blog: Expert Q&A

Managing body weight is the best approach to control the accumulation of fat around the belly. Consuming recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables and inclu…

Butter lettuce may be easier for some people to digest because it has a low fiber content; however everyone reacts differently to different fruits and vegetabl…

Fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) will absorb better when fat is consumed with them. For example, the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in kale absorb b…

Yes – all forms of fruits and vegetables count towards your daily intake of produce. It can be confusing when you hear that corn and peas are starches.…

Certain nutrients can interfere with absorption of other nutrients, thus impacting each other’s bioavailability. For example, calcium can interfere with abs…

We do not count dried vegetable powder as a serving of vegetables in part because we are not able to evaluate the nutritional content in a serving of powder to…

The moisture content in dates changes when they are dried. When the moisture level decreases, the natural sugar in dates concentrates which increases caloric…

The ripening process for bananas can be sped up if heat is present. If you had a banana in a hot car or lying on the stove top while something was in the oven…

Thinking about nutrition and trying to make sure you are getting the right amount of everything can make your head spin! Protein, carbohydrates and fat are re…

A serving of fresh fruit is about ½ cup. A serving of grapes, or ½ cup of grapes is about 16 grapes.

Change is hard for many people and what works to motivate one person may not work for the next person. Continue to educate individuals on the benefits of cons…

Several fruits and vegetables contain tryptophan, which is a building block to creating mood-boosting serotonin. So if we consume produce rich in tryptophan, o…

Dates are grown on ‘date palm’ trees. Depending on the variety of tree, different types of dates will be produced. To see images of various date palms vi…

Broccoli that is turning yellow is past its peak freshness and will start to slowly lose nutrients. Try to use it while it is fresh and still green. To keep it…

It is about 2 cups each. However, your recommended number of cups for fruits and vegetables varies depending on your activity level and whether you are male o…

Yes, all oils contain 9 calories for each gram of fat. The difference between cooking oils is their ratio of healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats compared t…

Leeks come from the same family (allium) as onions, but so does garlic and chives. If you can handle garlic, then possibly leeks would be fine. However, alle…

I would encourage you to follow up with your doctor or an allergist to find out specifically what fruits and vegetables you cannot eat. Sometimes cooking the f…