Month: October 2018

October 02, 2018 at 01:17PM Jess Altieri picks up the glass to the right of her plate and gives it a swirl, holding the base as to not change the temperature of the liquid she’s about to sip. After tilting it back and giving it a whiff, she takes her first taste, making sure it hits all the flavor points on her tongue before finally swallowing. Then, she sets her water back down. As one of two water sommeliers in the country, Altieri is attuned to the minute taste differences that would be indistinguishable to the untrained tongue. She can taste if a water is high in minerals, like calcium (which is milky and smooth, though too much calcium makes it taste chalky), or electrolytes (slightly salty). She knows if what she’s drinking is Vichy or Smartwater without catching a glimpse of the bottle. And she knows what foods pair best with each brand. But before she was swirling water in her glass, Altieri focused on wine. She was—and still is—a certified wine sommelier and California wine appellation specialist. “As a wine somm, I would travel the world, going to Italy, Austria, France, New Zealand, and Hong Kong,” she says. “I realized that at 90 percent of the dinners and wine tastings I attended, water was offered and served before the wine and dinner, yet the serving staff knew very little about the water or how it was paired with the meal being served.” She started doing a little digging

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October 02, 2018 at 01:12PM First things first, I’m a popcorn fiend. It’s a learned trait for which my fiancé and many, many hours spent binge-watching The Office are responsible. So not only do I know my way around a kernal,  but I also have the art of popping the perfect bowl of fluffy white goodness down. And after making a batch using Trader Joe’s new Corn on the Cob Popping Corn—because yes, that’s a thing—I totally understand why it’s causing the internet to go into debate mode. Sure, the snack is, ummm, fun—but it’s certainly not the most effective way to get your popcorn fix. Okay, I’ll say it: It’s straight-up dumb. As one of the latest additions to the healthy grocer’s always-impressive snack lineup, the product is essentially a corncob of dried-out kernels wrapped in a paper label that you can stick in your microwave. After 90 seconds, you’ll wind up with popcorn—but certainly not a heaping bowl of it. Now, nutrition-wise, this $2 product is pretty solid without any weird added ingredients. And per 2.5 cup serving (and you’re supposed to wind up with two per cob…but we’ll get to that), you get 27 grams of carbs, 5 grams of fiber, and 4 grams of protein. Air-popped corn kernels, on the other hand, come in at 16 grams of carbs, 3 grams of fiber, and 3 grams of protein for the same amount. The uptick in fiber and protein piquing my interest, I decided to give these cobs a pop. But, in order

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October 02, 2018 at 11:54AM Your closet isn’t the only thing that undergoes a transition from summer to fall—so does your body. And we’re not talking about the effects of all those pumpkin spice lattes you’ve been pounding back. (That’s another article.) Indeed, there’s a whole host of scientific research that shows how our physical and mental health is affected by the decreasing temps and increasing time spent indoors. Knowing exactly what to expect and how to prepare will help keep your body in tip-top shape for the fall—and far beyond. 1. Your vitamin D levels plummet It’s not called the sunshine vitamin for nothing. During the summer, most people get their daily recommended dose of vitamin D from sun exposure (about 10-15 minutes a day). But with the sun out for fewer hours and with fewer reasons to venture out (bye-bye, beach days!), it becomes increasingly difficult to get your fill of D. (Er, that came out wrong…) Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to everything from increased colon cancer risk to anxiety, so boning up is important—and there are a few ways you can go about it. “I think it’s always best to try to get nutrients from food, but it’s not easy to get adequate vitamin D from food alone, especially for certain populations such as pregnant women or vegans,” says registered dietitian LeeAnn Weintraub. In that case, you may want to consider a supplement (Weintraub says that while the daily recommendation is 400-800 IU,

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