Thank you, readers, for these and all the other great questions you sent for National Nutrition Month.

From Anna B. in Arizona: "I have high blood pressure. How can I lower my blood pressure through diet (I eat a vegan diet) in order to get off the medication?"

Dear Anna (my grandmother’s name by the way): There is plenty of evidence that ...Read more

Sally K from Pennsylvania writes: "My husband and I read your article on nutrition in the Republican Herald. We are curious as to the benefits of Balance of Nature, Red Beet powder and other supplements that are heavily advertised on TV."

I was curious, too, Sally. Let’s start with Balance of Nature fruits and vegetable powders. According to ...Read more

As promised for this celebration of National Nutrition Month, our first installment of questions from readers:

Corliss J. from Tucson, Arizona, writes: "I would like to get more natural vitamin C from foods. I have a condition called 'stomach dumping' and also heartburn. Juicy sweet fruits cause digestive distress and heartburn. I take a 500 mg...Read more

I’m always happy to say goodbye to February and move into warmer days of March … hopefully. March is also National Nutrition Month, an annual campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 50 years ago. I also like to answer readers’ questions during this month.

But first, let’s kick off the month with a nutrition quiz, ...Read more

Wendy M from Tucson, Arizona, writes: "I have recently read that a study has concluded that cheese does not raise cholesterol levels. So is it now OK to eat as much cheese (read: pizza) as we want?"

I’m not sure I have the answer to that question yet, Wendy. But some surprising results about the health effects of cheese (and other high-fat ...Read more

Our visit to Texas Hill Country has been quite the education. First, Texans have been extremely friendly. And they really have been saying, “How y’all doing?” at almost every encounter.

They've also liked to educate us out-of-staters.

“We don’t waste syllables,” one local told me. “We say 'y’all,' not 'you all,'” he explained...Read more

What’s more important to our overall health: the individual nutrients we consume, or the types of food we eat? Sounds like a trick question to me. Our bodies require certain nutrients essential for health. And we get those nutrients in food, right?

Still, rather than focusing on isolated vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, experts now ...Read more

We’ve been planning this trip for months. A getaway to a warmer climate for a few weeks. A place to ride our horses out of the cold and snow.

So in howling winds and subzero temperatures, we packed our live-in trailer, loaded the horses and headed south. Warm days ahead!

We expected chilly weather the first day. So we sipped happily on hot ...Read more

A recent column on hydrogenated fats in peanut butter brought these responses:

“I read recently, in my local paper, your long answer to a question about fat in peanut butter. The peanut butter I eat frequently, I make at my food co-op simply by grinding their shelled, organic peanuts. How does my peanut butter rate health-wise in terms of fat...Read more

We buy eggs from a chicken farmer in our area. He leaves them at my son-in-law’s veterinary clinic and we pick them up when we come in with dogs, horses or cows.

Last week we got the news that we would need to pay more for the homegrown eggs. And it’s still a lot less than what we pay at the store. No argument here. We’re thankful to know...Read more

After reading a recent column on spirulina, MH from Dothan, Alabama, writes: “Will spirulina have an adverse effect on fatty liver disease? And do you have other information or suggestions for dealing with fatty liver disease?”

Dear MH, I’ll answer your second question first, because I have a lot of nutrition information about fatty liver...Read more

I continue to be amazed at the pace at which nutrition science continues to evolve — and get more complicated. Along with that thought comes this question from David P in Tucson, Arizona:

“Dear Barbara, is hydrogenated peanut butter as healthy as the nonhydrogenated kind? Hydrogenated peanut butter only adds a half-gram of saturated fat to ...Read more

After the holidays a few years back, I was talking to an employee in our supermaket. “It’s funny,” he said. “From Thanksgiving through Christmas, we can’t keep eggnog stocked fast enough. The day after New Year’s, we can’t hardly give it away.”

For sure, this is the time of year many of us want to make better choices. Consider ...Read more