It was a tricky moment. I was sitting in a coffee shop ... pastry shop, actually. In walks a former patient who had come to me for weight management. As she walked to a table with her soda and donut, she pretended not to see me. I did the same. Awkward.

Guess we all need to pick and choose when and where we seek nutrition advice. And besides ...Read more

Yep, the science of nutrition can be frustrating, when the answers we get from experts are not as easy as "Eat this, not that." In fact, as we learn more about the complexities of the food we ingest, advice on what to eat is more apt to be, "Well ... it depends."

Case in point: Surprising new research shows no health detriment and possibly some...Read more

Three letters from readers caught my eye this week:

--Could you please clarify the location of the nutrient absorbing cells of the body? My daughter-in-law had her colon removed at UCSF a month ago, and she now has an ileostomy, which seems to be working well. -- Thank you, H. M.

Most of the body's nutrient-absorbing cells are located ...Read more

"Fruit has carbs? I had no idea," a stunned patient told me recently.

She's not the only one who doesn't have a complete understanding of carbohydrates -- the focus of our current craze for low carb foods.

I find that many people who say they "don't eat carbs" may not really understand what a carb is...and isn't.

Simply put, carbohydrates are...Read more

My poor mom. She'd be the first to tell you (if she were still here) that having a dietitian for a daughter was not always easy ... especially in my first years of studying this fascinating science in college.

One weekend visit home, I stood in her kitchen and surveyed her food preparation techniques.

"You know," I said sagely, "there's no ...Read more

Stomach cramps, abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite. A slew of conditions can produce these symptoms. That's why it can be difficult to accurately diagnose and treat "gut issues."

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are two similar type of digestive disorders under the heading of Inflammatory Bowel Disease or IBD. (Not to be confused ...Read more

I laugh when I remember what George Burns, in his role as God in a 1997 film, said about avocados. "Made the pits too big."

Probably not a mistake at all, say those who muse on such things. Native avocado trees in South America had to compete with larger trees for sunshine. The large pit supplied extra nutrients needed by a seedling to reach a ...Read more

Time for spring cleaning or what I call "clean out the junk" time of year. And that goes for the food in my kitchen. I need to make a better effort to use the food I have on hand before I set out to stock up on more.

I must not be alone. According to a report by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, about 40 percent of all edible food ...Read more

A reader who read a recent column about caring for our kidneys, writes: "I did not realize that the kidneys provided so much to our bodies. My granddaughter was born with 3 kidneys; by the time she was two she had to have the two kidneys that were together taken out because they were non-functioning. She is now 6 and she has many (urinary tract ...Read more

How can we sustainably feed the 10 billion people projected to be on this earth by 2050? It's a question being discussed by various experts, especially those who produce our food.

What IS sustainability? According to an article on this topic in a recent issue of "Successful Farming," it relates to a method of harvesting or using a resource so ...Read more

I received an outpouring of concern from many who knew I was in the midst of the "bomb cyclone" blizzard in Nebraska that has now turned into flooding in much of the state.

The experience of watching ranchers brave the elements to protect pregnant cows and those with newborn babies from screaming winds of snow has been both heartwarming and ...Read more