Sandi Kaplan, MS, RD, Associate Director, Clinical Development & Support:   It was October 12th, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.  I was lying on a stretcher in an ambulance on the way to the ER. It was not quite the way I had expected my morning to go (the ambulance driver reminded me this is most often the case for people who end up in an ambulance)! I had gotten up bright and early and was in the gym by 5:30 a.m. I was doing the workout that I had been doing four times a week for the previous n... [More]

Sandi Kaplan, MS, RD, Associate Director, Clinical Development and Support:   At the October annual conference of The Obesity Society, there was a study presented that caught my eye. In one of the largest surveys ever to examine the relationship between chronic stress and eating behaviors, researchers at the University of California-San Francisco questioned more than 600 women who were overweight or obese about their eating habits and life stressors. The women were categorized as ... [More]

Sandi Kaplan, MS, RD, Associate Director, Clinical Development and Support:   The holiday season can be challenging for even for those of us with the best of intentions. I am committed to prioritizing my health during the holiday season. It can be a stressful time so I need my balanced meals and snacks and my regular physical activity more than ever. So imagine my response when I opened a recent holiday gift – an enormous cheesecake. Well, actually it was a package of twelve slice... [More]

Sandi Kaplan, Associate Director, Clinical Development and Support:   I stared aghast at the photo of long-time fashion model Filippa Hamilton in a recent Ralph Lauren ad. We know that if the doll Barbie was a real woman, her dimensions are such that she would be unable to stand upright. Well, the dimensions of Hamilton’s photo made me wonder how the woman could possibly be alive. She looks emaciated in the extreme. Hamilton spoke out after the release of the photo to say that it ... [More]

Sandi Kaplan, MS, RD, Associate Director, Clinical Development and Support:   My 4 ½-year-old son recently started preschool. He was so proud to go off with his lunchbox filled with goodies like beans and rice, cherry tomatoes, a nectarine and a couple of dried dates for a sweet treat. He helped to prepare his lunch and was especially excited that the tomatoes were ones he had picked in a friend’s garden. On the second day of school, he was equally happy about taking his lunch. Bu... [More]

Sandi Kaplan, MS, RD, Associate Director, Clinical Development and Support:   The Smart Choices Program is a great idea. A Smart Choice seal of approval, a big green check mark, is put on the front of any product that is a healthy option. You are in the grocery store and the check mark lets you know right away that the product is a great choice for your own health and the health of your family. It’s so easy and convenient to know which nutritious foods to choose. Unfortunately, th... [More]

Sandi Kaplan, MS, RD, Associate Director, Clinical Development and Support:   The organic food debate was back in the news this week when a study carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was released. The review study was commissioned by The Food Standards Agency (FSA) to discover whether Britain's organic industry could claim more health benefits for its products. Although the study concluded that there was no important nutritional difference between orga... [More]

Sandi Kaplan, Associate Director, Clinical Development and Support:     A new nutritional term caught my eye as it hit the headlines last week – an ‘Eco-Atkins’ diet. This is what researchers are calling a diet which was tested in a small, four week randomized controlled clinical trial. Half of the participants were put on the ‘Eco-Atkins’ high-protein, low carbohydrate and entirely vegan diet which excluded all animal products. The other half were put on a high-carbohydrate, low-fat, veg... [More]