Ever since my kids were big enough to sit up in a grocery cart, they came to the supermarket with me. Sure, it wasn’t always stress-free or efficient (especially when I had three tykes in tow), but neither is taking kids to school – and both activities, in my view, are critical for raising healthy, happy kids and, eventually, adults.

To me, the supermarket is a giant classroom in which kids can learn lessons far more important than many they’re taught in school. For example, grocery store “field trips” allowed me to show-and-tell my kids that all foods can fit into a healthy diet, as long as you know how to balance your plate. I also taught them how to compare labels, which foods excel in which areas and how to meal plan – whether that “plan” includes hectic grab-and-go foods or an elaborate dinner.

My kids ate it up: My youngest son even came up with the title of my book, “Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You From Label to Table.” And today, although my boys are grown and out from under my roof, they often call me when they shop for food to discuss what they’re buying, cooking and serving to friends and family.

To take a play from my “textbook,” start with these grocery store games. While some are better suited for younger children, others can even have an impact on teens.

1. Pick a color or shape.

Have your little ones play an “I Spy” type of game in the produce aisle by asking them to pick out colorful foods that are red, green or yellow, for example. Or, have them find foods that are circular, oval or some other shape. This game can be expanded on when you go home – just unpack and use the similarly shaped or colored purchases to create simple recipes your kids can help prepare.

2. Find produce “characters.”

Ask your kids to search for foods (especially fruits and veggies) they recognize from books they have at home. That, of course, requires you to keep books at home that have photos of healthy foods. I purposely sought out such books so I could make up fun stories about the produce “characters,” and my kids found it exciting to seek out and taste the foods that seemed familiar.

3. Create traditions.

Start a tradition like “Kids Shop Sunday” and let them choose a recipe and create the shopping list for Sunday dinners, even if you just do it once a month. You can also enlist your kids to come up with theme nights for the days of the week – think Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday or Throwback Thursday. Choose a theme and let your young sous chef play the part, including wearing an apron, oven mitts and even a little chef’s hat. Why wait until Halloween?

4. Play guessing games.

When your kids aren’t looking, buy a few foods they’ve never had before (think jicama) and that are mild-tasting (like almond butter or sunflower butter instead of peanut butter). With the help of a blindfold back at home, challenge your kids to guess the foods in question by touching, smelling and, ultimately, tasting them. Don’t give them foods you already know they “hate” because they won’t want to play with you, and volunteer to be the one guessing sometimes, too.

5. Conduct a photo shoot.

Equip your kid with a camera or phone and ask them to take pictures of individual ingredients in the supermarket. Then, create a dish or follow a simple recipe together and encourage them to take photos of the final feast. With older kids (and their permission, of course), it might even be fun to post the pictures to personal social media platforms and share likes and comments with each other.

6. Rate food labels.

Once your kids can read, compare food labels to look for sugar and sodium contents or recognizable ingredients. This is truly a life lesson that never gets old, since the thousands of foods in the store are ever-changing. Show your children how some foods are more nutritious than others, and also discuss prices and value. One day your child will be on his or her own, and a budget could play an important role in their purchasing decisions. Here, I’d point out how healthy food doesn’t have to be expensive (hello, frozen veggies!) and how to minimize food waste.

This article originally appeared on U.S. News.

Intuitive Eating

Non-Diet Dietitians

If you knew you could have stopped that balsamic vinegar from splattering on your favorite white sweater, would you have done something to prevent it from happening? And if you knew you were going to drive into a pothole, causing your tire to go flat, would you have taken a different route?

Yes, all of the above situations could have been prevented if you would have anticipated these problems in the first place, but unless you’re clairvoyant, it’s not very easy to prevent something you can’t predict. When it comes to your body, right now, as you read this story, there are accidents inside you waiting to happen: whether it’s potential damage from high blood sugar, blood pressure, or cholesterol levels, this is the time to take charge of your health. Many of us are also fighting against our family histories.

For too many years, I’ve seen women in my practice overcome with worry and concern over their husband’s health. They know every little detail about his medical history, laboratory values, and current medications. Yet when it comes to themselves … their chief complaint is, “I hate the way I look.” It’s not until I scratch below the surface or consult with their physicians that I discover they have a soaring cholesterol level, or a family history of diabetes, or that they’re going through menopause and have a mother and grandmother suffering from osteoporosis.

These women don’t realize that they too can stand among their sisters, who together make up one scary statistic: About 300,000 women die from heart attacks each year. In fact, more women die of heart disease than of all types of cancer combined. And more than 42 million women are currently living with some form of cardiovascular disease, and many don’t even know it.

My connection to heart disease gets personal and is close to my own heart. My dad, mom, brother, and sister all had or have heart disease. That means that this silent killer could be at my doorstep … but that doesn’t mean I’m putting out a welcome mat! You may not be able to pick your parents, but you can pick what goes on your plate.

Fighting heart disease in women is not just about putting on a red dress or eating heart-healthy foods during February, which is American Heart Month. It’s about making some room on your own to-do list and trying to take small steps to promote a healthy lifestyle. As a mom of three and a grandma, my kitchen is the heart of my home. Let’s all fight together to keep our hearts safe and strong.

For more information about how you can help or get help, visit www.heart.org or www.womensheart.org.

When you hear the term, “drink responsibly,” you’ll probably think about the connection between drinking and driving. Around this time of year, that association could still mean that…and more.

Too much alcohol could also result in a date with the porcelain bowl if you’re not careful or bring a throbbing headache the day after drinking. Whatever comes to your mind when you envision a hangover, it’s not a pretty picture.

Instead of focusing on how to cure your hangover, you’ll probably have a better time at that New Year’s Day brunch by taking some simple steps to avoid going overboard altogether. Here’s how you can still belt down a few without ending up down on the floor:

How to Have a Hangover Free New Year

• Prevent problems by pre-fueling. The meal you have before you drink could determine how drunk, or sick, you’ll feel. Eating will help “coat your stomach” by slowing down the absorption of alcohol. Meals that include a mixture of protein, whole grain carbs, and fat will do the trick. Combinations like almond butter on whole-wheat toast or cheese and crackers will help delay the absorption of alcohol and give you more time to enjoy a New Year’s Eve party (no matter how small it is) that you’ll remember on New Year’s Day.

• Make water your BFF. Couple every alcoholic drink with an equal serving of water, sparkling or flat. This will curtail the dehydrating effect of alcohol that can make you feel sluggish and headachy. Add a twist of lime and ice cubes to help make your every-other-drink look like a gin and tonic, if you’re feeling any peer pressure. Taking the time to have a cold glass of water will also help you pace your drinking and give you time to taste and enjoy what you’re putting in your body, too.

• Know your body. How you handle your alcohol depends on many factors including your height, weight, age, gender, state of health, and what you ate before drinking. If you’re a 5-foot-4-inch female, don’t get into a drinking contest with a 6-foot-4-inch male; that will not turn out well.

• Ditch the bubbles. Carbonated mixers, like sodas, increase the speed at which alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream. If you’re going to have a mixed drink, it might be best to stick with juice or water instead.

• Ice would be nice. Adding some cubes to your beverage will help dilute it. This will help hydrate you and also make your glass of booze look bigger (again, if you’re worried about peer pressure).

• Pay attention to alcohol content. If you know you have a long night ahead of you, it might be best to choose wine or beer over hard liquor.

• What’s the rush? Drink slowly. Although you may not feel like your drink is going to your head, you absorb alcohol more quickly than you may realize. Don’t wait until it’s too late to recognize alcohol’s effect.

• Don’t be too creative. This is not the time to see how many colorful drinks you can imbibe. It’s also not a good idea to mix spirits, so if you start off with vodka, don’t switch to gin. Decide on your drink of the night, and stick with it.

• Calories that you don’t chew still count. Remember that an average mixed drink could cost you 300 to 500 calories, depending on the size of the glass and the spirits and mixers selected.

• Dance the night away. Take a break from drinking, and have some fun moving to the music to actively ring in the new year (and burn some of those alcohol-derived calories)!

• Catch some zzz’s. Although this may not be scientifically proven, burning yourself out before indulging in holiday cheer could cut your night short or make celebrating less enjoyable. Try to take a nap before your evening begins so that you can feel refreshed and ready for some fun.

And if the safeguards mentioned above seem too overwhelming, the best way to avoid a hangover is by naming yourself the designated driver; your head and stomach will thank you for making that decision.

Between issues of politics, pandemic and prejudice, it may feel challenging to be optimistic. But this nutritionist offers nine reasons to be thankful. There are silver linings to be found within all of this!

It seems like we’ve all been suffering in one way or another. Between issues of politics, pandemic and prejudice, it feels like our United States is anything but united, and the routines we used to rely upon have been turned upside down.

9 Silver Linings of the Pandemic

From work to hyper kids to newly-released shows on Netflix, there are a million reasons why many of us (one in three, to be exact) fail to get the Zzz’s we need. And in addition to our already-late bedtimes, many of our sleep cycles are also sabotaged by our late-night eats (like ice cream, cookies, and even wine) or four o’clock cappuccinos.

One way to ensure you drift off to dreamland as soon as your head hits the pillow? Switch out your usual nighttime snack for one that works with your body to help you sleep. Below are six foods that’ll wind you down; if they could talk, they’d practically sing you a lullaby.

1. Cheese

This protein-packed snack is also chock-full of calcium, magnesium, and tryptophan, all of which support sleep.

Tryptophan (which so many of us associate with turkey) is an amino acid that produces the ‘feel-good hormone’ serotonin, which stimulates the production of melatonin, the hormone our body releases when it’s time to slow down and sleep. Calcium helps our brain use that tryptophan, while magnesium also activates sleep-related neurotransmitters and regulates melatonin.

Just choose a lower-fat cheese and stick to one serving, since eating more calories—especially from fat—before bed can leave you counting sheep.

2. Chamomile Tea

A relaxing mug of chamomile tea should be a bedtime staple—especially if you’re frequently kept up by digestive issues. Chamomile has long been used in traditional medicine for its calming, relaxing effect—both on our mood and bellies—plus, the tea’s warmth has the power to soothe.

3. Tart Cherries

Tart cherries are magical in that they actually contain that sleep-regulating hormone melatonin. In fact, research shows that drinking tart cherry juice can even help troubled sleepers score a whopping 85 extra minutes of shut-eye. What’s more, the cherries are jam-packed with antioxidants, and their sweet-tart flavor may squelch late-night cravings.

If you’re going for dried tart cherries, stick to a quarter cup to avoid calorie and sugar overload—but you can also drink tart cherry juice or munch on the fruit fresh in the summertime when they’re in season.

 4. Bananas

Bananas are a natural source of melatonin, and take literally zero work to prepare. As an added bonus, research published in Sports Health suggests that the potassium in bananas may prevent you from waking up during the night with muscle cramps after tough workouts. When you’re craving ice cream, mash up a frozen banana for a healthy, sleep-supporting substitute.

5. Kiwi

The fuzzy brown fruit makes a great vitamin C and serotonin-filled bedtime snack. In fact, research published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who ate two kiwis one hour before hitting the hay slept almost an hour longer than those who didn’t.

6. Nuts

Different nuts provide different nutrients, but many varieties can help promote a quality snooze.

Let’s start with almonds: These popular snack-time nuts contain tryptophan, magnesium, calcium, and protein, so they can both satisfy cravings and promote rest. Next: walnuts, which have been shown to increase our production of melatonin. And last but not least: pistachios, which are basically the bedtime jackpot because they contain protein, magnesium, and vitamin B6, which plays a role in our production of certain neurotransmitters and processes related to sleep.

This article was originally posted on What’s Good by V.

If you stand in the middle of the grocery store confused about the difference between the expiration, ‘use by’, and ‘best by’ dates on foods, you’re not alone! Clients ask me all the time what the dates printed on foods really mean—and how much they really matter.

Before we get into it, you may be surprised to know that those confusing dates aren’t actually required to be there in the first place. While the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) regulates the safety of packaged foods and drugs and the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) regulates fresh produce and meats, the states decide whether or not food items must be dated somehow—and just more than half of them require it. In fact, in many parts of the U.S., the food supply isn’t dated at all. (The one exception to this: baby formula, which must display a use-by or expiration date to ensure each nutrient listed is at peak value when it’s sold.)

If there are dates on the packaged foods you pick up at the grocery store, though, here’s what they actually mean.

‘Sell By’ Dates

You typically find ‘sell by’ or ‘pull by’ dates printed on dairy and meat products. These indicate the last date a food should be sold, and help you understand how fresh it is. If stored properly, these foods should still be safe to consume a few days beyond their ‘sell by’ dates date, but they should not be on store shelves past it. If you see a product on-shelf with a ‘sell by’ or ‘pull by’ date that’s come and gone, don’t buy it!

Egg cartons may also display ‘sell by’ dates, but eggs can stay fresh for up to three to five weeks after purchase if you store them in the coldest part of your fridge.

‘Best If Used By’ Dates  

‘Best if used by’ or ‘best if used before’ highlight when a food is at its highest quality. Though still safe to eat after this date, the food may lose some of its freshness, flavor, and nutritional value.

Cans often display ‘best if used by’ dates. You’ll notice that high-acid foods—like canned tomatoes, grapefruit, and pineapple—are best used within 12 to 18 months, while more stable, lower-acid foods—like canned meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables—can last for up to two to five years if stored in a cool, dry place.

Pack Dates

Used for foods that have a longer shelf life—like anything canned or frozen—a pack date is the date a food was manufactured, processed, and packaged. It’s either written as ‘packed on,’ followed by the date in ‘month/day/year’ form or as a three-digit number (with ‘001’ being January 1 and ‘365’ being December 31).

If a food doesn’t have a ‘best by’ date, the pack date can help you figure out when it’s at its best. Most unopened canned goods can last a year from this date before starting to lose flavor and nutrient quality, while frozen foods lose some flavor and nutrition after a few months.

Another place you may find ‘pack’ dates: eggs.

Expiration Dates

An expiration or ‘use by’ date indicates the last date a food should be eaten, according to its manufacturer.

Unless you freeze meat, poultry, or fish upon purchase, abide by their expiration dates. Properly refrigerated milk can keep for a few days beyond this date, but carefully observe and smell it before pouring a glass. Meanwhile, unopened yogurt can last a few weeks past its expiration date, but should be used within a few days once opened.

Closed Dates

Closed or ‘coded’ dates are used by the manufacturer to identify and locate their products. You’ll see these as a series of letters and numbers somewhere (often on the bottom) on shelf-stable cans and boxes. The jumble refers to when and where the food was manufactured. It often starts with three numbers to indicate the day packaged, followed by another number to indicate the year.

These coded dates are more for the food manufacturers than for consumers—unless, of course, in the event of a recall. When manufacturers need to recall certain foods, they often release these coded dates so consumers can identify whether their particular product may be tainted.

The Bottom Line

“For the vast majority of products out there, shelf life is based purely on quality—not safety,” says Scott Hood, director of Global Food Safety at General Mills. “If you’re Spring cleaning, it is highly likely that the dry and canned products in your pantry are safe beyond whatever date is printed on them.” Same goes for the foods in your freezer (though temperature fluctuations can negatively impact quality).

While you do need to be more careful with the foods in your fridge, your gut instinct usually means more than whatever dates are printed on them. If stored properly, a product should last beyond whatever date is listed; just pay attention to how the food looks, smells, and tastes. My mantra is “when in doubt, throw it out.” If it looks, smells, or tastes funky, ditch it.

If you have any other questions about food storage and safety, check out foodsafety.gov, a resource created by the USDA, FDA, and CDC. And know this: Changes to food packaging are coming! Recently-proposed legislation aims to clear up the confusion about the dates printed on foods and standardize the wording used.

This article was originally posted on What’s Good by V.

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are complicated and controversial. With bounds of conflicting research, unclear industry lingo, and mixed marketing messages out there, it’s hard enough for most of us to understand what GMOs truly are—let alone whether they’re ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for us.

The GMO debate won’t be put to rest anytime soon. But in the meantime, you can certainly decide whether or not you want to eat them. Here’s the lowdown on what GMOs actually are, along with the arguments on both sides of the battle.

What Are Genetically Modified Foods?

Though genetically modified foods as we know them today are a recent innovation, the concept isn’t. “Crossbreeding has been used for centuries to make crops stronger,” explains dietitian Wesley Delbridge, R.D., a spokesman for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. Farmers have long cross-pollinated plants or purposely planted two crops close together to modify species over time.

In recent decades, though, scientists have learned how to hijack the process and alter plants’ and animals’ DNA in a lab, explains dietitian Keri Gans, M.S., R.D.N., owner of Keri Gans Nutrition. These modern, somewhat sci-fi-esque GMOs were first approved for commercial use and planted into U.S. soil in 1996.

Whether cross-bred the old-school way or modified in a lab, GMOs aim “to benefit the consumer in some way,” says Delbridge. Scientists use genetic material from other species to make crops more nutrition-packed, pesticide resistant, or less vulnerable to weather. Think apples with an anti-browning gene or potatoes with an anti-bruising gene.

The GMOs In Your Grocery Store

“Currently, 10 genetically modified crops are available commercially: alfalfa, apples, canola, corn, cotton, papaya, potatoes, soybeans, squash, and sugar beets,” says dietitian Jonathan Valdez, R.D.N., owner of Genki Nutrition and spokesperson for the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Many of these crops (most notably corn, soybeans, and sugar beets) are then used to make processed foods like cereal, chips, soda, salad dressing, and soups. And since these processed foods are everywhere, that means GMOs are, too. In fact, between 70 to 75 percent supermarkets carry GMO foods. “There are many more GMO foods on the market than people may realize,” says Delbridge.

GMO Rules And Regulations

Before they can hit shelves, GMO foods pass through a number of safety checks administered by the USDA, EPA, and FDA. First, the USDA reviews and confirms that a particular GMO is safe to grow. Next, the EPA reviews its potential environmental impact. From there, the FDA can review the GMO and declare it safe to eat. However, since the FDA considers most GMO foods to be ‘substantially equivalent’ to their non-GMO counterparts (per a 1992 policy), it approves most without review.

Many experts question whether the U.S. government adequately evaluates GMOs, and regulations across the globe vary. (The European Union, for example, has a much stricter evaluation process.) People in other parts of the world are so skeptical about GMOs that just five countries produce the vast majority of the GM crops out there: the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and India.

What’s Next In GMO?

Though most won’t be on grocery store shelves anytime soon, hundreds of hard-to-believe GMO foods are currently in testing. A few out-there examples: pigs that don’t smell, wine grapes that resist fungus, bird flu-resistant chickens, and hornless dairy cows.

The Big Question: Are GMOs Safe?

With so many questions about GMO foods buzzing around, many of us wonder whether they’re really okay to eat. In fact, according to a new International Food Information Council Foundation survey, 47 percent of Americans at least somewhat avoid GMO foods.

The Anti-GMO Argument

“Critics say GMOs negatively impact the environment, promote herbicide use, and are less nutritious,” explains Valdez. Some even suggest they can mutate and have unexpected, harmful consequences.

A major part of the GMO conversation is how they impact farmers’ use of herbicides. Opponents argue that when foods are engineered to withstand herbicides and repellents, farmers then use more of these toxic substances. Issue is, this then increases the amount of chemical residue on our food—and the amount of the chemicals we ultimately consume. One particular herbicide of concern is glyphosate, which is widely used on GMO crops (about 80 percent of GMOs are engineered to tolerate it). In 2015, the World Health Organization classified the chemical as possibly carcinogenic to humans.

Another concern relates to GMOs’ potential impact on the environment around them. For example, research in the early 2000s suggested the pollen from a type of GMO corn harmed the local monarch butterfly population. (It’s now known as the Bt Corn Controversey.)

Beyond that, one of the biggest fears about GMOs is simply the element of the unknown. Some experts argue that GMOs haven’t been around long enough for us to understand their negative side effects. Therefore, they say, we can’t claim them to be safe. “It can take decades for the cumulative effects of something to be revealed,” explains Valdez. “Assessing the long-term effects of GMOs in the human body would take extensive research.” Studies would have to compare thousands of people who do and don’t eat GMOs over the course of decades. They’d also have to account for variables like exercise, sleep, and other health issues.

Meanwhile, On The Pro-GMO Side…

“Supporters of GMOs say the risks are non-existent,” says Valdez. They also argue that GMOs are more nutritious, have longer shelf lives, and can help reduce world hunger. Furthermore, they suggest GMOs are actually good for the environment and reduce waste.

Right now, scarce evidence scientifically proves GMOs are harmful—a fact major scientific organizations like the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Medical Association, and the World Health Organization acknowledge.

What’s more, a recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine analysis purports that GMOs are safe to eat, do no harm to the environment, and even benefit farmers. According to Delbridge, farming GMO crops has been shown to increase yield, which means less land needs to be cleared and farmed to produce the same amount of crop, which theoretically lowers a farming operation’s carbon footprint.

Plus, contrary to the pesticide woes of GMO opposers, one meta-analysis published in the journal Plos ONE found that GMOs actually reduce pesticide use by 37 percent.

More Confusion: GMO Labeling

Scientific and theoretical arguments on each side of the GMO debate not confusing enough? Recent laws and regulations about the labeling of GMO foods have made the topic even more menacing.

In 2014, Vermont became the first state to pass legislation requiring that GMO-containing food products identify such on their labels. Then, in 2016, President Obama signed a bill requiring all GMO-containing food products say so on the label by 2020.

“Laws surrounding GMOs and their labeling imply a greater danger,” says Valdez. “Seeing ‘genetically modified’ on a label makes people envision scary scientists, robots, and Frankenfoods—things that scare them,” adds Gans.

Since then, the USDA has proposed new guidelines for the labeling of GMO foods so that they can bear less-familiar terms, like ‘bioengineered’ or ‘BE,’ which don’t incite the fear that the term ‘GMO’ now does.

Meanwhile, many companies have started labeling their foods as ‘non-GMO’ in an effort to proclaim their safety.

The Bottom Line

For now, most scientific organizations consider GMOs to be safe, and many of the common criticisms lack solid scientific support.

While we wait for more long-term research on GMOs, whether or not you choose to eat them is a purely personal decision. If their short history makes you uneasy, look for products that sport that ‘non-GMO’ label. Surely, we’ll continue to learn and debate as the years go on.

This article was originally posted on What’s Good by V.

According to a study focused on 150 low-income and middle class mothers or grandmothers and 12 working class families for an ongoing research project for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the process of cooking a family dinner was found to be hectic and anxiety-ridden. The frenetic lives we lead bring seemingly endless to-do lists, tight budgets, and time constraints that prevent us from bringing pressure-free meals to our family tables, the report concluded.

Millennials (defined as those between the ages of 18 and 34) on the other hand, seem to have other ideas when it comes to cooking. The Hartmann Group found that when compared to their Baby Boomer parents and Gen X older siblings, millennials connect with food in a more spontaneous, outside the box fashion. As a mom of three millennial boys, I can attest to their connection to kitchen creativity. And I will admit…I love their concoctions!

My youngest son, at age 25, is a recipe rebel. He purposely tries to swap out basic ingredients and sub in foods that would jazz up the dish he’s cooking up. As a few examples, when he ran out of bread crumbs, he crumbled up breakfast cereals for a crunchy, nutritious topping. Even when he accidentally bought buttermilk when stores had limited stocks during our pandemic, he managed to create buttermilk biscuits, buttermilk pancakes and buttermilk coated chicken that moved basic recipes from bland to bold. So to answer my opening question…I do cry (tears of joy) when he sends me photos like the one above.

Although I have always encouraged my children to not be afraid to ‘play’ with their food, that out-of-the-box millennial mentality can teach us all a thing or two about cooking:

Invest your time.

The International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation’s Millennial analysis in their Food & Health Survey found that nearly six in ten Millennials (58 percent) spend 15-45 minutes cooking/prepping dinner on the average workday.

Be a leader, not a follower.

Millennials want it their way, setting a trend in customization, requesting foods that are personalized and made-to-order. In fact, a report in Packaged Facts shows that more than a third of millennials order something different every time they visit a restaurant.

Go for quality vs quantity.

“Millennials value the consumption of healthier, more natural/organic, less-processed and better-tasting foods and brands, and are trending towards farmer’s markets and urban gardening projects all in the name of eating healthier,” per Hartmann Group. Health-halo terms on labels like “local,” “natural,” “authentic” and “premium” influence their food-buying decisions, yet the term “natural,” is one example of a wildly popular word that has no formal, uniform definition. (OK — so maybe Millennials need to read between the lines to not be swayed to by food that wear deceptive, albeit attractive, labels.)

Spend wisely.

IFIC survey showed that if given extra money, millennials would spend it on groceries, entertainment, or fitness. Neilson reports 32 percent of millennial respondents are very willing to pay a premium for sustainably sourced ingredients, compared with 21 percent of Baby Boomers.

Travel without leaving your home.

Millennials are more likely to explore cultural foods and experiment with foreign ingredients including Chinese, Thai, Indian, Mexican, Greek, Mediterranean types of global cuisines through the use of a variety of food products, including spices, oils and flavorings.

Know your BFF foods.

To fuel spontaneity in meal preparation, keeping staples on hand like pasta, rice, breakfast cereals, whole grain breads, canned fish, nut butters, eggs, milk and cheese, just to name a few items, makes putting together a balanced meal more likely and less stressful.

Do it with friends.

“Millennials are turning to family, friends, apps or online communities to improve their diets,” says IFIC’s survey. Hartmann concurs that the internet and social media are their go-to resources, relying on the use of Google, Facebook and YouTube for recipes, information and research about food products.

Stress can be a catalyst for success if you learn to channel it properly. Here are 9 ways to make that happen!

Did you ever realize that the word “stressed” is “desserts” spelled backward? It makes sense if you think about how too many desserts, eaten too often and for the wrong reasons, might bring your mind and body more pressure than pleasure. Stress is like that in other ways, too – the right amount can be good for you, say by motivating you to exercise. But too much angst can hurt your sleep patterns, pack on pounds and keep you from being your best self.