Getting Protein Without Eating Meat

Protein is not unique to meat products, but those eliminating or reducing meat intake need to be careful to replace this easy and familiar source of protein.

By Ian Lee October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, which makes it a great time to think about incorporating more non-meat options into your diet. Even for those who don’t plan to switch to full-time vegetarian eating, the Meatless Mondays trend means more and more people are looking for healthy vegetarian options for family meals at least once a week. Protein is not unique to meat products, but those eliminating or reducing meat intake need to be careful to replace this easy and familiar source of protein, according to dietitian Gloria Tsang, founder of nutrition network HealthCastle.com and author of Go UnDiet: 50 Small Actions for Lasting Weight Loss.  “Protein builds and maintains muscles, organs, skin and blood, assists in energy …

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Eat Outside Day

Check out tips for a healthy, easy-to-prepare picnic.

August 31 is Eat Outside Day, but the truth is most of us want to eat meals outside this summer for more than one day. Whether you're planning a family day at the beach or a romantic first date, it’s easy to prepare a meal to eat outside without resorting to pre-packaged snack foods, the ever-present hot dog stand or the fast food drive-through. A simple homemade picnic can cover all the nutritional bases without the added sodium and fat found in many pre-packaged or fast food options, according to dietitian Gloria Tsang, founder of nutrition network HealthCastle.com and author of Go UnDiet: 50 Small Actions for Lasting Weight Loss. "It doesn’t take much longer to prepare a picnic from scratch that it does to open all those plastic snack …

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Non-Meat Grilling Options

Just because you don't eat meat doesn't mean you have to miss out on the grilling season. Check out these non-meat grilling options.

Don't Eat Meat? Get in on the Grilling Season with These Options

Whether trying to please non-meat eaters or just looking to add some variety to your grilling repertoire, here are some non-meat grilling options.

By Ian Lee, HealthCastle Grilling season is here, and that means many households are loading up on steaks, burgers and hot dogs. But for those who don’t eat meat, or don’t want to eat meat every time they grill, outdoor cookouts can be a disappointing repeat loop of soggy veggie dogs or dried-out veggie burgers. There’s no reason meat has to get all the glory when it comes to hitting the grill, according to dietitian Gloria Tsang, founder of nutrition network HealthCastle.com and author of Go UnDiet: 50 Small Actions for Lasting Weight Loss.  "There are plenty of non-meat grilling options that can extend the joy of grilling to non-meat eaters," Tsang said in a press release. "For those who tend to grill every night all summer long, they …

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Recipe Corner

Vegan or Lactose Intolerant?

Vegans and those with lactose intolerance need to work a bit harder to ensure they get calcium. Here are some non-dairy calcium sources to help prevent osteoporosis.

By Ian Lee, HealthCastle.com May is National Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month, making it an important time to think about getting enough calcium. For dairy fans, it can be easy, but what about people who avoid dairy? Vegans and those with lactose intolerance need to work a bit harder to ensure they get the calcium they need to prevent the loss of bone density that comes with osteoporosis. Many people pop a calcium pill rather than investigating non-dairy food sources of calcium, according to dietitian Gloria Tsang, founder of nutrition network HealthCastle.com and author of Go UnDiet: 50 Small Actions for Lasting Weight Loss. "Calcium supplements can help meet the calcium needs of people who don’t get their calcium through dairy…

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Evening Snacks for Better Sleep

May is Better Sleep Month, a perfect time to think about the quantity and quality of your sleep.

By Ian Lee, HealthCastle.com Odds are, you're not getting enough. Most Americans get less than the recommended 7 to 9 hours a night, and that lack of sleep can have an impact in just about every area of your life, from performance at work to relationships with your family and your ability to maintain a healthy weight. If you're having trouble getting the sleep you need, rather than popping a pill, you can help your body relax and ease into sleep with some simple combinations of foods, according to dietitian Gloria Tsang, founder of nutrition network HealthCastle.com and author of Go UnDiet: 50 Small Actions for Lasting Weight Loss. Combining lean proteins with complex carbohydrates is the perfect formula for inducing sleep, according to …

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Which Easter Eggs Do the Least Damage

Choosing the right chocolate eggs can reduce the health impact of your kids' Easter egg hunt.

By Ian Lee, HealthCastle While adults are planning big family dinners for Easter, kids have only one thing on their minds: chocolate. In many households, that chocolate is in the form of small chocolate eggs given as gifts or hidden for an Easter egg hunt. There are many chocolate egg options, and they vary in terms of both sugar content and ingredients, including the presence of potentially harmful artificial dyes. Choosing the right chocolate eggs can reduce the health impact of your kids' Easter egg hunt, according to dietitian Gloria Tsang, author of the book Go UnDiet: 50 Small Actions for Lasting Weight Loss and founder of HealthCastle.   "Many big brands produce chocolate eggs specifically for the Easter season," Tsang said in a …

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How Do Different Chocolate Products Stack Up?

Not all chocolate products are created equal: They can vary wildly in flavonoid content, fat and calories, and quality of ingredients. How can you be sure you're expressing your love with the healthiest chocolate option?

By Ian Lee Chocolate is a staple of Valentine's Day, and for good reason. It's a sinfully sweet treat, of course, but it also contains flavonoids, a type of antioxidant that has been shown to have health benefits for the very target of Cupid's arrow—the heart. However, not all chocolate products are created equal: They can vary wildly in flavonoid content, fat and calories, and quality of ingredients. So how can you be sure you're expressing your love with the healthiest chocolate option? According to dietitian Gloria Tsang, author of the new book Go UnDiet: 50 Small Actions for Lasting Weight Loss and founder of nutrition network HealthCastle, many products you might find in the chocolates section of your grocery store or gift shop have …

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Ditch the Processed Snacks and Snack Healthy

Take a look at tips to avoid highly processed foods and snack healthy.

By Ian Lee, Health Castle February is National Snack Foods Month. However, many of the items we think of as traditional snack foods are highly processed and loaded with sodium and fat and are bad choices for a healthy diet, especially for kids.  According to dietitian Gloria Tsang, author of the new book Go UnDiet: 50 Small Actions for Lasting Weight Loss and founder of nutrition network HealthCastle, highly processed snack foods are a key cause of our growing obesity epidemic—even those that claim to be diet-friendly, low in sugar or fat-free. "Snack foods have been engineered to the point that they no longer resemble real food," Tsang said in a press release. "Then the packages are covered in claims to make them sound healthy and diet-…

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