Entries by Barbara Sobel

Vitamin D is a Superstar

I have been noticing two interesting trends in my practice. First, a lot of my clients are not being tested for vitamin D levels. Second, when they are being tested most of my clients are falling below the optimal range. Today I wanted to talk a little bit about some of the benefits of optimizing […]

Meal Planning: As easy as 1, 2, 3

For those of us who are working on health and wellness goals, meal planning is an important tool in helping us reach those goals. As the old saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. When we first think of meal planning, it can seem like one more thing to unsexy thing […]

Aging Well: Movement

As we end the year I am reflecting on how many of my friends, clients, and family members mention a symptom like stiff joints or sore muscles, brain fog, and new diagnoses around cardiovascular disease, cancer, or blood sugar, weight gain, and then ask, “I know it is a sign of getting older, but is […]

What Does Gut Health Have To Do With It?

In my own health journey and those of many of my clients, optimizing gut health has been game-changing. I want to share the experience of one client I worked with recently. She came to me with embarrassing bloating and gas, joint pain, brain fog, and anxiety.  We worked on balancing blood sugar, removing foods that caused […]

Diet and Lifestyle Habits for Supporting Mental Health

I read an opinion piece in the New York Times last week about how we currently treat depression. It offered two models of care. Therapy and medication and then went on to show how both can in some cases help and how other times neither is helpful. You can read the opinion here. First and […]

Hydration: Are you well hydrated?

Water is in the news a lot. From Flint to Jackson and from the draught to massive floods. Water is one of our most essential ingredients for life. People can only live a few days without water. Many of my clients are confused about how much water is the optimal amount of water to consume […]

What is Best? Cooked or Raw

My son, husband, and I were working at home one day last week when my husband volunteered to pick something up for lunch for all of us. Usually, we eat whatever we have in the house, so when he offered, my son and I let out an emphatic yes. Then we started the debate about […]

Preserving the Nutrients in Our Foods

We all know that our soil is being depleted, most of our farms grow the same few varietals, our food often travels long distances to reach us, and most of our grocery store shelves are filled with refined, processed foods. The result of all of this is that our food is less nutrient dense than it […]

Blood Sugar Balance

You don’t have to be diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes to be interested in managing your sugar balance. Blood sugar affects mood, weight gain, energy, cognition, sleep, hormones, and appetite, and it can be very, very difficult to fully recover from a chronic disease without balancing blood sugar. Signs of Blood Sugar Imbalances If you […]

Superfoods

I was interviewed by Marin Magazine about superfoods — what they are, how they can help us age well, and how to get more of them in our diets. You can find links to the article (that includes some great looking recipes) and the full issue on aging well here. https://marinmagazine.com/food-drink/recipes/4-summer-superfood-recipes-packed-with-ingredients-that-promote-healthy-aging/  https://marinmagazine.com/july_2022/⁠

Diet and Lifestyle Tips for Supporting Mental Health

According to Mental Health America almost 20% of adults, roughly 50 million people, in the US are experiencing a mental illness right now and roughly one-third of us can expect to experience anxiety, one of the most common mental illnesses, sometime within our lifetime. As we talk more openly in society about mental health issues, […]

Blood Pressure

Recently, I shared some tips about cardiovascular disease. This week I wanted to dig down a little bit deeper into high blood pressure because I am seeing more and more clients, especially women in midlife being diagnosed with high blood pressure (high cholesterol and pre-diabetes, or high blood sugar, seem to pop up all of […]

Aging Well: Hydration

Dear Friend, Happy end of September!  This week I am continuing my series on aging well with another key habit, adequate hydration. Proper hydration is one of the simplest things we can do to help support our health and wellness at any age and especially as we age. Even being a little bit dehydrated can affect […]

Aging Well: Movement

One of the things I am passionate about is age well. For me, that means doing what I can to reduce my risk of chronic disease and cognitive decline, move with ease, create a community, and continue to have relevance and meaning in my life. It all sounds great, but the question my clients ask me […]

Is what you are eating, eating you?

I can’t tell you how many times in the last few weeks a client has said to me something like … I took this or that food out of my diet because I read that it isn’t good for you. It may be that the food they are mentioning is problematic for their unique body, […]

Sustainable Seafood

Last week I had a great conversation with Don Mayfield of Fishmonger Don. Don is passionate about the ocean and about working with local, sustainable, and traceable ingredients. As a nutritionist, I know that seafood is nourishing, and can play a big part in our health-building diets. Seafood is full of important nutrients ranging from omega 3 fatty acids in fatty […]

Food Waste

I have been reading a lot of interesting articles and blogs about reducing food waste. One statistic that caught my eye was posted in a Delish.com article. According to the American Journal of Agricultural Economics found the average U.S. household wastes nearly over 30% of its food and for most of us that meals throwing away about $1,800 […]

9 Strategies for Parents of Picky Eaters

At one time or another, most parents face the challenge of having a child who refuses or disdains certain foods. This can be highly frustrating for parents, cause stress at mealtimes, and result in children missing out on nutritional benefits. Introducing new foods can be daunting for parents of picky eaters. Learn what’s normal, strategies […]

Three Steps to a Better Night’s Sleep

Have you noticed that when you don’t get a good night’s sleep your mood is off, you don’t think as clearly, and/or you find yourself gravitating to sweets, especially in the late afternoon? It is real work for me to get to bed on time every single night. I get busy or engrossed in a […]

Seasonal Allergies

You know the feeling, the flowers are in bloom and beautiful, then the itchy nose, watery eyes, sneezing, congestion, and headaches start. I wanted to share few tips to help weather allergy season with as few symptoms as possible. Seasonal allergies, also known as allergic rhinitis or hay fever, affect millions of us each year. […]