Put down that bag of potato chips, the Nutrition Diva has some easy ways for you to get healthy.
Monica Reinagel is a licensed and board-certified nutritionist and professionally trained chef. She is popularly known as the Nutrition Diva, with weekly podcasts airing on the Quick and Dirty Tips Web site.
With the tagline “Eating Well and Feeling Fabulous,” Reinagel’s show was named one of iTunes best new shows of 2008.
“We’re in our second year now. The show was downloaded 2 million times during its first year,” Reinagel said.
Reinagel’s topics appeal to many different age groups, including the college-student demographic. She has some specific tips for students to help them achieve a healthier lifestyle. Each day, students should replace one of their food items with a serving size of vegetables, she said.
“Vegetables are good sources of all the things that most college students don’t get enough of: fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals,” Reinagel said. “Plus, people who eat more vegetables usually end up eating less fat, sugar and sodium — all things that most college students have way too much of in their diets. So you kill two birds with one stone.”
It seems your mother was right when she told you to eat your vegetables.
Reinagel also suggests that students stop using their budgets as an excuse for not eating healthy. Simply buy less of the junk and invest in fewer items that are better for you.
Reinagel was not always the diet connoisseur she is now. Her first passion was music. She studied voice and opera at Boston University and is currently a professional opera singer.
After studying opera and music at BU, the Musikhochschule in Munich, Germany and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Md., she wanted to do more. She found that she really enjoyed nutrition and a healthy lifestyle and a few years later walked out of the University of Bridgeport with a master’s degree in nutrition. She also received her professional culinary training at l’Academie de Cuisine in Washington, D.C.
She originally worked as a freelance journalist, but as multimedia became increasingly popular, she found that the podcast medium appealed to her artistic side.
“I was thinking of starting a podcast and a friend suggested I listen to the Grammar Girl podcast [“Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing”] as an example of a fun, popular show that was focused on giving people useful information,” Reinagel said.
“I saw that Grammar Girl was one of a whole network of “Quick and Dirty Tips” podcasts and noticed that they didn’t have one on nutrition. I introduced myself and they invited me to join the team.”
Reinagel was an expert on nutrition and a skilled writer, but the Quick and Dirty Tips Web site allowed her to create podcasts without being responsible for the tedious technical aspect.
“The bonus for me was that I got to start podcasting but didn’t have to figure out all the technical details of sound editing and publishing the podcast … they take care of that for me.”
The podcasts are also available in written blog form. Some topics include “metabolism myths,” “gluten-free diets” and “is caffeine bad for you?”
Reinagel’s own diet growing up centered on the “clean-plate rule,” with meat as the main food item. Now, as an adult, the biggest change in Reinagel’s eating pattern has been abandoning meat as the main dish. She only has it about once a week.
“When I say ‘meat’ I mean fish along with the beef and chicken, but no eggs or dairy,” she said.
She does not approve of the way in which animals are raised and treated and is concerned, for example, that overfishing will ruin certain ecosystems. She recommends the documentary “Food, inc.,” saying it is a disturbing yet accurate portrayal of what exactly we eat.
In regards to the increasing obesity rate, Reinagel says that a number of things contribute to it. However, one thing in particular stands out: the availability of food for most Americans.
“Our grandmothers wouldn’t have been caught dead eating while walking down the street, shopping, sitting in class or on the bus,” she said. “Now, we’ve gotten to the point where all of those things are not only socially acceptable, they are common. We snack constantly and I think that has a lot to do with why we’re all gaining weight. The next time you are walking to class or sitting in class, look at how many people will be eating.”
Weight control as well as many other things are discussed in the books Reinagel has written. They are titled “The Life Extension Revolution: The New Science of Growing Older without Aging,” “Secrets of Evening Primrose Oil” and Amazon best-seller “The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan.”
You won’t find too many unhealthy things in her kitchen.
“I’ve found that at the grocery store I have incredible will power, but once something is in the house, all bets are off.” Reinagel said.
Her weakness? “I adore Swedish fish!”
Besides Swedish fish, this Diva enjoys spending time with her puppy, grooming her vegetable garden and performing in various operas. She continues to share her knowledge of nutrition with the world via her podcast, which can be found at nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com.
