Hello everyone. I'm Monica Reinagel and you're listening to the nutrition

divas quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous.

Welcome. If you've been following the podcast for a while, you've

probably gathered by now that there are very few things that I have a zero

tolerance policy about. I often talk about the importance of limiting sugar, for example. But I

don't believe that sugar is poisonous and I've never insisted that you completely

eliminate it from your diet. What's more if you're keeping your

total sugar intake within reasonable limits, I don't really care if it's in the form of

a natural sweetener like honey or agave, refined white sugar, or even high fructose corn syrup.

Similarly, I often suggest keeping fried foods to a minimum.

For one thing, fried foods are usually pretty high in calories,

and most of us are looking for ways to eat fewer calories, not more.

It's also true that heating oil to high temperatures,

as you do when you fry stuff creates harmful compounds.

Fried foods are not something that you want to be eating every day.

But I'd be a hypocrite if I told you that you could never enjoy a French fry or potato chip.

Although I certainly don't make them a regular part of my diet,

I have been known to enjoy both.

I also think there are a lot of benefits to buying and eating organic foods. Not only does it reduce our... of organic practices are much healthier for the environment, farm workers, livestock, and wild animals.

However, when organic options aren't available or affordable, I eat non-organic produce without giving it a second thought. The benefits of eating fresh fruits

and vegetables, even when they aren't organic, far outweighs the potential risks of chemical exposure. In other words, there are very

few foods that I think need to be completely avoided in order to have a healthy diet.

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