Nutrition Diva

885. You need choline every day. Nobody can tell you exactly how much. There's no RDA for choline, because there isn't enough data to set one. What we have instead is an estimate — and it traces back largely to a single study that enrolled only men. The numbers for women were scaled down from there, mostly by body size.

Choline is an essential nutrient a lot of people have never heard of. Your liver makes some of it, but not enough, so the rest has to come from food. It's needed to build phosphatidylcholine and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, and it plays an outsized role in brain development before birth and in early childhood.

Monica walks through what's known and what isn't:

• Why choline gets grouped with the B vitamins even though it isn't one
• What severe deficiency does to the liver, and what recent research links low intake to in older adults
• Why there's no RDA for choline, and what an Adequate Intake is actually based on
• How estrogen changes the picture, and why premenopausal women may need less than men rather than more
• Why pregnancy may call for more than the current recommendation, and why most prenatal vitamins leave choline out or include very little
• What ACOG advises for women who are pregnant or trying to conceive
• Where choline shows up in food, from egg yolks and liver to soybeans, mushrooms, and cruciferous vegetables
• Why falling short of the Adequate Intake isn't the same as being deficient
• The prostate cancer findings, and why a nutrient that supports healthy cell division can behave differently in someone who already has cancer
• The TMAO question, and why fish raises TMAO more than eggs or beef do
• Who might reasonably consider a supplement, and why more isn't better

Choline Content of Common Foods

Nutrition science you can trust, in plain English.

Have a food or nutrition question for a future episode? Email [email protected]. To book Monica for a live or virtual event, visit wellnessworkshere.com.

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself!

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips.

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

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884. Your doctor can write you a prescription for a statin or a blood pressure medication. What if they could also prescribe fresh vegetables, and your health insurance paid for them?

That’s one of the central ideas behind the Food Is Medicine movement, and cardiologist Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian is one of its leading voices. In his new book, “Food Is Medicine: Healing Our Bodies, Nourishing Our Minds, and Transforming Our Food System,” he argues that diet is the leading driver of chronic disease in the US and that it can also be part of the treatment.

Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN, talks with Dr. Mozaffarian about:

• What “food is medicine” means, and what it doesn’t
• How produce prescriptions and medically tailored meals and groceries work, and how they differ from SNAP
• Promising results from pilot programs serving people with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart failure, and high-risk pregnancies
• Why opening grocery stores in food deserts didn’t change how people ate
• What car safety and anti-smoking efforts can teach us about changing the food system
• How much nutrition training doctors need, and where registered dietitians fit in
• Why a healthy diet is more about adding good food than cutting out bad food

Nutrition science you can trust, in plain English.

Have a food or nutrition question for a future episode? Email [email protected]. To book Monica for a live or virtual event, visit wellnessworkshere.com.

Related episodes:

735 – A provocative new study on ultra-processed foods

334 – Is the Mediterranean Diet all it's cracked up to be?

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself!

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips.

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

883. You've probably been told to skip broccoli, garlic, spicy food, sushi, peanuts and even your morning coffee while breast-feeding. How much of that advice holds up?

Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN, sorts fact from folklore on what to eat and what to avoid while nursing. She covers the colic theory about cruciferous vegetables, the open question of whether eating peanuts during breast-feeding affects a baby's allergy risk, and the NIH ESCAPE trial now testing it.

In this episode, Monica explains

• Whether cabbage, broccoli and garlic really cause gas and colic in breast-fed babies
• Why spicy food doesn't harm breast milk, and how your diet shapes your baby's food preferences
• What the research says about peanuts during breast-feeding, and why early peanut introduction cuts allergy risk
• How much caffeine and alcohol are considered safe, and how long to wait before nursing
• Why the pregnancy rules on sushi and soft cheese don't apply while nursing
• Which fish to choose, how many extra calories and fluids you need, and what to know about vitamin D for baby

References

Maternal Versus Infant Vitamin D Supplementation During Lactation: A Randomized Controlled

Trial - PubMed

Randomized trial of peanut consumption in infants at risk for peanut allergy - PubMed

Prevention and Treatment of Peanut Allergy - PubMed

Related episodes

• 261: Can diet and nutrition help you get pregnant?
• 281: How much weight should you gain during pregnancy?

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself!

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips.

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

882. Someone in your office comes back from vacation with a box of soups and shakes and announces they're doing a five-day fast. Except they're eating.

Fasting-mimicking diets are unusual among viral wellness protocols in that there is a real body of peer-reviewed research behind them. There is also a company selling the five-day kits, founded by the researcher who developed the protocol and funding many of the trials. Both of those things are true at the same time.

In this episode, Monica breaks down what the research actually shows:

• What the five-day protocol involves, including the calorie targets and why it's deliberately low in protein
• What "fasting mimicking" means, and which effects of a multi-day fast it's trying to reproduce
• The 2017 trial in 100 healthy adults, where participants lost about five and a half pounds over three months but saw no change in blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, or inflammation
• Why the subgroup findings are interesting and why they aren't proof
• The 12-month trial in people with type 2 diabetes, where 40% reduced their diabetes medication compared with 5% in usual care
• What the cancer research has shown in mice, what it hasn't yet shown in people, and why anyone in treatment needs their oncology team in the conversation first
• Why the claim that five days can make you two and a half years biologically younger is the weakest part of the evidence, and what happened to the third of participants whose scores got worse
• Whether you can replicate the protocol without buying a branded kit, and what you might be giving up if you do
• What the dropout rates in these studies say about how doable this really is

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself!

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips.

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

Related Episodes

788: intermittent fasting

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699.What's the latest guidance on how much protein we should eat, and what sources of protein are best, especially as we age? In response to a New York Times article released this week, we are bringing back this episode form 2023, with a fresh introduction from Monica.

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself!

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips.

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adaptogens, Botanicals, and Boosters: Which Products Actually Deliver? | Nutrition Diva LIVE in NYC!

In this special live episode, recorded at the Drinks with Benefits alcohol-free festival in New York City—brought to you in partnership with Liquid I.V.—host Monica Reinagel dives into the fascinating world of functional beverages to separate scientific fact from clever marketing.

Monica explains exactly what you should look for on a label, how much of an active ingredient you actually need to see results, and why a sprinkle of "mushroom dust" doesn't necessarily make a beverage functional.

This episode explores the real evidence behind today's trendiest drink categories, including:

• Adaptogens: How ingredients like ashwagandha affect stress resilience and why daily consistency matters.
• Nootropics: The truth about mushroom coffee blends, and the powerful, jitter-free cognitive focus created by combining L-theanine and caffeine.
• Sleep Aids: Why timing is everything for melatonin, and the current evidence for valerian root and magnesium.
• Immune Support: The effectiveness of high-dose vitamin C, elderberry, specific probiotic strains, and medicinal mushrooms like reishi and turkey tail.

Not all functional drinks are created equal, but Liquid I.V. is a perfect example of formulation done right. Their hydration multipliers are clinically proven to hydrate you more efficiently than plain water alone. As discussed in the show, their Sugar-Free Lime Energy Multiplier perfectly balances 100mg of caffeine with 200mg of L-theanine to give you sharp focus and mental clarity without the jitters.

💧 Listener Perk: Use code 2026ND for 20% off your first order at liquidiv.com

A big thank you to our event partners for making this night possible:

🎉 Drinks with Benefits, for hosting this incredible alcohol-free festival

🍋 Liquid I.V., for bringing the clinically proven hydration and providing amazing White Peach and Lime Margarita mocktails for our live audience

Presented by Liquid I.V. @liquidiv #paidpartner

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881. Bodybuilders have been taking creatine for decades, and its effects on strength and muscle mass are well established. Lately it's also being sold for brain health, better sleep, and menopause. The evidence on those newer claims is a lot thinner, but it isn't nothing.

Creatine is stored mostly in your muscles, where it powers short bursts of high-intensity effort. Your body makes some of it, and you get the rest from meat and fish, which is why vegans tend to run lower. Stores also decline with age as muscle mass drops.

Monica walks through what the research actually shows, including her own experiment with creatine supplementation:

• Why creatine doesn't build muscle directly, and what it does instead
• The 2 to 5 pounds of water weight most people gain in the first few weeks, and why it isn't the kind you'd notice in your jeans
• What a 2025 meta-analysis found about creatine, resistance training, and strength in adults over 50, and why the training group eventually caught up
• The sleep-deprivation studies, where a single large dose measurably improved memory and processing speed for up to nine hours
• Why women may respond differently than men
• What the cognition research in older adults does and doesn't support
• Whether creatine is hard on your kidneys, and what that creatinine bump on your bloodwork really means
• Loading doses versus starting straight at maintenance

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself! 

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips. 

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. 

References

Single dose creatine improves cognitive performance and induces changes in cerebral high energy phosphates during sleep deprivation | Scientific Reports 

Single-Dose Creatine Reduces Sleep Deprivation-Induced Deterioration in Cognitive Performance 

Creatine and Cognition in Aging: A Systematic Review of Evidence in Older Adults | Nutrition Reviews | Oxford Academic 

The impact of creatine supplementation associated with resistance training on muscular strength and lean tissue mass in the aged: a systematic review and meta-analysis | European Review of Aging and Physical Activity | Springer Nature Link 

Creatine in women’s health: bridging the gap from menstruation through pregnancy to menopause - PMC 

Creatine Improves Total Sleep Duration Following Resistance Training Days versus Non-Resistance Training Days among Naturally Menstruating Females 

Impact of creatine supplementation on menopausal women’s body composition, cognition, estrogen, strength, and sleep: Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition: Vol 22, No sup1 

Effect of creatine supplementation on kidney function: a systematic review and meta-analysis - PMC 

Related Episodes

877 - Why is everyone talking about L-Theanine?

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880. CoQ10 shows up in cellular energy production, in antioxidant defense, and increasingly, in marketing aimed at anyone over fifty. It's sold for energy, for athletic performance, and especially to the millions of people taking a statin, since those medications really do lower CoQ10 levels in the blood.

So who genuinely benefits? In this episode, Monica sorts the credible case from the promotional one. She covers why your body makes most of its own CoQ10 rather than getting it from food, what statins actually do to your levels and whether that matters, and what the evidence says about the claim that CoQ10 relieves statin-related muscle pain. You'll also hear the better-validated steps to try before reaching for a supplement, why she compares this situation to glucosamine and joint pain, how to take CoQ10 if you decide to test it yourself, and why the energy-boosting claims deserve real skepticism.

Join us for a live show taping on September 17 in New York City. Details at wellnessworkshere.com/live.

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself! 

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips. 

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. 

References

Marcoff L, Thompson PD. The role of coenzyme Q10 in statin-associated myopathy: a systematic review - PubMed 

Grundy SM, Stone N. AHA Guideline on the Management of Blood Cholesterol: PubMed 

Kovacic S, Habicht SD, Effects of coenzyme Q10 supplementation on myopathy in statin-treated patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis - PubMed 

Warden BA, Guyton JR, Assessment and management of statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS): A clinical perspective from the National Lipid Association - PubMed 

Stroes ES, et al. Statin-associated muscle symptoms: impact on statin therapy - PubMed 

Iatan I, Mancini J Statin associated muscle symptoms (SAMS): strategies for prevention, assessment and management - PubMed 

Deng H, Song T Coenzyme Q10 supplementation increases blood concentrations but shows limited and inconsistent effects on exercise performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis - PubMed 

Related Episodes

871

687

101

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879. Are you eating too much protein, or not enough? The honest answer is that the question itself is flawed, because there's no single number that fits everyone.

In this episode, Monica breaks down why protein needs shift across a lifetime. The mTOR "growth switch" inside your cells runs hot during childhood, powering the tissue-building that young bodies require. In your 30s and 40s, dialing protein back may nudge cells toward repair and cleanup instead. And after 50, when muscle naturally starts to decline, eating more actually helps preserve strength, mobility, and bone health well into later years.

She also puts the recent longevity headlines in context. A widely covered review of animal studies found that lower protein intake can extend lifespan in flies and rodents, yet those results don't map neatly onto human biology, where lifestyle, genetics, and the rest of your diet all shape how you grow older.

Monica offers a more grounded way to think about protein: match your intake to your age, sex, and activity level, and treat the current RDA as a floor rather than a goal.

nutritionovereasy.com/calculator

Join us for a live show taping on September 17 in New York City. Details at wellnessworkshere.com/live.

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself! 

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips. 

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. 

References

The hallmarks of protein and amino acid restriction in aging and longevity: Cell Press Blue 

Low Protein Intake Is Associated with a Major Reduction in IGF-1, Cancer, and Overall Mortality in the 65 and Younger but Not Older Population: Cell Metabolism

New Horizons: Dietary protein, ageing and the Okinawan ratio | Age and Ageing | Oxford Academic

Dietary protein intake and all-cause mortality: results from The Kawasaki Aging and Wellbeing Project - PMC

The impact of dietary protein intake on longevity and metabolic health - PMC 

Protein Intake and Frailty in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies - PMC

Related Episodes

699 - Are we eating too much protein? Or not enough?

847 - Does a high protein diet accelerate aging?

865 - The new food pyramid: progress or paradox?

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878. A tick bite you may not even remember getting can leave you unable to eat a hamburger, a slice of pizza, or a bowl of ice cream. That's alpha-gal syndrome, and it's turning up far outside its original range.

Alpha-gal is a sugar molecule found in the cells of most mammals but not in humans. When a lone star tick injects it under the skin, the immune system can start treating it as a threat. After that, beef, pork, lamb, venison, and sometimes dairy or gelatin can trigger a reaction three to six hours later, which is a big part of why this food allergy goes undiagnosed for years.

Today, Monica breaks down what the research actually shows:

• Why the lone star tick's range is expanding into the Midwest, the Northeast, and eastern Canada
• How alpha-gal syndrome differs from Lyme disease, and why they get confused
• What the CDC's estimate of 450,000 cases means, and why the "1 in 4" figure circulating on social media isn't measuring the same thing
• What a diagnosis means for your diet, including collagen, gelatin, organ meats, and why tolerance varies so much from person to person
• Why symptoms can be worse on some days than others
• Whether the condition is permanent, and what happens to antibody levels over time
• How to lower your risk of tick bites, per the CDC
• Where gene-edited GalSafe pigs fit into the picture

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself! 

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips. 

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. 

References

About Alpha-gal Syndrome | Alpha-gal Syndrome | CDC 

Nearly One in Four Adults in High-Risk States Have Alpha-gal Antibodies Linked to Tick-Borne Meat Allergy | Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases 

Join us for a live show taping on September 17 in New York City. Details at wellnessworkshere.com/live.

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