Micaela Karlsen, PhD, MSPH

After college I spent a year in France as a fille au pair, living with a French family, taking care of their children, and experiencing French culture. I learned a lot about French cooking, including how to make crepes. The key element is a very thin batter, which is similar to the Swedish version of […]

We know most fad diets don’t work and sustaining a diet for the long term is where the rubber meets the road for many people. After the initial burst of enthusiasm and good intentions have worn off, a new diet gets harder and harder to maintain. What can we rely on to stay on track in […]

They’re all around us — goji berries, chia seeds, maca, pomegranates, and the list goes on. Certain individual foods are labeled “superfoods” by the food industry and so concentrated powders, extracts, oils, and juices of these foods are then marketed as beneficial because of their supposed special effects. The claims around these concentrated forms of […]

As a child, I was a big fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series, and some of my favorites parts of those books are the descriptions of what they ate. Almanzo’s childhood culinary recollections in Farmer Boy are particularly vivid. It sort of sounds like a nonstop year-long dinner party! A […]

While about three-fourths of Americans might use the Nutrition Facts panel at least some of the time, most people have only a limited understanding of what it means when reading nutrition labels. Use this guide to separate fact from fiction at the grocery store. 1. Focus on foods without labels. Let’s get this out of […]

Fresh and deliciously filling, this apple-lemon breakfast bowl is beautifully flavored with dates, cinnamon, and walnuts. From A Plant-Based Life: Your Complete Guide to Great Food, Radiant Health, Boundless Energy, and a Better Body

The following is an excerpt from A Plant-Based Life: Your Complete Guide to Great Food, Radiant Health, Boundless Energy, and a Better Body. Many people mistakenly believe that plant-based eating is more expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. What can get expensive quickly is buying lots of “faux” meats and cheeses (real meat and […]

Eating differently from the rest of the world can feel like a challenge, but with a little strategy, it can be easy to keep up a plant-based lifestyle: 1. Know where to find your food. Not every grocery store supplies whole plant-based foods in the variety you want at the right price. Take the time […]

The concepts of personalized medicine and personalized nutrition have really taken off. People are eating according to their blood type, their metabolic type, their Ayurvedic constitution, and their genotype. Scientific research consistently finds that our responses to food may differ in degree, which means that some people can tolerate unhealthy food better than others. However, […]

Plant-based diets are still far from mainstream, and especially in the medical community. Sometimes, this can lead plant-based eaters to think, “Hmm, I pay all this money, and I feel like I don’t even need the insurance – I hardly ever get sick!” How can you make sure you’re getting the most from your health […]

We need you. We have never before been faced with so much overweight, chronic disease, and associated emotional and financial ill effects of the standard American diet. We have much to do if we are to turn this situation around, and fortunately, many paths lead to positive change. If you feel an inner calling to […]

Imagine running into a friend at the gym who was just finishing her aerobic workout. Sweaty and flushed, she downs a bottle of water and remarks, “Got to get my hydrogen!” While we may instinctively sense that there is something odd about that statement, in Western countries, and particularly the U.S., people make very similar […]