News » Wellness Blog

Dr. Mark Hyman discusses the digestive benefits of slowing down and enjoying your food. 

Do we really need 8 ounces a day?

As we greet 2021 with renewed hope of turning the corner on this pandemic, consideration for the health of our gut microbiome takes on added importance.

As we all come back together for a Notre Dame semester like no other, one collective goal we have is to stay strong, stay well, and should we be exposed or become ill from Covid-19, give our body the tools to rebound quickly. 

A few tips from author and dietitian Rebecca Scirtchfield on Body Kindness in the new year.

Jocie Antonelli, Nutrition Program Manager for Campus Dining investigates the old adage "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" to see how true it actually is.

Check out 10 Mindful Eating Quotes from Dr. Susan Albers.

We are in the height of summer and most places in the country, including South Bend, are also at the height of the thermometer. So aside from air conditioning and common sense, there are some ways that your eating and drinking habits can help.

See what the latest research says about the benefits of consuming the whole egg instead of just the whites. 

Straws—How bad could they be? Our staff dietitian offers her perspective from both a sustainability as well as a health standpoint.

Learn more about the impact of cutting out meat from your diet one day each week.

See what our Nutrition Services Program Director has to say about making small changes that have a big impact!

Learn about the health benefits of the Mediterranean style of eating from Jocie Antonelli, Nutrition Services Program Director for Campus Dining.

See what Jocie Antonelli, Program Director of Nutrition Services for Campus Dining, has to say about dairy milk alternatives.

Visit over 50 benefits vendors and campus partners.

So what’s the big deal; why does it have such a loyal group of consumers and why are new ones turned onto it everyday?

Arriving at North Dining Hall or South Dining Hall and deciding what to eat can be a daunting task, especially at lunchtime when classes have just let out. Having a gameplan can result in healthier choices. 

How much exercise is enough?  See what Jocie Antonelli, Program Director of Nutrition Services for Campus Dining has to say... 

Simply put, if you are not eating enough food, you are depriving your body of enough fuel and important nutrients that can wreak havoc on your health, metabolism, and hormones.

Is milk really necessary for strong bones?

If one of your goals is to achieve better health, you can make little tweaks, here and there, for a big impact.

It’s that time of year, leaves have fallen, daylight hours are shorter, and the temperatures have dropped. It’s also that time of year we call “cold and flu season”. One thing that can help you from becoming a victim is vitamin D.  

Between classes, clubs, practices, studying, meetings, eating, sleeping and socializing, who possibly has time to exercise?

Do you have a love/hate relationship with your appetite? Do you have some days where you eat breakfast and find yourself hungry an hour or two later? Do you have other days where you don’t feel hungry until well into the afternoon? What’s causing you to feel ravenous one day and content and full the next? Not surprisingly, science can give us some answers, and we’ll see what strategies we can use to help keep our appetites in check.…

Matcha, which means powdered tea, is superior to regular green tea for the simple fact that you consume the whole tea leaf.

Ever heard of the food-term “pulse”? No, we aren’t talking about your blood pressure here; we are talking about dried beans, lentils, chickpeas, and peas. If you are unfamiliar with pulses, you aren’t alone.

Whether you are an athlete diligently training for an event, or just a weekend warrior, there are things you can tweak or add to your diet that have been proven to boost performance or enhance specific health goals.

The quick answer to the question is, “yes.” The truth is, we need all three every single day, and ideally at every single meal. Protein and carbs are more than a food group, they are actually macronutrients. Protein makes up a part of every cell in your body. It is a major part of the skin, muscles, organs, and glands. We need protein in our diets to help repair body cells, and make new ones. The primary function of carbohydrates in our diets is to provide energy for the body, especially the brain and the nervous system. While vegetables themselves aren’t a macronutrient, they do contain a little of each, (i.e. roughly 3 grams of protein and 5 grams of carbs per half cup).

At Notre Dame, the number one reason students seek nutritional counseling is for weight loss.  On occasion I’ll encounter a client who is reluctant to engage in increased activity/exercise out of fear of stimulating their appetite. They are worried if they exercise longer or harder, their appetites will be increased, therefore making weight loss even harder. So, is there truth in that?  How much does exercise impact our appetites, and ultimately our weight loss goals?

There are a host of reasons why a person chooses to follow a vegetarian diet. Chief among them are health benefits, environmental and sustainability concerns, and concerns about the treatment of animals. All these are great reasons. Here at the University of Notre Dame, I usually see an uptick in the number of inquiries about vegetarian diets this time of year. For whatever reason it has grown in popularity for students to give up meat or go completely vegan for lent. And because of  this,  I thought it would be timely to explore plant proteins.