FCS3-524: Dietary Supplements: What are They and Who Needs Them

Sandra Bastin | Jul. 1, 2024 (Major Revision)

Choosing the right supplement is not a simple task, but with a little information, you can choose the best daily supplement for you. Traditionally, dietary supplements are products made of one or more essential nutrients, like vitamins and minerals, but they may also include amino acids, botanicals, or herbal ingredients. Supplements come in many forms including capsules, pills, gummies, powders, drinks, and bars.

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FCS3-525: Dietary Supplements: Be an Informed Consumer

Sandra Bastin | Jul. 1, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Vitamins, minerals, and herbal products are commonly referred to as dietary supplements. Botanicals or herbs, amino acids, and probiotics may also fall under the heading of dietary supplements. Sometimes, a health-care professional may recommend supplements to make sure an individual gets enough essential nutrients for the purpose of maintaining or improving health. Let's look at some basic information that will help you be a more informed consumer when choosing dietary supplements.

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FCS3-105: Nonnutritive Sweeteners

Sandra Bastin | Jun. 25, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Sucrose, or table sugar, is one of the most widely used ingredients in the foods we buy. We compare the sweetness of all other sweeteners to sugar, which is classified as a "nutritive sweetener." Nutritive sweeteners not only add flavor to our foods, but they also provide calories from carbohydrates. They are found naturally in some foods, like fruit and milk, and are added to other foods. Other nutritive sweeteners found on ingredient labels include fructose, dextrose, lactose, maltose, honey, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), molasses, invert sugars, concentrated fruit-juice sweeteners, sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, and other sugars.

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FCS3-618: Sweet Enough Without All That Sugar

Melissa Goodman, Jill Harris, Heather Norman-Burgdolf | Jun. 25, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Sweeteners have been around since the earliest history of man and provided carbohydrates as a source of energy. Fruit and honey were the first sweet foods available. Today, sugar is often added to foods for preservation, fermentation, and flavor addition or enhancement.

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FCS3-570: Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D?

Ingrid Adams | Jun. 20, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Vitamin D, also known as calciferol, is important for people of all ages. Vitamin D is unique in that it is a vitamin in foods we eat and is also a hormone that our bodies can make in small amounts. Research shows us that Vitamin D is important in a wide range of body functions, including supporting bone health, managing inflammation, maintaining immune health, and even managing blood sugar.

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FCS3-548: Think Your Plate

Ingrid Adams, Heather Norman-Burgdolf | May. 31, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Making nutritious food choices is a great way for people with diabetes to manage their blood glucose. Managing blood glucose helps reduce the risk for health complications.

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FCS3-554: Family Mealtime: Using MyPlate for Our Plates

Ingrid Adams, Anna Cason | May. 23, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Family mealtime gives us the opportunity to communicate, strengthen relationships, and introduce healthy eating habits. MyPlate gives a guideline for building nutritious meals. Small changes over time add up. Here are some simple steps to begin.

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FCS3-553: Family Mealtime: A How-To Guide

Ingrid Adams, Anna Cason | Apr. 25, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Do you ever wish you had more time to talk, laugh and have fun with your family? There is a simple solution - the family meal. Everyone needs to eat. Why not find a time that all of you can sit down for a family meal? It is a perfect time to talk.

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FCS3-609: Shaking Down on Sodium

Sandra Bastin, Heather Norman-Burgdolf | Mar. 27, 2024 (Minor Revision)

Sodium is an important mineral to the body. It helps keep body fluids in balance, helps the body absorb certain nutrients, aids in muscle performance, and contributes to nerve activity. Excessive sodium in the diet is linked to high blood pressure or hypertension. Hypertension can contribute to diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, and stroke.

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FCS3-530: Water is the Liquid of Life

Kim Henken | Mar. 27, 2024 (Major Revision)

Water is truly the liquid of life. Often, we don't think about the many ways it affects our lives. We use water each day for things like drinking, cooking, cleaning, manufacturing, irrigation, transportation, power generation, and recreation. We must understand our part in protecting our water supplies. It is also important for us to know how water affects our lives and wellness.