Calorie counters, weight management tools, helpful tutorials, and much more are available on the Internet.

Diet and nutrition information has never been more accessible and useful than it is on the Internet. Along with thousands of healthy recipes, Web browsers can lead you to tools that help you chart your calorie intake and balance it with your physical activity. You can stay up to date on food safety issues and learn how to fine-tune your diet to reduce your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

Here are some authoritative sites and their offerings.

American Dietetic Association
www.eatright.org
This site contains information approved by registered dietitians. Among its offerings: reading lists on good nutrition, healthy eating guidelines for children, reviews of diet and lifestyle books, and nutrient fact sheets that discuss fats, sweeteners, weight management, healthy snacks, and sodium. Reviews of popular diets are also provided.

CDC Nutrition
www.cdc.gov/nutrition
This helpful site provides a wealth of food safety information, including how to store and prepare food safely at home and how to avoid foodborne illness when away from home. You’ll also find updated food recall information and updated reports about food poisoning outbreaks. Also provided are healthy recipes and a section designed for teens to help them make healthy diet and lifestyle choices.

Food and Nutrition Information Center
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov
This wide-ranging site provides information, interactive tools, guidelines, and resources on every aspect of nutrition. Topics include nutrition misinformation on the Internet, diet analysis tools, weight-control strategies, healthy recipes, nutrient recommendations by age and gender, food allergies, and eating disorders.

My Pyramid Tracker
www.mypyramidtracker.gov
MyPyramid Tracker is a dietary and physical activity assessment tool that provides information on your diet quality and physical activity. The Food Calories/Energy Balance feature calculates your energy balance by subtracting the energy you expend from physical activity from your food calories/energy intake. The Dietary Assessment provides information on your diet quality. After providing a day’s worth of dietary information, you receive an evaluation. Related links help you adjust your diet to reduce your risk for cancer, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Nutrition.gov
www.nutrition.gov
Visitors to this federal government site can find complete nutrient values for thousands of foods, review dietary guidelines for different stages of life, and learn how to compare food labels and make healthier food choices at the grocery store and when dining out. You’ll learn how to make dietary changes that will result in permanent weight loss. Other topics include nutrition’s impact on health—specifically dietary changes that can help prevent heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

NutritionData.com
www.nutritiondata.com
This site provides useful nutrition management tools that allow you to analyze recipes, search for foods by nutrient values, receive nutritional breakdowns for hundreds of foods, keep a food journal, maintain a favorite recipe list, set weight management goals, and find foods based on how filling they are. You can also search for foods that promote optimum health, and you can estimate the number of calories you need to maintain, gain, or lose weight.

By Barbara Floria, Vitality senior writer.

© StayWell Custom Communications. Information is the opinion of the sourced authors and organizations. Personal decisions regarding health, diet, and exercise should be made only after consultation with the reader’s own medical advisers. This material may not be reproduced for redistribution without written permission from StayWell Custom Communications.