Ask the Experts

Q: Are baked potatoes bad for you? I eat them for the potassium, because...

Answer : Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, director of Tufts HNRCA Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory, says that baked potatoes are one potential option to increase the potassium...

Q: How long do fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables maintain their nutrients when stored...

Answer : ADiane L. McKay, PhD, an assistant professor at Tufts Friedman School, answers: In general, produce retains more of these nutrients when stored in the refrigerator ...

Q: I am a resident in a retirement home. One of the other residents...

According to Susan B. Roberts, PhD, director of Tufts HNRCA Energy Metabolism Laboratory and author of The I Diet www.myidiet.com, There is really nothing scientifically supporting this idea.

Q: Are the anthocyanidins and other strongly colored phytochemicals in fruit still present in...

Answer : Jeffrey B. Blumberg, PhD, director of Tufts HNRCA Antioxidants Research Laboratory, replies: According to the USDA Database for the Flavonoid Content of Selected Foods, jams, jellies...

Q: How long can cooked vegetables, as with left-overs, be stored in the refrigerator...

Answer : Diane L. McKay, PhD, an assistant professor at Tufts Friedman School, answers: For left-overs...

Q: Ive heard a lot about the nutritional virtues of red wine, especially resveratrol,...

Answer : Angelo Azzi, MD, PhD, senior scientist at Tufts HNRCA Vascular Biology Laboratory, explains that white wine does also contain resveratrol...

Q: Is it possible to get the recommended 10 milligrams of lutein from food?...

Answer : It should be, if one consumes a diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Lutein (from the Latin luteus meaning yellow...

Q: Would senior multivitamins contain enough of the AREDS2 nutrients to take instead of...

Answer : Probably. Check to see that the vitamin contains all the AREDS suggested vitamins: vitamins C, E, lutein, zinc."

Q: A friend recently suggested I take Greens First, which claims to have the...

Answer :Dehydrated, powdered, juiced and spraydried fruit and vegetable products can never deliver all the nutritional value of the original produce. Even if a product has the same amount of antioxidants and phytonutrients as a daily diet of fruits and vegetables, youre missing the fiber and other benefits of eating whole foods. Youre also not using fruits and vegetables to replace other, higher-calorie and high-fat foods in your diet. …

Q: I have heard that high heat destroys the healthy fats in nut oils;...

Answer :Youre correct that some nut oils have a low smoke point, the temperature at which they begin to burn. Unrefined walnut oil, for example, has a smoke point of only 320 degrees Fahrenheit, although refined walnut oil can go to about 400 degrees. Almond oil, by contrast, has a smoke point of 430 degrees. …