Is coffee good for you? Should you be eating gluten-free? And are your late-night snacks making you gain weight? Check out my interview with JJ Virgin, fitness and nutrition expert and co-star of TLC’s Freaky Eaters, for the answers to all your nutrition questions.

Lots of college students, myself included, depend on coffee to get us through the day. Is coffee good or bad for you?

Here’s the thing: coffee is actually good for you. However, it’s the amount that matters. For example, I’m having a Venti Half-Decaf Americano now, which is fine, but five of them would not be. I remember a day when I was just drinking lattes all day, and that was way too much. Coffee can actually keep stress hormones around, which helps with focus and concentration. But too much can make you anxious and wired, and actually burn out the adrenal gland. Coffee is also one of the richest sources of antioxidants around, which is another reason why I tell people it’s good for them.

I’m always telling my Body Blog readers to eat breakfast! Am I right? Is breakfast really important? And how much should we be eating for breakfast?

The research is very clear on this. People who eat a substantial, balanced breakfast actually lose more weight and keep it off. For breakfast, you should eat 400 calories or more, and include clean, lean protein, healthy fat, and a high-fiber carbohydrate. If you don’t eat, your body eats itself. And unfortunately it’s not going to snack on your belly fat and butt, it’s going to snack on your muscles. I always tell people that breakfast really sets the metabolic tone for the day. Read More »

These days the type of milk to put in your cereal or pair with your latte is confusing. I hear more and more people in line with me at the ‘Bucks ordering their lattes with soy. At the grocery store, I see those around me grabbing for soy “chicken” nuggets, soy “sausage,” soy ice-cream and soy based cheeses and coffee creamer. I’m surprised that soy hasn’t infiltrated our pre-games with soy-tinis or soy beer. Though I’m sure that’s next.

On one hand, it feels like a GREAT move for people; stepping away from non-organic dairy and meat, both of which are often pumped with hormones and antibiotics and really are just not good for you (or the animals and the environment). But is switching everything out for soy products the answer?

Soy is found in just about EVERYTHING these days. So much so that soy consumption in the U.S. has skyrocketed since the early 1990s. Sales climbed from $300 million in 1992 to over $4 billion in 2008. It’s cheap to produce (mainly because the government subsidizes its growth) and is in tons of packaged products. Seriously, check your food labels in your cabinet; I’m willing to bet Soy Lecithin or Soy Protein Isolate (SPI) is in a lot of things you wouldn’t even think would have soy in it! Read More »

Got something awesome everyone needs to know about? A really rad singer? A wicked new book? Places where peeps can get a deal, yo?? Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com or tweet me and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, every week. Make your kindergarten teacher proud and share!

I love me a good snack bar. 4pm rolls around and I’m out and about – walking to class, walking to the library, skipping class and shopping – but like clockwork, 4pm rolls around and I want a snack. And as tempting as those fresh baked chocolate chip muffins are downstairs in the lib (I swear they waft the smell through the vents), I know not only will that muffin contribute to a much larger muffin (top), but with no protein I will be scavenging for food like a boy from Lord of the Flies in T-30 minutes.

Enter: the snack bar.
Sweet enough to satisfy and protein-y/fiber-y enough to keep me focused on studying/shopping until dinner.
And now I have two more favorites to add to the mix: Read More »

I am horrible when it comes to eating, and my metabolism is probably waiting until I’m thirty to get its revenge in the form of cellulite and love handles. I skip meals all the time, and have been known to go days without food.

No, I don’t have an eating disorder. I have a working disorder—I’m a total workaholic.

When I do eat, it needs to be healthy and somewhat portable. I’ve considered trying Atkins or Southbeach protein bars, Power Bars, or even Slim Fast Shakes as a snack I can pound in the car on my way to work. But, honestly, I can’t justify consuming 400 calories in the form of a little bitty rice bar that is not going to quiet my growling stomach, or 13 grams of fat in a similarly unsatisfying wannabe-milkshake concoction.

Instead, I live off of caffeine.

One morning, before work, I stopped at my favorite coffee shop to grab a skim milk, sugar-free vanilla latte, and saw a display of Vegan Energy Bars at the counter. I’m not vegan, but was hungry and I thought that those little heart-shaped bars might be crazy enough to work! I mean, the vegans are picky about what they put into their bodies and without meat or dairy, they still need nutrients, right?

I purchased a package of chocolate chip flavored (if it has chocolate it can’t be that bad), heart-shaped, soy-filled cakes of pure delight that day, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Read More »