Can I make the electrolyte powder myself?

This is the question I asked myself a year ago: why am I spending money on electrolytes when I look at the ingredients label, can do some basic math, and make my own powdered mix? So, that’s exactly what I did.

To start, I had been testing different off-the-shelf electrolyte mixes in my own desert activities for several years, and I had a couple of winners. These were products that kept me safe and having a good time through multiple Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim hikes, backpacking through Sedona in August, and a desert ultramarathon. They were trustworthy and thanks to their nutrition facts labels, I knew the milligram amounts of each electrolyte.

And I got to work blending my own custom electrolyte mix.

And you might be asking yourself “am I ever in a situation when I need electrolytes? Am I actually better hydrated than I think?” and the answer is… unless you’re doing endurance events or desert hiking, and as long as your urine is pale yellow, you might be doing just fine.

From firing your nerves to powering every single muscle contraction, electrolytes run an invisible electrical grid inside your body 24/7. In Part 1 of Sodium and Sensibility, we break down the actual chemistry of charged ions, show where you are already getting them in everyday food, and explore if your kidneys might already have your hydration balance handled.

Everything you wanted to know about electrolytes - and then some! For the month of October, follow along to get down into the nitty gritty of sodium, potassium, and magnesium.

It’s confession time: I am officially late to the party.

Millions of people across cultures worldwide have known about this culinary trick for centuries, but if you are like me and spent years struggling to make tofu crispy, crave-worthy, and actually easy at home… there is a solution.

Forget pressing your tofu for 30 minutes under a heavy stack of cookbooks. In the latest Dish, I am sharing the simple kitchen science behind why a quick toss in cornstarch creates that golden, restaurant-quality crunch, along with how this low-glycemic, protein powerhouse supports your metabolic health.

That high-percentage dark chocolate bar in your pantry might not be delivering the metabolic boost you think it is. While natural cocoa is packed with heart-healthy, blood-sugar-supporting flavanols, common alkali processing can destroy up to 90% of them before the bar ever hits store shelves. Discover the science behind Dutch processing, why deep dark color can be deceiving, and five practical tips to spot truly flavanol-rich dark chocolate on your next grocery run.

You step on the scale, eat well, and stay active, only to be told your BMI is creeping into the "overweight" range. But what if standard weight charts are actually pointing you in the wrong direction as you age? Clinical data reveals why a higher BMI after 65 protects against frailty and muscle loss, and why carrying a little extra weight might just be your ultimate metabolic advantage.

I am a magician. And you can be, too.

Well, I can’t do real magic. I have no sleight-of-hand or cool mentalist tricks. But using a massive pressure canner on the stovetop is the closest thing I’ve come to being able to say 'abra-cadabra!' or 'ta da!'

Why? Because canning food is the harmonization of three major types of science: physics, chemistry, and biology. All three get called on at the exact same time to do their thing and make it so fresh food gets transformed into shelf-stable nutrition that will last as long as the seal will. And that feels pretty magical to me.

It's late summer and the harvest is coming in quickly. If you happen to be growing your own food, chances are the tomatoes, green beans, and cucumbers are ready to pick all at exactly the same time. The same holds true for farmers markets; you’ll get the absolute best prices on locally grown food at the end of the season right before the harvest slows.

So what do you do with all that food? You put it by for winter!

Did you know eating a raw apple is one of the most effective ways to cure garlic breath? Or that the menthol in fresh mint tricks your body into feeling colder than it actually is? Nutrition science does not always have to be serious. From the 1800s chicken experiment that led to the discovery of Vitamin B1 to why it takes kids 10 tries to like a new food, here are 4 fun food science facts you can actually use in your kitchen.

There is nothing like wild salmon. (And I don’t mean that in a casual way). Did you know canned salmon is one of the only natural food sources on the planet that pairs high calcium with the vitamin D needed to actually absorb it? Or that wild fish is technically beyond organic? From stronger bones and neurodevelopment to why this Alaskan staple belongs in your pantry, here is why wild salmon is an unmatched nutritional powerhouse - and the easiest, delicious ways to serve it.

Is your HbA1c telling the whole story? From iron deficiency to genetic variants, conventional blood sugar tests have surprising blind spots. Learn why Fructosamine is the ultimate intermediate tracker for rapid metabolic feedback, how it compares to A1c, and how you can easily test for it.

Today I entered our small town's Fourth of July trail race and walked away with a finish that surprised even me. It got me thinking about how we measure a "good" result, and why the story you tell yourself about your effort matters just as much as the outcome. Here's what I learned out on the trail (and why I'll be back next year).

Now that I have your attention with a click-bait worthy headline, I have some great news: seasonal eating is one of the most nutritious ways to eat. It is also one of the cheapest ways to eat. And I think those two things are something everyone can get on board with.

Found the perfect dietitian, but they’re cash-pay? Don't panic. Working with an out-of-network provider does not mean you have to pay for everything yourself. Here is your simple, step-by-step guide to using a superbill to submit to health insurance.

We get bad health advice from everywhere. Everywhere. And I'm not going to cut AI any slack. So I asked it to come for itself.

My husband and I have taken too many road trips to count. Early on, we ate like everyone else on the road - fast food, gas station snacks, and that familiar post-burger sluggishness that follows you for the next 200 miles.

Then we built a better system. A real one - with a car oven, a hard cooler packed with home-cooked meals, and a meal plan mapped out before we ever left the driveway.

It's cheaper than fast food, way better than anything off the highway, and honestly not that hard to pull off.

Here's exactly how we do it.

Running a marathon is hard. Asking for donations is harder. So I made a deal: donate to my NYC Marathon fundraiser for Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer research (running in honor of my grandmother), and I'll put my dietitian services to work for you. Pay what you feel is fair - the menu is inside.

“This is when the magic happens. Under a sunbeam, a Malachite butterfly lands on a wrist or a knee to rest. Good things happen when we rest.”

Writer’s note: bear with me here - this is a bit of a departure from writing about food to writing about butterflies (except it’s not really about butterflies). Hope you enjoy!

Coming off a GLP-1 can feel like the guardrails disappeared overnight. This is what’s actually happening in your body - and how a dietitian helps you land safely.