Today, there are three topics to avoid in polite conversation — politics, religion and now nutrition. In our diet-obsessed culture, nutritional controversies abound. Is gluten bad for me? Should I eat like prehistoric society? Coconut milk? Almond milk? Fat-free or whole milk? 

Gliding through these tremors of nutritional controversy is Monica Reinagel, the host of the Nutrition Diva podcast. Since 2008, Reinagel has hosted this podcast, guiding us through the shifting sands of nutritional dogma. 

The Nutrition Diva is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips (QDT) network of podcasts, including 15 other short, action-oriented shows about topics that range from parenting to budgeting your money. To its credit, QDT has been one of the most successful organizations at monetizing digital content — podcasts, videos, e-books, websites — and The Nutrition Diva happens to rank consistently in the top ten of the iTunes health podcast ratings.

As of May of this year, Reinagel and the podcast have completed an eye-popping 524 episodes, which is an achievement for longevity in the podcast world.

Monica Reinagel is the perfect host for this podcast for several reasons.

First, she’s eminently qualified, being a licensed nutritionist. Second, she is a well-known author of such books as The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan and is a leading proponent of IF Ratings, which measure the inflammation capacity in each food. 

Third, she’s been highly sought after by the media as a nutritional expert, appearing on the Dr. Oz Show, CBS News, The Today Show and in 2011 becoming a regular contributor to The Huffington Post.

Fourth, Reinagel is a classically trained singer and has performed at several opera houses, including the Baltimore Opera Company, as a soloist. 

How does her vocalist skill impact her podcast credentials? Simple, her voice is like expensive bourbon — smooth, creamy, herbal and oaky.

In fact, Reinagel can be just as compelling reading street addresses from a phone book as she is narrating her podcast.

Each podcast — about ten minutes in length — deals with a specific topic that Reinagel often receives from her listeners. Moreover, she’s at her best when sorting out nutrition fads from solid advice.

For example. Reinagel has tackled the gluten-free controversy with her usual aplomb, arguing that there is scant evidence that gluen is bad for most people who don’t have celiac disease, while freely admitting that a gluten-free diet can help with sustained weight loss, simply because a lot of foods that have gluten –cookies, cakes, white breads, etc — are also high in calories and saturated fat.

She’s also taken on the unpasteurized milk craze and spent two episodes of the health halo surrounding bee pollen. Recently, Reinagel discussed resistant starch and how chilling rice properly cut reduce calories.

With her expertise in nutrition, Reinagel also links cooking with good nutritional habits. A recent episode, for example, discusses how to use a slow cooker and an episode last year talked about cooking vegan.

What makes this podcast especially helpful is wide-angle view of nutrition, tackling everything from bone broth to zinc lozenges and melatonin as a sleep aid to energy versus nutrient density. There’s no topic out of Reinagel’s field of vision and that keeps her podcast fresh week after week.

Recent episodes include a wide spectrum of nutritional topics, such as brief investigations into CBD oil, three myths about grass-fed beef and the accuracy of calorie counters.

If there’s one area needed for improvement, it’s the quick-hit nature of this podcast (and all the QDT podcasts). Sometimes, a complex topic like burning calories or America’s eating habits require multiple episodes. And with the recent two-parter on bee pollen, it is readily apparent that Reinagel and her editorial people recognize that same need.

In late 2018, the podcast broadcast a four-part series called The Faces of Farming and the episodes focused on how farming methods affected nutritional value in crops such as strawberries, artichokes, almonds and even beef.

The podcast unearths some of its topics from listeners with Reinagel promoting a listener help line where people call in with ideas for episode topics. Reinagel will then play their voicemail in a future episode and then spend the podcast answering that question. Fiber and calories and the benefit of eating eggs are just two examples.

So the next time, you hear conflicting nutritional advice — fat-free versus full-fat foods — take seven minutes out of your day and listen to the Nutrition Diva. 

One hope –probably in vain — is that Monica Reinagel will one day do an entire podcast episode in her operatic voice. How about Habanera from Carmen?

Related posts:

The 15 Best Game of Thrones Podcasts Every Fan Needs to Listen To Daily News Podcasts Hit the Mainstream The 10 Best Patriotic American Podcasts for Fourth of July
Tags