
Food Sleuth Radio
Dietitian Melinda Hemmelgarn helps listeners “think beyond their plates,” connect the dots between food, health and agriculture, and find food truth.
Latest episodes

Mar 15, 2019 • 28min
Tod Cooperman, M.D., President of Consumerlab.com discusses the safety and effectiveness of popular supplements: CBD oil, bone broth, and apple cider vinegar.
Did you know that consuming CBD oil with food containing fat, or shortly after eating a meal improves absorption? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Tod Cooperman, M.D., president and founder of consumerlab.com, an independent evaluator of dietary supplements. Cooperman describes the differences between hemp oil and CBD oil, cannabidiol and cannabinoids, and discusses the difference in doses found in CBD oil prescribed as a drug to treat epilepsy, and that which is sold as a supplement. He explains how bile is necessary to absorb CBD, and discusses the safety and effectiveness of popular supplements including CBD oil, bone broth and apple cider vinegar.Related website: www.consumerlab.com

Mar 8, 2019 • 28min
Jay Feldman Executive Director and co-founder of Beyond Pesticides, discusses the merits of organic food and farming, harms from pesticide use, and the 2019 Pesticide Forum in NYC.
Did you know organic farming methods not only protect our environment, and public health, but that of farm workers and their families as well? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Jay Feldman, Executive Director and co-founder of Beyond Pesticides, a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC that works nationally to reduce toxic chemicals in our environment. Feldman discusses consumer perception about the organic label, the National Organic Standards Board’s role in upholding the integrity of the organic label, GMO crop-related herbicide use, and the upcoming 37th National Pesticide Forum in NYC April 5-6, 2019. Related website: www.beyondpesticides.org

Mar 1, 2019 • 28min
Teresa Martin, Registered Dietitian, talks about her top ten tips for gut health. (Part 2 of 2).
Did you know that the foods we eat influence the diversity of microbes living in our gut? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Teresa Martin, Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. Martin provides her top ten tips for gut health. Part two of two.Related website: https://commonfund.nih.gov/hmp

Feb 22, 2019 • 28min
Teresa Martin, Registered Dietitian, describes the role of the gut microbiota and how we can eat to promote a healthy gut.
Did you know that the microbes (microbiota) living in our gut influence our mental and physical health? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Teresa Martin, Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. Martin describes how to best nourish and protect beneficial gut bacteria. Part one of two.Related website: https://commonfund.nih.gov/hmp

Feb 8, 2019 • 28min
Dietitian Judy Simon describes how diet and lifestyle influence fertility.
Did you know that diet and lifestyle can affect male sperm count and motility, and female fertility? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Seattle-WA based dietitian, Judy Simon, MS, RDN. Simon is recognized as a national expert in nutrition counseling for reproductive health and fertility. In this second part interview, Simon discusses marijuana’s effects on sperm, the importance of diet quality, specific nutrient needs and more. (This interview is Part 2 of 2)Related website: http://www.pcosnutrition.com/foodforfertility/

Feb 1, 2019 • 28min
Registered Dietitian and fertility and reproductive nutrition expert, Judy Simon, reviews tips for men and women to improve fertility.
Did you know that diet, weight, exercise, stress and even marijuana can all impact fertility? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Judy Simon MS, RDN, expert in fertility and reproductive nutrition for women and men at the Food for Fertility Program at Seattle Reproductive Medicine. Simon shares key tips for maximizing fertility. We’ll talk about vitamin D, soy, plastics, pesticides, coffee, wine, marijuana and more. (This interview is Part 1 of 2)Related website: https://seattlefertility.com/news-media-events/research-studies/food-for-fertility/

Jan 25, 2019 • 28min
Jeannine Guttman, journalist, describes her investigation into racism and abuse of undocumented immigrant labor in Vermont’s iconic dairy industry.
Did you know that the American agricultural system could not exist in its present lucrative form if not for migrant farmworkers? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Jeannine Guttman, M.S., veteran newspaper journalist and sustainable food systems advocate. Guttman discusses the role and value of the press, as well as her investigation into the embedded racism and reliance on undocumented immigrant labor in Vermont’s iconic dairy industry. Drawing from her report: “Empty cartons, broken dairies: the unsustainability of Vermont’s iconic milk industry and its hidden reliance on undocumented abused labor,” Guttman helps us understand the effects of NAFTA, and how we depend on, yet mistreat laborers from across the border. Guttman is an opinion writer for the Vermont Standard, and is a recent graduate of Green Mountain College in Poutney, VT.Related website: www.migrantjustice.net

Jan 18, 2019 • 28min
Iris Figueroa, staff attorney for Farmworker Justice, describes immigrant farm labor statistics and health challenges.
Did you know that U.S. citizens largely depend on immigrant labor to harvest and process our food? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Iris Figueroa, staff attorney for Farmworker Justice, a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower migrant and seasonal farmworkers to improve their living and working conditions. Figueroa discusses farm labor statistics, working conditions, immigration policies, health and safety, and access to justice. Also mentioned: the CHAMACOS study’s evaluation of health risks to farmworker children: https://cerch.berkeley.edu/research-programs/chamacos-study and particular risk from the pesticide, chlorpyrifos.Related website: www.farmworkerjustice.org

Jan 11, 2019 • 28min
Registered dietitian, Rebecca Scritchfield, discusses “Body Kindness” and the pitfalls of dieting.
Did you know that most diets are doomed to fail? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Rebecca Scritchfield, Registered Dietitian, certified exercise physiologist, and author of “Body Kindness: Transform your health from the inside out – and never say diet again.” Scritchfield discusses the pain of weight stigma, and the pitfalls of our diet culture. She provides suggestions and strategies on how to make peace with food and accept our natural diversity of body sizes.Related website: www.RebeccaScritchfield.com

Jan 4, 2019 • 28min
Dietitian Karen Collins reviews diet research to reduce cancer risk.
Did you know that alcohol increases circulating levels of estrogen which can increase the risk of some cancers? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Karen Collins, registered dietitian and nutrition advisor for the American Institute for Cancer Research. Collins reviews the latest dietary research and recommendations for reducing cancer risk. Tune in for the latest advice on fiber, red meat, soy, sugar, and more.Related website: http://www.aicr.org/cancer-research/dietandcancerreport/