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TasteOverTime is a website focused on taste and aging! We aim to be a go-to for:
To be the go-to website for state-of-the-art information and services about taste and aging for:
The global population is aging faster than any other demographic. Since taste diminishes with age, many people may not have information, tools and techniques to address changing tastes.
As a result, nutrition, health and well-being may suffer. The target audience of TasteOverTime is aged 50+ years; however, tasteful recipes, tools and techniques will have broader appeal to people of all ages and circumstances.
TasteOverTime is primarily designed for people who shop and cook. We also appeal to people who use pre-packed foods and beverages to “cook off” from food retailers, or “add on to” from restaurants.
TasteOverTime also aims to serve care providers responsible for food and nutrition decision-making, and healthcare professionals who provide food and beverage advice to their patients and clients.
TasteOverTime is overseen and written by Jacqueline B. Marcus, MS, RDN, LDN, CNS, FADA, FAND, international award-winning Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist with culinary and gerontology training, and the author of 40 books on food, nutrition, the culinary arts and aging.
TasteOverTime offers a wide-range of services, including consulting, visual and printable materials, recipes, menus, videos, links and more to suit a wide variety of tastes, reader needs and learning styles.
Jacqueline B. Marcus, TheFitFoodPro, is an award-winning, internationally recognized expert in taste and aging, who believes that tasty food is the key to optimal nutrition, disease prevention, health promotion, and improved life quality.
She is President/Owner of Jacqueline B. Marcus & Associates Food & Nutrition Consulting. As one of the world’s top experts in food, nutrition and aging, Jacqueline merges her culinary and nutrition training into palatable advice to help greet aging with good taste and well-being.
Jacqueline is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist, holds a Masters degree in Food Science and Nutrition, a Certificate of Training in Gerontology, is a Certified Nutrition Specialist, and a twice Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (aka American Dietetic Association). Jacqueline is an accomplished cookbook and nutrition author, sought-after speaker, spokesperson and science-based food and nutrition authority.
She was honored with the Medallion Award from The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the Outstanding Alumni Award from Northern Illinois University College of Health and Human Sciences, where she is also an Appointed Member of the Northern Illinois University Alumni Association Board of Directors.
Throughout Jacqueline’s extensive and distinguished food and nutrition career, she penned 40 books on food, nutrition and health that included two award-winning texts, Aging, Nutrition and Taste: Nutrition, Food Science and Culinary Perspectives for Aging Tastefully (Elsevier, 2019), and Culinary Nutrition: The Science and Practice of Healthy Cooking (Elsevier, 2014).
Jacqueline’s recent notable cookbooks include Protein Power, The Keto Diet Cookbook, Anti-Inflammation Cookbook, Gut Healthy Cookbook, The DASH Diet Cookbook, Incredible Coconut, and Eat Fat Lose Weight (Publications International, Ltd. (all 2016-19).
Renowned as TheFitFoodPro, Jacqueline offers food and nutrition services for the public, health, medical and professionals, food service and culinary industries, food manufacturers, and advertising and public relations firms. Her roster of clients have included Ajinomoto USA, Inc., Aldi US, Barilla, Campbell’s Healthcare, Custom Culinary, Lettuce Entertain You, McDonald’s, The Kroger Co., Quaker Oats and Weight Watchers International, among numerous others.
Jacqueline’s science-based food and nutrition interviews and writing have appeared in such diverse print and electronic media as Asian Restaurant News, Better Homes & Gardens, Food Technology, Food & Nutrition, Innova Market Insights, Restaurants and Institutions, Runner’s World, Shape, TIME Asia, TIME Europe, Today’s Dietitian, Vegetarian Times, Weight Watcher’s and the World of Food Ingredients, among countless others.
Jacqueline’s focus on taste and aging in TasteOverTime showcases her very diverse and flavored career with many future ventures and opportunities.
I’ve always had discriminating taste. But not all good.
Growing up, I was expected to eat everything, so I manipulated my foods to make sure everything tasted “just right”.
This usually involved condiments, like BBQ sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce—and all things pickled. Who knew these tasty pleasures deliver the fifth taste of umami?
Fish was on the weekly menu. The only way I could stomach it was with sour cream and lemon juice, while I held my nose! Strangely enough, I was an early adaptor of sardines—again with lemon. Who knew acid balances the sweetness of fish?
I loved long-cooked dishes, like stews and casseroles. And most foods overcooked, since my mother only knew one degree of doneness. This meant browned crusts on everything crustable—and yes, burnt toast. Who knew slow cooking and browning makes foods yummy?
Fast forward to my career in culinary nutrition, when I was approached by an ingredient company to teach everything about taste, with an emphasis on taste and aging. It’s been a 30-year adventure—the passion of my life’s work, and the inspiration for this website. Who knew taste matters?
My early taste preferences for umami-rich and acidic ingredients foretold my sense of taste today—like why I like chocolate after Mexican food, and aged Parmesan cheese as a taste uniter. I now love all the basic tastes (acidic, bitter, salty, sweet and umami or savory), and how they masterfully shape food desires, health and well-being. Who knew taste could be so vital?
Basic tastes tend to change over the years—often unknowingly. It’s my goal to be your go-to resource for tasteful ideas, recipes and meals to ensure great tasting, desirable foods and beverages as time marches on.
Got a burning question you’d like addressed? Here’s the TasteOverTime forum for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Simply write to me at jacqueline@tasteovertime.com and I’ll respond and post so all may benefit.
GREEN LEAFY VEGGIES MATTER
Q. TheFitFoodPro — What’s all the fuss about leafy greens? Aren’t all greens leafy? And does it matter if they are raw or cooked, plain or dressed? Stumped in Spokane
A. You’re almost correct, Stumped in Spokane; most salad and other greens are leafy, but some are better for you. Leafy greens (a.k.a. green leafy vegetables or GLVs) are loaded with vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytonutrients — minute plant nutrients that arm your body against disease. Pretty much the deeper the GLVs the higher the nutrients.
GLVs include arugula, beet greens, Belgian endive, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, curly endive, dandelion greens, escarole, green and red leaf lettuce, kale, mâche, (lamb’s lettuce), mustard greens, radicchio, rapini, romaine (cos) lettuce, savory, spinach, Swiss chard, turnip greens, watercress and others.
To add GLVs into your cooking repertoire check out my recipe for Brussels Sprouts with Caramelized Onions and Pistachios and Spinach Salad
But watch out! Cooking may destroy some nutrients such as vitamins C and E or folic acid. Use enamel, glass or stainless-steel pots or pans to combat potential losses. Aluminum or copper may react with GLVs and give off unpleasant odors and flavors. A little bit of fat, like olive oil or salad dressing, may help to tone down the bitter flavors of GLVs.
My goal is to show you how to maximize nutrient-rich foods, like GLVs and minimize overly processed, nutrient-poor foods. So be choosy and think green most of the time.
THE REAL SCOOP ON VITAMIN D
Q. TheFitFoodPro — Seems like everyone’s talking about vitamin D deficiency. Is this for real? I thought most every type of milk nowadays is fortified with it. What’s the real scoop about vitamin D, and how do I know if I need more? Dumbfounded in Delaware
A. Vitamin D’s IS the word, Dumbfounded in Delaware! But the person to set the record straight is your health care practitioner, not your friends or co-workers. Vitamin D can be measured through a simple blood test. Bone pain and muscle weakness are often first signs of a deficiency. You should first make sure that they’re not signs of other underlying diseases.
Vitamin D, the “sunshine” vitamin, is made when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Cover up, and … you get the picture. You need vitamin D for strong bones and to prevent rickets — a bone softening disease that may lead to skeletal deformities. Low vitamin D has also been associated with a host of other conditions, including confusion and cardiovascular disease.
If you’re dark skinned, skip fortified dairy or grain products, egg yolks, or fatty fish; have digestive or kidney problems, or are overweight or obese, you may not be 1) getting enough vitamin D, or 2) converting vitamin D to its active form, or 3) absorbing it properly.
Should you have a true vitamin D deficiency, you’ll need more vitamin D from sun, diet, and/or supplements. Diet wise, there’s some form of vitamin D for everyone.
Four ounces of salmon contains about 411 IU of vitamin D; 8-ounces of fortified soy milk – 331 IU; 8-ounces of fortified skim milk – 241 IU, and one egg yolk 41 IU. Breakfast cereals may be fortified with up to 350 IU of vitamin D – including both D2 and D3 – per 100 grams (about 2/3's of a cup). Check out plant-based products for possible vitamin D fortification.
My goal is to show you how most foods and beverages fit your diet much of the time. When they don’t, I offer alternatives to meet your nutritional needs, like vitamin D — most always food first!
See more of my vitamin D views at Vitamin D Dilemma?.
ALL FOODS MAY FIT
Q. TheFitFoodPro — What’s this business about “all foods fit”? Aren’t there some foods and drinks that simply have no benefits? What do you mean they can have a place in my diet alongside healthier ones? Puzzled in Pittsburgh
A. Let me speak in plain words instead of “nutrition-speak”, Puzzled in Pittsburgh. A soft drink with any type of real sugar contains calories. Calories produce energy, which gives us the ability to live, work and think. To call soft drinks “empty calories” ignores their energy-producing properties.
It’s the same with candy — hard candy contains carbohydrates for energy. Chocolate candy also contains fat — and maybe a little protein, plus some vitamins and minerals. In a pinch, both soft drinks and candy supply calories and hamper hunger until you can find healthier snacks or meals.
If I was provided nothing but soft drinks and candy, you bet I’d consume their energizing calories. The trouble is that we have such easy access to soft drinks and candy in quantity, so we often don’t make wise choices — or the right amounts. Both soft drinks and candy may fit into a healthy diet that otherwise meets a compliment of nutritional needs. But not in excess — that’s the deal breaker.
And while I’ve got your attention, see what I think about alternative sweeteners at Move Over Sugar! Alternative Sweeteners Soar!
My goal is to suggest products and show you how your favorite foods and drinks may be worked into a healthy diet — one that properly feeds your body and tastes great too!
NUTRIENT ROBBERS OWN UP
Q. TheFitFoodPro — Isn’t it true that some foods and drinks (particularly those higher in sugar and fat) rob your body of nutrients? Don’t you need the nutrients in your body to handle all this sugar and fat? Concerned in Cleveland
A. Right you are, Concerned in Cleveland! Sugars are carbohydrates (a.k.a. carbs), and carbs need certain vitamins and minerals to be processed by your body to create energy. Fats need other vitamins and minerals to help their breakdown and use. But when you eat other carbs, such as fortified breads and cereals, and fats (like butter or margarine), you tend to replace what’s used — and often much more!
For example, some fortified breakfast cereals and breads may contain or are fortified with these vitamins: vitamin A, thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), folic acid/folate (vitamin B9), cobalamin (vitamin B12) and vitamin D, and the minerals calcium, iron and zinc.
Some butters naturally contain the fat-soluble vitamins A and D, while some margarines and plant-based spreads may be fortified with these vitamins.
Now, if you’re only living on sugary and fatty foods, then that could matter. But if you eat and drink reasonable amounts of other foods and beverages (like some fortified breads, breakfast cereals and natural and/or fortified plant-based margarines and spreads), you’ll probably get more nutrients in the process than you think.
My goal is to help you see how most all foods and beverages fit — even the ones you think are nutrient robbers. See my Alternative Sweetener Swaps.
