Nutrition Diva

878. A tick bite you may not even remember getting can leave you unable to eat a hamburger, a slice of pizza, or a bowl of ice cream. That's alpha-gal syndrome, and it's turning up far outside its original range.

Alpha-gal is a sugar molecule found in the cells of most mammals but not in humans. When a lone star tick injects it under the skin, the immune system can start treating it as a threat. After that, beef, pork, lamb, venison, and sometimes dairy or gelatin can trigger a reaction three to six hours later, which is a big part of why this food allergy goes undiagnosed for years.

Today, Monica breaks down what the research actually shows:

• Why the lone star tick's range is expanding into the Midwest, the Northeast, and eastern Canada
• How alpha-gal syndrome differs from Lyme disease, and why they get confused
• What the CDC's estimate of 450,000 cases means, and why the "1 in 4" figure circulating on social media isn't measuring the same thing
• What a diagnosis means for your diet, including collagen, gelatin, organ meats, and why tolerance varies so much from person to person
• Why symptoms can be worse on some days than others
• Whether the condition is permanent, and what happens to antibody levels over time
• How to lower your risk of tick bites, per the CDC
• Where gene-edited GalSafe pigs fit into the picture

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself! 

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips. 

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. 

References

About Alpha-gal Syndrome | Alpha-gal Syndrome | CDC 

Nearly One in Four Adults in High-Risk States Have Alpha-gal Antibodies Linked to Tick-Borne Meat Allergy | Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases 

Join us for a live show taping on September 17 in New York City. Details at wellnessworkshere.com/live.

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Eight glasses a day. An ounce per pound. A pinch of salt in your water. Everyone has a hydration rule, and most of them came from somewhere other than the research. 

This live episode was recorded in front of an audience at the Friends of the National Arboretum in Washington, DC (@fonarboretum), with an outdoor yoga session led by Bikram Yoga Works (@bikramyogaworks). Thank you to both for making the night possible.

Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN, answers listener questions about hydration and explains what the research actually supports. She breaks down the four phases of hydration, which are intake, absorption, retention, and distribution, and explains why sodium and glucose work together to pull fluid out of your digestive system and into your tissues faster than water alone. That mechanism is exactly what an electrolyte drink mix like Liquid I.V. is built around, which is why it can be such a useful tool when you are sweating hard, training, traveling, or just trying to keep up on a hot day.

Monica also covers how much water you really need each day, how much of it you already get from food and other beverages, and how much fluid and sodium you lose through sweat.

Plus, she takes listener questions on whether sugar free electrolyte drinks work as well as the sugared kind, how to think about sodium guidelines when you are sweating heavily, whether it is possible to drink too much water, whether a pinch of salt or a squeeze of lemon does anything, whether coffee and tea count toward your daily fluids, what apple cider vinegar in your morning water actually does, and whether reverse osmosis water needs minerals added back in.

Topics include hydration, electrolytes, sodium, healthy habits, nutrition myths, viral nutrition claims, sports drinks, caffeine, and evidence based nutrition.

The science of hydration, presented by Liquid I.V. @liquidiv #paidpartner

Use the code 2026ND on liquidiv.com for 20% off your first order.

Special thanks to Friends of the National Arboretum and Bikram Yoga Works !!

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877. L-theanine, an amino acid found in tea leaves, is having a moment with longevity enthusiasts and menopause influencers alike, promoted to calm anxiety, clear brain fog, improve sleep, and slow aging. But does the research hold up? In this episode, Monica breaks down what the studies on L-theanine actually show about attention, sleep quality, stress, and cellular aging, and why a cup of coffee or a short nap might do just as much for your focus.

This is the expert roundtable on healthy aging that Monica participated in with USNWR that triggered this episode on theanine.

References

Cognitive and affective effects of L-Theanine: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 31 randomized trials | Molecular Psychiatry 

The effects of L-theanine consumption on sleep outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis - ScienceDirect 

L-Theanine Extends the Lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans by Reducing the End Products of Advanced Glycosylation 

l-theanine: From tea leaf to trending supplement – does the science match the hype for brain health and relaxation? - ScienceDirect 

Related episodes

594 - How sleep affects weight gain

834 - The Truth About ‘Cortisol Belly’

848 - Your questions about coffee and health

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876. There's no vitamin F or G. After E, we jump straight to K, and that quirk is a hint that this nutrient is more complicated than it looks. Vitamin K isn't one thing. It's a whole family of compounds -- K1, K2, MK-4, MK-7 -- that come from different sources and do completely different jobs, from blood clotting to steering calcium into your bones instead of your artery walls.

In this episode, Monica untangles the confusing terminology and gets to the question listeners keep asking: does a vitamin K2 supplement actually protect your bones? She digs into what the research really shows, including a widely cited meta-analysis that lumped together two very different kinds of studies, why the prescription-strength results don't tell you much about the low-dose supplement in your cabinet, and whether the food and gut bacteria you already have might be doing the job on their own. Plus, the truth about taking vitamin K with your vitamin D.

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself! 

We've also curated some great playlists on specific episode topics including Staying Strong as We Age, Diabetes, Weight Loss That Lasts and Gut Health! Also, find a playlist of our bone health series, Stronger Bones at Every Age. 

Have a nutrition question? Send an email to nutrition@quickanddirtytips.com.

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips. 

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. 

Related episode

713 - Can vitamin K2 prevent osteoporosis?

References

Efficacy of vitamin K2 in the prevention and treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials - PubMed 

Dietary intake of menaquinone is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease: the Rotterdam Study - PubMed 

Vitamin K2 and D in Patients With Aortic Valve Calcification: A Randomized Double-Blinded Clinical Trial | Circulation 

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On a road trip, tackling a summer cleanup, or just catching up on podcasts? QDT has you covered with Summer Saturday encores from your favorite shows. See the full Summer Saturday lineup on Spotify and enjoy this episode, which first aired in November 2025.

838. Are manufacturers using a regulatory loophole to sneak untested chemicals into our food? In this episode, we break down what GRAS really means, why it exists, and how the process works. 

Resources:

GRAS database

Database of substances added to foods

New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself! 

We've also curated some great playlists on specific episode topics including Staying Strong as We Age, Diabetes, Weight Loss That Lasts and Gut Health! Also, find a playlist of our bone health series, Stronger Bones at Every Age. 

Have a nutrition question? Send an email to nutrition@quickanddirtytips.com.

Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips. 

Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.com

Nutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.