- With Mayo Clinic nutritionists
Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
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Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
Katherine Zeratsky and Jennifer Nelson
Jennifer K. Nelson, M.S., R.D., L.D., C.N.S.D.
Jennifer Nelson is your link to a better diet. As specialty editor of the nutrition and healthy eating guide, she plays a vital role in bringing you healthy recipes and meal planning."Nutrition is one way people have direct control over the quality of their lives," she says. "I hope to translate the science of nutrition into ways that people can select and prepare great-tasting foods that help maintain health and treat disease."
A St. Paul, Minn., native, she has been with Mayo Clinic since 1978, and is director of clinical dietetics and an associate professor of nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
She leads clinical nutrition efforts for a staff of more than 60 clinical dietitians and nine dietetic technicians and oversees nutrition services, staffing, strategic and financial planning, and quality improvement. Nelson was co-editor of the "Mayo Clinic Diet" and the James Beard Foundation Award-winning "The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook." She has been a contributing author to and reviewer of many other Mayo Clinic books, including "Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody," "The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book" and "The Mayo Clinic/Williams Sonoma Cookbook." She contributes to the strategic direction of the Food & Nutrition Center, which includes creating recipes and menus, reviewing nutrition content of various articles, and providing expert answers to nutrition questions.
Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
As a specialty editor of the nutrition and healthy eating guide, Katherine Zeratsky helps you sort through the facts and figures, the fads and the hype to learn more about nutrition and diet.A Marinette, Wis., native, she is certified in dietetics by the state of Minnesota and the American Dietetic Association. She has been with Mayo Clinic since 1999.
She's active in nutrition-related curriculum and course development in wellness nutrition at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and nutrition related to weight management and practical applications of nutrition-related lifestyle changes.
Other areas of interest include food and nutrition for all life stages, active lifestyles and the culinary arts.
She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, served a dietetic internship at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and worked as a registered dietitian and health risk counselor at ThedaCare of Appleton, Wis., before joining the Mayo Clinic staff.
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Nutrition-wise blog
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Sept. 12, 2009
Bottled water or tap water?
By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.
I ask my family "bottled or tap" every time we head to the lake for some R&R. And I don't mean beer — I mean water.
The water from our cabin's tap comes from a deep aquifer. We have the water tested regularly and it's always free of contaminants. On the other hand, it's a standing joke that the cabin's shower turns blondes into redheads.
The bottled versus tap water controversy about safety — as well as taste and economics — sent me into info-gathering mode. Here's what I found out.
Safety
Turns out that bottled water and tap water are regulated and monitored by different agencies: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees bottled water, while the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates tap water. They use similar standards for ensuring safety. The EPA mandates that water utilities provide annual quality reports to customers. These "customer confidence reports" provide information such as source (river, lake, aquifer), contaminant levels and potential health effects. (Check the "Resources" tab for a link to the EPA website where you can find out more about your local tap water.) The FDA, however, doesn't require bottled water companies to disclose that information.
Taste
This is personal. The choice between tap and bottled water, once you get beyond the issue of safety, seems to hinge on taste. For me, it depends on where I am. When I'm at the lake, I definitely down the bottled stuff.
Economics
Bottled water is definitely more expensive than tap. The bottled water business — a multi-million dollar industry — is resource intensive. In many cases, bottled water is shipped hundreds if not thousands of miles. And some folks don't properly recycle the plastic or glass bottles.
So can we assume that bottled and tap water are roughly comparable in terms of safety? I vote yes. Are you willing to pay for bottled water? Do you wonder if the bottled water business is a wise use of our natural resources? Finally, what's your preference as far as taste?
So, what'll you have? Bottled or tap?
- Jennifer
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