Best Sites: The Food We Eat

Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch

About this site: Every time you buy groceries or order a meal, you're affecting the environment. Our love for toro sushi has endangered bluefin tuna, for instance, and farmed salmon is proving worse for the environment than wild-caught Alaskan salmon. Visit Seafood Watch at the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Web site and find out which kinds of seafood get the green light and which to avoid -- you may be surprised. http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp

Pluses: You can search for your favorite fish by name, browse the full list, or look at the online scorecard sorted into "best choices," "caution," and "avoid." Each item has a detail page which explains the reasons behind the rating.

Minuses: So far only the West regional card is available; more regional cards are being added.

Best feature: You can download a handy wallet-sized card to print and take to restaurants, or order printed copies for free.

Nutrio.com: Nutrition

About this site: Nutrio.com, the self-proclaimed "weight loss community", is a practical resource for anyone trying to drop a couple of pounds. There are plenty of helpful articles, including nutrition basics for shopping and dining out, as well as reference information on both vitamins and minerals. The site's experts are all accomplished fitness and nutrition professionals. (http://www.nutrio.com/servlet/nutrio?page=23&cat=4)

Pluses: The site also has plenty of useful tools, like a calculator that counts how many calories you burn during a particular activity.

Minuses: You have to register in order to check out the heavily promoted bulletin boards.

Best feature: The Diet and Diet Drugs section gives you the lowdown on over 35 popular weight-loss methods, including Atkins and the Zone. Choose a plan from the list to get the diet's requirements, claims, and drawbacks or potential dangers.

Family.com: Food

About this site: If you're looking for some new dishes to spice up your diet, check out the food section at Family.com. In addition to searching the database with more than 15,000 recipes, you can browse the collection of popular cookbooks or check out favorite recipes readers have submitted. Many are kid-friendly. There are also checklists to help you stock pantry essentials and the most useful kitchen tools for cooking and baking. (http://family.go.com/recipes/)

Pluses: The tip of the day explains things like how to tell if an avocado is ripe and when it's time to throw out leftovers.

Minuses: Too many brightly-colored ads and images make pages very busy.

Best feature: The Recipe Finder searches for a recipe by meal type, specific ingredient, and how long you want to spend preparing it.

Delicious Decisions

About this site: Adopting a heart-healthy diet doesn't mean you can no longer enjoy the tastes you love. Visit the Delicious Decisions Web site, sponsored by the American Heart Association, for creative ways to enjoy nutritious foods. Learn how to avoid temptation in the grocery store, which seasonings can spice up a dish best, and what to do when a snack attack hits. The International Indulgence page also suggests low-fat, low-cholesterol alternatives for when you dine out. (http://www.deliciousdecisions.org/)

Pluses: There's a section on weight loss and exercise as parts of a balanced lifestyle.

Minuses: Some advice is unrealistic.

Best feature: Search for healthful recipes by meal, main ingredient, or type of cuisine.

Fast Food Facts

About this site: Get the skinny on the fat content in fast-food hamburgers and find the healthiest drive-through restaurant options when you're on the road with this nutrition database. (http://www.olen.com/food/)

Pluses: Covers more than 1,000 menu items from 19 major fast-food chains.

Minuses: Some popular orders, like McDonald's french fries, are missing from the food list.

Best feature: You can search the database by many convenient categories such as type of food, restaurant name, and fat and sodium content.

Live Healthier, Live Longer

About this site: This site by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute targets people who already have heart disease, but there's also plenty for those trying to prevent it. Learn what makes your cholesterol high or low, calculate the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol you should eat, then answer a food questionnaire to see how your current diet measures up. (http://rover.nhlbi.nih.gov/chd/index.htm)

Pluses: Tip sheets with practical info on everything from keeping your low-cholesterol diet on track at parties to choosing heart-healthy oils.

Minuses: Cholesterol and Heart Disease IQ quizzes are so easy they aren't very helpful.

Best feature: Visit the Cyber Kitchen to find out how much saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium you're actually getting from your usual serving size.

Healthy Refrigerator

About this site: Learn simple ways to eat healthy and reduce your risk of heart disease at this fun and informative page. Special sections list the things in the standard food pyramid you should eat more and less often and take a look at how to makeover the contents of your refrigerator. (http://www.healthyfridge.org/mainmenu.html)

Pluses: Medical facts on the risks of heart disease in men and women.

Minuses: Only nine recipes in the recipe section.

Best feature: Ten easy-to-follow tips for stocking a Heart-Healthy Refrigerator.

CyberDiet

About this site: One of the biggest and best nutrition sites on the Web, CyberDiet offers food facts, interactive tools, and recipes to help you plan healthier meals. (http://www.CyberDiet.com)

Pluses: The Nutritional Profile calculates you how many calories you should get each day and how many you really get.

Minuses: You have to register to access most of the site's content.

Best feature: Read food labels to find the nutritional value of everything from soup to nuts. For direct access to fast-food labels, try the Fast Food Quest.