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Central European (Northern) type of finished parchment made of goatskin stretched on a wooden frame

Parchment is a thin material made from calfskin, sheepskin or goatskin, often split. Its most common use was as a material for writing on, for documents, notes, or the pages of a book, codex or manuscript. It is distinct from leather in that parchment is limed but not tanned; therefore, it is very reactive to changes in relative humidity and is not waterproof. Finer-quality parchment is called vellum.

History[link]

German parchmenter, 1568

Parchment was developed in Pergamon, from which name it is believed the word "parchment" evolved,^[1] under the patronage of either Eumenes I, who ruled 263–241 BC; or Eumenes II, who ruled 197–158), as a substitute for papyrus, which was temporarily not being exported from Alexandria, its only source.

Herodotus mentions writing on skins as common in his time, the 5th century BC; and in his Histories (v.58) he states that the Ionians of Asia Minor had been accustomed to give the name of skins (diphtherai) to books; this word was adapted by Hellenized Jews to describe scrolls.^[2] Parchment, however, derives its name from Pergamon, the city where it was perfected (via the Latin pergamenum and the French parchemin). In the 2nd century BC a great library was set up in Pergamon that rivalled the famous Library of Alexandria. As prices rose for papyrus and the reed used for making it was over-harvested towards local extinction in the two nomes of the Nile delta that produced it, Pergamon adapted by increasing use of parchment.

Writing on prepared animal skins had a long history, however. David Diringer noted that "the first mention of Egyptian documents written on leather goes back to the Fourth Dynasty (c. 2550-2450 BCE), but the earliest of such documents extant are: a fragmentary roll of leather of the Sixth Dynasty (c. twenty-fourth century BCE), unrolled by Dr. H. Ibscher, and preserved in the Cairo Museum; a roll of the Twelfth Dynasty (c. 1990-1777 BCE) now in Berlin; the mathematical text now in the British Museum (MS. 10250); and a document of the reign of Ramses II (early thirtheenth century BCE)."^[3]. Though the Assyrians and the Babylonians impressed their cuneiform on clay tablets, they also wrote on parchment from the 6th century BC onward. Rabbinic literature traditionally maintains that the institution of employing parchment made of animal hides for the writing of ritual objects such as the Torah, mezuzah, and tefillin is Sinaitic in origin, with special designations for different types of parchment such as gevil and klaf.^[4] Early Islamic texts are also found on parchment.

One sort of parchment is vellum, a word that is used loosely to mean parchment, and especially to mean fine parchment, but more strictly refers to parchment made from calfskin (although goatskin can be as fine in quality). The words vellum and veal come from Latin vitulus, meaning calf, or its diminutive vitellus. In the Middle Ages, calfskin and split sheepskin were the most common materials for making parchment in England and France, while goatskin was more common in Italy. Other skins such as those from large animals such as horse and smaller animals such as squirrel and rabbit were also used. Whether uterine vellum (vellum made from aborted calf fetuses) was ever really used during the medieval period is still a matter of great controversy.

An English deed written on fine parchment or vellum with seal tag dated 1638.

There was a short period during the introduction of printing where parchment and paper were used interchangeably: although most copies of the Gutenberg Bible are on paper, some were printed on parchment. In 1490, Johannes Trithemius preferred the older methods, because "handwriting placed on parchment will be able to endure a thousand years. But how long will printing last, which is dependent on paper? For if ...it lasts for two hundred years that is a long time."^[5]

In the later Middle Ages, parchment was largely replaced by paper. New techniques in paper milling allowed it to be much cheaper and more abundant than parchment. With the advent of printing in the later fifteenth century, the demands of printers far exceeded the supply of animal skins for parchment.

The heyday of parchment use was during the medieval period, but there has been a growing revival of its use among artists since the late 20th century. Although parchment never stopped being used (primarily for governmental documents and diplomas) it had ceased to be a primary choice for artist's supports by the end of 15th century Renaissance. This was partly due to its expense and partly due to its unusual working properties. Parchment consists mostly of collagen. When the water in paint media touches parchment's surface, the collagen melts slightly, forming a raised bed for the paint, a quality highly prized by some artists.

A 1385 copy of the Sachsenspiegel, a German legal code, written on parchment with straps and clasps on the binding

Parchment is also extremely affected by its environment and changes in humidity, which can cause buckling. Books with parchment pages were bound with strong wooden boards and clamped tightly shut by metal (often brass) clasps or leather straps;^[6] this acted to keep the pages pressed flat despite humidity changes. Such metal fittings continued to be found on books as decorative features even after the use of paper made them unnecessary.^[6]

Some contemporary artists prize the changeability of parchment, noting that the material seems alive and like an active participant in making artwork. To support the needs of the revival of use by artists, a revival in the art of making individual skins is also underway. Handmade skins are usually better prepared for artists and have fewer oily spots which can cause long-term cracking of paint than mass-produced parchment. Mass-produced parchment is usually made for lamp shades, furniture, or other interior design purposes.^[7]

The radiocarbon dating techniques that are used on papyrus can be applied to parchment as well. They do not date the age of the writing but the preparation of the parchment itself. However, radiocarbon dating can often be used on the inks that make up the writing, since many of them contain organic compounds such as plant leachings, soot, and wine.^{[citation needed]}

Manufacture[link]

"Parchment is prepared from pelt, i.e., wet, unhaired, and limed skin, simply by drying at ordinary temperatures under tension, most commonly on a wooden frame known as a stretching frame".^[8]

Flaying, soaking, and dehairing[link]

After being flayed, the skin is soaked in water for about 1 day. This removes blood and grime from the skin and prepares it for a dehairing liquor.^[9] The dehairing liquor was originally made of rotted, or fermented, vegetable matter, like beer or other liquors, but by the Middle Ages an unhairing bath included lime. Today, the lime solution is occasionally sharpened by the use of sodium sulfide. The liquor bath would have been in wooden or stone vats and the hides stirred with a long wooden pole to avoid contact with the alkaline solution. Sometimes the skins would stay in the unhairing bath for 8 or more days depending how concentrated and how warm the solution was kept—unhairing could take up to twice as long in winter. The vat was stirred two or three times a day to ensure the solution's deep and uniform penetration. Replacing the lime water bath also sped the process up. However, if the skins were soaked in the liquor too long, they would be weakened and not able to stand the stretching required for parchment.^[9]

Stretching[link]

After soaking in water to make the skins workable, the skins were placed on a stretching frame. A simple frame with nails would work well in stretching the pelts. The skins could be attached by wrapping small, smooth rocks in the skins with rope or leather strips. Both sides would be left open to the air so they could be scraped with a sharp, semi-lunar knife to remove the last of the hair and get the skin to the right thickness. The skins, which were made almost entirely of collagen, would form a natural glue while drying and once taken off the frame they would keep their form. The stretching aligned the fibers to be more nearly parallel to the surface.

Parchment treatments[link]

To make the parchment more aesthetically pleasing or more suitable for the scribes, special treatments were used. According to Reed there were a variety of these treatments. Rubbing pumice powder into the flesh side of parchment while it was still wet on the frame was used to make it smooth and to modify the surface to enable inks to penetrate more deeply. Powders and pastes of calcium compounds were also used to help remove grease so the ink would not run. To make the parchment smooth and white, thin pastes (starchgrain or staunchgrain) of lime, flour, egg whites and milk were rubbed into the skins.^[10]

Meliora di Curci in her paper "The History and Technology of Parchment Making" notes that parchment was not always white. "Cennini, a 15th century craftsman provides recipes to tint parchment a variety of colours including purple, indigo, green, red and peach." The Early medieval Codex Argenteus and Codex Vercellensis, the Stockholm Codex Aureus and the Codex Brixianus give a range of luxuriously produced manuscripts all on purple vellum, in imitation of Byzantine examples, like the Rossano Gospels, Sinope Gospels and the Vienna Genesis, which at least at one time are believed to have been reserved for Imperial commissions.

Many techniques for parchment repair exist, to restore creased, torn, or incomplete parchments.

Reuse[link]

During the seventh through the ninth centuries, many earlier parchment manuscripts were scrubbed and scoured to be ready for rewriting, and often the earlier writing can still be read. These recycled parchments are called palimpsests. Later, more thorough techniques of scouring the surface irretrievably lost the earlier text.

Jewish parchment[link]

A Sefer Torah, the traditional form of the Hebrew Bible, is a scroll of parchment.

The way in which parchment was processed (from hide to parchment) has undergone a tremendous evolution based on time and location. Parchment and vellum are not the sole methods of preparing animal skins for writing. In the Babylonian Talmud (Bava Batra 14B) Moses writes the first Torah Scroll on the unsplit cow-hide called gevil.

Parchment is still the only medium used by traditional religious Jews for Torah scrolls or tefilin and mezuzahs, and is produced by large companies in Israel. For those uses, only hides of kosher animals are permitted. Since there are many requirements for it being fit for the religious use, the liming is usually processed under supervision of a qualified Rabbi.^[11]

Additional uses of the term[link]

In some universities, the word parchment is still used to refer to the certificate (scroll) presented at graduation ceremonies, even though the modern document is printed on paper or thin card; although doctoral graduands may be given the option of having their scroll written by a calligrapher on vellum. The University of Notre Dame still uses animal parchment for its diplomas. Similarly, University of Glasgow and Heriot-Watt University use goat skin parchment paper for their degrees.

Plant-based parchment[link]

Vegetable (paper) parchment is made by passing a waterleaf made of pulp fibers into sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid hydrolyses and solubilises the main natural organic polymer, cellulose, present in the pulp wood fibers. The paper web is then washed in water, which stops the hydrolysis of the cellulose and causes a kind of cellulose coating to form on the waterleaf. The final paper is dried. This coating is a natural non-porous cement, that gives to the vegetable parchment paper its resistance to grease and its semi-translucency.

Other processes can be used to obtain grease-resistant paper, such as waxing the paper or using fluorine-based chemicals. Highly beating the fibers gives an even more translucent paper with the same grease resistance. Silicone and other coatings may also be applied to the parchment. A silicone-coating treatment produces a cross-linked material with high density, stability and heat resistance and low surface tension which imparts good anti-stick or release properties. Chromium salts can also be used to impart moderate anti-stick properties.

Parchment craft[link]

Historians believe that parchment craft originated as an art form in Europe during the 15th or 16th century. Parchment craft at that time occurred principally in Catholic communities, where crafts persons created lace-like items such as devotional pictures and communion cards. The craft developed over time, with new techniques and refinements being added. Until the 16th century, parchment craft was a European art form. However, missionaries and other settlers relocated to South America, taking parchment craft with them. As before, the craft appeared largely among the Catholic communities. Often, young girls receiving their First Communion received gifts of handmade parchment crafts.

Although the invention of the printing press led to a reduced interest in hand made cards and items, by the 18th century, people were regaining interest in detailed handwork. Parchment cards became larger in size and crafters began adding wavy borders and perforations. In the 19th century, influenced by French romanticism, parchment crafters began adding floral themes and cherubs and hand embossing.

Parchment craft today involves various techniques, including tracing a pattern with white or colored ink, embossing to create a raised effect, stippling, perforating, coloring and cutting. Parchment craft appears in hand made cards, as scrapbook embellishments, as bookmarks, lampshades, decorative small boxes, wall hangings and more.

See also[link]

• Manuscript culture

References[link]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Parchments

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Parchment

• Pergamena Parchment
• Central European University, Materials and Techniques of Manuscript Production: Parchment: medieval technique
• On-line demonstration of the preparation of vellum from the BNF, Paris. Text in French, but mostly visual.
• Leaves of gold
• Meir Bar-Ilan, "Parchment"
• Lacus Curtius Website: Liber: Roman book production
• UNESCO: Parchment: production and conservation
• Inden written Hasewint Parchment Contemporary application of the Medieval technique.
• Pergamon Perchment Web Site (Perchment invented in Pergamon)
• Kare Parchment Web Site (Parchment from Turkey)
• Parchment - The Online Encyclopedia
• Materials and Techniques of Manuscript Production -Parchment
• Traditional Restoration Techniques: Parchment
• The History and Technology of Parchment Making - Lochac College of Scribes

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009)

Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues-rock style, and is also credited as being pioneers of heavy metal (their cover of "Summertime Blues" is sometimes cited as the first in the genre^[4]), punk rock,^[3] stoner rock,^[2][5] doom metal,^[5][6] experimental rock,^[7] and grunge.^[8] According to Tim Hills in his book, The Many Lives of the Crystal Ballroom,^[9] "Blue Cheer was the epitome of San Francisco psychedelia." Jim Morrison of The Doors called the group "The single most powerful band I've ever seen."^[10]

The band is said to have been named after a street brand of LSD and promoted by renowned LSD chemist and former Grateful Dead patron, Owsley Stanley.^[11]

History[link]

Golden years (1966–1969)[link]

Blue Cheer came together in 1966. It was co-founded by Eric Albronda and Jerry Russell, music aficionados who wanted to become involved with the San Francisco music scene of the 1960s. Both moved with Dickie Peterson from Davis, California, to San Francisco. Peterson had previously been with the Davis-based band Andrew Staples & The Oxford Circle, as well as future Blue Cheer members Paul Whaley and Gary Lee Yoder. The original Blue Cheer personnel were singer/bassist Dickie Peterson, guitarist Leigh Stephens and Eric Albronda as drummer. Albronda was later replaced by Paul Whaley, who was joined by Dickie's brother Jerre Peterson (guitar), Vale Hamanaka (keyboards), and Jerry Whiting (vocals, harmonica). Albronda continued his association with Blue Cheer as a member of Blue Cheer management, as well as being the producer or co-producer of five Blue Cheer albums.^[12]

The band was managed by an ex-member of the Hells Angels named Gut.^[4] Early on, it was decided that the lineup should be trimmed down. It is said that Blue Cheer decided to adopt a power trio configuration after seeing Jimi Hendrix perform at the Monterey Pop Festival.^[13] Hamanaka and Whiting were asked to leave. Jerre Peterson didn't want to remain in the group without them, so he departed as well, leaving Dickie, Leigh and Paul as a trio. Their first hit was a cover version of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" from their debut album Vincebus Eruptum (1968). The single peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, their only such hit, and the album peaked at #11 on the Billboard 200 chart.

The group's sound was hard to categorize, but was definitely blues-based, loud and psychedelic.

The "Summertime Blues" single was backed with Dickie Peterson's original song "Out Of Focus". Peterson also contributed to the album the eight-minute "Doctor Please" and "Second Time Around", which features Paul Whaley's frantic drum solo. Filling out the record, the band cranked out blues covers "Rock Me Baby" and Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm" (titled "Parchment Farm").

The group underwent several personnel changes, the first occurring after the 1968 release of Outsideinside after Leigh Stephens left the band due to musical differences or, as some report, deafness.^[14] He was replaced by Randy Holden, formerly of Los Angeles garage rock band The Other Half. On 1969's New! Improved! Blue Cheer there were different guitarists on side 1 and side 2 (Randy Holden and Bruce Stephens) due to Holden's unanticipated departure from the band. Another guitarist that was in the band for a short stint was Tom Weisser, who recorded his material with Mitch Mitchell on drums and Dickie Peterson on bass. Later, Ralph Burns Kellogg also joined the band on keyboards.^[15] Blue Cheer's style now changed to a more commercial hard rock sound à la Steppenwolf or Iron Butterfly. For the fourth album Blue Cheer, Bruce Stephens left^[16] and was succeeded by Gary Lee Yoder who helped complete the album.

According to Dickie Peterson the group's lifestyle during this period caused problems with the music industry and press. Peterson said the group was outraged by the Vietnam War and society in general.^[17]

Reconfigurations, inactivity and first extended hiatus (1970s)[link]

The new line-up of Peterson, Ralph Burns Kellogg, Norman Mayell (drums) and Yoder in 1970 saw the release of The Original Human Being, followed by 1971's Oh! Pleasant Hope. When Oh! Pleasant Hope failed to dent the sales charts, Blue Cheer temporarily split up in 1972.

There was a temporary resumption in 1974 with Dickie Peterson being joined by brother Jerre, Ruben de Fuentes (guitar)^[18] and Terry Rae (drums) for some tour dates. This grouping continued on briefly in 1975 with former Steppenwolf bassist Nick St. Nicholas replacing Dickie. The group was then largely inactive for nearly three years, until 1978.

Dickie returned in 1978-79 with a fresh line-up of Tony Rainier on guitar and Mike Fleck on drums. This version of the group never got out of rehearsal studios.

Further reconfigurations, relocation to Germany, second and third extended hiatus (1980s–1998)[link]

Blue Cheer was once again inactive in the early 1980s. There was another attempt to reunite in 1983, but that fell through. In 1984, Peterson had better luck when he returned with Whaley and Rainier as Blue Cheer and a brand new album The Beast Is Back, which was released on the New York label Megaforce Records. Whaley left again in 1985 as drummer Brent Harknett took over, only to be succeeded by Billy Carmassi in 1987. That same year, Dickie led yet another new lineup of the Cheer that had Ruben de Fuentes back on guitar and Eric Davis on drums. In 1988, the line-up changed once again, being now composed of Dickie Peterson (bass), with Andrew "Duck" MacDonald (guitar) and Dave Salce (drums).

From 1989 to 1993, Blue Cheer toured mainly in Europe. During this time, they played with classic rock acts as well as then-up-and-coming bands: Mountain, Outlaws, Thunder, The Groundhogs, Ten Years After, Mucky Pup, Biohazard and others.

1989 saw the release of Blue Cheer's first official live album, Blitzkrieg over Nüremberg. This album was recorded during Blue Cheer's first European tour in decades.

1990 saw the release of the Highlights and Lowlives studio album, composed of blues-based heavy metal and one ballad. The album was co-produced by notable grunge producer Jack Endino and producer Roland Hofmann. The line-up was Peterson, Whaley on drums and MacDonald on guitars.^[19]

Blue Cheer followed up "Highlights" with the much heavier Dining with the Sharks. Duck MacDonald was replaced by German ex-Monsters^[20] guitar player Dieter Saller in 1990. Peterson was on bass and vocals and Paul Whaley was again on drums. Also featured is a special guest appearance by Groundhogs guitarist Tony McPhee. The album was co-produced by Roland Hofmann and Blue Cheer.^[21] Gary Holland (ex-Dokken/Great White/Britton) replaced Whaley on drums in 1993.

In the early 1990s, Peterson and Whaley re-located to Germany. In 1992 Peterson recorded his first solo album "child of the darkness" in Cologne with a band named "The Scrap Yard". The album appeared five years later in Japan on Captain Trip Records. After Peterson came back to the U.S. (1994), Blue Cheer was dormant from 1994 to 1999.

The return of Blue Cheer (1999–2009)[link]

In 1999, Peterson & Whaley got together with guitarist MacDonald, to resume touring as Blue Cheer. This band configuration remained largely constant from 1999 until Peterson's death in 2009.

In 2000, Blue Cheer was the subject of a tribute album, Blue Explosion - A Tribute to Blue Cheer, featuring such bands as Pentagram, Internal Void, Hogwash and Thumlock.

Peterson and Leigh Stephens were together once again in Blue Cheer with drummer Prairie Prince at the Chet Helms Memorial Tribal Stomp in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park on October 29, 2005, and their lively performance drew old rockers like Paul Kantner and others from backstage to observe. They did some recordings in Virginia in Winter 2005 with Joe Hasselvander of Raven and Pentagram on drums, due to Paul Whaley choosing to remain in Germany. While Hasselvander played on the entire album, his contribution was reduced to drums on five songs, with Paul Whaley re-recording the drum parts on the balance of the album. This was because Whaley was set to rejoin the band and it was felt that he should contribute to the album, prior to touring. The resulting CD, What Doesn't Kill You..., released in 2007, features contributions from both Whaley and Hasselvander as a consequence.^[22]

Blue Cheer's video for Summertime Blues made an appearance in 2005 documentary Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, where Geddy Lee of Rush referred to the group as one of the first heavy metal bands.

Death of Peterson and disbandment (2009)[link]

On October 12, 2009, Peterson died^[23] in Germany after development and spread of prostate cancer.^[17] After Peterson's death, longtime Blue Cheer guitarist Andrew MacDonald wrote on the group's website that "Blue Cheer is done. Out of respect for Dickie, Blue Cheer (will) never become a viable touring band again."

Dispute over ownership of band name[link]

In recent years, a dispute has arisen as to ownership of the Blue Cheer band name. It was reported that, as of the early 2000s (decade), former Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden, assisted by Randy Pratt of The Lizards band, had trademarked the Blue Cheer band name. Holden's association with Blue Cheer was quite brief; his only recorded output with the band is three tracks on New! Improved! Blue Cheer in 1969.^[24] The matter had upset Dickie Peterson, given his position as a co-founder of the band and the only continuing member since its inception, but does not appear to have been resolved.^[25]

According to Randy Pratt, this report is not entirely accurate. Pratt provides uncited commentary^[26] as follows:

The Blue Cheer band name was trademarked in 2000 by fan and professional musician Randy Pratt. Pratt put the trademark in former Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden's possession after Dickie Peterson said he was finished with Blue Cheer and wanted nothing to do with it ever again, with his sole future interest in his new band, 'Mother Ocean'".^[27][28]

Discography[link]

Studio[link]

Singles[link]

Live[link]

• Blitzkrieg Over Nüremberg (1989)
• Live & Unreleased, Vol. 1: '68/'74 (1996)
• Live & Unreleased, Vol. 2: Live At San Jose Civic Centre, 1968 & More (1998)
• Hello Tokyo, Bye Bye Osaka - Live In Japan 1999 (1999)
• Live Bootleg: London - Hamburg (2005)
• Rocks Europe (2009)

See also[link]

• List of bands from the San Francisco Bay Area
• Cheer (brand)

Book references[link]

• Hughes, Tom (2006). Dimery, Robert. ed. 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Quintet Publishing Limited. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5. 
• Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. London: Rough Guides. ISBN 1-85828-201-2. 

Other references[link]

External links[link]

• 2007 Concert Video
• Leigh Stephens Official Website
• Video Interview of Blue Cheer by Serene Dominic

Monica Reinagel
Born	(1964-11-25) November 25, 1964 (age 48) Buffalo, New York
Occupation	Nutritionist, writer
Language	English
Nationality	American
Genres	Health
Notable work(s)	The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan; Nutrition Diva podcasts and books
www.nutritionovereasy.com

Monica Reinagel is a Baltimore-based^[1] licensed nutritionist.^[2] She is the author of The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan and host of the Nutrition Diva podcast. She has been called “the leading author of books on inflammation.”^[3]

Early life[link]

Reinagel was born in Buffalo, New York, on November 25, 1964. She was professionally trained as a chef at Maryland’s L’Academie de Cuisine, and holds a Master of Science in Human Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport.^[2]

Career[link]

Nutrition Diva[link]

Since 2008, Reinagel has been the Nutrition Diva for the Quick And Dirty Tips network. She produces a weekly five-to-seven minute podcast focused on food, nutrition and health, and has been praised for her “great advice” and “quick, easy to comprehend tips on a wide variety of subjects.”^[4] As of November 2012, the podcast is one of iTunes’ top 10 Health podcasts in the United States and Canada.^[5]

Media[link]

Reinagel’s nutrition tips and commentary have been featured on television on The Dr. Oz Show,^[6] CBS News,^[7] ABC Eyewitness News^[8] and NY1,^[9] and in numerous print publications, including the Chicago Tribune,^[10] Seattle Times^[11] and Washington Post.^[12]

Since 2011, she has been a regular contributor to the Huffington Post as a part of their “Healthy Living” section, advising readers on weight loss and healthy eating.^[13] She is also a frequent contributor to Food & Nutrition magazine (a publication of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics),^[14] and produces a regular feature called Smart Nutrition for WYPR in Baltimore.^[15] She was the chief nutritionist for Conde Nast’s NutritionData website from 2007 until 2010.^[12][16]

IF Rating[link]

In 2005, Reinagel developed the IF Rating, a tool that allows people to evaluate foods based on their inflammatory or anti-inflammatory potential. The IF Rating takes into account over 20 nutritional factors, assigning a numeric value to foods.^[17] In 2006, she published The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan, a book that explains the IF Rating concept, and lists IF Ratings for over 1,600 foods. NutritionData subsequently added IF Ratings to their analysis of foods and greatly expanded the list of rated foods.^[18]

Reinagel and other nutrition experts recommend a diet of anti-inflammatory foods to help delay aging and disease.^[18] The diet emphasizes eating whole grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants, and limiting refined flours, sugar, and saturated and hydrogenated fats.^[17][19]

Opera[link]

A classically trained singer,^[20] Reinagel has performed as a soloist with the Baltimore Opera Company, Ohio Light Opera, the Smithsonian Institute and Opera Lafayette, among others.^[21][22] She has been praised for her “lovely voice and fine technique”^[23] and the “tenderness and warmth” of her singing.^[24]

Awards[link]

• 2011 Apex Award for Excellence in How-To Writing (“The Fun and Frugal Fashion of Home Canning” – ADA Times)^[25]
• 2012 Gold Hermes Creative Award for Feature Writing, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (“Not Your Mother’s Spice Cabinet” – Food & Nutrition)^[26]
• 2012 Podcast Awards Nominee: Health/Fitness category^[27]
• 2012 Stitcher Awards Nominee: Best Health & Lifestyle Podcast^[28]

Bibliography[link]

Hardcovers and paperbacks[link]

• Secrets of Evening Primrose Oil (2000, St. Martin's Paperbacks)
• The Life Extension Revolution: The New Science of Growing Older Without Aging (2005, Bantam Books) – with Philip Lee Miller
• The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan (2006, McGraw-Hill)
• Nutrition Diva’s Secrets for a Healthy Diet: What to Eat, What to Avoid, and What to Stop Worrying About (2011, St. Martin's Griffin)

E-books and audio books[link]

• Nutrition Diva’s 5 Secrets for Aging Well (2011, Macmillan Audio)
• Nutrition Diva’s Grocery Store Survival Guide (2011, St. Martin’s Griffin)
• How to Win at Losing: 10 Diet Myths That Keep You From Succeeding (2012, St. Martin’s Griffin)
• Nutrition Zombies: 10 Nutrition Myths That Refuse to Die (2012, St. Martin’s Griffin)
• Quick and Dirty Tips for Life After College (2012, St. Martin’s Griffin)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• IF Rating website
• Personal website