The Interesting Expert of the Week column spotlights experts from within the ProfNet Connect community that we think readers and reporters will find interesting and timely. With more than 60,000 profiles, ProfNet Connect offers journalists a vast database of experts and influencers on virtually every topic imaginable. In addition, reporters can also submit a ProfNet query to request experts on a specific topic. Whatever topic you’re writing about, ProfNet can help you find the sources you need – at no charge. Why not give it a try? Send a query now.

Just a few years ago, not many of us knew what gluten-free food was or where to get it. Today, walk into almost any supermarket and you’ll see gluten-free food in almost every aisle. So, for this week’s Interesting Expert spotlight, we caught up with Elana Amsterdam, a wellness expert and “gluten-free guru.”

Amsterdam is the founder of ElanasPantry.com, where she shares simple, healthy recipes and lifestyle advice with the 20,000 readers that visit the site each day. She has written for Parents, Shape Magazine, and Delicious Living; has been featured in a variety of media outlets, including Fortune Magazine, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal; and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Live.

Amsterdam’s books include “The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook” (Random House 2009), named one of the "Best Cookbooks of the Year" by the Denver Post, and “Gluten Free Cupcakes” (Random House 2011), a tome of delightful, yet healthy and nutrient-dense, desserts. Her latest book, “Paleo Cooking from Elana's Pantry,” scheduled to be released June 18, contains nearly 100 gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, nightshade-free quick and easy recipes ranging from dinners to desserts.

Amsterdam lives in the heart of Boulder, Colo., with an assortment of grueling taste testers that range from her brutally honest husband of 18 years to her two teenage sons. She was kind enough to take some time out from cooking and baking to answer a few questions for us:

How did Elana’s Pantry come about?

I started Elana's Pantry in 2006. After being diagnosed with celiac disease in 1998, I went on a gluten-free diet. When that did not help as much as I had hoped, I went grain-free. When my children's friends and their parents began asking me for my recipes, I decided to start a website, and Elana's Pantry was born.

The gluten-free movement has really taken off. Why do you think it has become so popular?

Many people feel better when they eliminate gluten from their diets. Some of the doctors I've spoken with said they believe it may impact the immune systems of certain individuals in a negative way.

What type of ingredients do you substitute with when cooking gluten-free recipes?

I write all of my recipes from scratch, as I find substitutions in recipes rarely work unless you get very lucky. My favorite ingredients are almond flour and coconut flour because they are low in carbohydrates and high in good nutrients, such as protein and fiber.

What’s your favorite thing to make?

Chocolate chip cookies made with high protein almond flour.

You also teach cooking. What is your best piece of advice for first-time cooks?

The first time you make something, follow the recipe to a "T."

Can you tell us a little about the cookbooks you’ve written?

My first cookbook, “The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook,” has 99 recipes, all made with almond flour. My second cookbook, “Gluten Free Cupcakes,” and has wonderfully healthy dessert recipes. I'm very excited about my third cookbook, which comes out in June. It's called “Paleo Cooking from Elana's Pantry” and has nearly 100 recipes for breakfast, dinner, vegetables, desserts and drinks.

Anything else you’d like to add?

My website, Elana's Pantry, has more than 700 gluten-free, grain-free recipes and is a resource for people with special diets all over the world.

The Interesting Expert of the Week column spotlights experts from within the ProfNet Connect community that we think readers and reporters will find interesting and timely. With more than 60,000 profiles, ProfNet Connect offers journalists a vast database of experts and influencers on virtually every topic imaginable. In addition, reporters can also submit a ProfNet query to request experts on a specific topic. Whatever topic you’re writing about, ProfNet can help you find the sources you need – at no charge. Why not give it a try? Send a query now.

“Jazz is known all over the world as an American musical art form.
No America, no jazz.” -- Art Blakey

April is Jazz Appreciation Month, so for this week’s spotlight, we caught up with Kurt Dietrich, professor of music and Barbara Baldwin De Frees Chair in the Performing Arts at Ripon College in Wisconsin.

At Ripon, Dietrich teaches courses ranging from jazz history to romantic music styles and world music. He is the author of "Duke’s 'Bones: Ellington's Great Trombonists” and "Jazz 'Bones:  The World of Jazz Trombone," a history of the North American jazz trombone. Dietrich also contributed to the “International Dictionary of Black Composers,” and is a regular reviewer of books for CHOICE and recordings for the International Trombone Association Journal.

He knows his jazz.

You teach several different types of music, including jazz and world music. Is jazz your favorite?

I love jazz, but I also love classical music, and many types of world music. And, of course, I don’t love all or any of these styles or genres -- I love good music.

What interests you about jazz?

I find the history of jazz fascinating, as a unique part of the American experience, but I am interested in all sorts of strictly musical aspects of jazz as well -- theoretical, technical and aesthetic. And a crucial part of that is the creative aspect of jazz improvisation.

Do you still play?

Yes, I do still play. I don’t play a lot of gigs any more, but enough to keep the dust off my trombone. Prior to starting my college teaching career, I was on the road full-time with a jazz band for five and a half years.

What aspect of jazz do you teach in your classes? What techniques do you use?

I do teach the history of jazz, but I also teach classes in music theory and music history (specifically, 19th century Romanticism). I also lead a symphonic wind ensemble and a jazz ensemble. I’m not sure how to describe the techniques I use, but my philosophy is just to expose the students to as much of the music (the good or great music) as possible. They are going to be “captured” by the music, not by me.

What kind of effect does music have on a student's education?

Music speaks to a part of every student’s humanity that is not addressed in science, in written or spoken language, in business, or even in the humanities. If we could express what music expresses in some other way, we would have no need for music itself -- but we can’t. And yet music also expresses, in its unique way, some of the highest intellect in human experience.

You wrote a book about members of Duke Ellington's orchestra. What most surprised you as you were researching the book?

What surprised me most perhaps was the richness of what is referred to broadly as Ellingtonia. I have many, many books about Ellington and his music, and there are many more that can still be written. I was also gratified by, if not surprised by, the generosity of the many folks I interviewed in sharing their experience in this cultural phenomenon.

You’re currently working a book on jazz in Wisconsin, past and present. What can you tell us about it?

I have interviewed over 50 people for this book already, and have many more to go. The book is turning into a fascinating document about people in jazz -- a fair number of nationally known figures, others known only locally, some of those just for their dedication to teaching others jazz. But the stories of all of those groups are not only interesting, but in some cases downright gripping.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Even after over three decades of college teaching, I often feel blessed that I have been able to spend my career bringing music to students. It’s been a great way to spend a life.

The Interesting Expert of the Week column spotlights experts from within the ProfNet Connect community that we think readers and reporters will find interesting and timely. With more than 60,000 profiles, ProfNet Connect offers journalists a vast database of experts and influencers on virtually every topic imaginable. In addition, reporters can also submit a ProfNet query to request experts on a specific topic. Whatever topic you’re writing about, ProfNet can help you find the sources you need – at no charge. Why not give it a try? Send a query now.

April is National Poetry Month, so for this week’s expert spotlight, we caught up with Dwayne Betts, a poet, essayist and national spokesperson for the Campaign for Youth Justice.

Betts was an honors student through high school when, at the age of 16, he drove to Fairfax, Va., with a group of friends and robbed a man in his car with a gun. Betts was arrested the next day and sentenced as an adult. He spent eight years in prison, where he spent much of his time reading, working as a law clerk, and teaching himself Spanish. He began writing poetry.

After his release, Betts worked at Karibu Books in Bowie, Md., where he was eventually promoted to store manager and founded a book club for African-American boys. He attended Prince George’s Community College, where he subsequently graduated with high honors.

In 2011, Betts was awarded a Radcliffe Fellowship to Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Studies. He is the author of the memoir, “A Question of Freedom” (Avery/Penguin 2009), and the collection of poetry, “Shahid Reads His Own Palm” (Alice James Books, 2010). His work possesses a careful, complicated and often difficult-to-confront intimacy that challenges conventional ideas about crime, masculinity and redemption. In 2010, he was awarded an NAACP Image Award for “A Question of Freedom” and a Soros Justice Fellowship to complete “The Circumference of a Prison,” a work of nonfiction exploring the criminal justice system's role in the everyday lives of Americans who have not committed crimes.

We have, unfortunately, heard stories like yours before, but not many of them have quite as happy an ending. What helped you persevere and turn your life around?

Most of my success, like everyone’s, has been a product of the support I’ve had around me. Despite not coming up in the greatest neighborhoods or school systems, I did have quality teachers from the very beginning and I did have a mother who made sure I understood the importance of education. Even in prison, I gravitated, whether it was good fortune or good judgment of character or my part, towards people helped me shape myself into who I am now. Most of the stories that don’t turn out well are a product of a series of failures and a serious lack of support. I’d be lying if I made it seem that this has been all a product of my doing.

What does poetry mean to you? How has it helped you?

Poetry opened up a world to me and offered me a way to communicate with the world. Most days I have no idea what poetry means, not in any logical sense. Sometimes a person is able to arrange words in a way that is both musical and insightful. And you care about it. You repeat, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for” or “What did I know, what did I know, of loves austere and lonely offices,” and it all means more than just the words.

What is your favorite type of poetry or poet?

I don’t have a favorite type of poetry as much as I have poems and poets that I go to often. Robert Hayden, Etheridge Knight, Tracy K. Smith -- her new book is pretty amazing in a way I hadn’t expected. Elizabeth Alexander, Ellen Bryant Voigt. I really admire this collection by Richard Siken.

I mean, I can name names, and to be involved with literature is really to understand that it’s hard to reduce it to a favorite. It’s like asking a hip-hop head who is his favorite MC. He might name a name, but the conversation, if it’s real and the person knows music, will have him thinking about an abundance of lyricists and then of lyrics that stick with him even if he doesn’t like the rapper as much. I’m thinking particularly of that song by The Pharcyde, “Passing Me By” -- I can easily recite it but that doesn’t mean they are my favorites.

Can you tell us a bit about your book club?

The book club is really from a past life. One of the things I’ve realized is that the club existed in part because Karibu Books, which was the largest independent black book store in the country. I had a job that allowed me to be around books all the time and allowed me to be at the center of certain conversations around the need to increase literacy in the community. Also, I was a college student at the time, so I was more or less about to do this book club for free. I’d love to start another book club, in another place. Right now, though, I’m doing a lot of other things, from being a parent and husband, to working and writing and being a spokesperson for the Campaign for Youth Justice. Unfortunately, the book club hasn’t fit into that frame in quite some time. But maybe in the future.

The Interesting Expert of the Week column spotlights experts from within the ProfNet Connect community that we think readers and reporters will find interesting and timely. With more than 60,000 profiles, ProfNet Connect offers journalists a vast database of experts and influencers on virtually every topic imaginable. In addition, reporters can also submit a ProfNet query to request experts on a specific topic. Whatever topic you’re writing about, ProfNet can help you find the sources you need – at no charge. Why not give it a try? Send a query now.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly the epitome of nutritional health. I don’t each as many fruits and vegetables as I should; pizza is a regular lunch staple; and I’m a little too fond of chocolate cake.

So, when I saw that March is National Nutrition Month, I knew I wanted to feature a nutrition expert in the first spotlight of the month. That’s where Maya Nahra comes in.

Nahra is registered dietitian and behavioral nutrition expert. As a proponent of real food and an advocate of a non-diet approach, Nahra’s mission is to help women learn to love the person in the mirror. Her main area of expertise is overcoming yo-yo dieting and defeating the “all or nothing” mentality.

“To be healthy, we must eat well and exercise,” says Nahra, “but we must also talk to ourselves the right way, and that's where I come in."

I sat down (virtually) with Nahra to find out more.

What is behavioral nutrition?

Behavioral nutrition is all about motivation, inspiration and lasting change through an adoption of a completely new environment with new habits that support the overall new goal. It's easy to live in “pizza and cake” or “carrots and celery.” We all know how to diet. Society has become really good at “dieting.” Behavioral nutrition says, "Let's stop the all-or-nothing mentality and find your middle ground."

Most of us know that, to be healthy, we need to eat right and exercise. But there is a third component: We also need to talk to ourselves right. That's where I come in.

Are most diets doomed to fail before we even start them?

The success of any diet is entirely dependent on your mindset. Are you going on a diet because you have a vacation to go on in two months? If so, what ”diet” are you most likely to return home to when that vacation is over? Your old one, the one that didn't support your weight loss.

However, if a “diet” is entered into with a right mindset, an authentic mindset, a mindset of openness and willingness for change and the unknown, a mindset of new habit creation and an entire lifestyle shift, then you'll be successful in your ventures. But, for that second option to hit home, you must have a strong and grounded “why”:”'Why am I doing this?”

What are most people doing wrong when it comes to nutrition?

Believing in adopted thought.

Adopted thought is that which the masses believe: Fat is bad. Low calorie is good. I can't eat what I love and lose weight.

These adopted thoughts never open up the realm of possibility and allow space for new nutrition thoughts and beliefs. Your own nutrition beliefs will ultimately lead to your best diet, that which works for you, not what someone told you will work for you. Folks who wrote diet books wrote them because it worked for them. Who’s to say it’s going to work for you? You are the ultimate expert on your own body. Every book and person and expert may have tools for you to pick up along the way. Some will work, some with not. The only way you'll know if it's right for you is if it makes you feel good.

What advice do you have for those who are doing all the “right” things, yet still struggle with their weight?

Redefine their “right.” We just discussed “adopted thoughts,” which may be the “right” thing for someone else, but not necessarily “right” for you.

I often have students and clients redefine their measurement tool of success. Meaning, if your only measurement of success to you on your health journey is the scale, find something else to measure and throw out the scale. Are you sleeping better? Do you have more energy? Do you feel better overall than you have in the past? How good do you feel today?

If people could change only one thing about their diets, what should it be?

Eat real food. If it didn't grow from the ground or have a mother, don't eat it.

We are all working on some version of our own personal “good, better, best” model. Where am I at now and how can I strive to be better? My yoga teacher once said, "Good, better, best. Never let it rest … until your good is better, and your better is best.”

If you're not eating veggies at all right now, then canned is better than nothing. If you're eating canned, try fresh or frozen. If you're ready to move up to organic, move up to organic. If you are eating one meal a day, pop a KIND bar in your bag and start snacking. If you're eating white bread, try wheat. It's that simple.

What are you working on now?

My current project has been newly birthed to the world and is truly the first product of my passion and my heart. It's called Hello Beautiful Magazine, one of those revolutionary new types of live, digital magazines whose home is in the newsstand app on your iPad. Hello Beautiful Magazine is inspiration for your journey to self-love, and is filled with real advice, raw stories, and personal truths.

Because a journey back to ourselves, our passions, and our truth is really what it’s all about anyway, I would love for you to be a part of it. Please check it out here: bit.ly/WjYPNd

You can also find me at MayaNahra.com or HelloBeautiful.tv.

The Interesting Expert of the Week column spotlights experts from within the ProfNet Connect community that we think readers and reporters will find interesting and timely. With more than 60,000 profiles, ProfNet Connect offers journalists a vast database of experts and influencers on virtually every topic imaginable. In addition, reporters can also submit a ProfNet query to request experts on a specific topic. Whatever topic you’re writing about, ProfNet can help you find the sources you need – at no charge. Why not give it a try? Send a query now.

When you think of suspenders, who’s the first person that comes to mind? For many of us, Larry King is synonymous with the once-ubiquitous fashion staple. Well, after reading this expert spotlight piece, that might change to Sal Herman.

Who is Sal Herman?

Herman, also known as “The Suspender King,” has the classic “American dream” story. He emigrated to the U.S. from Israel when he was 11 years old, founded the Michigan-based HoldUp Suspender Company in 1996, and has since patented five different improvements to the quintessential male accessory. In fact, he was the first to be issued a U.S. patent for an improvement to the modern suspender in more than 100 years.

Most recently, Herman patented a hook-and-loop length adjuster for his latest product, The Under-Up, an “invisible” undergarment suspender that allows wearers to don a pair of suspenders beneath their shirts without being seen by others.

We sat down with Herman to find out more about him and his company:

You are known as “The Suspender King.” How did that moniker come about?

"The Suspender King" came from my wife Judee. About a dozen years ago, we were in a Burger King restaurant and they had those cardboard crowns. Judee picked one up and placed it on my head, took a photo, and called me "The Suspender King." She has referred to me as that ever since.

What spurred your love of suspenders?

I’ve always been a suspender aficionado and wore them for practical purposes -- keeping my pants up. Like many men, my physique is of the type with narrow hips and no butt and, despite having my belt cinched tight, the pants would still slip down.

In the early ‘70s, I was an automotive pattern and model maker, and I would carry a few tools in my pockets that weighed my pants down. Every time I would bend over, the clips on the back would always slip off. So, I set out to create a new clip that would grip the pants and not slip off. Soon, my family and friends who wore suspenders wanted me to make them for them as well. I found out that there was nothing like it on the market and I applied for a patent for it. It turned out it was the first U.S. patent issued for an improvement to the modern suspender in more than 100 years. Suspenders remained essentially unchanged since 1894. A couple of years later, we launched Hold-Up Suspenders.

Today I wear suspenders for comfort, as well as support. They allow me to wear my pants looser around the waist, which is much, much more comfortable.

Do you think suspenders are making a comeback?

Suspenders may not be a mainstream accessory, but they’ve always been a mainstay in the marketplace for people who wear and love them, either for utilitarian reasons or as a fashion statement.

How do you come up with ideas, like the Under-Up?

The Under-Ups came from noticing that some customers were purchasing white suspenders to wear under their shirts because they didn't like the appearance of suspenders. Now we market them for customers to wear under their untucked, casual-style shirts. If you find yourself pulling your pants up every so often, you would be a person that would benefit by wearing Under-Ups.

You emigrated to the U.S. when you were 11 years old, so you are really living the “American dream.” What advice do you have for others who have an idea but aren’t sure how to make it come to fruition?

With a lot of gumption and work, you can make it in this country. Everyone has the opportunity to live the “American dream.” The most important thing in achieving this goal is to never ever, ever, ever quit trying to accomplish your idea, project, or whatever it may be.

What’s next for you?

We’ve recently signed the most recognizable suspender-wearer around, Larry King, as a celebrity  spokesman for Hold-Up Suspenders. We’re very excited to have him on board and couldn’t ask for a more fitting celebrity endorser than Mr. King, who will lend his name and image to our advertising and marketing efforts. Stay tuned to Suspenders.com for new and exciting happenings in the suspender world!