We are hours away from the weekend! This means it is time for your dose of healthy news. DIR’s headliners for this week include a new obesity prediction calculator, the diet gimmicks Dr. Oz tried selling this year, and how much Sensa’s paying for false advertising. In addition to our headliners we have health news from Forbes, CNN Health, and Best Life Diet. Plus, exciting new chicken dinner recipes with one from Pinch of Yum.

Obesity Prediction Calculator Reinforces Parents’ Role in Child’s Weight

Are you scared your child might fall into the statistics of the obesity epidemic? Instead of waiting for time to answer that question you could simply use the Obesity Prediction Calculator, developed by researchers at Imperial College London and it can accurately predict childhood obesity up to 85% of the time. Parents should use the results from the Obesity Prediction Calculator to make it their responsibility to ensure that their child will learn to lead a healthful, balanced life.

The 6 Miracle Diets Dr. Oz Tried to Sell Us in 2012

We are almost a month away from the New Year. This means “weight loss” season will be in full effect. And, if you watch Dr. Oz, you know he will be advocating a new miracle weight loss program or diet soon after the ball drops. DIR has highlighted six weight-loss diets Dr.Oz has tried selling to the masses in 2012, deeming each as a miracle cure.

Sensa’s False Advertising Costs Them $800,000

Another diet company has to pay for their false advertising claims. Sensa, also as known as “the sprinkle diet,” has to pay $800,000 in penalties for their false weight loss claims. Sensa seemed too good to be true – sprinkle little crystals on your food and that will guarantee weight loss -because it was. We’re not buying it and neither are consumers in California.
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When I was told that there could be another type of diabetes all I could do was cringe. With the rate at which diagnosis of type 2 is rising, adding one more type to mix is an overwhelming thought.

Type 3 diabetes was first discovered in 2005. A study from Brown University has linked that eating too much sugar has an effect on brain function. Insulin resistance means that circulating insulin is not being used the way it should to get glucose into cells. If the brain does not receive the energy and nourishment it needs, it begins to deteriorate, and those deteriorating brain cells can result in confusion and memory loss. Over the long term, more permanent memory loss could progress to Alzheimer’s disease.

The nutrition recommendations to help prevent type 3 diabetes are the same as they are for type 2, which include eating sugar in moderation, managing your weight, and eating smaller portion sizes. More studies will need to be conducted to confirm that type 3 diabetes is a separate form of diabetes versus a complication of type 2 diabetes.
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By Team Best Life – TheBestLife.com

Avocados take the starring role in many healthy recipes for a reason—they contain vitamins E and K, folate and fiber. Not to mention, they’re delicious! Don’t be scared off by all the fat; avocados are high in monounsaturated fat, the variety that can help lower cholesterol, especially LDL or “bad” cholesterol, which contributes to heart disease and other health problems. Still, to keep calories in check, you have to limit your intake of all fats, even the healthy kinds, so try using about a quarter of an avocado (about 60 calories of creamy deliciousness) in your favorite recipes.

How to Buy an Avocado

Avocados start green and turn black as they ripen. In the store, you should gently squeeze and examine avocados to find the right one for your needs: If you don’t plan on using it until later in the week, choose one that is green and firm. If you want to eat the avocado immediately, pick one that is dark in color and just slightly soft when you squeeze it.

How to Use an Avocado

To ripen a hard avocado, place it in a brown bag with a banana and it should be ripe in two days or so. If your avocado is ripe but you aren’t ready to use it, stick it in the refrigerator. You can also save parts of an avocado for later—just leave the pit in before wrapping it to help maintain freshness.

Avocado is delicious plain, and also works well in tons of recipes, including salads, wraps, sandwiches and spreads. Or, try one of these tasty Best Life recipes.
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If you’ve got a Zumba fanatic on your holiday shopping list this year, look no further. We’ve gathered a list of goods that every Zumba lover out there would be ecstatic to receive.

Exhilarate Body Shaping System (DVD set of 5)

These at-home workout DVDs will get their body dancing into shape. The original set contained only four DVDs, but this bonus set includes a fifth (20 minute warm up) plus a set of toning sticks. Each DVD contains a different workout with multiple intensity levels for the beginners, intermediates, and advanced. Also included is a 10-day weight-loss program for the Zumba lover to take advantage of. What a deal!

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I have what I like to call an irrational fear of my daughter being overweight. It’s irrational because our lifestyle in no way engenders a possibility that she will be one of the millions of overweight or obese children in our country. She’s also 2.5 years old and never strays far from the third percentile for weight.

Blame it on my profession and the amount of information I’m inundated with daily, but I’ve got a tall soapbox when it comes to children’s health, especially my daughter’s. So when I see news of an obesity prediction calculator, believe I clicked through and ran those numbers.

The predicted probability that my daughter will be obese is 24.14 percent. That’s not an unreasonable number. I certainly wish it were lower. At the end of the day, I put the bulk of that responsibility on my very shoulders. In my opinion, every parent should be the sole barer of that responsibility.

The Obesity Prediction Calculator was developed by researchers at Imperial College London who believe that a particular equation can accurately predict your child’s propensity for being obese. The calculator asks for the mother’s BMI, father’s BMI, mother’s professional category (i.e. unskilled, skilled, professional), mother’s gestational smoking history, and the child’s birth weight. Six factors that, these researchers say, influence a child’s weight.
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