If you have never heard the term “health halo” before, you are not alone. In fact, this buzz phrase is not used all that often in common conversation; however, it is something dietitians use once in a while to explain the effect certain foods have on our overall healthy meal perceptions.
The term “health halo” has actually been around for quite a few years. In fact, a few researchers from Cornell in 2007 brought up the issue of health halos and some of the fast food restaurants that wear them in an effort to identify why the obesity epidemic continues despite the fact that more “healthified” foods seem to become available by the day.
At first, you may be confused by what the term actually means, but when you think about it, it’s actually a clever way to identify foods that claim to be more than what they really are. For example, foods that carry a low-fat claim may cause someone to identify them as healthy – although this may not be the case. Whether this food is healthy or not, believing that it is may cause inhibitions to be lowered and result in eating more and underestimating calories all at the same time. Foods that cause this to happen are considered to be under a “health halo” and you want to watch out for these if weight loss or maintenance is a primary goal for you.
If identifying health halos seems like a challenge, don’t worry! There are many ways to not let that pesky halo get the best of you.
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If you’re a fan of the customizable burritos, tacos and salad bowls from Chipotle Mexican Grill, then you’ll be especially thrilled with ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, Chipotle’s much-hyped Asian spin-off.
Chipotle Chief Executive Officer Steve Ells says that the ShopHouse concept was born during a two-week eating spree in Thailand and Singapore last year.
“I was very inspired by Southeast Asian food and the fact that it would lend itself to the Chipotle format,” Ells, 46, told Bloomberg News in an interview this week.
At ShopHouse, you won’t be offered burritos or tacos, but instead customers choose between rice and noodles topped with ingredients such as grilled chicken satay, organic tofu, pork meatballs, Chinese broccoli and eggplant. According to Bloomberg News, the bowls go for $6.50 to $7.50, compared with $7 to $8 for a Chipotle burrito.
While we haven’t sampled any of the menu items for ourselves, a preview to Fortune reporters included grilled steak with chili-jam marmalade, roast corn with scallions, Chinese broccoli, pickled vegetables — all served over brown rice, plus green papaya salad on the side.
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By Melissa Breyer for Care2.com
How would you like to meet your daily sodium and saturated fat allowance, as well as nearly half of your daily calorie needs, in one quick breakfast eaten on the road? It’s becoming progressively easy these day as food technicians, chefs and market researchers, holed away in corporate fast food “studios,” are busy developing monstrous new breakfast items. Trying to claim as much of the $57 billion fast food breakfast market as they can, the fast food giants are drumming up increasingly cheesy, steak-y, fried chicken-y breakfast dishes that tap into flavor combinations that have proven successful for lunch and dinner items. It’s no longer eggs and English muffins for fast food breakfast…breakfast burger anyone?
What’s most striking about some of these high-calorie items–aside from the unsustainable, industrial, often GMO and synthetic ingredients–is the very high sodium and saturated fat content. According to the USDA, the current recommendation for sodium consumption is less than 2,300 milligrams a day. For saturated fat, the maximum allowance is between 18 grams to 31 grams, depending on your caloric intake needs. (You can calculate your caloric need with this calculator from the Mayo Clinic.) Many of these breakfast items meet or exceed the daily sodium and fat allowances, and provide much more than one-third of your daily caloric needs.
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A 64-year-old stockbroker from New York is suing White Castle because their seating does not accommodate his bulky frame. I didn’t know whether to laugh, shout or cry when I saw this story (I guess crying would be a little pathetic, wouldn’t it?).
It’s difficult to understand how anyone could take Martin Kessman’s side. Do you even have to be a legal expert to see this for the ludicrous and frivolous lawsuit that it is? Then again, I am certainly not a lawyer and it wouldn’t be the first time common sense does not prevail.
It also begs the question: shouldn’t Kessman take this as a sign that he needs to maybe not go to White Castle so much? Maybe if he just cut down a little, he’d fit in the seat just fine in a few months.
Kessman’s lawsuit is seeking financial damages against White Castle, the fast food chain known for its mini burgers. He claims that the White Castle he goes to is in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act because the seating cannot accommodate a customer of his size.
The lawsuit also claims that in April 2009, Kessman hit his knee on a metal post while trying to squeeze himself into the seat at the White Castle in Nanuet, New York.
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Have you heard? There’s a new fast-food chain in town: 100 Montaditos. OK, so as of now there’s only one location in the United States (Miami), but the Spanish sandwich chain has the ambitious goal of opening 4,000 restaurants in the next five years. This means that there will be almost as many 100 Montaditos out there as there are Sonic Drive-Ins.
To make sure you’re armed with nutrition knowledge and prepared to eat healthy when you try this new chain, we’ve rounded up the top five tips to eat healthy at 100 Montaditos. Unfortunately, 100 Montaditos doesn’t have its nutritional facts posted online and a quick call in to its Miami location confirmed that nutritional facts are not yet available. In the meantime, here are some guidelines to follow!
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