While the obesity epidemic in the U.S. has been well-documented, it hasn’t quite been put this way before: nearly 10 percent of all medical costs in the United States are attributed to obesity.
That’s astounding. The price tag amounts to $147 billion a year in direct medical costs – that’s just over nine percent of all medical spending here in the U.S.
“Obesity, and with it diabetes, are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they are getting worse rapidly,” says Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sometimes it’s the little things that make the difference. In the case of your diet, don’t just look at the food you eat, but what you put on it.
Condiments are often a second thought in our meal preparations, that may be putting on extra pounds. Yes, but not necessarily in the way you would think.
New research is suggesting that if you just say no to the extras on your food, like ketchup, relish, etc., you can shed some weight. But not so much because of the extra calories, even though that would help too, it’s more about evidence that shows condiments make people consume more food.
A recent study examined how the number of times you chew your food relates to satisfying your hunger. What they found was intriguing. Forty chews was the magic number.
When people in the study ate a small serving of almonds, 40 chews satisfied hunger better than 10. And even when they looked at people taking 25 chews with almonds, it wasn’t as effective. On top of the benefit of feeling full, the magic number of 40 chews also made the subjects feel full longer than the lower counts.
Eating packaged foods is often the most economical option. The problem is, they’re also often the most unhealthy. On top of that, labels are confusing, and even intentionally misleading. You have terms like “50 percent less fat” or “reduced sodium.” But those phrases beg the questions: 50 percent less fat, but how much fat is left? And, reduced sodium… from what level? I realize that it’s simply a matter of reading the labels, but for the average person, the implication of something being healthier by subtraction seems to validate the product. Not so.
In these uncertain financial times, it’s always good to be aware of how much you’re spending on food. If you’re looking for frugal cooking tips, go no further than this spunky 93-year-old cook named Clara. If anyone knows what it’s like to survive in tough times, it would be someone who lived through the Great Depression. She turned that experience into valuable inspiration for the rest of us.
It’s those experiences that were the inspiration for her Great Depression Cooking with Clara DVD. It’s a collection of her popular YouTube cooking shows, plus extra features you can’t find anywhere else.
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