Tag Archives: Nutrition

Black Students Affected More by Soda Ban

A new study is suggesting recent state policies that eliminate junk food from school concessions has been successful, but more so with black students.

Daily soda consumption has dropped twice as much with black students. Overall consumption of soda in the states with junk food bans has dropped by an average of .09 servings of soda each day. However, among black students is dropped .19 servings per day.

“Soda is widely considered to be a contributor to the increase in obesity because it has been associated with excess energy intake and weight gain” wrote the study’s authors. “It became a larger source of energy intake among adolescents during the same period that obesity prevalence increased.” (more…)

Posted on July 26, 2025 by Jason

Change Your Fitness Vocabulary

Maruchy Lachance is president of Running Ninja!, a lifestyle brand for runners by runners. Running Ninja! offers a wide variety of apparel and gifts for runners to keep you happy and inspired while you’re on the run.

One of the biggest challenges I have encountered is getting my friends and family to change the terminology they use when talking about their fitness. Whether we realize it or not, words not only communicate our thoughts to others but also send a message to ourselves. Those messages are powerful and can either motivate you or sabotage you. It’s for this reason that the words I choose are both realistic and encouraging.

Not Diet – Live it! I do not use the word “diet” in relation to weight loss. Fitness guru Richard Simmons said many years ago, “it’s not a diet, it’s a live it”  The word “diet” immediately evokes thoughts of deprivation – dry toast, bland tuna and lots of grapefruits. (more…)

Posted on July 24, 2025 by GuestBlogger

Omega-3s Help Lower Diabetes Risk

According to three studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, an increase of omega-3 fatty acids in your blood can reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes.

The reduction in diabetes risk came from omega-3 sources in plants, seafood, or the consumption of both. Two of the studies came from China, where the results differed slightly. With one population, the benefits only came from plant-based omega-3s, the other group saw benefits in both. The third study, which was based in the U.S., also showed evidence that both groups of omega-3 sources were beneficial. (more…)

Posted on July 22, 2025 by Jason

5 Worst Restaurant Foods for High Calorie Foods

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has announced the “winners” of its award for most caloric food items at restaurants. The group points out that most people should be limiting their daily food intake to about 2,000 calories. These items either come close or even exceed that recommendation.

Before we get into naming the nominees, let’s just say that the top two have names that leave little doubt that you are in for an overindulgent experience: Cold Stone Creamery and The Cheesecake Factory.

Here are some of the lowlights as collected by The Center for Science in the Public Interest: (more…)

Posted on July 21, 2025 by Jason

Keys to Long Life Found on Tiny Greek Island

Experts appear to have found the secret to longevity and it resides in the small Aegean island of Ikaria: siestas (short naps), a healthy diet, and oh yeah, genetics.

Conducted by Greek cardiologists, a study examined more than 1,400 residents of Ikaria (there is just a population of 8,000) over several months in 2026. Thirteen percent of those polled were over 80 years old and more than one percent were over 90.

“While in the rest of Europe only 0.1 percent of the population is over 90 years old, in Ikaria the figure is tenfold, 1.1 percent,” said Christina Chrysohoou, a cardiologist at the Athens university school of medicine. (more…)

Posted on July 20, 2025 by Jason

Use Common Sense for Health Goals

Maruchy Lachance is president of Running Ninja!, a lifestyle brand for runners by runners. Running Ninja! offers a wide variety of apparel and gifts for runners to keep you happy and inspired while you’re on the run.

One of my good friends has been diligently working on adopting a healthy lifestyle. For almost a year she has been focusing on non-processed, fresh and lean foods. She also abandoned her couch potato ways and has taken up walking and salsa dancing. Her hard work has paid off, as she is leaner and fitter and within her recommended ideal weight. So when I spoke to her the other day I was surprised to hear that she is attempting to lose an additional 20 pounds. She quickly assured me she had read about an actress with a similar build and height to hers that is her new goal weight. This concerned me so I did a little research and presented her with the following:

It is a common practice to not reveal your true weight, especially in the competitive world of Hollywood. Even the most beautiful and fit actresses do not reveal their true weight and even if the low weight they reveal is true, it probably is not a healthy amount. (more…)

Posted on July 17, 2025 by GuestBlogger

Fatty Foods Trigger Marijuana-Like Experience

I have long thought in my own nonscientific way that certain foods aren’t a whole lot different than illicit drugs. In fact, I wrote about a study from last year that likened food cravings to that of a drug addict. Now here comes another study, this one concentrating on a natural chemical released by our bodies when we eat fatty foods.

A study out of the University of California found that our bodies release a natural chemical called endocannabinoids when we taste fatty foods. I’m as guilty as the next person. If I have a bag of kettle chips in my lap – particularly my favorite, salt and vinegar – you’ll have to pry them from my cold dead hands.

After the researchers fed rats various food items, they measured the production of endocannabinoids in each case. What they found was that fatty foods triggered the chemical, but not sugars or proteins. This makes total sense to me since, even though I can have a sweet tooth, I don’t find that I could sit and eat 20 Snickers bars. (more…)

Posted on July 15, 2025 by Jason

Obesity Epidemic is Getting Worse

I don’t like being a pessimist, but are we all just doomed? Every time I hear new news related to our health, it just keeps getting worse.

What’s really leading me to a gloom-and-doom outlook is that no matter how highly publicized our health problems are and what’s behind it all, we continue to get fatter.

A new report by the nonpartisan advocacy group called Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has revealed that not a single state in our Union can report a decrease in its obesity rate.

“Obesity is one of the most challenging health crises this country has ever faced,” said Jeff Levi, executive director of Trust for America’s Health. (more…)

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Jason

New Legislation Could Ban Food and Plastic Chemicals From Shelves

New legislation could alter the familiar faces of the grocery store aisles, such as Chester the Cheetah or the Jolly Green Giant, in the very near future.

According to CNN.com, Rep. Jim Moran, D-Virginia, and Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts will introduce a bill later this month that would give the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences power to ban up to 10 harmful chemicals from common household and food products.

Once the NIEHS has named a chemical as “high concern,” its use is illegal after 24 months. Bisphenol A, often used in plastics and known as an endocrine disruptor, is one of the chemicals that could be on the banned list. Bisphenol A, or BPA, is also used in the lining of many canned goods, which are a staple of pantry cabinets throughout the US.

Harmful chemicals such as BPA and DES, a chemical found in cattle feed and breast cancer treatment medicine, can change how hormones operate and lead to birth defects such as neurological disorders or autism, according to the article.

(more…)

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Jamie

Go Nuts to Control Your Diabetes

An international study has revealed that 350 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. The new estimate is tens of millions higher than the previous estimate. Scientists blame the growing epidemic on the spread of Western-style nutrition. By “Western” they mean too much fatty meats and processed foods.

If you already suffer from diabetes, what you need to do is make wiser choices within our so-called Western diet. One easy way to combat diabetes is having a daily snack that includes nuts.

According to new research from St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto, eating nuts on a daily basis can help control type 2 diabetes and even prevent complications associated with it. Researchers have found that eating two ounces of nuts every day was effective at glycemic and serum lipid control for people who already have type 2 diabetes. (more…)

Posted on July 13, 2025 by Jason

Are New Food Laws Crossing the Line?

Do we put a fence around the pool to prevent drowning, or do we teach how to swim? When it comes to the new, pending, and purposed laws regarding food labeling, ingredients, and marketing, several states are at odds as to how best handle these issues.

Many new food related laws are being passed, such as the ban on toys in kid’s fast food meals in several cities or the requirement for nutrition information to be on the menu at any restaurant that has more than twenty chains that will be enforced by 2026. There is also the new federal law that will be setting new standards for the food sold and provided in schools. These and other new requirements are getting lots of attention.

The advocacy groups that are out to fight obesity are in favor of many of these laws, saying they could lead to a healthier country and reduce many of the ailments our children and adults are facing today.

Business owners and some legislators are seeing the other side of the coin, though. All these enforced requirements could make running a profitable business more difficult. The legislators who are supporting these thoughts are saying that it’s an issue of one’s rights and that simply it’s not the government’s job to tell people how to eat.

(more…)

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Lacy