Diet and Nutrition

Weight Loss Frauds Scam Millions

Have you ever wondered how all those late night infomercials that reinvent new ways of selling the same thing keep getting airtime? They wouldn’t if people weren’t buying what they were selling. Now the data is here to prove it.

The Federal Trade Commission released a survey that proved P.T. Barnum right. But maybe it was more than one fool born every day. More than 30 million adults in the U.S. – about 13 percent of the adult population – were victims of fraud during the year of the study.

Hucksters fooled the most people with, you guessed it, fraudulent weight loss products. An estimated 4.8 million U.S. consumers were victimized.

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Jason

Calorie Restriction Best for Weight Loss

There are so many roads that lead to the same weight loss destination. But according to a review of dozens of clinical trials, the best path to shedding pounds is the old-fashioned way of calorie-cutting and exercising.

In an analysis of 80 weight-loss studies, researchers found that approaches focusing on trimming calories – with or without exercise – were most effective at keeping the pounds off over four years.

On average, participants shed 11 to 19 pounds, then typically gained a little bit back over time.

The study, reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, stated that diet and exercise can work over the long haul if people stick to it and have realistic expectations. But, according to the researchers, people need to be prepared for weight loss to taper off after six months.

“Although there is some regain of weight, weight loss can be maintained,” write the researchers, led by Marion J. Franz, a registered dietitian and health consultant with Minneapolis-based Nutrition Concepts by Franz Inc.

Weight-loss medication also seemed to help somewhat in keeping the weight off over the longer-term.

Learn more about a calorie restriction diet.

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Jason

Boiled Peanuts a Healthy Snack

Residence of the South are very familiar with the boiled peanut. They’ll be pleasantly surprised to find out that it looks like it may be a healthier snack than raw peanuts.

Unsurprisingly, the news comes from food scientists from Alabama A&M University, where they compared raw and boiled peanuts. In the study they examined an extract from each and found that the boiled ones were higher in antioxidants. Antioxidants are thought to prevent cancer, heart disease, and other chronic conditions.

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Jason

Going Organic

The NY Times health blog has a great article on 5 Easy ways of going organic.

“The key is to be strategic in your organic purchases. Opting for organic produce, for instance, doesn’t necessarily have a big impact, depending on what you eat.”

Check out the full post over at the Ny Times Health Blog

Posted on October 26, 2023 by Jimmy C

Cereal Manufacturers, Rejoice!

Breakfast is often touted as the most important meal of the day. A study, 20 years in the making, gives you another reason not to skip it – that is, if you eat whole grain cereal. The study has concluded that whole grain cereals may significantly reduce a person’s risk of heart failure.

The men in the study who ate a bowl of whole grain cereal daily had a 28 percent lower risk of developing heart failure.

“Eating half a cup to a cup of whole grain breakfast cereal may help lower your blood pressure. It may help lower your risk of diabetes and heart disease,” said Dr. Luc Djousse of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

“This study adds another piece to the puzzle. It may also lower your risk of heart failure,” Djousse, whose study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The researchers studied the breakfast habits of more than 21,000 male doctors with an average age of 53.7 years for nearly 20 years. Over the course of the study, 1,018 of the men had heart failure. Most new cases were in the men who ate no whole grain cereals.

And those who ate at least one bowl a day of whole grain cereal had the lowest incidence of heart failure.

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Jason

Study Review

According to the National Center For Health Statistics, Heart Disease was the leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2004. If you want to avoid being a statistic, it’s time to think about a heart healthy diet.

A study run by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School ranked daily meal plans and food recommendations of eight popular weight-loss programs. With 70 as a perfect score, here’s how they ranked:

  • Ornish, 64.6.
  • Weight Watchers high-carbohydrate, 57.4.
  • New Glucose Revolution, 57.2.
  • South Beach Phase 2, 50.7.
  • Zone, 49.8.
  • MyPyramid, 48.7.
  • Weight Watchers high protein, 47.3.
  • Atkins 100-g carbohydrate, 46.
  • South Beach Phase 3, 45.6.
  • Atkins 45-g carbohydrate, 42.3.

“We were most surprised by the fact that the MyPyramid wasn’t even in the top three. We figured that this would be a model diet because it is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary recommendations,” said the study’s author clinical psychologist Sherry Pagoto.She went on to assure the public that these rankings aren’t an indication of the general healthfulness of any particular diet. All of the diets are potentially healthy and have been shown in a variety of studies to result in weight loss, which is important to improving heart health.

One important thing to consider is your personal food preference. Because no matter how healthy a diet is, if you aren’t going to stick to it, what good is it to you in the long run? For example, if you really like carbohydrates, you’re better off with Weight Watchers than Atkins. But, people with a family history of heart disease should consider using this study as a guide when choosing a diet plan, Pagoto said.

Posted on October 22, 2023 by Jason

A ‘Hardee’ Laugh: New Burrito is No Joke

Count Hardee’s fast food restaurants among the un-PC, as they just rolled out a breakfast burrito that packs a serious punch… to the gut. If you eat one of their new Country Breakfast Burritos, you’re going to get more calories than you were probably counting on. Try counting to 920! Not to mention that it has 60 grams of fat.

My heart just skipped a beat. But it may not beat too much longer if I ate many of these burritos that contain two egg omelets filled with bacon, sausage, diced ham, cheddar cheese, hash browns and sausage gravy.

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Jason

Janet Jackson – Weight loss book?

What was once the Rhythm Nation could soon be the Weight Loss Nation. Janet Jackson, one of music’s biggest influencers, has announced she’s putting ink to paper to share her personal struggle with weight gain and loss. The book is currently in progress and has not yet been given a title, but Miss Jackson says she’s “really coming from the soul with it.”

She expresses that the journey can be different for everyone, and she’s merely sharing her own. During the past year the singer/actress lost an impressive 60 pounds, she says by eating less and exercising more.

Like many other celebrities who’ve publically struggled with their weight, including Oprah and Mariah Carey, Janet plans to share her experiences with her adoring public.

(Please visit again later for further updates on Janet Jackson’s upcoming book.)

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Natalie K

High Glycemic Index Diet Boosts Disease Risk

The glycemic index is an effective way of evaluating your eating habits. The GI refers to how a particular food’s carbohydrate affects your blood sugar level. This will not only have a say in your weight, but your energy levels and, proponents will say, your susceptibility to certain diseases.

A new study reaffirms the disease risk.

The study, conducted by Dr. David S. Ludwig and his colleagues from Children’s Hospital Boston, asserts that people who eat lots of high GI foods not only risk weight gain, they also run the risk of developing a condition that can lead to liver failure and death. The condition is known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

If you are new to the GI way of thinking, high-GI foods include white bread, white rice and potatoes. Low-GI foods include most fruits, lentils, soybeans, yogurt and many high-fiber grains.

Posted on October 13, 2023 by Jason

Take a Trip to the Mediterranean

According to new research, a Mediterranean diet may help Alzheimer’s patients live longer. For those of us on the younger side, it’s also great for your heart health.

So what’s all the fuss about the food eaten in this beautiful region of the world?

The Mediterranean diet is loaded with fruits, vegetables, grains and olive oil, and more fish than red meat. That’s not totally alien to what the rest of us think of as a healthy diet.

But wait!

Another staple to the diet is moderate consumption of red wine, which is probably largely responsible for its trendiness.

Regardless of what your motivation may be, here is a rundown as to why it can be such a healthy diet choice:

The core to the healthfulness of the diet is how low it is in saturated fats. There is plenty of fat, but usually in the form of olive oil, nuts and fish, which has the much-touted omega-3 fatty acids.

Now to the wine… having a glass with your dinner has been shown to have health benefits. Red wine contains antioxidants, which can help fight heart disease. A glass (or up to two for men) can also lower cholesterol. New information is coming out that it may even be good for reducing your risk for diabetes.

Of course, this isn’t the only way to eat your way to great health. But if the idea of olive oil, moderate amounts of bread and pasta, with a little wine and lots of fruits and veggies sounds tantalizing to you, then you should explore your options further.

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Jason

Top 10 Healthy Food Alternatives

If you talk to the average person about dieting, they’ll usually assume it’s about deprivation and misery. It may be difficult to reign in some of your nasty habits at first, but it doesn’t have to be a miserable experience in the long run. And you certainly don’t have to deprive yourself of good tasting, satisfying foods. It’s just a matter of a few simple substitutions, and you will be well on your way to weighing less.

The following are 10 food substitutions that will save you thousands of calories over the course of a year, and not be bland or boring in the process.

1. Instead of chocolate, try carob. Chocolate is first on the list because it’s first on most people’s list of guilty pleasures. I’m not here to tell you to do away with anything forever. Moderation is key to lasting health.

In fact, dark chocolate has gotten good press in recent years for having potent antioxidants that fight free radicals, destructive molecules that are connected to heart disease and other ailments. But if you like to do more than dabble in chocolate’s decadent sweetness, try to substitute the little known carob, a Mediterranean tree that produces pea-like pods that produce the sweet concoction.

It’s not that carob is superior nutritiously, but it has a couple things going for it: Carob has 51 calories per ounce to cocoa powders
98. But even more significant is that carob is naturally sweeter than (or, perhaps more accurately, not as bitter as) chocolate, so you don’t have to use as much sugar with it in recipes.

2. Instead of white bread, switch to whole wheat. I grew up on white bread, but have spent most of my adult life exclusively buying whole wheat. Once you go whole wheat, you wonder how Wonder Bread ever tasted like bread to you. Since it’s whole grain it has more nuanced and substantive taste. White bread is bleached flour (does that even sound close to healthy?) and is enriched with things like high fructose corn syrup. Whole wheat bread is unprocessed, so your body has to spend energy (calories) digesting it.

Be a wary shopper, because not all wheat breads are created equal.
Manufactures will try to trick you with fancy word plays on wheat. Make sure that the first ingredient is a “whole” grain.

3. Instead of a salad dressing, try vinegar. Salad dressings are a great way to kill a perfectly healthy salad with hundreds of useless calories. Use a balsamic vinegar and it will add nary a calorie to your salad.

4. Drop the dip and use salsa. Tomatoes, cilantro, onions, maybe garlic… have you heard anything that sounds unhealthy? Then I think you know why salsa is a much better choice than most chip dips. Chips aren’t exactly a healthy snack, but if you’re going to indulge now and again, the least you can do is cut out the fatty processed creamy dips.

5. of those aforementioned chips, you should try more air-popped popcorn. Do you know anyone who doesn’t like popcorn? Either do I. You’ll also like that a cup of popcorn has about 30 calories compared to 140 calories in an ounce of tortilla chips. And we all know an ounce of chips isn’t going to be where you stop.
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Posted on October 5, 2023 by Jason