tagged w/ Nutrition and Health
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"Marijuana Gateway to Health" has reached the number 2 position on Amazon's Health Policy list! It has also come in at about the 9000 position on the general ranking list! Anything under 10,000 is very respectable! Thank you to everyone who has helped me promote the book and the new science-based knowledge that proves that using marijuana is health-positive behavior!
"...required reading for all medical professionals, politicians, and everyone interested in health and wellness." -Andrew Weil MD
"I learned more from this book than anything I've read in the past decade." -Marsha Rosenbaum, Ph.D., Sociologist, Drug Policy Alliance
http://www.marijuanagatewaytohealth.com/"Marijuana Gateway to Health" has reached the number 2 position on... more
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The recent class-action lawsuit brought against Taco Bell raised questions about the quality of food many Americans eat each day.
Chief among those concerns is the use of cellulose (read: wood pulp), an extender whose use in a roster of food products, from crackers and ice creams to puddings and baked goods, is now being exposed. What you're actually paying for -- and consuming -- may be surprising.
Cellulose is virgin wood pulp that has been processed and manufactured to different lengths for functionality, though use of it and its variant forms (cellulose gum, powdered cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, etc.) is deemed safe for human consumption, according to the FDA, which regulates most food industry products. The government agency sets no limit on the amount of cellulose that can be used in food products meant for human consumption. The USDA, which regulates meats, has set a limit of 3.5% on the use of cellulose, since fiber in meat products cannot be recognized nutritionally.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11012915/cellulose-wood-pulp-never-tasted-so-good.htmlThe recent class-action lawsuit brought against Taco Bell raised questions about the... more
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Back in the '70s, table sugar (a.k.a. sucrose) was the bad guy. People associated it (rightly) with tooth decay and diabetes, whereas fructose, the predominant sugar in fruit, seemed a more natural option.
Table sugar—a molecule composed of one part fructose to one part glucose—is no better, really, than food-grade HFCS, which contains the same ingredients in a roughly 55/45 ratio. The main distinction is that the fructose and glucose units are joined in sugar and detached in corn syrup. But since the small intestine promptly breaks that bond, it doesn't matter.
Now the pendulum has swung back: Corn syrup is the demon, while sugar (sometimes cleverly disguised as "evaporated cane juice") is back in vogue. But all this back-and-forth makes little sense since, nutritionally speaking, the two sweeteners are practically identical.
But like most things that are heavily marketed and little thought through, perception trumps reality. There are no studies saying that corn syrup is any less or more healthy than sugar.
"All of these are empty calories that offer you no nutrition," says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. That doesn't mean they're forbidden, just that they should be eaten in moderation, she says.
All foods should be eaten in moderation, especially when feeding your children.
Variety and moderation trumps opinion. Eat a variety of healthy foods and the seemingly unhealthy ingredients contained within should balance themselves out.
It’s all a matter of opinion and caution. Take responsibility for yours and your Families health.
Read more: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/corn_syrup_vs_sugar.php
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/on-fitness/2009/04/03/sorting-out-sweeteners-agave-corn-syrup-sugar-and-moreBack in the '70s, table sugar (a.k.a. sucrose) was the bad guy. People associated... more
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The food prize made a new record at the end of the last year. Insects could be a more ecological solution in our nutrition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1jOM_QKwZkThe food prize made a new record at the end of the last year. Insects could be a more... more
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The junk food and poor eating habits affecting humans is also killing their four-legged pals, say veterinary surgeons and experts.
Allergies and obesity are reducing the life expectancy of Lassies and Mittens nourished worldwide on industrial foodstuffs, said Gerard Lippert, a Belgian acupuncturist for animals who has just completed a study on the diets of 600 dead dogs.
“Pets, like humans, are victims of junk food,” he said.
Of the 600 furry corpses he examined “those fed on processed foods died three years earlier than those fed on food made in the home.”
Dogs, he said, “originally were omnivores who shared their food with humans.”
Rippert said he was increasingly called on to heal skin, motor and digestive problems as acupuncture was an all-embracing method enabling work on practically all organs.
“Dry dog food and cat food croquettes are overheated, which destroys vitamins, trace elements and other basic nutritional elements,” he said.
“We don’t know the origin of the proteins in the foods,” he said. “And there’s an excessive amount of cereal, often genetically modified, and very little vegetables.”
*Follow linked page for more - http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2010/04/13/2003470434The junk food and poor eating habits affecting humans is also killing their... more
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In a classic case of contradictory government policy the above pyramids clearly show the inverse relationship between federal government agriculture subsidies and federal nutrition recommendations. Originally published in 2007 by Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in Good Medicine Magazine to outline the committee's concern about the impending farm bill. The graphic recently resurfaced in food security circles and found its way to the Economix Blog @ The New York Times.
Click through (at the link) for why this is important and some more nifty graphs that help explain the obesity epidemic.
The original PCRM article explains the regulatory discrepancy that results in an obese nation.
The Farm Bill...governs what children are fed in schools and what food assistance programs can distribute to recipients. The bill provides billions of dollars in subsidies, much of which goes to huge agribusinesses producing feed crops, such as corn and soy, which are then fed to animals. By funding these crops, the government supports the production of meat and dairy products--the same products that contribute to our growing rates of obesity and chronic disease. Fruit and vegetable farmers, on the other hand, receive less than 1 percent of government subsidies.
The government also purchases surplus foods like cheese, milk, pork, and beef for distribution to food assistance programs--including school lunches. The government is not required to purchase nutritious foods.
(Despite an early pledge to cut big ag subsidies Obama caved to the power of the industry and reversed this plan.)
The author of the post goes on to say:
...the average 18-year-old today is 15 pounds heavier than the average 18 year-old in the late 1970s. Adults have put on even more weight during that period. The average woman in her 60s is 20 pounds heavier than the average 60-something woman in the late 1970s. The average man in his 60s is 25 pounds heavier. When you look at the chart, you start to understand why.
Now, imagine what those charts would look like if mixed fruit and vegetable farms were subsidized at the same rates as meat and dairy operations.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/no-this-is-why-youre-fat.phpIn a classic case of contradictory government policy the above pyramids clearly show... more
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http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/39713/6-worst-fast-food-burgers-and-what-you-should-eat-instead/
A hamburger isn't, by itself, a terrible nutritional choice. Topped with some lettuce and tomato, ketchup, and mustard—and placed in a relatively small bun—a burger is a high-protein treat that shouldn't pack too much fat or too many calories. But just as country music went from skinny little Hank Williams playing honky-tonks to Garth Brooks touring stadiums—and just as baseball went from wiry Jackie Robinson stealing home to muscle-bound Barry Bonds stealing homers—so have our burgers evolved from lean and simple to very fat and complicated.
How hard has it become to decode the once-simple hamburger? Get a load of these. With Eat This, Not That! 2010 we've unearthed the biggest fast-food burger bombs in America, and offer reasonable and delicious alternatives.
Worst Cheeseburger with Everything
Wendy’s Double with Everything and Cheese
700 calories
40 g fat (17 g saturated, 2 g trans)
1,440 mg sodium
In the pantheon of fast-food burgers, this cannot compete with the atrocities wrought by the Double Whoppers and Six Dollar Burgers of the world. But there are too many burgers at Wendy’s to end up with this mistake. Take the Double Stack below—with small chili—for example. With 37 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber, it might be the most satisfying $2 meal in America.
Bonus tip: Find out which Wendy’s burger meal made our list of the 39 Healthiest Foods in America.
Eat This Instead!
Double Stack with Small Chili
550 calories
24 g fat (10.5 g saturated, 1 g trans)
1,640 mg sodium
Worst Burger and Fries
In-N-Out Burger Hamburger and French Fries
790 calories
37 g fat (10 g saturated)
895 mg sodium
You’re heading into dangerous territory whenever you add fries to your order at In-N-Out. Sure, they’re trans-fat-free, but that won’t protect you from the 400 greasy, gut-bloating calories they carry. Instead, skip the fries and get serious about your burger. In-N-Out was offering up the low-carb treat long before other restaurants started making money off the Atkins craze. Take advantage of their prescience—and the 150-calorie savings—by simply tacking the phrase “protein style” onto your order.
Bonus tip: Another way to shed pounds quickly? Download Eat This, Not That! to your iPhone. It's like having your own personal nutritionist (and details on 30,000 foods) at your fingertips!
Eat This Instead!
Protein Style Double-Double with grilled onion, ketchup, and mustard
440 calories
30 g fat (16 g saturated)
1,080 mg sodium
Worst Plain Cheeseburger
Five Guys Cheeseburger (plain)
840 calories
55 g fat (22.5 g saturated)
1,050 mg sodium
Even if you get the regular (i.e., bi-pattied) cheeseburger naked, you’ll still be taking in more than 250 calories and 20 grams of fat extra over the seemingly decadent bacon and sauteed mushroom burger. That’s because what Five Guys calls a “Little Burger,” healthy people call a “normal burger.” Plus, if you limit yourself to a single beef patty, you can get away with a couple of indulgent toppings like cheese or bacon.
Eat This Instead!
Little Bacon Burger with Sauteed Mushrooms and A1 Steak Sauce
575 calories
33 g fat (14.5 g saturated)
920 mg sodium
Worst Burger Brand
Carl’s Jr. Six Dollar Burger
890 calories
54 g fat (20 g saturated, 2 g trans)
2,040 mg sodium
What’s scary about the basic Six Dollar Burger is that with the exception of the bunless version, this is the leanest of the Six Dollar Burgers. That’s not a compliment—the rest of the line is just trashed beyond repair with egregious piles of bacon, guacamole, and teriyaki sauce. When at Carl’s, choose a Big Hamburger instead. Sure it’s big, but it’s not so big that you’re going to have to spend the next 3 days recovering. In fact, kids’ burgers aside, this is the only hamburger offered that won’t cost you in excess of 500 calories.
Eat This Instead!
Big Hamburger
460 calories
17 g fat (8 g saturated, 0.5 g trans)
1,090 mg sodium
Worst “Original” Burger
Hardee’s Original Thickburger (1/3 lb)
910 calories
64 g fat (21 g saturated)
1,560 mg sodium
Shockingly, this is one of the least offensive of the Thickburgers. If you really need 1/3 pound of meat for lunch, make it the low-carb version and save yourself 490 calories. Or, choose a Double Cheeseburger, instead. It’s far from a model of sound nutrition, but the same could be said of Hardee’s itself. So if you want a burger with substance, you need to settle for the lesser of many evils.
Bonus tip: Find out which burgers and other fast-food favorites we picked on our must-see list of Top Swaps for Weight Loss.
Eat This Instead!
Double Cheeseburger
510 calories
26 g fat (5 g saturated)
1,120 mg sodium
Worst Fast-Food Cheeseburger in America
Burger King Triple Whopper Sandwich with Cheese and Mayo
1,250 calories
84 g fat (32 g saturated, 3.5 g trans)
1,600 mg sodium
This Triple Whopper is triple trouble. You could remove two patties and still be looking at more calories than you should tussle with in one sitting. And the fact that it’s got more trans fat than you should eat in a day only adds insult to injury. The problem with BK burgers is that not a single one comes without the heart-harming trans-fatty acids, despite their long-standing promise to (someday) make their menu trans-fat-free. Your best bet when dealing with the King is to choose a chicken sandwich instead.
Eat This Instead!
Tendergrill Chicken Sandwich with Mayo
490 calories
21 g fat (4 g saturated, 0 g trans)
1,220 mg sodiumhttp://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/39713/6-worst-fast-food-burgers-and-what-you-sh... more
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“Everything about it would be bad,” says Mark Hammergren, an astronomer at Adler Planetarium in Chicago, beginning with your attempt to scoop it up. Despite the fact that white dwarfs are fairly common throughout the universe, the nearest is 8.6 light-years away. Let’s assume, though, that you’ve spent 8.6 years in your light-speed car and that the radiation and heat emanating from the star didn’t kill you on your approach. White dwarfs are extremely dense stars, and their surface gravity is about 100,000 times as strong as Earth’s. “You’d have to get your sample—which would be very hard to carve out—without falling onto the star and getting flattened into a plasma,” Hammergren says. “And even then, the high pressure would cause the hydrogen atoms in your body to fuse into helium.”
(This type of reaction, by the way, is what triggers a hydrogen bomb.)
Then you’d have to worry about confinement. Freeing the sample from its superdense, high-pressure home and bringing it to Earth’s relatively low-pressure environment would cause it to expand explosively without proper containment. But if it didn’t blow up in your face—or vaporize your face, since the stuff’s temperature ranges between 10,000˚ and 100,000˚F—and you somehow got it to your kitchen table, you’d be hard-pressed to feed yourself: A single teaspoon would weigh in excess of five tons. “You’d pop it into your mouth and it would fall unimpeded through your body, carve a channel through your gut, come out through your nether regions, and burrow a hole toward the center of the Earth,” Hammergren says. “The good news is that it’s not quite dense enough to have a strong enough gravitational field to rip you apart from the inside out.”
It probably wouldn’t be worth the trouble anyway, Hammergren laments. White dwarfs are mostly helium or carbon, so your teaspoonful would taste like a whiff of flavorless helium gas or a lick of coal. But if you’re desperate for a taste of star, you don’t really need to travel 8.6 light-years—your fridge is full of the stuff. Most of the elements that make up our bodies and everything around us were formed in the cores of stars and then belched out into the universe over billions of years. Basically everything you eat was once part of a star. Might we recommend some star fruit?
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-10/what-would-happen-if-i-ate-teaspoonful-white-dwarf-star“Everything about it would be bad,” says Mark Hammergren, an astronomer at... more
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Yeah right!
Kellogg, the nation's largest cereal maker, is being called to task by critics who object to the swine flu-conscious claim now bannered in bold lettering on the front of Cocoa Krispies cereal boxes: "Now helps support your child's IMMUNITY."
Of all claims on cereal boxes, "this one belongs in the hall of fame," says Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. "By their logic, you can spray vitamins on a pile of leaves, and it will boost immunity."
As the H1N1 virus worries parents and threatens children, the claim of supporting immunity is compelling to many. But it comes at a time foodmakers are being held more accountable for claims. The industry's self-created "Smart Choices" nutrition-labeling program was voluntarily halted recently after federal regulators expressed concern that such programs may be misleading.
Last week, San Francisco sent a letter to Kellogg and to the Food and Drug Administration asking Kellogg to prove its claim. "I am concerned the prominent use of the immunity claims to advertise a sugar-laden chocolate cereal like Cocoa Krispies may mislead and deceive parents of young children," said Dennis Herrera, the city attorney.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2009-11-02-cereal-immunity-claim_N.htmYeah right!
Kellogg, the nation's largest cereal maker, is being called to... more
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KSirys
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Many of us are concerned about our health and nutrition. Trying to find more information about these two aspects we often tend to browse the internet rather than visit a specialist though this isn’t very good. There are lots of myths about healthy life style and nutrition we all believe to be true. This article will tell you about some of them. The information is given by Catherine Collins, Principal Dietician at St George’s Hospital in London.Many of us are concerned about our health and nutrition. Trying to find more... more
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espl4
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According to the survey, over 90% of North American women wear a bra, many without ever asking why. While some believe they do it for their breasts’ sake, other do it simply because of cultural reasons as going braless (or bra free) is often considered inappropriate or kind of breaking the social rules of dress code.According to the survey, over 90% of North American women wear a bra, many without... more
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espl4
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In a time where childhood obesity is an alarming problem, Fizzy’s Lunch Lab is a new and fun media property featuring funny characters that entertain and educate families about the importance of good nutrition, a balanced diet, and physical activity. LunchLab.com will feature animated shorts, recipes, food facts, and interactive games that teach kids to make smart food choices. The For Parents section will feature family activities, additional recipes, as well as a Twitter feed linking to additional health tips, recipes, and articles. Starting in November, PBSKidsGo.org will release a new animated short (with an original corresponding recipe) every week for 40 straight weeks.
PBS formally announced the press release today along with the Lunch Lab preview site.
Official Press Release:
http://www2.prnewswire.com/mnr/pbs/40319/
Lunch Lab Preview Site:
http://pbskids.org/lunchlab/In a time where childhood obesity is an alarming problem, Fizzy’s Lunch Lab is a... more
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Food corporations are hoping to cash in on the growing public concern about nutrition by launching a program that labels some junk food healthy.Food corporations are hoping to cash in on the growing public concern about nutrition... more
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We all know we're supposed to eat healthy portions. So why is it that a rough day at the office or even just the smell of chocolate-chip cookies can cause us to throw our best intentions out the window?
If you overeat, think about what triggered your overindulgence so you can do better next time.
We tapped the nation's leading experts for the unexpected reasons why so many of us overdo it -- so you can break the cycle and prevent an unwanted pile-on of pounds.
good read.We all know we're supposed to eat healthy portions. So why is it that a rough day... more
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larock
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I never got around to reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma when it was all the rage two years ago. But as I was leaving the library a few days ago I walked past In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan’s fifth book that supposedly follows up on the ideas that he presented in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and I decided to check it out. Four days later, I’ve finished the book and it’s really gotten me thinking......I never got around to reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma when it was all the rage... more
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.DrTranquility aka Lydia Belton-Alabastro & Sally Farmiloe-Neville for BWellTV sit down with D'ato Jimmy Choo,OBE world renowned shoe designer, and successful restaurateur Eddie-Lim-at-Awana, London. To chat about Qi Gong and Malaysian Cuisine..DrTranquility aka Lydia Belton-Alabastro & Sally Farmiloe-Neville for BWellTV sit... more
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We do it for the bDr. David Kessler, 58, says that when he looks at a huge plate of French fries, he knows that if he starts eating them, he won't stop until he's wolfed them all down. Yes, even the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, who once oversaw the nation's health, struggles to eat well like the rest of us.
We do it for the buzz. Like drug addicts. How do we stop the constant craving?
In his new best-selling book, "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite," Kessler, a San Francisco Bay Area pediatrician, explains why certain foods loaded with fat, sugar and salt exert such a pull, despite our best intentions to avoid them. As he discusses the biology that leads to scarfing down a plate of fries, he delves into such puzzles as why the French fry binger is more likely to remember the pleasant stimulation of the fries' salt, fat, texture and flavor than the stomachache and self-recrimination that follow it.
The former dean of medical schools at Yale and the University of California, San Francisco, Kessler, who is also a lawyer, contends that the American food culture, including our mores about when, where and how often we eat, plays a large role in fostering what he calls "conditioned hypereating." He argues that the government, food industry and individual diner all have parts to play in combating that plate of fries. While Kessler is not offering a weight-loss solution or proposing some chimerical healthy eating plan, his book strips away the allure of some of the most appetizing and unhealthy foods. I spoke with Dr. Kessler about why so many of us can't eat just one.uzz. Like drug addicts. How do we stop the constant craving?We do it for the bDr. David Kessler, 58, says that when he looks at a huge plate of... more
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How women should workout if they want to look the lean and toned Britney Spears.
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St. Patrick's Day is here and while YOU will be drinking Green beer, others may be thinking about their health and want to know some good green vegetables to pick up from the grocery store.
If your diet does not include enough green leafy vegetables your body will be at a higher risk for certain cancers and being overweight.St. Patrick's Day is here and while YOU will be drinking Green beer, others may... more
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