It kind of amazes me that some people get so freaked out by a tiny teaspoon of sugar. Fifteen calories has never gotten such a bad rap. In the rush to place blame for the so-called obesity epidemic, this basic carbohydrate that every body needs for fuel, has become a scapegoat.
Nobody has ever gained weight because they put a teaspoon of sugar in their two cups of coffee every morning. And despite what the Food Police will have you believe, there is no reliable science that indicates that sugar causes obesity or has some extra-caloric superpower that causes people to gain weight.
But some people still don’t get that it’s a simple formula of “calories in, calories out,” and if you eat more calories than you need for energy you will gain weight, and those calories can be in the form of carbohydrates, protein, fat or a combination of all three. A person can eat the “healthiest” foods imaginable, but if they eat more than they need they will gain weight. And for the record, one gram of sugar provides 4 calories, one gram of protein and one gram of fat provides 9 calories each.
The one gram of sugar provides the same 4 calories any other form of carbohydrate provides. The difference between sugar and the other calories is that sugar is immediately converted into fuel that the body uses right away. If you are active eating carbs and sugars are a necessary part of your diet. And if you exercise carbs and sugars are a vital part of your fueling and recovery regimens.
If you enjoy sugar, use sugar. Natural sugar. I’m of the belief that it’s better to use natural sugar – or use nothing – than to use an artificial or chemically altered substance. And some believe that the taste of real sugar can help to control hunger, and as a result help people to manage their weight.
Unless you are one of the unfortunates who suffer from a peanut allergy, everyone should include nuts into their regular eating routine. Nuts are not only a great source of protein and good fat, they offer other health benefits, as well.
In recent years studies indicate that nuts may reduce cardiovascular risk for both healthy men and men who have already suffered a heart attack. The mechanism through which nuts work their magic are not yet understood, but the medical community has some ideas about why nuts are good for us.
- Because they replace foods that may be less healthy¸ nuts may help lower cholesterol
- Nuts contain heart healthy mono- and poly-unsaturated fats
- Walnuts contain omega-3 fats which have a wide-range of purported benefits, including protection against irregular heart beat
- Nuts contain a variety of nutrients – arginine, fiber, vitamin E – that may improve blood vessel function and help lower cardiovascular risk factors
Nuts make great snacks and can serve as a great replacement for some of the unhealthier snack options that many people reach for when they are hungry. Because of nuts fat and protein content, a few nuts can go a long way towards satisfying, and staving off, hunger.
Practice moderation in all things, including your intake of nuts. Over eating is over eating, regardless of how “healthy” a food may be, and excess calories from any source of food can result in a gain of body weight. Limit yourself to a handful or two of nuts at snack time and you’ll improve your chances of deriving the benefits offered by nuts.
You don’t just have to eat peanuts, as there are plenty of nut varieties available including
- Almonds
- Brazil nuts
- Cashews
- Filberts
- Pistachios
- Walnuts
Make nuts a part of your regular diet.
It’s a sad day for those of us who enjoy the occasional desert treat, as Richard LaMotta the inventor of the Chipwich ice cream sandwich has died. I always get grief from the “No-Fun” wing of the health and fitness profession when I talk about my love for all things food and drink and my belief that we should enjoy and not avoid the things we love and that bring us pleasure.
Everything in moderation is the key and there has been ample research to back up this philosophy. Plus what fun is life if you can’t enjoy ice cream, cookies, cake, beer, bourbon, pizza, french fries or whatever else it is that makes your taste buds sing?
Mr. LaMotta labored as a regular dude with regular jobs for most of his life until he was hit with his genius idea to put a scoop of ice cream in between two cookies. They always say that there is beauty in simplicity and if the Chipwich doesn’t embody this saying nothing does.
Back in 1982 LaMotta sold 25,000 Chipwiches on the streets of New York City using 60 push cart vendors, at $1 a pop, in just a few hours. The Chipwich became an instant classic and spawned countless imitators and by the time LaMotta sold his company in 2002 he had sold over one billion Chipwiches! You should do your best Dr. Evil impersonation when saying this…
Over the past 28 years I did my best to help LaMotta’s invention become successful, so today in honor of his accomplishments and to honor his passing, I’m going to take my three sons out for Chipwiches. I suggest you do the same.
Appemine is a made up name for an ingredient that is contained in a nutritional supplement that is alleged to promote weight loss. Appemine is not a single substance but a combination of three ordinary dietary supplements; green tea extract, cinnamon twig and galangal. This secret ingredient is what is supposed to make Right Size smoothies help people to lose weight.
The reality is that these three ingredients posses dubious weight loss pedigrees and when combined to “make” appemine, aren’t magically better. Just as 1+1+1 does not equal 10, green tea extract + cinnamon twig + galangal doesn’t equal weight loss.
Let’s look at the most ineffective ingredient first, galangal. Do a Google search and you will learn from both the organic and sponsored links that galangal is a spice that tastes and looks kind of like ginger and is used as an ingredient in Thai foods. I learned that galangal is used as an ingredient in a favorite food of mine, Pad Thai. Yummy!
However, you really have to dig to find any medicinal uses for galangal. I found that this spice is used to ward off flatulence, bad breath and diarrhea (yay!) and other kinds of intestinal and digestive distresses, but found nothing promoting this Siamese ginger as a weight loss supplement.
Cinnamon twig sounds like it would be good in tea or hot chocolate but here’s what I found about this substance. I can’t do any better than this passage that I found on NutritionalWellness.com, “Acrid, sweet and warm. In Chinese medicine, cinnamon helps release the Exterior and Disperses Cold. Good for Kidney Yang Deficiency. This condition is characterized by intolerance to cold; cold extremities; weakness and soreness of the lower back and knees; lack of libido; polyuria; loose stools; and/or wheezing.”
If you have Kidney Yang deficiency, you’re in luck. If you want to lose a few pounds, sorry Charlie.
The final component of appemine is green tea extract (GTE). GTE has a great track record if you define “great” as being credited for preventing cancers, heart disease, lowering cholesterol and helping people to lose weight. But if you require proof in the form of solid, repeatable scientific evidence before willing to assign greatness to a supplement, than GTE won’t be a nominee for the Nutritional Supplement Hall of Fame.
You see, there’s a whole lot of “maybes,” “mights” and “we thinks” attached to the benefits offered by green tea coming from the sales and marketing side, while science just isn’t as optimistic. Where one study offers promise for GTE in the fight against cancer and other diseases, there are studies that say, “Now wait just a minute, there.” And when it comes to weight loss, it really is a stretch to claim that green tea extract can help people lose weight.
Appemine is just a marketing tool.
In a blow to the, “Food is Medicine” crowd the results of a recent study indicate that fruits and vegetables have little, if any, anti-cancer effects. Despite being told for years about the mystical and magical powers of leafy greens and organic produce of all kinds, after looking at the diets of almost a half-a-million Europeans over an 8-year period researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York found a very weak link between eating two portions of fruits and vegetables a day and the reduced risk of cancer.
When looking at all the statistics and making all kinds of adjustments that are likely too boring and complicated for us to hear about, these researchers figured out that eating fruits and veggies reduced the risk of cancer by a “very weak” 3 percent. The news is just another illustration of how the healthy eating crowd has totally oversold the benefits of following a healthy diet.
I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of people telling me how great fruits and veggies are. Sure I like all kinds of produce, but stop preaching to me and telling me that you’re going to be healthier because you love kale, pomegranite, blueberries, spinach and all that. As a matter of fact, I love Brussel Sprouts and escarole and broccoli rabe because they taste great, not because I think they are going to save my life and protect me from cancer.
“Experts” are still claiming that fruits and vegetables are high in anti-oxidants that protect us from a variety of damages and problems despite the reality that there is little proof that this is so. As a matter of fact, the more studies done on anti-oxidants, the less justification there is to tout these nutrients as vital to good health.
And please, let’s do away with the nonsensical title of, “Superfood,” that has been bestowed upon many a plant-based food over the past several years.
In response to this news esteemed expert Dr. Walter Willet of Harvard writes in an editorial accompanying the study, “A very weak or undetectable association between fruits and vegetables and risk of cancer does not exclude the possibility that one or a small group of fruits or vegetables … has an important protective effect.” In a comment to the New York Times Willet says, “We now have much more information from prospective studies on intake of fruits and vegetables in relation to risk of cardiovascular disease. Thus the advice should continue, but the benefit will be primarily for heart disease and stroke.”
But this is the same kind of stuff experts have been telling us for the past 20 years ago about how produce would protect us against cancer, and after all we have learned recently about the dubious powers of foods to deliver any kind of protective or health benefits we maintain a healthy skepticism towards such claims.
So the best bet is to enjoy all things in moderation, especially the foods that you love to eat. Get some exercise and don’t feel guilty about eating or drinking things that give you pleasure, and certainly do not let the “Healthy Eating Police” make you feel guilty for doing so.
Orthorexia is an eating disorder – or form of disordered eating – that you may not have heard about, but apparently is becoming a real problem among people who think that they are engaged in healthy eating. Orthorexia is characterized by a hyper-vigilance about the quality of foods and the ingredients contained within, not necessarily focusing on weight-loss/avoiding weight gain.
According to a recent article that appeared on ParentDish.com, when parents become overly concerned with the consumption of sugars, trans fats and other ingredients that have been deemed unhealthy in the efforts to avoid disease and illnesses, they can be setting their kids up for habits and attitudes towards foods and eating that can cause them to suffer from myriad eating disorders. Bulimia and anorexia are on the rise in the United States and many experts feel this is because we have a generation of parents have passed unhealthy attitudes towards foods and eating on to their children.
According to Dr. Steven Bratman, author of the book “Health Food Junkies,” orthorexia starts, “as a desire to overcome chronic illness, lose weight and improve general health or to correct bad habits of diet.” The National Eating Disorders Association says orthorexics get fixated on the quality of food and wind up severely restricting the kinds and total calories of food. Just like with other eating disorders, this obsession consumes orthorexics and dominates their thoughts and lives.
There is some disagreement in the eating disorder community over whether orthorexia is an eating disorder or a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Frankly this is a chicken and egg argument, in that many extreme behaviors associated with diet and exercise has OCD elements. And really, does it matter? If a person is so obsessed with food and “eating healthy” that they become unhealthy, they need to be helped, not put in a category.
Orthorexia is an illustration of how people have totally lost the ability to eat intuitively, something that our species has done for thousands of years. Over a little more than a generation’s time, millions of people no longer know how to properly feed themselves and cannot eat unless they follow a plan. The multi-billion dollar diet industry has sold the public a bill of goods; you need to lose weight to be healthy and you don’t know how to eat so follow our method. Instead of helping, the diet industry has ruined people, even those who don’t need to lose weight.
Life is hectic. Whether you’re a student, a parent, a working stiff or a member of any other demographic sometimes life gets in the way of healthy eating habits. As a result too often people skip meals, usually breakfast, or make bad food choices as they eat on the run. Skipping meals – especially breakfast – can sabotage your attempts at following a healthy eating plan.
Incorporating a protein shake into your daily routine, particularly at breakfast, is a great way to make sure you get enough, high-quality calories in your diet….
Look for a protein powder that is derived from either whey or egg whites, the two most complete proteins available, because they contain the required amount of the 8 essential amino acids, including branched chain amino acids (BCAA). The BCAAs are important because they are metabolized directly by muscles during prolonged exercise and are the first source of fuel used by the body. Additionally, the BCAAs aid the body in recovery from exercise and allows for the building of new muscle tissue.
There are literally tons of different protein powders on the market, but there are a few simple things to keep in mind when determining which kind and brand of protein you will buy. For those of you with short attention spans, I’ll tell you up front that the prevailing wisdom seems to be (how’s that for wishy-washy?) whey protein is the way to go.
Whey protein comes from cow’s milk and in the form of whey isolate contains little or no fat, lactose or cholesterol. So if you opt for whey, look for a protein powder where the first ingredient is whey in either “whey protein isolate” or “whey protein concentrate” form. There can be a big disparity in the prices between different brands that is a matter of both how big the container is and the level of quality of the protein. The higher the quality and the fewer the additives, the more expensive the protein will be – and this is for both whey protein and egg white protein.
Egg white protein is typically more expensive than whey but is every bit as effective. Just make sure that the ingredients list is pretty short and starts with “”Pure egg white powder” or something to that effect.
Regardless of the protein that you choose – they both offer superior nutrition - make sure that the serving size is no greater than 20 grams of protein, as this is about as much protein as our bodies can process in one serving. You don’t HAVE to use the whole scoop of protein, as half a serving – or 10 grams of protein/65 calories – mixed with a cup of milk adds up to about 215 calories, which is more than enough for most folks.
A protein drink can be the perfect breakfast for people on the go who don’t have time to eat a sit-down breakfast. The shake takes about 30 seconds to prepare and if you have a little Tupperware shaker, breakfast can be a portable and healthy meal. Starting off the day with a healthy 215-calorie protein shake will go a long way towards helping you have a good day.
Over the past several years hoodia in all of its various forms – also known as hoodia gordonii – has been hailed as the magic bullet of weight loss supplement that may help end the problem of obesity. My dear friends, this is pure nonsense.
Hoodia and hoodia gordonii comes from a cactus that grows in South Africa and has been seized upon by dietary supplement hucksters as the weight loss panacea of the 21st Century, a substance that can help us in the fight against obesity, despite the fact that there isn’t a shred of real evidence to back up these outlandish claims.
This point bears repeating and needs to be emphasized: Whether it be hoodia diet pills or the hoodia patch, not one reliable, legitimate scientific study has been performed to study if hoodia can suppress appetite which leads to weight loss. Hoodia will do nothing in the face of the obesity epidemic.
The way that hoodia has been marketed illustrates just how laughably pathetic nutritional supplement companies can be. As an example, today I received a spam email from one of these hoodia gordonii pushers that included a link to an old NBC Today Show clip that talked about the supplement. By the way, I would love to get a specific hoodia spam filter; it would help to keep my inbox way less cluttered. Anyway…
After the report that touts the purported benefits of hoodia, Katie Couric performs an in-studio interview with Madelyn Fernstrom, a woman who works in the University of Pittsburgh Weight Management Center.
During this interview Ms. Fernstrom talks about all of the reasons that hoodia gordonii, whether it be hoodia pills or the hoodia patch, won’t work and certainly won’t help reduce obesity.
So a company that sells hoodia provides us with access to an independent report that says that their product DOES NOT work in the effort to sell us this hoodia, and people are still buying it.
People, wise up and get with the program!
The major reason why hoodia doesn’t work is that hoodia diet pills are made from parts of this cactus that are ground up into a powder, mixed with filler and put into a pill form. Even if the raw hoodia cut right from the cactus did work, there’s no reason to believe that drying it up into a powder and mixing it with other non-hoodia gordonii substances and putting it into a pill form will work.
Powdered fruits and vegetables don’t offer the benefits of the real thing, so why would hoodia?
And then there’s the matter of dosage. Since there are no controls over these kinds of supplements, there is no way that anybody knows how much hoodia is needed to provide benefits, if there are even benefits.
There is also the matter of counterfeit hoodia. The cactus that produces the hoodia is not only rare, but is on a protected species list in South Africa. As a result, hoodia exporters need a special export license to sell hoodia gordonii powder. There have been many stories detailing how unscrupulous hoodia brokers have forged this document so that they can sell phony hoodia or diluted hoodia. Recently investigations have uncovered that many brands of hoodia contain little if any real hoodia powder.
So here’s the rundown. No scientific evidence, expert opinions say that hoodia doesn’t work, even if raw hoodia did work the powdered version won’t, no effective dosage indication and the possibility that there isn’t even hoodia in the hoodia pills.
The bottom line is stay away from hoodia gordonii diet pills and the hoodia patch.
The Food Police in the Land Down Under – actually New Zealand – aren’t happy that Weight Watchers has endorsed a few items on McDonalds’ menu. Weight Watchers has put their stamp of approval on the Filet of Fish (“Give me back that filet of fish, give me that fish.”), Chicken McNuggets and Sweet Seared Chili Chicken Wrap, which has sent members of the Food Police into a frenzy.
Some person from some group called, “Australia’s Obesity Policy Coalition” said Weight Watchers endorsement, “Implies this food is healthy … when often it is high in fat and salt. Chicken McNuggets are Chicken McNuggets whether it’s got Weight Watchers on it or not.” Relax, it’s just fake chicken they are approving, not a Big Mac or french fries or a shake.
The bigger joke is that anyone would think that Weight Watchers promotes healthy eating. They assign points to foods so that people can eat the proper amount of points in a day so they can lose weight and be healthy! There’s nothing healthy about Weight Watchers. For what it’s worth these Mickey D’s meals are worth 6.5 points on the Weight Watchers program. In case you didn’t know, Weight Watcher drones are indoctrinated to consume 18 to 40 points each day to achieve their goal weight.
Doesn’t everyone know that 18-40 points of food per day is healthy eating and is the key to weight loss and improving fitness? That makes sense to me, 18-40 points, it’s just so simple!
But seriously, if these so-called obesity experts have research that proves McDonalds’ food kills people or has any other direct effect on people’s health, they really should share it with the rest of us. But they don’t have this data, so these no-fun, know-it-all types like Sian Porter, a dietician at the British Dietetic Association, say things like, “This sort of initiative should be applauded, but the danger is that someone will go in, choose one of the healthier options and then think: ‘Ooh good. Now I’ll have an ice cream’, which is not the right message.”
WTF? Ice cream is awesome.
If Weight Watchers wants to be able to tell their followers what they should eat in a fast food restaurant, let them. Their method relies on being able to tell people what, and how much to eat, so let them do it. After all, people have to keep going back to Weight Watchers because they can’t figure out all of this food point stuff by themselves. I say Weight Watchers should strike deals with all the fast food chains so that people won’t have to be conflicted and concerned about getting those 18-40 points.
I love the Travel Channel show, “No Reservations,” hosted by Anthony Bourdain. It’s not a fine dining show, but a food travelogue experience where the host visits places all around the world and eats indigenous, regular-folk foods.
He doesn’t visit the “in” places, rather he has locals take him to places food snobs would never visit. He eats food from street vendors, local dives and haunts, and other places that a lot of folks would hesitate to enter, never mind eat in. I’m jealous of Bourdain because my Achilles Heel is actually an Achilles Stomach; I love to travel but when I travel my stomach can go on the fritz. But that’s another story…
When I talk to people about the show I cannot believe how many responses I get that are along the lines of, “Oh I would never eat that stuff. It’s fattening!” I’ve kind of known this all along, but I really have come to realize that an overwhelming number of Americans are afraid of food.
How could you visit Chile and NOT eat all kinds of grilled meats and sausages cooked on a huge open air barbeque in an open air market, or go to Laos and Vietnam and NOT eat the awesome street-vendor foods and drink the local beer, or beg off going on a “Tapas Crawl” (especially with Bourdain) in Barcelona, Spain because you might eat something that’s fattening or “bad” for you.
What a bunch of duds Americans have turned into.
Americans have developed the Nocebo Effect when it comes to eating and enjoying great foods. The Nocebo Effect – opposite of the Placebo Effect – occurs when people experience an immediate, negative reaction to a drug or food simply because of pessimism or a negative expectation. Once you are aware of this attitude that people have towards food, you will notice it all around you.
Bordain himself revealed this fear last week when he was enjoying a traditional Turkish breakfast and said something along the lines of, “I really shouldn’t be eating this.” C’mon Anthony, don’t fall prey to the awful American-borne syndrome of “Fear of Food.” You’re a rebel, don’t conform to the line parroted by the no-fun foodies.
Perhaps the “French Paradox” is stronger than the American Fear of Food. The French Paradox describes the situation where the French have a low incidence of coronary artery disease despite eating a diet high in saturated fats. Maybe it’s just that the French don’t care and aren’t scared of what they eat. Americans are so terrified of eating something that’s “bad,” the Nocebo Effect has made them unhealthy and no fun to be with and eat around.
What good is food if you can’t enjoy it? Watch Bourdain’s “No Reservations,” and take the first step of liberating yourself from the fear of food.
