Lean Plate Club: After Trans Fat

Remember that NYC banned trans fats?  What is up with that?  Telling us what we can and cannot eat?

Maybe.  But most don’t CHOOSE to eat trans fats.  We eat them because they are in our foods as preservatives, fresheners.  Check out this article from the Washtington Post online.  Yes, it’s about fat and calories, but it’s about hidden fats in foods we eat too.  Take the Lean Plate Club challenge.

Add comment December 18th, 2006

Dieting without Exercise May Reduce Bone Density

Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis recently published an article in the Archives of Internal Medicine that found people who dieted but did not exercise lost weight but ALSO lost bone density.  The group that both dieted and exercised lost almost as much weight but did not lose bone density.

The test was made over one year with two experimental groups (diet only and diet plus exercise) plus a control group.  Average age was 57.

Add comment December 18th, 2006

On Knowing What You (Really) Eat

Diabetes Care for December reports some research done in France.  Seems that people in the study who have diabetes systematically underreported the amount of food they consumed.  Researchers determined this by asking specifically what they had eaten in the previous days and calculating the calories.  Taken at face value, diabetics thought they had consumed MUCH less.  Are the French different from Americans in this way?

See a synopsis in Reuters Health online.

Add comment December 8th, 2006

Lifestyle Factors Affect Heart Disease Risks

Researchers at the University of Washington in St. Louis found that dietary and exercise routines lowered the risk of a test group of older adults (65 or older).  A comparison group not given the lifestyle factor changes did not gain these benefits.  Published in September in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Add comment December 8th, 2006

Getting Healthier Without Dieting

Reuters Health reported a couple days ago that doctors in London find obese women can get healthier through Healthy Lifestyle habits even if they don’t lose significant weight. “Healthy Lifestyle’ means the usual things–better eating habits and exercising more, but it doesn’t necessarily mean cutting calories to the point that a lot of weight comes off.

Reuters quotes Dr. Erika Borkoles of Leeds saying that “Psychological and physical health improved independent of substantial weight loss.”  The women in the study only lost a couple kilograms in a year, but showed improvements in self-image, stress and fitness levels.

Add comment December 7th, 2006

Red Meat May Increase Risk for Breast Cancer

New research reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that pre-menopausal women who consume a large amount of red meat may increase their risks of breast cancer.  This study differs from other previous research in that it includes younger women (aged 26 to 46) and it controls for the presence of hormonal receptors that are known to increase the risk of cancer.  The data is from the Nurses’ Health Study.

Add comment November 19th, 2006