Healthy Diet: October 2006 Archives

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. adults who recently ate at a casual dining restaurant said in a survey that they are eating less fried food and less red meat.

The online survey, conducted by Maritz Research, of nearly 1,900 Americans who recently ate at a casual dining restaurant found when given a choice between food that is grilled or fried, 87 percent said they preferred their food grilled.

The survey also revealed that 36 percent said they were eating less red meat compared to five years ago, while 8 percent said they were eating more red meat.

but any salmon is better than junk food.

Here's interesting research about the high level of toxic metals found in farmed salmon compared to wild salmon. It's unfortunate that the headlines are ablaze with this news, since eating salmon is such a healthy way to get Omega-3 fatty acids into your diet, but it's also worth pointing out that salmon raised in captivity are not the same as salmon raised in wild.

Winter squash, with colors that range from orange and green to yellow and white, certainly look festive. Along with close relative the pumpkin, squash remains a quintessential fall vegetable. But beyond gathering the bright-colored beauties in a seasonal display, what can you do with them?

One thing you have to do — if you want them for more than their good looks — is cook them.

Unlike their thin-skinned, summer squash cousins — zucchini, pattypan or yellow crookneck — most winter squash has a thick, tough rind that protects a firm, sweet, often brightly colored interior, one that must be seeded and cooked.

(NewsTarget) The NPD Group's 21st annual Eating Patterns in America report has found that consumer-purchasing decisions in the United States are still primarily convenience-driven, despite an increased focus on health over the last year.

“The driving force in our eating habits has always been convenience," said report author and NPD Vice President Harry Balzer. "The only surprise is how that will manifest in our behavior."

American adults think weight-loss supplements are safer and more effective than they actually are, researchers report in a new national survey.

More than 60 percent of the 1,444 telephone respondents, all of whom had made significant efforts to lose weight, mistakenly said that such supplements have been tested and are proven to be safe (65 percent) and effective (63 percent).

Over half (54 percent) wrongly stated that such supplements are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

A new book makes the potentially controversial claim that Food is Better Medicine Than Drugs. Katie Baldwin met one of the authors

It's no secret that our diet can have a dramatic effect on our health. In recent years the trickle of health advice relating to food has become an inescapable flood.

We need to eat less fatty foods, more fruit and vegetables and less salt, more oily fish and less red meat. A new book goes one step further though. Food is Better Medicine Than Drugs by nutrition expert Patrick Holford and medical journalist Jerome Burne claims just that.

PHOENIX, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- "A diet has gone too far when the restrictive calorie level or limited foods on the diet lead to episodes of binge eating; a diet has gone too far when a person purges calories by self-induced vomiting," said Juliet Zuercher, registered dietitian and the director of nutrition services at Remuda Ranch in Phoenix.

"If these binging and purging behaviors increase to multiple times per week, for three months or more, that's considered a full-blown eating disorder." Remuda Ranch Programs for Eating Disorders is an inpatient treatment center for women and girls with anorexia and bulimia.

BOSTON - If you don’t pay attention to calories when deciding how much of something to eat, you might want to know that the chefs serving it to you don’t either.

A survey of 300 restaurant chefs around the country reveals that taste, looks and customer expectations are what matter when they determine portion size. Only one in six said the calorie content was very important and half said it didn’t matter at all.

While it may make diners happy to get piles of pasta and mountains of meat, they’ll pay the price in pounds, said doctors at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society, where the survey was presented Saturday.

California strawberry growers, supplying 87% of the nation's strawberry crop, are reporting an excellent yield of red, ripe, and nutritious strawberries for October and November. That's good news for Americans across the country who are looking for an extra boost of protection against the upcoming cold and flu season.

According to the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the average child will get six to 10 colds a year while adults as many as four. Medical experts say a well-balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables is one of the best ways to ward off illness. Strawberries fit the bill. Considered a "Superfood," strawberries are loaded with nutrients, low in sugar and contain more vitamin C than oranges.

Many people use vitamin supplements for good health despite the fact that few actually need it, says a leading Britain nutritionist who argues that the best way to stay healthy is a balanced diet.

People are often seduced into buying pills because they're worried that food has fewer nutrients than it used to, said Jane Clarke. The best source of vitamins and minerals is freshly picked produce, reported the online edition of Daily Mail.

In an ideal world, everybody would grow their own fruit and vegetables and use them straight from the garden. Instead, people rely on supermarket produce that's been kept in cold storage, sometimes for months on end, and transported great distances.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Eating seafood twice a week is good for your heart and generally outweighs the risk of exposure to mercury and other dangerous contaminants, the Institute of Medicine said Tuesday.

Even so, the government needs to help consumers figure out which seafood is safer, an Institute report said.

“The confusion may have scared people out of eating something that is beneficial for them and maybe for their offspring,” said Jose Ordovas, a Tufts University researcher and member of the report committee.

Your diabetes diet is an important part of your treatment plan. Consider the latest guidelines for diabetes nutrition.

When you have diabetes, diet plays a key role in controlling blood sugar. You probably already know the cornerstones of any diabetes diet — moderate portions of healthy foods and regular mealtimes. Now, new guidelines from the American Diabetes Association can help you make even better choices about what you eat.

Here's a quick look at the latest recommendations, including how to incorporate the basics into your own diabetes diet.

SAN FRANCISCO - Baskets overflow with fresh greens. Tomatoes blush a deep red. The competition for customers’ attention is fierce at the Heirloom Organics farm stand during the lunch-hour rush.

Despite a recent E. coli outbreak, shoppers at this farmers market are reaching with confidence for spinach, reassured that the food is grown nearby, by farmers they can talk to, on land they can visit.

Experts predict that as awareness of farming methods grows, interest in farmers markets, restaurants that buy locally and direct farm-to-consumer sales is bound to grow as well.

TORONTO - Two Canadians remained paralyzed Tuesday after drinking carrot juice contaminated with the botulism toxin, health officials said.

A week after Bolthouse Farms issued a continental recall of its carrot juice, at least 10 Toronto businesses still had the product on their shelves over the long holiday weekend, prompting health officials to call on the media to warn households and shopkeepers to throw away the juice.

Oct. 9, 2006 -- What you eat today just may help determine your risk for Alzheimer's disease late in life.

Two new studies offer preliminary evidence that dietary choices could help prevent age-related mental decline or slow its progression.

In one, people who followed the so-called Mediterranean diet, which includes plenty of fruits and vegetables but little red meat, had a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's than people who did not follow the diet. In the other, taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements seemed to slow disease progression in people with very early Alzheimer's disease.

California's role as a national "health food" trendsetter goes back farther than most people suspect -- way back, in fact, when it comes to consumption of a food especially rich in healthy phytochemicals.

In an advance toward understanding the early California Native American diet, food scientists have identified the full range of phytochemicals in tanoak acorns.

Acorns were a staple in the diet of early Native Americans in California, comprising up to 50 percent of total food intake, Alyson E. Mitchell and colleagues note in a report in the current (Oct. 4) issue of the ACS biweekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

By Susan Yara, Forbes, 6 Oct 2006

Four times a year, the famed New York restaurant, the '21' Club, gears up to change its menus.

The shift ensures that the restaurant offers seasonally appropriate dishes to its patrons — and it really does make a difference. While most spring and summer dishes are light, healthy, and full of bright, leafy vegetables, the fall and winter dishes are warm, rich and hearty.

Cold-weather dishes are the types we all seem to look forward to, from simple macaroni and cheese to decadent foie gras. Unfortunately, while these comfort foods may be tasty, they can also wreak havoc on diets.