Diet and Nutrition

7 Good Reasons to Give Up Sugar

By Diana Herrington for Care2.com

OK. I admit it. I’m a little intense about the subject of sugar.

As a child I was practically raised on white sugar and feel that it had a part in my many health problems which took me decades to overcome.  You can read some of my story here: Diana’s Story. It was a different time back then. There was not the awareness about nutrition that there is now.

I’m going to give you strategies to avoid sugar and the cravings, but first I must make a few points about why you would want to do such a thing. This was already dealt with briefly in my previous article on artificial sweeteners.

1. Sugar is Not Food – It is empty calories with little nutritional value and actually causes your body to steal vitamins from other vital organs in attempt to process the sugar, leaving you undernourished.
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Calcium and Vitamin D are Essential for Bone Health

Are you bad to your bones? There is a growing trend in the United States and Canada: calcium and vitamin D deficiency. Bone mass reaches its peak around age thirty so calcium and vitamin D are critical in helping you to prevent breaks or fractures down the road. As important as strong muscles are to your overall health, bones are what hold us together. Otherwise we’d just be a puddle on the ground. I’m hoping I can shed some light on all the benefits that calcium and vitamin D have to offer.

What is vitamin D and why do I need it?

Vitamin D is key in helping to produce strong bones. It also helps absorb calcium from the intestines so that is why you find so many products with the two in combo.  The current recommendation depends on age, but for a woman age 18-30 you are looking at around 600 internal units (IUs) per day.  Our bodies naturally convert vitamin D into a usable form from midday sun (between 10 am and 2 pm).  People like me who live in northern parts of the world and get to see old man winter usually do not get enough midday sun to make our own vitamin D.

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BPA Levels in Canned Tomatoes Threaten Your Family’s Health

It looks like BPA strikes again and this time our canned tomatoes and beans are under attack.

Just a few years ago bisphenol-A, or BPA, a toxic chemical that has been linked to biological problems and developmental problems in the young, was found in many popular reusable water bottles and baby bottles. This discovery gained lots of attention and called for a major change in the manufacturing of many products.

Now it is being found that the lining of most cans contains a resin that can pick up the toxin BPA. Canned tomatoes are more susceptible due to their acidic properties; the acid increases the rate at which BPA is absorbed into food. This is found to be true for canned soda and canned beans as well.

The risk that this poses is argued to be significant, especially for children under the age of six. Due to their smaller size, the levels of BPA that children are exposed to is higher than that of adults. Children also metabolize BPA slower therefore the toxins stay in their systems longer causing a higher risk for damage to their developing bodies.

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What’s Really Lurking in Your McDonald’s Combo Meal [SLIDESHOW]

A cheeseburger is a rather simple food, right? You probably make these a few times every summer on your deck. Ground beef, slice of cheese, few veggies, condiment or two and boom- a juicy burger. No, not the healthiest, but there are far worse things for you, and you can always do a lot to make it healthier — lean beef, reduced fat cheese, top with roasted peppers and avocado instead of mayo. You get the idea.

However, that seemingly same burger at a fast-food restaurant, like McDonald’s, is no where near as simple and is the epitome of junk food. Calling it food might be a compliment.

While we’ve singled out the largest fast-food chain as an example, much of what you’ll learn in this slideshow, provided by FoodFacts.com, is replicated in restaurants across the country.

Do yourself, and your body, a favor and educate yourself on what you’re eating. Knowing what’s in your food, and opting not to eat it, is your way of casting a vote that says “no, I do not want this,” and the only way food producers will hear your message.

View What McDonalds is Hiding in its Food Slideshow

Food Impacts Judges’ Decision Making

Ever had an important decision to make and been told to “sleep on it”? I bet you’ve never been told to “eat on it”, but after reading about this new research, you just might consider it.

The graph below illustrates the likelihood of a favorable decision from a judge based on when he or she takes a break to eat. At the start of each session, Israeli prisoners were likely to be granted parole 65% of the time, but that certainly was not true right before the judge decided to take a break.

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“Eat the Sun” Sheds Light on Sungazing

Mason Dwinell in Eat the SunOur lives depend on the sun. It’s a source of heat and light, it fuels the photosynthesis that give us food, it allows our bodies to produce vitamin D. But can our bodies get energy directly from the sun, without the intermediary of plants or animals? That question is what the documentary Eat the Sun sets out to answer.

Eat the Sun, directed by Peter Sorcher, follows Mason Dwinell as he works towards a goal of staring directly at the sun for 44 consecutive minutes per day. Mason is a student of Hira Ratan Manek, known as HRM, an Indian Jain guru who promotes the practice of sun gazing and claims to have not eaten any solid food since 1995.

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Fried Kool-Aid Balls Available at San Diego Fair [VIDEO]

We all knew we were not supposed to “drink the Kool-Aid,” but who would have guessed that eating the Kool-Aid would ever become an option.
It’s crazy but true. One can now obtain deep fried Kool-Aid balls.

The inventor of the state fair staple of deep fried Oreos has added another ridiculous concoction to his repertoire. A recent Time article explains how the new treat is prepared for the county fair goers in San Diego.

Fried Kool-Aid ball creator, Charlie Boghosian prepares a thick mix of Kool-Aid and then adds flour and water. He scoops the mix into a fryer with an ice cream scoop, lets them bob for a minute and then pulls them out. He compares the balls to doughnut holes. Boghosian uses cherry Kool-Aid and boasts of the strong cherry flavor.

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KFC’s Sugary Soda Sales Go to Support Diabetes Research

Those of us fighting the good fight against unhealthy diets, obesity, and the ailments they cause did a big palm-to-face smack this week.

A KFC franchise in Utah launched a promotional fundraiser to their patrons. It was advertised that with every $2.99 purchase of a KFC 64-ounce Big Jug drink, $1 would go to the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation.

One has to wonder how that planning meeting was conducted and who was the rising star who came up with this idea. However, the franchise owner has a personal connection to the disease and the promotion did run as advertised.

A spokesperson for the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) responded after the fundraiser received so much attention. It was clarified that the JDRF supports research for type 1 diabetes and not type 2. Type 1 diabetes is an auto immune disease and not an onset disease caused by obesity or consuming too much junk food.

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Teen Soda Consumption is Down

There’s potentially good news in regards to teens and their soda consumption. In 2024, 24 percent of teens in the U.S. drank at least one soda on a daily basis, which was down from 29 percent the previous year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collected data on 11,429 high school students from across the country. Each of them filled out a questionnaire.

When other sweetened drinks were considered, the teens who drank at least one of those drinks each day was raised to more than 60 percent. However, even with that sharp rise when considering all sweetened drinks, the number is down from 1999, when it was more than 75 percent.

Now for the potentially bad news…

Since awareness of the health dangers of sweetened drinks has risen over the years, some experts are concerned that teens’ knowledge may have skewed the results, since they could have been deceptive in their answers. Or I say, maybe the movement of removing soda from schools is working. (more…)

The Girl Scouts Attempt a Merit Badge in Sustainability, not Nutrition

By Jamie Birdwell

The Girl Scouts of the USA are trying to earn their merit badge in sustainability.

The use of palm oil in their iconic cookies has become a hot topic for debate recently, with some experts indicating that the oil commonly used in processed foods can cause harm to the environment due to deforestation. All sixteen varieties of Girl Scout cookies contain palm oil, but official Girl Scout cookie bakeries ABC Bakers and Little Brownie Bakers have made a commitment to sustainability, Amanda Hamaker, manager of national products, said.

According to an article in Time Magazine, the awareness about the famous cookies containing palm oil came from none other than a couple of Girl Scouts themselves. While researching about Jane Goodall and her work with primates, Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen learned that the use of palm oil can contribute to harming the environment of the orangutan.

“Being a Girl Scout is about showing stewardship for the land. We knew we had to keep fighting.” Vorva said to Time. (more…)

Eat Your Way to Lower Cholesterol with These Foods

By Delia Quigley for Care2.com

In drugged America (or is it drunk America? Hmm, that’s a toss up), Americans are blindly medicating, when really the answer is a simple change of diet and exercise. With 1 in 5 Americans testing high for cholesterol it’s no wonder cholesterol-fighting drugs are the most popular ones on the market. Lipitor is the most prescribed cholesterol lowering medicine world-wide; and though it is handed out like candy, there can be some nasty side effects when taking these kind of drugs including, aggression, hostility, headaches, muscle pain, and diarrhea.

On the other hand, eliminating high fat processed foods and eating whole grains and vegetables instead can easily lower high cholesterol. To help control high cholesterol levels due to genetic factors recent studies suggest that a more natural approach would be to take a red rice yeast extract along with eating a whole foods diet and adding exercise. However, when transitioning on to a higher quality diet make sure to have your medical practitioner monitor your statin levels, as you will need less and less until they become a distant memory.

The following list are specific foods known to help cleanse cholesterol build-up in the arteries and heart. This is due to their high levels of fiber, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Lecithin, Vitamin E, C, Niacin and Rutin. (more…)