Diet and Nutrition

Exploring Treatment Options for Eating Disorders

When I have written about eating disorders previously for DietsInReview, I have stated that eating disorders require special treatment by a specially trained professional and often a team of professionals. The best treatments with which I am familiar include medical professionals, nutritionists, counselors, psychiatrists, and peer groups. Eating disorders are complicated syndromes that must take into account and treat a variety of factors. Because the professionals generally need to specialize in eating disorders, finding appropriate treatment options can often be more difficult.

Generally, stereotypical outpatient therapy is not enough for an eating disorder due to the health risks and impact eating or not eating has on one’s daily life. Generally, outpatient mental health treatment consists of one on one meetings with a therapist for 45-50 minutes every week or every other week. In more extreme cases, a therapist may meet with a client twice per week, but sometimes even that is not enough. One wonderful woman I know who is now recovered from her eating disorder shared, “When I was first confronted about my struggle with food, I attended an outpatient treatment center where I saw a doctor, psychiatrist and dietician two times a week. It was not enough to help me at the time, and I lost a lot of hope for ever finding freedom there.”

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Posted on June 3, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

New USDA MyPlate Icon Fills Plate With Less, Says Cheryl Forberg, RD

Cheryl Forberg, RD is a James Beard Award-winning chef, New York Times best-selling author, and nutritionist for NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” Her latest book is “Flavor First,” which can find out more about at Flavorfirst.com. You can follow her on Twitter @cherylforbergrd.

Why were nutritionists so happy when the USDA announced the food pyramid was dead?

When the USDA in 1992 released the food pyramid we’ve all become familiar with, many nutritionists voiced concerns with the diagram. The large base of bread, cereal and grains just gave the impression that you were supposed to eat so much more from that group. Encouraging people to eat so many grains and carbs, nutritionists argued, paved the road to an obesity epidemic.

The original pyramid had long been unpopular and in 2005 it was replaced with a new logo called MyPyramid, a nearly impenetrable glyph depicting a stick figure running up steps on the side of a vertical striped pyramid. Sensitive to fears that the hierarchy of the original could lead to an improper balance, the USDA abstracted the image and turned the breakdowns on their side. The running figure was meant to to remind people that exercise was an important component of proper diet and nutrition. Too bad nobody paid much attention to the essentially meaningless graphic.

Thursday, First Lady Michelle Obama, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin unveiled the USDA’s new food icon, replacing the confusing pyramid with MyPlate. (more…)

Posted on June 3, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Study Finds Breakfast Incomplete Without Protein

Most people have heard that eating breakfast is important for maintaining a healthy weight, but a new study from the University of Missouri is proving this old wisdom with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans of the brain.

The research focused on teen girls who usually skip breakfast. An estimated 60 percent of teens regularly skip breakfast, which is associated with overeating later in the day and unhealthy snacking that leads to weight gain. Researchers compared hunger in individuals who continued to skip breakfast, those who ate a 500 calorie breakfast of milk and cereal, and those who ate a 500 calorie meal of waffles, syrup and yogurt. The latter meal was highest in protein.

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Posted on June 2, 2024 by Margaret

How to Handle the Moments That Make You Fat

When you are trying to lose weight it can be easy fall off the diet wagon and slip back into patterns of unhealthy eating and lack of exercise. Recently, CNN identified “The Moments That Make us Fat” which included your friends suggesting a buffet restaurant for dinner or finding tempting dessert options at a cocktail party.

According to James Hill, executive director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado, it can be dangerous to rely on your willpower to carry you through difficult diet situations.

“Willpower is not inexhaustible,” Hill told CNN.com. “You only have a certain amount of it, and it’s gone.”

Instead of relying on willpower, Hill recommends planning ahead. Identify the situations that tempt you to veer away from your healthy habits and plan strategies to keep yourself on track.

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Posted on June 2, 2024 by Maris

Lady Gaga Doesn’t Do the Baby Food Diet and Neither Should You

Last spring, the British tabloid Heat wrote that Lady Gaga “has embarked on a dangerous ‘baby food diet’ in a bid to stay slim.” The rumor was quickly squashed by Gossip Cop, who confirmed with one of the star’s reps that it’s “not true.” Other celebrities reported to have done the diet include Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, but we have yet to see any confirmation of these rumors.

Nonetheless, the “Goo Diet,” created by Madonna’s trainer Tracy Anderson, is seeing a resurgence as bathing suit season hits. The Daily Mail reported that baby food sales have spiked by 20 percent in the UK. The basic idea is that you substitute jars of baby food for solid meals. One version recommends eating 14 jars per day, and another plan recommends adding a healthy dinner at the end of the day.

While some claim that you can lose as much as 20 pounds in six weeks on this diet, health experts say the fad diet is far from healthy.

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Posted on June 1, 2024 by Margaret

Plan a Healthy and Fun Summer Picnic

If you’ve spent the long winter and rainy spring hibernating in your home, the summer months are the perfect time to plan an outdoor activity.

Before you pack your basket and head to the park with a pretty blanket, a Frisbee – and maybe even a bottle of wine – use these tips to make your outing simple and satisfying.

Tip #1: Plan Ahead. If you’re planning a homemade picnic meal, prepare as much as you can the night before. You can chop, wash and dry fruits and veggies so they’ll be crisp, fresh and ready for salads or snacking. To save even more time the next morning, assemble sandwiches the night before your picnic – just hold the water-based ingredients, such as cucumber or tomato, otherwise you’ll end up with soggy bread. You could also make one of these 8 creative picnic salads.

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Posted on June 1, 2024 by Maris

Snooki Slims Down with Zantrex

Snooki looking slimmer in Italy

UPDATE 1/5/2024: Snooki is continuing to drop the pounds, reportedly weighing in now at 103 pounds, just 5 shy of her 98 pound goals. Polizzi is still using Zantrax and most would agree she is being paid for her promotion of the diet pills, with tweets like “Glad to hear reports that say I look good =) but it’s not because of HCG! Thanks @Zantrex!”

Snooki has lost so much weight it is spurring rumors that her eating disorder has reared its head again. Hopefully Snooks is following healthy habits in 2024, and her weight loss is healthy- well, as healthy as can be on a diet pill regimen.

Nicole Snooki Polizzi, better known simply as Snooki, weighed a reported 126 pounds last summer while indulging in a lifestyle afforded to her as a member of the popular show on MTV, Jersey Shore.

Since then she has shaped up somewhat, taking her tiny 4′ 10″ frame down to around 110 pounds. Before her recent departure to Italy for the filming Jersey Shore’s fourth season, pictures of a slimmer Snooki were revealed through her Twitter account.

It was revealed last year that Snooki struggled with an eating disorder in high school.

“In high school, I really wouldn’t eat,” she says. “I would only have lunch, and I would only have salads.” She dropped to a dangerous 80 pounds before realizing she had to do something about it. (more…)

Posted on June 1, 2024 by Jason

Mimi Kirk Shares Her Anti-Aging Secrets in Live Raw

Although Mimi Kirk has been a vegetarian since the 1970’s, and later became vegan, it wasn’t until her late 60’s that she began eating a raw diet. In 2024, she found out her blood pressure was high and she was experiencing arthritis in her hands. She was also about 20 pounds heavier than the weight she had been for most of her life. Kirk began her raw diet with a juice cleanse and never looked back. Now 73, she has lost 20 pounds, no longer suffers from arthritis and has energy all day long. She was recently named PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian over 50.

Kirk recently published a recipe book called Live Raw: Raw Food Recipes for Good Health and Timeless Beauty. All of the recipes are both vegan and are raw, which means that none of the foods are cooked at high temperatures. Supporters of the raw diet argue that this preserves enzymes and other healthy nutrients. Kirk told DietsInReview that she has a love for cooking and created all of the recipes herself. More than recipes, the book also provides a nutritional guide to raw foods, which helps readers understand which kinds of foods they need to be eating every day. The book also includes advice for aging gracefully.

For Kirk, one of the great benefits of a raw diet is the ability to eat as much as she wants without worrying about gaining weight. I was surprised to discover the diversity of foods included in Live Raw, from pizza and cashew parmesan to blackberry cheesecake and ice cream sandwiches. In fact, juices and smoothies make up an important part of any raw diet, because it can be a challenge to get enough calories and vitamins otherwise.

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Posted on June 1, 2024 by Margaret

4 Tips for Making a Healthier Panini

Sandwiches are great for lunch and perfect when you need a quick dinner to tide you over when you don’t have time to make a traditional meal. To make that quick dinner a little more exciting, opt for panini – sandwiches that are grilled so that the ingredients meld together to create a delicious combination of flavors.

Panini are easy to make if you have a panini press, but if you don’t have the space or resources to procure fancy kitchen equipment and appliances…

Tip #1: Use What You Have. If you don’t have the budget or counter space to afford a panini press, you can still whip up a delicious grilled sandwich. Kathy Strahs, author of the popular sandwich blog Panini Happy recommends using the appliances you already have on hand, like a pan or appliance in your kitchen, to make the perfect sandwich.

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Posted on June 1, 2024 by Maris

Learning to Eat Better with My Body Tutor

I like to think of myself as a pretty healthy person, so when I started a two-week trial run with MyBodyTutor.com, I didn’t expect it to change how I eat very much. I hoped it would give me some personalized workout tips, and help keep me honest about how much sugar I eat. I was surprised to find out all the ways I could eat better every day, and by how very hands-on this online diet program really is.

My Body Tutor is a one-on-one nutrition and fitness counseling service that provides you with a totally personalized weight loss plan. When you sign up, you will be paired with a Body Tutor, a trained fitness and diet expert who will guide you along your weight loss journey. Before you start, you will have an initial call with your tutor to talk about your goals, fitness level and to help them get to know you.

Adam Gilbert, the founder of My Body Tutor, was—well—my body tutor. In our initial call, I proved to be a pretty atypical client, because my goal is to eat better but not necessarily lose weight. Adam was up for the challenge, explaining that we can all work to be a little healthier. He explained his eating philosophy: cut down on simple carbs, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, and be sure to get protein with every meal. He also recommended eating some protein and complex carbs every three hours, either as a snack or light meal, to keep my energy and metabolism up.

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Posted on May 31, 2024 by Margaret

El Creador del Biggest Loser Tiene un Programa Nuevo en Español Para Combatir la Preocupación de Obesidad

by Kelsey Murray

En enero 2024, Univision, la más alta calificación de televisión en español en los EE. UU., va a presentar “Si Se Puede.” Este programa de televisión es de Dave Broome, el creador del “The Biggest Loser” y es para Hispanics que quieren perder pesos y mejorar sus vidas.

Cada programa va a presentar tres o cuatro familias que competir en varios desafíos. También, el programa va a tener entrenadores personales y nutricionistas. “Si Se Puede” va a tener un sito del web con recetas saludables y un programa de ejercicios para la gente que verén el programa.

“Si Se Puede” presenta la preocupación por la obesidad en la comunidad hispánica. En este tiempo, los Hispánicos tienen la problema segunda más grande con obesidad y los afroamericanos tienen la más grande. Esperamos que este programa vaya a disponer un ejemplo para las familias con personas que necesitan perder pesos para tener una vida saludable.

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Posted on May 31, 2024 by Health Buzz

Diet and Nutrition

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