Diet and Nutrition

7 Craziest Diets of All Time

Dieting is basically a modern phenomenon. But it has been around for centuries, in one form or another. Throughout history, there have been plenty of crazy diet ideas. Here are but a few, in no particular order:

1. Tapeworm Diet – Who would have ever thought that a diet that seems straight out of a scene from a horror movie would actually get traction in the diet world. But apparently some people don’t mind the idea of ingesting a tapeworm and letting reside in one’s digestive tract. The tapeworm secretes proteins in the intestinal tract which makes the digestion of food much less efficient. That means you can consume more calories and still lose weight. The use of tapeworms as a dietary measure has been banned in the U.S.

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Posted on July 21, 2024 by Jason

Walmart is Recalling 91,872 Pounds of Contaminated Chicken Nuggets

It was announced today that Walmart is recalling 91,872 pounds of their “Great Value” brand chicken nuggets, produced by Perdue Farms. They said the nuggets “could have been contaminated because a small blue plastic ring got into the raw material before the nuggets were formed,” according to CNN.com.

There are more than 50,000 affected packages of nuggets, and have a “best if used by date” of June 9, 2024. Numbers on the packages are 89008A, 0160 and P-33944.

Perdue is accepting the recalled product for a full refund. No other chicken products are affected.

Anyone who watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution this past spring should feel like every chicken nugget under the sun should be recalled. We’re a little ill remembering Jamie’s graphic demonstration of how they’re made. (Chicken carcass, blender, fried in oil…) We’ve vowed to never eat them again. (more…)

Posted on July 20, 2024 by Natalie K

Sugar Free Foods that Raise Your Blood Sugar

How can a “sugar free” product still effect your blood sugar? Artificial sweeteners like sucralose, saccharin, and aspartame don’t contain carbohydrates or calories, so they won’t impact blood sugar levels. However, The New York Times reports, these sugar substitutes are accompanied by sugar alcohols in many foods labeled sugar free.

Not quite a sugar or an alcohol, sugar alcohols have a molecular structure that looks like a cross between the two. Food manufacturers add them to “sugar free” products like chocolate, hard candy, cookies, and chewing gum. Sugar alcohols do have fewer calories than normal sugar, but still have some impact on blood sugar. (more…)

Posted on July 20, 2024 by Health Buzz

How Electronic Health Records will Help Americans Shed Pounds

Pulse offers Electronic Health Record and Practice Management solutions nationwide in more than 26 medical specialties. Since 1982 Pulse has focused on its mission to develop, market and support health care practice work flow solutions.

The picture of American public health is about to get much clearer thanks to HITECH, a provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The ARRA HITECH stimulus package incentivizes doctors to convert their practices from traditional paper records to Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology. EHRs have many advantages over traditional paper records, including increased efficiency, reductions in healthcare-related errors, and the ability to view the aggregate patient data in order to better understand the overall health of the populous. The aggregation of this data will arm public health officials with the insights they need to better understand causes and effects related to diet and weight. (more…)

Posted on July 20, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Four Simple Tips for Avoiding GMOs

While the health and environmental risks of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are still being debated, many people feel strongly about not eating them. After all, do you really want fish genes in your tomato? Here are four simple shopping tips from nongmoshoppingguide.com.

1. Buy Organic

Anything with a USDA Organic label cannot contain GMO ingredients by law.

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Posted on July 20, 2024 by Margaret

4 Ways to Beat Stress Eating

Stress has become a part of our culture, and undoubtedly you may have experienced a sense of being overwhelmed quite often. For some, stress eating or stress drinking alcohol are enormous saboteurs on the path to health and wellness. It’s not just the excess calories that nudge you away from your goal. Here are four factors that people struggle with during stressful times:

1. Alcohol Backfires on Your Well-Being

Stress drinking cocktails or a few beers after a hectic day at work is what some see as a ritual to unwind, but this can backfire later. Alcohol prevents the brain from entering deep sleep leaving you unrested and stressed the next morning. Alcohol also dehydrates you. If you do drink, keep it to one drink a night. That means five ounces of wine or one shot of liquor… not an over-sized glass with a mixed drink.

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Posted on July 20, 2024 by Rebecca

What is Anorexia?

Incidences of anorexia have been increasing over the last several decades. Anorexia is destructive both physically and mentally. Up to 20 percent of sufferers die as a result of health complications created by malnutrition and low body weight or suicide. Those who develop anorexia can often be described as perfectionists, overachievers, or pleasers. Often highly self-critical, they may see themselves as inadequate, positive feedback from others. Verbal, physical, or sexual abuse are all risk factors for developing anorexia. Any negative parental influence or participation in activities that generally require slenderness can also contribute to the development of anorexia.

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Posted on July 20, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

Starting Over with Weight Loss Requires a Positive Attitude and Accountability

Melodee has been blogging about the ups and downs of her weight since 2006. Do not send her cookies. Find her at DietNakedBlog.com.

Five years ago, I weighed 225 pounds. I’d meant to lose weight before a rare visit to the in-laws and a long-awaited trip to Disney World. But I didn’t. A few months later, I was still fat and mortified when I attended my grandma’s 100th
birthday party. All my thin relatives saw how fat I was because even a pair of black pants couldn’t hide my weight.

In 2006, I was hired to write a diet blog for a now-defunct website (ClubMom.com). I weighed 226 pounds. I ruled out counting calories and attending meetings. I’d been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and chose the recommended low-glycemic index diet. I changed my lifestyle–eliminating sugar and flour–and to my shock, my weight began to drop. After a few months, I added daily exercise. I felt great. My weight stabilized at 170 pounds and I was zipping up size 12 jeans. I had a walking buddy and got up every morning at 6 a.m. to walk a hilly 3.5 mile course. (more…)

Posted on July 20, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Can You Treat Asthma with Onions?

According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, asthma affects about 34 million Americans, and that is just those people who have been diagnosed by a health professional.

Asthma is a chronic disease that involves an inflammation in the lungs. The swelling of airways restricts airflow, which makes it hard to breathe. While there is no cure for asthma, it can be controlled fairly easily.

Besides using prescription drugs, there is evidence that dietary antioxidants can help treat asthma. Antioxidants that have been shown to help with asthma include beta-carotene, lycopene, vitamin C, selenium, quercetin, and coenzyme Q 10 (CoQ10).

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Posted on July 19, 2024 by Jason

Diet Disaster: Carl’s Jr. Foot-long Cheeseburger

Here’s a new item for This Is Why You’re Fat: Carl’s Jr. “footlong cheeseburger.” The colossal burger is only available on a trial basis at 50 Southern California locations, like the Santa Ana store where a blogger from Food Beast snapped this photo. He reported that the burger is several beef patties stuffed into a foot-long loaf, just like a sub sandwich. It’s available for $4.00 for the “basic” version, or for $4.50 for a burger with fixings like tomato, lettuce and onions. “The dough on the bread seems a little off,” reports the brave tester. “But the execution of the entire sandwich still remains interesting and I’m intrigued to say the least.” (more…)

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Health Buzz

Sweet Debate: Sugar vs. Artificial Sweetener

When low-fat diets were all the rage in the ’80s, many manufacturers turned to sugar and artificial sweeteners to put flavor back into products that previously contained fat. The artificial, non-nutritive sweeteners often won out as the calorie-free diet option. The trend had lead to a generation of super-sweet foodstuffs that stoke sugar cravings. The average artificial sweetener is 200 to 300 times sweeter than natural sugar, writes nutritionist and author Susan B. Dopart for The Huffington Post.

Little packets of artificial sweetener are an appealing way to cut down on calories. But what else are you giving up? Real sugar can trigger the body to feel full and satisfied. “When you are consuming alternative sweeteners, you are trying to fool your body. And guess what? It doesn’t work,” writes Dopart. “Your body knows what you are giving it is fake, so instead of being satisfied, it continues to send the signal that it wants to consume something sweet.”

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Posted on July 19, 2024 by Margaret

Diet and Nutrition

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