Diet and Nutrition

Moms Petition Kraft to Get the Dyes Out of Our Macaroni and Cheese

It’s easily arguable that many families have a box of macaroni and cheese mix in their cabinets right now. It’s basically a staple in most homes, especially those with children. Many of us grew up with mac and cheese, and not just any brand, but specifically the blue box, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Today the brand is just as popular, but those who read labels have discovered that this food contains some of the most family unfriendly ingredients and they want it changed.

Vani Hari runs the website Food Babe and Lisa Leake is the voice behind the blog 100 Days of Real Food. Together these two women have made some noise as they have brought the ingredients of Kraft’s mac and cheese to light. The American version of this boxed food contains artificial food dyes, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6. Hari and Leake are out to change this.

The two women have created an online petition to the Kraft company asking people to understand the dangers of the dyes and then sign the petition to get them removed. The information around the petition states that the mac and cheese in the UK does not contain the dyes. They were removed when the public cried out. Curious why they were left in the American product? Hari and Leake are too. (more…)

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Lacy

To Lose Weight, You Have to Build More Muscle

We all have that friend. The skinny one who eats whatever they want and never exercises. We all secretly dislike them for this trait and at the same time, wish we could be like them. New research is showing that they might be in a bad position, even worse than an overweight person who hits the gym. As scientist Bente Pedersen said this week, “It’s much better to be fit and fat, than skinny and lazy.”

Pedersen contributed along with many other professionals in Bill Gifford’s article for Outside this week. The article focused on more truths that have been revealed about fat. The report was lengthy but it highlighted some important misnomers about fat. Most know that we have “good” fat and “bad” fat, or subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. The good fat is more or less padding, while bad fat builds up in our mid-sections and can infiltrate our organs. A picture of fat invading muscles like the marbling of beef was used to describe how visceral fat can affect the inactive, not just the obese.

This bleak outlook of how fat can literally take over was explained further by Gerald Shulman, M.D., a diabetes researcher at Yale who contributed to the Outside article. Shulman explained how the amount of fat one has isn’t the problem, more so, it’s how the fat is distributed. He explained how fat build up in areas like the muscle and liver, or places it simply should not be, is when ailments like type 2 diabetes arise. (more…)

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Lacy

Sugar is Our Biggest National Health Threat, and Candy May be the Biggest Gun

The war on junk food is in full throttle. It began its slow escalation from proposals to improve school lunches and banning soda machines in schools, then maybe took a left turn into a little absurdity with the Mayor Bloomberg-led moratorium on giant-sized sodas in New York City (which takes effect tomorrow).

Junk food has been front and center in recent weeks as a high profile New York Times report outright accused food makers of a concerted effort to hook the public on cheap unhealthy snacks. Now, sugar is back in the crosshairs, and candy makers are beginning to sweat.

sugar study

It’s nothing short of surreal: the candy industry wants to offer solutions to the obesity crisis.

“If we don’t [act], I worry that someone else will do it for us.” said Debra Sandler, president of Mars Chocolate in North America at the National Confectioners Association meeting in Miami. “We need the whole industry to step up… We are not judged by the leaders of the category but by those who do not take responsibility for change.”

One place Mars and its competitors are starting – their youngest consumers. “They have adopted a policy to voluntarily stop direct marketing of candy to children under 12 years old. That’s a start,” noted Mary Hartley, RD, our resident nutrition expert. (more…)

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Jason

Food Blogger Spotlight: Kathryne Taylor of Cookie and Kate

I’m not quite sure how Kathryne Taylor of Cookie and Kate and I crossed paths, but I can’t express how happy I am that we did. Kate and her adorable pooch, Cookie, never cease to make me smile when I visit their site. Obviously Kate holds more creative control, but Cookie is there to catch all the crumbs, which is a noble duty if you ask me.

If you visit Kate’s blog expect to find some of the most creative, whole foods recipes on the web. Every time she publishes a post it feels like Christmas in my heart and I bookmark the recipe for later use. In fact, of all the bloggers I follow, I’ve made more of Kate’s recipes than anyone else’s and they’ve all been delicious! Especially her no cook fudge – simply a must.

We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kate about her blog and her approach to health. Here’s what she had to say. (more…)

Posted on March 10, 2024 by Dana

“Change Our Eating Habits or Die” is Jonathan Bailor’s Message in Launching SlimIsSimple.org

Jonathan Bailor, author of The Smarter Science of Slim, has recently launched a non-profit organization called SlimIsSimple.org. This group was created with the help of anonymous investors who are passionate about the damage that’s being done to our country (when it comes to proper nutrition and health) and who realize it’s all preventable with proper diet and exercise. This large group of gentlemen helped fund the development of the video above which explains how simple it is to understand what a healthy diet should consist of. (more…)

Posted on March 8, 2024 by Danielle

“Grease Puck of Dough” is a Better Name for Pizza Hut’s Big Pizza Sliders

Is there anything more American than pizza? Well, specifically, Pizza Hut’s version of the Italian dish? Maybe the only way Pizza Hut could make the famous food more American is make it in a “fun size.” Well, this year, they’ve done just that. Pizza Hut recently introduced Big Pizza Sliders. So what’s the deal? Are they a better option? Or just another fast-food gimmick?

Well, let’s start with the stats. The Big Pizza Sliders are sold as three sliders for $5 or up to 9 sliders for $10. Consumers can mix and match and get up to three combinations of up to three toppings each. They end up being about 3.5 inches in diameter and can range from 230 calories for a plain cheese slider, up to 350 calories for a beef or sausage slider. The fat content ranges from 8-19 grams depending on toppings. (more…)

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Lacy

Melissa Dunn Overcame a Victim Mentality and Lost 135 Pounds

Melissa Dunn, 35, of Park Hills, Missouri has seemingly always been overweight. She developed much faster than girls her age, which spurred a binge-purge routine to try and stay as slim as her peers. But each attempt only left her heavier than before, and Melissa eventually turned to yo yo dieting to try and lose the weight.

Compound those struggles with emotional scars from abuse she faced as a child and Melissa began using her weight as a shield to avoid getting hurt by others. “I found the bigger I got the less happy I was, and the less people wanted to be around me,” she said.

Two things eventually caused Melissa to change. First, her dad had grown so heavy that his doctors told him to lose weight or face death, and Melissa wanted to support him. And Melissa had gotten so heavy herself that she struggled to even walk through the store without getting swollen ankles which left her in too much pain to move for hours afterwards.

Out of these struggles came Melissa’s decision to change her health and ultimately her life, and no longer exist in a state of depression. (more…)

Posted on March 6, 2024 by Dana

Carnie Wilson Celebrates a 40-Pound Weight Loss Following Lap-Band Surgery

There are many celebrities we’ve watched struggle with their weight through the years, and Carnie Wilson is no exception to this group. However, Wilson may be unique as she has been very candid about her struggles. Wilson has gone up and down in size and even broadcasted her weight loss surgery. As she continues to fight her battle with weight, Wilson remains in the limelight, not the shadows.

This week, Carnie’s making news as she celebrates a 40-pound weight loss since doing her second gastric bypass surgery last January. She told PEOPLE that she isn’t just relying on the surgery to carry her through, but working out regularly via the treadmill, walking and weight training sessions three times each week. Her goal is to increase her muscle mass (more…)

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Lacy

Kraft Fresh Take Commercials Bring Real Food to the Spotlight

The other night my husband and I were knee deep into one of our favorite sitcoms on Hulu when a commercial interrupted our program. This is usually the opportune time for me to take a bathroom or wine break since I’m generally put off by commercials. They all tend to be a bit on the cheesy side, altogether irrelevant, or completely disconnected from reality. I blame it on the overdone drug commercials, but they’re all pretty bad if you ask me.

But this commercial by Kraft Foods struck a different chord with me and caught me by surprise with its message of cooking real food. Quite the revolutionary idea, isn’t it?

From what I gather, Kraft is about real food and that’s a principle they’ve modeled most of their products after. I’m not saying they’re all perfect, some containing ingredients I’m not 100 percent on board with. But I appreciate that they’re trying to create more wholesome products that can be used in conjunction with fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins to help their customers create healthy, satisfying meals for the whole family. Any time someone is in the kitchen instead of in a restaurant, that’s progress to me. (more…)

Posted on March 5, 2024 by Dana

The Fast Diet Promises Fat Loss and Improved Brain Function from Skipping Meals

  • “The Fast Diet” is all the rage in England, and now it’s sweeping the U.S. Its creator, Dr. Michael Mosley, believes it’s a new means to losing weight and eating your way to a longer life.
  • The basic principle is fasting two days a week, and eating whatever you want the other five days.
  • The maximum dieters ever go without food is 12 hours. On fasting days the average intake is 25% of a normal day’s calories – an average of 500 calories for women and 700 for men. These meals primarily consist of protein and vegetables. (more…)
Posted on March 4, 2024 by Dana

The Conspiracy to Make Us All Junk Food Junkies: Breaking Down New York Times’ Addictive Junk Food Story

Have you ever sat down with a bag of chips that you not only couldn’t put away, but found yourself nearly possessed, ravaging the bag of Doritos like the Tasmanian Devil? It’s not an accident, but a carefully-formulated strategy to maximize consumption and the bottom line of the companies that manufacture processed foods.

New York Times investigative reporter Michael Moss spent four years investigating the food industry and has gone public with a bold statement: there was a “conscious effort taking place in labs and marketing meetings and grocery store aisles to get people hooked on foods that are convenient and inexpensive.” junk food industry

The accusation is not a revelation to most health advocates, but is a much-needed wake-up call for the general public, many of whom don’t fully realize how the science and engineering behind packaged foods is making us obese and sick with obesity-related chronic diseases. As you’ll see, it’s not just the Doritos, Cheetos and sodas, but pasta sauces and soups.

Moss, the author of the much discussed New York Times article, The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food, and soon-to-be published book Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, compiled a list of small case studies that together make a compelling argument that the processed food industry is not much different from Big Tobacco as a public health menace. (more…)

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Jason