Diet and Nutrition

Drink Up: What Water Can and Can’t Do for Your Weight Loss

There’s some debate over what water can and can’t do: Does it fill you up? Can it help you slim down?

Research shows that foods with a high water content (like fruits, vegetables, broth-based soups) do fill you up; water by itself, on the other hand, doesn’t appear to be as filling. And yet, studies show that people who drink more water end up consuming fewer calories during the day. In fact, the stat I often refer back to comes from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: People who drink an average of 6.5 cups of water each day consume 200 fewer calories a day.

If water doesn’t fill you up, then how can it help promote weight loss? There are a few theories. First, it seems that water drinkers have a healthier diet overall. Drinking water also keeps your hands and mouth busy—if you’re gulping down a glass of water, you’ll be less likely to snack. Not to mention, many people confuse hunger for thirst; when you’re fully hydrated, you may not be tempted to ease those pangs with food. (more…)

Posted on January 11, 2024 by BestLifeDiet

Why You Should Never Buy Girl Scout Cookies

Settled in to these resolutions yet? Then it must be time for Girl Scout Cookies to go on sale. I used to think there was something spectacularly special about them. Our dietitian, Mary Hartley, RD, reminds that they may be a sentimental favorite, but they are not healthy food. In fact, there’s nothing remarkable about these cookies.

Never once in my years in the Scouts do I recall having a conversation about fruits and vegetables, exercise, or nutrition. I do remember ending each meeting (spent entirely sitting down) devouring packaged chocolate chip cookies and Kool-Aid. I remember my troop leaders pushing us to sell, not teaching us the ingredients in the cookies or why the nutrition mattered. I might be guessing here, but I don’t expect that’s changed much today.

To be more specific, let me tell you exactly why any of us shouldn’t be buying these cookies.

1. GMOs. Most brands try to cover it up, but the Girl Scouts own their use of GMOs, or genetically modified organisms. You’d almost think they were proud of putting engineered food in products they’re making our children sell by the language on their site, GirlScouts.org. They slide the responsibility on to their bakers, saying it’s their call what they use. Some of the reasons to avoid GMOs, since the US doesn’t require labeling while 61 countries do, include a link to allergens and altered DNA of the food.

2. Consistency. Two bakeries produce Girl Scout Cookies – ABC and Little Brownie. They have different recipes, ingredients and nutrition facts for each cookie. That makes for a whopping 20 calorie difference between a Samoa from Little Brownie and a Caramel Delight at ABC. (more…)

Posted on January 10, 2024 by Natalie K

Natural Fructose in Fruit is Fine; It’s the High Fructose Corn Syrup That Gets Us in Trouble

Remember a time when you were eating, but never felt full and ended up eating more food? This could be caused by the consumption of fructose. As reported by Medical News Study, researchers found glucose and fructose have an influence on parts of the brain that control appetite.

The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Assocation (JAMA), found that fructose produces hormones in the brain that will leave you feeling hungry. However, the study did find that glucose will leave you filling fuller and satisfied. Glucose is a type of sugar you get from food, which your body takes and turns into energy.

Since fructose makes your brain think you are still hungry and causes you to eat more, could there be a link between fructose and obesity?

Our resident dietitian, Mary Hartley RD, comments on the study’s new findings, saying, “Excessive fructose intake may have a link to obesity, but it is too early to tell. It is very difficult to single out a particular nutrient to blame. In addition, obesity is a multifactorial problem and contributing factors are not the same for all people.” (more…)

Posted on January 10, 2024 by Samantha

Drunkorexia: College Students Save Calories for Binge Drinking

“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

While we all aspire to be eternally young, one part of youth we can all do without is the irrational sense of invincibility. That, and the overpowering need to be accepted by the “in crowd.”

With that in mind, it’s not hard to believe that the highest percentage of problem drinkers is college students. Heavy drinking, mixed with youthful hormones and naivety, leads to violence, careless sexual activity, and now something that is being called drunkorexia.

Recent Canadian research has found that young men and women are skipping meals, yet are also consuming a day’s worth of calories in alcohol. In other words, young people who want to lose weight, but still want to party, cut out the meals in order to do so and stay thin. They may also be drinking excessively with the intention of purging previously consumed food.

While it’s not yet a recognized eating disorder, the health risks of drunkorexia are very real. Weight-conscious drinkers are risking nutrient deprivation, liver damage, and death.

It’s not a problem exclusive to the U.S. or college-age kids for that matter. (more…)

Posted on January 10, 2024 by Jason

Best Life Diet Announces Free Access to Recipes and Nutrition Guidance

Everyone embraces the new year in their own way, and over at Bob Greene’s The Best Life Diet, they celebrated with a makeover! Unveiled today, the site has an entirely updated look as it welcomes new and old members ready to invest in living their best life. It’s easier than ever to navigate the site and find exactly what you’re looking for – be it recipes, the blog, or their Fitness Friday features.

“I’m very excited about TheBestLife.com’s new look and having so much amazing content available to all who visit,” Bob Greene told us. “It takes what I feel to be THE premier diet and lifestyle site and makes it even more user friendly.”

The other big change – (most of) TheBestLife.com is free and open now. In an exclusive release to DietsInReview, The Best Life announced that with the new year they are now making all of their editorial content free. This includes their articles, blogs and recipes. They’re eliminating the “cost of entry” that health and fitness tends to carry.

Hundreds of articles with health, nutrition, and fitness guidance are now available to anyone craving a healthier lifestyle; not to mention a library of recipes designed by Best Life chefs and nutritionists that truly are something worth craving! Who wouldn’t love a guilt-free Blackberry Peach Crumble or Cajun Oven Fried Chicken? Those are examples of some of the hundreds of free recipes now available to all who visit The Best Life.

“I made a point to start this program working with the best people in publishing, health, fitness, wellness and food to make us the most useful healthy lifestyle tool on the market and am thrilled that their work can be viewed by all of our site visitors,” said Bob Greene, creator of The Best Life and Oprah’s trainer for 15 years, in a press release. (more…)

Posted on January 10, 2024 by Natalie K

Mashed Potatoes and Oreos: Odd Food Concoctions are Sign of Binge Eating

Strange food mixtures, also referred to as food concocting, may be an indication of being a binge eater. That’s according to a new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

How do you define strange food mixtures? How about:

Mashed potatoes and Oreo cookies
Frozen vegetables mixed with mayonnaise
Chips with lemon, pork rinds, Italian dressing and salt

The excitement comes in the preparation. In fact, they reported having the same emotions as drug users during the act, which was countered by shame and disgust after the fact.

“While they are food concocting and binge eating they report being excited, in a frenzy, and high, but afterwards they feel awful about themselves,” says Mary Boggiano, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychology and primary investigator of the study. (more…)

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Jason

Nothing Funny About Tina Fey’s and Amy Poehler’s Healthy Approach to Diet and Exercise

If you don’t usually tune into the Golden Globes, I think you should this Sunday. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will be hosting this year’s Golden Globes and I bet the two funny ladies will be sending you into a laugh attack.

In a hilarious interview with Marie Claire, Tina joked about her exercise regimen, saying, “Some people work with a trainer, some people work with a stylist. I work with a celebrity fecalist. A fecalist is basically a person who comes and collects my stools, and then examines them to see if I’m eating right and if I should be drinking more water and what my moods should be.” Of course, Tina is kidding, so we took the time to look at her real diet and exercise routines.

Before Tina hit her late 20s, she could eat anything she wanted to without having to worry about her waistline. At the age of 29, she noticed that she wasn’t at a healthy weight like most women her age. She started Weight Watchers to learn how to eat healthier and about portion control. With the help of the program, by the time she was 35 she’d lost 35 pounds. While on set people should stay away from the actress because she eats lots of beans and kale, healthy choices for the funny lady whose weakness is white cake with white icing. (more…)

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Samantha

Jenny Craig Introduces “MyDays” for More Flexible, Realistic Eating

This week Jenny Craig announced a unique addition to their popular weight loss program. They are calling it “MyDays.” The new plan allows for users to have a few days a week where they do not eat the program food, rather learn to eat on their own.

The Jenny Craig website describes the “MyDays” program as a new weight loss option that is intended to fit people’s real lives. The days allow for users to attend family dinners or even a night out at a restaurant while still remaining on the weight loss plan. Simply put, those on the program eat for five days of Jenny Craig foods and then they have two days to make their own choices.

Obviously the plan doesn’t allow for total free reign on the “MyDays” schedule. Consultants will work with clients to teach them how to make healthy, real-world choices that will work all through their life, not just while they’re on the program. The intention is to allow for flexibility that will inevitably lead to long term weight maintenance. (more…)

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Lacy

US News Names Best Diets of 2024 with Few Changes Over 2024

Since 2024, US News and World Report has been releasing an annual list of the best diets and this year is no different. That goes for the rankings, not just the perpetuity of the list. It seems the analysis by US News done in 2024 matches identically to the “new” list they released for this year as the top spots in each category are exactly the same as they were last year. While four new diets were added to the top rankings in each category overall, the top two diets for each category remained the same. It certainly speaks to the longevity and consistency of the diets they review.

They look at only 29 diets in eight categories (with the addition of plant-based diets this year) and work with an expert panel of nearly two dozen leaders in the industry, including David Katz, MD, Robert Kushner, MD, and Lisa Sasson, RD. As well, they “mine” medical journals, government research, and other sources to create not only in-depth profiles for each diet but to accurately rank each diet.

According to their announcement, “Every diet received robust scrutiny, and we converted the experts’ ratings to scores and stars from 5 (highest) to 1 (lowest) to construct eight sets of Best Diets rankings.” This year, those rankings are as follows:

Best Overall Diet

1. DASH Diet

2. TLC Diet

Best Weight Loss

1. Weight Watchers

2. Biggest Loser

2. Jenny Craig

2. Raw Foods Diet (more…)

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Natalie K

The Ultimate Sweet Potato Chip Taste Off Names Terra Chips and Kroger’s Simple Truth the Best

Chips are my biggest food vice. I like them salty, cheesy, with salsa, corn, potato, popped, fried, baked, and everything in between. And lately, I like the sweet potato version. In fact, because of these crunchy finds I’ve pretty much given up on any other chip (which I ate pretty sparingly anyway, to be honest). I’ve had a go-to favorite for a while, but every week at the store I keep noticing more and more new bags of sweet potato chips popping up. Of course, I decided to put them to the test.

I brought six bags of sweet potato chips back to the office for the ultimate sweet potato taste off. No one minded, of course!

It was a blind taste test and participants were asked to vote for the one they thought tasted the best. We ended up with a dead heat. Five votes a piece went to Terra Chips and Kroger’s new Simple Truth brand.

We found the sweet potato Terra Chips to be thin, light, and crisp – perfect for complementing a sandwich. Just a great snack that wasn’t too filling. The Simple Truth natural sweet potato chips are much thicker and sturdier with ridges. We believe these were made for scooping things like guacamole and our Guiltless Spinach and Artichoke Dip. Each had the big sweet potato flavor that we were after. (more…)

Posted on January 8, 2024 by Natalie K

7 Hot Health and Fitness Trends That Will Own 2024

As we end the first week of 2024, it seems appropriate to look ahead and forecast what will be the hot fitness and health trends of the upcoming year. It’s always fun to not only look back to archive a year, but seeing which trends will be big and make a mark this year is, too. We’ve rounded up the seven things we think everyone will be chatting about this year and in to 2024!

1. Fitness and Health Smartphone Apps. Last year was another big one for fitness apps. Just this week Consumer Reports noted that MyFitnessPal was at the top of their list for “DIY Dieting.” There are so many useful and effective programs available that, according to Huffington Post, it’s expected that even health professionals will start advocating for and recommending these apps to help keep their patients on track.

2. Crossfit and Women in the Weight Room. The popularity of Crossfit has yet to wane and as a result more women aren’t getting scared out of the weight room. It’s assumed that more women will take up these classes and practices this year. The benefits of heavy lifting are being revealed as social media has proven a great way to show off the results many women are seeing. Nevermind the internal benefits such as bone and heart health. (more…)

Posted on January 7, 2024 by Lacy

Diet and Nutrition

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