Nutrition in Food

And if you look at how fat we are. I doubt many people are paying much attention to the nutrition facts on the back of cookie dough ice cream, either.

That's why a new study claims consumers respond better to traffic light-colored nutrition labels.

But how much constitutes a "portion" and what exactly counts?

As most of you know having a healthy immune system is your best defense against those nasty viruses that seem to lurk on every door knob and hand rail. Ok, I may be a bit of a germ-a-phob but I hate being sick as I'm sure you do.

Since it's good to have your immune system nice and strong before viruses come your way, what types of food should you be looking for as you grocery shop? The good folks at The Florida Department of Citrus sent us a good list and no they're not telling you to only drink Florida orange juice.......

Chia seeds--yep, the same ones that will eventually grow into one of those goofy chia pets if you encourage them--are being called the newest Superfood.

Are they any good for you? And what the heck do you do with them?

Michael Pollan helps us to rediscover the joy of eating (full article here). This part deals with how we can counteract the forces of industrialization and the “nutritionism” that have pervaded our diets.

This challenge put forth by Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma. In a captivating excerpt from Pollan’s soon-to-be-released book “In Defence of Food: An Eater's Manifesto”, he raises these thoughts on the state of nutritional science and it’s impact on our health.

Susan Kleiner is an accomplished authority in the world of sports nutrition. With an alphabet-soup list of credentials beside her name (PhD, RD, FACN, CNS, FISSN) and an impeccable real-world savvy to back it up, Kleiner takes us down a path towards improving mood, burning fat, building muscle, enhancing athletic ability and more.

The book is geared specifically towards active, but not necessarily athletic guys, and speaks in a down-to-earth language with a candor and comprehensiveness I found refreshing.

If you're watching your weight, what's the best way to eat less without feeling deprived?

Well, you could ditch all that refined flour and sugar and eat mostly healthy whole foods, selecting the most filling kinds: those naturally packed with fiber, protein, and a bit of healthy fat.

Or... perhaps there are easier approaches to "increasing satiety" you might not be aware of?

The following is a guest article by Monica Reinagel, M.S., author of The Inflammation Free Diet Plan, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Diet Blog authors.

Chronic, "silent" inflammation is a common condition that researchers have recently been focused on as an underlying cause of diseases from heart disease to depression - however systemic inflammation could also be making it more difficult for you to lose weight.

Misinformation, half truths, and misleading data abound both online, off-line, and sadly often from experts' mouths.

I always thought white verses dark or red meat was sort of a strange beast, and one where a few ivory-tower experts were able to confuse a nation.

The primary reason dark meat has been labeled bad - besides a large contingency of political agenda - is saturated fat content. Unfortunately, the general public was considered too dumb to understand the difference between saturated verses other fats. I cannot accept that.

Simple Memory Art have a collection of Healthy Food magnets.

Each of the 50 magnets lists primary nutrients along with with Calories, fat, and fiber.

The magnets would certainly help someone learn a good selection of foods.

Perhaps carbohydrate and protein content could be listed as well.

If you care enough about your health to be reading up on the latest research, you are unusual.

Most folks don't bother. Either the studies seem "boring," or they say things people don't want to hear. (You need to exercise! Stop smoking and eating so much junk food! A six-pack before dinner every night is NOT a smart idea!)

So normal people are quite skilled at ignoring research they don't like. Diet Blog readers, however, may be puzzled as to how to do this. We like science - though sometimes inaccurate, it beats superstition and wishful thinking. And usually the latest research is on our side: it says that we're doing smart healthy things and are going to live long happy lives.

But what do we do when a truly perplexing and dispiriting study comes out? For example, let's say new research says: "That Supplement You've Been Taking Might Give You Cancer Instead of Preventing It." Or, "The Meditation You've Been Forcing Yourself to Do for Twenty Years is Useless." Or, "Diet Soda Will Give You Heart Problems."

How do you keep such news from Messing With Your Head?

Brain Diet? Sounds gross… AND high in cholesterol. (Oh, I get it…never mind). I picked this book up expecting it to be much like any other of its kind - 250+ pages that could have been summarized in one paragraph. Boy was I wrong...

The BBC have made every episode of TV series "The Truth About Food" available on-line. The series explores the various myths and ideas about food and diet.

As part of the series the producers performed various experiments on different people to determine what actually happened.

Here are a few interesting "discoveries".

Dietary confusion abounds - no matter who you listen to. Just last week I received a brochure from my local doctors. The brochure praised the benefits of a Low GI (Glycemic Index) diet. According to their advice a low-GI diet meant eating certain carbohydrates - but also eating low-fat foods.

It may seem obvious to some - but now we have some evidence to back it up: people who eat salads (raw vegetables in particular) have above-average intakes of nutrients like vitamin C, E, folic acid, lycopene and carotenoids (via).

The number of on-line diets and trackers has grown unabated over the last year or two. Everyone wants to track your eating habits and display a graph for you - but can you be sure that the nutrient data is accurate? CalorieLab tells of how one new diet tool has been pilfering data from other sites - and in many cases getting it wrong.

"I remember the good old days... when the fruit was tastier and the vegetables more nutritious."

How many times have you heard such a sentiment? Or even said something similar yourself? We nod and laugh at our anecdotal observations - but what if somebody could prove it?

Research does indeed confirm this: The nutritional quality of fruits and vegetables is declining - and in some ways quite dramatically.

It seems ridiculous that we need a scientific study to validate the obvious. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has compared the reduction of portion sizes with the reduction of calorie density in a meal.