diet guidelines

I suppose we could look on the bright side here; well over 400,000 Brits eat exceptionally well!

These rather unflattering findings are the result of a wide-ranging investigation for the Food Standards Agency's National Diet and Nutrition Survey. The results are based on 5 dietary targets set out by the World Health Organization. Let's look at what criteria they tracked and try and make some sense of it.

The world of nutrition and exercise is one of decided polarity. My battle cry for the day is this: Can't we all just get along?

Instead of focusing on the divergence of opinion, let's try and cut some common threads when it comes to diet and exercise and see where we all agree... And then we can debate about those!

Esther Blum, a New York City dietitian, has just come out with a nutritional guide which seems targeted towards a very particular audience: cosmo-drinking, party-going, "gorgeous gals," in their 20's and 30's.

Blum promises a "gorgeous path to enlightenment," including "freedom from hangovers, guaranteed great sex, and the know-how to live it up without letting yourself go."

Gosh. Guaranteed great sex? At least it doesn't sound like a typical diet book! But is Eat, Drink, and be Gorgeous just a hot pink-covered novelty purchase? Or is it a useful nutritional self-help guide?

A survey undertaken by the British Food Standards Agency highlights how confused consumers are when it comes to a "healthy" diet.

That's because of the constant debate over exactly what constitutes healthy.

WebMD have compared various brands of pasta - in particular those that use whole wheat and have a higher fiber content.

Whole wheat pastas are made from durum wheat. Durum is the second-most widely cultivated wheat species (after common wheat). The whole-wheat pastas tend to have a higher protein content (7g to 10g per 2 ounce dry serving).

Conventional state-sponsored nutrition guidelines have failed us. So what now?

The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued new diet guidelines.

USA Today chewed over the last year in the world of diets. Here are some highlights according to Diet-Blog:

If a brief perusal of MyPyramid (the USDA's new dietary recommendations) leaves you with a nagging sense of bewilderment - there may be some very good reasons why.

The following article (reprinted in entirety) highlights some peculiar anomalies in the food guidelines. Whether you concur or not - here is some real food for thought...

Without wasting any time someone has come up with a complete parody of the USDAs new nutritional guidelines (MyPyramid). The official site is www.mypyramid.gov - the parody site is www.mypyramid.org

The sites are remarkably similar in design, layout, and coloring, but the copy is just a little different. The parody site is basically taking a slug at the apparent AgriBusiness agenda in the new food pyramid.

Thanks to USFoodPolicy for this.

It's finally been released - the new USDA food guidelines: The U.S. Agriculture Department updated its well-known Food Guide Pyramid with a triangular symbol that emphasizes exercise and urges consumers to use an Internet site to design a personalized plan for healthy eating.

In a superb independent article responding to the new US Dietary Guidelines, author Michele Simon makes some keen insights regarding how the food industry will respond to the guidelines to eat more whole foods: Responding to that threat, companies such as General Mills are already jumping on the "healthy food" bandwagon, announcing that their products will be reformulated to include whole grains. But "processed whole foods" is an oxymoron. Real whole grains come from nature, such as brown rice instead of Uncle Ben's white rice or plain oatmeal instead of Cheerios with added sugar and salt. Don't let the food industry fool you into thinking it can manufacture healthy foods. That's nature's job.

The article goes on to point out how vague some of the recommendations are: Nor could they tell us to avoid the main sources of trans fats: baked goods such as chips, cakes and cookies. That would ruffle too many industry feathers.

The US Govt has announced new nutritional guidelines that will supercede the current carb-heavy food pyramid. According to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson: "Do you want to look better? Yes. Do you want to feel better? Yes," Thompson said. "You lower your calorie intake, you lower your fats, your carbs. You eat more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and you exercise.

Du-uh - I wonder how much taxpayers money went into that astounding discovery?

Recently, I've gotten a few requests for links to more good information about dieting while breastfeeding. My wife, our household's expert on breastfeeding, sent me this link:

Six guidelines for safe dieting during lactation: Wait until your baby is two months old before dieting Breastfeed without restriction Eat at least 1500-1800 calories per day Keep weight loss at less than 1.5 pounds per week Decrease the calories gradually Avoid quick-fix solutions