Summer Treats Not as Healthy as Some Think

Ice cream, frozen yogurt and snow cones may be favorite hot weather treats, but they don't offer much in the way of nutrition, a food expert says.

Some people believe ice cream is rich in vitamin D and calcium, but that's not the case, according to Suzy Weems, a registered dietitian who chairs the family and consumer sciences department at Baylor University and formerly headed the American Dietetic Association's legislative and public policy committee.

"It does have calcium along with vitamin D, vitamin A and some of the B vitamins to help with energy release, along with about 2.5 to 3 grams of protein -- not much, but more than none," Weems said in a university news release.

But ice cream is heavy in calories -- about 145 for a half-cup of vanilla and about 160 for chocolate chip, she noted.

Frozen yogurt has fewer calories -- 117 for a half-cup of vanilla -- and a little more calcium and protein, Weems said, but it's pretty much the same as ice cream in terms of health value.

Snow cones contain 90 calories per ounce of regular syrup, compared with 3.5 calories per ounce of sugar-free syrup, she said. One pump equals about an ounce of syrup.

Even snow cone syrups with fruity names are basically sugar plus water, offering little in the way of nutrition, Weems said.

Source: Healthy News 6/17/11

Teens Skimp on Exercise But Not Soda

Only about one in 10 U.S. teens is getting enough exercise and one in four has a soda a day, adding to concerns about obesity among American youth, government researchers said on Thursday.
A team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked to see how many students were meeting targets for youth physical activity.
They found about one out of 10 U.S. high school students met U.S. targets for both aerobic and muscle strengthening activities set for the federal government's Healthy People initiative, a list of public health goals.
In a separate study, CDC researchers surveyed U.S. high school students and found that teens drink water, milk and fruit juice most often, but a quarter also drink at least one sugar-sweetened soda a day.
Both studies raise concerns about the health of U.S. teens, and call for increased efforts to get them moving more and consuming fewer sweet drinks.
In the beverage survey of more than 11,000 teens, the CDC said overall, roughly two-thirds of high school students drank at least one sugary beverage a day, including soda, sports drinks like Gatorade and other sweetened beverages.
CDC said the findings are worrying because studies have shown that sugar-sweetened beverages add calories to the diet and often are substituted for healthier beverage choices.
And among teens, specifically, sweetened beverage consumption can contribute to weight gain, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, a risk factor for diabetes, the CDC said.
In the physical activity study, CDC researchers analyzed data from a school-based survey of youths in grades 9 through 12 (roughly ages 14-19).
They looked to see how many students were meeting the 2020 Healthy People targets, which call for 60 minutes of aerobic activity per day, muscle-strengthening activity three days a week and weekly activities that combine both forms of exercise.
The report found that only 15.3 percent of U.S. high school students met the aerobic objective of an hour of exercise a day, 51 percent met the muscle-strengthening objective, but just 12.2 percent met the objective of combining both activities.
Boys were much more likely than girls and younger students more likely than older students to meet those targets.
The researchers said the findings "justify the need to improve and increase efforts to promote physical activity among youths," adding that public health efforts should focus on at-risk groups including females, students in upper grades and the obese.

Source: Reuters 6/16/11

Pressure to be Thin Can Result in Sleep Loss

Some people may lose sleep over the pressure to be thin -- especially young white girls who are being pushed by female friends to lose weight or stay skinny, according to a new study.


"There is a significant amount of research in other areas regarding pressure on adolescent females to minimize body weight, but this pressure as it relates to sleep health is a less-explored topic and its consequences are mostly unknown," said the study's principal investigator, Katherine Marczyk, a doctoral student in clinical health psychology and behavioral medicine at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. "These results are important as this discovery could be one of the first steps in this research," she explained in a news release from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

In conducting the study, which was to be presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Minneapolis, researchers asked 789 Texas middle-school students, all females and averaging 12 years of age, to describe how much pressure they felt to lose weight and be thin.

The girls also pinpointed the sources of this pressure, which included peers, family, friends and the media. Researchers then assessed the girls' quality of sleep to measure how this external pressure to be skinny affected how much sleep they got.

The pressure the girls felt to be thin from girlfriends as well as from the media significantly predicted sleep duration, accounting for 4.5 percent of the difference in how much sleep the girls got.

That discrepancy in sleep duration jumped to 6 percent among white girls (about 60 percent of the study's participants) who faced pressure to be skinny from their friends, the investigators found.

The study authors added that losing sleep could put young girls at risk for other health problems, including increased anxiety and depression.

Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Source: Health Day, 6/14/11

Sleep Deprived Teens Crave Carbohydrates

Daytime sleepiness is associated with an increased craving for carbohydrates among teens, according to new research.

The study of 262 high school seniors in New Jersey found that their desire for carbohydrates increased with the severity of daytime sleepiness. The likelihood of having a strong craving for carbs was 50 percent higher among those with excessive daytime sleepiness.

The researchers also found that students with strong cravings for carbs were more likely to have depression (34 percent) than those with little or no desire for carbohydrates (22 percent). Students with major depression were nearly three times more likely to have a strong craving for carbohydrates.

"This is one of the first studies in a high school population to show a linear relationship between carbohydrate craving and sleep deprivation," principal investigator Dr. Mahmood Siddique, a clinical associate professor of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey, said in an American Academy of Sleep Medicine news release.

Sleep plays a major role in regulating appetite and metabolism, Siddique noted in the news release.

"This study is important given the rising epidemic of obesity among teens as well as increasing metabolic syndrome and diabetes among young adult populations," Siddique said. "This study highlights the importance of diagnosing sleep deprivation as a risk factor for obesity among young adults. Those who are depressed and sleep-deprived may be at special risk for obesity."

The study was to be presented Tuesday at SLEEP 2011, an Associated Professional Sleep Societies meeting in Minneapolis.

Most teens require a bit more than 9 hours of sleep a night to feel alert and well-rested during the day, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until it is published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Source: Health Day 6/16/11

Dads More Lenient With Fast Foods

Lenient fathers are more likely than mothers to influence childhood obesity because they allow their kids to eat at fast-food restaurants frequently, according to a new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.

"Dads who think that dinner time is a special family time certainly do not see a fast-food restaurant as an appropriate place for that special family time, so this means that his kids are spending less time in those places. Dads who have no trouble eating food in a fast-food restaurant are going to be more likely to have kids who do so," said Dr. Alex McIntosh, AgriLife Research sociologist.

Researchers at Texas A&M University conducted a 15-month study to examine parents' use of time and how that impacted meal choices and the choice between fast-food and full-service restaurants. The researchers also asked children in these families to keep a record of what they ate and whether it was at home or out.

"To our surprise, it was father's time spent at fast-food restaurants—not mother's time spent there—that was associated with kids' time spent in a fast-food place." McIntosh said, noting fathers also need to know more about nutritional content of fast food in order to raise healthy, well-adjusted children.

They also found mothers who are neglectful and those who are highly committed to their work were more likely to allow their kids to eat at fast-food restaurants.

The current study seems to affirm one that appeared in the December 2010 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, which noted parents need to be better empowered to be good role models and help their children eat healthy diets.

Apples Top "Dirty Dozen"

The apple industry faces a potential public-relations headache in the wake of federal testing that found pesticide residues in 98% of America's second-most-popular fresh fruit, the highest rate among the produce screened by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a yearly survey.

In the vast majority of cases, residues of the 48 different pesticides the USDA found in its sampling of apples—the nation's most widely consumed fresh fruit after bananas—were within amounts that federal regulators consider safe to eat.

But the department's study has prompted the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based consumer-advocacy group, to put conventionally raised apples at the top of its latest "Dirty Dozen" list.

That list, which identifies the fruits and vegetables the group says are the most contaminated with farm chemicals, is slated to be released today (June 13, 2011).


The USDA also found pesticide residue on more than 90% of samples of six other types of produce: grapes, strawberries, cilantro, potatoes, oranges and spinach. Before testing, laboratory workers washed the samples under cold water for 10 seconds to mimic the way consumers were expected to handle the foods at home.

The Environmental Working Group, which says it uses USDA and other government data to compile its lists, isn't advising people to stop eating those foods. "The health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risks of pesticide exposure," said Sonya Lunder, a senior analyst at the group.

Still, the group's guidance can steer consumers away from crops that rely on insecticides, fungicides and weed killers.

Produce farmers, including apple producers, have long criticized its lists, saying they stir needless doubts about foods that comply with federal standards and whose growers are doing nothing improper.

For shoppers who can't or don't want to pay the premium prices charged for organic produce, the group publishes a list of the conventional crops it says offer the lowest exposure to pesticides. The revised "Clean 15" list, which it is also issuing Monday, is topped by onions, sweet corn, pineapples and avocados.

Congress ordered the USDA to survey the levels of pesticide in food annually following the 1989 Alar controversy involving apples.

Apple sales sank after a broadcast on the CBS news-magazine program "60 Minutes" linked Alar to health risks, and the pesticide was banned from use on food.

In years when the USDA has included apples in its surveys, which began in 1991, pesticide residues have been found in a high percentage of the samples.

Conventional growers use chemicals extensively in their orchards to ward off blemishes that can hurt the appearance, and thus the value, of their crop.

Fungicides, meanwhile, are routinely applied to apples because the fruit is often stored for several months before reaching consumers.

The U.S. Apple Association, which represents the $2.2 billion industry, has long complained about the "Dirty Dozen" list, which ranked apples No. 4 last year and celery as No. 1.

"It's a headache. …It implies that something terrible is going on," said Mark Seetin, the trade group's director of regulatory affairs. "But growers are doing nothing illegal. They're just trying to keep their apples fresh and nutritious."

The Environmental Protection Agency uses the USDA survey to help calculate the amount of pesticides in the American diet which, in turn, guides the federal government's decisions about whether and how farmers can use these chemicals. Excessive exposure to pesticides can cause health problems, such as an increased risk of cancer.

Tracking the prevalence of pesticide residue in the food supply over time is difficult, in part because the USDA changes the crops it screens from year to year. In its latest study, 57.4% of 11,811 samples of 21 different types of food had pesticide residue, the vast majority at levels the government considers safe to consume.

DDT continues to show up in food even though it was banned in the U.S. in 1972. The insecticide persists for a long time in soil, getting into grass eaten by cattle or the bottoms of ponds. Minuscule amounts of one degraded form of DDT was found by the USDA in 65% of the survey's catfish samples and 24% of its samples of beef fat, albeit at levels below those considered unsafe by regulators.

Source: Wall Street Journal,

Best Weight Loss Diets

Best Weight-Loss Diets
The best diet to lose weight on is Weight Watchers, according to weight-loss experts who rated the diets below for U.S. News. The Jenny Craig diet program and the Raw Food Diet come in close behind. Some other diets outperform these for fast weight loss, but long-term weight loss is more important for your health.

RANKINGS
DATA
#1

Weight Watchers Diet
(3.8 out of 5.0)
This popular points-counting diet helps dieters drop pounds—and keep them off. In experts' ratings, Weight Watchers bested all other ranked diets for both short-term and long-term weight loss. But that doesn't guarantee it will work for everyone. Its average rating of "moderately effective" for long-term weight loss reflects the difficulty dieters have staying on the wagon, even when using the best weight-loss diet available.

#2

Jenny Craig Diet
(3.5 out of 5.0)
As a weight-loss diet, Jenny Craig outranked nearly all of its competitors. Experts appreciated, among other aspects of the program, the value of the emotional support provided by its weekly one-on-one counseling sessions. A few experts, however, questioned whether dieters can expect to keep the weight off once they're weaned from the diet's prepackaged, portion-controlled foods. Though not factored into its ranking, Jenny Craig's cost is relatively high.

#2

Raw Food Diet
(3.5 out of 5.0)
The raw food diet can deliver both short- and long-term weight loss, experts concluded, since raw foodists typically eat fewer calories than other people. But the restrictive and labor-intensive diet certainly isn't for everyone.

#4

Volumetrics Diet
(3.4 out of 5.0)
Volumetrics helps dieters drop pounds—and keep them off. It scored well in both the short- and long-term weight loss categories, comparable to or better than many other diets. Because it focuses on satiety, or the satisfied feeling that you’ve had enough, it’s “more likely to be successful” than other diets.

#5

Slim-Fast Diet
(3.3 out of 5.0)
Slim-Fast claims dieters will drop one to two pounds a week. Experts awarded the program relatively high scores for short-term and long-term weight loss, indicating their optimism the pounds will stay off, too.

#5

Vegan Diet
(3.3 out of 5.0)
Going vegan gives you good odds of losing weight and keeping it off, according to experts. Veganism is also an effective weight-control method. But vegans must be “very committed,” as one expert put it, because forgoing all animal products can be challenging.

#7
Atkins Diet
(3.2 out of 5.0)
In keeping with its emphasis on helping dieters shed pounds fast, the Atkins program rated well for short-term weight loss but was judged by experts as less impressive over the long haul. On balance, it came out slightly ahead of the middle of the pack.

#8
DASH Diet
(3.1 out of 5.0)
With an emphasis on healthful, filling foods that don’t pack lots of calories, the government-developed Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) drew reasonably good ratings from experts, despite not having been designed as a weight-loss diet. They judged it to be about as good for short-term weight loss as for long-term weight loss.

#8
Eco-Atkins Diet
(3.1 out of 5.0)
Experts regarded Eco-Atkins as much more effective for short-term weight loss than for long-term weight loss. It “may be difficult to consistently adhere to,” one expert said, because it is largely a “do-it-yourself diet.”

#8
Mayo Clinic Diet
(3.1 out of 5.0)
Among weight-loss plans, the Mayo Clinic Diet tied with DASH and Eco-Atkins. While needed evidence is lacking, experts' ratings reflect their believe that Mayo, if followed, could deliver modest weight loss, both short- and long-term.

#11
Mediterranean Diet
(3.0 out of 5.0)
As a weight-loss plan, the Mediterranean diet didn't overwhelm the experts, but it’s not built to be one. It is up to the individual to keep watch over the scale.

#11
Ornish Diet
(3.0 out of 5.0)
Experts deemed the Ornish Spectrum plan to be OK, but not great, for people searching specifically for a weight-loss diet. Its greatest strengths lie elsewhere.

#11
South Beach Diet
(3.0 out of 5.0)
South Beach helps dieters drop pounds—fast. But our experts felt it’s less likely that they’ll actually keep the weight off long-term. We found little research indicating that the diet is sustainable or that it helps dieters maintain weight loss over the long haul.

#11
TLC Diet
(3.0 out of 5.0)
Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) isn't designed to be a weight-loss diet. But if sensibly followed, it can produce weight loss, experts said, because it's a fundamentally sound approach to eating. One plus: It requires no extreme measures such as shunning carbs or meat.

#15
Vegetarian Diet
(2.9 out of 5.0)
For weight loss, the vegetarian diet is slower off the starting line than most alternatives. But it gains back some ground over the long haul, beating out about half the field on long-term weight loss. Although vegetarianism isn’t designed to be a weight-loss plan, building in a calorie restriction and filling the menu with healthful foods could help dieters shed some pounds.

#16
Medifast Diet
(2.7 out of 5.0)
Medifast landed near the bottom of the pack for overall weight loss. While dieters will likely drop pounds quickly on Medifast, most experts felt they’d regain the weight. The diet's relatively low ratings for long-term weight loss pulled it down in the ranking.

#16
Nutrisystem Diet
(2.7 out of 5.0)
Nutrisystem also earned better ratings for short-term weight loss than for long-term weight loss. Experts were doubtful dieters could keep off the weight once they graduate from prepackaged meals and transition to cooking on their own again.

#18
Zone Diet
(2.6 out of 5.0)
Experts weren’t convinced that the Zone diet helps keep weight off over the short or long term. While it “provides a dose of dietary discipline,” one said, portions are small, and the diet requires a lot of work, which can make adhering to it difficult.

#19
Glycemic-Index Diet
(2.5 out of 5.0)
The glycemic-index diet doesn’t have much potential as a weight-loss diet, according to experts. It premise of favoring "good" carbs over "bad" hasn’t been scientifically validated, and dieters won’t have enough guidance to drop the pounds and keep them off, they concluded.

#20
Paleo Diet
(1.9 out of 5.0)
If weight loss is the goal, the Paleo diet will likely disappoint, in the judgment of our panel of experts. While they gave it slightly higher scores for short-term weight loss than for long-term, on the whole it was the least effective for weight loss of all 20 diets they reviewed.

Disclaimer and a note about your health.