The New Nutritionist: Your Grocer

This article is about a food rating system being used by some grocery chains that is provided by a company called NuVal LLC that basically measures nutritional value. My first reaction was this could be good information for the average consumer but reading further into it, it seems some of the criteria used to establish the rating is pretty subjective. I am glad I don’t have a food product being negatively rated by these people. In my opinion, what is intended to help the consumer and simplify things is just confusing the issue even further. What’s yours?

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704229004575371010407610760.html?mod=ITP_personaljournal_0#printMode

Eating to Live or Living to Eat?

There is a lot here but some very interesting information describing how different areas of the brain affect our eating habits. This might help to explain some of the cravings we have, especially, in my case with sweets after eating a meal. Basically a concise, easy to understand account of what can be a very complicated subject for some of us non-medical “civilians”.

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704288204575363072381955744.html?mod=ITP_personaljournal_0

Health watch: Are you label literate?

Here is valuable information that we can all use regarding the importance of being able to really understand what we are reading on a food label and know exactly what we are putting in our bodies.

www.chicagotribune.com/health/sc-foods-0702-health-labels-20100702,0,4610566,print.story

How nutritious is Vitaminwater?

I’ve gone through stages where I drank a lot of this stuff or similar drinks. It might not be a bad idea to do a little research, beginning with this article, and see if drinking these vitamin “fortified” drinks are worth it, both in nutritional value and expense. With more of these type drinks, high energy drinks, etc. coming out all the time and after they are tried and tested for a while, it seems that now, more than ever, good old water is the way to go.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/28/AR2010062804257_pf.html

F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010

It’s hard to believe with all of the media attention over the last couple years, but it appears the obesity issue in the US is getting worse instead of better. Obesity rates increased in 28 states year to year and decreased only in the District of Columbia. Most of us know intellectually that we need to monitor what we take in and increase our level of movement and exercise and yet reports like this one keep on coming. When and what will be the tipping point?

healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2010/

In Summer’s Heat, Watch What You Drink

This New York Times article supplies some good information about really focusing on what we drink in the summer, not just for hydration purposes, as important as that is, but caloric also, as we need to be careful with what we choose to satisfy our thirst this time of year. As the article states, sugar-sweetened sodas are the single largest source of calories in the American diet, 7.1% so this is an important issue we can all learn more about.

www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/health/29brod.html?pagewanted=print

Hummus Catches On in America

Whether as a healthy snack or a source of energy and nutrition during long races, etc., hummus, especially flavored, is becoming more popular in the US. More and more varieties are available in mainstream groceries all the time.

Scott Jurek, world renowned ultra runner ( www.scottjurek.com ), says that after trying gels and other commercial products and many other home made solutions, hummus in pita bread is his favorite and most effective source of energy during the  100 mile races that he excels at. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/dining/16united.html?pagewanted=1

A Guilt-Free Hamburger

While this “meta-study”, a compilation of data from 20 different studies from around the world, is not definitive, I personally come away from it feeling better about eating higher quality ground beef, steak, pork, etc than eating processed meat. It seems like the issue of salt levels is being raised more and more often and seen as a source of many health problems. As one of the doctor’s quoted states towards the end of the article, a balanced diet is essential but perhaps we don’t have to feel as guilty about having a serving of high quality red meat once in a while.

online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748704314904575250570943835414.html#printMode

For Nut Benefits, More Is Better

Just a couple servings of nuts a day (about 8 almonds or 15 to 20 peanuts are one serving) can have very positive effects on our health, especially lower cholesterol. This article describes results from a study published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703880304575236521172979224.html#printMode

Diet and Exercise to the Extremes

This article from the New York times is about Scott Jurek, the ultimate ultra-marathoner in the US today. As the title suggests, he not only exercises at extreme levels but his diet would be considered somewhat extreme by many also.

While not suggesting going to these extremes, perhaps emulating Scott at even a minor level would help many of us increase not only our performance level while exercising or competing but would also have a positive effect on our level of health and wellness.

Since this article was written last week, Scott set the record for an American in the French race referred to, running 165.70 miles in 24 hours.

www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/sports/13runner.html?pagewanted=1&ref=health

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