Are Celebrity Chefs Making You Fat?

Don’t know what to make for dinner? Perhaps you reach for your newest cookbook (or read it on your iPad) to find the perfect dish for yourself or your family. What you might not realize, though, is that dish—especially if it’s a celebrity chef’s recipe—might not be the healthiest choice.

A recent U.K. study analyzing recipes developed by celebrity chefs found that 87 percent of the 904 recipes contained undesirable nutrients, especially saturated fatty acids, sugar, and salt. Not surprising. I have watched the Food Network more times than I could count and think we are faced with the same situation here in the United States. Rarely do I see a chef on the show prepare a well-rounded, nutritious meal that I would recommend to my patients, unless they have a strong background in nutrition or are a registered dietitian.

The study did not try to “name or shame chefs” but rather bring attention to celebrities that the public does place a lot of trust in them and that there is an opportunity for improvement. I think this is great and wish more chefs realized that a little butter (instead of a slab) and less cream can go a long way, especially with the rise in obesity in our country. Creating dishes that are high in fiber and low in saturated fat and sodium should become more the norm.

RELATED: These surprising ways to slim down comfort food favorites will let you eat the foods you love without the guilt.

The study findings actually remind me of celebrity diets. Wouldn’t it be great if a celebrity lost weight eating more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables versus some new detox plan they were on—and if the media covered it? Whether they like it or not, celebrities are role models. What they eat, what they cook, what they wear, and where they exercise are of interest to so many people and emulated as well.

Are you familiar with the saying “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover”? Well, that may be true for a celebrity cookbook—who knows what you will find inside.

Pay attention to the nutrition facts for recipes, and if none are provided, let the ingredients be your guide. The more healthy fats being incorporated (olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds) versus saturated fat (butter, cream, whole milk, bacon), the better. Recipes that use herbs and spices instead a lot of sodium for flavoring tend to be smarter choices too, as well as those that include 100-percent whole grains and lots of vegetables.

View the original article here

Are Flavored Waters Diet Soda in Disguise?

You know water is super healthy and important to drink, but if you don't like the taste, you're not alone: About 20 percent of Americans dislike the flavor of plain H2O, a Wall Street Journal article says.

Now many beverages companies are focusing on this group of non-water drinkers, offering alternatives that they believe are healthier than regular soda and diet soda, which both have gotten a bad wrap over the years. But sorting through all these new options can be overwhelming. Deciphering between what is a healthy choice and what might be another soda in disguise can lead many to think a Ph.D. in food science is needed.

Lots of these new waters are sweetened, some naturally and others artificially, to attract the taste buds of those who at heart may prefer soda. Current research still supports that artificial sweeteners are safe to consume, and I have always told my diet-soda drinkers that one a day is fine, but if they are drinking a lot of them and consuming other foods with artificial sweeteners as well, perhaps that is overkill. Long-term safety in abundance, in my opinion, is still questionable.

RELATED: If you don't like plain H2O, try these tips to make drinking water taste better.

Other brands include lots of added vitamins and minerals, which you should be wary of if you are already taking over-the-counter supplements. Liquid water enhancers are another emerging trend, but anything where the consumer can control the amount they add concerns me. A drop or two may be fine, but for those individuals who like something very sweet, they may end up adding a lot more artificial sweetener than is ideal.

The good news is that many of these new products have zero calories. This make me happy, since I am always telling my patients not to drink their calories, especially if it is in addition to a calorie-dense meal. I can also get on board with those adding “fruit essence” since that is basically extracting the oils naturally from a fruit. Read the label, though, to see if anything else was added in the process, since in today’s world “natural” can mean just about anything.

But you don’t have to buy any of these. For my patients who don’t like water, I recommend simply adding some fresh fruit to enhance its flavor—lemon, lime, cucumber, or orange slices, or chunks of watermelon are all great. I also recommend sparkling water or seltzer with no sodium, either plain or with fresh fruit or a splash of 100-percent fruit juice, which guarantees no artificial dyes or color have been added.

RELATED: It's not just dyes you need to watch out for. Be wary of these nine common foods that contain toxic ingredients.

If I had to rank the water options today from my first choice to the last it would be:
1. Plain water or plain sparkling water with no sodium
2. Unsweetened water or sparkling water flavored with "fruit essence"
3. Artificially sweetened sparkling water
4. Water with added artificially sweetened liquid water enhancer

Ultimately the decision is yours. All I know is right now I am very thirsty, so I’m going to grab a tall glass of plain water.

What's your preferred drink? Tell us in the comments below or tweet us @Shape_Magazine and @KeriGans.

View the original article here

Are People Who Cook More Likely to Skip the Gym?

It always seems like there isn’t enough time in the day to do everything you might want to, especially during the week. Eight hours (or more) of work and (hopefully) eight hours of sleep leaves another eight hours to do everything else. But most of our lives have gotten so busy that even though it might sound like a lot of time to spare, it ends up not being so. With daily chores, commuting time, showering and dressing, reading or TV watching, and trying to have a social life, is there any time to fit in healthy eating and fitness?

According to a new study from the Ohio State University’s College of Public Health, people tend to focus on one or the other—which isn’t the greatest when those behaviors are healthy. “As the amount of time men and women spend on food preparation increases, the likelihood that those same people will exercise more decreases,” lead study author Rachel Tumin said in a press release.

To be exact, the research showed that a 10-minute increase in food preparation time was associated with a lower probability of exercising for 10 more minutes. While the survey captured only one day of activity and therefore perhaps isn’t a clear reflection of the entire week, based on the many excuses I hear from my patients, I feel that this trend might apply to the other days of the week as well.

But you likely do have the time to cook and exercise. All it takes is a little prioritizing, plus learning to simplify things.

RELATED: Make a healthy, satisfying meal fast with these expert-recommended 5-minute meals.

Fitting in an hour of exercise three to five days a week should be doable. It’s all how you approach exercise: It doesn’t have to be at a gym or in fitness class if that doesn’t work into your schedule. Take the stairs instead of the escalator, park your car farther from your destination, take a walk during your lunch break, get off the subway or bus one stop earlier, roll out a yoga mat in your home, put on a DVD, listen to a podcast, or go out dancing with your friends on the weekend.

As for making food prep easy, remember you don’t have to cook like a chef from the Food Network, at least not on a daily basis. The fewer ingredients in your meal, the quicker the prep should be. You can buy your lettuce in a bag and your veggies already cut up or frozen. A grilled or broiled piece of fish or chicken slightly seasoned with a touch of olive oil takes no time to prepare, and a sweet potato in the microwave doesn’t get much easier. You can also spend a little extra time on Sunday making meals that you can reheat during the week. Let’s be honest, most of us should have a little extra time on a Sunday since there is no work.

The bottom line is how you choose to spend your time. One healthy behavior should not interfere with another, unless you allow it to.

View the original article here

Can Your Phone Help You Lose Weight?

Today almost everyone has a smartphone. Mine is usually glued to my side. I count on it for so many things—emails, texts, Twitter, Facebook, phone calls, and, okay, Words with Friends.

Research recently published in the Journal of Internet Medical Research found that using a smartphone can also be ideal for weight loss. “My Meal Mate,” an app that was created by the researchers (which is not available for download on the iPhone), helped study participants record their meals and exercise; it also sent them messages to help keep them on track. After six months, app users lost an average of 10 pounds, compared to 6.5 pounds for those keeping a paper journal and 3 pounds for those using an online food journal.

The results did not surprise me. More and more of my patients come in to my office with a new app they are using. At the beginning, it is a fun new tool and they are diligent with it. However I warn them about the accuracy of the calories for many of their foods and the daily calorie allotment that many of the current apps provide. I try to get them to use the app more for the ease of record keeping instead of calorie counting. And if technology isn’t their cup of tea, I'm still a fan of the old-school pen to paper since the accountability of their choices is what I am after.

RELATED: Download the best weight-loss apps to your phone to help you slim down successfully.

I would be interested in seeing this study continue for a longer length of time and to see if the participants keep the weight off. I agree that food journaling is a very important tool—all my patients who have been successful journal 100 percent of the time. But what works for my patients for long-term success is the understanding of what their meal should look like (i.e. portion control, plenty of fruits and veggies, 100-percent whole grains), not how many calories it has.

So should you download an app if you are trying to lose weight? It definitely can’t hurt. But most importantly, you need to be completely honest with your record keeping—until an app is developed that can tell when you’re lying.

View the original article here

Does Dr. Oz's Dopamine Diet Work?

One thing I really love about my job is that it keeps me on my toes. The world of nutrition never gets boring, especially because it seems every other day there is a new diet being talked about. Just this week, featured on The Dr. Oz Show, was the dopamine diet.

Created by Bryce Wylde, a graduate from the Ontario College of Homeopathic Medicine with a diploma in homeopathic medicine and health sciences (DHMHS), this diet claims that chronic overeating causes low levels of dopamine—a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers and regulates movement and emotional responses—that ultimately leads to a cycle of cravings and more overeating. To restore dopamine receptors and prevent this cycle from continuing, Wylde recommends eating tyrosine-rich foods and supplementing with L-tyrosine, a non-essential amino acid that serves as precursor for dopamine.

Foods recommended in the dopamine diet include fava beans, duck, chicken, ricotta cheese, oatmeal, mustard greens, edamame, dark chocolate, seaweed, and wheat germ. Wylde also suggests foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, specifically seafood. He claims DHA, a type of omega 3, also has an effect on dopamine levels.

RELATED: Feeling down? Fill up with the best foods to boost your mood.

Wylde points us to a 2008 study published in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism that suggested the brain uses dopamine to tell the body when to stop eating. However, besides this study I was unable to find further research with the same results. What I did find was research to suggest that a deficiency in dopamine may result in Parkinson's disease, and people with low dopamine activity may be more prone to addiction. There also seems to be a genetic component to low dopamine levels.

I found all the research confusing and am not sure of its validity in regards to weight management. However, I can almost always understand a meal plan and whether or not I would support it as part of a healthy diet. I could get on board with all the food choices, except maybe the duck since it is high in saturated fat. And with the dark chocolate I would definitely emphasize portion control, since the “more is better” attitude will surely backfire.

But where Wylde definitely loses me are with his supplement suggestions. He suggests 1 to 2 teaspoons squid oil daily (this doesn’t sound appetizing) and 500 to 1,000 milligrams L-tyrosine, once when you wake up on an empty stomach and again between lunch and dinner. Tyrosine seems to be safe when used in doses up to 150 mg per kilogram of bodyweight per day for up to three months, but some people may experience side effects such as nausea, headache, fatigue, heartburn, and joint pain.

RELATED: Not all pills are placebos. These 10 herbal remedies really work.

Bottom line: The dopamine diet may or may not help you to lose weight; I think it depends on your dopamine levels to begin with. But for me regardless of that, any diet that recommends supplements with potential “side effects” is a plan I try to stay clear of.

View the original article here

Is Caffeinated Gum a Safe Energy-Booster?

Do you have difficulty getting up in the morning? Feel like taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon? In the old days, you might have simply grabbed a cup of coffee to get you going. But today thanks to Wrigley, the chewing gum manufacturer, you could buy a stick of gum that provides the same amount of caffeine as about a half-cup of coffee. If you ask me, this is crazy.

At first it seemed that the biggest rage with caffeinated products was in energy drinks, like Red Bull. Today the market is so huge with these types of beverages I can’t even keep up. Much to my dismay, many brands of bottled water also now include caffeine and, if that wasn’t enough, it can also be found in such products as jelly beans, waffles, and potato chips. And to make matter worse, these foods and drinks are not only being consumed by adults but also by children.

With the launch of Wrigley’s gum, the FDA is now looking into the potential impact that added caffeine may have on children and adolescents. This is probably long overdue. Generally it is agreed that consuming up to 300 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day is safe for adults. That's roughly the amount you would get from three cups (one cup equals 8 ounces or one "vente" from Starbucks) of coffee. Consuming more than 300mg could have negative side effects such as irritability, sleeplessness, anxiety, and diarrhea.

RELATED: Instead of coffee, try these 11 all-natural energy-boosters the next time you're dragging.

What I find sad about this whole caffeine situation is that is seems we have become a nation that looks for energy to be found in a cup, bottle, or package, starting with our children. Whatever happened with getting a good night’s sleep and eating healthy? Sure I love my morning cup of java, but that is because I love the taste of it. It’s my bowl of oatmeal, packed with high-fiber carbohydrates, that give me my energy to get moving.

And when I feel a lull in the afternoon, instead of grabbing a cup of coffee, I might grab a piece of fruit and a yogurt, once again looking for healthy carbs that convert to glucose in my body for natural energy. Also, one should never underestimate the power of exercise. Once you get those endorphins going, it surely beats a cup of joe hands-down.

I do hope the FDA cracks down on the use of caffeine in products, especially those targeted toward children and adolescents, as it seems the total amount consumed daily can become unexpectedly high. In the meanwhile, I will continue to advocate for getting energized naturally with wholesome foods, physical activity, and going to bed at a reasonable time, for all ages.

View the original article here

Cardio Exercise The Best Slimming Exercise

Slimming is a matter of complete Regular Exercise. Cardio Exercise is one of them. A brief for cardiovascular‚ that refers to the guts. Cardiovascular exercise is exercise that raises your heart rate and keeps it elevated for an amount of your time. It’s called aerobic exercise as well. You can loss your weight by practicing some cardio exercise on regular basis. There are many cardio exercises‚ choose any of them you enjoy and feel free to mix the exercise up.

For example‚ you May do the elliptical trainer for quarter-hour‚ then switch to the stationary bike for an additional quarter-hour and stop working on the treadmill for the last quarter-hour. Interval coaching could be a good way to stay everything fresh.

There are many cardio exercises you will find. Some of them May not go with your liking. Do what you love to do. The most effective cardio exercises are given bellow:

1. Step Aerobics -One in every of the foremost favorite cardio exercises preferred by girls. Step Aerobics mainly target your legs‚ hips and glutes‚ and May burn approximately four hundred calories in half-hour.

2. Jumping Rope – Jumping Rope is one of the simplest cardio exercises. Don’t think its outcome is simple. Slim your body by Jumping Rope is an easy and fastest way. You will get huge benefit when you do it regular basis. This is the most effective exercise as well.  Jumping rope can provide you with an unparalleled total body workout also good for cardiovascular endurance and enhances performance in nearly any sport – tennis‚ basketball‚ football‚ skiing‚ volleyball and additional. This straightforward exercise is additionally nice for eye-hand coordination‚ lateral movement‚ foot and hand speed and agility. Jumping Rope can be an extraordinary Slimming tools for you.

3. Bicycling– Outdoors is a great cardio exercises. Dust off your bike and take out for spin. This is an ideal slimming tips for all. You can burn around 235 calories per half hour by Riding at a fair speed (12’– 14 mph)

4. Racquetball – Racquetball breaks the monotony of common cardiovascular exercises. Motivation May be a massive a part of reaching your Slimming goal. A 145-LB person burns over four hundred calories in half-hour.

5. Rock Climbing – While hiking is usually seen as the way to urge outside and revel in nature‚ when done properly it May give several exercise advantages. This is not solely a cardio exercises‚ however conjointly uses arm and leg strength and power. Climbing will assign to 380 calories in half-hour.

6. Cross-country Skiing – If you are looking for some fastest slimming tips among cardio exercise‚ cross-country skiing is an outstanding choice. This is an unbelievable cardio exercise. A 145-lb person burns regarding 330 calories throughout half-hour of skiing.

7. Running –Running is a wonderful cardio exercises as a result of all you wish May be a combine of quality trainers. Running burns serious calories. A one hundred forty five LB person will simply burn three hundred calories in half-hour.

8. Elliptical Trainer – Thus is a wonderful cardio exercises and a good thanks to build endurance. A hundred forty five LB person will burn regarding three hundred calories in half-hour.

9. Rowing – Rowing offers a good workout for the complete body. Rowing is both a cardio exercises as well as giving your arms an incredible workout. 145 LB person can burn about 300 calories in 30 minutes.

10. Walking – Walking is a very good practice for all‚ even who is not belong with the slimming program. Fast walking May be a less strenuous type of cardio exercises. Walking will use to a hundred and eighty calories in half-hour. Sprinting‚ adding hills or an incline will increase quantity of calories burned.

Want to be a part of us ? join our Official fan page and stay close with love. Thank You

View the original article here