Calorie Counts are Frequently Off

Overall, as I've said many times, I tend to be a fan of calorie labeling in restaurants and other eating establishments because I think they motivate people to think a little more closely about what they want to "spend" their calories on the way we also consider what to spend our dollars on. I've also expressed that I worry that some people could become a little obsessed (who likely would look up calorie content online even if it weren't posted on a menu), and unfortunately, this bit from Time isn't going to help anyone chill out.

Susan Roberts, professor at Tufts, along with Jean Mayer of Tufts' USDA Nutrition Research Center on Aging decided to analyze an array of restaurant and frozen food items, taking care to select the ones dieters might be most likely to reach for. Sure enough, the calorie counts posted on labels and menus were off by as much as 18% for restaurant foods and 8% for frozen foods.

I think the main thing I would take away from the article is that even when an item is said to contain a certain number of calories, your best bet is really to listen to the cues your body sends you. Eating when you're hungry and stopping when you're full, for most people (myself included), sounds simpler than it is in practice, but mindful eating is something to work towards.

For a laugh, you could try practicing on a raisin. The Center for Mindful Eating is a really interesting organization, and their website is worth checking out. You might also want to read this post I wrote last summer for Five Seasons Healing, an acupuncture practice in Union Square.

Study shows fat won't affect weight gain

In recent years, people have become slightly less fearful of fat, there's still this idea that if you're trying to lose weight, you have to eat low-fat versions of products and obsess over how many grams certain products have. While it's true that fat has about twice as many calories per gram as protein and carbs, it is an essential part of the diet, and many weight loss diets even recommend getting about 20-30 percent of your daily calories from fat, preferably unsaturated.

A new UK study, in which researchers followed 90,000 people from six different countries for up to ten years, shows that the percentage of calories a person got from fat, as opposed to carbs and proteins, had nothing to do with how much weight they gained over time. While participants gained an average of a quarter of a pound a year, there was no relationship found between how much weight people gained and how much fat they ate—the kind of fat also appeared not to matter.

Of course, researchers pointed out that this doesn't mean people should eat as much fat as they want—there are things like heart health to worry about—but that it's worth noting that the most "fattening" foods aren't always high-fat. A lot of low-fat products can be jut as high in calories and a lot less satisfying, prompting consumers to eat the whole box. Something to think about next time you've got the choice between an oreo and an imitation.

Read more here.

Champagne is the New Red Wine

Good news! According to a recent British Study, a glass of champagne delivers as many health benefits as red wine and chocolate.

Researcher Dr. Jeremy Spencer of Reading University found that it contains the same polyphenol antioxidants, which help promote heart health by slowing down the removal of nitric oxide from the blood, thus lowering blood pressure. Cheaper alternatives to champagne such as cava and Prosecco also contain these antioxidants.

Says Dr. Spencer, "We have found that a couple of glasses a day has a beneficial effect on the walls of blood vessels – which suggests champagne has the potential to reduce strokes and heart disease."

I'm not sure if the guidelines are different in the UK, but here, women are advised to stick to one drink a day and men to two, but hey, I'm always happy to have a reason to drink champagne. I don't drink very often, so when I do, I like it to be something really good!

Fourth Graders Dieting?

In 1986, Jeffrey Zaslow conducted interviews with 100 fourth-grade girls about their dieting habits. More than half of the girls surveyed said that they were dieting, and 75% of them—even the skinniest girls—said they weighed too much.

In this article, Zaslow reflects on that study and checks back in with the girls, who are now in their early 30's. Recent research shows that societal obsession with thinness and pressure on young girls to attain that ideal are, unfortunately but not surprisingly, even stronger.

Since the 1980's, incidence of eating disorders have risen dramatically, and between 2000 and 2006, the percentage of girls who believe they must be thin went from 48% to 60%. Between the increasingly unrealistic images of "perfect" (aka "retouched") women in ads and the concern with preventing childhood obesity, it's no surprise that more and more nine-year-olds think they need to be tiny, not realizing that depriving themselves of the nutrients they need could put them at risk for stunted growth and brain development.

While there have been some efforts to improve girls' self-esteem (books, for example), I don't think that nearly enough is being done. I understand the precarious balance of the situation—encouraging healthy eating habits and self-acceptance without going overboard in either direction. This is one key area that needs more attention. Lots more.

News from the Calorie-Posting Front

Here's an interesting article-cum-progress report from the Wall Street Journal that looks at how restaurants and consumers are doing with the calorie-posting in chain establishments. Read it if only for the last part:

Bob Goldin, [food research company] Technomic's executive vice president, advised taking the results with a grain of salt. Surveys about healthy eating are a lot like those about sex, Mr. Goldin says: "People report doing it a lot more than they really do."