More about Hungry Girl
Hungry Girl, a.k.a. Lisa Lillien is not a nutritionist, she’s just hungry and the founder of Hungry-girl.com. Her daily emails filled with containing guilt-free recipes, food and product reviews, dieting news and nutrition shockers are received by over half a million subscribers fans.

Eat This Not That! for Kids is one of the books I have gotten for my daughters written to teach you how to be the leanest family on the block.

My daughters enjoy going through the book and discovering that many of the foods we are eating are in the “eat this” category and not in the “not that” category. They keep searching for more healthy options from the “eat this” list to add to what we purchase at the store, or health options for eating out.
Eat This Not That! for Kids is available on Amazon.

Researchers at UCLA, lead by Susan Babey, examined sugary drinks and their effect on state spending and consumers’ health published in the report, Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and Its Link to Obesity in California.  Babey pointed out:

Soda is cheap, sweet and irresistibly marketed to teens.  Not enough teens know about the health and dietary risks of drinking huge quantities of what is essentially liquid sugar.

Hear what Dr. Harold Goldstein, another study author and executive director for CCPHA has to say about the study and their findings. To get to his interview, advance to 1:47.

Main Findings

Researchers from study reported that 41 percent of children (ages 2 – 11), 62 percent of adolescents (ages 12 – 17) and 24 percent of adults drink at least one soda or other sugar-sweetened beverage every day.  In addition regardless of income or ethnicity, adults who drink one or more sodas or other sugar-sweetened beverages every day are 27 percent more likely to be overweight or obese.

Key Findings

Key findings from the soda research include:

• $41 billion—Amount spent treating obesity in California each year.
• 41 percent—Kids ages 2-11 who drink at least one soda every day.
• 62 percent—Adolescents 12-17 who drink at least one soda every day.
• 39 pounds—Amount of sugar consumed over one year if you drink one soda a day.
• 17 teaspoons—Amount of sugar in a 20-ounce serving of soda.
• 278 calories—Increased number Americans consume each day compared with 30 years ago.
• 43 percent—Share of new calories attributable to soda.

Recommendations from CCPHA

The CCPHA recommends:

Cities, counties, businesses, health care providers, religious organizations, the state legislature, and Congress—and each of us as individuals—can help reduce consumption of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages and their contribution to California’s obesity epidemic.

Some of the additional recommendations that can be taken by individuals, workplaces and others:

• Individuals—Reduce consumption of soda and other sugar-sweetned beverages in the family.
• Workplaces—Limit or replace soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages in vending machines. Incorporate information about soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages into workplace wellness programs.
• Cities & Counties—Provide and sell only healthy beverages at city and county sponsored events, especially those attended by children and adolescents. Limit or exclude soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages in vending machines in property owned or leased by cities and counties.
• California Legislature—Impose an industry fee on soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages. Earmark funds for community-based prevention programs. Prohibit marketign of soda and other sugar-sweetened beveratges on public school campuses K-12.
• Congress—Tax soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages. Earmark revenues for community-based prevention programs. Require the Federat Trade Commission to develop and implement standards for soda and other sugar-sweetened beverage advertising aimed at children under age 12.

Limiting access to and imposing sales tax on sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages may just be the tip of the iceberg in finding economic ways (or disincentives) to combat the growing obesity epidemic.

Sources:

CCPHA. Soda Consumption and it’s Link to Obesity in California. California Center for Public Health Advocacy.
Knight H. September 2009.  Newsom wants to charge stores that sell sodas. SF Gate.

Image:  Jasper Greek Golangco. Cola. Royalty Free Use.

You can see the images being used in the campaign below:

The Facts
According to Cathy Nonas in the related blog about the campaign:

The reality is Americans consume 200 to 300 more calories each day than we did 30 years ago. Of these extra calories, nearly half come from sugar-sweetened drinks with zero health benefits.

The number of calories and sugar in different beverages can be quite a bit.

• One 20 oz. bottle of soda = 250 calories with 16 ½ teaspoons of sugar.
• One 20 oz. bottle of lemon-flavored iced tea = 210 calories with 14 ½ teaspoons of sugar.
• One 20 oz Sports Drink = 120 calories with 8 ½ teaspoons of sugar.

A table with the different number of calories and sugar content in different beverages is available on the New York Health Department.

As part of the campaign the Health Department is encouraging people to not drink themselves fat, to cut back on soda and other sugary beverages and go with water, seltzer or low-fat milk instead.

The Campaign
The public-awareness campaign, which includes posters in the subway system and a Health Bulletin, will run for three months.

Do you think that we should do something like this in California to discourage Californians from consuming too many empty beverage calories and fat?

More Information:
Press Release. August 31, 2009. New Campaign Asks New Yorkers if They’re “Pouring On the Pounds.” New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Are Your Pouring on the Pounds? Posters. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Three Versions (Soda, Sports Drinks and Tea) (PDF File)

Health Bulletin. 2009. Are You Pouring on the Pounds? Vol 8, No. 6. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. (PDF File)

The presentation has gotten a lot of views and downloads, but not a lot of votes for the contest.

This presentation was developed as a patient and student education resource for younger students, high school students, college students and adult patients. In the presentation the common steps that people should follow to life a healthy life are included.

More Information:
Dyer K. Be Healthy 4 Life. Squidoo.com

We’re All Winners

Walking in October

Network for a Healthy California

The focus of the 11th Network for a Healthy California Conference s on “Inspiring Healthy Change Together.” The conference held in early March is two days of inspiration and ideas to collectively focus the spotlight on perspectives and actions that lead to positive change. Participants will learn from over 100 speakers and poster presenters who will share their insights, tools, and strategies for making change happen in their community.

Calories In = Calories Out

If you eat more than you burn up for the day, you will gain weight.

If you eat less than you burn up for the day, you will loose weight.

Or in more technical terms, the conclusions of the published study:

Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize.

The Study

In the study 811 overweight adults were randomly assigned to one of four diets with varying percentages of energy derived from fat, protein and carbs. Each of the diets consisted of similar foods and all met guidelines for cardiovascular health.

Participants were followed for a period of 2 years. They were also offered group and individual instruction sessions during this time.

The main outcome measured at the end of 2 years was the change in body weight. Among the 80% of participants who completed the study, the average weight loss was 4 kg (8.8 lbs.). A smaller percentage 14 – 15% experienced a reduction of at least 10% of their initial body weight. This study also found that attendance at group sessions was strongly associated with weight loss.

Resources:

Sacks FM, Bray GA. Feburary 26, 2009. Comparison of Weight-Loss Diets with Different Compositions of Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates. New England Journal of Medicine. 360:859-873

Parker-Pope T. February 25, 2009. Study Zeroes In on Calories, Not Diet, for Loss: Fewer Calories (Carbs, Protein or Fat ) Are Called Weight Loss Key. New York Times.

Image: Modified Microsoft Clipart.

Senior author Dr. Paul Whelton from Loyloa University Health System was quoted as saying:

There isn’t as much focus on potassium, but potassium seems to be effective in lowering blood pressure and the combination of a higher intake of potassium and lower consumption of sodium seems to be more effective than either on its own in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Potassium Rich Foods

In general, the more processed a food is, the more sodium and less potassium a food has. The diagram from the textbook Understanding Nutrition shows the differences in how much sodium vs. potassium are in food that has been processed or food that has not been processed.

One way of getting plenty of potassium is to be sure to eat a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. Some examples of Potassium Rich foods:

One Banana – 400 mg Potassium

One Potato – 900 mg Potassium

One cup Spinach – 950 mg Potassium

1/2 cup Raisins – 600 mg Potassium

8 ounces (one cup) Orange Juice – 500 mg Potassium

Sources

Sohn E. February 23, 2009. Potassium to sodium ratio affects the heart: Consuming twice as much potassium as sodium might halve your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease. Los Angeles Times.

DocGuide. January 26, 2009. Low-Sodium, High Potassium is Effective in Lowering Blood Pressure. Loyola University Health System.

Cook NR, Obarzanek E, et. al. 2009. Joint Effects of Sodium Potassium Intake on Subsequent Cardiovascular Disease:The Trials of Hypertension Prevention Follow-up Study. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(1):32-40.

An interesting news report that takes a look at the effect of Sugar, Alcohol and Sweeteners and how these may explain children’s behavior, poor performance, criminal behavior and perhaps even the growing numbers of Alzheimer’s patients.

You can find out more about Dr. Blaylock’s lecture at www.atavistik.com.

The article takes a look at What’s inside Squirt Cheese.

They found the following ingredients:

• Whey – Byproduct of cheese-making process used as a filler.
• Canola oil – Keeps the cheese from solidifying.
• Salt – Preservative, contains twice the sodium of typical organic cheddar.
• Sodium citrate – Emulsifier.
  
• Sodium phosphate – Degreaser, preservative.
• Calcium phosphate – Adding calcium makes it legal for Kraft to label every can “an excellent source of calcium.”
  
• Lactic acid – Byproduct of bacteria digest the milk sugar lactose.
• Sodium alginate – Gum to increase viscosity.
• Apocarotenal - Yellow-orange pigment.

Food Label

In looking at the food label, you can see that most of the calories come from fat, most of them from saturated fat.

One 32 gram serving has over 400 mg of Sodium.

Due to the addition of Calcium Phosphate, the product provides 20% of a Daily Value of Calcium, which appears to be the only healthy component to this cheese product.

It doesn’t appear to me in reviewing the ingredients in Easy Cheese or Cheez Whiz that it would qualify as a healthy food, or as a milk product in the milk group of the food pyramid.

Ingredients:
MILK, WATER, WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, WHEY, CANOLA OIL, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF SALT, SODIUM CITRATE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, LACTIC ACID, SORBIC ACID AS A PRESERVATIVE, SODIUM ALGINATE, APOCAROTENAL (COLOR), ANNATTO (COLOR), CHEESE CULTURE, ENZYMES.

More about Easy Cheese from the Nabisco Website.

Sources:

Ingredients from EASY CHEESE KRAFT EASY CHEESE CHEDDAR. Nabisco World.

Justo P. October 2006. What’s Inside: Squirt-On Cheese. Wired Magazine.

Easy Cheese. Wikipedia.