ColumnYou can’t outrun a bad diet, but big food companies want you to think you can.

A healthy lifestyle is one that involves eating well and getting regular physical activity. You don’t need to be a scientist to know that. But are we sold a myth that is only a half truth?

In a world with skyrocketing obesity rates, we are constantly looking for the solution. Do people just need to be more active? Do they just need to make sure they only consume a certain amount of calories every day? An editorial in the British Journal of Sports Medicine points the finger at big food companies, saying that they have mislead us in the thinking that maintaining a healthy weight is all about calorie counting and exercising.

The authors write that “members of the public are drowned by an unhelpful message about maintaining a ‘healthy weight’ through calorie counting, and many still wrongly believe that obesity is entirely due to lack of exercise. This false perception is rooted in the Food Industry’s Public Relations machinery, which uses tactics chillingly similar to those of big tobacco.”

It’s true that many are more focused on how many calories they consume as opposed to where those calories come from. A 300-calorie fast food burger and a 300-calorie meal made from lentils and leafy greens is an entirely different thing. And if you eat that fast food burger, going for a workout afterwards isn’t necessarily going to help you either.

The authors of the editorial note that in an analysis of worldwide sugar availability, it was shown that for every excess 150 calories of sugar (ie what’s in a can of cola), type 2 diabetes was 11 times more prevalent, compared to when those 150 calories came from fat or protein. Where your calories come from matters.

But big food businesses have big advertising, marketing and lobbying budgets, and they can push any message that they want. “Coca Cola, who spent $3.3 billion on advertising in 2013, pushes a message that ‘all calories count’; they associate their products with sport, suggesting it is ok to consume their drinks as long as you exercise,” write the authors. “However science tells us this is misleading and wrong. It is where the calories come from that is crucial. Sugar calories promote fat storage and hunger. Fat calories induce fullness or ‘satiation’.”

Of course, it’s much easier for these companies to put the blame on the individual consumer than it is to change their business model. If you’re gaining weight it’s your fault for not counting your calories and not exercising enough. It’s certainly not the fault of the company that’s pumping sugar, salt and fat into the economy at enormous rates.

At some point, if we really want to deal with the public health issue then we are going to need to take a stand for government intervention, much like how we dealt with tobacco. But as the authors of the article note, the food industry uses the exact same tactics used by the tobacco industry; tactics that allowed the industry to keep functioning unchecked for decades. “The tobacco industry successfully stalled government intervention for 50 years starting from when the first links between smoking and lung cancer were published. This sabotage was achieved using a ‘corporate playbook’ of denial, doubt, confusing the public and even buying the loyalty of bent scientists, at the cost of millions of lives.”

Want to live a healthy lifestyle? Eat well, get regular exercise. But also, stand up against the big food companies that continue to make us sick.

We all need to take personal responsibility for our health, but these companies should take some corporate responsibility as well.

Related on EcoSalon

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This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: Scorpion and Centaurs

The post Are Big Food Companies Pushing an Exercise and Obesity Myth? Foodie Underground appeared first on EcoSalon.

Column Fast food isn’t just bad, over the last two decades, it has gotten worse.

While you were partying away to celebrate the arrival of the New Year, you might have missed the latest study about fast food. Spoiler alert: it’s still bad for you. Actually, a lot of it is worse for you than it used to be.

Researchers at Tufts University took a look at nutritional information at three unnamed fast food chains (the Los Angeles Times thinks it’s McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s) all the way back to 1996. The findings? While we may think that our culture is a bit more health conscious these days, there has been little change when it comes to fast food nutrition, and it’s definitely not good for us.

“… among the three chains, calories in a large cheeseburger meal, with fries and a regular cola beverage, ranged from 1144 to 1757 over the years and among restaurants, representing 57% to 88% out of the approximately 2000 calories most people should eat per day,”  said Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc., director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA, in a Tufts release. “That does not leave much wiggle room for the rest of the day.”

While a lot of this poor nutrition has simply remained a constant, some of it has gotten even worse. Fries, even the small orders, have more calories than they used to and many of the items studied contain more sodium today than in years past.

Okay, so fast food is bad for you. Don’t we all know that by now? Yes, but that hasn’t changed fast food eating habits. Americans get more than one-third of their calories outside of the home, and of those calories, 40 percent of them come from fast food.

For kids, things are looking really bad. Just last month we learned that fast food might in fact be making children perform worse in school, and that about a third of children in the US are consuming fast food on a daily basis. A daily basis. We’re on a track to being not only fatter, but less intelligent as well.

If that weren’t enough to get you pissed at the fast food companies, consider this: a recent study found that fast food chains are disproportionately marketing fast food products to black communities, who are at a higher risk for obesity, as well as to low to middle income areas. To the tune of $700 million per year. Imagine if every single fast food ad you saw geared to children was replaced with an ad for fresh fruits and vegetables. Or if that $700 million went to supporting farmers to get more vegetables into schools; currently the USDA has a program to do just that, but it taps out at $5 million. Just think what those additional $695 million could do.

Feeling a bit sick yet? You should be. This is why fast food companies are despicable. Not only is their food bad, but their corporate policies are as well. They continually feed us full of stuff they know is bad for us, and they’re happy to do it, since the trifecta of sugar, salt and fat is addictive and keeps us coming back for more.

While it’s a fact that poverty is having a severe effect on nutritional quality – in a system that has allowed “bad” food to externalize their real costs and keep the price tags for consumers low – as it turns out, it’s the middle class, not the poor, are the ones eating the most fast food. In other words, people that can choose to eat better, but simply don’t.

One thing is for sure: we have to start holding fast food companies accountable. If we can, we must boycott them; this isn’t just a choice, it’s a necessity. We must start supporting community programs that provide alternative, and healthier, options for all economic levels. Otherwise, the future looks very grim.

Related on EcoSalon

Fast Food, Fast Fashion, It’s All About Choice: Foodie Underground

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Why We Have to Live Without Fast Food: Foodie Underground

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: beaumontpete

The post Surprise! It’s 2015 and Fast Food is Still Bad For You: Foodie Underground appeared first on EcoSalon.

Apparently mannequins have ribs now…even though they’re not human. While most store mannequins have usually been on the thin side, the “too skinny” ribby mannequins at La Perla sparked uproar. But don’t blame the store. You can thank our obesity epidemic.

Last month the high-end lingerie boutique in Manhattan removed the mannequins that were deemed “too skinny” from the store.

According to TIME magazine, a passerby prompted the removal of the mannequins when he noticed the “emaciated figures” in the window and took his outrage to Twitter. A rash of complaints from other customers soon followed.

La Perla issued a statement:

The mannequin photographed has been removed from the store and will not be used again by any La Perla boutique. We are in the process of redesigning all La Perla stores with a new concept image and the mannequins that are currently displayed in our US stores will no longer be used. We appreciate and value everyone’s comments, thank you for bringing this to our attention.

This isn’t the first incident of this kind. TIME reports that in 2011, Gap was criticized for using thin mannequins to promote the company’s “always skinny” jeans. “In fact, most mannequins in the U.S. are still between a svelte size 2 and a still-small size 6, and often if you peak behind the figures, you’ll find clips pulling the clothes so that they are more form-fitting,” TIME explained.

On average, mannequins are six inches taller and six sizes smaller than most women, reports TIME. And Bloomingdale’s visual director Roya Sullivan told the Chicago Tribune: “Clothes look better on tall, thin, abnormal bodies.”

Granted, a mannequin doesn’t really need to have ribs. She doesn’t need hands either (glove modeling mannequins aside). Nor does she need a nose or eyes. A mannequin is just a slight upgrade from a hanger; showing off the clothes with a tad more accuracy. It’s always been understood that mannequins are there to flatter the clothing—not the customers. If something looks enticing, whether on the rack or on the plastic model, we’re more likely to try it on and buy it.

But America’s expanding waistline has led to extreme sensitivities about these store display figures. “Swedish chain Ahlens has been using full-figured mannequins for years. British department store Debenhams began displaying size-16 mannequins last year. And a trend of mannequins with enhanced breasts and buttocks is sweeping Venezuela,” explains TIME.

As the obesity epidemic spreads, department stores seek to make these customers “more comfortable” by making larger mannequins to fit the larger clothes—clothes, mind you, that have also changed sizes to accommodate obesity. While brand sizes often vary (maybe you’re a size 4 in one pair of jeans and a 2 in another), they now generally run a lot larger, too. “[W]hat would have been a 12 in the 1980s is in fact an 8 today,” Tim Gunn, host of Project Runway told the Huffington Post. That’s because so many more women are overweight or obese. Brands want women to think they’re smaller sizes so they’ll feel sexier and buy more clothes.

But the brands and their mannequins aren’t really to blame.

We’re normalizing obesity. It’s a problem.

We’re also elevating extremely thin women to the gold standard of beauty. That’s also a problem.

The food industry and pharmaceutical industry may love the obesity epidemic, but the fashion industry hates it. There’s a struggle to meet the growing demands of the overweight customer. One of the main problems is that people distribute excess weight differently. For some it’s in the thighs and buttocks. For others it can be in the stomach and chest. It’s hard to make clothes with that many variables. You can’t just make clothes “bigger,” said Gunn. “It’s not a matter of sizing up or sizing down from a size six,” he said, “It’s a matter of reconceiving things altogether. There are just some things that you can’t or shouldn’t do [design-wise].”

One-third of the world’s population—and we’re talking developing as well as the developed world—is now overweight or obese. It’s more than 2 billion people. Two billion people who need clothes.

Some people are naturally bigger than others and still healthy for their size. There are defensive linemen who weigh more than twice as much as I do who could outrun me, twice as fast, too. We are an adaptable species.

And strangely, as the world’s weight escalates, things like “thigh gaps” become more desirable. Lingerie boutiques decide at some point, that it’s a good idea for mannequins to show ribs. The media has does one heck of a job distorting the images of women and beauty to an audience that can’t relate. There is now as much of a delusion about how we should look as there is about how we actually look.

The truth is, many thin people are just as picky about their clothes as people with weight issues. They have insecurities and confidence issues because comfort levels with our appearances are factors of our mental health. We are an emotional species. Some days we feel prettier than others. We’re sensitive and awkward, and it’s probably a big reason why clothes have come to mean so much in the first place–why we allow people to suffer and die for fast fashion. Because we feel so naked, so exposed that we think a new dress will make us, somehow, prettier on the inside too.

If we’re going to normalize obesity, if we’re going to make mannequins with love handles, then maybe there is also room for mannequins with ribs. If someone like me—a healthy size 6—can be called “too skinny” by bigger people, then can we start to call people who are a size 16 “too big?” Of course not. Because even as we continue to accept our obesity epidemic, we’re still all aware that it’s not normal. That one in five children shouldn’t have a weight problem. Or diabetes. Or hypertension. We wouldn’t have “The Biggest Loser” or a huge diet market if that was the case.

Of course some degrees of skinny are too skinny, particularly the Photoshopped kind.But most aren’t. The obesity epidemic surely isn’t the result of people being skinny. So let’s not blame the mannequins. They’re not even real. Let’s actually not blame anyone or anything. Let’s just take the steps to fix this, regardless of what size clothes we wear.

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Related on EcoSalon

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Image via BBC

The post ‘Too Skinny’ Mannequins Cause Outrage, or is the Obesity Epidemic the Real Problem? appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnA healthy diet comes with smart portions.

A few weeks ago I was on an early flight. We’re talking really, super early. So early that I decided against buying a coffee because it would keep me from sleeping on the plane. I opted for a vegan, wheat free oatmeal muffin instead – by this alone you should be able to guess that this was the Portland airport. Standing in line I listened to what my fellow early morning travelers ordered. The two orders in front of me made me nearly fall over:

1. One 16-ounce black forest mocha (“black forest” because there were cherries involved apparently)… with whipped cream

2. One 16-ounce iced caramel macchiato… with whipped cream

It was 4:45 am.

I am of the personal opinion that no one ever needs an iced caramel macchiato with whipped cream, but we’ll put that opinion aside for now. Even if you are behind the occasional crazy coffee drink I think we can all agree that no one needs one at 4:45 in the morning.

A few days later I was on my return flight. Stuck again in an airport without any food in my bag, I had to find lunch. The best I could do was a burrito with black beans, rice and guacamole. You can do worse in an airport. But then the burrito came out and I realized that it was almost the size of my head. I sighed. And then even though I knew better, ended up eating the whole thing.

I live in France, and since moving I have found that the return to American restaurants can be glorious and scary all at the same time. There are tacos! And huge breakfast menus! And a bunch of vegetarian options! But everything comes on plates that could seemingly feed a family of four. I have had numerous friends from Europe over the years say to me, “everything in the U.S. is so… big.”

It’s true. A big meal once in awhile is one thing- everyone loves a good Thanksgiving buffet now don’t they? – but as a part of our regular eating habits? Our custom of large portion sizes is detrimental to our path towards a healthy diet. And those portion sizes are growing.

Since the 1950s the average restaurant meal has quadrupled in size. That has health implications. Over the last few decades, the portions of food served out of the home have gotten bigger, and this trend has been shown to correspond with the rise in obesity. The bigger the portions get, the fatter we get.

For example, what did a coffee order look like twenty, even ten years ago? Black, maybe with some cream. As an 8-ounce drink that would have set you back about 45 calories. But that grande 16-ounce mocha today? 330 calories.

The average hamburger 20 years ago came in at around 333 calories. Today it’s at around 590.

You get the idea.

Take a look at any fast food menu and there’s a super duper, extra huge option. And all those enormous fast food items that have grown in the last couple of decades also happen to be heavily marketed. The industrial food world wants you eating more food. It’s good for business.

While it may be nice to think that we’re living in a time of heightened health consciousness, you still have chains like Taco Bell releasing new, and huge, items to seduce the hungry masses. Just like you don’t need a 16-ounce mocha with whipped cream for breakfast, you also don’t need a massive waffle taco.

Should these companies and chains continue to be allowed to produce such items with no ramifications? After all, this is the stuff that’s fueling obesity and heart attacks.

If we want to reduce obesity and put ourselves on track towards a healthier diet, maybe it’s time to consider regulating portion size. Obesity is after all a public health epidemic, and as such, shouldn’t we be taking the right steps to deal with it?

Food for thought: food labels are based off of carefully calculated dietary guidelines, but often the guidelines is for an amount of food that is much smaller than what you are getting served. We live in a free market but when the free market is making us sick, it could be time to think about changing how it operates.

In the meantime, it could be the moment for all of us to think about how much we’re eating and how much we really need. Get the small option when you can, avoid fast food at all costs. After all, your life depends on it.

Related on EcoSalon

11 Reasons to Completely Change Your Diet: Foodie Underground

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Improving the Food System and Fighting Obesity, Creatively: Foodie Underground

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: Kevin Dooley

The post Want a Healthy Diet? Reduce Portion Sizes: Foodie Underground appeared first on EcoSalon.

 ColumnAmericans have a hard time accessing good food. Are we destined for bad health?

If there ever was a time to rethink our attitude towards food, it’s now.

We cook less, we eat more processed foods, and our health is failing because of it. Meanwhile, we’re so engrossed in reality cooking shows and obsessing over which three star chefs are opening new restaurants this year that we forget that the most important thing in the food world is that people simply have access to food. Real food. Good food.

Not potato chips in a convenience store, not a hamburger in a drive thru. No, people have to have access to whole grains and seasonal, fresh produce (that isn’t 99 percent toxic because of the pesticides sprayed on it), and if they don’t, Americans can only expect more of the same. More obesity. More heart disease. More cancer.

Because in the United States, we are literally eating ourselves to death. That Standard American Diet is referred to as SAD for a reason.

Oxfam recently published a study called Good Enough to Eat? which looked at the best and worst places in the world to eat well. No, it was not an assessment of how many local food co-ops served kombucha or whether or not there was a burgeoning food truck scene. The study consider four key factors:

1. Do people have enough to eat?

2. Can people afford to eat?

3. Is food of good quality?

4. What is the extent of unhealthy outcomes of people’s diet?

Can you guess where the United States ended up? Number 24.

People living in the Netherlands have the best chance to eat well, and right behind them are the French and the Swiss. The come Denmark, Sweden, Austria and Belgium.

Why does the U.S. rank so low?

In regards to the fourth metric of the study – health issues related to diet – Americans don’t do so well. Looking at obesity and diabetes rates, the U.S. ranks 120th out of 125 countries in terms of how eating influences our overall health.

And then there’s the question of economics. There’s plenty of cheap food in the U.S., but it’s highly processed. Fresh vegetables? Those are often more expensive. Result? A country that eats a lot, but at the same time is highly malnourished.

“Food is very, very cheap in the U.S. compared to most countries,” Max Lawson of Oxfam told The Salt in an interview. “But the fact is you end up with people malnourished in one of the richest countries because they don’t have access to fresh vegetables at a cheap enough price to make a balanced diet.”

We live in a modern, developed society and a large percentage of the population doesn’t even have access to fresh vegetables? Something is very wrong with this picture. And I won’t even go into the nutritional aspect of the produce that we do have access to – I recently read a pretty depressing statistic in Michal Pollan’s “In Defense of Food” that over the last few decades, the rise in industrial farming has basically lowered the amount of nutrients in the produce that we eat. We literally have to eat more vegetables to get the same nourishment that our grandparents did.

To say there’s an issue with the food system is an understatement. As Lawson puts it, “Basically, if you arrive from Mars and design a food system, you probably couldn’t design a worse one than what we have today on Earth. There is enough food overall in the world to feed everyone. But 900 million people still don’t have enough to eat, and 1 billion people are obese. It’s a crazy situation.”

Are we destined for bad health in the United States? If we want to eat better, we have to consciously choose to do so, seeking out the products and ingredients that aren’t simply food “products” but actual food. Real and good food. There are frozen muffin tops in the frozen section after all. Muffin tops.

But there are many people that don’t have the choice of better food, be it for economic or for access reasons, making it all the more important that we continue to push for change on this issue so that eventually, they do. Everyone should be able to go to a nearby grocery store and buy fresh vegetables.

The longer that we leave health in the hands of big business (like the french fry and muffin top producers of the world), the worse we can expect our health to become.

Buy real food and be a part of the solution.

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: Alex Cameron

The post Are Americans Destined to Avoid Good Food Forever? Foodie Underground appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnTo change our food system, eat better and fight obesity we have to think out of the box. Get inspired by these individual and community approaches. 

In a world of agribusiness and fast food it’s very clear that changes from the food system aren’t coming from the top down any time soon. No really, you think Monsanto and McDonald’s are going to team up to encourage children to eat an organic apple instead of a GMO-filled white bread hamburger bun? Doubtful, and if they do, it’s only because eating an apple makes a child want double the amount of hamburgers.

In this food system where big business runs the show, if we want change, we have to make it ourselves. Which is why when it comes to food, community solutions are essential. And the solutions have to be creative.

Take the Food Bank for New York City for example. They’re cashing in on the food truck trend and driving an anti-ice cream truck around the city, also known as their Change One Thing campaign. You won’t find any high fructose corn syrup in this summer vehicle, instead it’s all about promoting healthy eating and encouraging teens to switch out bad eating habits for good ones, even if it’s as simple as one a day. Certainly a start in for those who want to fight obesity.

Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg is partnering with architects and designers to rethink urban planning and design spaces that promote movement. Yes, that means walking. Part of the Active Design initiative also involves “Improving access to nutritious foods in communities that need them most.” When we take a look at the positive changes experienced in food deserts when people are given access to healthy, affordable food options, this can only mean good things.

Small scale is also essential; embracing the idea that one step at a time really does make a difference. In Tallahassee, Florida Claire Mitchell and Danielle Krasniqi, the two women behind, Ten-Speed Greens are growing produce on a farm they built on a vacant lot and distributing it via bike. That might sound like a utopic, hipster fantasy, but remember that this is good ol’ Tallahassee, not Portlandia. Change can take place anywhere.

And then there are the multitude of innovative independent projects and operations that never cease to inspire. An aquaponic shipping container farmer? You could put a farm anywhere. A tarp that simplifies gardening and even encourages schools to launch their own gardens? It’s good to start children early. A program that lets people trade compost for fresh vegetables? Genius.

The solutions are there. We just have to keep supporting them. One food truck, one organic piece of produce and one urban garden at a time.

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: paul bica

The post Improving the Food System and Fighting Obesity, Creatively: Foodie Underground appeared first on EcoSalon.

Just for the taste of it?

Today Diet Coke celebrates its 30th birthday. Since that fateful day when it  was introduced on August 9, 1982, ad campaigns have been targeting sexy, savvy women that just want to keep their waistlines small. In our mid-80s and early 90s stupor (most likely shoulder-pad induced), we were seduced by the likes of Paula Abdul and Whitney Houston selling us a chic and slim product that was made to make us look and feel good. Or at least so the advertising led us to believe.

Lest you think that our newfound love of farmers markets, quinoa salads and artisan cheese would have us move away from mass marketed, artificially sweetened and carbonated drinks, thanks to advertising, branding and marketing, Diet Coke has seated itself as the second most popular soda in the world, with 927 million cases sold in 2010. In Europe you can buy lingerie-inspired Diet Coke bottles designed by Jean Paul Gaultier himself, and apparently it’s so delicious that one consumer in England was drinking seven pints a day for 10 years.

Diet Coke makes you feel sexy. An empowered woman. And hey men, if you drink it, the ladies will be drooling all over you!

We have been seduced by advertising, forgetting to ask ourselves what downing a diet soda a day really does to our bodies.

Diet Coke’s addicts will probably tell you that the research on aspartame is inconclusive (despite the fact that it has over 90 known side effects). As Zoe Williams put it in an article on the history of Diet Coke in the Guardian:

Artificial sweeteners are a very controversial subject. Some governmental health authorities may say they are safe enough, but in the nutrition industry, that’s still up for debate. Some studies indicate that the man-made molecular structure of some artificial sweeteners could be linked to certain health problems. This requires much more research. Research however, has indicated other adverse issues from consumption of artificial sweeteners, including encouraging sugar cravings; and increasing appetite.

No matter how many cheesy ads we watch, deep down we know we shouldn’t be drinking the stuff. Just like you know fully well that you shouldn’t down an entire chocolate cake, or eat barbecued ribs for every meal. “All good things in moderation!” some might say, but is Diet Coke a good thing? Sure, we have yet to prove causation between drink consumption and obesity, but do you see scientists having to come to conclusions on the health effects of water? The fact that we have to test soda to begin with should be true cause for concern.

We should know better. We can forgive our predecessors for sucking down Tab and later turning to Diet Coke when it rebranded, but the fact that we’re still guzzling sodas of any kind in 2012 is simply unacceptable. Single use plastic bottles (because it doesn’t always come in cans), artificial sweeteners, global greenwashing… pick your poison; the entire soda industry is one that’s made up of not only promoting a product whose nutritional elements we don’t need – trust me, Diet Coke is not the place to get your daily dose of, well, anything – but also using resources that could be put to better use elsewhere.

Want to really celebrate Diet Coke’s 30th birthday? Try drinking a nice, sexy glass of water instead.

Image: Amy McTigue, Tim’s Blog

The post Happy 30th Birthday Diet Coke! Keeping Smart Women Drinking Crap for Three Decades appeared first on EcoSalon.

VideoAmericans eat an average of three burgers a week. What is that habit costing us?

On average, Americans eat three times more meat than people in other countries. Not only that, but we also eat an average of three hamburgers per week. Yes, you read that correctly. Three hamburgers a week.

What is that eating habit costing society? The Center for Investigative Reporting put together a video to answer that question. Watch it and you’ll never look at a hamburger the same.

A few key numbers:

• It takes 1800 gallons of water to make a single pound of grain-fed beef.
• Because cows release methane gas when they digest food, they produce more greenhouse gas than 22 million cars per year.
• Slaughterhouses create about 30 million pounds of contaminants a year.
• One burger can contain the DNA of more than a thousand cows.
• If all Americans ate no meat or cheese one day a week, it would have the same climate change prevention effect as taking 7.6 million cars off the road for one year.

The post Video: The Hidden Costs of Hamburgers appeared first on EcoSalon.

Carbavores divided on returning to a grain-free Paleo diet, said to yield results more than skin deep.

Imagine a life without any sort of grains – rejecting that nurturing warm basket of sourdough, the doughy Noah’s bagel with smear on Sunday mornings, the tortilla enveloping the rice, beans and meat and the sesame seed bun that makes a hamburger something more satisfying than a lonely patty on a plate.

Psychologically, we have come to embrace our corn, wheat and flour. But physiologically, the new school of thought is that they are the enemies in the ongoing American battle against obesity and degenerative diseases.

Enter The Paleo Solution – The Original Human Diet, a New York Times Best Seller mapped by former research biochemist and amateur kick boxer Robb Wolf.

His program, also referred to as a caveman diet, calls for a simple shift away from foods he claims are at odds with our health (grains, legumes and dairy) and an increase in the natural unprocessed foods of our nomadic ancestors along with supplemental vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

So what do followers eat? Lean proteins that support strong muscles, healthy bones and optimal immune function; fruits and veggies rich in vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that combat cancer, and healthy fats from nuts, seeds, avocados, olive oil, fish oil and grass-fed meat. No crispy cereal. No milk. And yes, the meat sandwiched with iceberg lettuce in place of that dense, beastly yeast – the seductress of all seductresses.

“This Paleo diet concept works, and it’s not a fad, ” argues Wolf, who operates a website with podcasts and forums. “It works with our genetics in synchronicity with the way we are supposed to live instead of antagonistically with the way we are supposed to live. It limits certain foods and that may be a heartache for some people but that’s the way it is. We’ve set out an intervention and make recommendations that are livable.”

Hiker and biker Edwin Bradley reports improved health benefits from the Paleo Solution

So livable, that it’s catching on, especially in experimental California where many will quickly step to the plate and try anything rumored to make you drop ten pounds in a hurry. But for 54-year-old San Francisco lawyer Edwin Bradley, an avid hiker and biker, the weight loss was not a motive but an added benefit along with visible improvements in his skin after a couple of months of following the plan.

“My psoriasis lesions don’t scale as much and my skin is smoother and more pliable and I’m getting unsolicited feedback from people who ask if I’m doing Botox because my skin looks so good,” he reports. “I’ve had the condition for 30 years and I don’t expect it to go away in two months but I’m satisfied it will continue to improve drastically over time.”

Not only that, he has found sticking to the diet has significantly boosted his energy. “In a practical performance matter, I ride my bike long distances and no longer have the blood sugar drop off I used to get,” he explains. “My energy descends very gradually and I think it’s because grain energy is kind of a sugar energy that comes on quickly and goes away quickly and when you are getting your carbs from vegetables and proteins, you don’t have that drop off. I can be feeling hungry and still be able to ride for two to three hours without getting the shakes or the feeling I need an emergency food fix.”

Bradley, like many Bay Area foodies who opted for organic and grass-fed back in the day when Alice Waters burst on the scene, has recommended the book to colleagues and friends, sharing the philosophy that our digestive systems are designed for the way we ate before the age of agriculture: wild game, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds.

“I stumbled upon the book and it was the first time I saw someone make the connection between modern grains and chronic low level and auto immune diseases such as Crones, psoriasis, diabetes and arthritis,” he says. “If you understand the basic Paleo tenants, you will understand that what makes cows sick from eating corn is what makes humans sick from grains, which we’ve been consuming for only about 8,000 years. We were hunters and gatherers long before that, and look at the lean bodies of our ancestors who never had the same sicknesses.”

Sarah J. says Paleo improved her Celiac symptoms and curbed addiction to sugar and starches

Testimonials on the Paleo Solution website validate both the weight loss and health improvements from Colitis to Fibromyalgia to Type I Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Celiac Disease and female hormonal imbalance. Among those testifying, Sarah J., who says she suffered for years from Celiac Disease and finally her joint and throat pain is gone and she can now lift her kids with renewed strength.

“One of the biggest things so far in terms of my quality of life is that for the last three months I have been more emotionally stable than I have been for a long, long time, and I don’t feel so depressed,” she says, adding she now craves salad and has been weened off of sugar. “My tastes have actually changed and I’m listening to what my body really wants instead of what my cravings demand. And I’m not hungry all of the time. I actually feel full.”

Critics Dismissing it as a Fad

While health experts readily link our industrial food era diet and lifestyles to modern cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes and hypertension, the American Dietetic Association, many food writers and anthropologists have dismissed the Paleolithic path as just another fad diet.

They argue even if cave dwellers did exist without processed cereals, dairy products, refined sugars, oil and alcohol, that doesn’t mean modern humans are genetically adapted to follow the same rigid course. And in terms of converting to healthier grass fed meats, even California’s premier steak houses and restaurants are clinging to flavorful marbleized prime arguing it’s what’s for dinner because customers still demand it.

Consuming grains and grain-fed meat are habits proving hard to break after 8,000 years – at least without more compelling evidence. Some diet bloggers have even voiced out that breaking the habit can also be expensive since free range, grass-fed and organic produce often cost more than less healthy foods.

The Problem With Too Much Protein and the Exclusion of Carbs

A high protein diet can run the risk of placing undue stress on the kidneys which filter waste products from the breakdown of protein and this is why you are urged to get your kidney function tested before doing such a high protein diet.

Recent Harvard University research shows the popular low-carb, high protein approach may promote rapid weight loss but significantly increase atherosclerosis, a build up of plaque in the heart and a leading cause of heart attack and stroke. Feeding mice such a diet also resulted in an impaired ability to form new blood vessels in the tissues deprived of blood flow, which might occur in a heart attack.

In addition, giving up carbs entirely can be a problem for big fuel burners such as athletes and cultures incorporating certain grains and boasting longevity: Asians eat rice as a staple and legumes and grains are features of the highly emulated Mediterranean diet.

And despite Bradley’s experience of a lower blood sugar drop, studies show beans and grains in their whole and unprocessed form and a lower glycemic index than most fruit – perhaps the banana being an exception. The American Diabetes Association calls for a diet of 50 percent veggies, 25 percent proteins and 25 percent grains or starches to manage blood sugar levels, along with increasing exercise – arguably the real solution to modern chronic health issues even more than counting calories.

Senior author of the study, Anthony Rosenzweig, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, notes that doctors need to consider such rigid diet effects in counteracting vascular disease when advising their patients. “This issue is particularly important given the epidemic of obesity and its adverse consequences,” he says. “For now, it appears  that a moderate and balanced diet, coupled with regular exercise, is probably best for most people.”

Even Bradley admits to emerging from his cave from time to time and succumbing to an urge.

“I eat ice cream and candy and occasionally a small amount of baked things like a chocolate hazelnut croissant,” he confesses, “But I’m consistent about not including grains in my formal nutrition and have ordered sandwiches on the golf course where I ate everything and threw the bread away. I have a naughty splurge but I don’t cook for it or shop or plan for it.”

Naughty perhaps by Paleo standards but less harmful than most splurges. He says it’s important to remember that even if he strays it is still with real food: ice cream and not imitation ice milk; real baked goods with pure butter, sugar and chocolate; a bit of real soda at the movies rather than diet drinks with Splenda or synthetic sweeteners containing  the same molecules as embalming fluid. According to Bradley, you would be hard pressed to find Paleo followers who haven’t eliminated the proven poisons from their diets.

Wolf  stresses how these poisons have become highly addictive since processed sweet and salty, crunchy and doughy goodies are more accessible than his prescribed nutritional fare. His Paleo Solution informs us it is normal for man to be seduced by momentary pleasure over what might promote longevity. As he sees it, we are only human, and a few things haven’t changed.

Images: ispeakpaleo

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10 diets that should make you want to run (for your life).

It’s okay to be a little freaked out by the prospect of stuffing your pale, corduroy-shielded backside into a bathing suit in just a few short weeks. It’s also okay to cut back on the pasta and do a few extra squats or lunges at the gym in preparation for the yearly “unveiling.” It’s even okay to learn a few new toning moves from women’s magazine articles with titles like, “6 Weeks to Your Best Bikini Body Ever!”

What’s not okay, however, is undertaking a faddish, questionable, and gimmicky diet in order to drop pounds as quickly as possible. If you want to lose weight, eat veggies and lean protein, avoiding processed foods, carbs, and alcohol. Skip these shams, along with any “doctor” who tells you that you can lose weight by eating cookies all day. (Hint: Not true.)

Any [Single-Ingredient] Diet

These have been around for decades, employed by high-school girls desperate to look skinny for prom. The cabbage soup diet. The grapefruit diet. The anchovy diet. Most of these schemes promise unlimited amounts of the magic ingredient (“You can have all the cabbage soup you want!”), as if consuming 900 percent of your daily allowance of beta-carotene makes up for not consuming any other vitamins or nutrients.

The Feeding-Tube Diet

For the busy woman who simply has no time to think about eating, a feeding-tube diet (technically called the K-E Diet, short for ketogenic enteral nutrition) may be the perfect solution. Pioneered in Europe, this ten-day regimen involves inserting a nasogastric tube to deliver liquefied nutrition, and promises that patients can lose up to ten percent of their body weight in only ten days. This diet is popular with self-obsessed brides-to-be and women who contemplate ingesting tapeworms.

Die Fat or Get Tough

Are you fat? If so, it’s your fault. As the book’s website says, “Get ready for a 2,000-volt cattle prod to your consciousness.” You think like a fat person, therefore, you’re probably going to die. Sorry. You’re not fat because of portion sizes, cortisol, or your thyroid – you’re fat because you’re weak and pathetic. Doesn’t that make you feel better? Get tough like Steve Siebold, the writer, so you can be an awesome winner like he is. (Note: The website doesn’t specify exactly what a fat person “thinks like,” but it’s safe to say that his diet plan probably involves yelling at your thighs until they disintegrate in submission.)

The Paleo Diet

Also called the “Caveman Diet,” because it’s modeled on how cavemen ate. (Supposedly.) No wheat, no carbs, no sugar, no alcohol, no beans, no corn, no dairy. Sounds reasonable, right? Except that you replace bread and milk with meat. Lots and lots of meat. Bacon, sausage, beef, ham, meat three times a day. Meat as snacks. Meat for dessert. Meat. Meat. Meat. Avoid this diet for the sake of your cholesterol and the environment.

The Cookie Diet

What’s not to love about a diet that allows you to eat cookies? The fact that these aren’t so much “cookies” as they are “low-cal bran clumps,” for one. Also the fact that this diet only allows you to consume about 1000 calories a day, which is far too few for any healthy adult.

The Apple Cider Vinegar Diet

Can drinking pure apple cider vinegar with every meal help increase your metabolism, curb your appetite, and decrease bloating? Well, the jury’s still out on those claims, but apple cider vinegar definitely reduces your appetite. Drink a shot of it before meals and you will find that you’re not as hungry as you thought you were. In fact, you’re downright nauseated. Weight loss achieved! But the vinegar rotted your teeth away, so there’s that.

The Texas Firefighter Diet

Texas currently has the twelfth-highest obesity rate in the country, so the author of this book will pardon us if mentioning Texas firefighters doesn’t instantly conjure up images of svelte, manly fitness. The secret to this diet, created to curb obesity among firefighters, is eating fewer barbecued ribs and more vegetables. Shocking.

The Sleep Diet

Sleep – your doing it wrong. Lucky for you, author Michael Breus has the answer. If you sleep better, you’ll lose weight. Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Sleep more.
Step 2: ??
Step 3: Your metabolism is raised, burning fat and decreasing cravings. Congrats! You’re skinny!

The Hot Diet

After carefully studying 104,000 people, the author of this book noticed that fat people tended to drink beverages with ice while they ate. Thus, ice is the enemy. Science has spoken – only consume warm things.

The Jesus Diet

What Would Jesus Eat? Well, He would probably have eaten a lot of fish, whole grains, fruit, vegetables, red wine, and olive oil. Nothing processed and not too much red meat (saved for special occasions) or pork (unkosher). Actually, this one makes a lot of sense, so go for it. Just remember that once you reach your goal weight, you’ll have to cover up at the beach, because He demands modesty.

Image: isox4, edkohler, uberculture, deansouglass, Kyle May , Rich 701, mccun934

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