Tag

obesity

Browsing

How much sugar should you really allow your kids?

For kids, Easter morning means one thing — a big basket of candy. It’s a part of many childhoods — the egg dying, wearing your Sunday best, and biting ears-first into a giant chocolate rabbit. You try to limit your kid to just a few handfuls of jelly beans, but you turn your back for five minutes and they’ve devoured enough candy to fuel their whole year. While the candy-coma isn’t an actual medical condition, an excess of sugar and sweets can definitely take a toll on your child’s health. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), children shouldn’t have more than 3-6 teaspoons (12-25 grams) of added sugar per day. Eating too much sugar can actually make us crave more sugar, which can ultimately lead to everything from cavities, to obesity, and heart disease. In line with the AHA, the World Health Organization recommends that “free sugars” (sugars from…

Weight gain could reduce your sense of taste, study shows

Chew on this. A recent study shows that packing on some extra pounds can seriously mess with your sense of taste. Yes, regularly eat too much and your taste buds become less effective. Researchers at Cornell University set out to find out why this is the case. They fed mice high-fat diets, which led to weight gain, then examined their tongues. When compared to a control group of mice which was fed a normal diet, the obese mice had 25% less taste buds present. Their taste buds were quicker to mature and die off, and were resupplied at a slower rate. The scientists think that weight gain can cause inflammation that can interrupt the regeneration of taste buds, meaning fewer are present at any given time. Results were published in the journal PLOS Biology. So how does this translate in humans? Of course, individuals naturally have differences when it comes…

7 Keto-Friendly Drinks From Starbucks

So you have the keto thing down no problem when you cook at home, but when you go out to eat, things can get pretty tricky. Sometimes you might just decide just to skip the restaurant entirely if you’re not sure of its menu options, but skipping out on Starbucks? Well, is that really ever an option? The good news is that you don’t have to give up your beloved coffee run. The java giant offers plenty of keto-approved caffeinated drinks so you can have your morning pick-me-up, while still staying true to your diet. Overall, keep in mind when ordering any drink at a Starbucks or another coffee shop, you’re going to need to order sugar-free, since sugar is basically just carbohydrates. Also, order heavy cream or coconut or nut milk instead of regular milk. That will help you customize most drinks to be more in-line with keto, but here…

Ditch the bacon and booze to reduce your risk of cancer, study says

You already know that frequent bacon, greasy cheeseburgers and booze are the fast track to packing on the pounds, but unfortunately, that’s not the only risk. If you live by the diet plan of “everything in moderation,” you may want to reconsider. A new study shows that consuming these items, even occasionally, can increase your risk of cancer. According to new findings from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), ditching booze and bacon entirely could reduce your risk of cancer up to 40 percent. The WCRF research surveyed 51 million people and focused more on making specific dietary recommendations than ever before, according to the Evening Standard. Researchers now urge people to limit consumption of soft drinks, processed foods — like bacon — and reduce drinking, while eating red meat only in moderation. Researchers also recommended staying away from sugar and ditching fast food entirely. As more countries adopt “Western”…

Tequila could help you lose weight, study claims

If you want to lose weight, any doctors or nutritionist will tell you to omit the alcohol from your diet, but a surprising study actually shows a link between drinking tequila and weight loss. This is huge news for anyone looking to shed some pounds in the New Year without totally suppressing their social life. According to the American Chemical Society, the effects of tequila on blood glucose levels and found that the sugars naturally occurring in the agave plant — the plant that gives us tequila —  can actually help lower blood sugar. These sugars — called agavins (not to be confused with agave syrup) — are not digestible and can act as dietary fiber, so they will not raise your blood sugar. According to Dr. Mercedes G. Lopez, agavins are the best sugars to support healthy growth of microbes in the mouth and intestines. The study looked at…

Yo-yo dieting can lead to early death, study suggests

You pack on some serious pounds, then work hard to drop the weight — but then put it all back on again. Aside from being incredibly frustrating for the individual, experts are now warning that these dramatic fluctuations in weight are linked to a slew of negative side effects — including an increased risk of death. The new study was published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Researchers investigated the health risks of yo-yo dieting by examining the results from the 3,600 men and women who participated in the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study. They found that dramatic weight swings was associated with higher risk of mortality. One exception to this study is for obese individuals who crash diet and experience weight loss. Those people were found to be less likely to develop type-2 diabetes over time. However, perfectly healthy people who quickly lose and gain…

Being in a relationship makes you fat, study shows

Being in a relationship can be good for your health, but it’s not always the best on your body. A new study shows that having a long-term partner can leave you likely to pack on the pounds. The study, conducted by researchers at Central Queensland University in Australia, tracked more than 15,000 people over 10 years.  On average, those who identified as part of a couple weighed 12.7 pounds more than those who were single. Furthermore, those with serious partners gained, on average, about 3.9 pounds per year! Of course, this study confirms what many of us have experienced throughout our lives. Once you’re comfortable, you may feel less pressure to keep up appearances and watch your weight as closely as you did when you were single. “When couples don’t need to look attractive and slim to attract a partner, they may feel more comfortably eating more foods high in…

You would never guess this country consumes the most candy

Americans love candy. We have several holidays where we put the sweet stuff at the center of the celebration — Halloween candy, Easter baskets, candy-filled advent calendars and candy canes. We even have amusement parks dedicated to it. You’d be forgiven for assuming Americans eat more candy than any other country — but you’d also be wrong. There is one country that beats out the U.S. in candy consumption: Sweden. A recent study conducted by Jordbruksverket, the Swedish Board of Agriculture, found that Sweden has the highest candy consumption per capita in the world. Citizens consume on average 35 pounds of it every year. Doing the math … that’s about a half pound every. single. week. The sugar consumption is about three times more than what the World Health Organization recommends. Candy culture in Sweden is strong. “Lördagsgodis” is a Swedish word that literally means “Saturday candy.” The thinking went that…

Your workplace is adding 1,300 calories to your diet every week

The next time Karen from accounting brings in a box of baked goods for the big morning meeting, remember to stay strong. All of those extra office goodies are adding an extra 1,300 calories to your diet every week! A large CDC study of 5,222 people found that about a quarter of Americans eat food at work at least once a week. Free food made up most of the excess calories, while food and beverage vending machines in the cafeteria rounded out the count. In other words, employees are eating unnecessary empty calories — almost always of the processed variety — while they’re at work. The food tended to be high in solid fats and/ or added sugars. The most common foods were pizza, soda, cookies, brownings, cakes, and pies, NBC reported. And since most of this food is offered for free, it makes it difficult to avoid temptation. The CDC offered one solution.…

Calorie counts on most fast food menus are now required

You know that fast food is totally terrible for you, but if you had nutrition information in front of your face while you ordered, would you practice some restraint? The next time you head to a Taco Bell or even Coldstone Creamery you’ll be tested. Starting May 7, the Food and Drug Administration will require any food outlet with more than 20 locations to list the calorie counts for each menu item — every restaurant from Auntie Annes to Chick-fil-A, Orange Julius and Panera are affected. And the information won’t be posted exclusively online, or in some dark corner of the restaurant either. The calorie counts will be front and center on the menu, so you won’t be able to throw caution to the wind and order those Doritos Locos Tacos and hope for the best. You’ll know exactly the size of the caloric gut-bomb you’re eating. It’s an Obama-era policy that…