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Cooksey v. Futrell, et al. Can the government throw you in jail for offering advice on the Internet about what food people should buy at the grocery store? That is exactly the claim made by the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition. In December 2011, diabetic blogger Steve Cooksey started a Dear Abby-style advice column on his popular blog (www.diabetes-warrior.net) to answer reader questions. One month later, the State Board informed Steve that he could not give readers advice on diet, whether for free or for compensation, because doing so constituted the unlicensed, and thus criminal, practice of dietetics. The State...

Have you heard the saying “strong is the new skinny”? What if you could have both? It may be as easy as taking a fresh look at the past. The Paleo Diet, or the caveman diet, means eating and acting like a caveman. To sustain the diet, you can only eat things you gather, hunt or pick. Pinecrest resident Thad Foot, 38, said the diet gives him strength to do stand up paddle boarding. “I want to get stronger,” he said. Tara Grant, 37, did the same diet for a different reason. “I had polycystic ovarian syndrome,” said Grant. “Now,...

It was a big week for John Besh, even by his eventful standards.... Apparently, several attendees of the “workshop” took Besh to task for lecturing about healthy eating on one hand while serving high calorie food at his restaurants on the other. “I went on to address a complex issue in very simple terms only to only be heckled by those that feel we can regulate restaurants to the point that our children will be happy and healthy,” Besh writes in his blog, which appears on epicurious.com. “In response to these suggestions, I pointed to a variety of other options...

First Lady Michelle Obama got rock-star treatment Friday night as she visited a Central Florida family on a tour celebrating the second anniversary of her Let's Move! diet-and-exercise campaign. Neighbors of the Halls family, who hosted Obama at their home, lined up to catch a glimpse of the first lady. Cheers erupted from the crowd as Obama left about 8:15 p.m. and waved before being whisked away in a waiting sport utility vehicle. (snip) In the next leg of her Orlando-area tour, Obama will speak Saturday morning at Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood with representatives of religious groups from...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hold the mystery meat: Military bases will soon be serving more fruits, vegetables and low-fat dishes under the first program in 20 years to improve nutrition standards across the armed services. First lady Michelle Obama and Pentagon officials planned to announce the effort Thursday during a visit to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, where the military has been experimenting with the idea through a pilot program designed to improve the quality and variety of foods served on base. It's not just about giving members of the armed services a more svelte profile.

[snip] Bread and rolls are the No. 1 source of salt in the American diet, accounting for more than twice as much sodium as salty junk food like potato chips. That surprising finding comes in a government report released Tuesday that includes a list of the top 10 sources of sodium. Salty snacks actually came in at the bottom of the list compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn - which we think of as the saltiest foods in our diet - are only No. 10," said CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden. Breads...

They say there is mounting research that it is the type of oil used, and whether or not it has been used before, that really matters. The latest study, published in the British Medical Journal, found no association between the frequency of fried food consumption in Spain - where olive and sunflower oils are mostly used - and the incidence of serious heart disease.

Editor's note: Andrew Weil is the director of the integrative medicine program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and professor of Medicine and Public Health, author of "Eight Weeks to Optimum Health," "Healthy Aging," "Spontaneous Happiness" and the forthcoming "True Food." (CNN) -- "I'm just gonna put a little more butter in there, y'all," she said as she plopped a large chunk into the skillet. "Oh my," she added, "I've gone and put a whole stick in by now." I was watching Paula Deen on the Food Network, whipping up a shrimp sauté to go over pasta. I...

Gwyneth Paltrow released her GOOP newsletter, Jan. 5, promoting her GOOP cleanse kit, which costs $425, but doctors interviewed by HollywoodLife say cleanses have ‘no scientific proven’ value and are ‘complete bunk’! Don’t spend your money or your effort subjecting yourself to actress Gwyneth Paltrow‘s “cleanse” or anyone else’s, say top NYC doctors. “‘Cleansing’ is the equivalent of ’snake oil,’” says NYC internist, Dr. Robert Bos. He adds that “there is no scientific proof” that a cleanse will help give your digestive system a break, eliminate toxins, rebuild beneficial bacteria or give you more energy, as Gwyneth promises in her...

I had a bit an epiphany yesterday, but it seems so contray to what I've been told about eating all my life, I'm having a hard time believing my analysis is corret. I've been working on changing my diet. One of the things I ran across was the fact that eating carbohydrates spikes your blood sugar. Then I heard someone make the comment (and it was almost a throw-away side comment) "of course, carbohydrates are just complex forms of sugar." Really? The following lines are pulled from here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161547.php, my insertions are in brackets [my comment]. Saccharides, or carbohydrates, are...

Someone mentioned this movie earlier today in another thread. I watched it on Amazon streaming video this afternoon(also avaialble on Netflix) and it was excellent! Its motivating me to lose some weight and there are stunning facts that literally made my wife get up and grab a hunk of peperoni from the fridge and eat it! She hasn't eaten pepperoni or bacon in over two years because she worries about cholesterol. This is essentially a response to the Super Size me movie. It debunks the the twisted information in that movie as well as the whole government anti-obesity movement. The...

I’m a huge fan of documentaries, especially those about food, health, and the physiology of the human body. I’ve recently been suggested by a number of users to check out “Fat Head,” a documentary by Tom Naughton made in response to “Super Size Me” by Morgan Spurlock. As noted multiple times by Naughton, the purpose of the film is committed to proving that everything you think you know about food is, well, probably a load of bologna. A Couple Great Points Naughton drives home a couple good points about people’s perception on food. First, he brings out some good...

Ten years ago, science writer Gary Taubes exercised an hour a day. He avoided fat in his diet, never even using milk in his oatmeal. But he kept gaining weight. As an experiment, the self-described carnivore tried the high-protein, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet - eating bacon and eggs for breakfast, pepperoni with melted mozzarella for lunch, and a steak for dinner - and lost 20 pounds in six weeks. Since then, Taubes, an award-winning journalist and best-selling author, has stuck with the diet and spent countless hours collecting evidence to prove that it's not how much we eat but what we...

As the annual spectacle of celebrities eating jungle nasties draws to a close this weekend, what's the nutritional value of an I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! style diet?There was a woman who swallowed a fly. Then a spider that wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her. The thrill of this nursery rhyme - and its TV equivalent, the bushtucker trial on I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! - is the excruciating thought of eating something icky and unlikely. But what would a diet of spiders and flies, mouse tails and camel toes do to the...

Christine Avanti: Christmas Recipes for the Skinny Chick By Christine Avanti Nutritionist and author of Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salads (Rodale 2009) Chocolate Chip Christmas Balls 8 tablespoons butter, softened¼ cup low fat cream cheese softened (2 oz)½ cup granulated sugar½ cup brown sugar1/8 teaspoon salt1 egg2 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract1 cup flour1 cup whole-wheat flour1-12 ounce package miniature semisweet chocolate chips1 cup confectioners’ sugar2 tablespoons soy milk Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, beat butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add sugar and salt. Mix until combined. Beat in egg and...

Cutting back on salt may not be as beneficial for your heart as once thought, a new study suggests. While a diet low in salt reduces blood pressure, it increases the levels of cholesterol, fat and hormones in the blood that are known to increase the risk of heart disease, the study found. Overall, the good and bad consequences of a low-salt diet may cancel each other out, so the diet has relatively little effect on the development of disease, said study researcher Dr. Niels Graudal, of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

For the first time, scientists report a link between eating nuts and higher levels of serotonin in the bodies of patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS), who are at high risk for heart disease. Serotonin is a substance that helps transmit nerve signals and decreases feelings of hunger, makes people feel happier and improves heart health. It took only one ounce of mixed nuts (raw unpeeled walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts) a day to produce the good effects. The report appears in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. Cristina Andrés-Lacueva and colleagues from the Biomarkers & NutriMetabolomics Research Group of the University of...

‘Food Day’ was earlier this week, an event sponsored by The Center For Science In The Public Interest (CSPI). To celebrate the CSPI released their ‘Terrible Ten’ food list. It seems fitting that this list was released just before Halloween, as it makes ‘monsters’ out of food. “Vending machines dispensing soft drinks and candy are the ubiquitous, mute, metallic monsters that promote unhealthy diets 24/7”, according to the list. Even Toucan Sam is among CSPI’s list of terrors, “Kellogg’s Froot Loops, a fruit-less sugary cereal gussied up with synthetic dyes, is one of a host of junk foods marketed heavily...

Enlarge Image Heart attack. Following a big meal, oily nutrients in the bloodstream of Burmese pythons (shown) spur massive growth of their hearts. Credit: Stephen M. Secor At the end of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the titular villain undergoes a literal change of heart. His blood-pumping organ swells to three times its prior size. The ticker of the Burmese python (Python molurus) similarly balloons, but the cause isn't Christmas cheer—it's a big meal. A new study of recently fed snakes suggests that a precise mixture of fatty acids in the blood drives this cardiac growth, unveiling...

In the October, 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Australian researchers report the outcome of a study which suggests site-specific protective effects of various fruits and vegetables against the risk of colorectal cancer. The finding may help explain inconsistent results from other studies which sought to examine the effects of plant foods against the cancer disease. Lin Fritschi, PhD and colleagues at the University of Western Australia compared 918 colorectal cancer patients to 1,021 controls who had no history of the disease. Questionnaires completed by the participants were analyzed for the frequency of consumption of 38...

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told members of the National Restaurant Association on Monday that Americans need to “adjust” their tastes so that they like the kind of food the government believes they should eat—and “we have to make sure that what we do is create the appropriate transition.”

Dr. Regina Benjamin, surgeon general of the United States, is warning American women of an impediment to a healthy, active life: their hairstyles. Benjamin said that the expensive products and time-consuming procedures that some women, especially African American women, invest in to straighten and control their tight curls may deter them from working out. After all, just a little moisture could undo the hairdo that was the result of a lot of time and money. (SNIP) The story pointed out some interesting research from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center that found about a third of black women surveyed said they...

Eating a diet rich in spices, like turmeric and cinnamon, reduces the body's negative responses to eating high-fat meals, according to Penn State researchers. "Normally, when you eat a high-fat meal, you end up with high levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, in your blood," said Sheila West, associate professor of biobehavioral health, Penn State, who led the study. "If this happens too frequently, or if triglyceride levels are raised too much, your risk of heart disease is increased. We found that adding spices to a high-fat meal reduced triglyceride response by about 30 percent, compared to a similar...

Taking regular exercise, drinking only in moderation and watching what you eat makes no difference to one's chances of reaching 100, research has found. Those who are lucky enough to qualify for a telegram from the Queen have simply been dealt a good genetic hand at birth, the study indicates. Academics studied almost 500 people between 95 and 109 and compared them with over 3,000 others born during the same period. They found those who lived extremely long lives ate just as badly, drank and smoked just as much, took just as little exercise and were just as likely to...

Eating an ultra low-calorie diet can cure Type 2 diabetes in just eight weeks, dramatic new research has shown. Even people who have suffered from the condition for years found the drastic diet could jump-start their body’s production of insulin. The breakthrough is good news for the nearly 2.5 million people in Britain who have this type of diabetes, which is caused by the pancreas not producing enough insulin to break down glucose in the blood. It could revolutionise the treatment of what has always been seen as a lifelong problem. Professor Roy Taylor, of Newcastle Univ­ersity, who led the...

Delivering his first address to a joint session of Congress in February 2009, Barack Obama told the assembled legislators that his plans for a federal spending binge of nearly a trillion dollars was “not because I believe in bigger government – I don’t.” Rather, he said, the stimulus plan was intended to “put people back to work and put money in their pockets.” More than two years after that speech, two things are clear: Obama’s empirical projections were inaccurate and his ideological protestations were disingenuous. Indeed, the stimulus plan was not, as Obama tried to frame it, a triumph of...

An extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day can reverse Type 2 diabetes in people newly diagnosed with the disease, says a Diabetologia study. The 11 participants in the study were all diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes within the previous four years. Newcastle University researchers found the low-calorie diet reduced fat levels in the pancreas and liver, which helped insulin production return to normal. Three months after the end of the diet, when participants had returned to eating normally and received advice on healthy eating and portion size, most no longer suffered from the condition.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Michelle Obama dropped in on lunch and circle time at a Washington child care center on Wednesday and used the occasion to announce a new national initiative to encourage child care centers to promote healthy eating and exercise habits starting with the littlest Americans. The first lady watched as toddlers ate a healthy lunch of fish, fruit and salad greens, did the bunny hop with youngsters in a P.E. class and clapped along with singing time at CentroNia, a bilingual child care center that stresses just the kinds of healthy practices that Mrs. Obama is trying to...

A cream which promises to give women 'Obama Arms' by shaving up to two centimetres of fat off dreaded bingo wings is set to go on sale in UK this week. Arm Sculpt makers Rodial claim applying the £60 cream to the affected spot twice a day destroys fatty cells and tightens skin giving the user toned arms like Michelle Obama. In trials it showed that 22 per cent of the fat can be dispersed if the cream is applied properly and that 56 days use will see an incredible 2cms disappear.

When his wife unveiled the USDA's new nutritional plate yesterday, there definitely wasn't a space for chili dogs. But that didn't stop Barack Obama wolfing down two in Toledo today - with fries and an extra bowl of chili on the side.

Pancreatic tumor cells use fructose to divide and proliferate, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a study that challenges the common wisdom that all sugars are the same. Tumor cells fed both glucose and fructose used the two sugars in two different ways, the team at the University of California Los Angeles found. They said their finding, published in the journal Cancer Research, may help explain other studies that have linked fructose intake with pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest cancer types. “These findings show that cancer cells can readily metabolize fructose to increase proliferation,” Dr. Anthony Heaney of UCLA’s...

I'm sitting in a comfortable chair, in a tastefully lit, cheerfully decorated drug den, watching a steady line of people approach their dealer. After scoring, they shuffle off to their tables to quietly indulge in what for some could become (if it hasn't already) an addiction that screws up their lives. It's likely you have friends and family members who are suffering from this dependence—and you may be on the same path yourself. But this addiction is not usually apparent to the casual observer. It has no use for the drama and the carnage you associate with cocaine and alcohol....

Smile, Texas schoolchildren. You’re on calorie camera. That’s the idea behind a $2 million project being unveiled Wednesday in the lunchroom of a San Antonio elementary school, where high-tech cameras installed in the cafeteria will begin photographing what foods children pile onto their trays — and later capture what they don’t finish eating. Digital imaging analysis of the snapshots will then calculate how many calories each student scarfed down. Local health officials said the program, funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, is the first of its kind in a U.S. school, and will be so precise that the...

CLEVELAND - Contrary to what we’ve been told, eliminating or severely limiting fats from the diet may not be beneficial to cardiac function in patients suffering from heart failure, a study at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine reports. Results from biological model studies conducted by assistant professor of physiology and biophysics Margaret Chandler, PhD, and other researchers, demonstrate that a high-fat diet improved overall mechanical function, in other words, the heart’s ability to pump, and was accompanied by cardiac insulin resistance. “Does that mean I can go out and eat my Big Mac after I have a heart...

Which is more dangerous: dietary salt or the government’s dietary guidelines? A new study confirms some old truths. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (May 4), reports that among 3,681 study subjects followed for as long as 23 years, the cardiovascular death rate was more than 50 percent higher among those on who consumed less salt. The researchers concluded that their findings, “refute the estimates of computer model of lives saved and health care costs reduced with lower salt intake” and they do not support “the current recommendations of a generalized and indiscriminate reduction...

Mother's diet during pregnancy alters baby's DNA By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News A mother's diet during pregnancy can alter the DNA of her child and increase the risk of obesity, according to researchers. The study, to be published in the journal Diabetes, showed that eating low levels of carbohydrate changed bits of DNA. It then showed children with these changes were fatter. The British Heart Foundation called for better nutritional and lifestyle support for women.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Kidney failure is a main complication of diabetes, but a lab study on mice showed that a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet could reverse that in eight weeks, US researchers said Wednesday. The extreme food plan is known as a ketogenic diet and is often used to treat children with drug-resistant epilepsy. It starves the body of carbs and sugars, thereby tricking the body into burning fat for fuel instead of glucose. The diet is so restrictive it must be devised with an expert's help. Meal options may include scrambled eggs with cream, a bacon and butter omelet, or...

How specific digestive tract microbes react to a dietary lipid increases risk of heart attack, stroke and deathA new pathway has been discovered that links a common dietary lipid and intestinal microflora with an increased risk of heart disease, according to a Cleveland Clinic study published in the latest issue of Nature. The study shows that people who eat a diet containing a common nutrient found in animal products (such as eggs, liver and other meats, cheese and other diary products, fish, shellfish) are not predisposed to cardiovascular disease solely on their genetic make-up, but rather, how the micro-organisms that...

A reversal on carbs Fat was once the devil. Now more nutritionists are pointing accusingly at sugar and refined grains. Most people can count calories. Many have a clue about where fat lurks in their diets. However, fewer give carbohydrates much thought, or know why they should. But a growing number of top nutritional scientists blame excessive carbohydrates — not fat — for America's ills. They say cutting carbohydrates is the key to reversing obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Yesterday, Rush Limbaugh made some derogatory comments about the First Lady’s weight. Today he registered how shocked he was at the uproar they caused. (Of course, the word “shocked” in the above sentence should be read as “completely unsurprised as that was clearly what he intended to happen the whole time so now he’s happily compounding the issue by making some more comments.”) Here’s what he had to say today: “These were highly civil comments for crying out loud. I mean, people are going nuts. USA Today, the Politico. And some people were suggesting that my comments were below the...

Some conservative bloggers and talk-show hosts act like the short rib in Michelle Obama's dinner entree was, like Adam's, extracted from them personally. The first lady, in Vail with her daughters and some friends for the Presidents Day weekend, dined at Restaurant Kelly Liken in Vail Village Saturday night, enjoying a pickled pumpkin salad with arugula and a braised ancho-chile short rib with hominy wild mushrooms and sauteed kale. So, of course, some people are taking the short view of the short rib. A braised short rib is a relatively lean cut of beef, braised with most of the fat...

Finally, an irrefutable argument for federal funding of abortion has been articulated. For those unpersuaded that killing unborn humans is sometimes necessary to protect the mental health of the would-be mother comes a new idea for their consideration from Representative Gwen Moore (D-Wisc). As Ms Moore sees it, a timely abortion saves many from lives that are sustained by bad cuisine. “If all your parents can afford to feed you is Ramen noodles and mayonnaise sandwiches you’re better off dead,” contended the plump congresswoman. “I mean, if I couldn’t get my regular dose of pizzas, cheese burgers, and ice cream...

The HCG diet claims to be natural, promises to help you lose a pound or more a day and even discourages exercise. But critics and medical doctors say it can be also dangerous. HCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin and is a hormone that is produced during pregnancy. It's detected in the urine of pregnant women. HCG retailers say it works because it goes on the same concept that a pregnant woman's body will use stored fats to help send nutrients to the baby, even if she is not eating much.

PARIS (AFP) – Toddlers who have a diet high in processed foods may have a slightly lower IQ in later life, according to a British study described as the biggest research of its kind. The conclusion, published on Monday, comes from a long-term investigation into 14,000 people born in western England in 1991 and 1992 whose health and well-being were monitored at the ages of three, four, seven and eight and a half. Parents of the children were asked to fill out questionnaires that, among other things, detailed the kind of food and drink their children consumed. Three dietary patterns...

Neuroscience of nutritionHow maternal essential fatty acid deficiency impact on its progeny is poorly understood. Dietary insufficiency in omega-3 fatty acid has been implicated in many disorders. Researchers from Inserm and INRA and their collaborators in Spain collaboration, have studied mice fed on a diet low in omega-3 fatty acid. They discovered that reduced levels of omega-3 had deleterious consequences on synaptic functions and emotional behaviours. Details of this work are available in the online version of the journal Nature neuroscience, which can be accessed at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn.2736 In industrialized nations, diets have been impoverished in essential fatty acids since the...

A study published in the journal Epilepsia has determined that individuals with a specific form of epilepsy may benefit the most from a meat-rich diet. Researchers found that the majority of children with myoclonic-astatic epilepsy who switched from a modified Atkins diet to a ketogenic diet reduced their seizures by at least 10 percent. The ketogenic diet is similar to the Atkins regimen. Both consist primarily of protein-heavy meals, eaten with little or no carbohydrates. The ketogenic diet simply has more restrictions on the types of fats, proteins and fluids that an individual may consume. The study's authors concluded that...

So many of our New Year’s resolutions may have something to do with food: eating less, eating better; eating differently or even eating something we’ve grown. With that in mind, we asked some of Utah’s culinary all-stars to share their food resolutions for 2011.

The path toward obesity starts at a young age - even before babies transition to a solid diet, according to a new study. Almost one-third of 9-month-olds are obese or overweight, as are 34 percent of 2-year-olds, according to the research, which looked at a nationally representative sample of children born in 2001. The study is one of the first to measure weight in the same group of very young children over time, said lead researcher Brian Moss, a sociologist at Wayne State University in Detroit. The results showed that starting out heavy puts kids on a trajectory to stay...

The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Law is “necessary because parents have fallen down on the job,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “In an ideal world, every parent would be properly informed and adequately motivated to choose appropriate nutrition for her children. But the reality is, too many are ignorant and others don’t care enough to make the right choices.” “Granted, parents could still put inappropriate foods into ‘brown bag’ lunches brought from home,” the First Lady admitted. “That’s a problem we’ve left for another day. In the meantime, though, we’re hoping that the subsidies provided by this law combined with social...

EATING MELATONIN-RICH CHERRIES ARE ‘‘NATURAL” WAY TO RESET YOUR BODY CLOCK WHEN CROSSING TIME ZONES Research Reveals that Cherries Boost Your Body’s Melatonin Levels to Help Prevent Jet Lag After Long International Flights It takes mere seconds to reset our watch to a different time zone, but our body’s internal time clocks often take longer to sync up in our new locale. Experienced travelers often stash a bottle of melatonin supplements in their carryon bag to help adjust, but experts say there may be a more natural and tasty way to get melatonin: cherries. Recent studies have revealed that cherries...