The Boston Globe ran a reasonably decent article on anti-aging supplements last week, called “Time in a Bottle.” There were, of course, the usual caveats about supplements being unregulated, and the usual experts making harrumphing noises about how consumers should be skeptical, etc. etc., but the author, Kay Lazar, gave the subject a more even-handed treatment than many mainstream writers do.

One of the experts she consulted, however, used an argument that I’ve seen many times before, but is worth calling attention to, as it’s one that’s pretty typical of “knee-jerk” skeptics – people who automatically take a negative stance on ideas or products they consider unorthodox. Here’s what it looks like:

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Thought I’d put a plug in for a site I’ve used on and off for a long time now…The World’s Healthiest Foods. This is a site run by the George Mateljan Foundation, and there’s a ton of information there on nutrition, healthy foods, and recipes.

Now that the holiday season is officially here, it would be a good idea to check it out, for tips on how to eat healthier and lighter during this time of the year.

Welcome to Thanksgiving Day!  I’ll be in and out of the kitchen all day today, preparing the feast.  It’s the tradition, of course…although this year, we’ll be indulging in a not-so-traditional way.  I let my kids decide the menu, and they came to a consensus rather quickly: Mexican.  So instead of roast turkey with all the trimmings, it’s chicken mole and frijoles.  Works for me on a a couple of different levels.

For starters, it’s historically correct.  One of the points that sociologist James Loewen makes in the beginning of his book, “Lies Across America,” is that “the usual approach to the American past is from the vantage point of Boston, looking southwestward.”  There’s some logic to this, I suppose, as the United States, as a country, started on the Eastern seaboard.  But, the Spanish preceded the British as colonizers (or invaders, depending on your point-of-view) of US territory; and – just like in the East – Native foods and cultural traditions were assimilated.  Frijoles refritos, tortillas and mole are just as “American” as turkey and cranberries.

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If you’re a newsletter subscriber, you’re probably aware that we’ve been doing quite a bit of renovating around here recently. Not only have we recently added a new section, “Functional Foods“, but we’re adding another new one soon (I’ll be announcing it in the next newsletter in a couple of weeks).

We’ve also integrated our protein and meal replacement reviews into the Body Building section, plus amalgamated all diet reviews into a single section; Diets.  

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Deconstructing BS on the internet can be a pretty painful process. This is because internet authors can simply say stuff that sounds like they know what they’re talking about, and then move on. If you’re going to debunk it, though, it’s not enough to simply say, “that’s wrong” – it’s important to explain WHY.  And the “whys” can get pretty darned complicated, pretty darned fast.

Take, for example, a statement like this:

Though synthetic vitamins have the same molecular structure, they are a mirror image of the Natural. A MIRROR IMAGE? This suggests that they are identical in every detail. But a mirror image is the exact opposite of the real thing, in this case Natural organic vitamins.

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Although I don’t think I’d care to be a professional chocolate taster, like the guy in this article. I like chocolate, but not THAT much.

As some of you know, Newsweek’s been running a series of articles, with highlights from the recent presidential election campaign. I got a smile out of this paragraph, on President-elect Obama’s eating habits:

Obama carefully conserved his energy. He was not a man of appetites, like Bill Clinton, who would grab whatever goodie passed by on the tray. Obama was abstemious. Indeed, to the reporters following him, he appeared very nearly anorexic. Most candidates gain the Campaign 10 (or 15). Hillary was struggling with her waistline, as she gamely knocked back shots and beers in working-class bars and gobbled the obligatory sausage sandwiches thrust at her in greasy spoons along the Trail of the White Working-Class Voter. Obama, by contrast, lost weight. He regularly ate the same dinner of salmon, rice and broccoli. At Schoop’s Hamburgers, a diner in Portage, Ind., he munched a single french fry and ordered four hamburgers—to go. At the Copper Dome Restaurant, a pancake house in St. Paul, Minn., he ordered pancakes—to go. (An AP reporter wondered: who gets pancakes for the road?) A waiter reeled off a long list of richly topped flapjacks, but Obama went for the plain buttermilk, saying, “I’m kind of traditionalist.” Reporters joked that if he ate a single bite of burger or pancake once the doors of his dark-tinted SUV closed, they’d eat their BlackBerrys.

Definitely a man after my own heart…Except I would have skipped the rice.

As many UltimateFatBurner.com visitors know, we have a new “Functional Foods” review section. I’m sampling as fast as I can, so the list of product reviews is getting longer…bit-by-bit.

At this stage of the game, many functional foods are on…the sweet side: beverages, flavored waters, bars, baked goods, shakes and such. I just read about one functional food in the making, however, that looks like an interesting departure from the trend…BioBeer.

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I think I was 22 or 23, when my husband brought home a used book that changed my life. The book was “Science: Good, Bad and Bogus” by Martin Gardner. A few people might recognize the name…he wrote the well-known “Mathematical Games” column that ran in Scientific American for 25 years. Gardner wrote a lot more than that, however: he was also a prolific science writer who specialized in exposing pseudoscience, frauds, and hoaxes. The book itself was an anthology: a collection of articles and book reviews printed elsewhere over the years – but each one was new to me. And – needless to state – it was an entertaining and fascinating read…because – at its heart – the primary theme was something I’d never really given a lot of thought to before…

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In rats, that is.

But that’s the latest out of Rockefeller University, and a team of scientists led by senior researcher Sarah Liebowitz. What Liebowitz and her colleagues found was that the pups of pregnant rats fed a 50% fat diet over a short period of time, were born with an increased number of neurons that produce orexigenic (appetite stimulating) peptides. In addition:

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Anyone who’s ever seen “A Chorus Line” (the stage version or the movie) knows this song:

What does a song about “tits and ass” have to do with losing weight and getting into shape?

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I stumbled over this program while surfing, and thought it was pretty cool.

Are you looking to make a new friend or two? Help a shelter dog get some much needed exercise and fresh air while walking for better health. Columbia Parks and Recreation is teaming up with the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine and Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Columbia Second Chance and the Central Missouri Humane Society to offer a program called Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound.

Apparently, the program and studies associated with it, have been ongoing for several years now. The program was started by Dr. Rebecca Johnson, a professor of Gerontological Nursing, who is studying the impact of animal-assisted interventions on health/wellness.

Rebecca Johnson, Millsap Professor of Gerontological Nursing at the MU Sinclair School of Nursing and director of ReCHAI, says people typically stick to exercise programs 20 to 30 percent of the time. In a previous study that she conducted of people walking dogs for exercise, participants adhered to the program 72 percent of the time.

While the initial results aren’t overwhelming w/respect to weight loss, the program increased the participants’ overall physical activity, as well as their awareness of additional opportunities for exercise. In addition, it’s fun for the participants, and certainly beneficial for the shelter animals involved.

I like it…it’s innovative, brings people together, and offers a societal benefit, so definitely “win-win.”

That’s the question being asked by this article on msn.com.  But the answer, according to author Paul Scott, is a foregone conclusion if you belong to a gym:

Is your workout wasting your time? If you belong to a gym, it’s likely that most of what you’re doing there is nearly useless—and might be ruining your chances of getting fit.

According to this guy, if you’re having trouble getting into shape, it’s…wait for it: your GYM’s fault.  He even proposes that commercial gyms share the blame for the obesity epidemic.  And no, I’m not kidding.

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OK, I admit it. This is a bit of a rant. But, if you remember, I did officially document that “The Blog’s” authors did retain the right to rant occassionally, should the need arise.

This is your good and sufficient notice that I am exercising that right.

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I can tell I’m not in Ohio anymore.

The weather on my side of Washington state is still pretty mild. It’s annoying to see the sun set at 4:30 p.m. and the trees losing their leaves, but beyond that, it’s kinda hard to tell that winter’s on its way. While the local stores have their Christmas displays up, they’re not quite as in-your-face as they were back in the heartland, and – at least so far – I haven’t had to listen to any of the 3,572 muzak variations of “Winter Wonderland” while I shop for groceries.

So the impending holidays haven’t really been on my radar screen…until today.

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Wow.

Talk about timing.

The virtual ink was barely dry on my blog post, FTC Report: Marketing To Children, when I saw this disturbing report featured on CTV Newsnet, one of Canada’s main cable news television stations.

Apparently, researchers took 70 obese children (average age 13) and measured their carotid (neck) arteries. By measuring the thickness of this artery, they can determine how much plaque has built up, and whether that build up poses a potential health risk (plaque build up can clog arteries, which then become constricted. This can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke).

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A member of the “Bodybuilding Revealed” forum drew my attention to this LA Times article this morning: “Vitamins don’t cut heart attack and breast cancer risks, studies say.”

Ok then.

I’m not quite sure why this actually rated a full article…personally, it would not have occurred to me to take a multi or extra single nutrients like Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Vitamin D and/or calcium (the subjects of the studies) to prevent these diseases in the first place. Multi-factorial diseases rooted in the complex interplay between genetics and lifestyle are highly unlikely to be prevented by simplistic monotherapy with isolated nutrients. And lifestyle is a big issue, even with targeted drug therapies…as a doctor bud of mine once put it: “One of my favorite phrases is “They [patients] can always ‘out-lifestyle’ you.”

So whoopti-do. If these studies had produced positive results, I would have been (pleasantly) surprised.

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Yesterday, I fielded a question on the “Bodybuilding Revealed” forum about “Hexaghen,” a new supplement designed to raise levels of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1). IGF-1 is a polypeptide hormone that’s similar in structure to insulin (thus, “insulin-like”). It plays an important role in growth and development, and has anabolic effects in adults too. Thus, IGF-1 levels – like testosterone – are important to bodybuilders and others wishing to add mass and strength.

At any rate, while perusing the ad literature, I noted this graph, which illustrated the results of lab tests showing an increase in IGF-1 levels in (an unknown number of) subjects after two weeks of Hexaghen use. As the accompanying spiel put it:

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Elissa and I have discussed childhood obesity and its various ramifications on this blog numerous times. As you know, we both believe it is a worrying trend, and one that needs to be addressed- and fast. We’ve also discussed the role of the food industry in this growing trend; with its massive clout and all-pervading advertising campaigns, it has a huge impact upon children’s health.

That said, I highly recommend you have a look at the Federal Trade Commission’s July 2008 Report To Congress entitled “Marketing Food To Children And Adolescents; A Review of Industry Expenditures, Activities, and Self Regulation.”

I recognize this is a large document. However, if you read the “executive summary” and the first 20 pages of the report, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what your kids are up against. $1.6 BILLION in advertising packs a heck of a punch!

The US Dept. of Health and Human Services released its first ever “Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans” last month. Several publications, for health professionals and organizations – as well as the general public – are available at http://www.health.gov/PAGuidelines/default.aspx.

The key guidelines by group are:

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