According to the China Post…

The Bureau of Health Promotion (BHP) is drafting a bill to charge special tax on food that are considered unhealthy, such as sugary drinks, candies, cakes, oily fast food, and alcohol.According to the BHP Director General Shu Ti-chiou, the proposal aims to promote a healthier eating habit.

…The BHP is expecting the Legislative Yuan to approve it by the end of next year and to enact the tariff in 2011.

If passed, Taiwan could be the first country with a “junk food” tax, local reporters said.

I’ll be curious to see the details on this: how much the proposed tax will be, the specific foods/products it will be applied to, what the money will be used for, and – most importantly - the effects the BHP believes it will have on consumption.

Methinks most people recall Jared Fogle, whose dramatic weight loss on the “Subway Diet” helped boost the fortunes of the restaurant chain.  Apparently Taco Bell is taking a leaf from the Subway book, by highlighting another dramatic weight loss story in ads for its lighter “Fresco” menu items. 

Meet Christine, the spokesperson for the “Drive-Thru Diet.”

As you know, the Drive-Thru Diet® menu is not a weight-loss program. It’s about making different choices. For me, I didn’t want to cut out my fast food so I started choosing Fresco items from the Drive-Thru Diet® menu and making other sensible choices. I reduced my daily calorie and fat intake by 500 calories to 1250 calories a day, and, after two years, I ended up losing 54 pounds! These results aren’t typical, but for me they were fantastic!

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Since the hubby and I are about to uncork a bopple of bubbly tonight, this study from the University of Reading is rather timely.

Research from the University of Reading suggests that two glasses of Champagne a day may be good for your heart and circulation. The researchers have found that drinking Champagne wine daily in moderate amounts causes improvements in the way blood vessels function.

 Champagne does this by increasing the availability of nitric oxide, a vascular active molecule which controls blood pressure. It is able to induce these effects because it contains polyphenols, plant chemicals from the red grapes and white grapes used in Champagne production.

…Dr Jeremy Spencer, from the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences said: “Our research has shown that drinking around two glasses of Champagne can have beneficial effects on the way blood vessels function, in a similar way to that observed with red wine. We always encourage a responsible approach to alcohol consumption, but the fact that drinking Champagne has the potential to reduce the risks of suffering from cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke, is very exciting news.”

I can certainly drink to that!

(Click here for the study abstract).

Ok, that’s a rhetorical question, since I didn’t have my camera with me.  But I wish I did, as what I just saw would have been worth recording for posterity…

John and I were driving home from the gym by our usual route, which always takes us past the neighborhood McDonald’s.  It was a little after 2:00 p.m. – well past lunchtime – yet there was a long line of cars (11) idling in the drive-thru lane.  The parking lot looked pretty full, too.

We both did a double take.  It’s the day after Christmas, after all, so it’s likely that most of the folks in the restaurant ate pretty damned well yesterday.  Heck, they may also have eaten heartily in the days just before Christmas too: after all, office parties/goodies, Christmas Eve celebrations, etc. are fairly common. So why on earth would anyone be eating at McDonald’s after all that… let alone LINING UP AND WAITING to eat at McDonald’s??? 

Wow.

You’d think today – of all days – would be a day where people would want to eat a little more sparingly and healthily… but obviously not.

Failing that, take a vitamin D supplement.

It’s a little unusual to see mainstream docs actually recommending supps, but the evidence in favor of supplementing with vitamin D is piling up.  As the latest Harvard Heart Letter explains:

Heart disease. Falls and broken bones. Breast and prostate cancer. Depression and memory loss. These problems seem to have nothing in common, except that they are leading causes of faltering health and death. Exciting research suggests there is a link — too little vitamin D, the so-called sunshine vitamin, can contribute to all of these.

Millions of Americans, especially older ones, don’t have enough vitamin D in circulation. Current national recommendations for daily vitamin D intake — 400 international units (IU) for those aged 51 to 70 and 600 IU for those older than 70 — may not be high enough to reverse this trend.

…Experts have defined three categories for vitamin D status: deficient, less than 20 nanograms of 25-hydroxyvitamin D per milliliter of blood (ng/mL); insufficient, from 20 to 30 ng/mL; and sufficient, above 30 ng/mL.

Surveys suggest that at least one-third of American adults, and 75% of adults with cardiovascular disease, fall into the deficient category.

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Thinking of General Mills always brings this bit of satire from the Onion to mind…

Surgeon General Mills Recommends Three To Five Servings Of Froot Per Day
December 4, 2002 | Issue 38•45

WASHINGTON, DC—In a report submitted Monday to the Department of Health and Human Services, Surgeon General James Mills recommended that Americans consume three to five servings of froot per day. “A crunchier, more berrilicious cousin of the fruit family, froot is vital to proper digestion and breakfast fun,” Surgeon General Mills said. “Whether you’re eating it straight off the vine or, ideally, in its processed ‘loop’ form, Americans should be sure to get plenty of froot.”

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I suppose the moral of this story is that scientists shouldn’t try to be funny…

Santa Claus: A health pariah?

It was a joke, folks. Have people entirely lost their sense of humor?

Everywhere on Thursday and Friday (see, for example, the AP or Bloomberg) there were stories breathlessly reporting that public health expert Nathan Grills of Monash University in Australia was arguing that Santa was too fat and a poor image of health for kids. Moreover, the stories said, Grills wanted to supplant him with a slimmed down version.

…Here’s what Grills had to say about the whole ordeal:

Unfortunately, the article has spread like wildfire, but it seems to have lost the Christmas cheer element…I received much correspondence accusing me of wasting 10 years of university education and bringing the academic institution to shame! To clarify, I am not a Santa researcher. The article was written in my spare time for a bit of comic relief. My heart lies in doing charity work in India and research in partnership with the Nossal Institute of Global Health. Interestingly this reflects the work of true St Nic. We help to bring the gift of improved health to people in need. It would be great if the media were to care as much about my ‘real’ work as about a fantastical Santa article.

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This is true in more ways than one.  Getting/staying fit isn’t just a smart idea… according to new research, it may also make you smarter.  According to the LA Times blog “Booster Shots”:

That dumb jock might be smarter than he looks

December 18, 2009 

For young men, the fitter you are, the better your brain works.

A  study recently published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences took advantage of data collected on 1.2 million Swedish men born between 1950 and 1976, and found that those in better shape displayed higher intelligence. Note that the findings were based on cardiovascular health, which led to better blood flow, less anxiety and less fatigue. All of these things could help to raise brain power. Muscle mass had nothing to do with it.

Indeed.  Here’s the study… and here’s a reader-friendly synopsis.

This is probably, oh…. Reason #1,874 why regular exercise is a Good Idea.  I know my brain definitely feels more alert when I’m active.

This book review from NYT nutrition writer Jane Brody just caught my eye…

Recipes to Set Teenagers on a Healthy Path

…There is no better time than now to change this trajectory and get the nation’s youngsters on a more wholesome track. And there may be no better way to start than by consulting a new book, “Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs,” (Bloomsbury), by the award-winning chef Rozanne Gold in collaboration with a nutritionist, Helen Kimmel.

In creating the book with five budding teenage cooks, Ms. Gold, who lives in Brooklyn, took to heart the mantra of Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition and public health at New York University, who has written many books on wholesome food choices: “I’ve long argued that the best way to get people to eat more healthfully is to teach kids to cook.”

…There is no better proof, perhaps, than the experience of another of Ms. Gold’s teenage cooks, Danielle Hartog, 15, of Westport, Conn., who is a vegetarian. Danielle, who lost 23 pounds in seven months using recipes in the book, said in an interview, “Once I started eating healthy and feeling healthy, I started exercising every day and experienced a huge boost in confidence.”

“It’s hard not to be motivated,” she added. “It’s easy cooking, fun, healthy, and any teen could do it by themselves.” Once a devotee of pesto pasta — “two portions after school” — she was surprised to find that her favorite recipe is the Very Fresh Vegetable Soup.

Looks like a very cool book – so I just ordered a copy from Amazon for my kids.  Both Ryan and Nick are reasonably capable cooks, but don’t always go out of their way to prep veggies… maybe this will inspire them.  It won’t be here in time for Xmas, but that’s ok.  It’ll make a great New Year’s gift.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This probably goes double for graphic, gross-out pics, which is why the New York City Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene decided to use them to dissuade New Yorkers from “Pouring on the Pounds.”

New Campaign Asks New Yorkers if They’re “Pouring On the Pounds”

Health Department encourages consumers to choose beverages with less sugar

August 31, 2009 – It’s hard to overeat without noticing it. By contrast, soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages can sneak up on you, adding hundreds of calories to your diet each day without ever filling you up. In a new effort to highlight the health impact of sweetened drinks, the Health Department is confronting New Yorkers with a bold question: Are you pouring on the pounds? The agency’s new public-awareness campaign, which includes posters in the subway system and a multilingual Health Bulletin, goes live today and will run for three months.

The campaign’s signature image – in which a bottle of soda, “sports” drink or sweetened iced tea turns to a blob of fat as it reaches the glass – is s a stark reminder of how these products can lead to obesity and related health problems. The ads urge New Yorkers to cut back on sugary beverages and quench their thirst with water, seltzer or low-fat milk instead.

The ad is below the fold.  Warning: it isn’t… very… appetizing.  In fact, it’s pretty gross.

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The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has a new site dedicated to its latest crusade: getting supplements containing “designer steroids” and illegal stimulants off the market.  Called “Supplement Safety Now,” the organization (a non-governmental agency responsible for implementing the World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines in the US), is currently lobbying Congress for substantial changes in how the FDA regulates dietary supplements.

Specific Proposals

Pre-Market Enhancements

• All dietary supplement companies should be required to register as “dietary supplement companies” so that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can identify them.
• Dietary supplement companies should provide the FDA with a comprehensive list of all dietary supplements they manufacture with a copy of the master formulas and product labels.
• Dietary supplement companies should provide a 75-day pre-market notice to the FDA not only for New Dietary Ingredients, but for all products containing steroids (including hormones, pro-hormones and hormone analogues) and must establish that the product is safe under its intended use.
• Dietary supplement companies should be required to maintain a substantiation file that is available on request to the FDA.
• Distributors and retailers of dietary supplements should obtain evidence of compliance from the manufacturers and licensors that all pre-market requirements have been complied with or bear responsibility for the products they sell as if they were the manufacturer.

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I’m referring, of course, to this (mostly) goofy Xmas list: 6 Gifts Fit for the Gym Rat.  With the possible exception of the kettlebells, if I found any of this stuff under my tree on Xmas morning, I’d be scratching my head and wondering, “WTF?!”

I mean, what self-respecting “gym rat” would use an Airope, for heaven’s sake???

In general, it’s not a great idea to buy a sport or hobby-specific gift for someone anyway, unless you share the recipient’s passion.   That goes double for “gym” stuff – we gym rats are very particular.

Hey, Lisa here, it’s been some time since I’ve blogged anything so I thought I’d drop in and give you an update.

A long while ago I posted about my personal struggle with getting motivated to exercise and get healthier.  And at the end I said that I would be back with a progress report and to touch base.  Weeeeell….

The main reason I never did was simple.  There was no progress.  I’m not really any further ahead in my desire to get more fit than I was all those months ago. Yes, at the time I gave some REALLY good reasons for why I should start – things that mattered to me and should ’spur me on’, but it didn’t. I guess I’ve come to see that you can have all the right reasons to do something but it still isn’t going to MAKE you do it.

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Just thought I’d mention it, in case anyone’s been wondering…

It’s been a while since I’ve penned any bodybuilding supp reviews, let alone more functional food reviews or glossary entries.  This isn’t because I’m slacking – it’s because I’m busy updating the material in the Vitamins & Minerals section of the site.  And while it’s pretty comprehensive as it is (total number of reviews = 106), I have a rather long list of herbs/nutraceutical ingredients (current total = 40) to add to it!

To make a long story short: it’s gonna keep me busy for a while.  But even so, time flies, so it shouldn’t be that long before I’m back on the bodybuilding supp beat.

Tara Parker-Pope has an appropriately skeptical post in the NYT about those Reebok “Easy Tone” shoes… here’s the money quote:

But the claim that the shoes offer muscle toning is backed by a single study involving just five people, not published in a peer-reviewed academic journal. In that study, done at the University of Delaware, five women walked on a treadmill for 500 steps wearing either the EasyTone or another Reebok walking shoe, and while barefoot. Using sensors that measure muscle activity, the researchers showed that wearing the EasyTone worked gluteal muscles an average of 28 percent more than regular walking shoes. Hamstring and calf muscles worked 11 percent harder.

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I love commercials for fitness products… they come up with the darndest things, sometimes.  Take this “Crunchless Abs” ad, for example…

Now, the exercises don’t look half bad, from a noob perspective (there’s only so much you can accomplish with these types of bodyweight exercises), but the thing that made me guffaw was the “research” presented at approx. 16 seconds in.  It’s a paper entitled “Muscle Utilization During Standard Crunches Compared to new Abdominal Exercise Method” published in something called, “The Journal of Research.”

The Journal of Reseach???  There’s no such thing!  Scientific journal titles typically provide some idea of the subject matter covered within the pages, such as “Journal of Pathology”, “World Journal of Gastroenterology”, or – more simply – “Cell”.  The marketers are trying to pretend that this program has been “officially” studied and the data published in a peer-reviewed journal.

This should tell you something about the value of the product.  If it were really all it was cracked up to be, the marketers wouldn’t feel the need to create fake “scientific studies” to sell it.

Aarrrgh… when “health” columnists apparently run out of topics, they can always turn to the usual handwringing about student athletes taking – gasp! – creatine, and other supplements.  But  this ”Julie’s Health Club” column in the Chicago Tribune takes fearmongering to a whole new level.

Mikey Santini (left) was in junior high when he started taking creatine and protein supplements to build muscle and enhance his athletic abilities.

By his junior year at Stevenson High School, he had moved on to nitric oxide “energy igniters” such as N.O.-Xplode and so-called “legal anabolic” products such as Mass FX, which claims to boost strength, aggression and testosterone levels.

“You can get fabulous results,” said Santini, 19, of Buffalo Grove, who played soccer and ran cross country. But he acknowledges the products have a potentially dangerous downside. “It involves taking a lot of other stuff for your liver and prostate and rebalancing your testosterone levels so you don’t get side effects.”

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This time, it’s the “Health Man” and associates, who were peddling the “7 Day Miracle Cleanse Program.”

The marketers of the 7 Day Miracle Cleanse Program, a purported herbal colon-cleansing program, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they falsely claimed that their program would cure cancer and other serious diseases. Among other things, the settlements broadly ban them from involvement in future infomercials for any product, service, or program, except for infomercials for informational publications, and from advertising health-related products in the future in any medium.

According to the FTC’s complaint, one of the defendants, Paris DeAguero, appeared as “the Health Man” in nationally televised infomercials, claiming that his program cured him within weeks of skin and breast cancer without the need for surgery or other treatments. Advertising for the program allegedly claimed that it also effectively prevented, treated, and cured many other diseases, including AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and arthritis, and that it safely caused rapid and substantial weight loss. The defendants allegedly also claimed that their product, Parasine 2, was “clinically proven” to eliminate parasites and worms, including tapeworms. The FTC alleged that their claims were false or unsupported by reliable scientific studies, in violation of the FTC Act.

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LOL – Muscletech just bit the dust in a patent-infringement case against BSN – thanks to a supplement ad in Flex Magazine – from June, 1996.  According to Judith Grubner of Nutrisuplaw.com:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit just applied this provision to invalidate patent claims for a nutritional supplement method to enhance muscle performance or recovery from muscle fatigue, based on an advertisement for Weider’s VICTORY™ Professional Protein published in the June 1996 issue Flex Magazine.

Iovate Health Sciences, Inc. [the parent company of Muscletech] is the exclusive license holder of U.S. Patent No. 6,100,287 (the “’287 Patent”), owned by the University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc. The patent claimed a method for enhancing muscle performance or recovery from fatigue involving certain kinds of ketoacids and amino acids.  Iovate and the Foundation sued Bio-Engineered Supplements & Nutrition, Inc. (“BSN”) for infringing certain claims of the ‘287 patent.  BSN countered that the patent claims were invalid because the Flex ad was published before the critical date and was detailed enough to teach a “person skilled in the art” how to practice the method claimed in the patent.  The judge agreed, invalidating those patent claims.

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As the title implies, I have some pretty mixed feelings about the Center for Science in the Public Interest. 

I love the organization for the way it exposes corporate bad behavior.  The CSPI’s recent press release about Nickelodeon is a case in point:

WASHINGTON—Despite its public statements and pledges to help combat childhood obesity, the overwhelming majority of foods marketed by the children’s media giant Nickelodeon are of poor nutritional quality, according to an analysis conducted by the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest.

…CSPI reviewed 28 hours of children’s television programming on Nickelodeon, during which 819 commercials and public service announcements were shown. Of the 185 food ads, 177 had nutrition information available, and 138, or 78 percent, of those were for foods of poor nutritional quality, including Apple Jacks, Cookie Crisp cereal, Airhead candy, artificial fruit-flavored snacks, and Chuck E. Cheese’s, where 89 percent of its menu items are nutritionally poor. Some of the healthier foods advertised included yogurts and pasta.

Similarly, 77 percent, or 24 of 31 food ads published in Nickelodeon magazine were for junk foods like SweetTarts, Gummy Bugs, Laffy Taffy, Yogos Bits, or Burger King meals. During the study period, three fast-food restaurants were running tie-ins with Viacom, Nickelodeon’s corporate parent: McDonald’s with The Spiderwick Chronicles, Subway with The Naked Brothers Band, and Chuck E. Cheese’s with Bee Movie.

I have to hand it to the CSPI: nobody does it better. Just looking at that list makes me kinda queasy… so much of the stuff marketed to kids is uniformly awful.  Nickelodeon deserves to have its corporate toes held to the fire.

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