The Number 1 Nutrition Mistake That You Can Make

by Brad Pilon

I can still remember back to when I was writing Eat Stop Eat. I had
just finished my major literature review on the benefits of short
term fasting for weight loss and was eager to share what I had
found with the rest of the world.

My goal was a simple one. To explain the scientific literature
carefully and thoroughly so I could help people understand that
today's obsessive compulsive approach to nutrition is simply NOT
NEEDED.

Well its almost two years later, and I'm starting to think that I
didn't quite get my message across the way I wanted too.

Sure, more people than ever are are following Eat Stop Eat. And,
more people then ever are seeing amazing weight loss results
because of Eat Stop Eat.

But there are also many people who are now following a low-carb
diet, cycling their calories, timing their protein, eating 17 times
a day, only eating protein with fat (never carbs) AND following Eat Stop Eat

This was not what I had envisioned. I was hoping to help people
break free from this craziness. OR, as the psycho looking
infomercial lady with the blonde spikey hair used to say "STOP THE
INSANITY".

For the vast majority of us (myself included) simply eating the way
we normally do, following a resistance training workout program and
fasting once or twice a week using the Eat Stop Eat method will
over time result in dramatic weight loss results.

You may need to change the way you eat during your eating days if
you are preparing to get your body fat levels temporarily down to
dangerously low levels because you are competing in a bodybuilding
or fitness pageant, then , but again for
most of us, simply eating in a stress free way that has a hint of
responsibility will be enough.

Now I will admit that for health purposes, many of us would benefit
from eating less sugar and more healthy fats. And I completely
agree with the statement that fruits and vegetables are good for
your health. But the rest of the pill-popping, protein
shake-drinking portion-measuring food-avoiding dogma that goes
along with what we believe to be "healthy eating" is complete and
utter nonsense.

In my opinion its time to not only give up on this trend of OCE
(Obesseive compulsive eating), but to actually start raging against
it.

I think OCE is the number one nutrition mistake that you can make.
Take a look at these OCE diet plans that appear in all the
magazines. They will work because they reduce calories, but really,
are they healthy? Is 8 weeks of egg whites and cauliflower good for
you? Not just your physical health, but psychologically? If you eat
a brownie, should you actually feel disgusted with yourself? I hope
your answer is no to all of these questions.

You have enough stress in your life that worrying about some super
complicated way of eating shouldn't be one of them. Sure these
methods may make you lose weight (because they lower your
calories), but if there are easier, less complicated and still
highly effective methods, then why bother?

Weight loss shouldn't come at the expense of your sanity. There is a
better way, and in my opinion it's Eat Stop Eatt method.

Please remember that the information in my emails is based on my personal experiences and interpretation of available research. It is not medical advice and I am not a medical doctor.
If you have any health issues or concerns please consult with your physician.
StrengthWorks Inc, 72 Fellowes Cr, Waterdown, On L0R2H3, CANADA

Good Nutrition, Healthy Skin

Healthy Glow

By Lisa Mosing, MS, RD, FADA
for eDiets

Everyone is seeking health and vitality. Skin is no exception and we want healthy glowing skin. Good nutrition and healthy skin often go hand in hand. Although it will not prevent the evolutionary process of aging skin, you can shine from within from healthy eating.

Eating foods causes the nutrients to be absorbed into the body. In addition, eating health promoting foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and unsaturated fats found in natural foods like olive oil and fatty fish. Many medical professionals also suggest drinking plenty of water. Another option is making sure you have the right supplement program. However, eating "fun, pleasurable foods" like chocolate will not cause acne.

If you have ever suffered from acne, you know that many creams contain a form of vitamin A. Although oral supplements of vitamin A have been shown to help prevent skin cancer and treat acne, the potential for liver toxicity of the large doses required, makes the topical creams the best avenue for many physicians. Scientists have also been exploring whether topical nutrients may help slow the aging process. Today, you can find many anti-aging creams that have antioxidants that may be helpful when applied outside the human body.

The focus has been on antioxidants since they can provide protection against the sun and other environmental damage. Antioxidants are found in many vitamins, minerals and other phytochemicals, which protect against the harmful effects of free radicals that can damage cell membranes. Moreover, antioxidant nutrients, such as vitamins C and E, and phytonutrients have associated with reduced risk of diseases. Since your skin provides a protective barrier, enhance your protection with a good nutritional defense plan. Scientific studies have also shown that individuals that have a history of skin cancer who ate a lower fat diet had reduced rates of further precancerous and cancerous skin growths than those people who ate a higher fat diet.

Further benefits of a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, yogurt, legumes, eggs, vegetable oils, whole grains, tea and water was seen in a study of individuals over 70 years of age living in three European countries. Those who ate these foods had less photo-aging and skin wrinkling than those who ate a diet primarily of red meat, whole milk, butter, sugared products and potatoes.

Until more is known, choose foods and supplements that help prevent skin cancer, photo-aging and wrinkles. Besides the recommendations to stay out of the sun, wear sunscreen daily when outdoors and stop smoking. We also suggest that you drink plenty of water. Nutritionally, your best protection is with a family diet full of plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, fish and nuts and Smart Supplementation.

Eggs: The Hard Boiled Facts

By Shawn McKee
eDiets Contributor

Brothers and sisters, I am here to speak out against the treatment of a certain group that for years has been broken, beaten and battered on a daily basis. There have been lies spread, assumptions made and names called. It’s time that eggs got the respect and attention they deserve.

With names like eggs Benedict (a name synonymous with a treasonous turncoat) and even more blatant anti-egg sentiments like “deviled” eggs, it’s easy to see that there’s a substantial amount of egg defamation occurring in this country.

It's time to bring these egg injustices to light, to tell the truth about America’s big breakfast bargain, and put to rest some of the rumors that have plagued the egg.

The reputation of the egg was first cracked in the 1960s when researchers initially made the connection between heart disease and high cholesterol levels in the blood. The American Heart Association (AHA) set a limit for daily cholesterol intake at 300 mg a day (less if you have heart disease) and suggested avoiding the consumption of egg yolks.

An egg has about 215 mg of cholesterol, which nearly exhausts a person’s daily allowance for cholesterol, so it made sense to avoid egg yolks as that is where the cholesterol dwells. However, this anti-egg effort was based on the logical-but-false assumption that cholesterol in food converted directly into cholesterol levels in the blood.

An egg is high in cholesterol, but all that cholesterol does not go directly to your bloodstream and arteries. Actually in healthy people only a small amount of the cholesterol in food passes directly into the blood. In fact, most of the cholesterol that circulates in the blood is created by the liver in response to saturated and trans fats in the diet.

That’s no yolk.

In a classic study by Harvard cardiologist Paul Dudley White that dates back to 1950, the experiment shows the amount of cholesterol in food generally has a small impact on cholesterol in the blood.

The largest study to analyze the impact of egg consumption on heart disease found no connection between the two. Almost 120,000 initially healthy men and women were tracked, and those who ate one or more eggs a day were no more likely to have had a heart attack, stroke or to have died of cardiovascular disease over a 14-year study period than those who ate less than one egg per week. (People with diabetes who regularly consumed eggs were more likely to develop heart disease than their egg abstaining counterparts.)

The Hardboiled Facts
Since the nasty rumors that have been circulating about this oblate spheroid (fancy math lingo for egg-shaped) turned out to crack under pressure, the question then becomes: What’s so great about eggs?

Eggs are inexpensive and loaded with nutritional benefits. For about a dime, an egg has 6 grams of protein, healthful unsaturated fats, key vitamins and minerals such as iron and riboflavin, and it is low in saturated fats and free of trans fats. Eggs are also a good source of choline, which has been linked with preserving memory, and lutein and zeaxanthin, which may protect against vision loss.

One little egg is packed with essential amino acids and protein. In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations classifies eggs as the highest protein source available.

If you still must be cautious in your cholesterol consumption due to diabetes or a previous condition but want a cheap source of protein, try using one whole egg and two whites in your omelet. This will greatly reduce the cholesterol in the eggs, but maintain the high protein levels (over half of the protein in eggs is in the white).

Now that you know eggs-actly what you’re getting in your omelet, spread the word about this often misunderstood food. Maybe it’s the mysterious origins of the egg or just a lack of information available to the public, but -- either way -- it’s time to stand up for a food that was laid down only to be scrambled up.

Looking for a fresh and easy way to diet? Try eDiets DeliciouslyYours meal delivery plan (now available in a convenient 5-day Weekends Off plan)! Tantalizing food, mouth-watering menus, effortless weight loss -- it works great because it tastes great!

Shawn McKee graduated from the University of Oklahoma
with a BA in Journalism and has written for
The Broward and Miami New Times.

Labeling Lies

By Susan Burke MS, RD, LD/N, CDE
eDiets Contributor

When I go shopping, I purposely stride the grocery store aisles, determined not to be scammed. I long-ago learned that food labels lie. I used to choose based on the pretty pictures on the label, but it's all too easy to wind up with food better destined for the garbage bin than your pantry. Does that sound harsh? Perhaps, but many of the worst offenders are targeted at those least able to defend themselves -- children! Adults who don't know any better buy the stuff, and serve it to their families. It's no wonder childhood obesity has tripled in only the past 10 years.

Parents -- don't trust the labels! Read the ingredient label first, to discover the truth.

The Label: Fruit in Fruit Flavored Cereals, Snacks, Soda:
The Lie: Most Contain Not Fruit: There is no real fruit in most fruit flavored cereals, for example Froot Loops, Fruity Pebbles cereal, or Trix. Most juice “drinks" contain less than 10 percent fruit juice—the rest is water with sugar and flavorings. When parents have to choose between a fruit-flavored cereal and a chocolate-flavored cereal, they may sigh and think, “It has fruit, so it's better than chocolate, right?" Wrong. It is not better. For example, Fruity Pebbles cereal contains (in this order) rice, sugar, 'polydextrose' (anything that ends in 'ose' means sugar) and the fourth ingredient is hydrogenated oil (saturated fat). Breakfast cereals contain no fresh fruit but some do contain dried or dehydrated fruit. Most have only fruit flavoring. Although some kids' cereals have labels touting “fortified with 10 essential vitamins and minerals", there are much better breakfast cereals, including Total, Wheaties, and mini whole wheat shredded wheats.
Betty Crocker fruit-flavored snacks, including Fruit Roll-Ups, Fruit Gushers, Fruit by the Foot and Fruit Shapesare advertised as “a favorite among moms and kids". Well, excuse me, what kid isn't gonna love candy? They are merely sugar, flavorings and colors—just candy. Watch kids in the shopping aisle with Mom, nagging, "ook, Mom—the package says “A good source of vitamin C!" "ook Mom, it's got pictures of Shrek on it…gimme!" “Mom! There are pictures of berries and says "ow fat"'. Few Moms can compete with “Shrek". General Mills was contacted three times to get the scoop on the ingredients “pears from concentrate" or “grapes from concentrate", as well as “dried corn syrup". We're still waiting to hear. Perhaps the fruit is resurrected fruit from processed fruit juice. “Fruit juice concentrate" is commonly used as a sweetener (juice is processed to remove the fiber and produce fructose).
The Label: Calorie-burning drinks
The Lie: Caffeine and green tea (more caffeine). Enviga, an artificially sweetened carbonated soft drink spiked with green tea extract and caffeine is touted by Coca-Cola and Nestle as a “calorie burner" and weight loss aid. According the the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, the claims listed by Coke are fraudulent, and soon after the product's release CSPI filed suit. They claim Enviga is “just a highly caffeinated and over-priced diet soda, and is exactly the kind of faddy, phony diet aid it claims not to be." At the same time, the Connecticut attorney general is investigating the drink, saying the marketing might amount to "voodoo nutrition." You would have to drink three 12-ounce drinks daily for the 106-calorie burn, and at $1.50 per can, you'd pay $350 to lose one pound. Guess what? Take one 20-minute walk daily and eliminate just one 12-ounce can of sweetened soda or fruit juice daily, and lose 26 pounds per year.
The Label: Whole Grain Goodness
The Lie: The cereal has too much sugar. Yes, whole grain is better for you than enriched, that's for sure. But, when cereal manufacturers slap a “whole grain" label on chocolate-flavored cereals or candy-coated cereal bars they imply that the product is somehow good for you. General Mills says all their cereals are “whole grain". What they don't tell you is that many of the same cereals have more sugar per serving by weight than grain. For instance, take a look at the ingredient label for Cocoa Puffs. Corn (whole grain corn meal) is the first ingredient, but the second is sugar, the third corn syrup, and the fourth corn starch. The truth is, a really “good for you" cereal has whole grain cereal without all the added sugar. Since when is breakfast supposed to look like dessert?
The Label: Natural Food
The Lie: Natural may not always be 'healthy' or work for your diet. OK, you want to eat healthier, so when you shop for yogurt, you look for “natural". Flip that container over and read the ingredients, because “natural" doesn't necessarily mean good for you. The FDA requires foods carrying the “healthy" label to fit specific criteria, namely low in fat and saturated fat and contain limited amounts of cholesterol and sodium. But the FDA doesn't regulate sugar. In the case of yogurt, you need to be especially vigilant. For instance, the front label on Dannon's new 'All Natural Yogurt' says, “No Artificial Anything". The first ingredient is—low fat milk. Good deal—yogurt should be made from milk, and low fat, well—that's great, we buy only low fat or nonfat yogurt. But, the second ingredient is sugar; and the third ingredient is strawberry puree. That means there's more sugar by weight than strawberries. Potato chips labeled “natural" have just as many calories and grams of fat per serving as conventional; “natural" granola is just as high in sugar, fat and calories as your usual brand. Buy plain nonfat yogurt and stir in some fresh blueberries and, if you like, a teaspoon of honey. That's 'natural' and nutritious, too.
The Label: Energy (as in 'energy-boosting; energy drink)
The Lie: 'Energy' means either calories, caffeine, or both. In “power bars"; snack bars; or meal replacement bars—'energy' means calories. Bars are calorie-dense, and pack a lot of calories into a small package, exactly what you don't want if you're trying to lose weight. A better strategy is more food for fewer calories, not a lot of calories for a smaller portion of food. There are hundreds of bars in the market, and most contain a lot of sugar, even chocolate candy. The ones coated with chocolate are especially egregious, and generally contain hydrogenated fat. If you want 'power' try my favorite portable snack. It's got no preservatives, additives or flavorings and it has lots of protein, fiber, and energy too (that's calories, remember?). It's an ounce of almonds, an ounce of raisins and an ounce of Whole Wheat Mini Wheats.
The makers of "Red Bull Energy Drink" tell consumers that this concoction is NOT a fluid-replacer. Each slim 8-ounce can has as much caffeine as in a cup of strong brewed coffee (about 80 milligrams) and about 110 calories. Besides caffeine, the “energy" in Red Bull comes from glucuronolactone, a carbohydrate found in plant gums and red wine, plus about two teaspoons of sugar. Red Bull also contains taurine (an amino acid) and B-vitamins, but the manufacturers don't have any clinical studies that support claims for energy. Energy bars and drinks will give your wallet a workout, but for sustained energy without added sugar stay hydrated with water, and eat an orange for fructose, potassium and fiber.

About Fat Loss In 2008

Here Are The Scientific Facts About Fat Loss In 2008
By line: By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training

SCIENCE FACT: The fat loss workout exercises you read about in muscle mags from the 80's and 90's are based on out-of-date exercise science and nutrition information.

SCIENCE FACT: Exercise science has advanced by leaps and bounds just in the last two decades. The latest fat loss research, which Turbulence Training is based on, allows you to lose more fat while keeping your hard-earned muscle, and doing so with less time working out than ever before.

SCIENCE FACT: Fat loss programs that require you to do endless hours of long, slow, boring cardio exercises will rarely help you achieve your fat loss goals and may lead to over use injuries.

SCIENCE FACT: You need to use more advanced, modern training methods, such as Turbulence Training Intervals, to help you burn more calories in and out of the gym. With Turbulence Training cardio exercise, you will skyrocket your post-workout metabolism allowing you to burn almost twice as many calories as you would with traditional cardio workouts.

SCIENCE FACT: Traditional fat burning exercise programs typically don't even mention strength training muscle exercise in their instructions, because most trainers and clients don't understand how resistance training will help fat loss. Even if your fat loss program does recommend strength training, it's likely that you've been told to use the ineffective and outdated method of high reps and low weight (which does NOT burn fat!).

SCIENCE FACT: If you want to maximize your metabolism, and get defined arms, abs, and legs, then you must include strength training in your fat loss workout exercises. High intensity strength training muscle exercise with the Turbulence Training system helps protect your lean muscle mass, which you are almost certain to lose on traditional diet and exercise programs

These are the facts. The research simply does not lie. The way you are currently training is probably not only getting you less than satisfactory results, but may actually be causing overuse injuries, or even catabolic muscle loss.

About the Author

Learn about the "Dark Side of Cardio" in the free report from Craig Ballantyne at Turbulence Training. Craig is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training

Post-workout meals from the Gourmet Nutrition

Post-workout vs. any time meals

Gourmet Nutrition: The Cookbook for the Fit Food Lover

Gourmet Nutrition: The Cookbook for the Fit Food Lover. Want to learn how to combine the science of nutrition with the art of cooking? Want to build a high performance body while eating great tasting food? Then try our brand new book, Gourmet Nutrition 2.0! We've come up with nearly 300 pages and over 120 recipes to show you how to build the body you never thought you could have by eating food you never thought you could eat.
Find out more about Gourmet Nutrition.

Dr. John M Berardi
PhD, CSCS
Precision Nutrition.

You'll notice, then, that all the meals in this book, and all the meals in the cookbook
contained in Precision Nutrition, are designated as either post-workout or any time meals.
The designation is listed right under the title of the recipe, so you'll be able to tell at a
glance what type of meal it is. Remember, post-workout meals are for the two to three
hours after intense exercise, while any time meals are for, well, any time. Want more of
the carb-containing post-workout desserts? Well, drag your butt to the gym!

Now go forth and eat Peach Mango Cobbler

Are You a Diet Addict?

The holiday season is a good time to critically evaluate where you are on the dieting spectrum. Find out how to get off the starvation/binge roller coaster...

by Janet Lepke, RD, CSP, CDE, LDN
for DietWatch

On the seductive path of dieting, supermodel wannabes, tortured souls, bruised self-esteems, and a living ambivalence toward food and body image (among others) all point the fickle finger of fate toward food restraint. Innocently intended, most of these efforts turn into tributaries flowing toward the river of disordered eating or eating disorders. And why not? Swift currents of white-knuckled food denial, neglect of hunger, and reframed unhappiness ("It's because I am fat...") quickly add up to the starvation/binge roller coaster and a wild ride of ups and downs, assuaged only by another dieting or purging effort. The result? Diet addiction.

The Cost of a Diet: More Than a VISA Swipe

"I'll just do this diet for a couple of weeks to get a jump start..." "My girlfriend is doing it and she looks great..." "THIS time I will stick with the diet - I just need more willpower..."

Sound familiar? Attractive diets, unfortunately, undermine the surface effort to lose weight and "feel better,” because they reinforce original injuries, including unmet needs, guilt, anxiety, and depression, to name just a few. In addition, the financial and emotional costs compound as efforts rise to meet standards presented in the media (most are unrealistic), exercise compulsion fuels perfectionism, and slowly but surely, an eating disorder rears its ugly head.

Regardless of the diet, shtick, or piece of equipment, the urgency to deny yourself a specific food or work a specific part of your body to be "OK" is a set-up for a crash. The problem is not your willpower, your results compared to a friend's, or the timeline for a particular program; it is the attachment of your self-esteem to the outcome of the latest and greatest diet fad.

Myths of the Madness

Myth: "I can make my body look exactly the way I want it to look." Fact: You were born with a specific body type, just as you have a specific eye color. A diet is as unlikely to change your body type as it is to change your eye color. Temporary fluid or muscle/fat losses will bounce back to the set point at which your body is programmed (the weight and size genetically pre-determined).
Myth: "My lack of willpower has caused me to fail diets." Fact: Your body's basic needs for calories and moderate exercise have caused the failure. Deprivation of basic nutritional needs leads to cravings and bingeing because the body is biochemically imbalanced in a semi-starved or totally starved state, and it wants to be fed.
Myth: "If the diet worked for my girlfriend, it should work for me." Fact: You don't know your girlfriend's metabolism, nutritional needs, and most importantly, psychological underpinnings and motives for dieting in the first place, do you? If the diet works for her, there may be more cause for concern than competition.
Myth: "If I just cut out carbs/protein/fat (pick one), I will lose weight." Fact: You need all food groups in balance to maintain body functioning and normal exercise requirements.
Myth: “I can prevent my body from gaining more weight after age 30 (40, 50), etc..." Fact: Your body will normally gain weight throughout the lifecycle. During menopause, it is normal for women to gain anywhere from 10-20 pounds with hormonal changes and subsequent metabolic adjustments.
Myth: "Eating disorders only happen to crazy people." Fact: If you are dieting, you are on your way to an eating disorder or disordered eating behaviors.
Myth: "If I don't diet but just exercise a lot, I am not doing anything unusual." Fact: The diagnosis "Anorexia Athletica" is designed for this syndrome — excessive exercise in the pursuit of thinness. The absence of a diet does not necessarily change motives; you have basically changed seats on the Titanic.

Truth be told, diets may look glamorous on the outside, but may cost a lot on the inside. For some, the dieting addiction works without consequences (at least, not for now) and provides results for the annoying weight problem. For others, fad diets are another rung on the ladder of despair. If you are not sure which is true for you, get off the ladder, seek the help of a Registered Dietitian, and decide for yourself: Is the diet worth it?

Janet Lepke, RD, CSP, CDE, LDN, is a journalist, author, and president and owner of Nutrition Network, a nutrition company in Charlotte. Lepke specializes in counseling and communications in the areas of eating disorders, weight management, and the non-diet approach to nutrition therapy.

Thanksgiving Food's Good for Your Brain!

By Hara Estroff Marano
Special for eDiets

It's that time of year again -- a time where some of us consume as many as 3,000 calories in one sitting. Yikes! Instead of starting the holiday season with a caloric surplus, follow these basic tips and avoid the extra weight.

Thanksgiving's upon us! The eating season is about to begin in earnest.

This may come as a surprise to you, but some of the foods most likely to enliven the holiday table are good for your heart and brain. As a matter of fact, generally speaking, what's good for your heart is also good for your brain.

Why do it alone? eDiets' health and fitness experts will customize one of our 23 meal plans to match your needs and preferences. Click here to learn more.

From stuffing and cranberries to red wine and hot chocolate, and even that last sip of coffee, many traditional dishes can boost blood flow to your most oxygen-hungry organs. These foods can preserve and even enhance mood, memory and other mental functions. Call them brain savers!

Take stuffing. Turkey's traditional Thanksgiving partner -- what makes turkey interesting at all to most people -- is it is rich in antioxidants. Bread crust is packed with them, far more so than the less chewy inside of bread.

Antioxidants are premiere disease-fighters and anti-aging agents. They are compounds that scavenge free radicals of oxygen, unstable molecules given off by the body's many metabolic actions. Free radicals are thought to be responsible for making cholesterol harmful to arteries and the heart -- and for impairing memory and movement with age. They are particularly drawn to the fat-rich membranes of nerve cells through which all brain activity takes place. They are implicated in immune dysfunction and in cataracts and macular degeneration of the eyes.

The body manufactures some antioxidants, although the brain needs to import those it needs from outside. Under conditions of stress, the body's ability to produce antioxidants is impaired. Fruits and vegetables are the richest source of antioxidants.

Cranberries virtually top the list of antioxidant-rich foods. Scientists recently developed a way of measuring the antioxidant content of foods, called ORAC, for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. Cranberries outpulled some highly touted antioxidant rich goodies, including strawberries, spinach, raspberries, broccoli, beets, red grapes and cherries, among 11 others. High-ORAC food may help slow the aging process in both body and brain. Most Americans average about 1,670 ORAC units daily. Increasing fruit and vegetable intake can double antioxidant activity. One cup of blueberries -- first cousin to the cranberry -- alone supplies 3,200 ORAC units.

Studies in animals suggest that cranberries are particularly neuro-protective, good at protecting against chronic age-related afflictions like loss of coordination and memory. They protect brain cells from the free-radical damage that normally occurs over time, thereby preserving cognitive and motor functions.

Compared with animals fed a standard diet, aging animals given cranberries showed actual improvements in normal age-related declines in working memory, reference memory, balance and coordination. They were able to keep on learning.

The antioxidants in cranberries belong to a group of chemicals called phenols. The strongest of these, and most extensively studied, are procyanidins and anthocyanidins, which give cranberries and blueberries their deep color. They seem to be particularly adept at turning off a brain enzyme (xanthine oxidase) that actually stimulates the creation of free radicals of oxygen.

But there are many other antioxidants in cranberries, and they are just now coming under scrutiny for their function. Researchers increasingly believe the combinations of nutrients found in food are more protective than individual nutrients taken alone.

One antioxidant compound in cranberries actually helps ward off urinary tract infections. It actually blocks some harmful bacteria from attaching to the cells lining the urinary tract.

Cranberries are so powerful in preserving brain function, researchers recently found, that by their antioxidant action they can reduce the severity of brain impairment following strokes. They protect against the brain cell damage that usually occurs in the early stages after a stroke. Exposure to a concentration of cranberry extract equivalent to about half a cup of whole cranberries resulted in a 50 percent reduction in brain cell death.

And, go ahead, finish it all off with a cup or two of coffee. Researchers have recently identified a new antioxidant in coffee that is particularly potent in preventing colon cancer.

Or, savor a cup of hot cocoa. Made with about two tablespoons of pure cocoa powder, it tops both red wine and tea in antioxidant power -- two times more than red wine, two to three times more than green tea and up to five times more than black tea. Something about heating the cocoa brings out the antioxidants in it!

Abandoning your unhealthy habits and adopting a more healthy lifestyle can improve your mood and self-esteem? eDiets can help you get started. With 23 incredible diets for you to choose from, we can customize a plan to suit YOUR needs. Click HERE for a free profile.

Hara Estroff Marano is Editor-At-Large of Psychology Today magazine and Editor-In-Chief of Psychology Today's Blues Buster, a newsletter about depression. An award-winning writer on human behavior, Hara's articles have appeared in publications including the New York Times, Smithsonian, Family Circle and The Ladies Home Journal. She lives in New York City.

Is Your Exercise Routine Keeping You Fat & Unhealthy?

Hi, it's Mike here from Truth About Abs

I just had a quick article today that my colleague Rob Poulos contributed, and wanted to share with you. This explores whether your exercise routines are actually counterproductive to the results you want to get.

Is Your Exercise Routine Keeping You Fat & Unhealthy?

by Rob Poulos, founder of Fat Burning Furnace

The majority of exercisers today still rely on long duration moderate paced aerobic exercise as their primary routine to burn fat fast. But recent studies have shown that this is a big, I mean big mistake .

In fact, you could say that the whole aerobics explosion of a few decades past was one of the biggest mistakes in the health and fitness industry. Why?

There are several reasons, but I'll focus on the two main issues here. When you exercise at a moderate pace for extended periods of time (as in the typically recommended percent of your target heart rate), your body is burning fat during the exercise.

While this may sound good, it's actually bad news. This sends a signal to your body to keep a certain amount of stored fat available for your next workout. You're essentially telling it that it needs fat available to burn, ‘because you'll be doing this exercise again.

So while we may be burning some calories during this exercise, after the exercise is over, our body begins storing up some fat for the next workout. Obviously not what we're looking for in terms of maximum ability to burn fat fast.

The other big concern with moderately paced aerobic exercise performed several times per week is that it trains your body (heart, lungs, muscles, etc.) to become efficient. Again, this may sound good, but what is actually happening is bad for long term health.

You are working only within your existing aerobic limits, without improving your aerobic capacity. This is important because your aerobic capacity is what determines how your body responds in times of physical, emotional, and mental stress.

If you reduce your capacity for work, as you do in this type of exercise, you're reducing your long term health, no to mention a poor chance of burning fat.

The good news is, you can reverse these effects by instead focusing your workouts on high intensity resistance training, with workouts that last 15-20 minutes on average, and can only be performed 2-3 times per week. These workouts will burn carbohydrates instead of fat during the workout, and will cause your body to use its fat stores to replenish the burned carbs over the next 24 hours, after the workout is done!

This type of work will also increase your reserve capacity and thus your ability to handle all types of stress, leading to lasting health and fitness...and 24/7 fat burning. Nice!

But the exercise must be performed correctly to be effective, and that means using sufficient intensity, and keeping your rest periods between exercises and sets down to 60 seconds or less.

The students of my Fat Burning Furnace know this, and are reaping the benefits. When you think about how little time you have to spend compared to the typically recommended methods to get these fat burning and health creating results, it's almost magical.

Check out the free gift "7 Forbidden Secrets of Fat Loss" Report that Rob is giving away.

That about it for today. Hope you're having a great one!

Don't forget to check out the EFA Icon Krill oil at natural. getprograde. com which is a major improvement upon normal fish oil. As if fish oil wasn't good enough already, this EFA Icon Krill oil has been tested as having 47x more antioxidant protection than normal fish oil.

Stay lean,

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - Truth About Abs

Do you know your fats?

Good Fats vs. Bad Fats

From eDiets

USDA Fat Recommendations
The U.S. government changed the recommendations for their Dietary Guidelines. The old guidelines had fat way up top of the pyramid, in the narrowest part, next to sugar. Fat was to be kept to a minimum, which made consumers think that all fats are bad. However, some actually help lower cholesterol and prevent disease, leading the USDA to change the fat recommendation.

They've flipped the pyramid on its side, so that consumers understand that within the fat category, some fats should be included regularly, but others should only be eaten occasionally, if at all.

Good Fats/Bad Fats
Populations who eat their fat calories from nuts, seeds, olive and canola oil, avocado and fatty fish like salmon, sardine and mackerel remain healthier than those who eat a lot of fried foods, fatty meat and hydrogenated fats in packaged foods.

Fat tastes good, and makes food taste good. But, since fat has twice the calories of protein and carbohydrate, most people can't eat it indiscriminately. Fat needs to be fine-tuned, especially when you're trying to lose weight on a balanced program.

Take this quiz to see how much you know about fat.

1. The US Dietary Guidelines recommend what percentage of calories from saturated fat?

a. 0 percent
b. 5 percent or less
c. 10 percent or less
d. 25 percent or less

2. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend less than how many milligrams of cholesterol per day?

a. 100
b. 200
c. 300
d. 400

3. What is trans-fat?

a. Liquid oil that's solid at room temperature
b. Fat that's made from soybean oil
c. Fat that's gender challenged

4. What foods contain omega-3 fatty acids? (choose all that apply)

a. Salmon
b. Walnuts
c. Flaxseed
d. Canola oil

5. The USDA recommends what percentage of calories comes from total fat?

a. 0-5 percent
b. 5-10 percent
c. 10-15 percent
d. 20-35 percent

6. What fats will are listed on the new Nutrition Facts Label?

a. Monounsaturated fat, trans-fat and polyunsaturated fat
b. Polyunsaturated fat, cholesterol and trans-fat
c. Saturated fat, cholesterol and trans-fat
d. Trans-fat, cholesterol and monounsaturated fat

7. Which group of foods contains trans-fat? (you may choose more than one category)

a. crackers, cookies, cake
b. butter, cheese, yogurt
c. meat, chicken, fish
d. margarine, shortening, French fries

8. If you're trying to avoid trans-fat, you should avoid...?

a. Red meat
b. Packaged foods
c. Popcorn
d. Fast food

9. How does trans-fat affect blood cholesterol?

a. Raises the "good" HDL and lowers the "bad" LDL
b. Raises the "good" HDL and raises the "bad" LDL
c. Lowers the "good" HDL and raises the "bad" LDL

10. True or False: "Fat-free" means it's lower in calories.

Answers:

1. C.
Too much saturated fat, found in whole milk dairy, marbled beef and the skin of poultry contributes to high blood cholesterol. Choose nonfat or low-fat dairy, skinless poultry and lean cuts of meat.

2. C.
According to the American Heart Association, humans need cholesterol to form cell membranes and some hormones. But a high level of cholesterol in the blood is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack. Research shows that foods containing dietary cholesterol including shrimp and egg yolks have less effect on blood cholesterol than formerly believed.

3. A.
According to the FDA, the majority of trans-fat is formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine by a process called hydrogenation. A small amount of trans-fat is found naturally, primarily in some animal-based foods.

4. All contain omega-3s... but differently. The FDA allows a qualified health claim for reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) for foods that contain eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) omega-3 fatty acids, found primarily in oily cold-water fish such as tuna, salmon, and mackerel. Dark green leafy vegetables, walnuts, flaxseed oils, and certain vegetable oils contain a third omega-3, called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).

5. D.
Keep total fat intake between 20 to 35 percent of calories, with most fats coming from sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, olives and olive oil, avocado and vegetable oils.

6. All of these are now listed.

7. All these foods contain trans-fat, although in differing amounts. The products containing the most trans-fat are commercially made cookies, cakes, crackers, icing, potato chips, margarine and microwave popcorn. Snack foods are high in trans-fats. Fast food is generally fried in hydrogenated fat, and is full of trans-fat. Animal products, including meats, chicken and even fish contain small amounts.

8. D.
Actually, most restaurants, including fast-food outlets, fry in hydrogenated oil. But packaged foods, movie theater popcorn and microwave popcorn contain hydrogenated fat (that’s why I love my hot air popper) and even red meat contains some trans- fat. Some manufacturers are already replacing trans fat, or hydrogenated fat. Consumers can read the ingredient label and not buy foods with hydrogenated fat. Since restaurants are not required to label, consumers need to be proactive and ask questions.

9. C.
Saturated fat contributes to raising "bad" LDL cholesterol but the "good" HDL cholesterol is unaffected. Trans-fat is double-trouble, raising LDL and decreasing the beneficial HDL cholesterol.

10. False.
Be a smart consumer. Just because the new product is labeled "trans-fat-free" doesn't make it calorie-free. Manufacturers often add other ingredients, including sugar, to replace the texture when fat is eliminated. When manufacturers labeled cookies "fat-free," consumers interpreted it as a license to eat. Some health experts link the "fat-free" craze of the '70s and '80s to increased obesity. Read the label to first learn the portion size, so you can compare products; then read the total calories per serving, and make your choice from there.

Finally, remember fat's good points:

A major source of energy for the body

Aids in the absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K, and carotenoids

Important for proper growth, development, and maintenance of good health

Provides taste, consistency, and stability and helps us feel full

Some high-fat foods including olives and olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds, and fatty fish contain important vitamins and minerals and omega-3 fatty acids, immune enhancing fats.

Nutritionist Susan L. Burke (for eDiets) is a registered and licensed dietitian and a certified diabetes educator who specializes in both general and diabetes-related weight management

Fresh Herb & Quinoa Salad With Garden Tomatoes

From South Beach Diet

Tomatoes are at the height of their season from summer to fall. During these months, farmers' markets boast an abundance of juicy, sun-ripened tomatoes by the barrel or basket. And if the taste of this colorful fruit isn't enough to sway you, consider this: Tomatoes are rich in lycopene, a powerfulcarotenoid that may help to prevent heart disease and cancer, especially prostate cancer. Incorporate a few tasty, cancer-kicking tomatoes into your next meal with this recipe.

Serves 2, with leftover quinoa

Description
Quinoa is a high-fiber grain that's loaded with protein. More good news: You can find it in your local supermarket or health food store, and it cooks in 6 minutes! Here we've substituted quinoa for bulgur in a version of the zesty Middle Eastern salad, tabbouleh.

Ingredients
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup quinoa
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 scallions (white and light green parts), thinly sliced
1 small cucumber, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons lightly packed fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
3 large beefsteak tomatoes, preferably a mixture of red and yellow
2 oz low-fat feta cheese

Instructions
1. In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil over high heat. Add quinoa and a pinch of salt; bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer about 6 minutes, until nearly all the water is absorbed and quinoa is tender and chewy but not soft.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine juice, oil, salt, and pepper. Fold in quinoa, scallions, cucumber, and herbs. Toss until thoroughly coated. Season to taste as desired.
3. Thinly slice tomatoes. Arrange on serving plates. Spoon about 1 cup quinoa over tomatoes. Crumble feta on top. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information:
350 calories
14 g total fat (4 g sat)
10 mg cholesterol
47 g carbohydrate
15 g protein
7 g fiber
410 mg sodium

Quinoa Cooking Tip

Now that you're in the quinoa club, don't forget this important step before you start cooking: Give this healthy grain a good rinse. ...

Quinoa: a "supergrain" with as much quality ...

If you've never heard of quinoa, you're missing out! This "supergrain" is full of zinc and iron and has as much quality protein as milk! ...

Quinoa: Great Vegetable Source ...
Although quinoa looks like a grain, it's actually the seed of a green leafy plant. It's packed with protein, making it a filling substitute for rice or ...

Soft Drinks Linked to Increased Risk of Insulin Resistance

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Soft Drinks and Their Role in Insulin Resistance

Studies have shown that fructose used as a sweetener is more dangerous than glucose. Fructose is the main sweetener not only in soft drinks, but in many other artificially sweetened products. Soda accounts for a quarter of all the beverages sold in the US. This is especially prevalent in children’s diets.

56% of eight-year olds drink soda daily, and 1/3 of teenage boys drink at least 3 cans of pop per day.

It is not a coincidence that this astronomical consumption of soda is occurring at the same time as the obesity epidemic is growing among the nation’s children. Peer-reviewed independent studies are confirming that excessive soft drink consumption is a direct contributor to childhood obesity, and obesity is a direct contributor to insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes.

How Can I Avoid Insulin Resistance?

First of all, a healthy diet and plenty of exercise are crucial to maintaining one’s well-being. Choose water or natural fruit juices instead of soft drinks. If a healthy diet and exercise are not effective in controlling weight, there are safe, natural products available to help reduce insulin resistance and control weight. For instance, Glucofast is a product that restores the necessary cellular nutrients in order to readjust metabolism. It contains all-natural ingredients and has no negative side effects. Its ingredients include:

Cinnamon, which helps to regulate insulin sensitivity
Biotin, which assists in the regulation of insulin and the conversion of glucose into energy
L-Taurine, a natural herb that encourages the proper function of insulin
Bitter melon, a subtropical fruit that keeps blood sugar levels optimal

Sources

sciencedaily.com

stanford.edu

Alcohol and Nutrition

Nutrition is a process that serves two purposes: to provide energy and to maintain body structure and function. Food supplies energy and provides the building blocks needed to replace worn or damaged cells and the nutritional components needed for body function. Alcoholics often eat poorly, limiting their supply of essential nutrients and affecting both energy supply and structure maintenance. Furthermore, alcohol interferes with the nutritional process by affecting digestion, storage, utilization, and excretion of nutrients (1).

Impairment of Nutrient Digestion and Utilization

Once ingested, food must be digested (broken down into small components) so it is available for energy and maintenance of body structure and function. Digestion begins in the mouth and continues in the stomach and intestines, with help from the pancreas. The nutrients from digested food are absorbed from the intestines into the blood and carried to the liver. The liver prepares nutrients either for immediate use or for storage and future use.

Alcohol inhibits the breakdown of nutrients into usable molecules by decreasing secretion of digestive enzymes from the pancreas (2). Alcohol impairs nutrient absorption by damaging the cells lining the stomach and intestines and disabling transport of some nutrients into the blood (3). In addition, nutritional deficiencies themselves may lead to further absorption problems. For example, folate deficiency alters the cells lining the small intestine, which in turn impairs absorption of water and nutrients including glucose, sodium, and additional folate (3).

Even if nutrients are digested and absorbed, alcohol can prevent them from being fully utilized by altering their transport, storage, and excretion (4). Decreased liver stores of vitamins such as vitamin A (5), and increased excretion of nutrients such as fat, indicate impaired utilization of nutrients by alcoholics (3).

Alcohol and Energy Supply

The three basic nutritional components found in food--carbohydrates, proteins, and fats--are used as energy after being converted to simpler products. Some alcoholics ingest as much as 50 percent of their total daily calories from alcohol, often neglecting important foods (3,6).

Even when food intake is adequate, alcohol can impair the mechanisms by which the body controls blood glucose levels, resulting in either increased or decreased blood glucose (glucose is the body's principal sugar) (7). In nondiabetic alcoholics, increased blood sugar, or hyperglycemia--caused by impaired insulin secretion--is usually temporary and without consequence. Decreased blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, can cause serious injury even if this condition is short lived. Hypoglycemia can occur when a fasting or malnourished person consumes alcohol. When there is no food to supply energy, stored sugar is depleted, and the products of alcohol metabolism inhibit the formation of glucose from other compounds such as amino acids (7). As a result, alcohol causes the brain and other body tissue to be deprived of glucose needed for energy and function.

Although alcohol is an energy source, how the body processes and uses the energy from alcohol is more complex than can be explained by a simple calorie conversion value (8). For example, alcohol provides an average of 20 percent of the calories in the diet of the upper third of drinking Americans, and we might expect many drinkers who consume such amounts to be obese. Instead, national data indicate that, despite higher caloric intake, drinkers are no more obese than nondrinkers (9,10). Also, wh en alcohol is substituted for carbohydrates, calorie for calorie, subjects tend to lose weight, indicating that they derive less energy from alcohol than from food (summarized in 8).

The mechanisms accounting for the apparent inefficiency in converting alcohol to energy are complex and incompletely understood (11), but several mechanisms have been proposed. For example, chronic drinking triggers an inefficient system of alcohol metabolism, the microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system (MEOS) (1). Much of the energy from MEOS-driven alcohol metabolism is lost as heat rather than used to supply the body with energy.

Alcohol and the Maintenance of Cell Structure and Function

Structure

Because cells are made mostly of protein, an adequate protein diet is important for maintaining cell structure, especially if cells are being damaged. Research indicates that alcohol affects protein nutrition by causing impaired digestion of proteins to amino acids, impaired processing of amino acids by the small intestine and liver, impaired synthesis of proteins from amino acids, and impaired protein secretion by the liver (3).

Function

Nutrients are essential for proper body function; proteins, vitamins, and minerals provide the tools that the body needs to perform properly. Alcohol can disrupt body function by causing nutrient deficiencies and by usurping the machinery needed to metabolize nutrients.

Vitamins. Vitamins are essential to maintaining growth and normal metabolism because they regulate many physiological processes. Chronic heavy drinking is associated with deficiencies in many vitamins because of decreased food ingestion and, in some cases, impaired absorption, metabolism, and utilization (1,12). For example, alcohol inhibits fat absorption and thereby impairs absorption of the vitamins A, E, and D that are normally absorbed along with dietary fats (12,13). Vitamin A deficiency can be associated with night blindness, and vitamin D deficiency is associated with softening of the bones (6).

Vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B vitamins, also deficient in some alcoholics, are all involved in wound healing and cell maintenance (14). In particular, because vitamin K is necessary for blood clotting, deficiencies of that vitamin can cause delayed clotting and result in excess bleeding. Deficiencies of other vitamins involved in brain function can cause severe neurological damage.

Minerals. Deficiencies of minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc are common in alcoholics, although alcohol itself does not seem to affect the absorption of these minerals (15). Rather, deficiencies seem to occur secondary to other alcohol-related problems: decreased calcium absorption due to fat malabsorption; magnesium deficiency due to decreased intake, increased urinary excretion, vomiting, and diarrhea (16); iron deficiency related to gastrointestinal bleeding (3,15); and zinc malabsorption or losses related to other nutrient deficiencies (17). Mineral deficiencies can cause a variety of medical consequences from calcium-related bone disease to zinc-related night blindness and skin lesions.

Alcohol, Malnutrition, and Medical Complications

Liver Disease

Although alcoholic liver damage is caused primarily by alcohol itself, poor nutrition may increase the risk of alcohol-related liver damage. For example, nutrients normally found in the liver, such as carotenoids, which are the major sources of vitamin A, and vitamin E compounds, are known to be affected by alcohol consumption (18,19). Decreases in such nutrients may play some role in alcohol-related liver damage.

Pancreatitis

Research suggests that malnutrition may increase the risk of developing alcoholic pancreatitis (20,21), but some research performed outside the United States links pancreatitis more closely with overeating (21). Preliminary research suggests that alcohol's damaging effect on the pancreas may be exacerbated by a protein-deficient diet (22).

Brain

Nutritional deficiencies can have severe and permanent effects on brain function. Specifically, thiamine deficiencies, often seen in alcoholics, can cause severe neurological problems such as impaired movement and memory loss seen in Wernicke/Korsakoff syndrome (23).

Pregnancy

Alcohol has direct toxic effects on fetal development, causing alcohol-related birth defects, including fetal alcohol syndrome. Alcohol itself is toxic to the fetus, but accompanying nutritional deficiency can affect fetal development, perhaps compounding the risk of developmental damage (24,25).

The nutritional needs during pregnancy are 10 to 30 percent greater than normal; food intake can increase by as much as 140 percent to cover the needs of both mother and fetus (24). Not only can nutritional deficiencies of an alcoholic mother adversely affect the nutrition of the fetus, but alcohol itself can also restrict nutrition flow to the fetus (24,25).

Nutritional Status of Alcoholics

Techniques for assessing nutritional status include taking body measurements such as weight, height, mass, and skin fold thickness to estimate fat reserves, and performing blood analysis to provide measurements of circulating proteins, vitamins, and minerals. These techniques tend to be imprecise, and for many nutrients, there is no clear "cut-off" point that would allow an accurate definition of deficiency (4). As such, assessing the nutritional status of alcoholics is hindered by the limitations of the techniques. Dietary status may provide inferential information about the risk of developing nutritional deficiencies. Dietary status is assessed by taking patients' dietary histories and evaluating the amount and types of food they are eating.

A threshold dose above which alcohol begins to have detrimental effects on nutrition is difficult to determine. In general, moderate drinkers (two drinks or less per day) seem to be at little risk for nutritional deficiencies. Various medical disorders begin to appear at greater levels.

Research indicates that the majority of even the heaviest drinkers have few detectable nutritional deficiencies but that many alcoholics who are hospitalized for medical complications of alcoholism do experience severe malnutrition (1,12). Because alcoholics tend to eat poorly--often eating less than the amounts of food necessary to provide sufficient carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins A and C, the B vitamins, and minerals such as calcium and iron (6,9,26)--a major concern is that alcohol's effects on the digestion of food and utilization of nutrients may shift a mildly malnourished person toward severe malnutrition.

Alcohol and Nutrition--A Commentary by
NIAAA Director Enoch Gordis, M.D.

The combination of an adequate diet and abstention from alcohol is the best way to treat malnourished alcoholic patients. Nutritional supplements have been used to replace nutrients deficient in malnourished alcoholics in an attempt to improve their overall health. Dosages of nutritional supplements such as vitamin A that exceed normally prescribed levels may result in overdose.

Although various nutritional approaches have been touted as "cures" for alcoholism, there is little evidence to support such claims. However, renewed research attention to the nutritional aspects of alcohol leaves open the possibility that a role for nutritional therapy in alcoholism treatment may yet be defined.

References

(1) Lieber, C.S. The influence of alcohol on nutritional status. Nutrition Reviews 46(7):241-254, 1988. (2) Korsten, M.A. Alcoholism and pancreatitis: Does nutrition play a role? Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):232-237, 1989. (3) Feinman, L. Absorption and utilization of nutrients in alcoholism. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):207-210, 1989. (4) Thomson, A.D., and Pratt, O.E. Interaction of nutrients and alcohol: Absorption, transport, utilization, and metabolism. In: Watson, R.R., and Watzl, B., eds. Nutrition and Alcohol. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1992. pp. 75-99. (5) Sato, M., and Lieber, C.S. Hepatic vitamin A depletion after chronic ethanol consumption in baboons and rats. Journal of Nutrition 111:2015-2023, 1981. (6) Feinman, L., and Lieber, C.S. Nutrition: Medical problems of alcoholism. In: Lieber, C.S., ed. Medical and Nutritional Complications of Alcoholism: Mechanisms in Management. New York: Plenum Publishing Corp., 1992. pp. 515-530. (7) Patel, D.G. Effects of ethanol on carbohydrate metabolism and implications for the aging alcoholic. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):240-246, 1989. (8) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health. DHHS Pub. No. (PHS)88-50210. Washington, DC: Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1988. (9) Gruchow, H.W.; Sobocinski, K.A.; Barboriak, J.J.; and Scheller, J.G. Alcohol consumption, nutrient intake and relative body weight among U.S. adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 42(2):289-295, 1985. (10) Colditz, G.A.; Giovannucci, E.; Rimm, E.B.; Stampfer, M.J.; Rosner, B.; Speizer, F.E.; Gordis, E.; and Willett, W.C. Alcohol intake in relation to diet and obesity in women and men. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 54(1):49-55, 1991. (11) World, M.J.; Ryle, P.R.; Pratt, O.E.; and Thomson, A.D. Alcohol and body weight. Alcohol and Alcoholism 19(1):1-6, 1984. (12) Lieber, C.S. Alcohol and nutrition: An overview. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):197-205, 1989. (13) Leo, M.A., and Lieber, C.S. Alcohol and vitamin A. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):250-254, 1989. (14) Tortora, G.J., and Anagnostakos, N.P., eds. Principles of Anatomy and Physiology. 5th ed. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1987. (15) Marsano, L., and McClain, C.J. Effects of alcohol on electrolytes and minerals. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):255-260, 1989. (16) Flink, E.B. Magnesium deficiency in alcoholism. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 10(6):590-594, 1986. (17) McClain, C.J.; Antonow, D.R.; Cohen, D.A.; and Shedlofsky, S.I. Zinc metabolism in alcoholic liver disease. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 10(6):582-589, 1986. (18) Leo, M.A.; Kim, C.-I.; Lowe, N.; and Lieber, C.S. Interaction of ethanol with *-carotene: Delayed blood clearance and enhanced hepatotoxicity. Hepatology 15(5):883-891, 1992. (19) Leo, M.A.; Rosman, A.S.; and Lieber, C.S. Differential depletion of carotenoids and tocopherol in liver disease. Hepatology 17(6):977-986, 1993. (20) Mezey, E.; Kolman, C.J.; Diehl, A.M.; Mitchell, M.C.; and Herlong, H.F. Alcohol and dietary intake in the development of chronic pancreatitis and liver disease in alcoholism. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 48(1):148-151, 1988. (21) Korsten, M.A.; Pirola, R.C.; and Lieber, C.S. Alcohol and the pancreas. In: Lieber, C.S., ed. Medical and Nutritional Complications of Alcoholism: Mechanisms in Management. New York: Plenum Publishing Corp., 1992. pp. 341-358. (22) Korsten, M.A.; Wilson, J.S.; and Lieber, C.S. Interactive effects of dietary protein and ethanol on rat pancreas: Protein synthesis and enzyme secretion. Gastroenterology 99(1):229-236, 1990.(23) Victor, M. The effects of alcohol on the nervous system: Clinical features, pathogenesis, and treatment. In: Lieber, C.S., ed. Medical and Nutritional Complications of Alcoholism: Mechanisms in Management. New York: Plenum Publishing Corp., 1992. pp. 413-457. (24) Weinberg, J. Nutritional issues in perinatal alcohol exposure. Neurobehavioral Toxicology and Teratology 6(4):261-269, 1984. (25) Phillips, D.K.; Henderson, G.I.; and Schenker, S. Pathogenesis of fetal alcohol syndrome: Overview with emphasis on the possible role of nutrition. Alcohol Health & Research World 13(3):219-227, 1989. (26) Hillers, V.N., and Massey, L.K. Interrelationships of moderate and high alcohol consumption with diet and health status. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 41(2):356-362, 1985.

New stuff in Southern cooking

Sample the South Eats Diet!

By Sally Ketchum
eDiets Contributor

Dieting? And missin'all that good ol' , soul satisfin' fried southern cooking? Chicken-fried steak? Red-eye gravy on ham with cream biscuits?

Well, you can dump those yearnings easier than you can say South Beach because there' s new stuff in Southern cooking. The new Southern trends and innovative, healthy dishes line up, side by side, competing with those caloric, marshmallowed buttered sweet potatoes, Smithfield hams and caramel-frosted, sugar syrup-soaked carrot cake.

There' s new recipes and new cooking methods, too, like doing southern greens faster and, conversely, cooking slowly -- very, very slowly -- to put the idea of frying right underneath that big iron pan.

Some of the recipes are mean and lean, as in "the cutting edge," with popular ingredients combined in fresh ways. New wraps are in -- perhaps one like spinach, Georgia pecans, blue cheese and dried cherries or dried cranberries, vegetable, fruit, nuts and cheese. Other healthy choices go back to historical southern cooking, like Southern Rice Popovers. The popovers are a bit shorter than the usual kind, but the creamy texture is a great trade-off.

In any case, southern dishes are long on vegetables and popular grains and are often new in the treatment of the ingredients. Consider classic southern greens. Collards, kale, mustards and turnip greens are the traditional assertive Southern greens, and now they join their sweeter cousins, like Swiss chards, in recipes.

New methods of cooking greens shorten cooking times, decrease the amount of cooking water, but still maintain the basics of first simmering the greens and, second, braising them in a cooking liquid. A new cooking method: Boil two pounds of greens, one kind or mixed, in two quarts of salted water for about 10 minutes until they are tender. (The old method simmered them in a huge pot of water all day back on the stove.)

When the greens are tender, rinse in cold water and squeeze excess water out. Add 3-4 teaspoons of olive oil (or an olive oil spread) to a pan and sauté 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion until soft, about 10 minutes. (If you desire bacon, chop and sauté 2 low-sodium strips and drain on a paper towel.) Add 2-3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 teaspoon brown sugar and cooked greens and bacon bits, if used. Toss. Add 1/2 cup or more of low-sodium chicken broth. Cook 5-7 minutes or more or until the chicken broth is absorbed. Salt and pepper to taste. Then, in the Southern tradition, splash with a little cider vinegar before serving.

The new cooking method is quicker and also improves the health benefits of Southern cooking. Further, the new chards, "Bright Lights" and "Bright Yellow" come in amazing shades of reds, creams and yellows, adding color -- always a boon to dieting. Swiss chard is grown mainly for its wide stems. Chards are known for their leaves. All parts are edible and delicious.

Some new methods of cooking go further than decreasing fat, they eliminate frying in fat completely, citing evidence that frying foods at very hot temperatures is a health danger as it releases toxins that are aging may cause cancer. Thus, the return is to slow cooking, which started in Italy, is moving across most cuisines, including southern food.

The famed Burgoo of Kentucky, which once included squirrel, was historically cooked and served from huge kettles at political events. Now it slow cooks on the kitchen counter all day, its vegetables, onions, celery, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, corn, chili peppers, lima beans, parsley; and herbs and sauces, thyme, bay leaf, hot red pepper sauce and Worcestershire sauce to taste, all meld as the foods absorb each other' s flavors.

Southern Rice Popovers
1 1/2 cups milk, at room temperature
2/3 cup mashed cooked rice, whirled for 20 seconds in a food processor
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 jumbo eggs, at room temperature

Place a 12-cup muffin or popover tin in the oven and preheat the oven and the tin to 450 degrees. Pour the milk into a large mixing bowl; add the mashed rice, flour, vanilla and salt. With a rotary beater or whisk, beat until blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in completely before adding the next.

Remove the hot pan from the oven and spray with cooking baking oil spray. Fill the cups two-thirds full. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees. Continue baking for 20 minutes longer, or until the popovers are deeply golden and puffed. Do not open the oven during baking. Serve hot.

--"Marcia Adam' s Heirloom Recipes"

A little southern comfort on the table is welcome this time of year, and the slow cooker is ready with a stew full of vegetables, there' s a side of healthy greens in a pan on the stove and rice popovers warm from the oven. Dessert? Well a little Georgia peach sherbet ought to do it. Bon appetit, ya'll.

The fitness pros at eDiets can show you how to combine exercise and nutrition to get the best results. This is what you' ve been looking for. You will need to make the commitment, but isn' t it time to finally take care of you? Click here to get started.

Sally Ketchum is a northern food writer who loves southern food and grows specialty greens, especially Swiss chards, in her kitchen garden. She can be reached at ketchum@direcway.com

The Biggest Loser Premiere

Join My Team!

So you've seen me in action with my TV team — now join my online team and let me help you get into the best shape of your life! I've challenged my online team to lose 10 tons in 10 weeks, and they need your help! Join the challenge, and you could win a one-on-one workout with yours truly in L.A.! What are you waiting for? Join now!

Episode Recap: The Biggest Loser Premiere
So did you guys watch the show???

The newest season of The Biggest Loser kicked off last night with the most dramatic season premiere to date! If you missed it, here's a look at what we learned:

"Age is just a number!" Jerry -- a 62 year old grandfather and the oldest contestant in Biggest Loser history — proved himself a SERIOUS competitor by not only dusting his younger competition in a mile-long foot race through the desert, but losing an incredible 31 pounds to take the title of Biggest Loser at the first weigh-in! The contestant that trainer Bob Harper kindly referred to as "Grandpa" not only proved he could hack it in the competition, but that he's the one the other contestants need to watch out for.
The competition is stiff this year. 18 contestants were challenged to run a race through the desert to their trainers, Bob and Kim, who had parachuted from a plane 14,000 feet above. Jerry finished first and became the captain of Bob's Blue team, while Phil, an ex-football player, finished second and was named captain of Kim's Red Team. The captains were asked to select the five teammates they wanted by their side, and send six people home. The job proved no easy task, as each contestant shared their emotional reasons for being in the competition. There was Lezlye, a victim of Hurricane Katrina, and twins Jim and Bill, who each desperately want the other to get healthy. Isabeau, just 21 years old, said she wanted more than anything to finally run the road race her fit family participates in every year.
It ain't over til it's over! The teams were chosen, and six people were left behind as the Red and Blue teams boarded a bus to the Biggest Loser campus. Just when they thought they were heading home defeated, guess who rides up on her big black motorcycle to give them the good news? Yup, ME. These underdogs are my Black Team, and we have two weeks of tough-as-nails training in the desert before we make our surprise return to the Biggest Loser gym. They only WISH they'd gotten to go home!
"There is no 'I can't!'" Back at the Biggest Loser Campus, the teams began training hard. In the middle of a Red Team workout, Amber showed signs of weakness in the competition by asking to be sent home. The Red Team did pull together to win this week's challenge, but in the end Jerry's 31-pound weight loss led his Blue Team to victory at the first weigh in, and Amber's words came back to haunt her as the Red Team voted to send her home. (In an update after the show, we learned that Amber has lost 65 pounds and counting since leaving the Biggest Lose

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