COOKBOOKS ARE MAKING US FATTER
A recent study showed that recipes from “The Joy of Cooking” have increased substantially in calorie count and portion size since the book’s original publication. There was a nearly 40 percent increase in calories per serving for practically every recipe reviewed.
The study focused primarily on “The Joy of Cooking” because the well-known cookbook has been updated consistently from 1930 through 2006. Of the 18 recipes that have appeared in each version, 17 have increased 63 percent in calorie count per serving, due both to higher overall caloric content and larger portion sizes.
However, Beth Wareham, editor of the 2006 edition of “The Joy of Cooking,” argued that the book has become healthier overall by cutting out processed ingredients.
For a true fat burning recipe strategy that is constantly updated and never goes out of date, go to the X Gym’s recipe page or my own cooking video page here on this blog.
CONVENTIONALLY GROWN VEGETABLES ALMOST WORTHLESS
The vitamin and mineral content of many traditionally grown vegetables has plummeted in recent years. This is caused by the rise in use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides which cause vegetables to grow larger and faster. Sounds great right? Not at all, because this means veggies spend less time in the ground soaking up valuable nutrients from the soil. Farmers are paid based on weight and harvest frequency, so we suffer the consequences of them speeding up the natural growth cycle. Here is yet another reason to go organic and to support your local farmers, and why I spend so much time emphasizing these points in my book Cracking Your Calorie Code.
YOUR ATTITUDE CAN BE YOUR FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
Research shows that being an optimist is quite and investment in your future health. People with a glass-half-full outlook tend to feel physically stronger than their more pessimistic peers. Specifically, those who felt less frail had higher self-esteem, tended to be more hopeful about the future, felt happier overall, and were focused on enjoying life. Researchers suspect that positive feelings also help support the immune system, which might help explain the better outcomes for happy seniors.
Onset of frailty in older adults and the protective role of positive affect. Ostir, G. V. et al., Psychology and Aging 2004 Sep;19(3):402-408.
IS YOUR TV MAKING YOU FAT?
Scientists have known for a long time that when we eat in front of the TV we consume 2-3 times the amount of food than if the TV was off. They have also found that TV puts your brain in a specific wave state that slows your metabolism to below sleeping levels! As if this combination wasn’t bad enough, they also recently discovered that the gobs of food you ate while watching that TV didn’t register properly in your brain so you snack more later! Wow, put all three of these effects together and TV gets pretty fattening doesn’t it?
Television watching during lunch increases afternoon snack intake of young women. Higgs, S., Woodward, M., Appetite 2009 Feb;52(1):39-43.
