Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

When I saw this advertisement, I laughed at the description: Pure Delicious Vegetable Fat. Sure, adding fat to your food can enhance the flavor, but do any of us consider Wesson Oil to be delicious?

I love to look at old advertisements because they seem so wrong. It makes me feel smart and I think that I am impervious to advertising. Then I look at the current ads for Wesson:

• ConAgra Foods: Wesson

They are STILL using the same “delicious” advertising that they used back then:

Pure Wesson Cooking Oils have been at The Heart and Soul of Good Food for 100 years. Pure Wesson Cooking Oil provides fried foods with a crispy, golden outside and a juicy inside, while allowing the cook’s own seasoning to shine through. Great chefs agree and recognized Wesson with the American Tasting Institute’s Gold Medal Taste Award in 2001.

Oh?! They won an award?! Well then, they MUST be delicious.

The truth of the matter is that we need some healthy fat in our diet. Canola oil, which is one of the oils that Wesson sells, is a method of adding that healthy fat. I don’t need an advertisement to tell me that and I certainly don’t need the mom from the Brady Bunch telling me that it’s “All Natural.”

If you can’t sell me the oil, how about the bottle?

In the end, companies are trying to sell us their food by any means possible. Next time you see an ad to the TV or in a magazine, remember that.

Photo via: Found in Mom’s Basement: Vintage Art Deco ads for Wesson oil, 1920s

There have been some studies that show that cinnamon can reduce insulin resistance.

• USDA - Cinnamon Extracts Boost Insulin Sensitivity

ARS chemist Richard A. Anderson and co-workers at the Beltsville (Maryland) Human Nutrition Research Center assayed plants and spices used in folk medicine. They found that a few spices—especially cinnamon—made fat cells much more responsive to insulin, the hormone that regulates sugar metabolism and thus controls the level of glucose in the blood.

If it seems like you are hungry every two hours or if you constantly crave sugar or bread, you might have insulin resistance. It has been said that a dose of a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon a day can help reduce your cravings and correct your body’s reaction to sugar.

• About.com: Health Benefits of Cinnamon - Cinnamon for Diabetes and Insulin Resistant

Several studies have shown improved insulin sensitivity and blood glucose control by taking as little as 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon per day. Improving insulin resistance can help in weight control as well as decreasing the risk for heart disease, so this has a lot of people interested. Although the results of preliminary studies are somewhat mixed, the majority of the research seems to be pointing in the direction of cinnamon being beneficial.

But watch out, it’s possible to eat too much cinnamon. Here are some of the common negative reactions:

• Skin rashes
• Irritation to the tissues of the mouth or stomach
• Mild anti-clotting effect in the blood
• Stimulating effects on the uterus (not recommended for pregnant women)

In an effort to increase my cinnamon intake, I created this cinnamon tea, which I’m rather fond of.

Cinnamon Tea

• 7 ounces of boiling water
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon of heavy whipping cream

Pour the boiling water into a coffee cup. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and mix well. This takes quite a bit of time since cinnamon isn’t easily soluble in water, but if you keep stirring, it will eventually mix into the hot water. Add the cream and continue mixing.

I keep the spoon in the cup and keep stirring between sips because the cinnamon will sink to the bottom otherwise.

Calories: 50 Carbohydrates: 0 WW Points: 1

This treat has replaced my evening sugar-free cocoa. Strangely, it tastes a little sweet, even though you don’t add any sweetener. It’s perfect for people following Weight Watchers and Atkins, since it’s low-calorie AND low-carb.

You could substitute 6 ounces of heated skim milk for the cream and boiling water to make a low-fat version with the same amount of calories. I haven’t tried this, so I don’t know how well the cinnamon would mix with milk. If you try it, leave a comment telling me how it is.

Enjoy!

Dannon has been advertising a new yogurt called Activia that is supposed to help you with “digestive issues.” You can see the commercial here:

My first thought was of all the years I suffered with digestive troubles. It had nothing to do with age and everything to do with a bad infection. When I took the antibiotics to kill the infection, it killed all the good stuff in my body as well, so I had stomach trouble for over five years.

My experience was more like this skit from Saturday Night Live:

I haven’t had stomach troubles at all for over three months, which is when I stopped eating carbohydrates. Can a low-carb diet cure Irritable Bowel Syndrome? Well, it’s the COMPLETE opposite of the diet that the stupid gastroenterologist recommended. Of course, when I ate his diet, I suffered MORE. I haven’t taken fiber supplements or acidophilus for two months and I haven’t had one incident like the skit above.

I don’t think I’ll be needing any Activia any time soon.

Here is a most excellent article from the Diet Blog about water and the idea that we need to drink eight glasses a day:

• Diet Blog: The Mythical Daily Water Requirement

But where did the 8 glasses per day gospel originate?

Dr. Frederick Stare suggested this theory in a book “Nutrition for Good Health” published in 1974 (”theory” being the operative word). The theory caught on despite its arbitrary origins and it has been speculated that bottled water companies are largely responsible for perpetuating the 8-a-day mantra.

So, how much SHOULD you drink? We all love rules, don’t we? Click on over to Diet Blog’s entry and find out!

Photo Credit: Deep Blue by Ak_Saechao from Flickr

Is it possible to eat noodles AND lose weight. According to some, you can with shirataki noodles:

• About.com: What are Shirataki Noodles?

Although shirataki noodles have been around in Asia for quite some time, they’re becoming increasingly popular outside of Asia with people who are trying to lose weight or who are cutting back on carbohydrates.

Shirataki noodles are made from the tubers of an Asian plant (Amorphophallus konjac) called a konjac plant. The tubers are dried and ground to make a flour which is then used to make noodles.

The noodles have a gelatinous consistency and have no real flavor.

Shirataki noodles contain almost no calories, carbohydrates, fat, sugar, protein, or gluten. Although shirataki noodles contain carbohydrates, very little of it is digested in the small intestine.

In addition to having almost no calories or usable carbohydrates, shirataki noodles contain a type of soluble fiber called glucomannan.

I have seen these noodles at the grocery store in the refrigerated section by the tofu. Next time I go shopping, I’m going to pick some up and see if they taste good with some lean meat. If I create a new recipe, I’ll share it with you!

This ad ran in 1975 and it says a lot about the economy of that time:

How to eat well in spite of it all.

Tonight’s dinner doesn’t have to look like today’s economy. Not with Kraft Dinners and a few touches of your own. Like adding some snipped parsley to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner and serving it with sausage and tomato wedges. Just one of the ways Kraft Dinners can help you eat well in spite of it all.

Kraft Dinners make ends meet.

Back in 1975, Kraft didn’t try to tell me that their Macaroni and Cheese was a healthy part of my daily diet. They hadn’t thought to convince the USDA that I should eat five to eleven servings of grains every day and that their dinner was a healthy way to achieve that goal.

No, they were far less devious back then. They just said it was an inexpensive way to feed your family. If the political pundits are correct, we are heading into a recession worse than they saw in the Seventies. Will the healthy advertising change when it hits us hard?

When Mike and I were first married, we were pretty poor. We ate Mac and Cheese (generic, because it was 25 cents a package), Ramen (10 cents a package) and spaghetti. I don’t know about Mike, but that year I went from 140 pounds to 178 pounds. I gained almost forty pounds in a year eating inexpensive food.

If I had spent my money on the fresh vegetables and meat instead, I would have spent just as much on each meal AND maintained my weight (if not lost). I know it looks like fresh meat and vegetables cost more than Kraft and Ramen, but you need to eat far less to feel full.

If you are feeling the financial pinch, don’t fall into the Mac and Cheese trap. Those simple carbohydrates make you feel MORE hungry than the same amount of meat for your money.

Via: Found in Mom’s Basement: Vintage ad for Kraft mac & cheese resigns itself to 1975’s crappy economy

Diversify. I suspect they teach it in marketing school or economics school or some school for weasel business owners. If you put your fingers into every facet of the weight loss industry, they you will make even more money. Squeeze every penny out of your loyal customers.

That is what was going through my head when I saw these boxes sitting at my local grocery store.

I’m sure Curves has helped a lot of women add exercise to their daily routine. I’m sure that they are a good company with many loyal followers. I’m not so sure that I trust them to make healthy food for me, especially when it’s a sugar-sweetened, super-processed cereal.

Here is a five part series from Horizon (produced by the BBC) that analyzes the Atkin’s Diet. Does it work? If it does, why? Is it dangerous to your health?

This show spends too much time showing fat people eating huge bites of meat (do any of us want to watch other people eating?) and too much time playing choir music when Atkins is shown on the screen, but it does a pretty good job of looking at the research that has been done about the diet.

Click through for parts 2-5: (more…)

Bill and Gene, the writers of Unshelved, reviewed Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

• Unshelved: Good Calories Bad Calories

Everything you know about nutrition is wrong. The government has been lying to you. The American Medical Association and the American Heart Association have been spouting baseless fictions. Science reporter Gary Taubes spent five years poring through a century of nutritional research, public policy, media coverage and scientific debate. The conclusions are inescapable. Saturated Fat is good for you - you can’t eat too much. Diabetes, obesity, heart disease and hypertension are all caused by carbohydrates. Cholesterol doesn’t hurt you, and fiber doesn’t help.

This is a pretty good synopsis of the book, but I love Bill and Gene’s decision based on the facts.

Here is a video with Gary Taubes himself discussing the research that he found during his studies. It’s a LONG video (1 hour 12 minutes), but it is totally worth it.

Here is an interesting entry from the Diet Blog:

• Diet Blog: 5 Amazing Things You Can Learn from a Toddler

Here is a simplified list of what you can learn from a toddler.

1. They are in motion all day long.
2. They stop eating when they are full.
3. They love to see themselves naked.
4. They are very flexible!
5. They get their sleep.

I haven’t had enough experience with toddlers to know if any of this is true. Do toddlers really love to see themselves naked? Do they get enough sleep of their own volition or is it forced upon them by their parents? I’m always wary of simple little five item lists like this. I could just as easily think of five things to avoid:

1. They hate vegetables.
2. They can’t focus on one task for longer than five minutes.
3. They are very picky eaters.
4. They are obsessed with sugar and candy.
5. They complain when they have to go to bed.

When it comes to taking eating cues from toddlers, what do you think?