![“The results are proving to me that it’s not hopeless.”]()
by Sheila | Nov 6, 2010 | Areas of Weight Loss Resistance, Natural Weight Loss, Uncategorized
Read what Maleah has to say about the program during week 4 of 13!
“I came to OBB because the time was right. All my life I have been overweight and also very educated about whole foods, but there was a disconnect. I would eat healthier than my friends and I was still bigger than them. I just started to workout this past year and even with bootcamp style workouts I wasn’t losing as much as my friends. I was eating well and burning, but the loss was slow and something felt out of balance. I’m in week 4 of the OBB program now and have lost an inch everywhere, gained muscle, lost fat and increased my hydration levels. The food on the plan brought a smile to my face because I liked all the suggestions. The timing of the plan and the combinations of food are magic. I am eating real food, learning to balance my plate and blood sugar. The results are proving to me that it’s not hopeless. I can live the life I imagine. I look forward to the next 8 weeks of learning and support at OBB. Sheila has been a guiding force. She gets it. I’ve cried, laughed and felt like she’s on my side. Thank you!”
![“The results are proving to me that it’s not hopeless.”]()
by Sheila | Nov 5, 2010 | Uncategorized
Now that we all know what a health halo is, (if you still don’t, check out the previous post!) lets discuss the various ways companies are able to market their products using these often untrue and misleading health claims. The Center for Science in the Public Interest recently put out a report entitled “Food Labeling Chaos,” which sums up exactly what is going on in our grocery stores. The report focuses on 5 specific ways marketing is used to create a health halo for a food product. In this and the following posts we will discuss these 5 ploys so you can better navigate through your local supermarket and make more informed decisions with your money and what you put into your body.
In 1990, Congress passed a law that allowed manufacturers to start using health claims for their food products. The claims had to apply to a specific nutrient and disease relationship. The law stated that the FDA must approve all claims before they are used and that the claims had to be backed by “significant scientific agreement.” To get a claim approved takes a long time; up to 540 days. Because it takes so long to get a claim approved, food companies have found creative ways around the approval process.
A common way that food companies get around the approval process is by making something known as a “structure/function” claim. A structure/function claim says that a specific nutrient in a food can benefit the body’s normal structure or function, but it does not mention the role the nutrient has in the prevention of any disease. Remember, according to the law, claims have to apply to a specific nutrient-disease relationship. This is all about wordplay. Here’s a specific example — a company must have FDA approval to use the claim:
“may help reduce the risk of heart disease”
But the company does not need approval to say:
“helps maintain a healthy heart”
Do you see the difference here? One states a specific disease, while the other just claims a benefit to the body’s normal function. The use of these structure/function claims is legal and they do not have to be approved or meet any requirements. The food with a structure/function claim could be full of saturated fat, cholesterol or sugar and still say “helps maintain a healthy heart” because of some obscure ingredient or unreliable evidence. Health claims approved by the FDA have to meet strict nutrient content requirements; there are levels the product must not exceed for fat, cholesterol and sodium as well as minimums for certain nutrients and vitamins and of course a specified minimum level for the nutrient involved in the nutrient-disease relationship.
Even more interesting is that studies have shown shoppers actually prefer products with the structure/function claims. The wording in these claims is usually softer and more positive. Compare the two claims again. Which one sounds better to you?
Next time you are in the store, make sure you read the front of the package carefully. Beware claims about immunity, which is a very common structure/function claim. If the package says it “supports a healthy immune system” or “helps strengthen your body’s defenses” or “boosts immunity”… that’s a structure/function claim. There is no specific nutrient or disease in those claims, they just simply imply the prevention of disease. Often these products boast their antioxidant vitamin content and while it’s true that severe deficiencies in these vitamins can lead to serious health problems, these products won’t make any difference in your health by boosting your immunity. And remember, they could be full of all sorts of other bad stuff and only have trace quantities of the good stuff they are advertising!
Check back soon for more on health halos and how you can avoid them!
For the full CSPI report: http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/food_labeling_chaos_report.pdf
![“The results are proving to me that it’s not hopeless.”]()
by Sheila | Nov 3, 2010 | Uncategorized
Has anyone heard of the term “health halos?” It is so important that everyone is aware of what this term implies! Read the following article and visit the blog soon for our upcoming series on “healthy” food marketing.
http://bit.ly/bjK3c1
![“The results are proving to me that it’s not hopeless.”]()
by Sheila | Oct 27, 2010 | Uncategorized
A first lunch idea sent in by an OBB client. Enjoy!
Eggs, celery, onion, mayo , grapes , lettuce and brown rice tortilla. All organic!
![“The results are proving to me that it’s not hopeless.”]()
by Sheila | Oct 24, 2010 | Natural Weight Loss, Uncategorized
Here we are; the final post on artificial sweeteners and the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Why do artificial sweeteners, which contain no calories, lead to weight gain?
In 2008 Purdue University released a study that shocked the artificial sweetener world. The study showed that animals fed artificially sweetened foods and beverages had a harder time regulating their calorie intake and body weight. The animals who were fed foods with the artificial sweeteners ate more and gained more weight than animals who were fed foods sweetened with glucose which is a natural, high-calorie sweetener.
Why did the animals end up eating more when they were given artificially sweet foods? Because, the body knows that sweet foods naturally have a lot of calories. When we eat something sweet and the body doesn’t get the expected amount of calories, it sends out signals for us to eat more calories. So eating artificially sweet foods leads to increased eating.
The body also secretes a hormone called insulin when we eat foods with artificial sweeteners. Insulin takes sugar out of our blood, where it goes after we eat it, and into the cells so it can be either used for energy or stored. Because with artificial sweeteners there isn’t actually any sugar for insulin to move, the cells start to ignore insulin — they become insulin resistant. In the future, this means that more calories will be stored as fat because the insulin resistant cells won’t be accepting as many calories from insulin to use as energy.
These reasons in addition to the changes listed in earlier posts that correspond to individual sweeteners lead to unexpected weight gain. Instead of these sweeteners, you should really drink water! I know it sounds boring but it is essential to healthy living; our body is made up of 50-75% water and it is used for so many important things such as transporting nutrients, removing wastes and digestive processes. You should drink at least 8 glasses a day. Are you getting enough? In addition to water, some healthy alternatives are fruit and vegetable juices, spritzers (half juice, half seltzer) or Emer-Gen-C drinks. If you have to have an alternative sweetener, try stevia. Stevia is not man-made, it comes from a plant and is naturally calorie free. It is available as Truvia and SweetLeaf.
Any other suggestions out there? We’d love to hear them!
