Category Archives: Diet And Food

Tigri Scientifica: Step away from the Diet Coke

Diet sodas are worse for your health than you think.

Quick, name the worst soda for your health. What was your first guess? Mountain Dew? What about Coca-Cola? Surely one of the neon-colored Pepsis would be at the top of the list. If youre drinking a diet soda right now, youre going to want to put it down in favor of its full-sugared counterpart.

A newly published, 10-year study conducted by Dr. Hannah Gardener and her colleagues from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Columbia University Medical Center found that those who drink diet soda on a daily basis are at a higher risk of many vascular disorders, including stroke, heart attack and vascular death.

Full-calorie soda gets a bad rep because of the high fructose corn syrup that it contains and its high caloric content. These can help increase waistlines and can potentially be linked to vascular disorders.

Interestingly enough, this new study found no association between drinking regular soda and an increased risk of vascular disorders. The new study also came to the conclusion that those who drink diet soft drinks daily have a 43 percent increased risk of vascular events when compared to those who drink regular soda daily.

Why would diet sodas have such a different effect? Scientists have not been able to clearly define the exact processes by which the compounds in diet sodas cause harm to your body, but they have been able to pinpoint all of the negative effects that come along with frequent diet soft drink consumption.

In the study, 2,564 participants were observed in their soda intake. The study controlled for many factors, including dietary habits, age, sex and ethnicity.

Accounting for differences related to those factors, the participants who drank diet sodas regularly were most likely to sufferer hypertension, elevated blood sugar, lower HDL (the good cholesterol), larger BMIs, peripheral vascular disease and previous cardiac disease.

How does that compare to those in the study who chose regular soda as their daily poison? They generally had lower occurrences of diabetes and high blood cholesterol levels.

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Tigri Scientifica: Step away from the Diet Coke

Ananda Marchildon was told lose weight and get her waist down to 90cm. Picture: AP Source: AP

A FORMER winner of the television show Holland's Next Top Model has won a lawsuit against Elite Model Management after she was dropped for having hips the agency considered too large.

The Amsterdam District Court ruled that Ananda Marchildon, now 25, was entitled to the main prize she won in the 2008 production of the show, a three-year contract worth 75,000 euros ($93,500).

Marchildon argued she was dismissed after only 10,000 euros worth of work because she didn't lose enough weight to please the agency.

According to the written ruling, though Marchildon had gained weight since getting the contract, she had a hip measurement of 92 centimetres when she won, and Elite could not demand that she go down to 90 centimetres. That is far smaller than the average woman's hips but not unusual in the modelling world.

"I was right, after all," she said on Wednesday in a reaction published by Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad. "I hope that makers and participants reconsider the structure of this kind of program."

Marchildon's lawyer said she would comment further after she finishes the day's shift at her new job - as a carpenter.

Marchildon was hired by underwear company Sloggi for a one-time shoot on Monday to show that she is still fit for modelling work. Picture: AP

Source: AP

The fashion industry has often faced criticism for creating unrealistic expectations about women's bodies and forcing models to undergo harmful diets.

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Next Top Model winner fired for 'big hips'

Popular calorie counter service makes the most of any popular diet plan.

Cherry Hill, NJ (PRWEB) March 08, 2012

The power of MyNetDiarys detailed food and exercise tracking service is its ability to document precisely what we eat, how many calories we burn and even when we eat, explains Katherine Isacks, Registered Dietitian with MyNetDiary, and people can track calories on-the-go with MyNetDiarys mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry.

As the U.S. News recently released its top 25 diets, based on being relatively easy to follow, nutritious, safe and effective for weight loss and against diabetes and heart diseases, MyNetDiary serves as a tool that can effectively assist anyone on these diets to make them extremely effective.

For instance, the top-ranking diet, according to U.S. News, is the DASH Diet. Originally developed to fight high blood pressure, it emphasizes eating foods high in potassium, calcium, protein and fiber, while cutting back on sodium. MyNetDiary members can track all these nutrients easily by logging meals and snacks. MyNetDiary allows for tracking over 40 different macro and micro-nutrients.

Other diets, especially ones that use point system, benefit from using MyNetDiary in conjunction because it can translate the simplistic point systems into actual nutritional values people can understand. Over time, dieters will see a correlation between points, calories and particular macro-nutrients, which will equip them to make better food choices without the need to count points at all.

MyNetDiary teaches people to be able to look over a Nutrition Facts label on any food package and determine if its a healthy choice, says Isacks. While points will help people make choices based upon calories, they are not as helpful when youre standing in the grocery aisle trying to choose between two types of breakfast cereals. However, knowing how to decipher calories, fat, carbs and other nutrients on the spot can help you make the right choice. But for those who do like the simplicity of points, MyNetDiary offers a Food Score, which provides an easy to read numerical +/- score for determining a foods healthfulness.

Food journaling adds accountability to dieting, and for many people trying to lose weight, especially through diets that are unfamiliar, the act of keeping track of calories consumed and calories burned keeps them engaged with the process, which may help them succeed.

For more information about how the MyNetDiary calorie counter works with each of the U.S. News Top 25 diets, or to arrange an interview with Registered Dietitian, Katherine Isacks, contact MyNetDiary at (800) 385-7461 ext. 1015 or visit http://www.mynetdiary.com.

About MyNetDiary

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MyNetDiary’s Food and Exercise Tracker Works with Any Diet

While more accustomed to designing high-end collaborations like champagne packaging for Piper-Heidsieck, Jean Paul Gaultier is going for more mass market appeal by becoming the latest designer to collaborate with Diet Coke.

The French creator has been named the beverage's European creative director and is appearing in a series of short films for the brand.

As well as signing on to design bottles and cans, Gaultier will also have input on online content and retail concepts for 2012.

Plus, he's the star of three light-hearted short films for Diet Coke's YouTube channel, portraying a therapist, a journalist and a private detective solving a puppet's wardrobe dilemmas. See the first in the series at http://youtu.be/qoTR5bqsx-w.

His first limited-edition designs will be unveiled across Europe starting next month. Bottle designing isn't completely new to the creator though, as he has teamed up with Piper-Heidsieck in the past -- last year dressing a bottle of vintage champagne in black lurex, fishnet and Swarovski crystals. For the Diet Coke collab, Gaultier has hinted at a characterful creation.

"The brand asked me to explore its fun personality and to style the bottle. I want to show people the codes and signatures I love. The bottles have the shape of a woman's body, so it was great fun to 'dress' them," the French creator explained in a release.

"The Diet Coke motif is so beautiful I had to design around this. The finishing touch was to apply my logo to the bottle, like applying a fragile stamp -- making it something special you want to touch."

Gaultier follows in the footsteps of leading designers including Karl Lagerfeld, Roberto Cavalli and Nathalie Rykiel by teaming up with the soft drinks brand, while over in the US Diane von Furstenberg last month unveiled a limited-edition collection of bottles adorned with her signature prints in red and black.

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From champagne to soda: Gaultier labeled Diet Coke creative director

Washington, Mar 8 (ANI): Researchers have shed light on the effects of catch up growth (CUG) with different diets on bone status and the role of resveratrol in CUG models.

Although many current studies focused on catch up growth (CUG) have described its high susceptibility to insulin resistance-related diseases very few have focused on the effect of CUG on bone metabolism, especially in adulthood.

As diet is a controllable factor, the influence of re-feeding with different dietary patterns on bone parameters is important to study.

Resveratrol has been attributed a number of beneficial effects in mammals including osteotrophic properties. Wang and colleagues have described the first study to describe the effects of CUG, with various diets and resveratrol intervention on bone status.

CUG can lead to insulin resistance and low-grade systemic inflammation occurs in insulin resistance syndrome.

Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-a is an important inflammatory cytokine, and Lange and Seriolo et al. indicated that anti-TNF alpha therapy may exert beneficial effects on bone metabolism, prevent structural bone damage and increase bone mineral density.

"Our results showed that food restriction induced a significant decrease in bone parameters. Eight-week CUG by normal chow demonstrated a greater degree of improvement in mineral density than a high-fat diet, and even returned to normal level," Dr. Wang said.

"In contrast, Mika C found that re-feeding for two years normalized bone formation activity in adolescent anorexia nervosa patients, but bone mineral density was still significantly lower than that of controls."

"Compared with neural anorexia, we found in this study the degree of impairment by four-week diet restriction on bone metabolism was relatively weaker, so that bone mineral density returned to normal level after re-feeding."

To better distinguish the effects of CUG by high-fat diet on bone status, these investigators set up a high-fat diet group.

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How diet affects bone status during catch-up growth

AMSTERDAM (AP) A former winner of the television show "Holland's Next Top Model" has won a lawsuit against Elite Model Management after she was dropped for having hips the agency considered too large.

Ananda Marchildon, now 25, is entitled to the prize she won in the 2008 production of the show, a three-year contract worth euro75,000 ($98,500), the Amsterdam District Court ruled Wednesday.

"I'm proud to be able to show that just because a modeling agency wants that, it doesn't mean that if you have a bigger size you're done for," she told the Associated Press in an interview. "You're still a person and you can be as beautiful as you want and it doesn't come down to centimeters, it's how you are and how you portray yourself."

Marchildon argued she was dismissed after only euro10,000 ($13,000) worth of work, because she didn't lose enough weight to please the agency.

According to the written ruling, though she gained weight after winning, she had a hip measurement of 92 centimeters (about 36.2 inches) when she won, and Elite could not demand that she go down to 90 centimeters about 35.4 inches. That is far smaller than the average woman's hips, but not unusual in the modeling world.

The fashion industry has often faced criticism for creating unrealistic expectations about women's bodies and forcing models to undergo harmful diets.

"I'm proud to be a good role model, that's how I see it, for young girls. If you can't be a model for high fashion, you're still beautiful," Marchildon said.

Modeling agencies say that they respond to the demands of advertisers, and ultimately, clothing customers: a model that doesn't have the right look won't get work.

Marchildon said she understood Elite's wishes, though she didn't necessarily agree with them, and the television program should rethink its format.

"They shouldn't have let me win, if they can't be true to their word, it's as simple as that," she said.

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'Holland's Next Top Model' wins agency lawsuit

Are carbohydrates really the enemy? 08 Mar 2012

Sharon Hultzer

THE dieting world is certainly an ever-growing one with variations of extreme fads and diet methods repeating and reinventing themselves through the decades. Many self-professed lifetime dieters have developed strong views on what works and what doesnt work, what foods are friends versus which ones are foes. The ultimate aim of most weight-loss diets is to lose weight as quickly and painlessly as possible, often with little regard for long-term success and health. Options range from starving, to eating only fruit, to drinking only soups, to surviving on salads and water. Lately, the most spoken-about diet in the media is the high protein and fat, very low (or no) carbohydrate strategy.

What is the truth behind these weight-loss methods, and is there a one-size-fits-all option that guarantees success to everybody prepared to put in the effort?

Simply stated, weight loss requires that we put less fuel into our body than what we use. In other words, expending more energy than we eat will place us in a negative calorie balance forcing the body to use up its stored fuel sources. The frequently asked question is: Does it matter what fuel source we give the body? Should we eliminate certain sources completely and eat specific food groups to encourage speedier results?

As we have discussed before, people dont all respond the same way to the same dietary changes. Some people lose weight relatively easily when reducing fat in their diet, and others seem to lose weight best when reducing starchy foods. Our genetic make-up certainly plays a role, but the basics still remain. Our body needs a balance of all the main macronutrients to survive healthily. Completely eliminating any of these groups has serious health implications.

We need protein to build and repair muscles and cells on a daily basis. Carbohydrates are the essential source of glucose that our brain in particular needs to function, as well as an essential source of glycogen for powering our muscles. Fats are also needed to keep our cell walls healthy and to allow for adequate hormone production. All these macronutrients are used for a plethora of other functions this is simply a brief overview.

The most famous very low-carbohydrate diet is the Atkins diet. It allows eating as much protein and fat as required, while severely limiting all carbohydrate-containing foods, including starchy vegetables (such as butternut), potatoes, breads, crackers and even fruit. In the absence of adequate carbohydrate, the body burns up fat as a fuel source which is, of course, the attractive draw card. However, the fat is not broken down completely (as it would be in the presence of carbohydrate) and yields ketones and a state called ketosis. Prolonged ketosis causes the body to metabolise muscles, tissues and organs to find additional fuel. This can be damaging to the body, not to mention the associated feelings of weakness and tiredness. In the state of ketosis, the body loses a lot of water. This leads dieters to believe they are achieving weight loss, but it is not fat that is being lost and as soon as any carbohydrate is eaten, the water weight is quickly recovered.

While no-carbohydrate diets are dangerous and have not been shown to yield any better weight-loss results in the long term, there may be a place for adequately designed low-carbohydrate diets. It is possible to develop a lower carbohydrate diet that will ensure that the minimum-required carbohydrate is available to protect against muscle breakdown. This may be effective in certain individuals yielding a speedier weight loss initially.

This initial better result is short-lived however. Long-term follow-up studies show that similar weight-loss results are achieved after 12 months when following a diet containing moderate carbohydrate (what we would term a balanced diet). If you are going to attempt a low-carbohydrate diet, dont simply follow a general plan. Ensure that you plan it with your dietician to avoid dangerous complications.

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Are carbohydrates really the enemy?

A year ago, Nick Turnbeaugh, 17, looked into a mirror pondering adulthood. "I looked at myself and said, 'If I'm this heavy now, what will I be when I'm 30?' "

Today, Turnbeaugh weighs 163 pounds, which is 87 pounds lighter than his peak weight of 250 pounds. His new weight is perfect for his 5-foot-11-inch frame.

Now he likes the guy in the mirror. "I never realized what I used to look like," he said. "I'm astonished at what my body can do now.

"I'm getting more confident."

Last semester, his grades jumped from middle C to a B average, the highest grades he has ever achieved.

Experts say physically fit youngsters do better in school, for any of a number of reasons, from being clear-headed and healthy to being less self-conscious and distracted by teasing or bullying.

Turnbeaugh said to make the change, he had to hate obesity more than he loved junk food. And he hated what obesity had done to his life.

Turnbeaugh's weight had set his life off balance for as far back as he could remember. The most wrenching times were when other children teased him.

"I had to change schools in junior high because it got so bad," he said. "People don't realize, that really hurts."

He added, "When I was with my friends, they'd get the girls and not me. It wasn't fun."

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New diet, exercise energize teen

Study found few 'wonder pills' had randomised clinical trials to back up dietary claims

By Claire Bates

Last updated at 5:28 PM on 7th March 2012

Weight loss: Impossible without reducing calories and exercising, says Professor Melinda Manore after studying a range of diet pills

Diet supplements are often advertised as extreme fat burners or craving quashers. But evidence used to support these claims simply doesnt add up, a leading U.S nutrition expert has warned.

Professor Melinda Manore from Oregon State University analysed the research used to support hundreds of diet pill claims.

She found no evidence that any single product was a 'wonder pill' causing significant weight loss and found some even had detrimental health effects.

'What people want is to lose weight and maintain or increase lean tissue mass,' Prof Manore said.

'There is no evidence that any one supplement does this. And some have side effects ranging from the unpleasant, such as bloating and gas, to very serious issues such as strokes and heart problems.'

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Do diet supplements help you lose weight? Fat chance!

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. & REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Avinger, Inc., a medical device manufacturer of innovative, multi-functional catheters for treating patients with Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), announces the enrollment of the first U.S. patient in the CONNECT II global clinical trial. Dr. Ian Cawich of Arkansas Heart Hospital enrolled the first U.S. patient this morning. This announcement comes just two weeks after Dr. Bernhard Reimers enrolled the first European patient in the CONNECT II trial at Ospedale di Mirano in Mirano, Italy.

CONNECT II is a multi-center, non-randomized global clinical study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Ocelot, the first-ever CTO crossing catheter to use real-time intravascular imaging technology called Optical Coherence Tomography, or OCT. Currently CE Marked, Ocelot is designed for crossing completely blocked arteries, or Chronic Total Occlusions (CTOs), in the legs while simultaneously using OCT to navigate inside the arteries.

We hope that physicians using Ocelot can now help prevent even more leg amputations in people suffering from PAD, said Avingers founder and CEO John B. Simpson, PhD, MD. The team here at Avinger has been working really hard and Im excited to see our efforts now go directly towards helping these patients.

The Ocelot catheter uses OCT technology as a navigation tool with the goal of traversing CTOs more safely and effectively as part of a procedure to restore blood flow back to normal in the legs. It allows physicians, in real time, to see whats happening inside the arteries during the actual intervention, giving patients a better chance to receive the best treatment possible during a single hospital visit.

We are participating in CONNECT II because our patient, if treated with other current options on the medical market, could face amputation and death, said Dr. Ian Cawich at the Arkansas Heart Hospital. With Avingers Ocelot, we believe this patient can be saved right now from both. The timing of this trial feels like a bit of miracle to our patient.

More about CONNECT II Clinical Trial

CONNECT II is a prospective, multi-center, non-randomized global clinical study that will evaluate 100 PAD patients with femoropopliteal CTO lesions at 17 sites, including three in the EU, where Ocelot received CE Mark in 2011.

As part of the trial, an independent group of physicians will review the angiography results to determine Ocelots crossing efficacy and safety.

Conditional FDA approval to conduct this study was received on January 27, 2012. Co-principal investigators for the trial include Arne Schwindt, MD of St. Franziskus Hospital in Muenster, Germany, and Matthew Selmon, MD, Austin Heart Hospital in Austin, TX.

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Avinger Enrolls First U.S. PAD Patient in CONNECT II Global Clinical Trial