| What's So Unhealthy About The Atkins Diet?
Just when you think you've heard it all from the people who oppose livin' la vida low-carb, along comes a story like the one I share out of Great Britain in Episode 18 which should remind you that these people will stop at nothing to discredit this healthy lifestyle change so many of us have chosen. You'll never believe what they say is HEALTHIER than the Atkins diet! Check out today's podcast show as thousands of your fellow readers have already done and then leave me feedback in the show notes section of today's episode and let me know what you thought. Are you enjoying the podcast and feel it's worth the time you invested listening to it? Let me know by calling our listener comment line at (206) 203-4192. You can check out the podcast many different ways: 1.
Calorie labels sought for fast-food menus
A whole new layer of guilt could be piled atop those steamy burger patties and super-sized french fries under a new city mandate proposed by Concord Mayor Mark Peterson. Known for pushing healthy living and fitness programs, Peterson wants to require Concord fast-food restaurants to post calorie information next to the lettering for each menu item. This way, people will not only know what they're getting into when ordering that extra-creamy chocolate milkshake, but could be persuaded to choose a healthier alternative. "So many of these meals are much worse than people even realize," he said. He acknowledges that many restaurants offer nutrition information on brochures behind the counter or even on Web sites. But that's not enough, he says. "If it's right in front of their eyes as they're ordering, staring right at them, it's hard to ignore," Peterson said.
Children's TV diet more harmful than thought
Analysis of 35 scientific studies identified 15 negative effects TV can have on youngsters, ranging from short-sightedness and obesity to premature puberty and autism. British psychologist Aric Sigman, the report's author, proposed banning the youngest children from watching television and only introducing it "judiciously" after that. The average six-year-old child has spent about one full year watching TV. Dr Sigman said: "To allow children to continue to watch this much screen media is an abdication of parental responsibility - truly hands-off parenting." His report, published in the science journal Biologist, concludes that cutting youngsters' viewing time must become a health priority. Watching TV suppresses the production of the hormone melatonin, which has important functions in the immune system, sleep cycle and the onset of puberty, it found.
Drink's weight loss claim stirs doubt
Consumers cruising the aisles of supermarkets this week will find a new green tea beverage with an astounding claim -- drink it and burn calories. The Coca-Cola Co. and Nestli say consuming three cans a day of their new product, Enviga, will burn 60 to 100 calories -- and you don't have to run laps around the track, pedal a stationary bicycle or even bench-press weights. These calories can be burned merely by lifting the cans from table to mouth. It seems too good to be true, and some say it is. In fact, one watchdog group already has filed a false-advertising lawsuit against the two companies, and Connecticut's attorney general has launched an investigation into the calorie-burning claim. But Coca-Cola representatives insist that the drink has been scientifically tested and that it works.
BMI only 1 indicator of obesity
Americans are forever finding new ways to measure themselves, and now we have another number over which to fret - the body mass index, or BMI.BMI claims to tell us how healthy we are (or aren't, as the case may be), and all of a sudden it's everywhere.People with BMIs greater than 40 can no longer adopt children from China. Models with BMIs lower than 18.5 have been banned from Madrid's runways and offered free meals in a London restaurant.British health officials have considered denying surgery to people whose BMIs are 30 or greater, and some life insurance companies increase their rates for people with elevated BMIs. .
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