New diet strategies and threats are coming out all the time. Here a few recent ones that help your diet plan:
- Strategy: Probiotics May Help Ward Off Obesity. Probiotics are bacteria that help maintain a healthy bacterial balance in the digestive tract by reducing the growth of harmful bacteria. In YDD we talked about how some obesity may be caused by having the wrong kind of bacteria in your gut or not enough of the good bacteria. This study shows you may want to take a look probiotics as one potential weight control strategy.
- Strategy: Diet, not lack of exercise, to blame for obesity. This study found "Over-eating rather than more sedentary living is almost entirely to blame for the rise in obesity in the developed world, according to research." This seems mostly true to me. In YDD we talked a lot about how walking a mile burns 100 calories and eating a single candy bar adds 250 or so calories. In our modern world that makes getting enough exercise to counter over eating very difficult. So you can't overeat. No kidding. But what exercise does is build muscle which continuously burns calories and it does allow you eat more than you otherwise would be able to. Losing weight by only controlling how much you eat is very difficult. A combination of exercise and eating control is an easier path to success.
- Threat: Foods that could be sabotaging your diet. Watch almost anyone eat and you can tell they give very little thought to what they are eating. Are they thinking how many calories does this have? How many calories have I eaten today? How I'm doing on creating my calorie deficit for the day? Even if you manage to think before you eat some foods just fool you. This article talks about how the following foods may have diet busting hidden calories: Muffins, Prepared salads, Fat-free frozen desserts, Bagels, Salad dressing/salad toppings, Dried fruits, Mixed nuts, Fruit juice.
- Threat: The Fine Print: What's Really in a Lot of 'Healthy' Foods. The idea here is even foods you think are healthy may not be. Chicken, for example, is often pumped full of salt water to make the chicken appear plumper that it really is. Salt isn't as scary for you as generally perceived, but eating highly concentrated amounts isn't a good idea over the long run. Some other foods to be careful of: Chicken, Salt substitutes, Artificial Sweeteners, Trans fat, Wheat bread, Fiber, Yogurt, Super water, Omega 3. The lesson: Try to buy foods as close to their natural state as possible.
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