diet

Apparently burgers are recession-proof. In fact, according to a recent survey cited by the Boston Globe, "It may be one area of food service where [consumers] are less willing to cut back, despite the current economic environment." We didn't know there was a shortage of burger options in the U.S., to be honest, but about half of us think restuarants should offer more burger variety.  More Â»

The American Heart Association says we're eating way too much extra sugar, meaning sugar that doesn't naturally occur in our foods. The average American consumes 22 teaspoons a day. By contrast, the average woman should eat no more than 6 teaspoons daily, while the average man, owing most likely to his increased awesomeness, should eat no more than 9 teaspoons a day. [Eats another teaspoon of sugar before resuming typing.]  More Â»

The Huffington Post is reporting that new FDA chief Dr. Margaret Hamburg is expected to ban the use of aspartame, the substance in Nutrasweet. Who expects the ban, columnist Samuel S. Epstein neglects to say.  More Â»

Last week, we wrote about how sugar isn't any better than corn syrup when it comes to you health. But it turns out we were wrong. According to this old ad I just found, sugar is perfect for weight-watching: "That's because sugar helps prevent you from overeating... with sugar in your diet, you're happier with smaller portions of everything."  More Â»

Recently, those buzzkills at Time published this mouth-watering article about the massive caloric content of fast food. Apparently, the Senate is considering federal legislation that would require chain restaurants to list calorie counts on menus.  More Â»

Last May, we reviewed which fast food and chain restaurant websites were sharing nutritional information with customers and which ones weren't. Red Lobster has always been stingy about nutritional info, so we're happy to report that they've finally changed their ways and now offer an online and downloadable nutrition guide. The only thing we can't figure out is how their "1 1/4 lb" steamed lobster is only 45 calories—that works out to about 1.5 ounces of actual lobster. (Thanks to zlionsfan!)  More Â»

The Wall Street Journal takes a good look at items marketed as "healthier for you" on supermarket shelves, and as you can probably imagine, any actual health benefits vary greatly from product to product. Take all natural chicken, for example: if you buy "enhanced" or "plumped" chicken—it will say somewhere on the label that water, salt, and/or carrageenan has been added, but it will still be labeled natural—the sodium per 4 oz serving jumps from 45-60 mgs to 200-400 mgs.  More Â»

Riley writes, "I remember seeing a couple of articles about restaurant nutrition information awhile back (ie the 2008 Ultimate Fast Food Nutrition Guide) and was motivated to create a site that houses nutrition information for chain restaurants across the country." The result is Fatburgr, where you can quickly look up info by restaurant or food type.   More Â»

"Don't be too alarmed even when [studies] come out and seem hopeless," said Dawn Jackson Blatner, an American Dietetic Ass>ociation spokeswoman. "With a few swaps and switches, people really can make healthier choices at these fast-food joints, especially when the decisions are made before going in.  More Â»

Someone in Taco Bell's marketing department is unclear on the concept of "losing weight," or else just completely amoral (hence the marketing job), because the company is "sponsoring" Oklahoma City residents who have taken part in a weight loss challenge by giving away free tacos. To be fair, these "fresco crunchy tacos" are less than 200 calories each (the company says 150 calories, 8 grams of fat, but this independent analysis puts it slightly higher). But still—tacos? Free tacos to people who are trying to lose weight?   More Â»

Smaller-sized 100-calorie snack packs are supposed to help with weight loss, but the problem is they don't work. In an experiment published in the Journal of Consumer Research, subjects were primed to think about their body shape and then given bags of potato chips and placed in front of a TV. The group that was given nine small bags ate much more than those given two large bags, 46.1 grams vs 23.5. What's going on? It appears that the smaller size tricks people into thinking they're eating less, so they feel fine about chowing down more. Consumers may merrily consume the innocently small packages of Little Pleasures at an even higher pace,” wrote the study's authors, “leading to over-consumption.”  More Â»

Chris Coleson, a businessman from Richmond, VA told his wife he could lose weight by eating anywhere -- even McDonald's.   More Â»

Most people are familiar with the basics of good nutrition but many aren't aware of the thousands of food additives found in popular foods which if consumed in excess could create health risks. MSN Health has put together a list of 10 additives you should try to avoid. Let's be clear, we don't expect you to avoid all of these additives altogether, although, it certainly is possible. The key is being aware of them so you can effectively limit their intake. The list of additives, inside...  More Â»

First it was breast reduction advice, now it's weight management tips, this time from a rude Panera Bread employee who didn't like being confronted by an angry customer. Here's what happened to Jeff's wife when she tried to buy some chicken noodle soup the other day:  More Â»

Gout sounds like something characters in Dickens novels get, but apparently it's a modern affliction as well—at least in the U.S. where the number of cases has doubled in the past few decades. Now researchers are saying that "Men who consume two or more sugary soft drinks a day have an 85% higher risk of gout compared with those who drink less than one a month."  More Â»

The decreased caloric intake and increase in non-motorized modes of transportation following Cuba's economic crisis from 1989-2000 lead to a decrease in heart disease and diabetes, a University of Michigan study finds.  More Â»

A new report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association ranks ten diets according to nutritional quality and potential effects on heart health. The best of the ten is the Ornish diet, while the least healthy is the Atkins plan. Dieters, begin fighting.  More Â»

It's yesterday's news that you can eat healthier by avoiding foods full of unnecessary sugars, and that sugars appear on labels under different names, but you might be surprised to see just how many different guises sugar and sugar-related substances can assume.   More Â»

After a year-and-a-half of blogging out of the comfort of my apartment, I was out of shape and overweight. I'm 5'11" and I weighed 220 lbs. Pants weren't fitting. I learned that buttons popping off pants didn't just happen in the cartoons. My family noticed my doublechins, my dad worried I had diabetes.   More Â»

A CNN map shows the American obesity epidemic since 1985, and it's freaky. Why is it happening? High fructose corn syrup? Fast food? Cheap carbohydrates? Lack of moral fiber?   More Â»