A Closer Look At Processed Foods

This is a post that I’m re-blogging because it’s the most important information on the foods we eat. It exposes food manufacturers for what they have done to your food supply. Everyone who shops in a grocery store needs to read this post and remember the information when they buy groceries.

By Brenda Goodman
WebMD Health News

Melanie Warner is the author of Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Foods Took Over the American Diet. A former reporter for The New York Times, she spent a year and a half investigating the modern system of food manufacturing in the U.S. to conclude that “much of what we now eat is not so much as cooked as it is engineered into finely-tuned, nutrient-deficient creations of science.”

Warner says she began to wonder what manufacturers were adding to foods after she started what she calls her “food museum”—a collection of products like cookies, crackers, and even guacamole from a grocery store deli that she discovered could sit on the shelf of her pantry or refrigerator for months or years past their expiration dates without spoiling.

Since her book came out in 2013, the FDA has told food manufacturers that trans fats are no longer safe to use in processed foods, and many major companies, including Kraft, General Mills, and Nestle have pledged to get artificial colors and flavors out of their products—a practice called “clean labeling.”

WebMD asked her what she thought of these developments, and whether companies have really committed to making healthier products.

Q: I’m sure you’ve noticed this recent spate of public announcements from Kraft and General Mills and Nestle that they’re going to get artificial ingredients out of their foods. Do you think companies are feeling more consumer pressure to talk more about how they make their food?

A: Companies, I think, are only going as far as people push them, and by people I mean consumers—the people that are eating their products. They’re doing it because they’re being pushed in that direction by consumers.

They get all this input coming from social media and focus groups and all this market data gathering that they usually do. What they’re hearing is that people are concerned about this, and they’re worried about sales. They feel like if they don’t do this there’s going to be an impact on sales, and they’re probably right.

But they aren’t doing it to be better companies. They’re not trying to truly open up the doors. They’re not truly trying to reform their foods to make them healthier. They’re simply reacting to what consumers are telling them. I know that sounds cynical. That’s just my observation of how food companies think and how they operate. Or any consumer-facing company, really.

Q: After telling us so many revealing details about how processed foods are made, you say in your book that food companies aren’t going to fix this. Since they’re making the food to begin with, why shouldn’t they be the ones to reform it?

A: I’ve had this debate and argument with some people in the food movement who think that we need to be putting pressure on companies. We need to look at regulations and force companies to do things. That’s great if it happens, but companies are so good at getting around rules. They find every loophole they can. And it’s also really hard to get any regulation passed.

So I think it’s really about pushing forward with a new consciousness about food and educating people and opening people’s eyes up. I’ve been really amazed and heartened by how much has happened on that front within the last 10 years. There have been books written, articles, and documentaries. People are looking at all this much more with much greater awareness about what’s healthy for us to eat and caring about our health. Not everyone — there’s still a huge way to go.

I think that’s where the momentum needs to continue. We need to keep focusing on opening up people’s eyes to what happens inside the food industry. And if they decide ‘Oh, it’s fine. No big deal,’ then let people decide for themselves. But most people when they see what happens inside the food industry, whether it’s on the farms or in factories decide, ‘Oh, that’s kind of gross. I think I’m going to find other options.’

Q: Where is the FDA in all this?

A: I think people have gotten so used to the FDA not doing anything that it’s hard to summon anyone’s outrage about it. They say, ‘Well, the agency doesn’t have a big enough budget to really police our food supply.’ But they’ll never get enough money if people don’t get angry about it and insist on greater regulation.

It is a Herculean job to try either to initiate or try to stay on top of the scientific research on so many different food additives. Let me just say that. It is a really big deal. But there are just clear examples of how the FDA is just not being rigorous at all in ways that it definitely could.

Trans fat is just the most recent and glaring example. We’ve known for at least 10 years, probably more, that trans fats are one of the most harmful things in the food supply and it’s just now that FDA has taken away the GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status of partially hydrogenated oils. So, just the fact that they sat on it for that long and didn’t want to press the food industry, and from what I can tell, the reason they didn’t take action was that the food industry said ‘No, wait, it’s not that bad. We’ll just reduce the amount, and we’ll still have half a gram, you need to give us time.’ So they kind of go in line with the schedule that the food industry requests.

There are other examples like BHT, which is the preservative that’s used so that oils don’t go rancid in foods, and you find it in a number of processed foods as well as in packaging. That’s a probable carcinogen, according to the Health and Human Services department, so clearly that could be something that’s banned and not allowed in food. So those are just small examples of where the FDA could take simple action without going through tons of scientific studies. The data is already there.

Six months ago, there was a study that popped up on a couple of emulsifiers that are pretty widely used. Polysorbate 80 was one of them. It’s a whole area where there has been hardly any research done because it’s relatively new, knowledge of the gut microbiome. We have no idea what all these additives are doing to our gut bacteria. That’s just another example of how there is a need for more research.

I’m not going to be the one screaming, ‘Don’t eat any food additives, they’re all horrible.’ I think in a limited amount, your body can handle (them) and has a system for detoxifying. Because everyone eats some processed food. We’re all exposed to food additives. It’s just a question of quantity. If people are consuming a diet heavy on processed food, then they’re getting an abundance of all these different kinds of food additives. And I think the FDA needs to be a lot more aware of that, the accumulation of many, many food additives coming into our bodies day after day for people who are eating these diets heavy in processed food.

Q: What do you think is the next trans fat?

A: Certainly the most dangerous things in our food now are sugar and refined grains. They’re in abundance in processed food and their effect on the body in excess is well documented.

Refined grains get turned into glucose in the body very quickly. If you’re eating a whole grain product, like oatmeal, there’s some fiber that helps to slow down the absorption in the body, but if you take out that fiber, there’s nothing to prevent it from being readily converted into glucose and function very similar to the way sugar does in terms of rapidly going into the bloodstream and causing these rapid spikes in blood sugar, and your pancreas produces a lot of insulin to compensate, and you have that whole cycle that can lead to metabolic syndrome and diabetes if left unchecked.

Q: Do you think when you take artificial colors and flavors out of processed food, that makes it a better product? Is clean labeling really going to make our food healthier?

A: That’s a tough one, I think. Some days I think, ‘OK, that’s kinda good. It’s making something less bad.’ It’s good to have those options as a better alternative when you do want the chips, cookies, frozen stuff, and cereals. But on the other hand, the concern is that it gives those foods a health halo and confuses people. And then people think, ‘Well I can eat more … or (it’s) a healthy product.’ … I think people have to be sophisticated about it and think ‘Well, there are none of these seemingly horrible additives, but what are the other ingredients in them?’ If there’s a lot of sugar and refined grains, then I think you have to look at those ingredients and make an assessment.

(Some companies) are taking out artificial colors and flavors without really addressing the other stuff. Like BHT and methylcellulose and all these other ingredients and preservatives.

Q: How natural are “natural flavors”?

A: All the natural flavors are still highly processed. The special strawberry flavor doesn’t come from a strawberry. They’re coming from a natural source. It could start with corn, soybeans, or yeast. It starts with a natural source, but the way you get to it is highly processed, similar to the way you would for an artificial flavoring. The process is very similar. It’s just what you start with that’s different, that makes it natural. People can decide whether that’s better. I don’t necessarily think it’s better.

Q: We looked into problems of adulteration with processed foods like parmesan cheese. When I asked a cheese expert if he wanted the FDA to do something about it, he said no. He said the agency has to stay focused on preventing foodborne illnesses caused by contamination with E. coli and Listeria and things like that. He said these additives aren’t really a health issue. What do you say to that?

A: If you have to choose one or the other, you’re going to go with prevent E. coli and Listeria, obviously. But why do we have to choose?

It’s ironic that the FDA was inspired by Harvey Wiley, MD, who wanted an agency to oversee food, specifically because there was so much adulterated food and no one was overseeing this. That was the original inspiration for the FDA in the first place. So you didn’t have sawdust in your coffee and things like that. Now it’s cellulose in the parmesan cheese. Maybe that’s why all those shakers of parmesan cheese, when you buy them, have no taste. There’s no flavor. You have to put so much on to get a little bit of taste.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone.

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

If you really want to lose your body fat then look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

More Frequent Meals Can Lead To A Thinner, Healthier You

This article in Reuters last month will verify the same things I’ve talked about for years now. The more calories you eat at a meal, the more of your food will turn into fat. We can only process so much food at a time and the rest will just get stored as fat. That’s how we gain weight.

Reuters Health – Adults who had multiple small meals every day tended to eat better, and weigh less than those who had fewer but larger meals, in a recent study.

People eating fewer meals tended to eat the most at night, and drink alcohol with meals, both of which might contribute to their higher body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height, the researchers said.

“The major hypothesis that can be taken away from this study is interesting but not so mind-blowing – eating more frequently throughout the day leads to a greater intake of healthier, lower calorically-dense foods, which in turn leads to a lower overall caloric intake and BMI,” said Elena Tovar, a clinical dietitian at Montefiore Medical Center in New York who wasn’t involved in the study.

“This just makes sense – eating more often staves off hunger so that we don’t end up eating whatever we can get our hands on, later on, thereby making it more likely that the foods we eat are healthier,” Tovar told Reuters Health in an email.

Researchers in the UK, at Imperial College London, and in the U.S., at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, analyzed data from 2,385 adults from a study conducted between 1996 and 1999.

They found that participants who reported eating less than four times during a 24-hour period had an average BMI of 29.0 and consumed an average of 2,472 calories.

A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal weight and BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight. A BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.

Participants who ate six times or more over 24 hours had an average BMI of 27.3 and consumed an average of 2,129 calories.

People who ate more often tended to consume foods that were lower in calories and higher in nutritional value, such as vegetables, the researchers found.

Meanwhile, people who ate less than four meals tended to consume more calories in the evening, and to have alcohol in the evening. This pattern is consistent with meals eaten at restaurants, where food tends to be rich or fried and it’s harder to get fresh, healthy foods, the authors note.

“Our findings demonstrated that lower BMI levels in more frequent eaters are associated with consumption of lower dietary energy density and higher nutrient quality foods,” the authors write in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

“Modifying eating behavior through more frequent meals of low dietary energy density and high nutrient quality may be an important approach to control epidemic obesity,” they note.

They also acknowledge limitations to the study, including the fact that it doesn’t prove that timing or frequency of eating caused the differences in BMI.

“Although this relationship requires further testing, it seems to support the idea that eating large meals later in the day may not be doing our waistlines any favors,” Tovar said.

Tovar highlighted the study authors’ speculation that the apparent effect of meal timing might be related to an increase in insulin sensitivity later in the day.

“I would be curious to see more research on this topic in particular, especially because so many people these days are being told by practitioners not to eat after certain times at night without there being much science to back up these arbitrary requests,” she said.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone.

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

If you really want to lose your body fat then look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

Losing Weight Is A Life Changing Experience

Once you make the decision to lose the excess weight and change your life the trick is to never go back. Losing weight is a combination of your diet and an exercise program. Exercise is the part of losing weight that turns off most people. They’re all motivated at the beginning and then the exercise part is the part that causes them to quit. Remember that exercise is only about 30% of the weight loss process. Diet is 70% of the process. Only eating the proper foods is key. Yes, exercising is a part of the losing weight process but you don’t have to kill yourself exercising. Some people think that’s the only way to lose weight, “You have to sweat it off”. That’s just not true. It is true that you need exercise to jump start your metabolism and start burning calories, but you can start slow.

Walking is a good way to get your body going. You want to try to do your walking as early as you can. Try and do this for 30 minutes, and a couple times a day. Your metabolism goes dormant at night so you’re only burning the minimal amount of calories until you wake and start moving. At first you’re still burning a minimal amount and that doesn’t change until you start moving vigorously by walking fast or running or lifting weights, riding a bike, something to get your blood pumping. That’s why you need to exercise early, the faster you get your metabolism into high gear the more calories you’ll burn that day. Remember after dark your metabolism slows down. At night your body goes into a healing mode. That’s necessary for sleep.

O.K., some people will find the exercise part of losing weight the most difficult and others the diet part. I guess for me it’s the diet part. I love food and always find a reason to go off the diet. And for some people it’s both parts. After you get use to the exercise part it will make you feel better when you exercise. So I like to exercise, but for the “newbies” who never did much exercise it’s difficult to fall into a routine. This is when you need to begin slowly. A gym membership is o.k. but still go easy. Just go for the walking or treadmills or maybe the stationary bike. A beginner at exercise can easily get burned out or overdue. Do something you can do easily at first. You can challenge yourself later after a few months of conditioning. You want your heart to get use to exercising every day. This is when talking to your doctor is a great benefit. Your doctor will help you begin with a safe exercise program. Yes, you want to challenge your muscles but you can’t let your heart rate go too high for your size and age. Your doctor knows what the safe limit is for you. This along with a good diet program and in a few months you’ll see and feel the results of your hard work. For those of us that are new or don't exercise regularly you might want to invest in a fitness monitor. The important things to track is blood pressure and heart rate, you can't exceed the level for your condition, that's where your doctor comes in, he'll give you the numbers to keep you safe.

Gym membership can actually cause a “newbie” to give up. After about twenty minutes you wonder what you’re doing there. Try and buddy with someone you know who is already going. Or on your first day sign up with a trainer. Some trainers will work with you by the day and some by the week and if you can’t find a trainer at that gym, maybe you should move on. You can look on-line for a trainer that will work with you at any gym or in your home. You don’t need a lot of equipment to workout.

A trainer can also help you with your diet. The diet is the most important part. I wasted a lot of money at a health club because I thought I could sweat off the weight. I was doing Racquetball, rowing, and machines but I barely lose any weight. If you really want to lose weight you have to change your diet.

I started to eat fresh, which means fish, poultry (only white meat), vegetables and fruit. No dairy (except plain Greek yogurt). Whole grain bread is okay. Whole wheat is not whole grain (read the labels) no enriched flour. Anything with enriched flour is just as bad as eating sugar. You can buy “Gluten-Free” bread that has no wheat. If you wondered why “Gluten-Free” became so popular it’s probably because of enriched wheat flour.  No “processed foods” (store made food), no can food, some say that fish packed in water is okay, it’s a good source of protein. And drink only water, tea or coffee. While you are in that weight loss mode, don't drink calories and increase water.

On the top of this page you’ll find a tab for another page that has a diet suggestion. It’s a good diet and you don’t have to count calories.

There are lots of choices and the only exercise that’s suggested is walking, brisk walking every day. Nothing to buy, just wear a comfortable pair of walking shoes. For a “newbie” who is just starting an exercise program walking is the best way to begin. Walk outside if the weather permits or in the mall if it doesn’t. In the beginning remember it’s not a race, don’t let your heart rate get out of control. Your target heart rate should be 220 minus your age. I’m 70, so my target heart rate is 150, maximum is about 180. Your doctor will help you find a heart rate right for you.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone.

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

If you really want to lose your body fat then look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

How Can I Stop My Constant Snacking

Snacking is a big problem. Some people will snack all day instead of eating food. Mostly it is young people that learn how to do this in school and never break the habit. This habit doesn’t supply the body with nutrition. Some young people think that it’s a waste of time stopping for a meal when you could be doing something productive. They don’t think about nutrition because no matter what they eat, they don’t feel any different, so why eat a meal if they can just stop for a burger at the drive-thru and keep going? They don’t understand that your body will only store so much nutrition and you will run out. Running low on your body's nutrients will cause you to feel sluggish. You’ll feel tired all the time. You’ll be sick more often. Read the blog post below and learn the truth.

By Shereen Lehman, MS

Oscar Wong / Getty Images

Question: I don’t have a problem with my weight, but I’m trying to eat a healthier diet. I eat a good breakfast; usually, a salad for lunch, and what I think is a good dinner at night. The problem is afternoon and evening snacking. I feel like I’m hungry all the time, and it’s so easy to nibble on something and not always something that’s good for me.

Answer: If you want to get away from between-meal snacks, the first step may be to figure out why you’re snacking so much.

If you’re hungry, you may need to eat more at lunch and dinner so you can make it to the next meal without the extra nibbles. If you’re munching is mindless then maybe you need to rearrange your environment, so you don’t automatically grab something and shove it into your mouth whenever you get bored.

Tips for Not Snacking

You can cut back on your snacking with a little preparation. Don’t keep candy at your desk and avoid the vending machines. Grab a glass of water instead of a bag of chips when you’re watching TV, gaming, playing on the internet or reading a book at night. In fact, keeping a water bottle with you for an occasional quick sip might be a good way to curb the habit of eating something.

If you’re snacking because you’re bored or stressed, try going for a walk, getting some exercise or maybe even calling or texting a friend. Friends and family can be the best support system — ask them to help keep your mind off snacking.

Tips for Healthy Snacking

Maybe you don’t need to give up your nightly nibbles. Snacking isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as you stay within your daily calorie allowance. Some people find it’s easier to follow a balanced diet when they eat a healthful mid-meal snack because they don’t overeat at the next meal.

Use your snacks to boost your nutritional intake. Choose fresh fruit, whole-grain crackers, low-fat yogurt, nuts, and fresh vegetables. This way, you’ll get extra vitamins, minerals, and fiber. A little bit of cheese, a hard-boiled egg, or lean meat is fine too, but watch your serving sizes because these foods are energy dense. Avoid candy bars, cookies, cakes and pastries, ice cream, and greasy chips or packaged snack foods.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans.

 Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Foods That Help Burn Fat

This post is from the HungryGirl website and confirms that your diet will help you burn fat. The right diet will burn more fat than exercise.

I write about this subject every week, you can’t starve yourself and lose weight. You have to eat the right foods. There are actually foods that help you burn body fat. If you eat the right foods, you’ll never be hungry. It’s not the quantity, it’s the quality.

Sticking to a healthy diet is tough — we need all the extra motivation we can get. Adding fat-burning foods to your meals and snacks does double duty: They’re healthy additions in and of themselves, and they help burn calories. Try the following:

One bean, two beans, red bean, blue bean. And when I say “red” and “blue,” I mean “pinto” and “navy.” Whatever type of bean is your personal favorite, you can count on one thing — experts insist it’ll be great at helping your body burn fat. Beans are all-around amazing because they contain lots of protein and fiber. Eating protein is one of the very best ways to encourage your body to burn fat: It boosts your metabolism and helps you feel full and energized. Where does the fiber come in? Studies show that dietary fiber can help regulate your appetite and slow your digestion, which is great for weight control. Aside from those navy and pinto beans, stock up on other fat-burning beans like soybeans, garbanzo beans, black beans, white beans, kidney beans, and lima beans.

Bonus: Beans are incredibly budget-friendly. Who doesn’t love that?

While most types of seafood are smart choices, they’re not all fat-burning superstars like salmon and tuna. You’ve probably heard that salmon and tuna are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Why should you care? Because not only do omega-3s help grow your hair and nails, they stimulate a protein hormone in your body called leptin, which jumpstarts your metabolism and regulates your appetite.

Well, then, allow me to introduce your new best friends: quinoa, brown rice, oat, and corn. These foods are considered whole grains (not to be confused with refined white carbs, which are basically the opposite of fat-burning foods), and chowing down on them fuels your body with much-needed fiber and complex carbohydrates. It’s the “complex” part that helps burn fat: 1) Complex carbs break down more slowly than the simple variety, meaning your energy levels won’t crash, and 2) They hold your insulin levels steady, which is good because insulin spikes encourage your body to hang on to fat.

If quinoa is your new best friend, yogurt should come in at a close second. Dairy products contain protein and calcium, which help keep your muscle mass intact while promoting weight loss. Another tidbit of good news about dairy: Studies show that of two groups of participants on low-calorie diets, the group that included dairy in their diets lost more weight than the dairy-free group. And, as if you need more reason to grow a milk mustache, research shows that probiotics found in some light dairy fight fat.

Dairy can be scary because it usually contains fat, but it’s not difficult to stick to fat-free and light varieties of milk, yogurt, and cheese. There are so many delicious options out there.

As if we needed another reason to drink red wine. I’ve saved the best for last: A recent study suggests that red wine (from extracts found in a certain type of red grape) may help your body fight fat. The study found that people who ate a high-fat diet accumulated less fat when they also consumed Muscadine grapes. Conversely, the group that also ate a high-fat diet but didn’t consume the red grapes accumulated the amount of fat that would be expected based on their food choices. The results are attributed mostly to something called ellagic acid, a compound found in Muscadine grapes. Muscadine grapes are grown primarily in the southeastern United States, and they’re used to make certain American wines. Cheers!

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans.

 Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

How You Digest Food Can Effect Your Weight

This makes a lot of sense to me. Read below and see if you agree.

We don’t all digest carbs or for that matter any food the same way the next person does. There are differences in the way people digest food, which might be the reason brothers or sisters eating the same food while growing up can have different size bodies. Being overweight is a worldwide problem and scientists from dozens of countries are trying to come up with a solution. So if you have trouble keeping the weight off, it’s a good idea to read about the problems and the solutions that are being worked on.

Science has caulked this off to different genes. But some doctors think it’s not that simple. What if those genes that get all the blame, actually cause your body to digest carbs differently than other people? Read the following article I found in HealthDay News. Obesity or just being overweight may be because some people just can’t eat the same foods that others eat.

The way your body digests carbohydrates may affect your risk for obesity, a new genetic study indicates.

Researchers focused on a gene called AMY1, which is responsible for an enzyme in the saliva called salivary amylase. When food enters the mouth, the enzyme begins the process of starch absorption that continues in the digestive system. Starches are a type of carbohydrate.

People typically have two copies of AMY1, but the number of copies can vary widely. It’s believed that higher numbers of the gene evolved in response to diets that contained greater levels of starch, the researchers said.

They studied the number of copies of AMY1 in thousands of people from France, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, and found those with a low number of copies were more likely to be obese.

People with fewer than four copies of the gene were about eight times more likely to be obese than those with nine copies. For every additional copy of the gene, a person was about 20 percent less likely to be obese, according to the authors of the study published March 30 in Nature Genetics.

“I think this is an important discovery because it suggests that how we digest starch and how the end products from the digestion of complex carbohydrates behave in the gut could be important factors in the risk of obesity,” study co-lead author Dr. Philippe Froguel, chair of genomic medicine at the School of Public Health of Imperial College London, said in a college news release.

“Future research is needed to understand whether or not altering the digestion of starchy food might improve someone’s ability to lose weight, or prevent a person from becoming obese,” Froguel said.

“We are also interested in whether there is a link between this genetic variation and people’s risk of other metabolic disorders such as diabetes, as people with a low number of copies of the salivary amylase gene may also be glucose intolerant,” Froguel said.

Previous studies investigating obesity have identified variations in genes that act in the brain and often result in differences in appetite, the study's first author Dr. Mario Falchi, also from Imperial College London, said in the news release. “Our finding is related to how the body physically handles digestion of carbohydrates.”

Falchi said researchers are starting to develop a clearer picture of a combination of genetic factors that contribute to a person’s chances of becoming obese. “This should ultimately help us to find better ways of tackling obesity,” he said.

— Robert Preidt

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans.

 Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Could More Fruits, and Vegetables Made Me Happier?

Eating up to eight servings of fruit and vegetables a day could make you feel happier, new research suggests. Not being happy is generally caused by the way you feel. Generally, being depressed will prevent you from being happy. So, how do you get depressed? I only see two causes that can both be caused by the food you eat.

First, being depressed can be caused by problems in your life. Did you know, that when you consume too much animal fat your mind can actually become confused? I say confused but it’s a little more complicated. When you have too much fat in your diet, your liver can’t process all of it, and some of the fats will go straight into your bloodstream and eventually into your brain and that slows down brain functions. This can keep you

The other reason for being depressed is not being happy with yourself. If you weigh too much it’s hard to keep up with your work, activities, etc. Your clothes never look right. You can’t wear the trendy clothes others wear. People stare, and some people avoid you. You have constant problems like body odor, gas, indigestion, and bloating.

Experts have long recommended a diet with lots of fruits and vegetables to help guard against cancer and heart disease. But, researchers say, it’s hard to persuade people to eat more fruits and vegetables today when the benefits aren’t seen for years or even decades.

However, improvements to your mood may be seen within 2 years, they say.

They found that about 85% of participants had fewer than three daily servings of fruit, while 60% ate fewer than three daily servings of vegetables. Only a very small percentage of people (1.83%) ate, on average, more than five servings of fruit. Only 7.75% ate more than five servings of vegetables.

The study found that improvements in happiness were seen for each extra daily portion of fruit and vegetables, up to eight portions a day.

The researchers conclude that people who go from eating almost no fruit and veggies to eight servings every day would have an increase in life satisfaction equivalent to moving from unemployment to employment. That improvement would be seen within 24 months, they claim.

“People’s motivation to eat healthy food is weakened by the fact that physical health benefits, such as protecting against cancer, accrue decades later,” Andrew Oswald, professor of economics and behavioral science at the University of Warwick, says in a statement. “However, well-being improvements from increased consumption of fruit and vegetables are closer to immediate.”

Most people don’t feel the effects of being overweight until they’re over 50 and by that time they lose the ambition and motivation to do anything about it, so they take the pills and try and do what the doctor recommends and they continue on doing the best they can until they can’t live alone any longer.

Do something about improving your life before you end up just existing.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You’ll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans.

 Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com and other online bookstores. Just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.