nutrition

A recent article in the LA Times — “Low-fat diet not tops for weight loss, study finds” — covers a study showing that low-fat diets are the worst for weight-loss, compared to low-carb and a Mediterranean diet.

The average weight loss in all three diet plans was small, and participants regained some of their pounds before the two-year study was over. Atkins dieters lost an average of 12 pounds; those on the Mediterranean regimen — which included nuts, fish and olive oil — shed an average of 10 pounds; and people assigned to the low-fat program lost an average of 7.3 pounds.

Whatever the nutritional issues with a low-carb diet (the study was sponsored by the low-carb-pushing Atkins Foundation, so keep that in mind), the real key to all this is a reasonable caloric intake, nutritionally sensible (i.e. not eliminating any of the macronutrients from your diet), accompanied by exercise. You know, the usual. ;)

Earlier this year, NPR’s Morning Edition had a story with a behind-the-scenes look at NASA’s space food lab, where scientists fashion non-goo meals for astronauts:

“Beyond Tang: Food in Space” — NASA’s Johnson Space Center invited The Kitchen Sisters to visit its “hidden kitchen.” On the eve of NASA’s scheduled launch of space shuttle Atlantis, The Kitchen Sisters present a brief history of space food.

I came across this story thanks to checking out the NPR Hidden Kitchens podcast, unfortunately not updated since June. Hopefully they’ll have more installments to come in the near future, since I love the idea:

An ongoing series exploring the world of hidden kitchens: street-corner cooking, legendary meals and eating traditions…how communities come together through food.

From Laurel on Health Food comes “14 Foods that Lower Cholesterol”.

1. Whole grain and oats
2. Blueberries
3. Pistachios
4. Walnuts
5. Almonds
6. Avocados
7. Olives
8. Olive oil
9. Flaxseed oil
10. 100% cranberry-grape juice
11. Fish and fish oil
12. Black soybeans
13. Pomegranate juice
14. Yogurt with live active cultures (probiotics)

Check out if any of the foods above also made the “Eight foods to eat daily” list.

Compare with the verboten foods of the Paleolithic Diet — no grains, no beans, no dairy, etc. — as well as the items all three of these have in common. Somewhere in the middle, the truth lies.

Drink a Guinness for your health! The BBC is reporting on a study that shows a Guinness a day keeps the heart doctor away.

A pint of the black stuff a day may work as well as an aspirin to prevent heart clots that raise the risk of heart attacks.

Since I always feel better after having a pint of Guinness, this seems to confirm my findings. ;)

So asking the replicator for “Tea, Earl Grey, Hot” does a body better than “Water, Bottled, Cold”? This according to a story on the BBC News website: “Tea ‘healthier’ drink than water”:

Drinking three or more cups of tea a day is as good for you as drinking plenty of water and may even have extra health benefits, say researchers.

The work in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition dispels the common belief that tea dehydrates.

Tea not only rehydrates as well as water does, but it can also protect against heart disease and some cancers, UK nutritionists found.

Experts believe flavonoids are the key ingredient in tea that promote health.

Some very interesting tidbits in there, though the fact that the research was funded by the Tea Council casts a bit of doubt on the whole thing. Still, better than a six pack of soda every day.