Sorry I’ve been away for so long. Things have been busy, and I haven’t been setting enough time aside for Hell Food. No longer! Hell Food is always a good time to think about my own health, as well as inform the public. A month or so ago I promised to write about eating healthy at fast food restaurants, and I shall start that now. My first fast food restaurant to investigate is McDonald’s.

McDonald’s has made a small effort to offer healthy options on their menu, though they still sell mostly hamburgers. It is possible to eat somewhat healthy now. The offer their own version of a healthy diet right here. In terms of calories, the meal choices look okay, but there is one obvious thing you will see once you order their meals. They’re not very filling. Most of McDonald’s food is very calorie dense, with lots of added sugars. You will not feel full after having a hamburger, small fries, and small Coke. Your body will continue to feel hungry and for 650 calories of intake, you’ll not have much to show for it.

However, in recognizing that for some families, McDonald’s represents a cheap source of food, I will lay out here what I would recommend you eat there:

1) Snack Size Fruit & Walnut Salad (without yogurt)
2) Caesar Salad (without chicken or cheese)
3) Side Salad
4) Medium French Fries
5) Apple Dippers

That’s it. That’s all I can recommend. As a vegan, I can’t endorse a meat product. As a health food site, I also can’t endorse a meat product. Oh, and if you want something to drink, just get water.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Feb 1, 2007 1:06 PM
Subject: DawnWatch: Veggie cooking demo, reversing diabetes lecture — Phoenix and elsewhere 2/1/07…..

Dr Neal Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is on a book tour promoting his new book, “Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes.” He is currently in Arizona.

This morning, Thursday February 1, the Phoenix show Sonora Living, on ABC 15, included a cooking demonstration by chef Jason Wyrick, executive chef of the Vegan Culinary Experience. Wyrick was diagnosed before age 30 with diabetes and reversed it with a healthy vegan diet. He cooks a 20 Minute Black Bean Chipotle Chili. You can watch the demonstration on the show’s website at http://www.sonoranliving.com. It starts at about fifteen minutes past the hour.

Please take just a moment to thank the show and let them know you would love to see more veggie cooking demos. You can email them at sonoranliving [at] abc15.com.

Feedback matters!

The show also publicizes a lecture by Dr Barnard on how diet can offer dramatic improvements for those Americans living with diabetes.

(more…)

In my last post I listed five tips for losing weight and the first one I listed was:

1) Unless you’re like the 0.5% of the population that actually has some some sort of glandular problem, you’re fat because of you. It’s your fault, it’s your responsibility. While this might sound harsh, the positive side is that it means you can fix it, because you can control it. Don’t feel bad, feel empowered.

My wife Kelly informed me that tip came off way too harsh. That, of course, was not my intent. The point Kelly brought up, was that not everyone lives in a situation where it’s easy to buy healthy food for a good price. I live close to the suburbs, so I have an infinite choice of what to buy. Someone in the inner city may not have any choices other than McDonald’s or a convenience store. Point made.

The point of Tip #1 wasn’t meant to make anyone feel bad. I just wanted to be clear that your weight is controlled by your food and exercise regimen. It’s not an outlandish or rare metabolic disorder. In retrospect, I should have fleshed the tip out more, or changed the tone somewhat. So, to start over, I want to empower you with the idea that you control a lot of the factors that go into your weight, and you have the control to change. I realize some people may be in tougher situations than others, but I do hope maybe to pass on some information that will help those people. To do that, I will be expanding the number of posts I do pertaining to Tip #1.

First, I will look at the top fast food restaurants in the inner cities, and try to work out a better meal plan for those who find it cheaper to buy fast food than groceries at their local store. I know it can be done, since you can read about it here.

The first menus I will look at will be Burger King and McDonald’s. They should be pretty much close to ubiquitous in the inner cities. Taco Bell and KFC will follow. After those four, I’m not entirely sure. However, covering those four should give people a lot of options.

Big thanks to my wife for reminding me not everyone has my options.

It’s that time of year again, when we give way to the temptations of holiday meals and desserts. Some of you are looking at your waistlines and thinking about your upcoming New Year’s Resolutions. I have faced the New Year many times and resolved that “This was the year I lose the weight. This year is different.” Invariably, the year wasn’t any different, and I lost not a pound. However, 2006 was different. I lost a lot of weight, and after a year I don’t feel in danger of putting it back on. I’ve changed my eating habits, my exercise habits, and my knowledge of nutrition was expanded.

So, to kickoff 2007, I’m going to give my list of tips for losing weight, and I will expand upon each of these in later posts in early 2007. Here we go:

1) Unless you’re like the 0.5% of the population that actually has some some sort of glandular problem, you’re fat because of you. It’s your fault, it’s your responsibility. While this might sound harsh, the positive side is that it means you can fix it, because you can control it. Don’t feel bad, feel empowered.

2) You have time exercise. The biggest excuse I hear is that people don’t have time to exercise. I’m calling BS on that. You prolly spend at least thirty minutes a day watching TV, smoking, surfing YouTube, etc. You have the time, period.

3) “Low-fat/fat-free” foods are a scam. In a nation where we have a diabetes problem, the last thing fat people should be eating is sugar infested “low-fat/fat-free” food.

4) Eating vegan will lead to a healthier lifestyle. I’m not saying you will to be 110 years old, but it will make you eat healthier.

5) Eating out is the worst thing you can do. Learn to cook, even if you can only cook pasta dishes.

That’s it for now. I will have five posts expanding on each one of these tips. Follow these tips, and 2007 can be different.

Happy New Year!

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: PCRM Nutrition and Research Assistant Tara Nicotra - info [at] pcrm.org
Date: Dec 1, 2006 2:20 PM
Subject: PCRM Event: Food for Life Diabetes Online Classes

You are invited to participate in the Food for Life Diabetes online series. This exciting new series offers education on diet and diabetes, along with group support. The classes feature lectures by PCRM president Dr. Neal Barnard and cooking demonstrations by PCRM nutritionist Dulcie Ward, R.D.

The next class is Dec. 6 at 3 p.m. EST. Two more classes follow on Dec. 13 and Dec. 20. Each session will last about 1 hour. You will need a high-speed Internet connection to participate. Additional computer requirements can be found here.

Click here to register for the remaining classes in the Food for Life Diabetes online series. Registration for the Dec. 6 class ends on Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Please forward this e-mail to friends, family members, listservs, or associations who might be interested. If you forward this e-mail to 10 or more people or groups, you will be eligible for a free copy of Dr. Barnard’s new book on diet and diabetes.

We look forward to having you join us!

Best Regards,

Tara Nicotra
PCRM Nutrition and Research Assistant

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
5100 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Ste. 400
Washington, DC 20016 Phone: 202-686-2210
E-mail: info [at] pcrm.org

——————

Tagged: animals animal+rights action+alerts pcrm Physicians+Committee+for+Responsible+Medicine health diabetes diet online+courses

Via Grist:

There was a time when Eric Schlosser took his kids out for fast food. But once he started researching an article on the industry, all that changed. The article turned into a widely acclaimed book, Fast Food Nation, which has now been turned into a Richard Linklater-directed film, opening today. And his kids don’t get to eat Happy Meals anymore. Sarah van Schagen talks with Schlosser about his hopes for the new film and his dreams for a revitalized food culture, and offers her take on the film in Gristmill. In Soapbox, a former McDonald’s cook explains why he returned to his farming roots. Bon appetit!

New in Main Dish: Fast Food Damnation

New in Soapbox: Fry Away Home

New in Gristmill: A short review of the new film Fast Food Nation

Also, check out the movie’s website for tons of extra-yummy vittles!

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Sustainable Table - info [at] sustainabletable.org
Date: Nov 14, 2006 12:58 PM
Subject: Sustainable Table and Eat Well Guide Re-Launch Today!

Sustainable Table (www.sustainabletable.org), a leading resource designed to celebrate the sustainable food movement, re-launched our website today, offering enhanced navigation of the site — making it easy to get involved and keep up-to-date with the latest sustainability news, resources, educational tools, and award-winning advocacy films.

New to the website is:

• An updated and expanded Issues section, highlighting easy-to-understand information about industrial and sustainable agriculture

• A new Get Involved section, making it simple for everyone to find out how to make their lives and communities more sustainable

• A growing focus on personal stories. Through the blog, forum, features, and new Stories section, the updated Sustainable Table site will focus on the people behind the sustainable movement, as well as the consumers involved in it.

The Eat Well Guide (www.eatwellguide.org), Sustainable Table’s free online directory of farms, stores, restaurants, and other outlets that offer sustainably raised meat, poultry, dairy, and egg products also re-launched today with enhanced features. In addition to providing consumers an easy-to-use tool to search by zip or postal code, product, growing method, or region to find the nearest wholesome food, the Eat Well Guide (www.eatwellguide.org) now offers:

• More than 7,500 entries

• Consumer reviews of outlets in the Guide

• Expanded “My Notebook” functions where registered users can save their favorite listings and keep notes to refer to in the future

Sustainable Table also has The Meatrix and The Meatrix II: Revolting, our award-winning Flash animation films, in a new digital format, downloadable to handheld media players, video phones, and iPods — free of charge. In addition, we recently released The Meatrix II 1/2, the latest installment of the award winning Meatrix series. Produced by Sustainable Table and Free Range Studios for Participant Productions, The Meatrix II 1/2 was launched to educate consumers about problems at processing facilities and to help promote the social action campaign surrounding the Fast Food Nation movie being released by Participant Productions and Fox Searchlight on November 17th. For more information, visit www.themeatrix.com.

Read the press release about our re-launch, or visit the Sustainable Table media lounge!

Sincerely,

The Sustainable Table Team

The Sierra Club’s Mr. Green shares his top 10 tips for eating well.

Shorter Mr. Green: buy organic, buy local, buy unprocessed/unpackaged, and buy veg; and, when possible, grow and make your own. And always recycle!

I came across this website during my blog reading recently, and I thought it could be useful to Hell Food readers. It’s called http://www.healthydiningfinder.com. The site is run by a company that has been around since 1990 evaluating restuarant nutrition.

The site allows you to search for restuarants by zip code, limiting searches by nutritional or cuisine requirements. It seems to have a special highlight for vegetarian options. However, the restuarant database is far from comprehensive, though it is growing.

I suggest you give it a try. I know I will on my next trip.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: DawnWatch - news [at] dawnwatch.com
Date: Jul 31, 2006 4:38 PM
Subject: DawnWatch LA: Vegan diet control of diabetes in LA Times 7/31/06

Angelenos:

Sally Squire’s article on vegan diets controlling diabetes (from last week’s Washington Post) is in the Monday, July 31, Los Angeles Times (see below). It offers a great opportunity for those who enjoy a plant-based diet to sing its praises. The Los Angeles Times takes letters at letters [at] latimes.com

Los Angeles Times
July 31, 2006 Monday
HEALTH; Features Desk; Part F; Pg. 7

THE LEAN PLATE; Need to control blood sugar? Carbs might help

Sally Squires, Special to The Times

People with Type 2 diabetes are advised to limit carbohydrates because of worries these foods could overtax the body’s dwindling insulin production and lessen its ability to process glucose. Now some scientists are asking if a diet rich in healthful carbohydrates — whole grains, beans, fruit and vegetables — and with just 10% of calories as fat might be another option.

The idea borrows a lesson from heart disease research, which has shown that very strict vegetarian diets quite low in fat and very high in carbohydrates can help reverse blockages — if people stick with them.

“A diet can be wonderful for you, but if it can’t be practically applied, it can’t do much,” says Robert Eckel, president of the
American Heart Assn.

In May, Dr. Dean Ornish, a proponent of the very-low-fat approach for reversing heart disease, reported that this regimen helped people afflicted with both diabetes and heart disease. Not only did they lose weight, but their blood cholesterol improved and they didn’t show a rise in unhealthy fats known as triglycerides, as some researchers feared. Another key finding: Twenty percent of participants who stuck with the diet for a year were either able to cut their insulin and other glucose-lowering medication or eliminate it.

Similar results were reported from a National Institutes of Health-funded study headed by David Jenkins of the University of
Toronto and Neal Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a pro-vegetarian group. The four-month trial studied 99 people with Type 2 diabetes. Some were asked to follow the standard dietary advice from the American Diabetes Assn. The others were asked to adhere to a very strict, low-fat vegan diet, devoid of meat, fish, eggs, dairy or any other animal products.

Both groups improved blood sugar control and LDL cholesterol levels. Both lost weight, but the vegan group shed an average of 15 pounds compared with 6 pounds for the group that adhered to the ADA guidelines. Like the Ornish study, the vegan group showed no harmful changes in either triglyceride levels or in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), a protective form of cholesterol. Results of the study were published in the August issue of the journal Diabetes Care.

The findings offer more evidence that eating a very-low-fat regimen with a lot of healthful carbohydrates may not be as harmful as once thought for those with Type 2 diabetes and could prove to be another treatment option.

HDL and triglycerides “are often windows of concern, and they were not modified adversely by this,” says the heart association’s Eckel. “If this more radical approach in diabetes can be tolerated better long term, then we may be on to something here.”

Learning to go vegan takes effort, time and some sacrifice, as Vance Warren, 36, a retired Washington, D.C., police officer found. “I know the difference between a Morton’s steak and a tofu steak,” says Warren, who lost more than 70 pounds while participating in the study and was able to reduce the medication he takes to control his blood sugar. “It’s like the difference between a Mercedes and a Toyota. The hardest thing for me was giving up the chicken wings … but I really don’t miss them now.”

Experts caution that the findings are not likely to change current recommendations for diabetes until much more research is conducted with larger groups of people. “It’s great that the low-fat vegan diet improved glycemic [blood sugar] control,” says Karmeen Kulkarni, president of health care and education for the American Diabetes Assn. “But we had 50 people here. We have to see if this is palatable in a bigger scheme of things on an ongoing basis.”

In the meantime, there’s wide agreement about how to control or prevent diabetes, as well as heart disease and many types of cancer:

* Eat more plant-based foods. The more varied, the better.

* Easy on the fat. Gram for gram, it contains more than twice the calories as protein or carbs. Being overweight or obese are major risk factors for diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer. Whatever fat you eat, make it healthy. Reach for fish (not fried), healthy oil such as canola or olive oil, nuts, avocados and seeds.

* Get active. The Diabetes Prevention Program, a large federally funded study of people who are just a step shy of developing diabetes, found that daily exercise (walking is fine) was important to prevent diabetes. How much? Thirty minutes daily. But that half-hour can be broken down into 10-minute increments.

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