Health Blog

November 2006 - Posts

• Reach for the (nutritional) stars!

  Recall in the DocTalk Webcast on nutrition how we spoke in general, about steering clear of any commercially prepared foods?  I know, nearly impossible, but here's a great story why.   On November 6, the NY Times front page had a story of the large New England grocery store, Hannaford Brothers, convening and independent group of nutrition experts, "rated" the nutritional value of ALL items in its stores with a 0 stars to 3 stars system (most nutritional like fruits/vegetables/whole grains)   The findings?     75% of all items received 0 stars     By category, which types of foods had highest to lowest proportion of items garnering any stars?     produce - 94%     cereals - 55%     seafood - 43%     meat - 24%     dairy - 18%     soups - 12%     deli - 8%     bakery - 5%.   How about "Lean Cuisine" and "Healthy Choice" entrees - nope, zero stars (too much salt/sodium).  How about a wide number of other "healthy" choices - at least which said so on the label?  Ditto!   "A lot of claims we see out there are 'puffery'", said the director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Nutrition (but they can't and don't regulate!).   So buyer beware, read those labels and be a savvy consumer.  We will see if the star system takes off - in the meantime read the BACK not front of the package!   Dr Mike  Posted Nov 08 2006, 03:22 PM by mparkinson with 11 comment(s) Add your comment

• A Healthy Party?

  How can a party improve your health? Let's look at the science of beginning and maintaining ANY behavior change.  First you need to know where you're at . . and where you need to go (for example: What's your weight and BMI and what should it be?).  Second, you need to track progress toward that goal (say, weighing yourself every day or tracking your activity level).  Third, you need to develop the knowledge and skills, well, to do whatever you're trying to improve - differently or better (food selection, label reading, recipes and techniques of health preparation).  And fourth, and certainly NOT the least, your chances for successful and sustained behavior change are greatly increased through friend, family, co-worker, "coach-of-any-sort" support (If I can do it . . you can too!). At your Healthy Holiday House Party and input to our Ignite Blog, you'll share new recipes, cooking techniques, and tasty alternatives to holiday gut bombs (not a scientific term but you get the drift!) and develop a team or network of support to learn and improve with others.  And you'll be off to a healthier start and follow-through in 2007! If you want to host a Healthy Holiday House Party, go to www.houseparty.com/healthyholiday before November 13th to apply.  Even if you don't want to host a party, you can participate in the healthy party action by visiting Ignite. Stay tuned for these healthy (and fun) holiday activities. Posted Nov 03 2006, 06:13 PM by mparkinson with 1 comment(s) Add your comment

• Cops and doughnuts...

  I read an article on CNN this morning and it brought back the arguement about how frank we can be when asking someone to lose weight. Doug Kronenberg blogged on Ignite, about a similar article that he read where the CEO of a company gave an ultimatum to his overweight contractor to either lose the flab or lose his contract... This article is about a police chief who was asked to resign because he sent out a rather stern memo to his staff titled - Are you a Jelly Belly?. Although the intent was to get his police staff to be healthier and more efficient at their jobs, some took offense to the memo and claimed that it was insensitive. No one was singled out in the memo and the intent was to jolt his staff out of their sedantary habits. He also led by example and lost 190 pounds himself! Despite this, he was forced to resign. I believe the chief was right in sending out this memo to his staff. In a profession where agility and being in good physical shape could be the difference between life and death, the chief was right in trying to promote healthy behavior. Read this article and tell me if you think what happened to him was fair? http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/01/jelly.belly.ap/index.html   Posted Nov 02 2006, 10:06 AM by Anonymous with 6 comment(s) Add your comment