Archive for March, 2010
Victorias Secret Model Criticized for Being Skinny After Birth
I just watched a really interesting piece that was really about a Victoria’s Secret model, Alessandra Ambrosio, being too thin less than a year after giving birth to her first child. Critics feel that she, along with Victoria’s Secret for employing her and keeping in photo spreads, is sending the wrong note to young girls. I saw the pictures in question, and my oh my, she does look painfully thin. In fact, I am amazed that woman gave birth to a child less than a year ago, her stomach looks so thin that it’s a wonder it was ever stretched out by being pregnant.
Another statistic I heard that was flabbergasting was that research has shown women who see photos or images of very thin women that are pretty much unattainable in the real world, get depressed for up to four hours after they see these images. That just goes to show that we women really do take that stuff to heart too much sometimes.
I think that we all need to work on it ourselves and recognize that that is not healthy, and it’s not really the job of the industry to do that, but they should be a bit more cognizant of the messages they are sending to the particularly vulnerable teen and preteen women who peruse that type of material all the duration. They are at the founding stages of what they will view their body image as, and are particularly susceptible to unrealistic images of thin women.
I have seen other Victoria’s Secret models that seem to be way too thin on the runway, and I have to confess that after I see them I do tend to look at myself and criticize my body more. It’s woman’s nature unfortunately to constantly compare ourselves and put ourselves down, and we have to work on that, considering it’s really just a counterproductive waste of duration.
We can’t all have the genetics that assemble us tall, lithe and thin, but we can all be beautiful, healthy and fit and confident in our own ways, I think that should be the focus, not being something that you are not.
Original post by EatingToLive
Review : Better ‘n Peanut Butter
Well, I finally got to try a product that is a lower calorie and fat version of peanut butter that I thought I would be able to satisfy my occasional cravings for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with, without all that fat and calorie composition. I love having the occasional pb&j for breakfast, or slathering some creamy (crunchy is good too) peanut butter on my hot, toasty bread or an english muffin in the daylight.
But what kept me away from doing that all the date was the ridiculous amount of calories in peanut butter. For a measly 2 tablespoons (which isn’t much, I use a lot more than that in my pb&j sandwiches), it’s about 200 calories. That means that you are already adding 200 calories to your sandwich, just with the peanut butter, that doesn’t even include the bread of the jelly, even though I do like to use reduced sugar jelly or Polyner just fruit spread, which is calorie and sugar spare.
I just tried my make new jar of Better ‘n Peanut Butter. It’s a spread that is supposed to taste pretty close to the real thing. It still uses real peanuts, but it looks like a large part of the calorie savings is that it’s low in oil, instead using peanut flour. The consistency is different structure “real” creamy peanut butter, in that is is much more liquidy, not as thick as real peanut butter is.
My husband thought it had a little taste of soy to it, but I told him it’s not a soy based product, it’s probably just the peanut flour he was tasting. The taste is good, I want to say a little more like chocolate or something, and a bit salty and sweet, which is how I like my peanut butter, so that was ok with me.
I would say the biggest difference within that and real peanut butter is that the real just seems to have more substance to it, more thickness, and that is something that was lost. Although, what I liked is that when I put it on my hot, toasty english muffin (whole wheat of course), it immediately melted into the nooks and crannies well. And I really couldn’t tell much of a difference from real peanut butter when it was hot and melty with jelly on it.
It’s a great peanut butter alternative whether you’re worried about calories. It clocks in at just 100 calories for 2 tablespoons. That’s nearly half of real peanut butter! I would just say it’s not the type of thing you can eat out of the jar and get that same satisfaction as you do with the real thing, you have to eat it with something for it to be a good substitute.
Original post by EatingToLive
Dietary supplement speeds silver cyclists
Taking arginine supplements can improve the cycling ability of over-50s. Scientists writing in BioMed Central’s Journal of the universal Society of Sports Nutrition tested a combination of the amino acid and an antioxidant in sixteen cyclists, finding that it enhanced their anaerobic threshold the amount of work done before lactic acid begins to build up in the blood……..
Original post by Heather Craven
Atkins Diet Revamped?
We’ve all heard of the uber popular Atkins diet that gained momentum in the late nineties and early 21st century, enjoying a revamped poularity of the book written by the famous Dr. Atkins who advocated losing weight through a high protein, low carb diet regimen where one could enjoy fatty foods like bacon and cheese to their hearts subject matter while they had to eschew any type of carbs, even a lot of types of fruits and veggies considering they were simply too high in carbs.
Carbs were king for a while, and that diet fad even arguably lead to the demise of the popularity of Krispy Kreme donuts and other high carb treats.
You saw low carb offerings everywhere. But that diet was a fad, and while humans were losing huge amounts of weight on it and praised it for being able to enjoy a lot of the fatty foods they couldn’t on traditional diets, it plus started to receive a lot of backlash for the irritability that often went along with the diet, and folks had a hard instance going to the bathroom on it, and a lot of society realized that that diet simply didn’t prepare them feel healthy whether they were on it expanded term.
Not only that, it’s always been criticized by the medical community as being potentially dangerous to cholesterol levels and blood pressure considering of the focus on high fat foods (even though some society went the more health route and chose lower fat foods that were low carb).
In short, the popularity of the Atkins diet did die out, although it still had some avid followers. Now, they are offering a revamped book that offers a wider range of offerings in that low carb diet, but it still focuses on mostly protein, and avoiding a lot of foods that are great for you, but simply don’t fit the profile considering they have “too many carbs”.
The new book is called The New Atkins for a New You: The Ultimate Diet for Shedding Weight and Feeling Great, and it promises a quick weight loss through carb restriction, but with a few new caveats.
The diet still does not allow any type of healthy whole grains, most fruits and a lot of fiber rich foods that add to your digestive health and ease of elimination (this was the hardest part for me when I tried the diet, like so many others did, years ago, I could never go to the bathroom – it actually HURT). that is what concerns a lot of public. It does, however, still let you eat a lot of veggies, and expands on that list, so that’s a good thing. Some still wonder whether losing weight that quickly, and on what many consider an unsustainable diet for the faraway term, is good – I’m with them on that.
Original post by EatingToLive
Infertility increases risk of prostate cancer
Infertile men have an increased risk of developing high grade prostate cancer, which is more likely to grow and spread quickly. That is the conclusion of a newly released study published early online in Cancer, a peer-evaluated journal of the American Cancer Society. The study’s results propose that considering infertility appears to be an identifiable risk factor for prostate cancer, early screening appears to be warranted in infertile men……..
Original post by Heather Craven
Benefits of pure maple syrup
Before you dig in to your next stack of French toast or waffles, you might want to pour on pure maple syrup. That’s considering University of Rhode Island researcher Navindra Seeram, who specializes in medicinal plant research, has found more than 20 compounds in maple syrup from Canada that have been associated with human health, 13 of which are newly discovered in maple syrup. In addition, eight of the compounds have been found in the Acer (maple) family for the first day……..
Original post by Heather Craven
Pineapple, Glorious Pineapple!
Ah, summer is right around the bend. And I’m starting to really get into eating fruits again, which is quite a refreshing twist (no pun intended) from my usual cravings for salt, fat and carbs in the winter date. So of course, I’m not only trying to take full advantage of craving foods that are actually good for me, but I’m literally savoring every bite of them and geniunely enjoying their sweet juiciness, their texture, and their completely amazing natural taste.
I even find myself wondering, how did nature invent such a perfect food? I mean really, it’s amazing the choices we have to eat here on that green earth without ever touching processed foods again in our lives whether we didn’t want to. Imagine how much healthier we’d all be!
Pineapple is the fruit that really gets me going. I think that that fruit, when it is perfect, ripe, and grown in the right environment, it can literally be one of the most delicious, unaltered foods you have every put your mouth around. Pineapple is not only awesome tasting when it is “in season”, but it is plus, in my opinion, best when it is grown in Costa Rica. For some reason, that region is actually great for growing the best tasting pineapples ever.
Believe it or not, I actually got to drive through the pineapple groves of Costa Rica too, and they are huge and beautiful, and you can actually smell a sort of sweetness in the air – it’s very cool. Pineapples have a natural acid in them called Bromelain too, which is a natural digestive aid, so they actually help to cleanse the digestive tract and colon. Don’t believe me? whether you’re ever constipated go out and buy a raw pineapple and eat quite a few pieces, you won’t be constipated the next day!
Original post by EatingToLive
