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Yes, this is my final blog post.

Well, at least on this site.

You see, I’ve launched my new blog covering all things fitness, exercise, weight loss, fad diets, scams, and gimmicks over at DaveSoucy.com.  The blog has a new look and obviously a new URL, but all of the old content from this site has been imported over.  From now on, all new posts will be placed over there.  In fact, there’s already some new posts up.

So, thanks for reading TheTruthAboutDiets.com.  It’s served me well for a few years, but I’m moving on.  I hope you’ll join me over at DaveSoucy.com going forward.

~Dave

By Melanie Segala

Are food manufacturers and government officials so callous that they are actually using children as guinea pigs when it comes to food labeling?

Apparently so, according to the Chicago Tribune’s 2008 investigative report on hidden allergens in popular food products. Hidden food allergens are part of the reason that an estimated 30,000 Americans are rushed to the emergency room each year and another 150 die – most of them children.

The issue was brought to light when three-year-old Patrick Pridemore ate Wellshire Kids’ Dinosaur Shapes Chicken Bites and began having trouble breathing. His mother jabbed his leg with an epi needle and rushed him to the hospital, where, thankfully, he recovered.

Patrick has a severe allergy to wheat, and the packaging label said the product was “gluten-free” (containing no wheat, rye, or barley proteins). Mrs. Pridemore meticulously scrutinizes labels to ensure that Patrick is not exposed to gluten.

Amazingly, when she contacted Wellshire and the USDA to report Patrick’s health crisis, neither organization would test the product to confirm the presence of gluten. The Tribune then sent the chicken bites to a leading food allergy lab on two separate occasions, and both times gluten was found. But this was still not enough for the manufacturer to recall or relabel the product. Whole Foods was the only retail outlet to remove the chicken bites and two other suspected Wellshire products from its stores.

The logical question to ask now is who’s accountable for accurate food labeling? And the shocking answer is no one. Government regulators allow food companies to police themselves when it comes to package labeling and recalls. And while larger manufacturers are more diligent about testing their products for allergens, smaller companies often do no testing, or very little, because it is not required.

When products are recalled, both the manufacturer and the FDA are often lax when it comes to issuing statements and press releases to the public. And when a press release is issued, it’s often watered down to the point where the true health risks are obscured.

Even worse, the Tribune report found that nearly 50 percent of the allergy-related food recalls in the past 10 years were not disclosed to consumers – and 2,800 products were recalled.

So, where does that leave the 11 million adults and children in the U.S. who have food and digestive allergies? For all intents and purposes, pretty much fending for themselves.

And that’s where the ELL Foundation comes in. ELL (Eat, Learn, Live) is a non-profit organization that advocates for more complete and accurate food allergen labeling. Currently, it may be the best resource for consumers who depend on accurate food labeling to prevent severe al lergic reactions.

If you log on to their website, you’ll find a list of current FDA recalls. You’ll also be able to check their database of food allergy incidents reported by members. This is important, because the incidents may have been ignored by the manufacturer – meaning high-risk products are still on store shelves.

ELL encourages consumers “to share their mislabeling experiences by submitting a report through its website,” which is then shared with the public. (Your personal information is protected.) They also provide information on the steps to take if you have had an allergic reaction to a mislabeled food – including how to file a complaint with the FDA and the manufacturer. And if you want to have an ingredient analysis done on the suspected product allergen, ELL provides contact information for the University of Nebraska’s Food Allergy Research & Resource Program (FARRP). The service is free if an allergic reaction occurred because of a mislabeled food.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 3 million American children under the age of 18 have a food or digestive allergy – and that number is growing at an alarming rate. From the Tribune’s report, we know that we can’t sit back and wait for food manufacturers and the FDA to protect them from life-threatening allergic reactions due to mislabeling. What we can do as private citizens is get involved by helping one another avoid health disasters on websites such as ELL’s.

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, a free newsletter dedicated to making money, improving health and secrets to success. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

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(Today’s entry is a guest post by Missy Hawthorne, RN, CSCS)

It’s five PM and your work day is finally coming to an end!  The stress of the day is still with you as you get into your car and start home. The highway is at a standstill and so there is no break from the stress. As the road begins to open up, you realize, a drink is starting to sound pretty good.

How do you handle stress?  Does the stress of your day make you want a beer, wine, or cocktail to relax?   Or perhaps your doctor has prescribed an antidepressant?  Or if you are a smoker, maybe you just can’t wait for that first cigarette when you leave work.   I don’t have to tell you that smoking isn’t good for you and we need to keep our alcohol intake at moderate levels.

So what can you do to more effectively shake off the stress of the day?  Exercise.  Not only is exercise a good stress reliever, it has even been found to be effective against the depression that can come as a result.

Researchers have found that exercise can work at least as well against mild to moderate depression as any other treatment, including drug therapy. Previous studies have suggested that exercise programs can take weeks to improve depression, stress and/or anxiety, but a new study showed that even a single workout can provide immediate benefits in boosting the mood of the severely depressed.1

A study at Duke University was one of the first to test a four-month aerobic program in people with moderate to severe depression. Sedentary men and women over the age of 50 were asked to participate in aerobic activity for 30 minutes three times per week.

They were compared to two control groups that were similarly depressed.  One group was treated with Zoloft and the other group with Zoloft and exercise combined. Patients in all three groups had equally significant reductions in symptoms of depression (60-65%). Surprisingly, combining drug and exercise therapy had no added benefit, but it did improve the speed of response.

While drug therapy was effective eventually, exercise therapy really excelled in the long term. Six months after treatment, only 8% of the exercise group relapsed compared to 30% in the drug therapy group.2

Exercise seems to improve the body’s ability to handle stress more easily, enabling you to tolerate life’s challenging demands more easily.  Animal studies show it does this by acting on the neurotransmitters of the brain that govern the stress response.

Neurotransmitters in the brain such as norepinephrine are altered by exercise and produce changes similar to those of antidepressants.  In so doing, exercise enables us to better tolerate stressful situations and to be calmer. The studies found exercise also changes peoples’ perceptions of themselves, providing an elevated self-esteem, a sense of personal mastery, a positive self-regard and reduced negative thinking.

In addition to aerobic activity, several studies show that resistance training is just as effective against depression.  So the evidence is clear, exercise is a good prescription for stress!

The next time you need to blow off the day, elevate your mood and de-stress.  Instead of hitting happy hour, hit the gym!

References

1. Warner, J. Exercise May Lift The Cloud of Depression. www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise. 2006.
2. Marano, H.E. Move to Boost Mood. www.psychologytoday.com/articles.

This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise’s Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul.  For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com

Who should see the movie “Food, Inc.”?

Well, if you eat, you should probably see it.

Here’s the movie trailer. I’ll give you my review in the next few days.

UPDATE: For some reason youtube won’t let you embed the trailer any more, so to see it just go HERE.

~Dave

So, just under two weeks ago I wrote about how I was starting to make an effort to eat less meat.

No, I wasn’t saying I was going vegetarian or vegan. I’m not a big fan of labels anyway, so even if I do turn into a vegetarian, I’m probably not going to call myself that.

I just believe in eating healthy, whether I choose to eat meat or not.  And the more I read about factory farming, and what actually happens to our food before we see it, the less I want to eat meat.

Basically, a lot of what I’ve learned has kinda grossed me out. Hormones, antibiotics, e coli, feces, dirt, bugs, abuse, and other sorts of nastiness all tend to make that steak seem a bit less appetizing. Of course, when you don’t know that stuff, you tend not to think about anything other than that nice juicy steak on the plate. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective), once you do know these things, you can’t really look at it the same way any more.

You can’t unring a bell.

So anywho, in the past couple of weeks I’ve eliminated red meat. No steak, no burgers (I used to eat ground bison), no pork. Haven’t really had any deli meat either.  I’ve maybe had a few bites of chicken.  Seafood is still on the menu though, including haddock, salmon, shrimp, and scallops.

I’ve eaten a lot more vegetables, and I already did pretty well in the veggie department. Grilled eggplant is probably one of my favorite foods at this point, and things like zucchini, portabello mushrooms, & onions are great on the grill and can easily be the basis of a meal.

I eat a lot of beans, legumes, quinoa, avocado, hummus, peanut butter, nuts, and of course I have several servings of fruit every day.  Oats and yogurt are also pretty much staples, I still eat eggs, and at the urging of my friend Sean at www.wildsuperfood.com, I’m now addicted to raw maca and raw cacao.

I’ll be honest, at first I thought I’d have a real hard time giving up red meat. I mean, I’m used to eating steak once or twice per week, so I thought I’d be pining for some sirloin fairly quickly.

Hasn’t happened.

I guess being skeeved by what I know now is stronger than the memories of the taste of a good steak.  Not saying I won’t eat it again at some point down the road, but right now I’m just not digging it.

The good news is, I feel great. My workouts haven’t suffered at all, and I’ve probably lost a couple of pounds.

I’ve still got more to learn so that I can effectively replace the meat in my diet without getting stuck in a grilled eggplant rut. I just picked up a copy of Easy Veggie Meal Plans to help out. Pretty interesting stuff. I highly recommend it even if you’re only mildly interested in reducing your meat intake. In addition to all of the recipes and meal plans, there is a lot of good info on the vegetarian lifestyle.

So, there you go. Why I’m eating less meat, and how it’s going. So far, I’d say it’s going well and I’m pretty happy. I guess the bottom line is at this point, I’ve got no compelling reason to go back to eating more meat.

~Dave

So, no I’m not a vegetarian.

At least not yet.

Who knows? Maybe some day I will be, maybe not. But I am making a conscious effort to eat less meat these days.

Now, I have lots of friends who are vegetarian or vegan, and there are lots of different reasons for going with that type of lifestyle:

• religion
• animal rights
• belief that it’s healthier
• just don’t like meat
• against factory farming practices
• etc.

None are more right than others. Whatever reason someone chooses is fine by me.

Whether you choose to eat meat or not, what I believe is more important is that you choose to eat in an overall healthy manner. No junk. No processed crap. Plenty of fruits and veggies, healthy fats, and adequate lean protein.  Do that and it’s all good.

Image by Howard Owens via Flickr

So, why am I eating less meat? Simple reason really.

The more I see and read about the factory farming practices in this country and what happens to meat on its way from field to store to plate, the less I want to eat meat.

It’s really starting to skeeve me out a little bit.  And I haven’t even seen the movie “Food, Inc.” yet.

I’m not going to go into details here, because I’m not trying to convince you one way or the other. If you want to know more, just go to Youtube or Google and search on factory farming.  You’ll probably learn more than you want to.

I’m just saying that it’s important to understand what you’re eating and where your food comes from. Like I said, I’m not a vegetarian, and honestly am no where near an expert on the vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.  I have friends who are and am learning from them. (In fact, I just cooked a killer vegetarian tikka masala for dinner last night.)

You’ve only got that one body to get you through life, so I think it’s pretty important to know exactly what you’re putting into it. It’s really pretty dumb to just close your eyes, block your ears, and hope it all works out in the end. Getting smarter about the food you eat is just a good thing to do.

Now, I’m still needing to figure out some good vegetarian recipes to expand my meatless options. If you’re interested in doing that, I just found some free veg meal plans today at www.easyveggiemealplans.com. Yes, you need to plug in your name and email address to get them, but what do you want for free?  There’s also a free report there called “The 10 Vegetarian Foods NOT to Eat” which is pretty interesting. I knew most of the info in there, but I’m betting it would surprise a lot of people who don’t study nutrition every day.

So there you go. I’ll keep you updated on my progress to go greener with my nutrition. If you have any recipes you want to share, please comment below. The first step is red meat, and we’ll see where it goes from there.

~Dave

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So by now you know that I think it’s worth it to buy organic food whenever possible.

But, I realize that sometimes it isn’t possible or economically feasible for some folks to do that on a regular basis.  So, the next best thing is to try and go organic with the foods most likely to be contaminated in pesticides, and get non-organic version of foods with the least amount pesticides.

Here’s 2 lists for you:

12 MOST Contaminated Foods (get organic whenever possible)

• Peaches
• Apples
• Sweet Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Imported Grapes
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Potatoes

12 LEAST Contaminated Foods

• Onions
• Avocado
• Frozen Sweet Corn
• Pineapples
• Mango
• Asparagus
• Frozen Sweet Peas
• Kiwi
• Bananas
• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Eggplant

Thanks to the Environmental Working Group for publishing this handy list.

~Dave

Rush Limbaugh really is a big, freaking idiot.

Seriously.

He believes that people who are active and exercise regularly are the cause of the stress on our health care system.

Really Rush? You really believe it’s all the sprained ankles and knee injuries that are causing the problem, and not the cancer, obesity, heart disease, Type II diabetes, etc.?

Never mind the loud, fat, drug addicts.

You really are a big, freaking idiot.

BTW, I don’t care what your political affiliation is.

Honestly, I couldn’t care less. Politics (not to be confused with governing) in this country is divisive, hateful, and a huge waste of time that I refuse to participate in. So, if you want to comment, keep it to this audio and the subject at hand and save the right- or left-wing ideological rants for another blog.

~Dave

The average person thinks that their doctor knows everything.  That’s just what we’re taught.

They went to school for a hundred years, so they must know everything.

Well, they don’t. Two things they generally aren’t very up to speed on are exercise and nutrition.  Watch the video to see how I feel about this.

Feel free to comment, especially if you’re a doctor.

~Dave