Extreme Eating

An article came out today on extreme calorie meals... and I have to admit to eating one of these...

Extreme Eating 2010

Eat Organic: Yet another reason, esp if you have children

Another study came out talking about the harmful side-effects of pesticides in food: increased levels of ADHD.

Study: ADHD Linked to Pesticide Exposure

I try to eat organic as often as possible and will have my little ones do the same someday. The husband participates by default much of the time. Examples of which fruits and veggies are more susceptible to pesticides: The Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 of Produce

Food Allergies - Overdiagnosed?

Today there was an interesting article about food allergies, and how they are overdiagnosed. The author provides an interest contrast, by providing examples of when they have been underdiagnosed (single incidents). As a person with multiple food allergies, this is interesting to read, but doesn't make me any more inclined to go back to eating things that I know cause a reaction within a few minutes....

Food Allergy Diagnosis "An Inexact Science"

Week 4!

A: -8.2 (Dang!)
J: -4.6 (Awesome)
Mom: -1 (Keep it off!)
Husband: -5 (Don't let the Super Bowl add it back!)
R: Dropped out. Sad
Me: -4.5
Sis (surprise joiner): -3

Final totals should be rolling in!

Teens with High Cholesterol

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I love numbers and national studies. Here is the newest...

CDC: 1 in 5 Teens Has High Cholesterol. Now What?

Week 2 of 5

Weight loss totals for week 2 are starting to roll in. Total weight losses so far since the start of the bet:

J: TBD
R: TBD
A: -.8
Mom: -1
Husband: -0.5
Me: -4.5

Tips for Weight Loss in the New Year

The article, "Getting Healthy Is about More Than Diet, Exercise," provides three tips to help lose weight in the new year:

1) Watch out for the blues

2) Get your sleep

3) Eat greenery

Nice, quick read.

Week 1 Weigh ins

We are now up to 6 people in the 5 week, 5 pound bet! Weight loss totals for week 1 are starting to roll in. Results so far:

Me: -3
J: +1
R: +1
A: +.8
Mom: -0.5

Husband: forgot his baseline... he might be 5 pounds in 4 weeks.

New Year Bet: 5 for 5

And... we have a New Year's bet on. 5 pounds, 5 weeks. 4 participants to date: R., J., Me, The Husband, and My Mom. Week one weigh ins should roll in soon. Buy-in is $5 to be given to the first person to lose and keep off 5 pounds for two weeks.

Gluten Can Kill You

I read an article called "Gluten: What You Don't Know Might Kill You," by Dr. Mark Hyman, that is a great motivator to kicking off my next gluten, corn and soy free year. The article mentions a broad, new study that found that gluten increases the risk of death from cancer or heart disease in those who are sensitive.

Even scarier, 99% of people who are sensitive to gluten don't know it. "This is ground-breaking research that proves you don't have to have full-blown celiac disease with a positive intestinal biopsy (which is what conventional thinking tells us) to have serious health problems and complications--even death--from eating gluten."

The article goes on to list 55 other "diseases" that gluten can cause: "These include

• Osteoporosis,
• Irritable bowel disease,
• Inflammatory bowel disease,
• Anemia,
• Cancer,
• Fatigue,
• Canker sores,
• Rheumatoid arthritis,
• Lupus,
• Multiple sclerosis,
• Almost all other autoimmune diseases.

"Gluten is also linked to many psychiatric (vi) and neurological diseases, including

• Anxiety,
• Depression,
• Schizophrenia,
• Dementia,
• Migraines,
• Epilepsy, and
• Neuropathy (nerve damage).
• It has also been linked to autism.

One of my favorite quotes from the article is: "We used to think that gluten problems or celiac disease were confined to children who had diarrhea, weight loss, and failure to thrive. Now we know you can be old, fat, and constipated and still have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity.