Slim Down with Soup

A diet high in fiber is satisfying and curbs your hunger. One easy and effective way to include it in your diet is to dine on something that may already be in your cupboard – and that’s none other than soup.

Often containing about 100 calories per serving, soup is healthy and usually packed with plenty of vegetables and fiber. This helps you fill more satisfied than less healthy foods, and keeps you from consuming too many calories overall.

Here’s the skinny on how you can slim down with soup:
• Go for the low-fat and low-sodium version to make it extra healthy.
• Add beans, lentils, additional veggies or tofu to create a more fulfilling meal.
• Steer away from creamy soups and head straight to the broth-based ones.
• Try a fiber-packed bowl of soup before a meal to prevent overeating.
• Can’t find the right soup to satisfy your hunger and taste buds? Make your own healthy homemade version.

—About.com

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What's in Sugar?

When you read food labels, a few grams don’t sound like much. But did you know that 4.2 grams of sugar equal 1 teaspoon? And one teaspoon of sugar contains 16.3 calories, which can add up.

White, refined sugar is high in calories and has no real nutritional value, yet it’s a main ingredient in a lot of the foods we love and crave. It can make your energy spike and drop throughout the day, but you can take charge of sugar ruling your diet.

• Eat fresh fruits for a snack or dessert instead of treats made with processed sugar.
• Add fruit to your meals instead of processed sugar.
• Choose drinks and snacks wisely that have low or no sugar — and stick with small portions.
• Watch out for “sugar-free” labels on foods with ingredients ending in “-ose” (which can be hidden sugar) or sugar alcohols like sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol that can be just as fattening as the sugared version.

Crackdown on Food Packaging Labels

Do you read nutrition facts labels when you shop for groceries? Many people don't, and don't always have the time to. Many food manufacturers try to make things simple by placing logos on the product packaging proclaiming the items are "smart choices" or "heart healthy" -- but might not be, making it ever more important to read those labels to keep your diet in check.

The FDA is currently trying to crack down on the food industry's labeling claims that could mislead consumers. This comes after a group of major foodmakers, including ConAgra Foods, Kellogg's and Unilever started a Smart Choices program in August 2009 that put a green "Smart Choices" checkmark logo on numerous food products.

These labels were also placed on foods that contain up to 50 percent sugar and represent up to as much as 80 percent of your daily fat intake. Some of the products highlighted the fact that they contain zero trans fats, but did not point out high levels of saturated fats.

That's why the FDA sent the Smart Choices program a letter stating that it could confuse consumers into choosing processed foods over fruits and vegetables. The FDA is now in the works of devising stricter front-packaging labeling on food products and the Smart Choices program is suspending its operations.

--New York Times; Washington Post

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Sugar or Sweetener?

Over recent years many people have been reaching for artificial sweeteners, thinking that it's healthier than the real thing. It turns out that your tastebuds don't know the difference between sugar and sweetener -- but your brain does.

A new study out of the Netherlands used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain responses in people sipping two different orangeade drinks -- one mixed with sugar and another mixed with four artificial sweeteners (aspartame, acesulfame K, cyclamate and saccharin).

The sugar and sweeteners were found to stimulate the amygdala, which is the part of the brain that detects pleasure. Only the sugared drink stimulated the caudate in the brain, showing that the human brain can tell the difference between a caloric drink and a noncaloric one.

Other research on artificially sweetened beverages include:

-They can activate parts of the brain that create appetite, but do not satiate it.
-Increased appetite has been found to occur in people who don't consume artificially sweetened beverages often.
-People who drink artificially sweetened beverages regularly tend to weigh more than those who don't.
-For those who consume a lot of artificially sweetened beverages, however, their brains, can become used to the sweeteners and may not necessarily cause them to eat more.

--L.A. Times

High Fructose Diets Can Impair Memory

Moms around the world warn their kids that too much sugar — or fructose — will rot their teeth, but did they ever think it could also affect their memory?

Researchers at Georgia State's Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology found that after feeding a group of Sprague-Dawley rats a diet that was 60 percent fructose, the rats' memories were impaired. Fructose is a type of sugar found in processed foods and sodas.

Marise Parent, associate professor at Georgia State, said:

Fructose, unlike another sugar, glucose, is processed almost solely by the liver, and produces an excessive amount of triglycerides — fat which get into the bloodstream. Triglycerides can interfere with insulin signaling in the brain, which plays a major role in brain cell survival and plasticity, or the ability for the brain to change based on new experiences.

Results were similar in adolescent rats, but it is unclear whether the effects of high fructose consumption are permanent, she said.

Human diets typically do not consist of the same high amount of fructose as the rats in the study, however, foods containing fructose and high fructose corn syrup are being consumed at increasing rates. Diets high in fructose can potentially cause such health issues as insulin insensitivity, type 2 diabetes, obesity and cariovascular disease. Many foods now contain fructose, but keeping your diet checked and eating foods with fructose in moderation can make a difference. —ScienceDaily

Think Skinny!

If you want to be skinny, you've got to think like a skinny person. This doesn't mean thinking is being, but delving into the diets of real-life skinny folks reveals some interesting food facts that could help you get or stay thin.

If you like this list, be sure to check out our own weight loss tips, and of course, schedule your first visit with the diet doctor today!

• Dense foods with high water content like fruits, veggies, water-based soups and stews and cooked whole grains are low in calories, but oh-so-satisfying.



• When dining out, start off with a salad or soup because you are more likely to eat much less calories after that -- as much as 12 percent less!



• Try eating five smaller meals each day instead of three larger ones to cut down on your portions



• Use a smaller plate to reduce the amount of food you eat



• Have a portion-controlled frozen meal instead of dining out



• Skipping meals often leads to overindulging on foods that are bad for you, so don't do it! Staving off hunger with healthy snacks is much better. And don't even think about skipping breakfast (78 percent of skinny people eat it)



• Keep moving! Simply standing, walking and moving around throughout the day, as opposed to being inactive, could help you burn an extra 350 calories



• Exercise not only burns calories and fat, it also makes you think twice about eating foods that aren't beneficial



• Weighing yourself regularly helps keep your diet and weight in check



• Thin people know their food pitfalls and cut them out entirely or don't even stock them in their refrigerator at home



• Children who grow up in homes where healthy foods are plentiful are more likely to grow up healthy -- and pass it on to future generations

Source: Real Simple

New Research Shows Fatty Foods Drive Hunger

A new discovery by the University of Cincinnati shows that the hunger hormone ghrelin is triggered by foods we eat, and challenges the previous notion that it is caused by periods of fasting.

Ghrelin is a hormone that was believed to accumulate during periods of fasting and is found in the body in high concentrations just before meals. It is dubbed the "hunger hormone" because it has been shown that administration of pharmacological doses acts in the brain to stimulate hunger and increase food intake in animal models and humans.

The ghrelin hormone is unique in that it requires acylation (the addition of a fatty acid) by a specific enzyme (ghrelin O-acyl transferase, or GOAT) for activation. Originally it was assumed that the fatty acids attached to ghrelin by GOAT were produced by the body during fasting.

Instead, ghrelin is actually activated by ingested dietary fats, and behaves more like a fat sensor in the stomach that tells the brain when calories are available for calorie-burning activities.

In the study, lab mice without the GOAT enzyme were observed to acculumate less fat, while those with over-expressed GOAT accumulated more fat.

Although the study can't completely be applied to humans, researchers think it will be an important idea to consider in how ghrelin can aid the results of gastric bypass surgery. —ScienceDaily

53 Percent of Americans Trying to Lose Weight

The International Food Information Council Foundation conducted an online survey between February 19 and March 11 called the "2009 Food & Health Survey, Consumer Attitudes toward Food, Nutrition & Health" to study how Americans are managing their weight.

The survey found that 53 percent of American respondents are trying to lose weight, while 25 percent are trying to maintain weight. Seventy one percent were found to be changing the types of food they eat, 62 percent were engaging in physical activity, 44 percent were changing how often they eat and 19 percent were counting calories.

Forty four percent did not experience results quickly, 43 percent reported a lack of willpower and 40 percent cited a lack of time when it came to making an effort to lose or maintain weight.

The survey also attributed problems with weight control to a general confusion about the relationship between calories and weight gain.

Only 30% believe that calories in general are what cause weight gain, while just 11% correctly estimated the number of calories a person of their age, weight and height should consume per day. Close to half (47%) overestimated, 16% underestimated and 26%didn’t even venture to guess. [1]