Pouring on the Pounds

I just saw this video from NYC Health Department called "Pouring on the Pounds."

What do we think about this?

From the press release:

Last summer, the Health Department asked New Yorkers a bold question: Are you pouring on the pounds? The question – accompanied by an eye-catching image of a soft drink turning to blubber as it gushes into a tumbler – has appeared on subway posters, educational brochures and websites since the campaign started in August. Now comes the sequel – a cheeky Internet video that uses similar imagery to show how the empty calories in sugary beverages can add up. Over the course of a year, drinking one soda a day can make you 10 pounds fatter, fostering obesity and contributing to health problems such as diabetes, asthma and heart disease.

“Sugary drinks shouldn’t be a part of our everyday diets,” said Dr. Thomas Farley, New York City Health Commissioner. “This video is playful, but its message is serious. Sugar-sweetened beverages are fueling the obesity epidemic, and obesity is disabling millions of New Yorkers. If this campaign shifts habits even slightly, it could have real health benefits.”

The new video can be seen at nyc.gov/health. The Health Department is also posting it on YouTube – www.youtube.com/drinkingfat – in the hope that people will share it with friends and relatives.

Americans now consume an average of 200 to 300 more calories each day than we did 30 years ago. Nearly half of that increase comes from sugar-sweetened drinks which can pack as many as 16 teaspoons of sugar in a single 20-ounce bottle. The Health Department’s 2007 Community Health Survey found that more than 2 million New Yorkers drink at least one sugar-sweetened beverage each day – adding as much as 250 empty calories to their diets.

I would say, since governments are charged with footing the bill for health (ultimately), that they should have a role. If they aren't going to regulate the food industry's advertising, they are going to come out with campaigns that are equally compelling.

This is disgusting, but may very well be effective.

SNL Taco Town sketch drives home the point

Thanks to reader JulieMac for this one. It is relevant to the "this is why you're fat" webpage. I take it Saturday Night Live caught that wave too. Hilarious.

Human fat for fuel

According to an article in Forbes Magazine, a Beverley Hills doctor has been transforming the fat from his liposuction operations into biodiesel to power him and his wife's SUVs.

Fat--whether animal or vegetable--contains triglycerides that can be extracted and turned into diesel. Poultry companies such as Tyson are looking into powering their trucks on chicken schmaltz, and biofuel start-ups such as Nova Biosource are mixing beef tallow and pig lard with more palatable sources such as soybean oil. Mike Shook of Agri Process Innovations, a builder of biodiesel plants, says this year's batch of U.S. biodiesel was likely more than half animal-derived since the price of soybeans soared.

A gallon of grease will get you about a gallon of fuel, and drivers can get about the same amount of mileage from fat fuel as they do from regular diesel, according to Jenna Higgins of the National Biodiesel Board. Animal fats need to undergo an additional step to get rid of free fatty acids not present in vegetable oils, but otherwise, there's no difference, she says.

Greenies like the fact that waste, such as coffee grounds and french-fry grease, can be turned into power. "The vast majority of my patients request that I use their fat for fuel--and I have more fat than I can use," Bittner wrote on lipodiesel.com. "Not only do they get to lose their love handles or chubby belly but they get to take part in saving the Earth." Bittner's lipodiesel Web site is no longer online.

Using fat to fuel cars might be environmentally friendly, but it's definitely illegal in California to use human medical waste to power vehicles, and Bittner is being investigated by the state's public health department.

Although it's unclear when Bittner started and stopped making fat fuel or how he made it, his activities came to light after recent lawsuits filed by patients that allege he allowed his assistant and his girlfriend to perform surgeries without a medical license.

Beef...it's not for dinner anymore!

Yesterday, in the Austin American Statesman, I read an article about a research scientist at A&M(a strong Ag school) called Aggie Finds Healthy Fatty Acids in Brisket.

http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/05/26/0526brisket.html

I was appalled to see a biased school touting more reasons to consume beef. I wrote a letter to the editor.

Editor,

As a Registered Dietitian working in the field of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, I am appalled and concerned of the implication of this story. In the midst of energy, food, and global warming crises, finding more reasons to eat beef is dangerous and irresponsible at best.
Americans have started the trend of eating meat at every meal and the movement has now spread to China and India. We are growing more corn to feed cows and cars, than to nourish starving humans in order to supplement our overly extravagant and calorie dense habits. People need to realize that eating lower on the food chain (grains, fruits and vegetables) is the answer to better health and to our food and energy crisis.
If you are going to eat beef, make sure it is certified organic and grass fed. Raising cattle on pasture, improves animal health, and reduces antibiotic usage, and lessens environmental damage. If you are concerned about human nutrition, Greener Pastures, a scientific literature review has shown that grass-fed beef is higher in “good fats,” lower in “bad fats,” beta carotene and Vitamin E.

The grass-fed concept is a step toward environmental stewardship: it doesn’t rely on petroleum-guzzling corn fields, it helps sustain the ecosystem and clean water, and it forces us to eat mindful and in season. Even still, beef should only be eaten once a week, if at all.

Ashley Colpaart, RD LD

Along the same lines, Amanda gave me a link that is super neat, where you can score your diet on its environmentalism. Enjoy!

http://cspinet.org/EatingGreen/

Unhealthiest Drink in America!

Apparently there has been an internet buzz from Yahoo about the worst drinks in America. I would like to highlight the number one, which is the equivalent of eating 12 Krsipy Kreme donuts or 60 slices of bacon!

Congratulation to Baskin Robbins for their number 1 heart stopper:

Baskin Robbin’s Large Heath Bar Shake (32 oz)

2,310 calories

266 g sugar

108 g fat (64 g saturated)

73: The number of ingredients that go into this milkshake.

66: The number of teaspoons of sugar this drink contains.

11: The number of Heath Bars you would have to eat to equal the number of calories found in one Baskin Robbins Large Heath Bar Shake.

8-12: The average number of minutes it takes to consume this drink.

240: The number of minutes you’d need to spend on a treadmill burning it off, running at a moderate pace.

Most people would order one of these puppies in cahoots with a cheese burger and fries!

Oh and the ingredients list is quite entertaining. I like how "reduced-fat milk" is the first ingredient! What a releif!

Ingredients: reduced fat milk, heath bar crunch ice cream (cream, nonfat milk, caramel ribbon (corn syrup, sweetened condensed whole milk (milk, sugar), water, high fructose corn syrup, butter (cream, salt), propylene glycol, sodium alginate, salt, natural and artificial vanilla flavors, potassium sorbate (preservative), soy lecithin, annatto color, sodium bicarbonate, propyl paraben (preservative)) , heath® bar candy pieces [milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, nonfat milk, milk fat, lactose, soy lecithin (an emulsifier), salt, and vanillin (an artificial flavoring)), sugar, palm oil, dairy butter (milk), almonds, salt, artificial flavoring, and soy lecithin], sugar, corn syrup, toffee base (sweetened condensed whole milk, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, natural flavor, disodium phosphate, and salt), whey powder, cellulose gum, mono and diglycerides, guar gum, carrageenan, polysorbate 80), fudge topping (corn syrup, sugar, water, hydrogenated coconut oil, nonfat milk, cocoa (treated with alkali), modified corn starch, salt, sodium bicarbonate, disodium phosphate, potassium sorbate (a preservative), natural and artificial flavors, soy lecithin), jamoca ice cream (cream, nonfat milk, sugar, corn syrup, jamoca extract (coffee extract, sugar, potassium sorbate and methyl paraben (as preservatives)) whey, caramel color, cellulose gum, mono and diglycerides, carrageenan, polysorbate 80, carob bean gum, guar gum), caramel praline topping (corn syrup, sweetened condensed whole mil, water, sugar, modified food starch, butter, salt, propylene glycol, natural and artificial flavor, sodium citrate, xanthan gum, lecithin, potassium sorbate and propyl paraben as preservatives), hershey’s® heath® milk chocolate english toffee (milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, nonfat milk, milk fat, lactose, soy lecithin [an emulsifier], salt, and vanillin [an artificial flavoring]), sugar, palm oil, dairy butter (milk), almonds, salt, artificial flavoring, and soy lecithin), whipped cream (whipped cream (cream, milk, sugar, dextrose, nonfat dry milk, artificial flavor, mono & diglycerides, carrageenan, mixed tocopherols (vitamin e), to protect flavor, propellant: nitrous oxide).

For some more of the highlighted winners see:

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/eatthis/5027/americas-unhealthiest-drinks-exposed/