Posts Tagged ‘sugar’

The idea that processed foods are wrecking the American diet occupies center stage in in much of what is written about food and nutrition. Want a lecture on the subject? Just tune into a commercial for Panera Bread’s “clean food.” These ads capture the popular zeitgeist defining “food as it should be.” But we can’t help but […]

The world’s largest candy maker, Mars, is determined to stop dropping sugar bombs into the food supply. Reuters reports that the company has been in talks with McDonald’s to remove M&Ms from their McFlurry desserts. A 12 oz McFlurry with M&Ms has 89 grams of sugar. Compare that with new dietary guidelines that recommend no more […]

New research from Washington University has identified an abnormal dopamine response to sugar in the brains of people with obesity as they age. Lead author of the study, Marta Pepino, explained: We believe we may have identified a new abnormality in the relationship between reward response to food and dopamine in the brains of individuals with […]

A new soda tax experiment will be starting January 1 in Philadelphia. On Thursday, the Philadelphia city voted 13-1 to approve a 1.5 cent per ounce tax on all packaged beverages that are sweetened with sugar or no-calorie sweeteners. The beverage industry says it will sue to stop the tax from being implemented. To his credit, Philadelphia’s […]

Maybe seeking out an RDN (registered dietitian nutritionist) would be a better idea than relying on celebrities for guidance about what to eat and drink. A new study in the journal Pediatrics finds that “music celebrities who are popular among adolescents endorse energy-dense, nutrient-poor products.” Marie Bragg and colleagues collected data on endorsements of food […]

A nutrition policy food fight is bubbling over in the UK, precipitated by a report from two UK charities: the National Obesity Forum and the Public Health Health Collaboration. The report advances a rather simple recommendation: “Eat fat, cut the carbs, and avoid snacking to reverse obesity and type 2 diabetes.” In case that miracle cure does not […]

At the PHA Summit yesterday, First Lady Michelle Obama announced that the new nutrition facts label is now final, putting added sugar in the crosshairs for consumers who are paying attention. FDA notes eight changes to the label, but the real action has been focused on sugar all along. Companies have up to three years to make […]

We should have known it wouldn’t last. The powers that be at UNC are apparently yielding to outside agitators who don’t understand the logic of putting Krispy Kreme into the name of their children’s specialty clinic. No more “Krispy Kreme Challenge Children’s Clinic.” In a UNC faculty meeting last week, the university announced that the new […]

Mistakes happen. Every scientific study has weaknesses. Research on obesity, nutrition, and physical activity is hardly exempt. Sometimes errors and flaws are only discovered after publication. Usually the errors are handled gracefully. An erratum is published and sometimes a paper is withdrawn. But even smart scientists are susceptible to the human impulse for self-justification. The impulse is aptly described by […]

Following news that soda sales are down to levels not seen since the 1980s, First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a massive celebration at the White House last night, marking the end of the childhood obesity epidemic. With the President at her side, the First Lady told an assembled crowd of trim and fit youngsters: We’ve […]