1) In Battle Of The Bulge Food Aromas Could Become New Weapon (source: Medical News Today)

A real possibility does exist for developing a new generation of foods that make people feel full by releasing anti-hunger aromas during chewing, scientists in the Netherlands are reporting after a review of research on that topic. Such foods would fight the global epidemic of obesity with aromas that quench hunger and prevent people from overeating. Their article appears in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication.

2) Don’t Trust Calorie Counts on Menus (source: Nutrition Data Blog)

According to researchers at Yale University, including calorie counts on menus seem to affect diner’s choices. But what use is that if the reported calorie counts are wildly inaccurate? A report in next month’s Journal of the American Dietetic Association finds that the published calorie counts for so-called “reduced calorie” meals served at various chain restaurants were wildly inaccurate.  On average, the actual calories were almost 20% higher, but the range of discrepancy was huge.

3) Long Term Thinkers Make Better Health Decisions (source: Medical News Today)

Two US psychologists found that people who tend to think in the long term, who focus on later rewards rather than immediate payoffs, are more likely to make better and positive decisions concerning their health, such as what and how much to eat and drink, exercise regularly, and use sunscreen.

Original Post

(source: SEED Magazine)

Suggested by: Miguel Barbosa of Simoleon Sense

Humans are made to move. Even just a century ago, few people spent their entire workday just sitting at a desk. Passive entertainment, too, is a relatively new innovation. Televisions have been widespread for barely 60 years. Radios, for less than a century. Books, for perhaps half a millennium. Sure, music and theater have existed for longer than that, but attending a live performance still involved trudging to the amphitheater or town square, sitting or standing on uncomfortable benches, and then making the same journey back home. And more people were likely to participate in making the music or plays when they couldn’t be recorded and electromagnetically transmitted through the air. Out of the hundreds of thousands of years Homo sapiens has existed, we’ve been intensely physically active for all but a few of them.

Original Post

(source: CBS News)

Senate Democrats passed a landmark health care bill in a climactic Christmas Eve vote that could define President Barack Obama’s legacy and usher in near-universal medical coverage for the first time in the country’s history.

“We are now finally poised to deliver on the promise of real, meaningful health insurance reform that will bring additional security and stability to the American people,” Mr. Obama said shortly after the Senate acted.

1) Glycemic Index Education Leads To Better Diabetes Control (source: Medical News Today)

I always appreciate suggested material from my readers like this.

Nine weeks of education about the glycemic index in foods is enough to encourage adults with type 2 diabetes to adopt better dietary habits that result in improvements to their health, recent research suggests.

2) A question on ensuring good nutrition on a restricted diet (source: Nutrition Data)

Q. I have a 2-year old son who is allergic to dairy, egg, and soy. He drinks rice milk in addition to water and sometimes juice. We are lucky because he loves to eat meat (primarily meatloaf), and fruits and vegetables. I have become good at sneaking veggies into his meatloaf, spaghetti, etc. As he grows, however, I am wondering about providing him a balanced diet. Is there anything that I am missing, or anything, nutritionally, that I should be giving him? Thanks.

Original Post

(source: The Health Care Blog)

They said it couldn’t happen in Europe, that social media and online tools wouldn’t catch on, because the healthcare context was soooo different from the US. They said that Europeans don’t worry about access and cost, that they aren’t looking for information online because they they trust their doctors utterly and fully, and that European doctors don’t go online, except if they’re Scandinavian.