Is Glowelle the world's stupidest drink?

I'd say so.

Reportedly Glowelle is the newest entry in the growing "beauty drink market".

There's a beauty drink market?

Huzzah!?

So what's Glowelle?

According to its website it's a,

"clinically tested premium dietary supplement beauty drink, complete with a powerhouse combination of skin-beautifying antioxidants"

What do I think it is?

Well according to its ingredients it's basically water and concentrated grape juice with some cane, mango, orange, pineapple and peach purees thrown in for flavour. Oh, and it's got a few antioxidants for good measure.

So what about this clinical testing?

Well I looked for it on MedLine, the world's largest repository of peer-reviewed published research and came up empty.

The Glowelle website on the other hand has a handy "summary" of "statistically significant" findings but no link to the actual study to review, I don't know, stuff like methodologies and absolute results.

The website also has a long list of studies conducted on the ingredients found in Glowelle - studies with incredible importance such as:

CoQ10 supplementation elevates the epidermal CoQ10 level in adult hairless mice

and

Effect of apple extracts on NF-kappaB activation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells

One thing's for sure - from now on the only thing my hairless mice are getting to drink is Glowelle.

At only $7 per 250ml/8oz bottle how could I afford not to give it to them?

American Children opposed to universal healthcare!

Good old Onion.

Today's Funny Friday is an ONN report on a "study" that revealed that children are very much against publically funded healthcare.

Have a great weekend!



(As always email subscribers need to visit the blog to view the video)

Ottawa Citizen Nutrition Watch Week 15 - THANK YOU!!!

So blearly eyed I woke up, rolled out of bed and as per my last few months' Thursday morning ritual, logged onto the Ottawa Citizen's Digital Edition to review the Food section's recipes.

I'm absolutely delighted to report that this morning's fare included not only the recipes but also their nutritional breakdowns!

A huge thank you to the Ottawa Citizen for entertaining this request. I know that they are an overworked, underpaid group of folks and that calculating nutritional information only adds to their plates. Sincere thanks to Gerry Nott editor-in-chief and Wendy Warburton for taking the time to listen to our request and respond in a manner consistent with a genuine caring for their readership.

I've always been a ready reader of the Citizen's Food section which thanks to Ron Eade is always fun, fresh and informative and I will continue to read it, but unless somehow the nutritional analyses fall off their pages, I think my work here is done.

Thanks too to all of the readers who may have sent the Citizen emails encouraging them to consider this change. Why not take the 30 seconds or so today and send a simple email of thanks to Editor-in-Chief Gerry Nott, Food Editor Ron Eade and Wendy Warburton by clicking here.

For today's nutritional breakdowns - go buy yourself a paper!

ParticipACTION ponies up with Nestlé

Does this seem like a healthy partnership to you?

ParticipACTION, the experiment in social marketing that has proven itself to be really great at brand awareness but has not proven itself to be particularly good at actually inspiring behavioural change, has recently elected Marilyn Knox to the position of Chair of their Board of Directors.

Who's Marilyn Knox?

She's the president of Nestlé Nutrition Canada.

The same Nestlé that last year sold $18 billion dollars of ice cream worldwide. The same Nestlé that's the subject of an international movement to boycott its products due to its unethical marketing of baby food (something I recently blogged about). The same Nestlé that in India obtained a permanent ban on their workers' freedom of assembly.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised, ParticipACTION isn`t exactly into oversight.

I mean ParticipACTION's already ponied up with Coca Cola - no doubt a major player in the rise in childhood obesity rates over the course of the past 40 years, why not add a junk food maker with a track record of questionable business practices to the mix?

Ottawa Catholic School Board's "Freezie Weeks"

Longer term readers may remember my post regarding Ottawa Catholic School Board's St. Andrew's Elementary School's weekly ice-cream sandwich and pizza days.

Well here we go again.

A kind reader of mine with children in grade 1 and 2 at Pope John XXIII Elementary wrote me to let me know about their school's junk food programs.

I'll let her describe the goings on to you,

"Jumbo freezies are given out 3 times per week for a 3 week period in order to raise money for the grade 6 class trip. Pizza Days every two weeks with a large donut. Bake sales at school where kids are encouraged to buy as much as they like. Between my two daughters, we attend soccer 4 nights a week where parents feel the need to give out Popsicles at the end of each game. That is four Popsicles a week, plus 3 freezies from school a week, pizza and a donut, a bake sale, sometimes all being consumed in one day! This is way too much sugar, in my opinion, and why is it even necessary?"

That's a great question - why is it necessary?

If you remember, the last time I complained to the Ottawa Catholic School Board, school superintendent Diane Jackson wrote a rude letter back to me where she claimed not to understand my concerns regarding weekly ice cream sandwich days for 6 year olds.

This time I'd like to try something different. This time I'd like to ask my Ottawan readers track down the junk food policies of all of the Ottawa Catholic School Board Elementary schools. With a proper list compiled perhaps the story will gain the legs it takes to leap off the blog and into the papers - and perhaps then we can see change.

So here's my request. If you've got a child in an Ottawa Catholic School Board elementary school (or really any school for that matter - let`s see what`s going on out there) please leave a comment (anonymous is fine) below with the name of the school and the junk food promotions that are in place and please circulate this blog post and request to all of your friends with children going to elementary schools in Ottawa.

Watch Maple Leaf Foods VP joke about the worst listeria outbreak in Canadian history

His name is Rory McAlpine and he's the VP of Government and Industry Relations for Maple Leaf Foods Inc. - the same Maple Leaf Foods whose contaminated equipment caused the worst listeria outbreak in Canadian history which tragically led to the deaths of 22 Canadians.

If I were the President of Maple Leaf Foods Mr. McAlpine would be fired in the blink of an eye.

Why?

Because on August 8th, at the 78th Annual Couchiching Conference during a session entitled, "Food Safety and Regulation: How Safe Is Safe Enough?" he decided to make light of Maple Leaf Foods Inc.'s role in the listeriosis outbreak.

He starts his delivery at 33:50 in the video but I've cut the clip out and uploaded the "joke" to youtube and posted it below (email subscribers click the post title in the body of the email to bring you to the blog to watch).

Amazingly Mr. McAlpine sets up his joke by stating that while others may have gotten in trouble for "making light of the tragedy", that he himself could talk about the "light side" of food safety because, "we were at the centre of it" and perhaps because his son also became ill from eating tainted Maple Leaf Foods bologna recovering within 24 hours.



Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time I've heard this joke. The first time I heard it it was presented by someone from Health Canada who when I confronted her with its tastelessness initially defended her stand-up act by noting that the joke is really on the Toronto Maple Leafs. She was then duly mortified when I asked her if that would be any consolation for the 22 Canadians who died or their friends and families? It was because of her sincere regret after the fact that I didn't go public with that story.

Here things are different. Here Mr. McAlpine is not a nervous junior Health Canada staffer; here Mr. McAlpine explicitly notes that he is indeed making light of tragedy; and here Mr. McAlpine is officially representing the admittedly culpable corporation at a conference on food safety no less.

Mr. McAlpine, there's nothing funny about what happened, there is no "light side" to the circumstances and food safety issues that led to your company's killing of Canadians however inadvertently, and if you for one moment think I'm over-reacting you ask yourself if you'd have made that same joke if your son had died rather than simply gotten ill due to your company's failure to properly clean its equipment?

The word that leaps to my mind to describe your actions Mr. McAlpine is repugnant - shame on you.

[Hat tip to my friend and fellow nutritional advocate Mr. Bill Jeffery, National Coordinator for the Centre for Science in the Public Interest]

Do you suffer from Duke-Nukem Disease?

Loved this video!

I remember calling my friend Laz (now a bariatric surgeon in Toronto) in our pre-med days and playing first person shooter games rather than studying to get into med school.

Today's Funny Friday is the sad outcome that some have had to face - Duke Nukem Disease.

Have a great weekend!

Weight bias in healthcare.

What a great video!

I'm not surprised - it comes from the Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity which is certainly the world's most important source of research on weight bias.

The video below is designed for health care providers but really speaks to everyone.

If you've got a chance today, please have a peek - especially if your work involves the care of patients with weight.

(remember, email subscribers click the title of the email to visit the blog and watch the video there)

Ottawa Citizen Nutrition Watch Week 14 - Big Food Inc. at Home

As I mentioned, the update from my sources strongly suggest that published nutritional analyses for Citizen recipes will be a done deal - just not for a while longer.

The lesson this week? Just because you cooked it at home doesn't necessarily make it healthier than restaurant fare - you've got to know the numbers to determine whether or not it's healthy and nutritious.

(For those of you who aren't sure what this is all about see this post)

For now, I'll just keep on calculating, but really, if I can still find time to do this with a one week old and 3 kids under 5, what's the hold up?:

Hall's Orchard Fresh Pink Applesauce
(per recipe assuming 2 tablespoons of honey and 12 apples): 1,106 calories, 1g saturated fat, 2mg sodium, 287g total carbs.

PEI Smoked Salmon with Pasta and Lemon Dill Cream Cheese Sauce
(per serving): 701 calories, 14g saturated fat, 794mg sodium, 89g total carbs.

[My note: The headline says don't let Big Food Inc. cook for your kids - this dish isn't any better nutritionally than Big Food's servings. It's salty, it's got nutritionally bereft white pasta and it has loads of saturated fat]

Simply Steamed Island Blue Mussels with 3 Different Flavours
(per serving beer flavour): 656 calories, 4g saturated fat, 1,982mg sodium, 31g total carbs.
(per serving orange curry flavour): 619 calories, 3g saturated fat, 1,949mg sodium, 32g total carbs.
(per serving wine flavour): 655 calories, 4g saturated fat, 2,027mg sodium, 26g total carbs

[My note: And once again, Big Food Inc. doesn't necessarily hold a candle to these high calorie, high sodium dishes]

Organic PEI Field Greens with Apple Vinaigrette and Pumpkin Seeds
(per serving assuming use of 1/8 teaspoon of salt to taste for entire dish): 181 calories, 1g saturated fat, 91mg sodium, 11g total carbs.

Watermelon Salad
(per serving if serving 8 and using 2 tablespoons oil and 1/4 teaspoon salt): 261 calories, 1g saturated fat, 91mg sodium, 52g total carbs.

[All recipes calculated using Mastercook 9.0. Today it took roughly 2 minutes per recipe]

Are you getting sold snake oil?

I came across this video on a blog written by someone named Esther who lives in Israel and who decided to follow me Twitter (interesting side thought that had someone read me that sentence a decade ago I wouldn't have had a clue what any of it meant).

It's long, it's good, it's worth watching and sharing. It's hosted by Michael Shermer the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, the Executive Director of the Skeptics Society, a monthly columnist for Scientific American, the host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech, and Adjunct Professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University.

He's called it the "Baloney Detection Kit"

Enjoy.

(Remember, email subscribers to view the videos you've got to go to the blog itself)

Should Hershey's recent study lead you to eat more chocolate?

Not according to one of the study's lead researchers.

The study involved researchers looking at 45 people who were assigned to either eat a daily 0.8 ounces of cocoa without sugar, 0.8 ounces of cocoa with sugar, or 0.8 ounces of placebo for six weeks.

The findings?

Of the 39 subjects who completed the trial (6 people dropped out of an eat chocolate every day trial?), "flow mediated dilation" improved in the groups consuming cocoa with no sugar (2.4 %) and cocoa with sugar (1.5%) when compared to placebo (-0.8 %).

So are these results impressive? Should you rush out and buy chocolate?

If you ask the study's lead researcher the answer is an unequivocal no,

"While the findings from this study do not suggest that people should start eating more chocolate as part of their daily routine, it does suggest that we pay more attention to how dark chocolate and other flavonoid-rich foods might offer cardiovascular benefits"

So what did Hershey's do?

Click the ad above for a closer look.

Faridi Z, Njike VY, Dutta S, Ali A, & Katz DL (2008). Acute dark chocolate and cocoa ingestion and endothelial function: a randomized controlled crossover trial. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 88 (1), 58-63 PMID: 18614724

Nintendo puts out another useless "exergame"

I've blogged about the Wii before and how while it may be fun, it's far from exercise.

Today I bring you Treasure Hunt a new game for the Nintendo DS that at least one reviewer bills as,

"not only another blow in the fight against obesity, it's also a nice illustration of what our sister site likes to call the OFF=ON trend, whereby the online and offline worlds are increasingly overlapping"

To be clear, I think getting kids outside and playing is a great idea and certainly if you're going to have your kids play video games, by all means have them playing games that actually get them moving.

That said, the promotion of such games as tools in the fight against childhood obesity is ludicrous. Casually walking around in parks has about as much of a shot at landing a punch on childhood obesity as I do landing one on Mike Tyson.

[Hat tip to BMI's Director of Operations Lorne]

ER - Homeopathy edition

Here's another gem from across the pond.

Today's Funny Friday is a trip to the homeopath's ER.

Have a great weekend!



[Hat tip to my friend and colleague Dr. Sara Kirk]

Fat tax levied on ambulance rides in Kansas

A little over a month ago Shawnee County, Kansas voted to raise the rates of ambulance rides for obese folks.

If you weigh 359lbs or below your trip in an American Medical Response ambulance will cost you $629 and the per mile cost will be $11.09 per mile. Gain a pound and your rate will jump 86% to $1,172 and your per mile rate will rise 44% to $16.00 per mile.

Ken Keller, the director of American Medical Response Topeka division states it's not discrimination but rather it's to help pay for additional equipment and manpower.

So Ken, who else should pay more? Maybe quadriplegics and paraplegics should pay more too. How about really tall folks? Maybe folks on supplemental oxygen?

If I've got any over 350lb readers in Shawnee County - if you need an ambulance ride, I'd also hire a lawyer because there's no way in my mind that this fat tax is legal.



[Hat tip to my sensei and friend Claudio Iedwab]

Ottawa Citizen Nutrition Watch Week 13 - Salt to Taste?

As I mentioned, the update from my sources strongly suggest that published nutritional analyses for Citizen recipes will be a done deal - just not for a while longer.

(For those of you who aren't sure what this is all about see this post)

For now, I'll just keep on calculating:

Pasta and Red Pepper Sauce
(per recipe not including noodles): 339 calories, 2g saturated fat, 527mg sodium, 72g total carbs.

Green Bush Beans with Bacon
(per recipe using 1 teaspoon salt): 214 calories, 4g saturated fat, 2,549mg sodium (though some will stay in the water of course), 16g total carbs.

Spanish Rice
(per recipe using beef with no salt added): 1,576 calories, 29g saturated fat, 6,723mg sodium, 125g total carbs (high sodium comes from chicken stock - you can cut this down by actually making your own).

Crepes Aux Pommes
(per crepe): 404 calories, 13g saturated fat, 158mg sodium, 42g total carbs.

Buckwheat Crepes with Salted Cod
(per crepe): 365 calories, 7g saturated fat, 4,399mg sodium, 21g total carbs. The craziest part of this recipe is that the chef also suggests that you add, "salt to taste". Of course draining off soaked cod will drain off much sodium but I'd be shocked if it didn't leave at least 1,000mg per.

Blueberry Corn Muffins
(per muffin): 232 calories, 4g saturated fat, 164mg sodium, 40g total carbs.

[All recipes calculated using Mastercook 9.0. Today it took roughly 2 minutes per recipe]

"Why exercise won't make you thin"

Have you seen the latest Time Magazine Cover?

"The Myth About Exercise:

Of course it’s good for you, but it won’t make you lose weight. Why it’s what you eat that really counts"

Have they been reading my blog?

If you want to read their take on it, head over here. It's a great read.

[Hat tip to loyal blog reader Roxanne for sending it my way]

Lose 7lbs, 4oz in 5hrs, 3mins.

Thanks to my wonderful wife I'm now the father of 3 beautiful little girls with this one being the littlest!

I'm a very lucky man!

PETA - Eating animals - OUT! Making fun of obesity - IN!

A few weeks ago I blogged about PETA's practices of objectifying women in the name of promoting vegetarianism.

Well how about making fun of the obese?

PETA's latest ad reads,

"Save the Whales. Lose the blubber: Go Vegetarian. PETA"

and you guessed it, the "whales" are folks with weight to lose with the premise being that be becoming vegetarians they'll be "saved" and lose weight.

PETA, a few months ago I simply thought you were a bunch of over-excited vegetarians but between the objectification of women and the promotion of fat bias, you've officially elevated yourselves to loathsome.

Readers - please spread the word. Don't support PETA.

Feel free to contact PETA and let them know how you feel.

Contact PETA:
Comment on their official "Save the Whales" page by clicking here.
Phone: 757-622-PETA (7382)
Fax: 757-622-0457
Leave a comment on their Facebook page
Leave comments on their My Space page
Snail mail: 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510

[Via my friends at CalorieLab and from a blog entitled Without Measure]

The unintended consequences of banning trans-fats

While Health Canada continues to ignore its own task force's recommendations to ban trans-fats, New York is off an running.

A recent report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine revealed that since their regulation in 2006 98% of restaurants are trans-fat free and that it has been a "cost neutral" shift.

What's more interesting is that preliminary studies suggest that while indeed the shift from trans-fats have increased the use of saturated fats, it also increased the use of unsaturated fats, the healthy fats, leading to an overall improvement in the fat profile of trans-fat substituted foods.

What this means of course is that not only is there the benefit of removing a dietary toxin from the food supply, there's the added benefit of increasing the food supply's provision of healthy fats.

It's been 51 days since the two year free pass Tony Clement gave the food industry to shape up ended - and still our government does nothing.

Pathetic.

Angell SY, Silver LD, Goldstein GP, Johnson CM, Deitcher DR, Frieden TR, Bassett MT. (2009). Cholesterol control beyond the clinic: New York City's trans fat restriction. Annals of Internal Medicine, 151 (2), 129-134 PMID: 19620165

Taco Bell - the world's greenest food?

Food that has zero impact on the environment - that'd be commendable right?

Today for Funny Friday here's an ONN report on Taco Bell's incredible story.

Have a great weekend!