- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Davis nutrition researchers invented a four-teaspoon snack that can be used to supplement children's diets in poor countries to ensure proper body and brain development, according to a story in the Sacramento Bee.
Each ketchup-packet-sized serving of "Nutributter" contains 120 calories and 40 essential vitamins and minerals.
The idea for the nutrition supplement came from the successful use of Plumpy'nut, a peanut-based food developed by French researchers for famine relief. Each Plumpy-nut packet has 500 calories and children can gain 1 to 2 pounds a week by eating it twice daily. According to the Bee, Plumpy'nut saved some...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Valentine's Day 2010 is history, but with Easter around the corner, candy season is still in full swing. That justifies a look at a peculiar Valentine's-themed story from the Sacramento Bee about the possible nutritional benefits of candy, which was picked up by the Sun Sentinel in Florida this week.
"What if candy were as good for you as it is good tasting?" reporter Carlos Alcalá mused hopefully. "Some ingredients in candy may be healthful, but does that make the candy beneficial?"
Alcalá came up with reasons why...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program has singled out San Joaquin County's UC Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor, Anna Martin, for helping create a healthier community.
Martin was one of 16 people and organizations to receive Cultivator Awards at a ceremony Jan. 29, according to a CCROPP news release. CCROPP honors one person or organization in each San Joaquin Valley county. Martin was the recipient in San Joaquin County. Regional awards were also presented.
Martin is chair of the CCROPP Council, Healthy San Joaquin. She manages the Expanded Food and Nutrition...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, Subway and its young, folksy spokesman Jared Fogle must be overjoyed. The company's fast food rival Taco Bell has a new spokesmodel, Christine Dougherty, who purportedly lost 54 pounds over two years (results not typical) by eating from the chain's "Fresco" menu.
Bay area news radio station KCBS interviewed UC Berkeley nutrition specialist emeritus Joanne Ikeda to get her thoughts on Taco Bell's new advertising campaign. Ikeda said it's possible dieters could lose weight eating Taco Bell food, but not likely.
"If you make the right selections and...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The post-workout binge is so common, according to the Los Angeles Times, scientists have come up with a term for it: compensation. They are now trying to figure out what makes some people compensate while others don't.
In studies of the effects of diet and exercise on body weight, some people who lose a lot of weight, some lose very little weight and some lose none at all. That has led some scientists to believe that exercise might not be a reliable way to lose weight, the Times reported. Exercise seems to stimulate the appetite.
While compensation can be triggered by particularly intense workouts, in most people it appears to be...