Report Claims 'Xtreme Eating Running Amok'; IHOP, Chili's, Uno Top List

The Center for Science in the Public Interest issued a detailed examination of extreme eating in chain restaurants.

[Editor's note: The following information is courtesy of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.] A milkshake with a slice of apple pie blended right in. A 3,000-calorie plate of pasta. A breakfast that includes deep-fried steak and pancakes (and hash browns and eggs and gravy and syrup). Obesity rates may show signs of leveling off, but it looks like America’s major restaurant chains are doing everything possible to reverse the trend, according to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest. The group unveils the latest "winners" of its Xtreme Eating Awards in the current issue of its Nutrition Action Healthletter. "It's as if IHOP, The Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano's Little Italy, and other major restaurant chains are …

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Should Doctors Institute Weight Limits for Patients?

Dr. Helen Carter is no longer accepting patients who weigh over 200 pounds or have a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30. What do you think about her new rule?

Should doctors be able to institute weight limits for patients as a way of avoiding injuries, or is this discrimination against people who may need help? The question stems from Dr. Helen Carter, a Worcester-based doctor is no longer accepting new patients who are obese, according to WBUR—specifically, patients who weigh over 200 pounds or have a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30. Carter told WBUR that her new policy is "self-preservation," instituted because another doctor in her practice had been seriously injured pulling out the exam table foot rest for a patient who weighed 280 pounds. The policy isn't discriminatory, Carter told WBUR, because patients have access to other doctors in the area, including some facilities that cater to …

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Green Tips

Green Tips: What's Wrong with Processed Foods

Processed foods are foods that have been altered from their natural states in order to extend their shelf life. They are often poor quality and usually cheap.

Processed foods are foods that have been altered from their natural states in order to extend their shelf life.  Foods that come in a box, can, bag or carton are processed. They are often poor quality and usually cheap.  About 90% of the money Americans spend on food is used to buy “edible foodlike substances” as Michael Pollen, well-known author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and professor, calls them. Processed foods have been implicated in most of today’s chronic diseases and health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.  What makes processed foods so bad?  Many processed foods contain trans fats (or hydrogenated) a dangerous type of fat, which raises the bad cholesterol and lowers the good.   Most processed foods …

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Betsy Wild

9:21 am on Monday, December 5, 2011

And yes you do need fats, the good fats, found in salmon and other fatty fish, olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, even real butter.   more ›