National Post

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Dietitian Jennifer Sygo’s four strategies for shedding weight this spring
If you’re trying to shed excess weight this spring, start by ditching the leftover Easter candy, adding some protein and considering a raw component in your daily diet. Jennifer Sygo goes over some surefire ways to get your healthier regimen off the ground.
[Photo credit: Peter J. Thompson/National Post files]

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Bacteria common red meat spikes risk of heart disease: Cleveland Clinic study
Everyone knows red meat isn’t the healthiest thing you can have on your plate. But a new study shows that eating steak, burgers and roasts may also trigger bacteria in the gut that further increase the risk of heart disease.
[Photo by Aaron Lynett/National Post files]

npostlife:

What’s better for losing weight (staying healthy)? A smoothie, or juice?
Post dietitian Jennifer Sygo weighs in on what makes a more nutritious glass of liquid nourishment, and the science of why.
[Adrian Lam/Postmedia News files]

npostlife:

When a calorie doesn’t equal a calorie, what does that mean for weight loss?
Post dietitian Jennifer Sygo examines the research behind almonds and other tree nuts containing fewer calories than what food scientists previously thought, and how cooking food boosts the available calories from certain foods.
[Photo credit: Getty Images]

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Could omega-3 fatty acids do more harm to the heart than good? B.C. researchers say yes
Research at the University of B.C.’s Okanagan campus is calling into question the value of fish-oil based supplements as a way to combat cardiac and inflammatory disease …
[Photo credit: Tyler Anderson/National Post files]

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Does not being breastfed set a child back in body or mind?
What exactly is the role that breastfeeding plays in an infant’s psychological development: That’s the question our columnist started wondering about after she found out she wasn’t breastfed as a child. These are her findings …
[Handout/Postmedia News files]

npostlife:

Protein! Super-snacks! Seeds! Just a few of the nutrition trends for 2013 that our resident dietitian sees on the horizon this year. For more of Jennifer Sygo’s rundown on the year in food ahead, click on the flax.

[Photo credit: Postmedia News files]

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On grazing, obesity and some key facts about snacks
Many dietitians, myself included, have long recommended eating frequent, smaller meals and snacks throughout the day. But does that mean that snacking is always the right choice?
[Photo by Tyler Anderson/National Post]

Zombie cheeseburger? McDonald’s patty, bun, cheese unchanged after one year sitting on kitchen counter
Whenever Melanie Hesketh’s kids get a hankering for junk food, all she has to do is point to the kitchen counter.

That’s where she keeps an unwrapped cheeseburger that turns one on Thursday, and it looks pretty much the same as the day it came off a McDonald’s grill.

Mould, maggots, fungi, bacteria — all have avoided the tempting meal that sits in plain view.

“Obviously it makes me wonder why we choose to eat food like this when even bacteria won’t eat it,” said Ms. Hesketh.

The meat patty has shrunk a bit, but it still looks edible and, with a faint but lingering greasy, leathery odour, she said it “still smells slightly like a burger … it hasn’t changed much.” (Photo: Tyler Brownbridge/The Windsor Star)

Have your cupcake and savour it, too: The perils of food-related guilt
We can spend much of our lives surrounded by reasons to feel lousy about ourselves. Pick up any beauty or lifestyle magazine and you’ll find plenty of examples of the way your current life just doesn’t quite measure up: You can always be thinner, richer, fitter, more stylish or more organized. The fields of food and nutrition (not just the weight loss industry) have also evolved into an industry driven by our guilty consciences. We still have the old-school guilt — I’m talking about the “I’ve-already-had-dessert-and-it’s-not-even-noon” kind of sheepishness, but now we also have the pressure to be über-healthy to add to the pile. I’m talking about the gluten-free, sugar-free, vitamin-popping, goji berry-laden healthy lifestyle that we’re somehow all supposed to abide by day in and day out. Our grandparents had no knowledge of any of this stuff, yet we’re supposed to live like nutritional saints, or else hide our heads in shame if it turns out we actually enjoy a diet pop or bowl of pasta once in a while. (Photo: Peter J. Thompson/National Post)

Bottoms up could mean bigger bottoms
All right, party people, it’s time for a shoot-the-messenger moment: It’s “that time of year” again — you know, the barbecue, the bathing suits, and, of course, the beer (or gin, or wine spritzer, you pick your poison), and it’s time to make everyone feel guilty about their alcohol consumption. At eight months pregnant, this is easy for me; my teetotaller lifestyle, after all, is nutritionally pristine.So, while you reach for a mug of lager, let’s take a closer look at the pleasure — and pain — of alcohol consumption. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

Challenging the acai berry
If you keep even a half-hearted eye on nutrition these days, no doubt you have heard the buzz about acai berries. Pronounced a-sigh-EE, this Brazilian fruit is often touted as one of the so-called superfoods of our time. But the hype surrounding these exotic foods doesn’t always match the evidence. So, in the interests of fairness, let’s take a look at the buzz versus the bottom line for this popular berry.

Junk-food tax needed to fight obesity: journal
A junk-food tax and consistent monitoring programs are some of the government actions needed to combat what has become an obesity epidemic in Canada, says a new editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Published Tuesday, the editorial also calls for banning certain foods and ingredients, regulating salt in foods and improving serving-size and nutrition labelling.

“Certain countries have actually implemented taxes up to 25% on sodas, chips, anything that has a content that would be anywhere from 10% to 25% above the daily required limit. If you look at the trends in cigarette consumption around the time that the first sales tax was implemented, you see there’s actually a dip in consumption of cigarettes. So one would assume that the trend would be similar to that.”