McDonald's cult favorite sandwich, the McRib, has made multiple appearances over the years and it's back for another visit.

The McRib sandwich has nothing to do with ribs. It's a boneless pork patty shaped into a rib slab and festooned with pickles, onions and barbecue sauce on a bun. The sandwich has been on the McDonald's menu sporadically since 1981.

McDonald's offers the sandwich for a limited time in select restaurants, and this publicity stunt has gained the McRib an addicted following. The elusiveness of the sandwich has created fans who drive for miles to stockpile the sandwiches, and a "McRib" locator website has even been created to help McRib lovers see where the sandwich will appear next. There has even been a "Bring back the McRib" petition and a parody of the sandwich appeared in an episode of The Simpsons and King of Queens.

Now, McDonald's has announced that all restaurants will be offering the McRib for a short rotation beginning Nov 2. Appearing for only six weeks, the McRib sandwich will be sold for $1.99 . The 500 calorie sandwich contains 26 grams of fat and 980 mgs of sodium.

McDonald's reports that they sold more than 60 million McRib sandwiches last year.

Reprinted from Dietsinreview

Models Pose as before and after

A number of weight-loss scams have hired naturally thin models to portray the "after" results of their diets, but usually companies would like you to think that the "before" and "after" pictures are of the same person. The Kimkins diet notoriously fabricated not only before and after images, but testimonials as well.

The Estonian weight-loss clinic VIP Medicum isn't concerned with authenticity in their recent campaign. They've hired two different women, one slim and one plump, to pose at the "before" and "after" examples of their weight-loss program. The two women are sent out to give away VIP Medicum pamphlets at events. The concept was created by ambient ad specialists at van der Buzz.

While the models are obviously an illustration rather than a literal demonstration, there's been a public outcry on behalf of the "Before" model. Many argue that this is an offensive abuse of a plus-size model.

Reprinted from Dietsinreview

Think TV commercials are irrelevant in an age of internet, DVR and Netflix instant? Think again. The Television Bureau of Canada (TVB) set out to demonstrate that TV ads can still sell. They chose broccoli as the subject of their ad campaign, but the real product they're promoting is TV commercials themselves.

The quirky commercials promote the health benefits of broccoli, dubbing it "the miracle food." According to the TVB, the campaign attracted 17,000 fans on Facebook and inspired 15 YouTube spoofs. But the real proof of the campaign's success is in the eight percent increase in broccoli sales, compared with the previous year. Thirteen percent of Canadian shoppers said that they purchased at least one additional bunch of broccoli during the campaign period. Not only did the campaign prove a point about TV, it also did a social good by promoting a healthy food.

"We were so frustrated by these repeated misconstrued headlines talking about the death of television," said Theresa Treutler, president and CEO of the TVC. "We believe that this case study will be helpful to marketers and their advertising agencies."

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Reprinted from Dietsinreview

Maybe I am out of the loop, but I did not realize that Chiptole Mexican Grill serves only freshly prepared and unprocessed food. Not only that, but they are turning their annual "Boo-rito" Halloween event into a fundraiser for Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution with a goal to raise $1,000,000!

In years past, those who came to a Chipotle Mexican Grill dressed as a burrito, taco, or taco salad would be treated with a free burrito. In honor of the Food Revolution, they are changing the deal just a little. The challenge this year is to dress as a "horrifying processed food product" and boo-ritos, bowls, salads, and tacos are just $2 to raise funds for the Food Revolution. There is also a costume contest with prizes up to $2,500!

Halloween can be a disaster for nutrition. Not only are kids stock-piling buckets of candy, but in the rush to get dressed and made up and get out the door, families often do not take the time to prepare a healthy dinner. This year, dinner can be at Chipotle Mexican Grill for healthy eats for a great cause.

Jamie and Steve Ellis, Chipotle's founders, have dressed up as the frightening chicken nugget and dipping sauce (with HFCS).

What frightening processed food item will you be?

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Reprinted from Dietsinreview

Many obese people don't see themselves as fat and in fact, they think they're healthy - or so says a new study.

Talk about being a "glass is half full" type of person. I wish I was like that!

The problem is this positive attitude doesn't dispel the fact that obese people are at a heightened risk of death, i.e. heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, etc.

Published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, scientists gauged body awareness of 2,056 men and women already participating in a study, surveying the individuals on their body perception.

Researchers asked participants to look at pictures and choose their ideal body size. People who picked figures that were the same or larger than their actual body size were classified as "misperceiving" their body size, but these people were also more likely to be happier.

However, worry warts who acknowledge they're fat and out of shape tend to be less happy. I'm willing to guess that only exacerbates the problem. For you Shaun of the Dead fans, that means "to make things worse."

Important factors were considered. Scientists found people with higher incomes and better education were no more likely to perceive their body weight accurately, than less educated people, or those with lower incomes.

And here's the problem with that. Those who misperceived their size, saw their health risks as the same as people who more accurately identified their body size; which is a problem. Obese people are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, type-2 diabetes, hypertension, and the list goes on and on.

All this reminds me of the scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral - no I don't like girly movies, I saw it in a film class in college - where the overweight, smoking, drinking, jovial guy drops dead from a heart attack after boozing, eating, and dancing at the wedding reception.

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I think this is a personality thing. If you're happy go lucky and have a fun social network, you spend less time being introspective and worrying about all the nitty-gritty. I'm a miserable, cynical, depressed mess, so I spend a ton of time worrying about my health, but one of my happier and - as coincidence may have it - overweight friends enjoys life more and doesn't sweat the small stuff. Well, the not so small stuff.

Image credit: The Sneeze 

In the uphill battle to fight obesity, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has petitioned the United States Department of Agriculture to ban the 1.7 million food stamp users from using them to buy soda, or other sugared drinks.

This move is part of series of interventions to curb obesity, which have included advertisements, stricter rules on food sold in schools, and a yet-to-be successful attempt to tax sugared drinks.

Herein lies a good concept in a stirred pot of political, ethical and health soup.

I'm going to come right out and say it: I like the idea. I like it a lot. In fact, I think food stamps should be used to buy vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs, dairy, nuts, seeds and canned goods - healthy foods. I also realize the stepping-on-eggshells nature of this kind of idea.

Look, this thing should be signed, sealed and delivered starting today, but in the "humor us all" department, let's take a look at some of the sticky issues that may arise with this sort of stipulation.

Ethically, is it fair to discriminate against those with food stamps? Who are we to tell them what they can and cannot buy?

Conversely, we all have a collective responsibility to ensure that our already-off-the-rails health care spending doesn't go even further into the abyss.

I don't see this as too "big brother" at all. The run-of-the-mill straw man argument here will be "how dare they tell people what they can and cannot eat or drink", but let's remember that regulating what people can spend their government assistance on is not the same as telling people what they can and cannot eat/drink.

As with many other similarly conceived ideas, the problems are deeply rooted, and the solution is multifaceted. While this is a great idea, there are bigger fish to fry - specifically corn subsidies that keep prices artificially low.

In the end I don't see this passing due to the industry-cozy relationship between big food and government food regulators. I'm sure they have the soda lobbyists working overtime to ensure that this idea never sees the light of day. Moreover, in 2004, the Agriculture Department denied a request by Minnesota to prevent food-stamp recipients from buying junk food.

What are your thoughts on this?   

It's been dubbed "the Twinkie diet" by the media: Mark Haub, a professor in Kansas State University's Department of Human Nutrition, has been surviving on junk food for the past month.

And, he's lost weight.

This might seem to fly in the face of conventional nutritional wisdom. After all, junk food results in weight gain, right?

Haub started the "Twinkie Diet" on 25th August. Since then, he's been eating mostly swiss cake rolls, blueberry muffins, cinnamon rolls, Peanut Butter Oreos, and hot dogs.

As well as the junk food, Haub has milk (for protein), and vegetables (for vitamins) with dinner.

By sticking to 1,800 calories a day - around 600-800 fewer than he'd need to maintain weight - Haub lost 10lbs in the first three weeks of his "diet".

It shouldn't come as such as surprise. After all, you could lose weight eating two candy bars a day: it's the calories-in verses calories-out which matter.

Haub isn't doing this because he's a junk-food addict - he admits missing salads and blue cheese. He's trying to open up debate about how people on a low income can't eat healthily (on the diet, his food costs have dropped to around $5/day):

It's unrealistic in some areas of society to expect that you can find fresh broccoli, tomatoes at a price that is affordable. If somebody can get their nutrients from a supplement and then they get their fuel from whatever is available, does it matter that they're not getting fruits and vegetables and whole grains? Is that okay?

Of course, there are big nutritional questions to be asked about a diet which relies so heavily on sugary, salty, processed products. Nutrition is about a lot more than calories. Plus, most folks on a junk food diet would find themselves so hungry (due to sugar crashes and lack of fiber) that they'd be hard-pressed to stick to a calorie restriction.

What do you think? Is Haub's experiment an important one in a world where processed, packaged foods are often much cheaper than fresh ones? Or is this a dangerous way to diet?

Reprinted from Diet-Blog

The Belly Fat Cure by Jorge Cruise has found its way to the New York Times Best Seller List, and is one of the latest diets hoping to appeal to the millions of people who struggle with obesity.

Jorge Cruise is also the author of the popular3 Hour Diet, which instructed dieters to eat every three hours to lose weight.

So, what does Cruise's new diet promote in order to help dieters lose belly fat and the promised "4 pounds a week"?

Belly Fat Cure Overview

The basic premise of Jorge Cruise's new diet is based on keeping insulin levels regulated in the body. The Belly Fat Cure states that high insulin levels cause the liver to turn sugar into fat, which ultimately gets stored in the belly.

If a dieter wishes to keep insulin levels within a healthy range he/she must get rid of simple sugars from the diet. Jorge says that The Belly Fat Cure isn't about counting calories, but about paying attention to what kind of calories are being consumed.

Jorge claims that eating less and exercising more doesn't work, and he guarantees if the dieter sticks to his plan "to the letter", he/she will lose 4 pounds a week, and results will be "almost instant".

Cruise offer's prospective dieters a free 7 day plan and promises to be with the dieter every step of the way.

Sample Belly Fat Meal Plan

Breakfast

• 2 or 3 eggs any style with one slice of whole grain toast with a pat of butter or cream cheese.
• A cup of coffee with cream or half and half; but not milk, its full of hidden sugar

Snack

• 1/4 cup of walnuts

Lunch

• Tuna or turkey with your favorite cheese and lettuce wrapped in a medium whole grain tortilla.
• A glass of unsweetened iced tea with lemon.

Snack

• 1 serving of string cheese

Dinner

• Salad with baby spinach, grilled chicken, crushed black pepper, and olive oil dressing.
• A side of either broccoli or zucchini, sauteed in butter and topped with melted mozzarella.

Dessert

• Decaf espresso with a dollop of heavy whipped cream sprinkled with cinnamon and sweetened with a packet of stevia.

Conclusions

While cutting out simple sugars isn't really anything new, and has been shown to be effective in helping people not only lose weight, but to have better health as well, many of Cruise's claims in The Belly Fat Cure aren't based on solid research, and are more or less marketing hyperbole.

Statements such as "results are almost instantly", "eating less exercising more doesn't work", as well as "flavoring each of your three main meals daily with a pinch of salt will also aid in digestion and accelerate your weight loss", are simply not factual.

I signed up for the 7 day sample plan, which was really just a ploy to get me on Cruise's mailing list. It contained very little information, apart from a couple days worth of menus that to me seemed to be quite high in saturated fat, and was designed for a 40 year old woman, which I am not.

In Cruises automated email he claims to be with me every step of the way, yet when I replied to his email with a question, it instantly bounced back saying email quota was exceeded.

Although Cruise is a pretty savvy marketer of his products, by getting attention from Oprah and Dr. Oz, his Belly Fat Cure teaches nothing new and actually encourages dieters to consume high amounts of saturated fat and salt. Not to mention the widely disproved notion that belly fat can be targeted by a certain diet or certain exercises.

Via Diet-Blog

To those who aren't aware: EVERYTHING is photoshopped. Every image you see on a magazine cover is not real.

"I don't think there's a single photograph in those (magazines) that's not retouched. They're all manipulated to hell." Hany Farid, Dartmouth College

A number of countries are beginning to discuss how they might legislate against the practice.

Can we really ask governments to stop what we as consumers (apparently) desire?

UK organizations are beginning to talk about what initiatives could be introduced to curb the practice of digital manipulation.

The magazines defend the practice: "Sometimes readers want hyper-reality in a way - they want to be taken out of their own situation." - Jill Wanless, an associate editor at Look Magazine.

Gabourey Sidibe on Elle - complete with wig and lightened skin. 
Image from movie Precious on right.

Australia have recently introduced voluntary guidelines for fashion and media industries. The code of conduct requires:

Disclosing when images have been retouched and refraining from enhancing photographs in a way that changes a person's body shape by, for example, lengthening their legs or trimming their waist or by removing freckles, lines and other distinguishing marks.

Photographers will not be putting their hands up to 'volunteer'

"Do politicians really so underestimate the populace that they think a warning ought to go on a fashion image?

"Maybe every woman who uses makeup ought to have a warning tattooed on her neck.

"The entertainment media, in general, traffic in fantasy. In that respect, the manipulation of images is a legitimate part of the job of entertainment producers." (source)

Can we really rely on 'voluntary' codes? Or even legislation? Do we as the consumer have a part to play here? Research (and anyone with eyes to see) shows that the size and shape of our bodies are increasingly at odds with media images.

See our exposé on Female Body Shape in the 20th Century if you need more convincing. Or even Wired's infographic on the decreasing size of playmate models.

Does anyone really know how 'hyper-reality' affects us?

Via Diet-Blog

One of the best ways to overcome a lack of motivation to exercise, is to find a healthy role model.

But forget Angelina Jolie, or Hugh Jackman, this is Carol Burns... and she's the real deal!

So, what's Carol's advice to the slackers amongst us?

Hey, get off your duff, and get over here and workout... it works for me!

This was Carol celebrating her 90th birthday at the Curves Gym. Yes, you read that right, she is 90 years old... wow!

I love Carol's ethos:

I'll grow old someday, just not today. So, I keep working out, so I don't have to.

Can you see yourself still working out when you're 90 years old?

 Reprinted from Diet-Blog