Showing posts with label Nutrition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nutrition. Show all posts

January 3, 2018

Life Cycles for Carnivores

I thought this was interesting-funny in terms of the the food life cycles for us carnivores:

For meat, it's:
"From farm to fork."

And for seafood, it's:
"From boat to throat."

Either way, we end up eating it. 

Just plain hungry or only the strong survive. 

Vegetarians and vegans can ignore this post. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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May 6, 2017

People Nutrition

This is an risque t-shirt this lady is wearing.

It's a big nutrition label. 

And she's wrapped in it!

I'm not sure if this is a gag or fashion statement or even a sexual thing.

Is she advertising that she's like the food?

What was really funny though is by her butt...it says 

"Moschino chocolate tastes good."

Maybe that should be a black box warning!

Uh, this is way too much information for me. ;-)

(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
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October 22, 2014

Walk Like A Chicken


So I've been reading about the use of virtual reality for the military veterans as a way to help the healing process of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

But this was something different yesterday in downtown D.C....


Using virtual reality to "See Life Through A Chicken's Eyes"--complements of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). 


So I go up and ask the attendant what this is all about. 


She says, "You can take the virtual reality tour and walk around a field as a chicken!"


She goes on, "Only we're having some trouble with the technology, so can you come back in 20 minutes?"


Uh, okay, but 2 things:


1. Yes, I do believe in ethical treatment for everyone (including animals), and no one should suffer where we can (and should) prevent it. 


2. I did just have some chicken (only Kosher, of course!) to eat just last week (and it was pretty good), and while I am curious to see the virutal reality, I can't make it back here in 20 minutes, but thank you!


Lesson: Treat all life compassionately, but I don't have to walk around as a chicken to see that! ;-)


(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

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July 27, 2014

The Calorie Count Cookie

So we were out with family at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant. 

And at the end of the meal, of course there were fortune cookies to be had.

As someone opened the cookie, and was about to plop it in her mouth, she said, "Ah, there goes another 100 calories!"

Then I thought for a moment, and said, "wouldn't it be great (for those of us watching our weight), if every food had an edible embedded chip and display that would flash the calorie count as you picked it up and were about to put it in your mouth. 

Rather than those esoteric calorie counts on the side of packages for G-d knows what serving sizes, you get a play-by-play count every time you reach, pick up, and are about to ingest the next big gulp.

I think having calorie counts tied to real portions and having these in your face in real time as you are eating could have a huge impact on portion size and weight control. 

It may not be sexy to see the calories in your face as you eat, but boy could it be healthy. ;-)

Copyright to Andy Blumenthal

(Source Photo: Me)
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September 1, 2012

Weighing the Odds


This was a very effective ad that I saw in the doctor's office for weight loss. 

Look at all the problems that excess weight causes.

And see how unattractive that big gut can be--no offense. 

While this week, research studies on monkeys were reported not to extend life span, I think we all know intuitively well that staying "trim and fit" is the way to go from a health perspective. 

There is a good saying that I plastered up a couple of years back that said "nothing tastes as good as thin feels!"

Many years ago, my cousin David was diagnosed with brain cancer. He tried all sorts of traditional medical treatments, and nothing much was working. After consulting some nutrition experts, his wife supported him in going on a macrobiotic diet, and this seemed to help him for some time.  Finally though David succumbed to the brain tumor after struggling about 10 years. 

This past week, a friend of mine, who has had some health problems recently, told me he was trying the vegan diet too for a couple of weeks, but already after a few days was touting how much better he was feeling. 

From my experience, the carbs and processed foods are the worst for us--and on top of it, completely addictive.  

When I am strong enough mentally, I really believe in Dr. Atkins high protein diet--although after a few days, you lose your appetite for good reason--it tastes, horrible.

With the odds against those carrying around a lot of extra pounds, we all need to keep fighting the good fight here--against the battle of the bulge. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

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August 15, 2012

That's The Last Straw

Our daughters and granddaughters are special. 

They deserve to be protected from sexual predators, such as those that spike drinks and take advantage of their unknowing victims. 

I was so pleased to learn about a new Anti-Date Rape Straw to help prevent this. 

The straw developed by Israeli inventors tests drinks for common date rape drugs. 

If the dangerous drugs are present, then the straw changes colors or becomes cloudy--providing a crucial early warning sign to those who might otherwise be drugged and sexually assaulted. 

We now have greater awareness of the prevalence of sexual abuse, especially by people we know and trust--such as dating partners, sports coaches, teachers, and even clergy--so we must remain ever vigilant.

We need to teach our daughters that they are beautiful and special and to protect themselves--and not to think that "it can't happen to me."

With these special straws, our daughters can be better prepared, aware, and hopefully safer.

I can see the potential growth and application of this technology to protecting government and private sector leaders, dignitaries, and other VIPs from potentially ingesting--intentionally- or accidentally-tainted food or drink. 

With a straw, eating utensil, or even toothpick like device that tests for the presence of dangerous pathogens and contaminants, we can provide a critical safeguard and prevent eating and drinking harmful elements. 

Potentially, these types of devices--maybe connected to an smartphone--could be used to provide other important measures and readings of food--such as ingredients, nutrition, and calories--of the actual servings we are about to eat.

This technology has incredible potential to help us not only eat safer, but also healthier. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

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June 3, 2011

Describing Meal Time

The USDA released their new dietary guidelines yesterday (2 June).

And while there is no surprise in the recommendations that we eat more fruits and vegetables; what was refreshing was the new imagery for conveying the information.

Gone is the Food Pyramid and in is the Food Plate.
This new visualization overall makes a lot more sense since:

1) As the Wall Street Journal stated today (3 June 2011), "People don't eat off a pyramid, they eat off a plate." In other words, this is something we can relate to at meal times.

2) The plate here is used like a pie chart to easily show what portion of our meals should come from each food category. For example, you can clearly see that fruits and veggies makes up a full half of the plate. (Boy, I'm sure there are a lot of smiling moms and dads out there today, saying I told you so!) Also the role of protein in a healthy diet is reaffirmed with almost a full quadrant itself.
I am not sure why this initiative, according to the WSJ, cost about $2.9 million and three years to accomplish, since the representation seems fairly straight forward (unless some of that went to modifying the nutritional guidelines themselves).

In any case, I think we can all be glad they got rid of the 2005 version of the food pyramid that "left many baffled" as to what they were trying to say.

Still even in this new visualization, there are confusing aspects, for example:

1) Greater than a Pie--The Dairy piece is separate and off to the right of the plate. I would imagine that this is supposed to represent something like a glass of milk, but it is odd in this picture, since it takes away from the pie chart presentation of the plate where theoretically all the food groups on the "pie plate" would add up to 100%. Here, however, the Dairy plate (or glass) is off to the side, so we have something like 120% total--confusing!

2) Missing Percentages--The actual recommended percentages are not noted in the diagram. This type of information had previously been provided in the 1992 Food Pyramid through the recommended servings. Where did they go? I would suggest they annotate the pie slices for each food group with the actual recommended percentages, so that we have the imagery of the slices, but also have a target number to go with. Helpful, if you are counting your calories (and food types) on a diet.

In short, information visualization can be as important as the information itself--with information, having quality data is critical or else you have "garbage in, garbage out." Similarly, with information visualization, you can take perfectly good information and portray it poorly and confuse the heck out of folks--in essence making the resulting information into potential garbage again.

This is why efforts such as the Choose MyPlate are important to help us communicate important information effectively to people, in this case so they can eat and live healthier lives.
I think the new Food Plate is generally effective at presenting the information and I support this effort wholly, but I'm still looking forward to version 3.1.

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