All Calories No Longer Equal at Weight Watchers, Cattlemen Fight Back, Pork Producers Change Slogan, and Harvard Says, “End the Low-Fat Myth”

“Calorie counting has become unhelpful,” according to David Kirchoff, president of Weight Watchers International. The company’s website has announced a change in their point system.
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The old plan allowed dieters to eat whatever they wanted as long as they kept portions under control using points based on calorie content.

The new PointsPlus system puts higher point values on fat and empty calories and gives lower points to foods that are high in protein or fiber, which make the body work harder to convert them into energy.  The point values went up for most high-carb foods, which are “more easily absorbed and turned into fat,” but fructose-laden fruit and all but the starchiest vegetables are assigned zero points and are now considered “free” foods. (Eat all the bananas you want and lose weight? Good luck with that. But at least they are no longer saying, “a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.”)

Read more here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2042344,00.html#ixzz1G7xXKEBT

Here’s an interesting announcement from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. It’s high time they quit apologizing and showed a little fight:
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Beef Industry Carves a Course; Cattlemen’s Group Promotes Red Meat, Trains Recruits to Win Over Consumers: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703842004576163243369084776.html?mod=dist_smartbrief&mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_6.
At the seventh annual World of Healthy Flavors Conference in Napa CA, Nutrition experts from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) told food industry leaders, “It’s time to end the low-fat myth.” (The conference is co-hosted by HSPH and the Culinary Institute of American.) Walter Willett and Dariush Mosaffarian of HSPH, along with Ron Krauss of Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, presented a panel called “Focus of Fat.” They told the audience to avoid the term “low fat,” since diets low in fat are often high in sodium and carbohydrates. Instead they encouraged chefs to cut out trans fats and focus on educating consumers about choosing healthful fats.

Dr. Krauss made it clear that his definition of “healthy fat” does not include saturated or animal fat, however, he added ” …even saturated fat is not so bad compared to refined carbohydrates and if we were to eliminate it from our diet we would also be eliminating many foods that are also rich in healthy fats, like fish, whose omega-3 fatty acids are vital to good health.”
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http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/coverage-in-the-media/time-to-stop-talking-about-low-fat-say-hsph-nutrition-experts/index.html

(C) 2011, Judy Barnes Baker: Carb Wars; Sugar is the New Fat

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Judy Barnes Baker

The working title for my first book was, “You’ll Never Know What You Are Missing.” It summed up my goal: to make eating for health synonymous with eating for pleasure. Once you discover the secret, you will find that the very best food for weight management, longevity, the treatment and prevention of disease, and over-all health and happiness is also the most sumptuous, satisfying, and indulgent way of eating the world has to offer. You are invited to the feast. Enjoy!
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Judy Barnes Baker
11 years ago

Sorry, I can't suggest one. Mine drives me crazy!

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Anonymous
11 years ago

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