"Guess the carbs" game!

This is a game for diabetes educators (and anybody else who has some extra time on their hands)!
Try to guess how many net carbohydrates are in the following popular fast food items- no cheating!
The one who can guess most accurately will win… nothing. But will have the satisfaction of knowing that they know their carb content!

Answers will be posted Friday.

*Bonus points if you can guess how many calories each food item has!

Tim Hortons
Wheat n’ Honey bagel
Chocolate chip muffin
Low fat cranberry muffin
Chocolate glazed donut

Starbucks
Grande café mocha, no whip
Grande peppermint white chocolate mocha, no whip
White chocolate blueberry scone

McDonald’s
Large fries
Large Coke
10 chicken McNuggets with BBQ sauce

Hot fudge sundae

Beef riots in South Korea

Large rallies with tens of thousands of demonstrators, the mobilization of 21 000 riot officers, candlelight vigils and the offer of resignation from the Prime Minister and the President’s entire cabinet, all because of beef?!

That’s what’s happening right now in South Korea.

Korea was once the third largest importer of US beef but in 2003 it imposed a ban on American beef as a result of mad cow disease being detected in American Cattle.

However, in April, President Lee cut a deal with Washington to lift the ban on importing US beef, prompting an uproar from the population that fears for their health. Sources do point to the fact that these demonstrations are also about President’s Lee’s leadership and policies. According to Tami Overby, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Seoul, “beef is a lightning rod for everyone who has a beef with President Lee".

So far, shipment of US beef into Korea has been suspended until a deal can be signed preventing cattle of over 30 months old from entering the country, in hopes of assuaging the population’s food safety fears. Both Seoul and Washington continue to insist U.S. beef is safe, but protesters say they can't trust the President, and there seems to be no end in sight to the demonstrations.


Sources:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1813235,00.html
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/06/10/korea-beef.html
http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/View/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0000915078&PAGE_CD=N0000&BLCK_NO=3&CMPT_CD=M0001&NEW_GB=

Calories provided by restaurants can be deceiving

Remember that Seinfeld episode when Kramer introduces Jerry and Elaine to delicious non-fat frozen yogourt that they soon start indulging in? After a few days they both start noticing that they’re gaining weight and, after having the yogourt sample analyzed, discover that it was in fact not fat-free as advertised! Well, this same plot is playing out in real life, as discovered by ABC2 news in Baltimore.

ABC2 news decided to verify the accuracy of the advertised calorie and fat content of low fat/low calorie menu items at the following popular American restaurants: Applebee’s, The Cheesecake Factory, Taco Bell, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Chili’s and On the Border Mexican Grill. Selected food items were sent to labs for analysis.

Click below for the full results. http://www.abc2news.com/sites/wmar/images/themenutest/RestaurantComparisonChart.pdf

If we focus only on calories, there are quite a few discrepancies. Of the 23 items analyzed and that had a calorie content advertised by the restaurant, 11, or 48%, had 50 or more calories than was advertised. 5 of these had more than 100 calories than advertised and 1 had more than 500 calories!

On the flipside, 4 menu items had less calories than advertised- In fact, 3 of them had around 200 calories less.

The 3 biggest offenders on the plus side were:

Macaroni Grill’s- Pollo Magro or “Skinny Chicken”. Macaroni Grill listed this item as having 500 calories but the lab calculated a whopping 522 more calories: 1022 calories. It should be noted, however, that the bread and butter that was served with this meal was included in the lab analysis whereas it was probably not included in the calories listed by the restaurant.

Chili’s Guiltless Salmon- Listed by the restaurant as having 480 calories but analyzed as having 664 calories; 184 calories more.

Taco Bell’s Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco- Listed as having 160 calories by the restaurant but really having 137 more calories at 297 calories, according to the lab analysis.

The same company owns Chili’s, Macaroni Grill and On the Border and they released a statement saying: “We apologize to our valued guests. As such, we will be working to reinforce these menu standards.”

Applebee’s- that partners with Weight Watchers, Taco Bell and The Cheesecake Factory stick by the accuracy of their menus. A Taco Bell representative pointed out that Federal Guidelines allow them to be 20% off in their numbers.

Having calories of the menu items available to restaurant patrons is great but this report points out the necessity of having standards to ensure validity of the analyses.

In the meantime, use the calories listed as a guide but use your judgment as well.

Sources:

http://www.abc2news.com/content/themenutest/default.aspx
http://youtube.com/watch?v=74TbCBoGbHw&feature=related

KFC goes vegan?

Kentucky Fried Chicken Canada has announced that they will introduce faux-chicken onto their menu in 461 of their stores.

Of course, deep-fried battered tofu in a bucket is not necessarily a healthy choice but it's an interesting move on the part of the company. One that's making PETA happy. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has decided to call off their 5 year battle with the company as a result of this decision and due to the fact that KFC Canada has agreed to purchase their chickens from slaughterhouses that gas their chickens- supposedly the least cruel killing method.

So far, KFC worldwide's parent company is refusing to make similar changes.

I probably won't be trying out their new fake chicken but it does offer more choice for vegetarians and for people thinking about trying it out. Let me know if you get a chance to try it once it comes out!

Thanks for sending me this story James!

Sources:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080604.wxlkfc04/BNStory/lifeFoodWine/home http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=d685f392-8d5d-4400-8b4c-6224b448401f

How to become as fat as a Sumo wrestler

Sumo wrestling is a way of life and requires a lifetime dedication. It can take up to 10 years to become a professional. Teenage boys join schools to learn the basics of Sumo and Sumo wrestling scouts choose the athletic ones with stocky builds. They won't choose the obese boys because that indicates a lack of discipline.

Sumo wrestlers are called rikishi.

A respectable rikishi weighs at least 200kg (440lbs) and up to 280 kg (616 lbs). There is no weight division so basically, the bigger you are, the better.

Steps to becoming as fat as a Sumo wrestler

Skip breakfast. Rikishis wake up at 4-5 am and will only have their first meal at midday. Not only does this slow down their metabolism encouraging fat storage, but they’re starving at this point and can eat 5-10 times the amount an average person will eat. Rikishis eat only 2 very large meals a day.

Eat very large amounts of food. One of the heaviest rikishis in history, at 285kg, could eat 10 bowls of stew*, 8 bowls of rice, 130 pieces sushi and 25 portions of barbecued beef at one sitting. Rikishis eats, on average, 10 000 calories a day.

*The traditional meal is a stew called chanko-nabe and is pictured above. It contains meat (fish, seafood, chicken, pork or beef) and is served with rice and vegetables.

Drink a lot of alcohol. Sumo wrestlers drink a lot of beer which contains a lot of calories and leads to weight gain.

Sleep after you eat. Sumo wrestlers sleep for 3-4 hours following their large meal. Perfect way to avoid burning off those calories.

If you do decide to follow these steps, be aware that this lifestyle is not without its risks. The average life expectancy of a rikishi is 65 years old, 10 years below that of the average Japanese male. Their risk of type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, blood pressure, heart attacks and gout is much higher than the average population's. Their heavy weight is a strain on the joints, increasing their risk of arthritis. Due to their high alcohol intake, they are more prone to liver problems.

Sources:

http://www.discoverychannelasia.com/sumo/become_a_sumo_wrestler/index.shtml
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4209021
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/29/10/1167

Get rid of your multivitamin and eat real food!

This always happens. I want to blog about something, I take too much time and, all of a sudden, my topic is in the news! This time, the topic is vitamin and mineral supplementation. It’s the cover story in this month’s Nutrition Action and Maclean’s magazine.

I’ve never been a fan of vitamin and mineral supplementation, despite the fact that nutrition experts like Dr. Walter Willett recommend a multivitamin a day for “health insurance”, as do many doctors. Well, it makes me happy that the use of a daily multivitamin is being questioned- finally!

According to Stats Canada, nearly half of Canadian adults have taken a multivitamin in the last month (as did more than one in three kids). The supplement industry is huge and works hard to convince you your diet is deficient.

According to the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, there is very, very little evidence that there is any benefit to taking a multivitamin. However, the evidence that there is harm to taking one is not consistent. A handful of studies have found that people taking a multivitamin have a slightly higher risk of cancer and other “negative human consequences”.

Food is abundant in North America and most of us get more than enough vitamins and minerals in our diet, with no risk of overdosing on them. As a result, if you’re healthy and eat a variety of foods, there’s no need to supplement your diet. In fact, you might be better off!

If you insist on taking a multivitamin, here are some of the nutrients you need to be aware of:

Folic acid: High intakes- 1000 mcg (1mg) or more- of folic acid has recently been linked to increased risk of colon and breast cancer. The daily recommended intake is 400 mcg. Women in their childbearing years should continue to take a multivitamin that contains 400 mcg folic acid daily to reduce the risk of birth defects. For men and post-menopausal women that insist on taking a multivitamin, choose one with less than 400 mcg folic acid. If your multivitamin has 400 mcg folic acid, don’t take it every day.

Selenium: The daily recommended intake of selenium is 55mcg/day. Some studies have shown that more than 200mcg selenium a day may increase the risk of skin cancer and diabetes. Choose a supplement with less than 100mcg.

Vitamin C: The daily recommendation for Vitamin C is 75mg for a woman and 90mg for a man (btw, 1 cup orange juice contains 128mg). 250-500mg saturates the body’s tissues so more than that is excreted. However, high doses of 1000mg or more can cause diarrhea, interfere with iron metabolism and contribute to kidney stones.

Vitamin A: The recommendation is 3000 IU a day. Too much retinol (vitamin A palmitate or acetate) can increase your risk of hip fractures, liver problems and birth defects. If you take a supplement, it shouldn’t contain more than 4000 IU retinol or more than 6000 IU beta-carotene.

Vitamin D: Vitamin D helps with the absorption of calcium and recent research has shown that it can help reduce the risk of cancer and diabetes. The current recommendation is 200IU per day but 400IU for people over the age of 50 and 600 IU for people over the age of 70. However, many experts recommend an intake of 1000IU a day for everyone (including the amount that comes from the sun and from food- fish and added in margarine, milk and cereal). Most multivitamins contain 400IU.

Vitamin E: 33IU/day is recommended daily. Research has shown that more than 400IU of vitamin E increased the risk of death. As a result, aim for less than 100IU a day.

Calcium: The recommendation is 1000mg a day for men and women below the age of 50 and 1200mg/day for women above 50. Men who consume more than 1500mg a day are at greater risk for prostate cancer so your multivitamin should contain less than 200mg.

Sources:

Liebman B, Schardt D, Cohen D et al. Multi Complex: Picking a multivitamin gets tricky. Nutrition Action Health Letter. Centre for Science in the Public Interest, June 2008.
Gulli C. How vitamins can be hazardous to your health. Maclean's, Apr 21 2008.
Nestle M. What to eat. NY: North Point Press. 2006