Health : Health Buzz: Restaurant Calorie Counts Often Ignored |
| Health Buzz: Restaurant Calorie Counts Often Ignored Posted: 27 Jul 2011 08:54 AM PDT Study: Many Fast-Food Customers Ignore Restaurant Calorie Counts Posting calorie counts on fast-food menus apparently does encourage healthier eating, but only for the one in six customers who pays attention to the information, new research suggests. On average, those who heed the counts order 106 fewer calories than those who ignore them, according to a study published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal. Researchers surveyed more than 8,000 people in New York City, where chain restaurants with at least 15 locations are legally required to display calorie information. Three major chains saw significant reductions in the number of calories each customer ordered. At McDonald's, for example, average meal calories dropped by 5.3 percent, compared with 14.4 percent at Au Bon Pain and 6.4 percent at Kentucky Fried Chicken. However, average calories increased by 17.8 percent at Subway, likely because of how heavily it promotes get-more-for-less deals, such as the $5 footlong sandwich. The findings suggest that if more fast-food customers paid attention to calorie counts, they could slim down, since slashing even 100 calories per meal makes a difference over time. "The next step has to be to get more people to look at the info," Marion Nestle, a professor at New York University's Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, told the Associated Press. Why an All-'Superfoods' Diet Is a Mistake We've all seen those lists of "superfoods"—certain fruits, nuts, and other foods that, advocates say, have health-boosting effects. But some people take those lists so seriously that they limit their food choices to what's on them. "They'll say, 'Every day I have Kashi with blueberries and almonds for breakfast, salmon on leafy greens with broccoli for lunch, and grilled chicken with sweet potato for dinner,'" says Mary Beth Augustine, a registered dietitian and senior integrative nutritionist for Beth Israel Continuum Center for Health and Healing in New York. The more educated they are and the more reading about health they've done, the more likely they are to strictly adhere to what they think is a perfect lineup of foods, she says. While that one-day menu is certainly healthful, getting into a rigid dietary routine isn't ideal, dieticians and nutrition scientists say. Many fruits and vegetables are chock full of nutrients. There are vitamins, minerals, and fiber, of course, but plants also have a host of special compounds they evolved to defend themselves from, for example, the sun's radiation, says Navindra Seeram, an assistant professor at the Bioactive Botanical Research Laboratory at the University of Rhode Island who studies the properties of berries. Those phytochemicals aren't essential for our own life and energy, but "research has shown that they may impart biological effects," says Seeram. (They're mostly studied for their beneficial effects, but some can have detrimental ones that we need to be aware of, such as grapefruit's interaction with some drugs.) [Read more: Why an All-'Superfoods' Diet Is a Mistake.]
Use These 8 Foods to Help You Lose Weight We all know the basic nutrition rules when it comes to safeguarding our health and losing weight. In the words of best-selling nutrition writer Michael Pollan, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Sounds simple, but if you're interested in maximizing the amount of nutrients you get, you may want to be a little choosy when selecting among various options in each food group. Some fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products stand out as nutritional superstars, according to the latest research. And they're also easy on the calorie count to help you shed pounds, fitness blogger Ryan Sullivan writes for U.S. News. Consider incorporating these foods into your daily meal plan: 1. Watermelon. It's not only delicious, but packs a wallop of antioxidants like vitamins A and C. It also contains lycopene, a plant chemical found in studies to lower your risk of cancer, heart disease and age-related vision loss due to macular degeneration. Just as gratifying: One cup of cubed watermelon contains less than 50 calories, not too damaging for your waistline. 2. Avocado. This extremely versatile fruit can be used in salads, sandwiches, and guacamole. Filled with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, avocado is a healthful alternative to mayonnaise and can help lower "bad" LDL cholesterol levels. Just watch your portions. One-quarter of a medium-sized avocado contains 65 calories, so you don't want to overdo it. [Read more: Use These 8 Foods to Help You Lose Weight.] This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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