Food

Dude, what were you thinking?

Submitted by Michael on Wed, 05/15/2013 - 09:54

If there ever was a sober voice in this world’s considerable madness around weight loss, it’s the National Weight Control Registry. Based in Rhode Island, it tracks more than 10,000 people who’ve been keeping an average of 70 pounds off for more than 6 years, and its purpose is to learn what helps these people keep it off. Read more »

Doctor, an addictions specialist, explains food addiction

Submitted by Michael on Tue, 05/14/2013 - 05:42

Here's a great rundown of food addiction as it interacts with, and sometimes substitutes for, addictions that most everyone acknowledges more easily. The writer is Dr. Vera Tarman, medical director of a Toronto treatment center.

What we can glean from the Christie lap-band story

Submitted by Michael on Wed, 05/08/2013 - 14:57

I'm not exactly sure why, but I feel it's part of my portfolio at least to acknowledge yesterday's story that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had "secret" lap-band surgery. This is what I got: Read more »

"Please don't deny my experience"

Submitted by Michael on Wed, 05/08/2013 - 07:24

If you've visited here before, you may have read this recent post in which I reacted to a Ragen Chastain post the deployed some of the same illogic that Big Food uses to undercut its foes. Read more »

Assaults on the innocence of children — but at least it's only for money

Submitted by Michael on Fri, 05/03/2013 - 10:39

One of the greatest harbors for sanctimony is when something is “for the children.” Children are the future, you know.

It’s not that I object to child protection as a motivation. I have a child, and I take seriously my role as one of his caregivers, guides, and educators. It’s going to take a lot more than me to care for, guide, and educate him, but it has to start with my wife and I.

What I object to, other than rank sanctimony of any kind, is how horribly unevenly “child protection” is defined. Read more »

Cookies are still cookies, no matter what you say about them

Submitted by Michael on Thu, 05/02/2013 - 17:56

Mom instructed me that if you can’t say anything nice, to not say anything at all. But at least one corollary just doesn’t hold up, as exemplified by an ad for cookies that Dr. Yoni Freedhoff highlighted on his blog. Read more »

Taco Bell peddles crap, as usual

Submitted by Michael on Wed, 05/01/2013 - 17:46

When I saw the tweet a few mornings ago that Taco Bell would offer healthier fare, I RT’ed in a knee-jerk way, celebrating it and even claiming it as progress against the flood of food-like substances.

In a window-dressing sort of way, it was progress. Taco Bell puts sugar in its meat and is the contemptible promoter of “fourth meal,” so even if they're only flapping their gums about healthy food, it acknowledges that not everyone wants to eat total crap. Read more »

Against obesity, not obese people

Submitted by Michael on Tue, 04/30/2013 - 08:59

I used to skewer the brazen flaks at the Center for Consumer Freedom a lot more than I do now — or perhaps I just think that's true because of all the times I feel moved to expose their flabby logic, and then allow my cooler self to prevail. How many times can I link to an organ I want to disappear before I realize I'm making them more visible? Read more »

Front-of-package labeling: Barely worth the bother

Submitted by Michael on Mon, 04/29/2013 - 17:36

Friday, I argued against soda-tax proposals because I don’t see how proponents could win a high-enough tax to affect consumer behavior, which should be their only justification. And while weaker versions that were doomed to failure were being tried, industry would use them as justification to not try other measures. Read more »

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