This is the time of year when people are making resolutions about their eating and exercise habits - usually aimed at weight loss. There are some tragically wrong concepts floating around in popular culture - things like "cleansings" - along with diets that cause immediate weight loss, but may also be counterproductive to your overall health.
Looking at the literature and talking to experts one quickly comes to appreciate the complexity of the problem. Silver bullets are probably very rare and one keeps coming back to some basic fundamentals that we have known for a long time and, as a society, mostly ignore. Get lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, limit meat and full fat dairy. Don't overeat and get a lot of exercise and stay properly hydrated. Very simple and proven.
There are indulgences that, in moderation, don't seem to be bad for you. If you take in very little saturated fat, a small amount of dark chocolate is not a terrible thing nutritionally. I tend to take in less than 10 grams of saturated fat a day not counting chocolate, so I don't worry about the load from an ounce of a fine piece of chocolate a day - another 7 grams or so. This gives me an excuse to concentrate on the good stuff - really wonderful chocolate like the product from the artisans at Mast Brothers and other fantastic shops along with the occasional truffle.
But to the point of nutrition research being difficult and the trigger for this point. The Science Talk podcast from Scientific American had an interview with Hagen Schroeter, director of fundamental health and nutrition research at Mars, Inc. It is different from what you might expect from a food company and I strongly recommend it as an introduction to understanding a bit about nutrition research. If you don't subscribe to the SciAm podcast an mp3 version is here - well worth the half hour of your time.. And if you haven't had a bit of chocolate today, feel free to indulge.
I love the Mast brothers' beards!
Posted by: Niki Fallen | 01/08/2012 at 12:31 PM