Watch: The Skinny On Diet Disasters

Watch Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent talk about diet disasters on ABC's GMA Now.

For the full segment, go here.

Comments

[InformedSources]

Why do you take such a dismissive atttitude toward yogurt and the probiotic bacteria they contain? Many nutrition authorities agree that the probiotic organisms in natural yogurt are beneficial to digestion and general health. They prescribe probiotic foods and supplements for their patients, especially in cases where intestinal bacteria have been compromised by antibiotics, radiation treatments, surgery, or infection. Furthermore, fermented foods containing probiotic organisms have been consumed for centuries for their health-enhancing and appetite-stimulating properties.

Yet on this TV show and elsewhere you speak about the probiotics in yogurt as if they were something unwanted. The fact is that these bacteria are already living in your gut, and you need them in order to survive! They have names like lactobacillus bifidus and lactobacillus acidophilus. The question to ask is, does one have an adequate, healthy population of these necessary bacteria in one's intestines, or does one have an overgrowth of potentially disease-causing organisms like e. coli and yeast? Many knowledgable practitioners believe that yogurt and other probiotic foods and supplements can help to maintain this essential balance, thereby restoring or improving your health.

For further reading: Google intestinal microflora, commensural bacteria, probiotics.

[michaelescher]

Not one word about mayonnaise.

Congratulations.

[sib]

Mayonnaise is a good thing. It's very high on vitamin K.

[Freeday]

The key is what it has always been. Eat food. Don't eat crap.

It's not all that complicated living in Europe, but everytime I'm stateside I'm bombarded by tasty goodness in a tiny package.

The trick is to cook at home and bring leftovers for lunch. It's the only way you'll really know what you're putting into our body, and even then it's still a lot of guess work. The more crap I've cut back, the more I notice the stuff infiltrating my diet.

Fresh organic veggies, legumes and homemade baked goods. You feel better and you stay pretty slender too.

[sib]

Cook your own meal that's the best thing. You can have the leftovers for lunch. Hydrogenated oil and high fructose corn syrup are EVIL, just get away from them. I always keep the real ingredients in my kitchen real sugar not sweetners, real butter not margarine. Eating small portions throughout the day keeps the blood sugar balanced and makes you feel more energetic.

[rini]

Well, the food industry sells out crap and constantly tempts us.

Then they sell us diet food and diet books.

[NoSillyName]

Just watched the video. Although you have a couple of good tips, I disagree with your assessment of several foods you disparage.

Your major point should have been this:

Tell people to READ THE INGREDIENT LIST!!!!

There are many products available the DO NOT contain High Fructose Corn Syrup.

KASHI products are one example. Their bars, crunchy & chewy, don't have HFCS. All varieties contain seven whole grains, are about 140 calories, six or seven grams of protein, four grams of fiber, nothing artificial and they are DELICIOUS. All of their cereals, cookies, crackers are all wonderful and healthful.

Not all GRANOLA contains HFCS or tons of sugar.

PLAIN unflavored YOGURT is not full of anything. Add your own fruit.

You two have the access to the media. I think you can do better to educate people about nutrition. JMO.

[InformedSources]

Good stuff. You got your highest principle across very nicely. Truly.

[MalloMel]

Does anyone know why, all of a sudden, we are getting very fat and even obese? I can recall that when I was a kid, there were very few fat people. I'm sure that with all the scientists in the world, someone knows what's going on, and that they are not being heard for some reason. This should be looked at as a tragedy, but no one is saying anything. What's going on? Does anyone on here know?

[vickylee]

Michael Pollan does a great job of explaining how our diets got to where they are in IN DEFENSE OF FOOD. Key words: industrialization and capitalism. He also gives great advice on how to avoid over-processed, degraded food, i.e. the "edible foodlike substances" that line grocer store shelves.

[InformedSources]

Some scientists think it has a lot to do with the quality of the fats we eat. Check out writings of Mary Enig--the scientist who blew the whistle on trans fats--and Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions cookbook for some scientifically creditable ideas.

[InformedSources]

Fats are good!

[rini]

It's very simple. It's our environment.

More access to high calorie food. Same appetite as our ancestors = more obesity.

Diets don't work because no one can live their entire life on them. The body thinks it is starving if you lose any weight. Even if you are still obese. No one can live their life and diet at the same time for more than a few weeks.

You have to change your set point by gradually changing your lifestyle by avoiding certain foods entirely until they don't seem like an option anymore and exercising. Even then, it is tough.r

I'm glad I'm genetically thin. Even so, I have to exercise and pay some attention to what I eat in order to stay at my healthiest.

The junk food industry affects everyone. The diet industry takes advantage. I don't think it's all about an unrealistic body image. Why should people accept being unhealthy?

There should be some regulation. Junk food shouldn't be sold absolutely everywhere, even at the counter where people wait for their diabetes medication.

[wm1066]

I think its the corn syrup that seems to be in every sweet food we have.
That is an ingrediant that was not in alot of foods twenty years ago.
Sugar yes, corn syrup no, and they react differantly in differant people.
Ultra refined grain products might not be good for people.
Diabetes was not known in paleolithic diets, it only showed up after humans started to eat wheat.
(but I don't advocate going back to a grain free diet, our bodies have evolved to need some grain products, just not the really refined corn products.)

[puffhost]

Portion sizes are going off the charts. 20 oz cokes served to kids, supersized meals, big grab chips, etc is one side of the equation. The other is decline in activity: more video games, internet, 500 channels, and lower PE standards in school translate into less activity. Combine the two and you have a sharp rise in obesity.