by Melissa Diane Smith

It’s time to take action to end the epidemic of childhood obesity and it’s easier than you may think, first lady Michelle Obama said this week as she launched her “Let’s Move” campaign. Preventing and reversing weight problems in children in this country is vital for the health of kids who may for the first time lead shorter lives than their parents. But it’s also critical for the health of our country, which has a staggering $147 billion a year in weight-related medical bills.

Mrs. Obama knows firsthand that weight issues with kids can easily be reversed with changes in diet. Several years ago, Mrs. Obama was busy juggling a career and being a mother, and ended up cutting corners with food by ordering takeout and eating out more often. Doing that led to unintended weight gain in her girls and their pediatrician told Mrs. Obama that she needed to think more about nutrition. The Obamas got the message and made changes, particularly by eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, and the extra pounds quickly fell away.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

People who drink two or more sweetened soft drinks a week have an 87 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer, a particularly deadly form of cancer, according to a 14-year study of 60,000 people just published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

(Opinion) There are many positive signs that there is a growing movement of people trying to get healthy: More people are eating gluten free, more are buying organic foods, more are paying out of their own pockets for complimentary and alternative medical treatments, and more are growing their own food in their own gardens.

But amidst those encouraging trends, there are several key health and nutrition concepts that most people, including many who eat gluten free, are missing or have never even heard. Part of my mission for this site is to inform you about health information you don’t hear elsewhere. So, to provide food for thought for the new decade, here is my list of the top concepts people need to understand to protect their health in the next decade and beyond:

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by Melissa Diane Smith

Do you eat gluten free, but gain weight or end up feeling not well during the holiday season? If so, consider this: There’s a little-known secret to enjoying the holidays with health, energy and no weight gain: Eating against the grain. Preparing low-grain foods and even no-grain foods may be unknown to most people (even many people who eat gluten-free). But it is an overlooked strategy for making delicious holiday meals quicker, easier and with far less fuss.

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The list of hazards associated with high-fructose corn syrup continues to grow. The refined liquid sweetener found in soft drinks, candy and countless foods in our food supply has been implicated in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Earlier this year, mercury, a metal toxic to human health, was found in close to half of tested samples of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and nearly one-third of tested foods with HFCS in its top ingredients. (See the Nutrition News & Notes story on that.) Now new research shows that when HFCS is heated, it forms hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a chemical that can kill honey bees and is linked to DNA damage in humans.

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by Melissa Diane Smith

Are you exercising like crazy and still not losing excess weight? That may be because you’re following a strategy that doesn’t work.

Contrary to what we’ve been told the past few decades, exercise doesn’t help people lose weight. In fact, it can lead to weight gain. What we eat matters much more in shedding unwanted pounds than exercise, according to the August 17th TIME magazine cover story, “The Myth About Exercise.”

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Just a week before we heard about more food recalls and the continuing obesity crisis, the documentary “Food, Inc.” opened in the United States, warning us of those hazards and more from our current industrialized food system. The movie is now showing in select cities across the country. Readers of this blog already are in the know about many problems in our commercial food supply, but director Robert Kenner wanted to make a film that brought the subject to people who haven’t thought about the food they are eating and what we all can do about it.

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When the most widely read magazine in America asks, “Should doctors be writing prescriptions for arugula salad?,” you know that progress is being made in spreading the word that diet is key in protecting us against disease and reducing health care costs.

In “How America Can Eat Better,” which was published this Sunday, Parade magazine explained that new efforts are under way to get people to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables to prevent obesity, heart disease and diabetes. For example, Kaiser Permanente has helped coordinate farmers’ markets at more than 30 hospital locations. At one of those farmer’s markets, a 53-year-old man started buying lots of fresh vegetables eight months ago. By emphasizing vegetables in his diet, he has now lost 63 pounds.

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Last week Natural Products Expo West, the country’s largest natural, organic, and healthy products trade show, was marked by gluten-free products at virtually every turn and an astounding array of new products sweetened with agave nectar. The trends toward more gluten-free and agave-sweetened products both sound like positive developments, but consumers need to beware of the unadvertised pitfalls of these foods.

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On his second full day in office, President Barack Obama surprised members of the White House press corps by unexpectedly visiting their work area in the West Wing, saying hi and commenting on the lack of healthy snacks in the vending machines in that area.

After passing by vending machines that had soda, candy bars and chips, Obama suggested that we “might want to have healthier snacks,” according to TIME magazine.

So, what does the svelte president snack on? Mostly against-the-grain snacks, such as fruits and nuts. According to USA Today, Obama likes Planters Trail Mix: Nuts, Seeds and Raisins. He also drinks a lot of bottled water.

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