PORTION CONTROL DIET-YET ANOTHER PLAN FOR WEIGHT REDUCTION!

Controlling body weight is a pressing problem these days when thousands of mouth watering food products are available in the market, most of them being rich in sugar and fat. As these foods are addictive in nature, once hooked on to them there is no way to escape unless one has will power and dedication to control the type and quantum of food consumed. The fact that weight increase is mostly determined by the amount of calories ingested through carbohydrates and fats, makes it all the more imperative to regulate calorie intake just to meet the every day needs. There are many diet plans like Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet etc being touted as effective for controlling body weight but there is no consensus that they work for every body and they are without any side effects. Here comes a new eating regime based plan that advocates controlling the portion of food consumed each day to avoid excess consumption. Here are some details of the "Plan"

"In the case of Lifesize — a portion-control diet system meant to be easy to follow thanks to plastic measuring devices for food groups like carbohydrates, meats and dairy — Mr. Kates brought dieting and nutrition expertise. After studying biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, he spent years running fitness clubs and advising clients, including celebrities, on their diets. Mr. Berkowitz, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, brought salesmanship. As a filmmaker who often had to scrape together budgets, he knew how to hustle for start-up capital and make a good pitch. Not that either man knew they would ever be partners based on that first meeting. Mr. Kates said that to lose weight, it didn't matter what you ate, — in fact, he insisted that Mr. Berkowitz not limit himself to grilled chicken and vegetables — but it was how much you ate. Mr. Berkowitz remained unconvinced, but took note of the portion sizes that Mr. Kates showed him with his hands. The next day, Mr. Berkowitz began to wonder if Mr. Kates might actually be right. "So I run out and I get clay," Mr. Berkowitz said. "According to his measurements, my wife and I make bowls." They took the bowls to Color Me Mine, a pottery studio, and fired them up. "I put a big 'M' under one bowl for meat. A big 'C' for carbs, and 'D' for dairy, because that's how they're divided. I started eating that way. My energy was up and the weight started falling off." He ultimately lost 46 pounds".

It is difficult to imagine that such a plan will work with people who consider eating what they want in quantities desired by them as a fundamental right that is sacrosanct! Recall the furor that is going on in New York when authorities there wanted to ban sale of large sized sugary beverages beyond the size 16 oz. The new diet plan suffers from the drawback that its success will depend largely on the self control on foods eaten by an individual and unless such control is evident, it will not work. Added to this it may pose logistical problems in segregating foods into carbohydrate rich, fat rich etc because levels of these nutrients vary enormously from product to product and country to country. Besides the volume based portion size may pose difficulties in deciding about the quantity to be consumed. Ultimately no "scheme" can succeed without the cooperation of those desirous of shedding their body weight sincerely.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

"FOOD" CALORIES VS "FUEL" CALORIES-CAN THE CONSUMER BE SENSITIZED?

Food industry has come a long way during the last one century and to day consumer has the wherewithal to understand fully the history and characteristics of food being purchased from the market. Food industry has been forced to be more transparent about the products offered by them and the mandatory labeling regulations provide detailed information about the contents based on which consumer can buy the requirements with great discretion. Information such as calories, saturated fat, trans fat, dietary fiber, sugar etc tells a lot about the health value of a product, though such developments did not had much impact on the obesity epidemic that is ravaging the population in many wealthy countries. Another dimension to labeling is the need for letting the consumer know about the energy efficiency of a food product during its journey from farm to the fork. This is an issue which is becoming critical with each passing day with the fossil fuel crunch facing humanity assuming dangerous proportions due to their non-renewable nature. The DECAL system of labeling which is becoming popular in some countries may help food industry to educate the consumer regarding the energy input that has gone to make and deliver the product at the retail shelves.

"Americans use more oil than people in any other developed country, about twice as much per capita, on average, as Britons. Indeed, our appetite for petroleum, like our fondness of fast foods, has spawned a kind of obesity epidemic, but one without conspicuous symptoms like high blood pressure and diabetes. And because we don't see how much energy goes into the products and services we purchase, we're shielded from knowing the full extent of our personal energy demands — and unprepared when rising fuel prices increase the cost of everything else. This illusion stems, in part, from a measurement problem: while we expect and understand labels on our food products that quantify caloric, fat and nutrient content, we have no clear way of measuring the amount of energy it takes to make our products and propel our daily activities. There's no reason we can't have energy labels, too. For example, in Europe, Tesco, a supermarket chain, has begun a "carbon labeling" program for some 500 products, which displays the amount of energy consumed and greenhouse gases generated from their production, transportation and use. We could do the same thing here, with labels providing a product or service's "daily energy calories." Along with physical labels, imagine a smartphone app — we'll call it "Decal" for short — that would scan a product's bar code and report how much energy it took to produce that item. Like the nutritional data on the backs of food products, Decal would give consumers a user-friendly, universal measure that they could use to compare products or count their daily energy intake. For example, the app would enable an energy dieter to scan two otherwise identical loaves of bread and see which one required less energy to produce. Decal would have applications beyond the grocery-store shelf. By synchronizing with on board computers in cars, buses and trains, it could tell you how much energy you use during daily errands and commutes. It would sync to a smart energy meter in your home to evaluate how much power you're using and which appliances are the biggest guzzlers. And at the end of the day, the app would generate your total energy diet: a Decal "score" that would quantify how many total energy calories you've consumed. Once Decal took hold, the Department of Energy could recommend daily energy allowances, in the same way the Department of Agriculture recommends daily intakes of different nutrients. Experts could offer "diet" plans for energy-efficient lifestyles, and the Internal Revenue Service could offer tax rebates to families that achieve certain energy-calorie reductions".

Though conceptually it is a good idea, how far this will be effective at the field level remains to be seen. From the logistical point of view, adoption of DECAL by a few large companies may not make any impact because consumer will have no way to decide which products are better from energy expenditure angle when choices are limited. Added to this there is the issue of quality and how can the industry persuade the consumer to buy energy efficient products in preference to tastier ones which might have a higher DECAL value? If front of the pack labeling laws which have been in operation since last 2-3 decades did not persuade consumers to go for healthier foods as reflected by its lack of impact on the continuing obesity saga, will the DECAL score declaration help in moderating fossil fuel consumption? No one can be sure.

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

MAKING THE FOOD MORE "TRANSPARENT"-THE NEW APPROACH

"Consumer is the king", an oft repeated slogan of the industry, seems to be at work again when the US FDA bowed to the pressure from the consumer protection organizations in making it mandatory for restaurant chains to display calorie count of foods served by them. So far compulsory label declaration for nutrients was restricted only to packaged foods and beverages which obviously does provide a conscious consumer with discretionary power to select most nutritious food and avoid so called "bad" foods. Here is a take on the latest move in that country and its repercussions.

"Americans now consume about one-third of their total calories on foods prepared outside the home," said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. "While consumers can find calorie and other nutrition information on most packaged foods, it's not generally available in restaurants or similar retail establishments. This proposal is aimed at giving consumers consistent and easy-to-understand nutrition information." Owners who operate 20 or more vending machines are also required to provide nutritional information for foods in the machine that do not carry it on their packaging. Proponents of these requirements are hopeful that posted nutrition information will make consumers more aware of what's in the food they're ordering. "Trying to find the healthy options when dining out can be more difficult than you think - even a salad can be loaded with hidden fat and sodium. In the same way that nutrition labels on packaged foods allow consumers to see exactly what they're eating and drinking, these calorie counts will empower Americans to make informed decisions when they eat away from home," said Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa in a statement. The new set of regulations will not apply to businesses such as bowling alleys and movie theaters, which serve food as a secondary service. Alcohol is also exempt from the requirements. Many commentators are disappointed by these exceptions.

It is interesting to note that the new law will apply only to chains owning more than 20 restaurants, obviously to avoid logistical hardship to small players with limited resources. The move is some what controversial since there are many exceptions to the rule, probably to accommodate pressures from lobbyists trying to protect their constituencies. Other wise does it make any sense to exempt movie theaters and similar entertainment centers where maximum "gorging" of food takes place? Also not understandable is the logic of declaring calories only while leaving out the most "dangerous" ingredient, the fat. Well one has to take this as a beginning and hopefully these anomalies will be sorted out as some experience is gained in the coming years after operationalizing the new rule.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com