SHAKE, SHAKE… BUSTED

I came across an interesting article in NUTRA Ingredients-USA.com (November 27, 2012 edition) the other day.

You’ve probably seen the Sensa ads. You just shake these “magic” crystals on your food and the pounds melt away. And, by the way, it’s not salads they are shaking the crystals on. It’s pizza, hamburgers, French fries and the like. More »

THE SWINE FLU IS COMING!

We are again hearing reports of a possible swine flu pandemic. At this point several cases of swine flu have been reported. The individuals who came down with swine flu all had direct contact with pigs, and all of the cases have been mild so far.

However, we are being urged to get swine flu shots, and some of you have been asking my opinion. With that in mind, I am repeating the column I wrote several years ago at the height of the last swine flu epidemic.

“The swine flu vaccine will be available soon and many of you are asking me three questions: More »

BAD NEWS ABOUT SPORTS NUTRITION SUPPLEMENTS

By Dr. Steven Chaney

Just in time for the Olympics – the bad news about sports nutrition supplements.

First came an article in the July 18th edition of the British Medical Journal (Cohen, BMJ, doi: 10.1136/bmj. ed737, 2012) saying that most sports nutrition products have little or no scientific backing.

And they named two of the biggest names in the industry, Pepsi-Cola (manufacturer of Gatorade) and GlaxoSmithKline (manufacturer of Lucozade Sport) as marketing products with little scientific backing.

So how was this study conducted? More »

SUGAR, SUGAR EVERYWHERE!

It’s no secret that Americans eat too much sugar. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 100 calories/day of added sugar for women and 150 for men. And one recent study concluded that 78% of women and 67% of men consume too much sugar every day (J. Nutr, 140: 1832, 2010). But the real question is which matters more – the type of sugar or the type of food? The answer is both – but let me explain. Let’s start with the type of foods. More »

NONE OF US ARE PERFECT

Dr. Steven Chaney

Today’s TIP has nothing directly to do with nutrition or health. I will be talking about the genetic makeup of the human genome. More »

OMEGA 3′s: THE WRONG QUESTION

Dr. Steven Chaney

I was somewhat surprised recently to see headlines proclaiming that omega-3 fatty acids do not reduce risk of heart attacks and strokes in high-risk patients. More »

HOW MUCH VITAMIN D?

Dr. Steven Chaney

You’ve seen the blogs and headlines. It seems like everyone is warning us about the dangers of vitamin D deficiency. And some experts make it sound like it’s almost impossible to get too much vitamin D. More »

DOES YOUR DIETITIAN USE SUPPLEMENTS?

Dr. Steven Chaney

Many people that I talk to assume that dietitians do not use or recommend food supplements. More »

THE PERFECT CALCIUM SUPPLEMENT

Some of you have been asking me about the latest headlines warning that calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart attacks.

These headlines were based on an European study that followed 24,000 Europeans aged 34-64 from 1994-1998 and 2005-2009 (Li et al, Heart, 98: 920-925, 2012). More »