New York residents were shocked this week by the new ads released by the New York City health department, equating drinking soda with drinking FAT. That’s right; straight up ooey, gooey, yellowey, lardy, fat. If it sounds disgusting, oh just you wait ’til you see the actual commercial. Check out the nausea-inducing, fat slurping ad below.
Yum yum yum, right? Eh no, absolutely disgusting; but think about this:
I’ll be interested to see how effective this ad campaign really ends up being, how long it will take for the cola companies to lobby hard enough to shut it down, and if the sales of regular sodas are actually affected.
If you saw this commercial on TV, would it make you think twice about reaching for your regular cola?
Whoah! Extreme title right? Well it was an extreme night! Better grab the popcorn because this is a really bigblog snack!
Friday night was date night with my fellow nutrition blogettes – Corinne, Janel, Jessica, and Elizabeth – and boy did we have an ambitious night planned. First, we played our own foodie version of “The View,” as we taste-tested vitaminwater’s entire line of the new vitaminwater10 flavors. After that, we jetted off to Watertown, MA, for a fun-filled evening at Red Lentil – my first dining experience at a 100% vegetarian and vegan restaurant.
A Serving-Size Surplus
Now, I have to be honest up front: historically, I have not been the biggest fan of vitaminwater. It may be jam packed with vitamins, minerals, herbals, wonderfuls, moonbeams, and sunshine (which you will pee out of your system in a matter of hours, by the way) – but it’s also jam packed with sugar! That sugar jacks each bottle’s caloric total up to a whopping 125 calories! Yeah, you heard me!
But, what’s that you say? You say the bottle claims it only has 50 calories? Eh eh, not so fast. This is where your smart label reading skills come into play. Check out the serving size – 2.5 servings!Tricky, huh? Now 125 calories isn’t much on occasion, but on a daily basis it probably means you’re going to have to kick out some other tasty indulgence to balance the scales. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather trade in a flavored water for a cookie any day.
Buyer beware, there are a lot of products out there that pull this trick, and many of them are those packages that appear to contain only one-portion:
Just another reason why you always want to flip over whatever product your honing in on to check out that little black & white box on the back.
vitaminwater10
vitaminwater is going for caloric redemption now, with their newest bev, vitaminwater10. This new draft in the vitaminwater line-up has significantly fewer calories than its evil alter ego, but wait! We can’t forget our new-found label reading skills just yet: don’t be fooled by the “10″ in the title; it has 10 calories per serving, but how many servings are there in one bottle do you think? You guessed it – 2.5!
So what will it take to burn off a whole bottle?
A 25 minute nap
25 minutes of channel surfing
25 minutes of online shopping
25 minutes of online dating
Brushing your teeth for 10 minutes
So while 25 calories for a sweetened beverage is a lot friendlier to your waistline (and leaves more room for that cookie later – yay!), the lesson is to always check those serving sizes so you don’t get carried away.
The folks at VitaminWater were nice enough to send me some of the new vitaminwater10 to test out on Healthy Blog Snack, so I rounded up my fellow faim femmes Nutrition Bloggers – Corinne, Janel, Jessica, and Elizabeth (from left to right in the video, plus me on the far right) – and we sat down for a good old-fashioned flavor face-off before dinner; check it out below!
*Note: We are in no way affiliated with vitaminwater, nor did they pay us to do this. We are just some foodie girls having a fun night on the town!*
Bottom Line
That said, it’s all about making choices and being aware of what you’re eating and drinking. I’m all for indulging in the occasional treat – cookies, brownies, cupcakes (I’m an Easy-Bake Oven girl at heart, can you tell?) – and I think flavored drinks have their place as well. But that is all vitaminwater10 should be in your food repertoire: a flavored beverage treat; it is not going » Read more: A Serving-Size Surplus, The vitaminwater10 Flavor Face-Off Video, and a Vegan Night Out!
The folks over at the International Food Information Council (IFIC) recently contacted me about doing a guest blog postfor Healthy Blog Snack on their latest webcast topic: “Understanding Fructose, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), and Sugars.” My response? What an honor!
The International Food Information Council does a ton of great work in the investigation of today’s hottest consumer food, nutrition, and health trends (see my post from earlier this year on some of their findings). They are dedicated to effectively communicating science-based information on health, food safety, and nutrition for the public good – right up my alley! Their new site has some wicked great info and, more importantly, is a highly credible source of nutrition and health information, which can be super hard to find today with all of the misinformation out there. So check out the site, and check out the summary of their report on High Fructose Corn Syrup below!
The Science of Sugars: A Dietitian’s Perspective
By Sarah Alligood, MPH, RD Manager, Nutrients, International Food Information Council
Here at the International Food Information Council (IFIC), one of the most common trends we see in nutrition is that consumers are confused about the sugars in their diets. All the time, we see people bombarded with messages about what they should or shouldn’t eat, and the science behind those messages is often lost.
With that in mind, we recently teamed up with the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) to hold a Web cast, “From Science to Communication: Understanding Fructose, HFCS, and Sugars.” The Web cast was designed to be for dietitians—by dietitians, to help clarify the confusion surrounding sugars that contain fructose.
It’s a very scientific discussion for dietitians, but there are some important take-aways that can help put the issue of fructose-containing sugars into perspective for anyone.
The Science on Fructose
Fructose is a simple sugar found in many foods, including fruit, honey, and some vegetables. Studies have shown that large amounts of pure fructose should be avoided because of negative effects on triglyceride and blood lipid levels. But it is important to keep in mind that much of the research that has been conducted regarding fructose and health has used abnormally large amounts of pure fructose. These findings may not be applicable to the average person’s diet because:
Fructose is rarely consumed in its pure form—it most always occurs combined with glucose whether in an apple, table sugar, or in high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
The average fructose intake among Americans is 9% of total calories, much lower than the levels that have been studied
What about High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)?
There have been many mixed messages about HFCS over the past couple of years, and much of the conflicting messaging has stemmed from a lack of distinction between pure fructose and HFCS. While study findings related to pure fructose have often been applied to HFCS, it is important to point out that they are not the same. Like table sugar, HFCS consists of two simple sugars – glucose and fructose. Table sugar is 50% glucose and 50% fructose. And of the two types of HFCS, one is 55% fructose/45% glucose and the other is 42% fructose/58% glucose. Adding to the issue is high fructose corn syrup’s name. HFCS is actually not high in fructose at all, but it was named as such because it is high in fructose compared to regular corn syrup, which is composed mainly of glucose. Given how complicated this topic is, it’s not surprising that some people are confused.
The Bottom Line
What it all boils down to for the consumer is that all added sugars—table sugar, concentrated juices, HFCS, honey, agave—contribute calories to the diet. Enjoying moderate amounts of any of these is not cause for alarm, but as with many ingredients, overdoing it can lead to excess calories and weight gain if not balanced. For more tips and tools on how to achieve a healthful, balanced diet and lifestyle, check out www.mypyramid.gov.
Alright McDonald’s – 1 point for you and your attempt at nutrition redemption…
Nutrition-happy McMoms are spending some quality time at the local McDonald’s in Manhattan, volunteering as supporters of the fact that fast food really CAN be healthy, AND kid friendly – it just takes making the right decisions.
Some of the suggested swaps the Moms had?
The Swap:
The Calorie Knock-Out:
Apple Dippers for French Fries
-195 calories
Water for Regular Coke
-150 calories
McNuggets for Cheeseburger
-110 calories
I’m not recommending you grab your rascal and run to the nearest MickeyD’s, but if you’re on the go and need to feed your youngster, it’s good to know that therearehealthy alternatives to the McGreasy and the McFatty out there.
P.S.On a side note, I think Burger King’s answer to the Apple Dippers – “Apple Fries” – is an absolutely GENIUSway to turn kids on to fruit – keep spreading the fruit love everyone!
Healthy Blog Snack is for all of you busy people out there who love food, nutrition, and health, but only have time for a bite or two at each sitting. It is the place to nibble on fun, food, fitness, and nutrition, as HBS serves up recipes, nutrition facts, fun food info, and food & nutrition news. - Happy Snacking!
Whoah! Extreme title right? Well it was an extreme night! Better grab the popcorn because this is a 
The folks over at the 
messaging has stemmed from a lack of distinction between pure fructose and HFCS. While study findings related to pure fructose have often been applied to HFCS, it is important to point out that they are not the same. Like table sugar, HFCS consists of two simple sugars – glucose and fructose. Table sugar is 50% glucose and 50% fructose. And of the two types of HFCS, one is 55% fructose/45% glucose and the other is 42% fructose/58% glucose. Adding to the issue is high fructose corn syrup’s name. HFCS is actually not high in fructose at all, but it was named as such because it is high in fructose compared to regular corn syrup, which is composed mainly of glucose. Given how complicated this topic is, it’s not surprising that some people are confused.
