About a month ago, a bright and shiny new Pinkberry shop opened up on St. Mark’s, a Hipstered-out street that’s only a few blocks from where I work. The first time I tried the mystery confection, I wasn’t sold. It kinda tastes like cold yogurt, I thought. Cold yogurt…but not.

But the second time, after eating an entire medium cup filled with the “original” flavor (don’t call it vanilla, they get oddly pissed) and a few scoops of fruit, I thought, it kinda tastes like cold yogurt. Cold yogurt…but better!

Since then, I’ve been a regular customer at this low fat, low calorie chain. So regular, in fact, that I actually felt sad when the New York Times recently confirmed my suspicious that things which seem too good to be true — are.

Seems that even though Pinkberry totes itself as all natural, it really, really isn’t.

“The list [of ingrediants] includes at least five additives defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization as emulsifiers (propylene glycol esters, lactoglycerides, sodium acid pyrophosphate, mono- and diglycerides); four acidifiers (magnesium oxide, calcium fumarate, citric acid, sodium citrate); tocopherol, a natural preservative; and two ingredients — starch and maltodextrin — that were characterized as fillers by Dr. Gary A. Reineccius, a professor in the department of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota and an expert in food additives.”

Damn you, Pinkberry! Damn you for letting me think I was eating a natural, low calorie snack when what I was really doing was stuffing myself with low calorie chemicals that will most likely cause my liver to shrivel and heart to explode in like 8 years.

Why didn’t you just stay in LA?!

I have been watching my weight for as long as I can remember and am always on the lookout for new products and ideas that will make eating healthy a little bit easier. I love perusing the recipes on foodnetwork.com, learning about fun new products on hungrygirl.com and reading new food research anywhere I can. My years of research have taught me how to maintain a healthy lifestyle every day.

Not that I had a choice. When I was still in school, living a healthy lifestyle was impossible. From the drinking, to the partying, to the daily late night pizza runs; my body was begging for something green. And growing larger and more icky every day. I can’t even believe I made it out alive…and that my blood didn’t turn into some sort of vodka marinara sauce.

But that’s beside the point.

Today I was playing around on Yahoo and saw the headline: “Healthy Dining: Eating Healthy on the Go.” I immediately clicked it. Eating out is one of the hardest things for me; I never know what is going into my food and how to stop myself before downing a giant family-sized portion. I was so excited to read some real tips that would help me make better choices at restaurants.

And then I read it. Read More »

Health food is health food.

Health food is good for you. Health food will keep you slim. Right?

Well, not if you eat twice as much.

The Journal of Consumer Research recently released a study about the “obesity paradox”; a trend that shows the rise of both obesity and health food popularity in America.

Basically, the trend goes like this: when people see something that says ‘low fat’, they eat twice as much of it—or—they allow themselves higher calorie deserts or snacks after eating a ‘healthy’ meal.

This development makes perfect sense to me. Whenever I force myself to eat a salad for dinner (I mean, how are lettuce and tomatoes supposed to fill you up?), I’ll go straight for the ice cream afterwards. I’ll tell myself, “I ate real healthy for dinner! I can eat more of this than usual! And I won’t gain weight!”

Which is, of course, total bullsh*t.

Especially when most ‘low fat’, ‘low calorie’, and ‘low carb’ products aren’t always as ‘low’ as they claim to be, and often times have unhealthy hidden components.

Now, I’m no doctor, but I’ve read enough of these America is so freaking chubtastic! studies to hypothesize that our major issue as a nation is our tendency to over-eat. Gorging ourselves on bran muffins is still gorging ourselves. Read More »