Mary Ireland discusses new data about risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Why are so many people trying to detox from sugar? People are finally discovering that the average American consumes at least 19 teaspoons a day of added sugar. “Added sugars”, unlike the natural sugars in fruits, vegetables, milk, and meats are added to foods to increase the sweetness. Each teaspoon (4 grams) of sugar has [...]

It seems that women admit to ‘craving,’ but that men use a different vocabulary for the same concept. Men are also less likely to talk about needs, yearning, or desire for food. Certainly all of us have different comfort foods; maybe men more frequently yearn for steak, pizza and chips; and women may more frequently [...]

Mary Ireland discusses new research on how exercise makes you healthier and can help in weight loss.

In this land of plenty, the greater majority of us have access to more calories (energy) than we need. Those extra calories add up to excess stored energy – fat; many are diligently struggling to recover from succumbing to the enticing holiday indiscretions that led to un-needed and unwanted stored energy. In short: ‘Oh my [...]

My post last week covered research showing that dieting alters hormones so that after the dieting stops, a person is hungrier and has a slower metabolism than before dieting. The subjects in the research were on an extreme low-calorie diet, which consisted of Optifast shakes and two cups of low-starch vegetables, totaling just 500 to [...]

The first time that I read the “Fat Trap,” an article in the New York Times, a picture of two scoops of chocolate ice cream drizzled with caramel appeared to the side on each of the eight pages of the article. It really made me angry. I thought how sad it was that potentially some [...]

Mary Ireland gives suggestions for creating a healthier lifestyle in 2012.

There are many not-so great things about getting older. But one thing is really great, the perspective gained from experiences with many holiday meals. Yesterday, was Christmas Day – About as perfect a Christmas Day as could be imagined. Today however, I had a few twinges of remorse – for over-eating. If you’ve spent as [...]

Since I wrote Enjoying Chocolate – A Spoonful of Reality about a year a half ago, there have been two new reviews – two meta-analysis studies finding links between cocoa consumption and cholesterol profile improvements.