Yes, you're not imagining it when you look at that receipt from Whole Foods: It seems to be cheaper to eat a less healthful diet. Spanish researchers recently published a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health that showed that the more closely people adhered to a Mediterranean diet (associated with better health), the more money they spent on food. Those who adhered to the typical Western diet (associated with poorer measures of health) had "significantly lower daily costs," the researchers said.
I decided to conduct my own admittedly extremely unscientific experiment and see if the results seen in Spain also held true in my corner of Brooklyn, N.Y. So without looking at prices, I made two meal plans, each amounting to about 2,000 calories for the day. One drew from the list of foods that the researchers used to define the typical Western diet: red meat, processed meat, eggs, sauces, precooked foods, fast food, caloric soft drinks, whole-fat dairy, and potatoes. The other plan, matched to include about the same number of calories per meal, was based on the foods that define the Mediterranean eating pattern: olive oil, poultry, fish, low-fat dairy, legumes, fruits, and veggies. Only after I created the menus—which include a variety of foods but which, since I'm not a dietitian, I won't promise are nutritionally balanced—did I go out and get prices from the local Key Food grocery store, the nearby Trader Joe's, and my closest McDonald's. Here's how things stacked up, calorie- and cost-wise.
Why Fitness Pros are Criticizing 'The Biggest Loser'
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Over the weekend, I did a radio interview with WTOP in Washington, D.C., about last week's blog looking at why some fitness pros criticize NBC's The Biggest Loser. I talked about the comments on the post, which included complaints that the show gives a thoroughly unrealistic view of weight loss as well as the view that the public is smart enough to know that reality TV often bears no resemblance to reality. I was surprised to see, though, that many people took issue with the language of trainer Jillian Michaels (now a brand in her own right). "I have 4 kids ages 9, 7, 4, and 2 and I have to keep it muted just so they won't hear the bad stuff," says one commenter. Another notes, "These expletives are totally unnecessary and it give[s] NBC a black eye as far as being an inspirational, family-friendly show. If this kind of behavior is not edited out of the show—I will cease to watch it!"
They aren't the only ones counting the "F" bombs. Trainer/coach/writer Tom Venuto recently blogged about the show, listing what he sees as its pros and cons. He was shocked by Jillian's profanities but also conceded it makes for good TV. Among his other criticisms: Because the show rewards weight loss rather than body fat loss, it encourages "gaming" the final weigh-in with questionable techniques like colonics and intentionally becoming dehydrated. Ew.
Television viewers go absolutely gaga over The Biggest Loser, the NBC reality show that takes obese, out-of-shape people away from their regular lives and puts them on a punishing full-time fitness and diet regimen aimed at stripping them of pounds. The finalist who loses the biggest percentage of his or her starting weight is the winner. (Most people already know this; I'm more of a Top Chef kind of girl, so the details of the show were new to me.) But some fitness pros cringe when they watch the show, says a new article published in the September issue of IDEA Fitness Journal, the publication for members of the IDEA Health and Fitness Association, a professional association for the fitness and wellness industry. They worry that it gives people the wrong idea of what they need to do to lose weight and get fit.
The article, by fitness pro and writer Amanda Vogel, is available only to IDEA members, but here's the gist of her piece:
Senior Writer Katherine Hobson writes about keeping your body fit and your diet healthy—and what those phrases actually mean, according to science. A longtime endurance athlete, she enjoys both training and Nutella in moderation. Ask her your burning exercise and nutrition questions at onfitness@usnews.com. Follow Katherine on Twitter at twitter.com/katherinehobson.
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