Skinny Water? Fat Chance!- Well suprise suprise, the new water recently brought out by Bio-Synergy have had to admit that the claims made on their labelling are unsubstantiated and their product is not misleading because skinny water is “just a name”.
A skinny latte is so-called because it contains skimmed or semi skimmed milk, thus making it a low calorie version of the original, and for someone watching their calories, a healthier option to a latte.
So to have water, which has no calories anyway, being sold as ’skinny’, would give the impression to some people, that it was a diet aid, a claim the manufacturers have denied, stating that their product isn’t even sold alongside slimming aids.
The ingredients of skinny water include L-Carnitineand Chromium which the labelling says ‘reduces sugar cravings and improves the body’s ability to burn fat’.
Susan Jebb, of the Medical Research Council, said: “L-Carnitine and Chromium are widely advertised for being able to help you lose weight, but I have not seen one clinical study which proves this.”
She added: “The product also dresses up things we already know as scientific benefits. Like saying it has no added calories: why would you add calories to perfectly good water? And claiming it is a perfect way to re-hydrate. It’s water, of course it’s a good way to re-hydrate
Currently manufacturers are allowed to make unsupported claims, but the FSA have commented that this practise will soon be over as new EU strict regulations are being brought in to curb this practice.
Weight bias as prevalent as racial discrimination- As a black, overweight woman, i’m definitely never going to leave the house again, the statistics are against me, everybody hates me, wah!
Silliness aside, this research doesn’t tell me anything i didn’t already know, not that i think i have experienced weight bias, but the fact fat people may experience less life choices rings true. Fat people tend to self censor the opportunities they choose, because of what people might say or the fact they think they may get turned down because of their appearance.
The research was conducted by Rebecca Pulh at Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, asked participants to self report weight discrimination and then compared it to discrimination based on race and gender.
These results show the need to treat weight discrimination as a legitimate form of prejudice,” she said. “It is comparable to other characteristics like race or gender that already receive legal protection.”
Denying someone a job or an opportunity because they are overweight, in some situations is necessary however, for example being a police officer, a flight attendant or wanting to take part in a bungee jump, but banning fat people from your nightclub, because they don’t look nice, is fucked up.
And whilst i am on the topic of bad decisions, what is this new nasty trend of writing off any wrong do-ings as just ‘a moment of madness’, or a ‘error of judgement’, like it is some kind of administrative error. When these ‘moments of madness’ are explanations for affairs when your wife is dying of cancer, repeated criminal activity, for example stealing and crashing your girlfriend’s car whilst 2 times over the drinking limit or in the case of the fattist owner of the Havana nightclub, getting caught out, claiming a moment of justice was the cause, just doesn’t seem to cut it.
Anyhoo, back to fat news, apparently there is a new ‘radical’ diet, which works and isn’t in anyway extreme or weird. Well, ok, the last statement might be a lie.
The Alternative Day Fast Diet is quite self-explanatory and the benefits reaped are fast weight loss and a faster metabolism.
Nutritionist Catherine Saxelby said the ADF was similar to the diet of our “hunter-gatherer ancestors” who survived on an irregular and unpredictable food intake pattern of little food one day and a lot the next.
Studies conducted have supported claims that the diet can ‘increase life span’ however critics have commented the diet is impractical to follow long term.
In the few human studies carried out on ADF, subjects have often reported feeling tired, tetchy and hungry on the days they were required to fast. Critics suggest that those looking to lose weight do not need to subject themselves to such a harsh regimen.
Another interesting story i stumbled across is the link between childhood chronic ear infections and obesity. Research has been published showing that chronic ear infections can damage nerve endings which alter the sense of taste, leading to a preference in fatty foods, which we know leads to the slippy road called fatsville.
In the first of 5 studies presented at the American Psychological Association’s conference , the results suggested that those with a moderate to severe history of ear infections were 62% more likely to be obese.
