Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD, Vice President, Clinical Development and Support:   Just in time for New Year’s resolutions, a new study in the prestigious Archives of Internal Medicine has reported on the relationship between our TV habits and weight (Otten JJ, et al. Arch Intern Med. 2009 Dec 14;169(22):2109-15). The average American adult watches 5 hours of TV per day. This is kind of astonishing when I think about all the people I know who watch very little (or no) TV, so to get that “averag... [More]

Jennifer Lovejoy, Vice President, Clinical Development and Support:   With all the focus on the health care reform debate, there has been startlingly little attention to the major cause of rising health care costs in America: obesity.  Our nation currently spends nearly $150 billion per year on costs related to obesity, and another several hundred billion dollars per year on diabetes and heart disease, which are closely linked to obesity and poor nutritional habits.  And yet, relatively... [More]

Jennifer Lovejoy, Vice President, Clinical Development and Support:   “Processed food is gross, Mom,” said my 7th grade daughter the other day. She was prompted to make this statement by a book for kids called Chew on This by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson. (Yes, she checked this book out of the library completely on her own without any maternal pressure!) Schlosser, who also wrote the book Fast Food Nation for adults, does a good job in making the scary side of fast food and process... [More]

Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD, Vice President, Clinical Development and Support:   There’s been a lot of talk lately about a new study conducted by researchers at Louisiana State University that showed that increasing exercise doesn’t cause weight loss. In fact, people who exercised the most in this study were actually more likely to gain weight than those who exercised least. Despite the buzz, the idea that exercise doesn’t help you lose weight is actually old news; there have been dozens of s... [More]

Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD, Vice President, Clinical Development and Support:   Recently, yet another study was released supporting the health benefits of chocolate. This time, researchers reported in the Journal of Internal Medicine that, in people who had previously had a heart attack, eating chocolate at least twice per week was associated with lower risk of dying of heart disease. Earlier research has shown that eating chocolate is associated with lower blood pressure, decreased risk of ... [More]

Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD, Vice President, Clinical Development and Support:   The issue of food and addiction has been getting a lot of attention lately following the publication of former FDA Commissioner David Kessler’s book, “The End of Overeating.” In his book, Dr. Kessler presents compelling evidence that sugar, fat and salt have addictive properties.  He refers to these foods as “hyper-palatable”- that is, they specifically stimulate our appetite to eat more of them.  And the appeti... [More]

Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD, Vice President, Clinical Development and Support:   The latest in a long list of reasons to avoid soft drinks and “super-sizing,” a recent report indicates that people who drink large amounts of cola (more than 2 liters per day) are at risk of low potassium, a medical condition called “hypokalemia.” Potassium performs many functions in the body and, as such, is normally tightly regulated. Our cells have been referred to as “little bags of potassium salts” and that... [More]

Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD, Vice President, Clinical Development and Support:   The new flu outbreak has everyone concerned, but besides washing your hands a lot, the best way to stay healthy is to make sure your immune system is strong.  It’s well known that lifestyle choices have a big effect on immunity, so now is a good time to re-evaluate your current habits. There are 3 key areas to look at: 1) Nutrition – If you are eating the Standard American Diet (“SAD”) full of whi... [More]

Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD, Executive Director, Weight & Nutrition Services:   My nutritionist friends are happy.  For years, they have been trying to tell people that the gut is the most important organ in the body for overall health.  The benefits of a healthy gastrointestinal (GI) system go well beyond better digestion, and include better immune function, reduced chronic inflammation (a risk for heart disease and diabetes), and even less fatigue and muscle aches in some people.  Now, the ... [More]

Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD, Executive Director, Weight and Nutrition Services:   Whether you are watching your waistline or trying to improve your overall health, many of us think about upgrading our eating habits at this time of year.  But as you are trying to cut your fat intake or watch the sugary carbs, be careful you don’t get fooled by false perceptions of how healthy a food is. Recently, the New York Times reported on research findings from a French marketing professor and a Cor... [More]