Diet myths can be scary stuff. They make gluten appear sinister, give fruits and vegetables a dark side, and grant extra powers to calories eaten after nightfall. Because there's nothing worse than the fear of food — except maybe the fear of good food — let's shed light on a few of the more frightening myths around: Gluten-free is the key to a better body: “Gluten free is the way to be,” tweeted Kim Kardashian, with — what else? — a provocative body shot. This after Miley Cyrus attributed her thinner frame of late to a gluten allergy and posted “... gluten is crapppp (sic) anyway.” Let's hope Kim and Miley's millions of Twitter followers use their heads. Gluten-free is a medically necessary way to ... Continue reading →
It's easy to fall prey to fashion magazine hype, especially with a radiant Jennifer Lopez gracing the cover of Vogue's “Shape” issue amid headlines holding the usual promises: “Your best body ever.” “Raise your metabolism.” “Get better curves.” “Age-proof your skin.” Let’s hope readers don’t buy everything they read. While Lopez talks about being comfortable in her own skin, another story in the April issue unsettles. In “Weight Watcher,” author Dara-Lynn Weiss writes about putting her 7 year old on a restrictive diet while admitting to her own 30-year battle with food and weight issues. In describing the tumultuous year of restricting her daughter's intake, Weiss says her child “constantly whined about being hungry and begged for food she couldn't have.” The backlash against Weiss ... Continue reading →