New Healthier Oils Coming To You

It looks like scientists have been hard at work.  The folks over at Dow AgroSciences have just announced that they have created the first ever saturated fat free sunflower oil.  This is not only great for just us as consumers using it around the house, but it would be FANTASTIC if companies started using it in their food processes thus eliminating a lot of the saturated fat in their products.  According the the press release:

Omega-9 Sunflower Oil is all natural and can support an all natural package claim, as the oil comes from NEXERA™ seeds which were developed by Dow AgroSciences through traditional plant-breeding. And because the oil has a very high level of  stability, many formulations will not require antioxidants, TBHQ or partial hydrogenation to achieve the desired shelf life allowing for a cleaner ingredient label.

 I say good job science!  If we can start creating better ingredients in a natural and healthy way we can improve ALL of our food offerings, even if it's processed.  All I want to know is when I can find this on my grocery shelves!

Get Spark*D!

The folks over at SparkPeople have rolled out a new program just for diabetics called Spark*D.  I think this is a great addition to their already comprehensive site.  I myself use SparkPeople to track and gain support from other users.  Now maybe I can get my husband, who has diabetes, on the site as well.  If anyone has used this, let me know what you think of it!

Comprehensive Fitness Tracking + Social Interaction

It seems fitness tracker RunKeeper is upping it's game.  Not only can you track your run via an app for your smart phone, but now you can implement other tracking devices and pull together your daily movements, heart rates, sleeping habits and more.  And what's even better is you can compare yourselves to your friends and other users.  I'm personally liking the FitBit which is about the size of your standard money clip.  It senses motion via a 3-D motion sensor and tracks your movements day and night...though I'm not sure how comfortable it would be to sleep with it clipped on, but I'd have to try it.  Granted, this is even MORE money we would have to spend, but it might be nice to have something tracking that for me...since I'm not the best at writing this down for myself.  It will definitely be great for anyone that loves graphs!

Vogue Italia Puts Three Plus-Size Models On June Cover

Huzzah!  This could be the start of something good!

(Although I'm extremely put off by the pose of the model on the right of the cover...)

The Complex System That Is Our Bodies

Another great article I found about how our bodies work and how to work with them in order to keep our weight and health in check.  I like that there are a few small changes you can take from the article that could potentially have a big impact on your weight.  I mostly want to show my husband the section about how the brain doesn't know the difference between walking in the mall while shopping or walking on a treadmill.  He laughed at me when I used to walk in place while watching TV.  I was still moving!

The Loopholes of Food Labeling

There is a great article I found on sparkpeople.com about the standards when it comes to labeling on food.  For instance, you can use the phrase "Made With Whole Grains" as long as there's about a pinch of whole grains somewhere in there.  We've all heard about things being misleading, but I think this is a tad ridiculous.  Read this to make healthier choices for yourself!

Choose My Plate

The new graphic replacing the USDA's pyramid has been revealed today along with a (new?) website, http://www.choosemyplate.gov/.  I really like the new look of the graphic.  It's simple to understand and visually appealing.  I browsed around the site and they also have some really useful tools like a food tracker, foodepedia and meal plans for the likes of preschoolers, moms to be and the general population.  Now, they don't give you recipes, but they do tell you how many cups/ounces/etc you should be getting of a particular food group each week.  This is based on your age, gender, height, weight and physical activity.  I will definitely be checking out the food plan for moms-to-be when I get pregnant.