Don't Super Size Me!
My wife and a couple of my kids have been on a healthy-food focus (craze would be too strong a word) the past couple of months, while one of my other kids and I have been somewhat, shall we say, more passive about the topic.
Last night one of my healthy-food focused kids got me to watch the docu-drama "Super Size Me!" with her. Whew........eye-opening to say the least (and a bit disgusting at times).
I awoke this morning a bit more focused on healthy foods, something all of us can relate to this time of year right after Christmas and New Years, while resolutions are still a bit more than faded memories. The problem is that there is so much information out there you may not know where to start or how to filter the sites so as to best spend your time looking for dieting and nutritional information (that refrain sounds familiar, doesn't it?).
Healthratings.org lists the top 20 most popular sites for dieting information (ranked in order of popularity) and then rates them based on quality of information.
Bon Apetite!
Rob
Rob,
Beware of the websites recommended by Healthratings.org. On their homepage the websites are ranked by traffic and not by quality. Having consumer reports rate health information is making the topic of health a "product" rather than a lifestyle change. There are too many variables to address in "rating" health websites. Most are highly influenced by corporate greed and further contribute to public confusion. Your best bet is to evaluate the website by how many corporate sponsers they have. The more sponsers, the more tainted influence (kind of like what happens in research). I would recommend www.mercola.com as a start for health info that's reliable. Hope this was helpful.
Michael Jocson, PT, MS, OCS
www.jocsonhealth.com
Posted by: Michael Jocson, PT, MS, OCS | February 01, 2007 at 08:16 AM
Rob
The wellness center that I work in recommends multiple websites - here are a few: www.nutrition.gov, www.mypyramid.gov, and www.fatcalories.com. Fatcalories.com allows you to search your favorite fastfood restaurant; the menu options for the restaurant are displayed showing total calories, fat calories, sodium, etc. Have fun.
Posted by: Dan Pinto, PT, OCS | February 01, 2007 at 09:59 AM
Rob,
Check out this site from the Harvard School of Public Health. Its has plenty of evidence-based nutrition information.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/
Bill
Posted by: Bill Egan | February 01, 2007 at 06:24 PM
On the topic of Super Size Me, check out the Jan. 26 podcast episode at New Scientist. Some interesting new research.
http://www.newscientist.com/podcast.ns
Posted by: Jon Newman | February 01, 2007 at 09:35 PM
On the topic of evidence in nutrition research- I'd like to point everyone to the largest study of nutrition ever performed, the Cornell China Study. It's been called the "Grand Prix of epidemiological research" - and with good reason.
www.thechinastudy.com
If we don't trust our government to make the right decisions about Medicare and Physical Therapy, we might not want to trust them about what to eat, either.
http://www.nutritionadvocate.com/index.html
Posted by: Jason Silvernail | February 02, 2007 at 02:43 AM