Balance of Food

Florida fighting against high-fructose corn syrup

Two Miami-Dade County lawmakers want products with high-fructose corn syrup to be banned from school grounds. Thank you! Thank you!

As you can see in The Miami Herald, they see a link between high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and childhood obesity and diabetes.

"It's the crack of sweeteners," state Rep. Juan Zapata, a Miami Republican, told the newspaper. Zapata has filed a bill that would ban school districts from selling or using products containing HFCS. A Senate version has been filed by Sen. Gwen Margolis, (D-Bay Harbor Island).

To see politicians get it, especially in Florida, is a sign that people are starting to understand the dangers of HFCS.

I realize the American Diabetes Association has to do what it does, but I wish it would take a stronger stand on HFCS. In the article, Tuesdi Fenter, a spokeswoman for the American Diabetes Association, agrees. "We don't think that high-fructose corn syrup is the enemy," she said. "People can have anything they want as long as it's in moderation."

It is good to teach diabetics that nothing is bad in moderation, but it doesn't go after whether HFCS is playing a significant role. That the ADA may not want to get involved is its issue. But it really should rethink that, given the population it serves.

The U.S. is the only country to use HFCS. It's not just video games and questionable exercise programs.

The article also mentions studies, at the University of California/Davis and the University of Michigan, that have shown that fructose is more readily converted to fat by the liver, and increased the fat in the bloodstream in the form of triglycerides.

I found this sentence compelling: "Lawmakers also say that consuming products made with high-fructose corn syrup causes hunger and leads to overeating." I have been saying that for years.

Implementing the plan can prove to be challenging, given how many products carry HFCS. But it would be fun to see it happen. Aaron McGruder, you are not the only one.

Jennifer Aniston's Chicago dieting tips

Welcome Jennifer Aniston to Chicago. Reportedly, she is looking to relocate to the Windy City. In honor of that, Stephen Colbert volunteered a few dining tips on "The Colbert Report" for Aniston, based on the 11 years he says he lived in Chicago.

Right off the bat, he recommended the Francheezie at the Wiener's Circle at Clark and Wrightwood. Colbert describes the Francheezie as a Polish sausage sliced open and filled with cheddar cheese, wrapped in bacon, and then put into a deep fryer.

However, a "Wag of the Finger" goes to Colbert for his mistake in pointing out that Demon Dogs in under the Belmont "L" stop. No, Stephen, it's the Fullerton "L" stop. And it recently was torn down, which I didn't expect him to know. C'mon, Stephen. Saying Belmont is truthiness, not the truth.

Oh, and Jennifer, if you're reading this post, I would recommend the fries cooked in duck fat at Hot Doug's, in case you feel like you're a little thin.

Boondocks goes after high-fructose corn syrup

Readers of the blog know how I feel about high-fructose corn syrup. It was nice to hear it from someone else. Huey, through Aaron McGruder, is talking with Jasmine in the Season 1 finale of "The Boondocks" last night.

Jasmine refers to a half-bottle of Snapple. In response, Huey says to her, "So you just want to drink the white man's poison?"

"High-fructose corn syrup. Read about it. It'll kill you."

I love this cartoon.

Corned beef a sin?

I confess that even though I'm a recovering Catholic, and have Irish blood in me, this whole "can't we eat corned beef on Friday because it's St. Patrick's Day but it's Lent so we can't" matter confuses me.

Every time St. Patrick's Day falls on a Friday during Lent, we hear these sad stories from Irish Catholics. "I have to have corned beef on St. Patrick's Day, but it's Friday." Over 75 U.S. bishops reportedly have granted dispensations.

Italian Catholics have similar issues on St. Joseph's Day (March 19), but we don't hear much about that. True, corned beef is tied in stronger to the Irish than meatballs or prosciutto for Italians. But if Irish Catholics should get dispensations, so should Italian Catholics.

So I ask the Irish Catholics, "Are you more Irish or Catholic?" Which is more important?

The ideal solution for Irish Catholics is to stay up late on Friday and start eating corned beef at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. It still feels like St. Patrick's Day, but as far as God is concerned, it's Saturday.

Diet by losing sleep as well

This is for those who are taking Ambien and find they can't fit into their pajamas anymore: Sleep is important but not so much if you are "sleep eating."

Sleep eating is apparently one of the phenomenas associated with Ambien.

One woman apparently gained 100 pounds. Another woman in a full body cast sleepwalked and was found frying bacon and eggs, or eating a sandwich. Yet another sleepwalker downed a whole package of hamburger buns.

Since not everyone on Ambien is doing this, I am really curious what they find as to the reason. If people stress-eat to begin with, and can't sleep because they are stressed, perhaps they are carrying their stress to the sleep-eating.

These people aren't just having a light snack, so I think some of this is stress-eating, and whether awake or not, we can all relate to that.

Major burger hits the minors

Food tastes better at the ballpark, the saying goes. A variation of the Luther is coming to a minor-league ballpark in Southern Illinois near St. Louis.

The Gateway Grizzlies of Sauget, Illinois of the Frontier League have unveiled what they call "Baseball's Best Burger." The Luther copy is a hamburger with sharp cheddar cheese and two slices of bacon between a "bun" made of a sliced Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnut. According to a report on ESPN.com, the sandwich has 1,000 calories and 45 grams of fat.

"We have had the opportunity to bring in a new concession item for the past two seasons and each of them have been very successful," said Grizzlies general manager Tony Funderburg says the team hopes to sell 100 to 200 of them a night at $4.50 each.

The team has brought out high-calorie sandwiches in the past. In 2004, "Baseball’s Best Hotdog" was a 1/5 pound Farmland 8-inch All Beef Black Angus Hot Dog, topped with two strips of freshly cooked bacon, 1 oz. sautéed Onions, 1 oz. sautéed Sauerkraut and ½ oz. cheddar cheese sauce, on a fresh baked bun. In 2005, the "Swiss Brat" was a Landshire Bratwurst with a slice of Swiss cheese in the middle of it. The melted cheese was topped by 1 oz. of sautéed sauerkraut.

Sorry, folks. The sandwiches are only sold inside the stadium, so develop an interest in baseball and bring your appetite.

Weight gain could have been trouble for Kirby Puckett

I realize that if you aren't a baseball fan, you might not know who Kirby Puckett was. Puckett, a Hall of Fame player, died today at 45 from a massive stroke.

Puckett stood 5'8", which in non-athlete terms, is not tall. But there are certainly many guys 5'8" or under. Baseball Reference listed him at 210 lbs. during his playing days.

Some sources put him at close to 400 pounds when he suffered the stroke. Puckett also had a family history of heart trouble. He had lost many of his family members before the age of 50 to various health problems. And glaucoma ended his career prematurely at the age of 35.

Yet Darryl Kile, a pitcher for St. Louis, died at age 33 of a heart attack in 2002. He had a family history of heart problems.

Maybe it's too soon to say this, but it is a reminder that you have to be more careful when you have a family history. If we guess that Puckett was about 375, the weight increase after retirement is 165 lb. Nobody, athlete or otherwise, can do that and not suffer somehow.

The temptation is to say family history is a fait accompli. I certainly relate to it because my family history stinks. You might as well try; if you don't, this could happen anyway.

I ate the free food

I confess I went for it. I ate the free food. And I ate food besides the free food. The lure is to get you in there to sell other food.

I went to a Chicago Blackhawks game Friday night. Amazingly, the team scored a goal within the last minute of the second period, giving about 11 thousand people a coupon for a free Big Mac.

I threw out the question to the masses.

Despite their negative reaction, I decided to do it to give myself a treat. And the way the Blackhawks are playing, it may not happen again soon. I think you can do fast food every once in a while, and I would make this my "every-so-often" trip.

I did read the nutritional labeling — this was my first shot to read it on the package. I do order a Big Mac without the fixings. It had trans fat: what in a Big Mac could have trans fat.

I even went through the song: "two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame bun." None of those things should have trans fat, unless it was the bread. That would be a non-healthy thing.

So I enjoyed it, but I really need to rethink the whole McD's thing, even if the food is sometimes free.

What is the price of free food?

Time for a moral dilemma: you have sworn off, at least for a while, a large established fast-food restaurant. You go to an NHL game where the promotion is winning a free major food item if the home team scores a goal in the last minute of a period.

This home team did score a late goal in the second period, so you have won the food item. And you must redeem the item within 48 hours. By the way, you are poor.

So is the free food item worth compromising your desire to stay away from the chain?

Admittedly, I am not disclosing the restaurant. And it wouldn't be the worst thing to go there. This issue was presented to me, so I'm curious as to whether you have these same dilemmas.

Using Lent to your advantage

Even if you aren't Catholic, you might want to try to use Lent to your advantage.

For those who don't know, the tradition of giving something up starts today, Ash Wednesday, and runs through Easter Sunday.

Some Catholics don't know this, but whatever you give up for Lent, you can rest from that on Sundays. (46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday -- 40 days plus 6 Sundays.)

Giving something up is not easy. So it might help if you want to give something up to have an "island of sanity" to help you. If you give up soft drinks, knowing you can have it on Sunday may help you get through the week.

Who knows? You might last longer than 6 weeks.