Jul. 20, 2006

The Ice Cream Diet

Remember July is Ice Cream month....

Columbus WBNS TV Channel 10 news Commit to Be Fit program sends me a newsletter with ideas about fitness, exercise, diet, etc.  

Summer's Sweetest Diet
by Laura Petrecca, Prevention magazine

"Spending every night with two of America's favorite guys-Ben & Jerry-could actually whittle your waist. When Prevention introduced its Ice Cream Diet, there were lots of skeptics. But now there's even more evidence that it works. New research from the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center shows yet again that adults who consume more calcium (the key ingredient in this diet) burn more fat."

"This confirms other studies that proclaim calcium king for weight loss. In one analysis, people who ate 1,200 to 1,300 mg of calcium from dairy products daily (the typical amount in the Ice Cream Diet) lost 70 percent more weight and 64 percent more body fat than those who ate the same reduced-calorie diet but with less dairy.
Scientists suspect that calcium forces fat out of cells and into the bloodstream, where it's more quickly oxidized, or burned off. If your body doesn't get enough calcium, fat cells retain the fat and can grow steadily. And many women don't get enough: Only 14 percent of women ages 20 to 50 get the minimum Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of 1,000 mg of calcium, and only 4 percent of women over 50 meet the 1,200-mg goal.
It's Yummy Too!"

"This groundbreaking research was the impetus behind Prevention's Ice Cream Diet. The simple premise: Eat a nutritious breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner, then reward yourself with a dish of calcium-packed ice cream. The secret to success is threefold: First, the food choices make it easy to meet the RDA of 1,000 to 1,200 mg of calcium a day. Second, there are lots of good-for-you fruits, veggies, and fiber in every meal. And third, you'll avoid the dreaded "forbidden fruit syndrome." This pattern rears its ugly head when you vow to never have another scoop of your favorite flavor. Instead of accepted abstinence, you're more likely to lose control and scarf down the entire half-gallon."

"In general, if you deprive yourself of preferred foods, you start to crave them," says Richard Mattes, PhD, RD, professor of food and nutrition at Purdue University in Indiana. Instead, Mattes says you should find a healthy way to incorporate favorite foods into your diet."

Again....remember July is ice cream month......

I saw something about Graeter's peach ice cream... peach that's a fruit....not even a forbidden fruit.  I got a Maggie Moo's gift card as a gift recently too. 

The summer after my junior year in college I discovered the University of Wisconsin Ag School ice cream at the student union... they used to brag about how high in fat the UW Ag School ice cream was.  I usually am not that able to tell the difference... but as I recall it was creamy... I gained twelve pounds in a couple of weeks of trying out various flavors.  The ice cream diet... sign me up!

The Commit to Be Fit newsletter says:  

"Commit To Be Fit E-newsletter is published to provide readers with the information and the motivation needed to achieve and maintain healthier lifestyles. The content is herein in no way intended as medical advice on individual health problems. Such advice should be obtained directly from a physician." 

Lots of good info in this newsletter about walking, places to walk.........