Calorie Counting Makes a Comeback

Consumer group issues its annual list

(NEWSER) - The Center for Science in the Public Interest has released its annual list of calorie bombs available at chain restaurants. Among the winners of the "Xtreme Eating Awards":

• Cheesecake Factory's Pasta Carbonara with Chicken: 2,500 calories and 85 grams of saturated fat.
• Five Guys Bacon Cheeseburger: 920 calories and 30 grams of saturated fat. Want fries with that? A large order has 1,500 calories.

Low-calorie imitations confuse system, cause overeating

(NEWSER) - Feeding children diet food may actually help make them fat, the BBC reports. Young rats who had been given low-calorie versions of ordinarily high-calorie food begin to gain weight when they were switched to regular fare, a new study found. Rather than stop eating when they reached a certain calorie level, they continued to consume at the same level they had on the low-cal version. More»

Brain chemistry changed in binge-eating rats

(NEWSER) - Junk food can be as addictive as cocaine and causes similar changes in the brain, according to a new study. Researchers found that rats given unlimited access to high-calorie food like candy bars and cheesecake not only became obese very quickly, they continued gorging even when they know doing so would lead to an electric shock. Obese rats who had their junk food replaced with a health diet stopped eating altogether, HealthDay reports. More»

Customers say they seek guidance from signs, but receipts tell a different story

(NEWSER) - A new study casts doubt on the effectiveness of calorie-counting charts in fast-food restaurants. Half of those surveyed in New York City say they noticed the charts, and about 28% say the information influenced their orders for the better. But a look at overall customer receipts shows people are ordering slightly more calories than they did before the signs went up in 2008. More»

Obesity 'accounts for nearly a tenth' of health-care spending

(NEWSER) - There’s an “elephant in the room” when it comes to health care reform: American health care costs a bundle in large part because we’re so fat, writes Michael Pollan for the New York Times. President Obama has touched on the issue, but the country hasn’t, and that’s because the food industry is “even more powerful” than health insurers. More»