Sniff Your Way Thin

“Follow your nose it always knows” who remembers that commercial? Or should I say who was born before 1980? The truth is just as certain scents can trigger your appetite, other aromas can help you eat less. You may be surprised which ones those are.

Grapefruit

Researchers at Osaka University found that exposing rats to the scent of grapefruit oil for 15-minute intervals helped lower their appetite and weight. Researchers believe it may have to do with how the smell interacts with liver enzymes. We often suggest Foodtrainers clients have a grapefruit after dinner if that is their “witching hour” or trouble time. The scent and process of peeling and eating can end that potential snack caravan. We test drove scents by this company though essential oils are widely available.

Fennel

The Ancient Greeks used Fennel as a slimming aid (funny to think about). Fennel is also an excellent debloater. I mentioned it Monday but give fennel tea mid afternoon or after dinner.

Peppermint

In one study, 3000 overweight people were given an inhalants with various scents and  told to inhale whenever they felt hungry  Peppermint was one of most effective scents for weight loss.

Each month the peppermint participants lost an average of nearly 5 pounds. In another study, people were asked to sniff peppermint every two hours for 5 days. For another 5 days they were given a placebo (not sure how this worked since it would be fairly obvious peppermint versus no peppermint). Over the minty days, participants consumed almost 2000 calories less.

One note, when it comes to fragrance while some scents may be beneficial when it comes to weight some of the nastiest ingredients lurk under “fragrance”on label lists. Be very careful with scents if a family member suffers from asthma. And be weary of any synthetic musks as certain ingredients can increase the proliferation of estrogen sensitive breast cancer cells. If there’s a fragrance you favor be sure it’s free of phthalates, DEP and DEHP.

And if you are a child of the 80s or the 90s (grrr) it was Toucan Sam the Froot Loops mascot who uttered “follow your nose”. At least the slogan was right, don’t get me started on the “balanced breakfast” part.

Do you wear perfume or fragrance? Have you thought about the connect to appetite and weight? Have you checked the ingredients in your fragrances?

Reddi Wip, the Perfect Post Workout Food

Monday, I was innocently watching the Bachelorette after eating the world’s greatest kale salad (part of our dream July 4^th menu). I was in a pretty good mood until a commercial came on. Two women come in from a tough workout, they are exhausted. One of them goes to the fridge and pulls out Reddi Whip (naturally, who wouldn’t think workout then whipped “cream”). Her friend asks, “what are you going to do throw away the past hour?” With that nasty squirt sound, the fridge friend says, “of course not, it’s only 15 calories” and ruins a bowl of berries with a plop of canned crap.

Is this seriously an angle they are trying to take? I get that unhealthy products exist. I even can sort of grasp the fun factor with the desserts mentioned on the RW site such as “Berry Patriotic Pie” etc. 

This, gross as it is, makes more sense than RW = healthy

There are even some other undertones (not really sure why one friend has to lie down on the floor hmn) in the workout commercial that seem plausible than squirting some weirdly spelled faux cream at any time especially after a great workout. What’s even crueler is what this TV spot preys on. It’s very easy to fall into the “I deserve”  a treat post workout mindset. RW’s advertising company is saying now you can have your cake and eat it too.

And what exactly would you be eating for “only 15 calories?” This is where things get really funny. On the Reddi site they have a comparison of Reddi Wip to its competitor Cool Whip. Get this, RW has No Hydrogenated Fats! And, the first ingredient is “real cream”! Do they think that with cream as a first ingredient we will not notice “propellant” a few ingredients away? Or the sweetener party that will only inflame your body after that workout? This "I'm better than you marketing" drives me nuts. It's not about what's absent from a product but what worth (or worthlessness) the product contains. Does "I didn't murder that person, I only seriously harmed them" sound insane? Well this is food insanity.

When I told Carolyn about this post she asked, “do people still use Reddi Wip?” And maybe this is a desperate attempt by an ad agency to reposition a brand. I just don’t get it, Do marketers think people are this stupid? It’s like the Oscar Meyer spot that touts that their dogs are gluten free (and made from dog meat). Or wait, are there people that watch and say, wow that red can may hold the answer to my post snack workout snack question? And please, I know how you think and do not judge bachelorette viewers.

Have you seen this commercial? Do you think it’s just advertisers being advertisers or is this super sneaky? Any other commercials that bug you? Who should Desiree pick?

Do You Know What Happy Calories Are?

I’ve previously outed myself; I watch pretty lousy TV, American idol included.

A new season of Idol started last week. As much as it pains me to watch the judges sip from their gigantic coke-emblazoned tumblers. I understand corporate sponsorship and here it is loud and clear. What got me way too worked up at a time I was counting on mindless relaxation was the Coke commercial that debuted during this episode. Not to worry if you missed it, it’ll air again during the Super Bowl pre-game show.

The commercial begins with that combination fart/explosive sound of a can of soda opening. The caption reads “happy calories”.  When I think of soda, I think of diabetes, sugar, caramel coloring, reproductive issues, osteoporosis and many other far from happy things. Coke is going to sort this out for me.

Cue the music and one of my favorite singers, Ingrid Michaelson’s song Be Ok. It’s catchy. If you don’t know it you can listen here.  I have since found out the song has been used to promote Motts applesauce and Ritz Crackers and has been used on numerous television shows.

The lyrics start “I just want to be ok, be ok, be ok, I just want to be ok today.” I have nothing against okay-ness. What I take serious issue with is figuring out a sneaky way to present Coke as OK. You see, there are 140 calories in a can of regular Coke and Coke shows you how you can burn these negligible 140 calories laughing, dancing and walking your dog. So that’s OK right? Drink “happy calories”, laugh, dance and we’re all good?  Word from the Coke camp was they felt people had skewed notions of the calories in soda and they wanted to set the record straight or so they say. I say crooked.

During Idol I tweeted to Ingrid Michaelson, because I am like that and couldn’t help myself, “is drinking coke ok”? Shockingly she didn’t respond but was tweeting that same night about overeating granola.  I guess after all the money from the endorsements, any calories are “happy” to her.

Coke and all soda for that matter are not ok. Chemicals aren’t something you laugh off.  Coke can twist the truth and employ all the pretzel logic they’d like and it’s still Coke. I promise you they do not have your happiness and wellbeing in mind in that advertising office (David The Agency).

 It’s one thing to sell something that’s unhealthy. It’s unacceptable to justify how it can be part of a healthy lifestyle.  Can you imagine if the same reasoning was used for Vodka? “I just want to be ok, be ok, be ok and that includes having a martini everyday?” Then cut to all the ways you can burn off that vodka?  It’s so much easier to tap your feet to the catchy song and tune this all out but we can’t really afford to do so.

Do you think Coke’s tactics with this commercial are reprehensible or just part of advertising? What do you think can be done to tell Coke that walking your dog doesn’t undo the soda damage? How do you feel when a musician, actor or other public figure you are a fan of endorses something like this (Beyoncé and Pepsi caused a stir recently)?