DailyDirt: Hamburgers Gone Wild

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The Library of Congress names Louis' Lunch sandwich shop as the inventor of the hamburger, but there are various disputes over who exactly cooked the first hamburger (and named it after people from Germany). In any case, the hamburger has undergone quite a few changes since the early 1900s. Here are a couple unhealthy examples of extreme burgers, and a reminder that being overweight doesn't necessarily kill you (but it's not considered healthy).

• The 'Merica burger is made of ground bacon topped with more bacon and bacon cheddar cheese, along with a fried egg and bacon island dressing. Thankfully, this burger creation was available for only a limited time. [url]
• If customers were allowed to create their own burger combinations, would people really choose to put a greasy cheeseburger between two glazed donuts? The answer is apparently, yes, and they'd add bacon as well. [url]
• What are the ramifications of being overweight? According to a meta-study of 97 prior studies that categorized 2.9 million people by a Body Mass Index, people classified as overweight (BMI >30) had a 6% lower chance of dying than people of average BMI. The conclusion should be that BMI is not a perfect metric for health, but the alternative metrics may have a hard time becoming as widely adopted. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: bacon, body mass index, food, hamburgers, unhealthy

DailyDirt: New Year's Diets...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Maybe you've noticed your favorite gym is a bit more crowded recently. There are a lot of new year's resolutions for changing unhealthy habits, and eating better should be pretty high on that list. Here are just a few interesting articles on some dietary changes.

• If you can't avoid the call of edible products from convenient vending machines, you can at least try to pick some of the more healthy options from these food dispensers. B-7 will sink your battleship, but the granola bars aren't too bad. [url]
• Taste aversion works on wild predators, preventing lions from devouring domesticated cattle. Trying something similar on people probably isn't a good idea, though... [url]
• Weight Watchers is recalculating some of the formulas for its food program -- so that not all calories are equal. Not surprisingly, the company has filed a patent application on its new method. (NB: PointsPlus is not another social network.) [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: calories, edible, food, taste aversion, unhealthy, vending machines
Companies: weight watchers

DailyDirt: Not-So-Fun Food Findings...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

There are so many food choices -- but that doesn't make it any easier to eat healthy foods. Being hard-wired to enjoy sugar, salt and fat doesn't exactly help either. Diet resolutions for 2012 are just around the corner, but for now, we'll just point out a few quick links on eating food that might not be that good for you.

• Comparing prison food to school cafetaria food doesn't make for a very appetizing infographic. It might be interesting to see a comparison that includes astronaut food... or military rations [url]
• Most people think that uncooked cookie dough shouldn't be eaten because of the raw eggs, but it's actually the raw flour in store-bought dough that's the likely culprit for making people sick. Seems like cookie dough manufacturers should start pasteurizing their flour since a significant number of people are intentionally eating unbaked batter. [url]
• Correlation is not the same as causation, but there seems to be a correlation between young men who eat a lot of junk food and having lower-quality sperm. In other news, unhealthy food makes you unhealthy. [url]
• To discover more food-related links, check out what's floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: cookie dough, diet, eggs, flour, food, junk food, raw, unhealthy