For a couple of years now the MSN page links to articles to a diet magazine/web site called eat this! not that!
Originally a column in mens health it began as a way for people to eat healthier versions of things they like the first one was like if you like a big mac heres a healthier option you could have instead
But its began crusades recently that’s to me relying on junk science and extreme nutrition groups like in this article that and they seem to tailor articles to what ever book there pushing at the time …
http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/70-most-popular-sodas-ranked-by-how-toxic-they-are/ss-CCroJP?li=BBnba9O
like I thought the oft mentioned link between red food dye and hyperactivity was debunked years ago
I just wondered how reliable they are or if they were more people pushing bunk … .
The Eat This! Not That! is like a lot of simplified diet ideas - not bad rules of thumb and containing some useful information but the format doesn’t allow for in-depth discussions of the science and like anything else can be taken to an extreme.
The article you linked to is about soda, not an Eat This! Not That! article. There’s no disputing that high quantities of sugar can lead to weight gain and regular soda has a lot of sugar in it. There’s a throw-away line about non-calorie sweeteners that is debatable, but really, most of the article is about sugars.
The red dye thing - some people really are sensitive to red dye but they are a small number. Like a lot of dietary thing, like food allergies, celiac/gluten intolerance, and lactose intolerance, the problem of a small minority (which is certainly a serious issue to them, personally) was blown way out of proportion and applied so widely that now the original, legitimate problem of a few is mocked by many as not existing at all. So… for those sensitive to it, yes, they should avoid red food dyes but there’s no indication it’s a problem for the rest of us.
I know that the books are a great guide to healthy eating – the point out what menu items in chain restaurants are high in calories and fat (and it’s sometimes not what you would expect) and give suggestions for alternatives. They are pretty well grounded in science, mostly because they try to reduce fat, salt, and calories, and have some great suggestions (they show that probably the healthiest fast-food breakfast is an Egg McMuffin).
I’ve also used their recipes; their Gazpacho* is delicious.
*Gazpacho Soup!!!
I used to follow them on Twitter, but after too many times when the link took forever to pull up and the content finally loaded and it didn’t seem to have anything to do with what the teaser was, or was not worth the wait in any case, I finally unfollowed them.