Good Day Alabama for February 20, 2012

Here is what you saw on Good Day Alabama for February 20, 2012:

BETH K - It's been a week of big nutrition news: UAB Nutritionist Dr. Beth Kitchin joined us with a look at the headlines.
 The CDC issued its report on sodium intake in Americans and it concluded that 90% of Americans eat too much sodium. We eat about 1000 more mg than the recommended 2300 mg a day.  The big headline news shocker here was that breads contributed more than any other single food group to our sodium intake. But this is very misleading because we eat a lot of bread as a single category.  If we lumped some of the other food groups together instead of counting them individually (ie. Putting pizza and burgers together into 'fast foods" , then things might have turned out a little differently). If we lumped the processed foods together (which this report does not do) such as canned foods, frozen dinners and lunch meat than they would definitely have come out on top.  Most breads are not really that high in sodium - but a few are - such as biscuits, dinner rolls, and bagels.  If you really want to reduce your sodium intake, look at the processed foods like canned soups, frozen pizzas,  frozen dinners, and fast foods - by reducing these, you'll make the biggest dent in your sodium intake.
     Snickers Downsizes - The snickers bar (king size) is like a meal when it comes to calories. Mars will phase out all candy bars and other chocolate treats like M & M's in serving sizes that top 250 calories. I think this is wonderful .  Serving sizes in this country have become ridiculous and we could probably lose a lot of weight just by cutting back on portion sizes.
     Qnexa Revisited - Back in 2010 we talked about the lack of new diet drugs being approved in the U.S.  Qnexa had just been rejected by the FDA for two major reasons:  the possible side effects such as anxiety, sleep disorders, and depression and for its sheer lack  of data - it had only been studied for a year.
Fast forward two years and it's up again for approval - this time with more data. It's not really a new drug - just a combo of two:  phentermine and topiramate. Phentermine lowers the appetite and is already approved for weight loss. The other half of Qnexa is topiramate - a drug now approved to treat seizures.  Researchers discovered that topiramate increases satiety so people don't get hungry as quickly after a meal. Together, these two drugs can help people lose more weight than just diet and exercise alone.  In the original research, the weight loss was impressive - 13 - 15% of body weight over a year - well over the FDA's standards. Now we'll just have to wait and see if they can put the safety concerns to rest
 
JEH JEH LIVE - Jeh Jeh joined us live from Lakeshore Foundation with help from Carol Kutik on Exercise Monday. For more information, call (205) 313-7400.

CHRIS HASTINGS - Rick talked with Chef Chris Hastings from the Hot and Hot Fish Club. He was recently invited to battle Chef Bobby Flay on Iron Chef. He talks with us about the experience.

DOLLAR BILL REMEMBERS PATTI - Dollar Bill Lawson talked with us about his memories of his former radio co-host Patti Wheeler. She passed away over the weekend. Dollar Bill  took over for another legend, Doc Atkinson.  Lawson says Patti takes with her a unique broadcasting style that can never quite be copied.

ASK THE GARDENER - Libby Rich of Plant Odyssey took questions from viewers about their gardening needs. You can contact her at Plant Odyssey at (205) 324-0566 or visit http://libbysplantodyssey.com

Tomorrow on Good Day Alabama, looking to spruce up your home? We check out the color of the year! Shakespeare comes to Birmingham! We check out the latest production of Hamlet! It's small game month - do you know the rules for the hunting? Worried about being audited by the IRS? We find out some advice to help you avoid it. That and much more tomorrow on Good Day Alabama!