Fat. Never a good thing, right? At least not in the US, where food is super-abundant. Instead of being rightly grateful for all that food, we blame it for our weight woes. Yes, there's a growing sense that food is the enemy. Food leads to weight gain, which leads to obesity, which leads to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and on and on. (Read Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma for more on what he terms "our national eating disorder.")

But apparently there's a silver lining in all that fat. Says journalist Natalie Angier for The New York Times, "to castigate fat for getting too big and to blame it for high blood pressure or a wheezing heart is like a heavy drinker blaming the liver for turning cirrhotic." That is, if the body couldn't convert energy to fat cells in an efficient manner we'd really be up the proverbial creek. In fact, evolutionary biologists have even speculated that humans' ability to store good-sized quantities of fat has aided the survival of the species and made it possible for our big brains to grow so big and, um, brainy. The fat, you see, helps us through hard times. Food for thought, huh?

I was intrigued by a recent Swedish study reporting that people on a so-called "Stone Age" diet had more stable blood sugar levels than those on a Mediterranean diet. An intriguing claim, because it's so often said that Mediterranean-style eating is super-healthful. Let's also admit it is a delicious way to eat: yes, pasta and bread is there, but it's balanced out by tons of fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and olive oil. The Stone Age way is a bit more spare: we're talkin' meat, fish, and lots of whole grains, berries and nuts. Nary a sliver of Parmesan in sight.

However, the results of yet another study, this time from Australia, indicates Mediterranean-style eating is a good choice, especially for diabetics. Researchers from the University of Melbourne say Mediterranean-born immigrants in Australia are less likely to die from heart disease than other Australians. The researchers have concluded it's all down to dietary patterns. More than forty thousand people participated in the study over a period of ten years. The numbers revealed those who ate the most Mediterranean-style foods had a thirty percent lower risk of dying from heart disease. For diabetics, the researchers speculate, the benefits could be even higher, reducing the risk of death due to ischemic heart disease.

Results have been published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Visit Reuters for a discussion of the study.

It's often said that serving food on smaller plates makes a diner inclined to eat less. Well, a Canadian researcher decided to put that theory to the test. Sue Pedersen, who is an endocrinologist at the University of Calgary, conducted a study designed to evaluate the efficacy of a specially designed "portion-control plate." The plates, designed by Diet Plate Limited of England, are marked with lines indicating how much of the day's main meal should be divided amongst the various food groups.

For six months, sixty-five study participants ate their food from regular dishes, while sixty-five others ate their food from the portion-control plates. All of the participants were type 2 diabetics and clinically obese. End result? The plates worked quite well at getting subjects to curb their appetites. After six months, those using the plates lost an average of 1.8 percent of their body weight, whereas the control group lost an average of only 0.1 percent. Interestingly, those on insulin regimens did the best of all, with an average of 2.5 percent weight loss.

The fatal flaw? What happens when the white lab coat crew aren't charting your intake any more? Call me a naysayer, but I'm predicting some major snacking in the future of those study subjects. Because special plate or not, you have to have the will to cut portion intake, and it's hard to maintain that will long-term.

The results of Pedersen's study have been published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (June 2007). Check out the Diet Plate website too.

King County, Washington - following in the footsteps of New York - has banned restaurants from cooking foods in trans fats. King County is home to Seattle, the city famous for its generous rainfall and equally generous caffeine intake. The new rule stipulates that, in addition to the trans fats ban, all eateries in the Seattle-area must also provide nutritional information about menu items.

The trans fats ban was passed by the King County Board of Health in an effort to stem soaring rates of illnesses that are linked to obesity, like type 2 diabetes. Board members and their supporters (including a representative from the American Diabetes Association) argue the change will help turn the tide by improving eating habits. Their opponents, however, have vigorously argued that this is not true. Restaurant patrons already know they're choosing unhealthy foods, they argue, and this new law won't prevent them from ordering fatty and sugar-laden foods. "I have a six-letter word to describe them [the board members and their supporters]," says restaurant-owner Chris Clifford. "It's 'stupid.' You can't help stupid people." Ouch. Well, this is a case where only time can prove him right or wrong. Click here to read more on the new measures.

Each year the American Diabetic Association sponsors an informational campaign to promote healthy eating by providing practical nutrition guidance that focuses on the importance of developing sound eating and exercise habits. The theme for this year is 100 percent "Fad Free." The campaign features learning how to identify a food fad which is a food or diet fad that claims unreasonable or exaggerated benefits. If a diet or product advertises eating only specific foods, nutrient supplements or combinations of foods that may cure disease or offer quick weight loss, it is a fad. Diet fads come and go.

A balanced diet and physical activity are essential to a healthy lifestyle over the long term of your life. Develop an eating plan for the lifelong health. Choose foods sensibly by looking at the big picture because a single food or meal will not make or break a healthy diet. Find your balance between food and physical activity. Exercise does not have to be strenuous to be beneficial.

Here's a question for you to ponder: we know that obesity/overeating is harmful to the body, right? It leads to Type 2 diabetes, among a myriad of other harmful effects. So why do we continue to eat the way we do? Author and academic (at the University of California, Berkeley) Michael Pollan has taken a valiant stab at answering that question. Pollan is the author of the well-received book The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. I have not read the book (though I'm adding it to my list of books to read in 2007), but I did read Pollan's fab article "Unhappy Meals" in this weekend's New York Times. Our obesity problem, says Pollan, is all tied up with a national hangup about eating and nutrition.

The "elephant in the room," writes Pollan, is the Western way of eating. To be healthier and to avoid diseases like Type 2 diabetes, we should cut consumption of meat and carbs, avoid processed foods, and eat lots more fruits and vegetables. In the case of Type 2 diabetes, the nation needs to stop, in the word's of a scientist quoted by Pollan, "mainlining glucose." And yet...it doesn't happen. Instead, Americans subscribe to fad diets, they invest in expensive exercise equipment and gym memberships. Moreover, says Pollan, Americans are beset by "nutritionism." That is, we try to prevent obesity and diet-related diseases like diabetes by identifying and eliminating the harmful substances in our foods - like salt, fat or carbs - when what we need is to totally modify our diets. He (politely) places a lot of the blame for this on scientists and the media for supplying us with a constant stream of nutrition-related advice that's so confusing and contradictory and seemingly-important that we keep forgetting about that big old "elephant" - the Western diet as a whole. This focus, he says, "has diminished our pleasure in eating it while doing little or nothing to improve our health." It's a conundrum alright.

A study outlined in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the psychosocial consequences of weight reduction, asking the question -- how much weight loss is enough?

The psychosocial effects of weight reduction showed an association with improvements in mood in significantly obese individuals who are treated by diet and lifestyle modification. Exercise is associated with modest but long-term weight losses and with improvements in mood and physical health. The recommendation that overweight Americans lose weight should be prefaced with efforts to promote healthier attitudes toward weight and shape. A 10% reduction in initial weight correlates with improvements in psychosocial functioning. Even patients with just a 5% reduction in body weight report improvements in mood. They feel better as a result of taking charge of their eating and exercise habits and, ultimately, their weight.

As a footnote: please don't read this blog and walk-away thinking the message is lose some weight, Fatty. I'm a self-professed Pork Chop in hot pursuit of a dopamine deluge. I know when I'm surging with happiness, food is the furthest thing from my mind. I'm looking for the map to this euphoric destination. The minute I find it-- you'll have directions, too!

If you want it, here it is. Come and get it! A new survey reveals that people seek diabetes information on web sites before they consult their doctors. I'm not surprised. I'm the poster child for this statistic.

More than 30 percent of those surveyed said their primary source of information about diabetes is health web sites, while only 21 percent said doctors are the first resource. Family and friends were not far behind doctors, with 17 percent of respondents saying family and friends are their primary source of information. Sometimes I think my family lies to me just to make me feel better. Anybody else get that? When asked about the possibility of having diabetes, 24 percent of those surveyed said long-term complications were their biggest concern. A close second, with 23 percent, was not being able to eat what they want. It's a stretch and a little melodramatic, but nonetheless good to see we've uncovered the preeminent fear factors. And the last tasty statistic concerns food issues: 74 percent of those surveyed said they would be more likely to eat at a restaurant that listed nutritional information about their meals.

Did you hear that Olive Garden? Red Lobster? Hey Mister Darden -here's a chance for you to giddyup the Gallop Poll. Brandish your nutritional content and discerning diabetics might fearlessly flock to indulge, knowing the consequence of their last meal. As they say, knowing is half the battle. Too bad they aren't doctors.

With all the commotion about the dangers of spinach nowadays, it is frightening! Food poisoning is usually a culprit you'd expect from a restaurant kitchen. Learn how to protect yourself from these culinary catastrophes. Tune in this week as dLifeTV offers up a healthy serving of tips and cautions about eating at restaurants. In addition, dLifeTV outlines how to minimize your risk factors for diabetes-related Heart Disease.

You'll also meet Parade Magazine's Fran Carpentier. She shares how she is able to balance diabetes and her fast-paced lifestyle.

dLifeTV is hosted by Nicole Johnson Baker (Miss America 1999); dLife correspondent Jim Turner (Bewitched), and the dLife family. Tune in to learn more about these glaring health issues for diabetics and meet Fran Carpentier. dLifeTV airs every Sunday on CNBC at 7:00pm ET/4:00pm Pacific. Visit dLife for further information about dLifeTV, the first talk show about diabetes.

Those delicious late night snackies may be bad for you. Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle say that diabetics who eat lots of food in the evening are upping their risk of health complications. These experts sat down and interviewed 714 diabetes patients about their eating habits. Ten percent said they ate more than one-quarter of their daily food intake not at dinnertime, but after dinnertime. That means snacking after dinner, and getting up at night (even multiple times in the night) to sneak some late-night food treats - and we're not talking apples and oranges here. No, we're talking about snacks of the fatty and highly processed variety - the kinds of foods that give nutrition experts the night frights.

Seems that this little habit catches up with these patients in their declining health - they were two to three times more likely than the other patients in the study to be obese, to have poor blood sugar control or to have multiple diabetes-related complications, including the "biggies" - heart disease, and kidney and nerve problems. The cause? It seems that these patients are more likely than others to be suffering from depression. It appears that the late night eating is a coping mechanism. Researchers hope that access to therapy and antidepressants could help these people out.

The results of the study have been published in Diabetes Care (August 2006).

Nothing gets my attention like the prospect of food. Even reading cookbooks makes my tummy rumble! Well, a new cookbook aimed at diabetics has entered the market: The EatingWell Diabetes Cookbook: 275 Delicious Recipes and 100 Tips for Simple, Everyday Carbohydrate Control. The book is by Joyce Hendley and the editors at EatingWell (The Countryman Press, $29.95, hardcover). The book includes facts and practical tips on healthy eating. Of course, it also includes lots of healthful recipes suitable for diabetics. Crustless Crab Quiche, Roasted Eggplant Dip, Lamb Chops with a Mustard Crust, and Orange-Date Pumpkin Muffins, are some of the recipes. Amazon readers have posted a couple of reviews, both very favorable, but without much detail on what the recipes came out like!  Has anyone out there tried this book?