Is a picture (of food) worth more than a thousand words?

A friend asked me this week, "how am I supposed to keep track of everything? There is so much health and nutrition information out there, claims seems to change weekly and its a lot to absorb."

I totally agree. Unfortunately hundreds off one-off studies will get released, only a few will get picked up by the media and before you know it - everything you thought you knew about the many positive effects of horseradish are totally debunked! (that was a joke, in case you didn't get it :). Not to mention how confusing or unclear it can be as to what, if anything, you should do with the information.

Enter: Infographics. Infographics are a great visual way to show and share information, data and knowledge in a less confusing and compelling way. In the past, I shared a great infographic comparing government food subsidies to the government's recommendation of our daily nutrition intake. In my opinion that visual was much more impactful than an article could have been.

While there are a ton of cool infographics out there on a wide range of topics, I thought I'd share three interesting ones related to food and nutrition with all of you!

Increase in Childhood Obesity:  An interesting view that reveals the changes in our lifestyles and eating habits that have contributed to the obesity epidemic. In one generation...soda consumption doubles in girls and triples in boys, the number of TVs in homes quadruples, the number of food service establishments doubles, the number of calories children consume outside of the home nearly doubles...

http://visual.ly/childhood-obesity-triples-one-generation

The Complete Guide to Workout Nutrition: This one is just a bit too big to post here but definitly check out the link below. This is a very comprehensive but clear way for individuals to understand the important effects of nutrition on workout performance. Did you know that the average workout does not demand the extra calories and added sugar in sports drinks?

http://static.greatist.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/The-Complete-Guide-to-Workout-Nutrition.png

Local, Fresh Food Shopping: This helpful infographic designed by Good, a multiple media platform in collaboration with Whole Foods, helps readers to understand when and what local produce they can buy in their area based on the season. Eating local not only tastes better because its likely FRESHER but has local economic benefits as well. This also doubles as a guide for growing your own produce!

http://awesome.good.is/transparency/web/0912/a-plan-for-all-seasons/flat.html

Posted in: Health Science / News