Fat Friday: Starting a New Trend

Although I've been keeping this blog (albeit somewhat inconsistently) for more than a year, I've mostly written about what's been going on with me. In order to make the blog more interesting and to gather more readers, I'm going to start adding features that aren't restricted to only my weight loss story.

Starting today, I'm going to add a new feature called Fat Friday which will consist of a round-up of interesting articles and/or commentary about fat.

For this week's round-up:

• Some Carbs Turn to Fat Faster - According to a study conducted by UT Southwestern Medical Center, certain types of carbohydrate metabolize into fat more quickly than others. Fructose, found in fruit and additives such as high fructose corn syrup, is metabolized the quickest, which means that not only the amount, but the type of carbohydrates consumed is important. Although fructose is metabolized more quickly, dieters should not be concerned about consuming it in the form of fruit. Rather, they should avoid the highly-processed forms instead. (WMAQ TV - Chicago)
  
  
• California Bans Trans Fat - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the first statewide ban to eliminate trans fats from restaurant and bakery food. The ban for restaurants goes into effect on January 1, 2010, and bakeries will be expected to comply one year later. Establishments that violate the ban will be faced with fines ranging from $25 to $1,000. The ban does not apply to pre-packaged goods sold in stores. (Sacramento Bee)
  
  
• Australia, the Fattest Nation? - According to a report by Australia's Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute released last month, Australia has become the fattest nation in the world, even surpassing the good old US of A. (Wall Street Journal)
  
  
• Fat Friends Can Boost Your Weight - Having overweight friends can subconsciously affect your eating habits and make you fat as well. (BBC News)
  
  
• One Reason to Celebrate Belly Fat - Although nobody likes pesky belly and thigh fat, there is one small reason to celebrate it. According to a study, researchers found that this type of fat is an excellent source of stem cells. (The Times of India)