You're Too Fat, He's a High Calorie Recipe That'll Help

I've noticed a trend lately in a few women's magazines. The cover will feature some weight loss miracle, for the hundredth time (they nearly always feature that topic) and it will be nestled amongst the recipes for fancy desserts like Sour Cream Chocolate Cake. What's up with that? A recent Women's World had an article entitled "5 Delicious Ways to Beat Stress." The idea was based on the premise that high stress levels can contribute to weight gain. Their answer? Five high calorie desserts! Here they are, along with my best guess as to why they were chosen.

Chocolate Milk Cake. The "stress reduction" factor is due to the calcium. It includes evaporated milk, nonfat dry milk, and 1 1/2 cups of milk. Research shows calcium lowers stress, and less stress equals weight loss, so eating cake made with lots of milk will reduce stress. Uh, okay. Dumb logic, but there you go. The worst part? It serves 16. When's the last time you baked a two-layer cake and
expected it to serve 16? That's nonsense.

Surprise Blondies. A sheet cake with chocolate frosting. I'm not sure what the surprise is supposed to be, but they named it, not me. The stress reduction in this goodie is based on ground flaxseed. A healthy addition indeed, but adding it to baked goods is not the best way to get extra nutrients. I'm not knocking the idea, just, ya know, cake and frosting isn't suddenly good for you because you tossed in some flaxseed. This recipe also serves 16 (surprised?). Bake a sheet cake and draw lines on top to designate 16 servings. When you're done laughing, pour a big glass of milk and sit down with your teensy piece and thank Women's Day for the idea.

Speaking of milk, a glass of milk reduces stress (and has far fewer calories than any of these desserts) and due to the tryptophan, it can help make you sleepy. That's why warm milk is recommended before bedtime.

No Bake Orange Cheesecake. This lovely has orange juice, gelatin, cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk (a diet food if I ever saw one), lemon juice, orange zest, and whipped topping. Raise your hand if you can guess why this cheesecake will help reduce stress? Give up? It's the vitamin C you silly! Vitamin C is shown to relieve anxiety, so there you go. Eat cheesecake, and you'll feel better, at least you will according to Women's Day.

Frozen Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream. I notice they used lite frozen whipped topping, but they also used h.ot chocolate, chocolate chips, half-and-half (okay, the fat-fr.ee version) and a garnish sprinkling of cocoa powder with chocolate sticks for flair. This little yummy contains over 400 calories each serving. Why is this going to help reduce stress? Chocolate, of course. Who hasn't heard how chocolate is good for you. There's even a book about how we (women) need chocolate like we need air. If only. Don't get me wrong. I'm a regular chocolate eater, but I'm not pretending I eat it for a health benefit. I also eat a couple pieces and put away the rest for another day (you can learn to do it too in my 8-week course). On the other hand, if having chocolate around would cause me to overeat, that wouldn't be doing much for reducing my stress now would it?

So are these suggestions a healthy way to lower stress or just an excuse to eat? It seems the stress benefits will be gone once you eat half a cake. Instead, go to a restaurant just for dessert. It's a wonderful treat, and you don't have the whole pan of leftover brownies staring at you once you get home.

Chocolate & Cocoa: 'Healthy' Benefits or Negative Health Effects?

MRK's Chocolate site (scroll down for content).