Former Mademoiselle editor Valerie Frankel recently published a book describing -- in vivid detail -- her time in the fashion industry, and it's not what you would call glamorous. Thin Is The New Happy provides a graphic insight into the bizarre, weight-obsessed world of fashion magazines, courtesy of one of it's former key players. According to Frankel, "We'd sit in our offices smoking cigarette after cigarette and talking about who ate what, the calorie counts of our lunches, the latest dieting trends, who on the staff looked heavy." Yikes.

Some other tidbits from the book?

• She used to do 'hillocks' of cocaine -- in the office, no less -- to keep the numbers on the scale down.

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The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty has been based upon the idea that, while our bodies might have flaws (real or perceived), we're all beautiful. It's a good message, and they're looking to boost the self-esteem of females of all ages, starting with young girls. I'm all for it -- it's important that women realize that they don't need to be able to trade clothes with their favorite actress or be stalked by paparazzi in order to be beautiful.

However, some discussion has recently surfaced saying that the women in the Real Beauty ads were retouched. Premiere retoucher, Pascal Dangin, told The New Yorker that there was a great deal of retouching done on those ads, "But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone's skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive."

What do you think about this development? I can't say I'm surprised -- I appreciate the fact that Dove still used women of different shapes and sizes. I mean, these are regular women being photographed and filmed in their undies! I can't say I would object to a little digital help were I in their position. But, others feel that it destroys the message -- they're not showing "real" beauty if there's retouching. What do you think?

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It would really be satisfying to me in a world of processed food, junk food and sugar water to see that the growth of the vitamin and supplement industry is actually growing. Perhaps it is.

More and more humans are becoming empowered by information with the rapid spread of the internet and the ways we're all communicating like never before. Hopefully, this and others will allow us all to lead healthier lives in the near future. Information is power, as they say.

A recent report states that growth in the nutraceutical and dietary supplements areas is expected to grow in the future across many world markets. I sincerely hope this data is right on the money. One of the non-benefits to how rapidly the world has grown up has been how nutrition has evolved backwards.

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Kudos to nearly all New York City restaurants who are now complying with phase one of the city's new trans fat regulation. Those still using spreads or fry oils containing the artificial trans fat will be fined by the Health Department.

A whopping 94 percent of 3,300 restaurants inspected between July 1 and September 1 were using zero grams of trans fat. Before the regulation had passed, 50 percent were in compliance. By June, 80 percent were on board. And for the few still not passing with flying colors, it seems margarine use is the hold-up. Fines starting at $200 -- fining began on October 1 -- is the penalty for non-compliance.

"Despite claims to the contrary, New York City restaurants have shown that it's easy to get artificial trans fat out of spreads and fry oils," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, Health Commissioner for New York City. "New Yorkers are now enjoying more healthful foods without any change in taste or price."

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The modeling world has been hit with some hefty criticism as of late. Martha Edwards recently posted on comments made by Dame Helen Mirren, who believes that women in the fashion industry are to blame for the too-thin models skulking down catwalks, and I wrote a post on Australian Prime Minister John Howard's criticisms of a fashion show in that country that used a very young model as the face of the show.

Former model Iman is the latest high-profile figure to comment on the industry, saying that the obsession with and focus on weight and thin women is taking the focus away from each girl's individual identity, meaning there are no new 'supermodels' emerging. Iman is also unhappy about the lack of diversity in the fashion industry and isn't impressed that race is still an issue when it comes to models.

I think she makes some pretty valid comments, but what do you think?

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Normally I don't think that marketing products to children is very honest or ethical. However, I don't have a problem with Dove's latest ad, which is aimed squarely at young girls. The commercial, which you can see at ParentDish in this post by Jonathon Morgan, is the second by the company to bring attention to the sort of (mis)information we are fed by the beauty industry.

The first ad was the one that began with a regular young woman and then fast-forwarded to the same girl transformed into a beauty queen with the many steps necessary to change her look shown in between. The new commercial, titled Onslaught, begins with a young girl and then displays a barrage of fashion and beauty images that promote a thinner, prettier and more perfect ideal. The video ends with a message urging parents to talk to their young daughters before the beauty industry does.

As this piece mentions, the videos are part of Dove's campaign to raise awareness about the industry and more importantly, to raise women's self-esteem. I've seen the ad and I think it's great. What do you think about the video and the campaign?

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The dairy industry has been touting the benefits of milk and milk products and how it helps with weight loss for years, but now the USDA says they have to stop. Although leaders at the National Dairy Council say they stand behind the messages they've been promoting to the public, they have agreed to switch their focus from dairy helps weight loss to dairy helps with weight maintenance. There just isn't enough scientific proof that milk really does help people lose weight.

With this issue coming to the forefront, some experts are starting to scrutinize other claims coming from the dairy industry, such as "milk builds strong bones," and are suggesting there isn't enough research to back them up either.

So much for truth in advertising!

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Organic foods and produce are really catching on -- years ago you had to go to a special market or private store to find good products, but today you can find them practically everywhere. Even big national chains are quickly increasing their organic inventory.

The down side? Organic farmers are struggling to keep up with demand. Sure, there are bigger problems than "too much demand" (and it's always nice to hear that farmers are making money), but although there are a few incentives currently in place encouraging farmers to switch from traditional farming to organic, the conversion process is long and daunting and more help is needed. Industry leaders are, however, continuing to work with local and federal governments to see what else can be done to help meet the ever-increasing demand.

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I think most of us can say that at some point in our "weight loss lives" we've fallen for at least one gimmick and/or over-hyped health claim of some kind, whether it was in a small way or a big way. I know I have! Truth is that not only do some of these products not work, but many of them are downright dangerous.

Now we are all ultimately responsible for what we put in our own bodies, so if you're going to go out and buy miscellaneous herb concoctions and mix them all together with each other well, then, that's your choice. Good luck. But there is also something to be said for the trust we all have in the media and in advertising, however misplaced it may be. Being honest with yourself about whether the claims a certain product is making are realistic or not is the key, and educating yourself on how the product really works.

I am a big believer in different things working for different people, so in some cases I still try different things. But I don't expect miracles, and as I get older I'm more and more careful!

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