the problem is that magazines such as men's health often shoot in the opposite direction when it comes to the issue of health.

flip through any issue and look at the types of men in the pictures. and look at the types of women in the pictures when present. its all about this "all american superhero" physique. who, besides models and professional athletes looks like that? ironically the magazine is asking men to drop one kind of juice, and strongly implying that they get another kind of "juice" so they look like "real men".

if you want to tell people to take of their body, you can't give them goals that are too high for the average person to obtain. or they give up or do something dangerous to themselves.

it also worthy to note that men's health doesn't talk about gay sexual issues at all. the magazine steers very clear of anything that would pertain to gay men, even simple social rights issues.

the magazine also proudly loves to advertise Hummers for GM.

so while one should skip the jamba juice smoothie, one should also skip the subscription to men's health.

Sent by brian | 3:18 PM ET | 06-03-2008

I don't really find that the guys in Men's Health are too heavily muscled...you can look like that too, provided you actually follow the magazine's diet and exercise tips. I would be inclined to agree if you were slamming a bodybuilding magazine, since the models they employ routinely use steroids, but I've never seen a physique in Men's Health that was absolutely unattainable. As for addressing gay issues, aren't there magazines for that already, and do you really feel that addressing social issues of gay society has place in a health magazine?

Sent by Greg | 4:24 PM ET | 06-03-2008

It's not like I thought you were good for me Vitamin Water. I knew your psychotropic colors were not from nature sprung. But you were tasty like the tastiest street drugs. This is going to be at least a 12 step process.

Sent by Michelle | 11:24 AM ET | 06-04-2008

Every time I scroll down far enough to see the picture of the delicious looking Heath monstrosity... I think I want one. It looks so tasty! Then my eye strays to the right and I look at the calories and see that it's more than 1,000 calories more than I eat in A WHOLE DAY. That's honestly the only thing keeping me from finding a Baskin Robbin's in town.

Sent by Sarah Lee | 3:18 PM ET | 06-04-2008

As a Registered Dietitian, nutrition and product education are extremely important to me and I can tell you that the comments in this story do not provide an accurate picture. For example, when looking at the first beverage mentioned, Vitaminwater, they're not comparing apples to apples. The calorie and carbohydrate content found in a 12ounce can are far different from those in a 20 ounce bottle. In addition, each bottle of vitaminwater provides 25% of the daily value of four B vitamins and 100% of the daily value of vitamin C.
My clients lead busy lives as I'm sure you do too, and let's face it, we all want to be healthy while reaching and/or maintaining a healthy weight. When reading articles like these (that seem to provide helpful insight), know that an active lifestyle, moderation, and reading nutrition fact panels accurately will provide you with more detail and benefits than a column like this. Wile I think that it's great that people like Zinczenko and Goulding want to educate, being a good educator means presenting all the facts in an accurate, unbiased manner. Speak to a Registered Dietitian or your physician if you're concerned with your weight, diet, or calories in versus calories out.

Sent by Melissa H. Dierks RD, LDN, CDE | 5:05 PM ET | 06-18-2008