The Blue Zone

A look inside the United States’ first-ever certified “Blue Zone” located in Minnesota

By Erin Hassanzadeh

Updated on: December 1, 2023 / 12:45 PM CST / CBS Minnesota

ALBERT LEA, Minn. — Living to 100 may seem like a major feat, but there are communities around the world where it’s common — they’re called “Blue Zones.”

Minnesota native Dan Buettner is one of the foremost experts on how they work. Buettner’s new Netflix documentary and New York Times bestsellers reveal the secret recipe to longevity.

“It’s really what they’re not doing. They’re not doing anything consciously, and there’s where we get it wrong,” Buettner said. “We think we can resolve to get on the right diet, the right exercise program, supplement plan, superfoods, and get healthier. But it never works.”

Buettner said that the “superagers” are often walking outside, having spontaneous conversations with the people they bump into, having a smaller dinner, and eating mostly a whole food, plant-centric diet.

Several years ago, a Minnesota community decided it wanted families to follow his guidance. Albert Lea made headlines in 2016 when it became the first community in the country to be a certified Blue Zones community.

“I came to Albert Lea in 2008 with this crazy idea of doing this pilot project to help us live longer and better,” Cathy Malakowsy said.

Neighbors like Mary Jo Volkman hopped on the bandwagon, living the Blue Zone life — with more movement, socializing and healthy eating habits.

“I remember people getting together and walking all the time and going to people’s homes to have meals together,” Volkman said.

The community added more events, healthier school lunches and community spaces like dog parks— encouraging people to get together and get moving,

The Mayo Clinic in Albert Lea hopped on board as the largest employer in town with similar values.

“Getting people on board was easy. I think our challenge has been keeping it alive over this time. With anything, it’s going to ebb and flow,” Tricia Dahl with the Mayo Clinic said.

Part of the blue zone build-out was constructing a walkway along the highway in Albert Lea so it allows residents to walk to the local Walmart and do their errands if they want. It’s also safer for pedestrians and cuts down on emissions from cars, moving them closer to their climate action goals.

“We’ve added almost 13 new miles of sidewalks and user trails in town,” Malakowsy said.

Employers like Arcadian Bank keep Blue Zones alive with their healthy vending options. They also have break rooms for nursing moms and workout spaces for movement and respite throughout the workday.

“That’s what we’re trying to do is just make healthy habits available to people,” Jessica Tomschin said.

According to the results of a self-reported survey, residents’ overall well-being, sense of community and sense of purpose is up.

“So many people report that they are thriving. Albert Lea has really dropped in the percentages of people with high blood pressure, same with high cholesterol. For some reason we’re lagging with exercise,” Malakowsy said. “Our tobacco use has dropped down.”

Of course, there are headwinds too.

“Food continues to be our big challenge — access to food on our south side of town,” Malakowsy said.

But community leaders say trying to make life better for everyone brings the “it” factor to Albert Lea.

“We figured out we’re a Blue Zones community, which is all about being a great place to live,” Malakowsy said.

U. S. Dietary Guidelines

Assessing the latest U.S. dietary guidelines: Will they be enough to finally make a difference?

January 20, 2021—Eric Rimm, professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discussed the recently released 2020–2025 U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Rimm served on the Scientific Advisory Committee in 2010.

What’s your assessment of the new guidelines?

This is the first time that the guidelines include advice for children under two. They now actually address healthy eating across the lifespan. I think this is an important change because of the likely role that early diet plays in laying the foundation for healthy dietary habits and a lifetime of disease prevention. The government made a conscious effort to include more pediatricians on the advisory committee, including Elsie Tavares, who has an appointment in our Department of Nutrition. These guidelines will be used to inform government nutrition policy, so I think that was a good step forward.

What was disappointing to me was that the government decided to take a pass on changing recommendations for daily calories from added sugar. The scientific advisory committee had recommended lowering limits from 10% to 6%, but the official government guidelines kept the recommendation at the upper level.

However, I agreed with the decision to leave out the committee’s recommendation to lower alcohol guidelines for men from a maximum of two daily drinks to one. I was the alcohol expert in 2010, and I believe the science still supports what was in the previous guidelines in 2010 and 2015, that is, up to two drinks a day for men and one for women. I think it is important that if a government body is going to make a substantial change in policy statement about alcohol that it be as scientifically accurate as possible.

Going forward, we need to focus on understanding and promoting healthy drinking patterns. The guidelines are very clear on up to two drinks for men in any given day—not seven on Friday and seven on Saturday. With people drinking a lot more at home during the pandemic, it may be a good time to remind people that binge drinking is harmful.

How can the average person make sense of the guidelines and apply some of the recommendations in their own diets?

The guidelines are primarily aimed at policy makers and academics, so people may find some of the recommendations difficult to translate to their lives. Take counting calories, for example. If you give most people a plate of food and ask them how many calories it contains, they won’t know. I don’t blame them. It’s a really hard thing to think about when you’re making a meal.

I think a perhaps more helpful thing to focus on is eating whole foods instead of processed foods. We know that it’s better for you to eat food in its natural form. Highly processed grains like white bread, for example, strip all the good stuff out. Another important step is to choose healthier proteins—chicken and fish over red meat, or soy proteins over animal proteins.

Much of the guidelines do discuss healthy dietary patterns including the Mediterranean Diet or vegetarian diet. To help make them affordable, you can buy inexpensive proteins like dried beans, and also incorporate frozen fruits and vegetables into your diet.

What nutrition policy changes do you hope to see in the next few years?

In 2015, the advisory committee recommended incorporating sustainability into the dietary guidelines—for example, encouraging a more plant-based diet to lower the production of greenhouse gases. This was not included in the government’s official 2015 guidelines, and it did not improve in 2020. The 2020 guidelines were set up by the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services with very specific parameters around what topics the scientists on the Advisory Committee could address, and sustainability was not listed. Recently, the EAT-Lancet report has really become the source for thinking about sustainability in the way we eat, but I think these conversations still have a place in the guidelines. I’m optimistic that they will eventually be included.

I’m also hopeful that standards around school meals set during the Obama administration, such as lowering amounts of saturated fat and sodium, will be restored. We’re essentially training kids’ palates for unhealthy food for life, which is so disheartening, especially since we know it’s possible to serve healthy school meals that kids will actually eat and enjoy.

Another important area is the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Food insecure people in the program should be free to purchase what they want, but I think we are setting them up to fail. We need to provide incentives to help people on SNAP buy healthier food. There is robust evidence to show that if you do this, it works.

—Amy Roeder

Is There a Longevity Diet?

‘Longevity diet’ may help people live longer by fasting for half the day, banning red meat
April 28, 2022
by StudyFinds

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Fad diets are a dime a dozen these days, but researchers at USC say they’ve finally put one together that has everything you need to live a long and healthy life. Their “longevity diet” favors fish and plant-based proteins, and even welcomes a good amount of carbs, while avoiding red and processed meats.
This diet also requires people to eat their meals within a certain time frame and allow time for periods of fasting. Dieters looking to follow a healthy diet have no shortage of options these days, with most of these plans focusing on cutting carbs and calories. However, it’s been unclear if these diets help people actually stay healthy and live longer.
Now, the USC team has found that it’s not only about what people eat, but also when they eat it.

“We explored the link between nutrients, fasting, genes and longevity in short-lived species, and connected these links to clinical and epidemiological studies in primates and humans – including centenarians,” says Professor Valter Longo in a university release.
“By adopting an approach based on over a century of research, we can begin to define a longevity diet that represents a solid foundation for nutritional recommendations and for future research.”

Taking the best parts of popular diets
The researchers reviewed hundreds of studies on nutrition, diseases, and long life, involving both animals and humans, and combined them with their own research. Their analysis included a wide range of calorie-cutting diets such as the popular keto diet, as well as vegetarian, vegan, and Mediterranean diets. It also looked at various forms of fasting, including cutting out food intermittently or over longer periods of time — sometimes for two or more days several times a month.
The team found several factors linked to living longer and certain illnesses, such as insulin, cholesterol, and certain protein levels. Overall, study authors believe the secret to living longer is eating a moderate to high amount of carbohydrates from unrefined sources.
Also, getting the right amount of protein and enough fats from plant-based sources can provide about 30 percent of a person’s energy needs. Ideally, a person’s meals would take place within an 11 or 12-hour window, allowing for a daily period of fasting. A five-day cycle of fasting or fasting-mimicking diet every three to four months could also maintain healthy insulin levels and blood pressure, the study finds.
So, what’s in the longevity diet?
“Lots of legumes, whole grains, and vegetables; some fish; no red meat or processed meat and very low white meat; low sugar and refined grains; good levels of nuts and olive oil, and some dark chocolate,” Prof. Longo says while describing the longevity diet.
Their new menu resembles Mediterranean diets, found in so-called “Blue Zones” like Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, and Loma Linda in California. These diets are usually plant-based with some seafood and relatively low in protein.
The researchers’ diet adds to this by also providing time frames for meals and fasting periods which people can adapt to fit their sex, age, health status, and genetics. For example, people over age 65 benefited from more protein to counter the loss of lean body mass and frailty. Next, the researchers are planning on carrying out a 500-person study using the longevity diet in southern Italy.

Study authors suggest anyone looking to follow the longevity diet should work with a healthcare provider to come up with a plan which focuses on making small changes. This is because making drastic changes can be harmful, causing major loss of body fat and lean mass. Moreover, people often put the weight back on once they abandon a highly restrictive diet.
The findings are published in the journal Cell.

South West News Service writer Tom Campbell contributed to this report.
Tags: healthy eating, intermittent fasting, longevity, meat, Mediterranean diet, red meat

Edited for Food, Facts, and Fads by Sally J Feltner, MS, Ph.D

How is Your Vitamin D Status?

Are you feeling the effects of aging? If so you may at some time be told to check your vitamin D level. Vitamin D has recently become a very popular vitamin as a cure-all supplement (until another takes it place.) I think of vitamin D as a nutrient looking for a disease. So, the two have yet to meet ( in my opinion). Vitamin D is associated with strength and bone health primarily for children. However, more research is needed.

This is what we think we know: In the field of nutrition, this may change overnight.

The precursors for vitamin D are reduced as we age. By age 70, our ability to produce vitamin D is about half of what it was at age 20. D is in scarce supply in our regular diets. Most milk and some juices, milk alternatives and cereals are fortified with D, but other dietary sources — fatty fish like mackerel and sardines, and some mushrooms — aren’t exactly a staple in most American diets. As a result, nearly 1 in 4 people in the U.S. have inadequate blood levels of vitamin D3, the most active form.

In one study of adults 50 and older, all of whom had recently fractured bones, 43 percent were deficient in both calcium and vitamin D. Presently the world has turned to taking supplements in “megadoses” to meet the recent claims that vitamin D can be the cure-all for all the recent diseases like Parkinson’s disease, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease – in other words, maybe vitamin D has found its disease. Not so fast!!

It is not necessary to take most vitamins at megadose levels (unless ordered by your doctor).
But… How much do you really need?
Before you pick up a vitamin D supplement, it makes sense to have a conversation with your doctor. Vitamin D can interact with heart medications, including statins and diuretics. Dietary guidelines call for 600 international units (IUs) daily of vitamin D3 (and at least 800 after age 70). So that’s a solid place to start. Look for vitamin D3, which is more efficiently utilized by the body than D2. The Tolerable Upper Intake is 4000 IU per day for adults. Many people are prescribed higher levels depending on a latest study they read from a headline in a supermarket magazine; however, please check with your doctor, health coach or registered dietitian.
Since we also manufacture vitamin D from cholesterol and from the sun, we can count on that source somewhat depending on your exposure.

Ways to Improve Vitamin D Status – Source:
Judith E Brown.Nutrition Now, 7th Edition
Eat salmon once a week
Choose a vitamin D-fortified orange juice when I buy juice
Take a vitamin supplement (400-600 IU/day )
Exercise or walk in sunshine for 10 minutes three times a day with some direct skin exposure to the sun.

Plant based or meat based???

Plant-based sandwiches, salads and pizza are NOT healthier than meat options, study reveals

Researchers analysed 1,868 meals from 50 fast food chains across five countries
The vegan options contain less protein and sodium but more carbs and sugar

By Xantha Leatham Deputy Science Editor For The Daily Mail

Published: 09:37 EST, 3 January 2024 | Updated: 09:45 EST, 3 January 20

72 View comments

MOST people see the New Year as a chance to kickstart a healthy eating regimen, and maybe even give Veganuary a go.

But vegan fast-food meals do not have less calories than their meaty counterparts, a study suggests.

Researchers analyzed a total of 1,868 meals including sandwiches, salads, noodles and pizza from 50 fast food chains across five countries, including the UK.

These chains included Wagamamas, Pret, Pizza Express, Leon and Burger King.

The team collected data on the calorie content, presence of allergens, and the quantities of nutrients, fibre and salt in each meal.

Researchers in Poland analysed a total of 1,868 meals including sandwiches, salads, noodles and pizza from 50 fast food chains across five countries, including the UK

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Their findings, published in the journal Nutrition, revealed that plant-based meals had less protein and sodium, and higher levels of carbohydrates and sugar, compared to the meat-based meals.

But – in bad news for those trying to shed some pounds – they discovered that overall, plant-based meals were not linked with having less calories.

Lead author Mikołaj Kamiński, from the Poznań University of Medical Sciences in Poland, said: ‘Our findings revealed that plant-based fast-food meals were more likely to contain more carbohydrates and sugar than meat-based equivalents.

‘Surprisingly, our study shows that plant-based meals are not associated with lower calories, which consumers may not realise.

‘This really emphasizes the importance of making informed food choices, especially when it comes to consuming fast food – even more so if you suffer from a metabolic disorder like type 2 diabetes.

‘It exposes the illusion that plant-based alternatives of popular fast-food dishes are automatically a healthier choice.’

The findings also showed that the meals containing meat were more likely to have allergens such as dairy, eggs, fish, shellfish and mustard, while plant-based meals more likely contained allergens such as sesame, seeds and nuts.

WHAT SHOULD A BALANCED DIET LOOK LIKE?

Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain, according to the NHS

• Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruit and vegetables count

• Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain

• 30 grams of fibre a day: This is the same as eating all of the following: 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, 2 whole-wheat cereal biscuits, 2 thick slices of wholemeal bread and large baked potato with the skin on

• Have some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks) choosing lower-fat and lower-sugar options

• Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 portions of fish every week, one of which should be oily)

• Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consuming in small amounts

• Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water a day

• Adults should have less than 6g of salt and 20g of saturated fat for women or 30g for men a day

Source: NHS Eatwell Guide

Global Secrets

Making Your Diet Go Global
“Traditional food is an integral part of cultural identity. In Italy, for example, food is not just about sustenance, but also about family, community, and tradition. The Italian food experience centers not only on taste, but on sharing meals with loved ones, the pleasure of cooking, and pride in their culinary heritage.”
“Similarly, in Japan, food and cultural identity are closely tied. Japanese cuisine is known for its simplicity, elegance, and attention to detail. The preparation and presentation of traditional Japanese dishes like sushi, tempura, and ramen are considered an art form. Japanese food culture pays attention to the aesthetics and symbolism of food, and honors culturally rooted respect for nature and tradition.”
In these ways, food can define and perpetuate culture. Yet food customs and dining etiquette are not only important for preserving cultural identity, but also for promoting cultural diversity and understanding. Food can serve as a bridge between different cultures, allowing people to learn about and appreciate other ways of life.”
From a variety of sources of healthy eating from all parts of the globe, foods from a global approach/menu can increase your well-being, extend your longevity and contribute your compression of morbidity as you age. Diet is not dependent on only what we eat, but how and even when we eat. Culturally, we can examine how other parts of our globe that contribute to the keys of lasting health from our vast choices and global difference in enviornments and lifestyle habits.
“In addition to fostering cultural preservation and belonging, cultural foods and traditional food customs can also promote good nutrition and health.
Traditional foods are often made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients and prepared using traditional cooking methods that have been passed down for generations. As a result, they tend to be healthier and more nutrient-dense than processed or fast foods. Traditional diets are also typically rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, which can help lower the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and . cancers.”

The Traditional Mediterranean Diet
Rich in “healthy fats” including olive oil and omega- 3 fatty acids
Vegetables abound, meat is minor
Loads of beneficial herbs
Moderate drinking (red wine, e.g.)
Slower pace of life.

“The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health is a book by T. Colin Campbell and his son, Thomas M. Campbell II. The book argues for health benefits of a whole food plant-based diet. It was first published in the United States in January 2005 and had sold over one million copies as of October 2013, making it one of America’s best-selling books about nutrition.[2][3] “
Low rates of many chronic diseases
Compared to North Americans, the Chinese report significantly lower rates of breast, colon and rectal, and lung cancers, and a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes.
Packed wtih produce: less meat, more grains (Plant-hased)
Tea is beverage of choice.
Too high in sodium

Note: Source is 30 Secrets of the world’s Healthiest Cuisines, by Linda Sephen Jonas, MD and Sandra Gordon, 2000
These are post-covid data. (Sally Feltner, PhD)

France: The Good Life Savored
Moderate drinking
Lots of fruits and vegetables
No snacking or dieting: Weigh self only every month
Somewhat of a permissive diet, e.g. relatively high in saturated fats: lower rates of heart disease.

Japan: Embracing the East and West with Beauty and Health

The diet is one of the world’s lowest in fat.
Fish is a mainstay of the traditional Japanese diet.
Soy foods also play a manor role.
Style counts — but not over substance. Food presentation is important.
The Japanese report low rates of major chronic diseases.
The Japanese live longer and boast the world’s highest life expectancy (76 or men and 82 for women.)

Note: Life expectancy rates may have negativley shifted due to the pandemic.

Scandinavia/Nordic Countries: The Benefits of Dairy and Grains
Whole grain breads and cereals are staples of Scandinavian Diet.
Studies show that high fiber may reduce the risk of heart disease, some forms of cancer, constipation, and other intestinal problems.
More fruits and vegetables.
Lower-fat dairy products.

Note:
Increase fiber into the diet gradually; include with intake adequate water consumption. Your body needs time to adjust. Consult your doctor, dietitian or health coach.

Source:
Steven Jonas, MD. Sandra Gordon 30 Secrets of the World’s Healthiest Cuisines. 2000.

Note: The data for this post needs an update; but after some fact checking, appears to be still generally acceptable on the topic of Diet and Health. (Sally J. Feltner, MS, PhD).

What’s Cooking?

Canola Oil

Is canola oil a healthy fat? Rightfully so since it had a bad reputation for awhile due to its association with a toxic acid called eurucic acid. More currently due to newer breeding processes reulted in its removal of this acid, making canola on the list of what is now called “healthy fats.” It is primarily an unsaturated fat and very low in omega-6 (fat and contain the same type of oil found in olive oil. However, Americans are awash in omega-6 fats and should be attempting to increase their intake of omega-3 fats instead.

But to its credit, it has a very mild flavor (unlike olive oil) and has been called a “neutral” oil so its very versatile for cooking and stands up fairly well to heat.
Bittman, Mark and Katz, David L., M.D. How to Eat” All your Food and Diet Questioned Answered.

Roasting Vegetables

Roasting has become a cooking favorite lately, but questions do arise due to the higher temperatures (400 degrees) needed for best results. Many people wonder if this type of cooking can destroy some nutrients, especially in some originally healthy vegetables? This may help.

All forms of cooking can destroy some nutrients. It’s impossible to avoid. However, there is some good news since cooking actually helps by releasing the nutrients from plant cell walls. These include lycopene (iin tomatoes), red peppers and beta-carotene in carrots, spinach, and kale. Therefore, eating cooked tomatoes as a sauce or juice should be the preferred way for optimum health and help the cell use its benefiial properties. Mushrooms, asparagus, and cabbage all supply more antioxidants when cooked, also.

On the other hand, Vitamin B6 and folate in broccoli and the polyphenols in onions that help protect against cancer and heart disease are better preserved in raw vegetables.
Sharon Palmer, RDN, author of Plant-Powered for Life, Duate, California. SharonPalmer.com

American Plate: 1930’s

Merry Christmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR from Food, Facts, and Fads

Hard Times, Good Times

Here’s Another Story from Another Era

The 1930’s were a dichotomy of despair and progress. Two grim events dominated the 30’s: the global depression and the rise of Hitler and nationalism in Europe. In the midst of all the upheaval another dramatic change – In 1933, Prohibition was finally repealed. Oh and throw in a disastrous Dust Storm that lasted far too long.

The nation goes gaga over vitamins in the 30s. The only over-the-counter products that outsell them are laxatives. Where is the fiber?

Cooking at home became a necessity and a pastime among middle-aged women who had been forced to let their cooks and servants go. Women’s clubs lunches, afternoon teas, Sunday suppers, potluck dinners, church socials and county fairs were all popular ways to socialize.

Hollywood provided a steady stream of fantasy with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Clark Gable and Jean Harlow, and Shirley Temple. Cole Porter’s musicals ruled Broadway and Benny Goodman’s dance tunes played on Victrolas everywhere.

Soup Kitchens

For more than a decade known as the Great Depression, reliance on businesses had failed that they could not solve the problems of poverty including hunger. Local governments tried to help the needy, but expenditures, which averaged $8.20 per month per person did nothing to help the thousands more who required federal aid. Thus, organizations like the Red Cross and the Salvation army provided help through soup kitchens and breadlines: 13 million people –25 percent of the population—were unemployed and hungry.

Route 66

Despite the odds, America forged ahead and with the opening of Route 66, food establishments like Stuckeys flourished. In the supermarkets, scores of new products were introduced and many still exist today.

When U.S. highway 66 was completed in 1938, it became a vital 2450- mile artery between Chicago and Los Angeles, snaking its way through 8 states. It veered north then south to pass through small towns to link them with more metropolitan cities. With the route, farmers had a pipeline for shipping their food to the big cities and offer help to those trapped by the tragic Dust Bowl that filled the lives of those farmers in that area. Stukeys gets its start when William and Ethyl Stuckey open a roadside stand in Georgia to sell pecans to motorists en route to and from Florida.

Shopping carts

I suppose no one is terribly interested in the history of the shopping cart; however, it is an appliance of sorts we could not do without. So here goes: Slyvan Goldman, owner of the Standard Food Markets and Humpty Dumpty in Oklahoma City, devised a shopping cart by fabricating lawn chairs into a frame that held two hand baskets. He figured if the shoppers could carry more, they’ll buy more. But the first shopping cart is a hard sell. Men found the carts less than masculine and women don’t see the point – they’re accustomed to shopping often. Finally Goldman pays ‘shoppers to cruise stores using the carts.

Kraft Dinner

In 1937, Spam is introduced – yes it’s still here. Kraft rolls out Kraft Dinner – a boxed meal that sells for 19 cents with an advertising slogan of “A Meal for Four in Nine Minutes”. At the end of the century, 1 million boxes a day of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese are sold in the U.S. Talk about processed food?? Apparently this has pleased the palates of our younger citizens for decades.

Fritos

San Antonio candy-maker C. Elmer Doolin stops in a café for a sandwich and is served a side dish of corn chips. He pays the café owner for $100 for his converted potato ricer and the recipe for “tortillas fritas”. Fritos are born, as Doolin and his family begin producing 10 pounds per day. They eventually move their operation to Dallas. Fritos Corn Chips are introduced nationally in 1949.

At the end of the decade, WW2 was boiling in Europe with America waiting in the wings. The “Bad Times” were just beginning.

What the Heck is a “Blind Robin”?

SOURCE: JohnSwinburn.com

Richard Tedrow says:
May 25, 2015 at 1:07 pm
“I would love to know where to get the Blind Robins of my (very) early youth. We would rent a small place in Plumb Point, MD on the Chesapeake Bay. There was a very — perhaps 15′ square — grocery carrying some essentials — milk, beer — and what my father termed “blind robins,” extremely salty small single fish in cellophane packages. My dad and I would eat them together. He would proclaim afterward that now we could talk only to each other because of the adverse affect on one’s breath. I was 4 or 5 years old, loved those little things but don’t believe I have seen them since. That was nearly 70 years ago and my mouth still remembers them. I would love to know where they could be gotten.”
My Experience with “blind robins” is almost identical to yours although my Dad always Insisted on a couple of anchovies instead. The adults in my family spared us the pleasure of a “blind robin” but the breath thing – I cannot remember yesterday, but still the breath thing lingered on until way after New Years Eve.

The Comment was posted on the blog of JohnSwinburn.com. Thanks, Richard

Richard: Try Amazon or online @ Seafood Market, LTD.

Sally Feltner, MS, PhD. foodfactsandfads.com

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

What the Heck is a FODMAP?

FODMAP Diet: What You Need to Know

Food and Nutrition Gut Health Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)Eating for Your Gut

Reviewed By:

Hazel Galon Veloso, M.D.

You may have heard of the FODMAP diet from a friend or on the internet. When people say “FODMAP diet,” they usually mean a diet low in FODMAP — certain sugars that may cause intestinal distress. This diet is designed to help people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and/or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) figure out which foods are problematic and which foods reduce symptoms.

“The low FODMAP diet is a temporary eating plan that’s very restrictive,” says Johns Hopkins gastroenterologist Hazel Galon Veloso, M.D. “It’s always good to talk to your doctor before starting a new diet, but especially with the low FODMAP diet since it eliminates so many foods — it’s not a diet anyone should follow for long. It’s a short discovery process to determine what foods are troublesome for you.”

What is FODMAP?

FODMAP stands for fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, which are short-chain carbohydrates (sugars) that the small intestine absorbs poorly. Some people experience digestive distress after eating them. Symptoms include:

Cramping
Diarrhea
Constipation
Stomach bloating
Gas and flatulence

How does the low FODMAP diet work?

Low FODMAP is a three-step elimination diet:

First, you stop eating certain foods (high FODMAP foods).
Next, you slowly reintroduce them to see which ones are troublesome.
Once you identify the foods that cause symptoms, you can avoid or limit them while enjoying everything else worry-free.

“We recommend following the elimination portion of the diet for only two to six weeks,” says Veloso. “This reduces your symptoms and if you have SIBO, it can help decrease abnormally high levels of intestinal bacteria. Then every three days, you can add a high FODMAP food back into your diet, one at a time, to see if it causes any symptoms. If a particular high FODMAP food causes symptoms, then avoid this long term.”

What can I eat on the FODMAP diet?

Foods that trigger symptoms vary from person to person.

To ease IBS and SIBO symptoms, it’s essential to avoid high FODMAP foods that aggravate the gut, including:

Dairy-based milk, yogurt and ice cream
Wheat-based products such as cereal, bread and crackers
Beans and lentils
Some vegetables, such as artichokes, asparagus, onions and garlic
Some fruits, such as apples, cherries, pears and peaches

Instead, base your meals around low FODMAP foods such as:

Eggs and meat
Certain cheeses such as brie, Camembert, cheddar and feta
Almond milk
Grains like rice, quinoa and oats
Vegetables like eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini
Fruits such as grapes, oranges, strawberries, blueberries and pineapple

Get a full list of FODMAP food from your doctor or nutritionist.

Who should try it?

The low FODMAP diet is part of the therapy for those with IBS and SIBO. Research has found that it reduces symptoms in up to 86% of people.

Because the diet can be challenging during the first, most restrictive phase, it’s important to work with a doctor or dietitian, who can ensure you’re following the diet correctly — which is crucial to success — and maintaining proper nutrition.

“Anyone who is underweight shouldn’t try this on their own,” says Veloso. “The low FODMAP diet isn’t meant for weight loss, but you can lose weight on it because it eliminates so many foods. For someone at an already too low weight, losing more can be dangerous.”

How a Doctor Can Help

Dietary changes can have a big impact on IBS and SIBO symptoms, but doctors often use other therapies as well. Antibiotics can quickly reduce small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, while laxatives and low-dose antidepressants can relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

It is highly recommended to consult with a physician and or a registered dietitian for many reasons. A combination of dietary changes, medications and stress management techniques is often the best approach. Learn how you can work with a doctor to find the SIBO and IBS treatments that work well for you.

Note: Check the credentials of internet dietitians- look for the following: Certified, licensed