Stop The Diet Debate, Please!

From an article, entitled End the Diet Debate by Victoria Lambert, MS, RD comes the following:

“Please stop discussing, debating and and researching the optimal human diet. We already know what it is.”

I agree as there is no such thing as the Perfect Diet. We all eat different things – whether we call ourselves Carnivores, Herbivores or the most common, Omnivores. The following article makes a lot of sense that everyone should think about when it comes to food acceptance. It can be simple by doing three things: Eat your vegetables, cook at home, eat less processed food for starters. It is what you make it and the degree of simplicity is dependent on your lifestyle (a new trend in medicine and nutrition).

CLICK HERE

What Does “Fattening” Mean?

Spaghetti, Noodles, Tomatoes, Pasta

A term used for decades to describe foods that would make one gain weight was the expression of “fattening”.

Moderate avoidance (though not totally responsible) of these foods became the conventional wisdom to help avoid weight gain and became a dieter’s mantra. In fact, food history indicates that body-weight was relatively stable until about the late 1990’s in the United States. At that time, dietary advice had shifted to low-fat diets with the added disadvantage of food companies at the time replacing fat in their food products with more carbohydrate-containing foods.

Keep in mind- basic biochemistry tells us that all carbohydrates (except for dietary fiber) are eventually converted to glucose in the body to be used for energy. We are further reminded that some carbs are referred to as “starchy” (bad) and others as “non starchy” (good ).

The following article further elucidates the term of what are now commonly referred to as “white foods” and refers to their state of processing – refined or unrefined and how they may participate in our current obesity epidemic.

CLICK HERE.

The Microbiome: What We Know

Friendly Bacteria

The microbiome is one of the hot topics in the world of diet and nutrition science. Many claims are being made that attempt to associate “healthy” and “unheathy” microbes in the gut with certain diseases, e.g. Parkinson’s, depression and even autism.

Here are some facts:

The gut microbiome is the most complex ecosystem in the world.

Diversity in the microbiome leads to health and is governed by our diet.

Seventy percent of Americans have digestive related symptoms or disease.

Diets can change the biome in 24 hours; however, usually this change is temporary.

Probiotics are not the only answer. Prebiotics may play more of a role in feeding the microbiome and keeping it healthy. Short chain fatty acids called butyrate and other metabolites can be the fuel for intestinal bacteria. It may be protective against the dangerous low-grade inflammation thought to be caused by a high-fat /high sugar diet or artificial sweeteners.

Prebiotic Foods:

Jerusalem artichokes	Sauerkraut
Onions	Maple Syrup
Chickory root (inulin)	Peas
Garlic	Legumes
Leeks	Eggplant
Bananas	Honey
Fruit	Green Tea
Soybeans	Yogurt, cottage cheese, kefir

Best Advice: EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!

The composition of the microbiome can help to shape a healthy immune system.

In my opinion, we still are in the infancy stage in knowing just what microbes are helpful or harmful and how they affect our health. We do know that treatment with fecal transplants can help to treat a persistent condition called Clostridium difficle or C. diff that can occur after using antibiotics or being in the hospital. Just recently, a friend of mine says she had the disease without taking antibiotics or being hospitalized; therefore, it may occur in the community as well.

The following article provides some common sense knowledge about this topic with some advice on dealing with the issue of diet, prebiotics and probiotics for our health.

CLICK HERE.

The Myths and Realities of Dietary Supplements

Dietary Supplements: The Myths and Realities

In 1994 Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, which led to an explosion of manufactured compounds which are now number to more than 80,000 products on the market and the number continues to grow. Types of dietary supplements include:

Vitamins and minerals (Vitamin C and E, selenium)
Herbs (botanicals such as ginseng, ginkgo)
Proteins and amino acids (chondroitin sulfate, creatine)
Hormones, hormone precursors (DHEA, vitamin D)
Fats (fish oils, EPA, DHA)
Other Plant extracts (garlic capsules, fiber, echinacea, green tea)

A recent edition of Consumer Reports (December 2019) has provided a very comprehensive article by Kevin Loria entitled “Shop Smarter About Supplements” that everyone should read if you take any dietary supplements to fully understand why consumers should be aware of the realities, both positive and negative of these products. Americans place lot of trust in diet supplement safety even though they are largely unregulated.

Here are some FACTS: Source: Consumer Reports

Percentage of Americans who take a supplement at least once a week: 68%
Percentage of Americans who take a supplement once a day: 54%
Percentage of Americans who say “supplements are safe”: 71%
Percentage of Americans who think supplements are tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): 48%
Percentage of Americans who think the term “natural” means a supplement is safe or wholesome: 33%
Percentage of Americans who think supplements are safer than Rx or over-the-counter drugs: 38%
Percentage of Americans who think supplements usually work as well as Rx drugs: 32%

However, under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, diet supplements do not have to be tested prior to marketing or shown to be safe or effective. Although they are often advertised to relieve certain ailments, they are not considered to be drugs. They are not subjected to vigorous testing to prove safety or effectiveness, as drugs must be. The FDA largely relies on any claims from the manufacturers. It has been shown that many industry-funded studies only favor positive results and many negative effects never see the light of day. So when you read in a headline for a supplement, “clinical trials have shown…,” the bias of the manufacturer of the study results may be suspected.

In fact, each supplement label must include the following declaration of any claim:

“This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

To summarize the realities:

FDA does not approve, test, or regulate the manufacture or sale of dietary supplements.
The FDA has limited power to keep potentially harmful dietary supplements off the market.
Dietary supplements often do not list side effects, warnings, or drug or food interactions on product labels.
Ingredients list on dietary supplement labels may not include all active ingredients.
Dietary supplements may not relieve problems or promote health and performance as advertised.
Many products may remain on the market because “there’s a strong placebo effect.”
“People will feel better if they think they’re going to feel better.”

What Can You Do?

Purchase supplements labeled USP (U.S. Pharmacopeia) and Consumer Laboratories (CL). They are tested for purity, ingredients and dose but does not address product safety of effectiveness directly.
Terms such as release assured, laboratory tested, quality tested, and scientifically blended on supplement labels guarantee nothing.
Check expiration dates on supplements.
Choose supplements containing 100% of the Daily Value or less.
Take supplements with meals.
Avoid calcium supplements made from oyster shells, bone or coral calcium. They may contain lead or aluminum.
Store supplements where small children cannot get at them. A high incidence of trips to the ER involve overdosing of a certain supplement by young children. Taking a large dose of iron can be life-threatening that can damage the intestinal lining and and may cause liver damage.
Tell your health provider about the supplements you take. Consult your provider about health problems before you start taking supplements to try to treat health problems with herbal supplements.

Source: Judith E. Brown, Nutrition Now, 7^th Edition.

Is Our Intake of Vegetable Oils Inflammatory?

Is Our Intake of Vegetable Oils Inflammatory? Some research suggests so.

Chronic inflammation is associated with the onset of many chronic diseases including heart disease and cancer. From eating different types of polyunsaturated fats, we can influence the presence of inflammation by the fact that certain hormone-like compounds called eisosanoids within the body are produced from polyunsaturated fats that affect blood clotting, blood pressure, immune function, and the inflammatory response. These fats are called omega-6 (inflammatory) or omega-3 (anti-inflammatory) fatty acids.

The problem is that the American Diet contains too many omega-6 and too little omega-3 fats. We ideally evolved on a ratio of these fatty acids as 1:1. Currently our diet has an unbalanced ratio of 1:20 of 6’s and 3’s respectively. The following article addresses the research that suggests that this issue may be partly responsible for our higher cancer rates than found in other countries with a more favorable ratio (closer to 1:1 of these fats. The last part gives us some sound advice on what to do with your diet to alleviate this problem.

CLICK HERE.

Lifestyle Factors and Dementia

There is a lot of attention being paid to the importance of lifestyle factors in the onset of chronic diseases we may encounter as we age. Alzheimer’s disease is dreaded by many people as well as other diseases such as heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes.

For a comprehensive article on the latest findings and facts for prevention and/or delay of onset, CLICK HERE.

It’s important to realize that these factors are still controversial and need more studies to follow up their effects on chronic diseases; however, drug therapy is sadly lacking at the present time and healthy living is not toxic and may be less inflammatory to our bodies. Hopefully, as we learn more, healthy people can practice these lifestyles earlier in life rather than waiting until the disease process has begun.

Red Meat: Use Some Common Sense

This debate still continues to capture the headlines – is red meat healthy or not for us or the planet? Food, Facts and Fads will continue to follow the research and attempt to offer some reasonable advice about this issue. Best approach? Be reasonable with your red meat consumption until further notice, but don’t panic. Americans are avid meat eaters and it’s difficult to know who to trust due to the biases of each side. For the latest CLICK HERE.

The Obesity/Diabesity Pandemic

Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, so much so that the epidemic is often called diabesity. It has been described as one of the most important crises that has invaded our public health system.

Global Statistics, Source: Lancet

Since 1980, the number of adults with diabetes worldwide has quadrupled from 108 million to 422 million in 2014.
Diabetes is fast becoming a major problem in low and middle-income countries.
From 1980 to 2014, the prevalence of diabetes more than doubles for men in India and China.
Half of adults worldwide with diabetes in 2014 lived in five countries: China, India, USA, Brazil and Indonesia.

So what are some solutions?

The standard American diet is in much need of an overhaul and our national food systems need to change if we wish to reverse or at least slow down this trend. Many say that it would take the same determination as the campaigns to change behaviors that were utilized during the campaigns against smoking. .

Prevention awareness should be first on the front lines of treating the people with prediabetes that can often be reversible using lifestyle modifications. There are already some prevention models in the community; however, these should be expanded so that they become more easily accessible to more people. The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) uses intensive behavioral therapy to help people lose a little bit of weight (typically 5-10%). When this program is followed, the number of people progressing to have diabetes comes down by more than half. In people over 60, the reduction was 70%.

Nutrition education should be incorporated into the school system in the early years to help young children understand the importance of knowing where our food comes from and why nutritious foods are the best choice. They can be taught about balanced eating, calories, reading labels and grocery shopping. Nutrition education can also be offered at the middle and high schools levels by returning to a revamped and modernized home economics course in the curriculum.

A lingering problem has existed for many primary care physicians for many years in that they say they were never adequately prepared in nutrition principles in medical schools. In a survey of family physicians (2009), two thirds said that dealing with extremely obese patients is “frustrating “and one-half said treatments are often ineffective. This is reflected by a lack off obesity training.

Shockingly, another survey in 2010 of 140 doctors revealed that nearly one-third were not even familiar with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) prediabetes guidelines. Only 6 percent were able to identify all 11 risk factors and on average, the doctors could only identify just eight of the warning signs. Only 17 percent knew the correct laboratory values for blood glucose and only 11 percent said they would refer a patient to a behavioral weight loss program..

There should be an increased access to professional treatments. Medical professionals not trained in obesity management should refer their patients to outside providers such as dietitians, exercise trainers, behavior therapists, psychologists, or a new concept of health coaches. These providers should be trained, certified, and credentialed to protect the public from unscrupulous treatments and to provide quality care. Reimbursement of qualified health professionals needs to be enhanced to keep. Otherwise patient volume high and they lessen out-of-pocket expenses.

We have become a nation of non-cooks and prefer to have our meals prepared by someone else. Encourage home cooking and home kit meals to help to counter using fast foods and packaged highly processed meals loaded with calories, fat, sugar and salt.

Educate the public on food labeling including ingredient lists. Beware of food companies that promote products with a “health halo” meaning exaggerated claims are made that appear to make unhealthy foods seem healthy because of an added nutrient or ingredient. Corporations also mislead consumers with their labeling so they include four different types of sugar to keep sugar from being listed as the first ingredient. This is misleading to the consumer when attempting to make wise food choices.

Stop corporate-government partnerships and diminish lobbying.The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) is funded by myriad food companies such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Kellogg’s. The dairy industry has a long history of influencing the food pyramid and Dietary Guidelines. A good example is the placing of a glass of milk on the MyPlate Logo.

Another health organization guilty of taking in millions from food companies is the American Heart Association. They offer a “Heart – Check logo for a price: $5, 490 to $7,500 that is renewable for another fee annually. The product has to be low in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol to gain this “honor.” However, some products such as Boar’s Head processed meats have the logo and still may still contain high levels of sodium. If the AHA were sincere in their efforts to help consumers choose healthier foods to rein in obesity/diabetes, they would realize that research has shown that a 1.8 oz. daily serving of processed meat raised the risk of diabetes by 19 percent and heart disease by 42 percent. Most current dietary recommendations emphasize a reduction in processed meats (my emphasis).

There is bad news on rising obesity rates – read about them HERE.

It will take a concerted effort from government, politics, industry, communities, and consumers and the perpetrators of our obesigenic culture to begin to change this trend.