REPOST: 3 Hot Nutrition Trends: Healthy or Gimmicky?

Ancient grains, protein, and food and drinks with no artificial sweeteners or preservatives are three of today’s most popular diet trends. But are they really healthy or just hype? Nutritionist Keri Gran discusses the nutritional benefits of each food group in the article below:

Move over, quinoa. Sorghum, teff, millet and other ancient grains are making a comeback. | Image source: Usnews.com

When I attended the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo in Atlanta earlier this week, I was on a mission. Sure, I wanted to network with my friends and colleagues, eat and drink at fun restaurants, go to a karaoke bar (yes, karaoke) and hopefully learn something new at a lecture. But my real mission was to discover new products and trends that I could tell my patients about. So walking aisle after aisle – in stilettos, no less – looking at more than 350 exhibitors, these three trends are what really called out to me:

Ancient Grains
Move over, quinoa, and say hello to sorghum, teff, millet, buckwheat, chia, kamut, bulgar and amaranth. All ancient grains are making a comeback. Not familiar with them? They've been around for centuries, some dating as far back as 6,000 B.C. Most are high in fiber and may help prevent certain cancers, heart disease and high blood pressure.
It seems like a lot of the hoopla around ancient grains is because most, but not all, are gluten-free. And with gluten-free diets being so trendy at the moment, this comeback shouldn’t be surprising. Also, a lot of people do not want to consume genetically modified foods (a conversation for another time) and supposedly, these grains are true to their origin.
However, many companies are simply adding ancient grains to their existing products to jump on the bandwagon – and their products aren't necessarily healthy products. That’s why it’s important to read the entire ingredient nutrition facts label to see exactly what you’re getting.

Going Natural
Many brands I saw at the expo were proud to announce they removed everything “artificial” from their products. Specifically, they advertised no artificial sweeteners or preservatives, touting them as “all natural.” According to Pittsburgh nutritionist Heather Mangieri, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, “Companies are trying to reduce their ingredients based on consumer demand.” Who could argue with that?
However, the Food and Drug Administration does not define the claim “all natural.” At this point, those words might appear on a product or be part of a company’s marketing plan, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you. For example, replacing a soda's artificial sweeteners with stevia doesn’t make it a healthy product.
But I did find many products on the expo floor that made me smile. They had minimal ingredients and were packed with nutrition – deserving of an “all-natural” claim. “Consumers want to open up their refrigerators and find foods that they grew up on,” said Joan Salge Blake, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a nutrition professor at Boston University. I concur, but it depends how you look at that: Not everyone grew up with healthy foods.

Protein Power
All companies were more than eager to tell me how much protein was in their products, including cottage cheese, yogurt, cereal and crackers. “We need protein for many different reasons,” Mangieri said. “It helps to build and repair our muscles, aids in satiety and is also important in weight management.”
“It’s all about snacking, and companies are adding protein to just about everything,” Blake said. I guess there’s a reason for that. I always tell my patients if they are hungry 30 minutes after they ate a snack, chances are they didn’t have enough protein with it. But, Blake pointed out, “When companies start adding protein to water, that is just ridiculous.” Oh, yeah. Water is for hydration – leave the protein for real snack foods.

More to Come
There were also many trends that I couldn’t quite get a handle on yet. Fermentation was a hot word. As Mangieri told me, “There is a lot of talk about prebiotics and probiotics for gut health.” And phytonutrients, such as flavonols and polyphenols, were front and center in many products.
Honestly, it’s hard to keep up with all the food trends, just like it is in fashion. Some trends will look good on you, and others won’t. And if you wait long enough, an old trend just may reappear.

Dr. Robert Pastore is a member of the American College of Nutrition. Follow this Twitter account for the latest nutrition updates.

REPOST: 5 Reasons why you need more fat in your diet

A new study debunks the common belief that high consumption of saturated fat leads to heart disease and weight gain. According to the researchers, the real cause of health problems are lack of exercise and eating too much processed meats, carbohydrates, refined grains, and starches. FOX News has the full story below.

Image Source: foxnews.com

If you’re debating whether to add a slice of butter to your bagel this morning, go right ahead—it’s probably a better choice for your body than low-fat spreads.

The real thing you should be worried about is the bagel.

That’s the takeaway of recent research that is upending four decades of conventional wisdom on the dangers of saturated fat, which spawned a multi-billion-dollar industry in low-fat food products touted as “healthy choices.”

Confused? You’re not alone. “The first studies were indeed surprising to us,” said Dr. Ronald M. Krauss, a director at the Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute.

His groundbreaking research found patients with low-fat, high-carbohydrate diets didn’t experience a reduction in heart disease. But patients eating higher levels of saturated fat, found in dairy and unprocessed meat, and lower levels of carbohydrates, such as potato chips, refined sugar and pizza, were less likely to suffer heart attacks.

“What many people, including myself, thought was accepted wasn’t holding up to more rigorous research,” Dr. Krauss says. “We decided the long-accepted relationship between heart disease and saturated fat needed to be looked at.”

Is this just another health finding that will be upended years later? “There’s been this ricocheting back and forth between extremes,” Dr. Krauss acknowledges. “It’s sort of like this binary thing: If something is true, then something else is false. Unfortunately, the picture with food is more complicated and nuanced than that.”

This doesn’t mean we should be starting our day with two scoops of lard with a side of bacon—moderation still matters. Nor does it give permission to people with health risks like high cholesterol to start piling on the red meat, Dr. Krauss adds.

Instead, the research suggests the vilification of saturated fat has been a dangerous distraction from the real foes in the battle for our waistlines and hearts: processed meats and carbohydrates, refined grains and starches, and lack of exercise.

Image Source: sodahead.com

Here are some surprising facts on saturated fat:

Dietary fat doesn’t make people ‘fat’

Fat doesn’t make us fat—sugar does. Saturated fat adds to our caloric intake, but ultimately, our digestion breaks down food into the simple sugar glucose, which provides energy to our body tissue. This sugar triggers the release of insulin, a hormone that cries “Dinnertime!” to a body’s cells and turns unused energy into fat.

“It makes sense that we would think fat would make us fat,” says Sally Kuzemchak, a dietitian who writes the Real Mom Nutrition blog. “And it has more calories—9 per gram—than carbs or sugars. But during the fat-free craze we just replaced [saturated fat] with too many starchy carbohydrates,” like that bagel you’re tucking into or other foods high in refined white flour or sugar.

Saturated fat helps make you feel full

You can’t walk down a grocery aisle without seeing packaged foods trumpeting the “low-fat,” “nonfat,” “fat-free” or “reduced fat” treats inside. The great irony is that the proliferation of low-fat food has helped American waistlines expand, researchers say. Why? If you take foods with saturated fat out of the diet, your body will hunger for a replacement—and often find it in starchy, processed carbohydrates.

“The important issue is that when reducing saturated fat, there’s an increase in intake of carbohydrates; when you make a change in one, you automatically make a change in the other,” Dr. Krauss says. “There are actually adverse results in substituting carbohydrates for fat.”

Protein-rich foods like red meat and nuts, which also contain saturated fats, are best at making the stomach feel full; snack foods rich in carbohydrates and salt often leave us wanting more. “That’s why you can eat a bag of pretzels and not feel full, even though you’ve consumed hundreds of calories,” adds Kuzemchak, author of the recent “Cooking Light Dinnertime Survival Guide.”

Not all fats are created equal

Different types of fat produce different types of cholesterol, with both good and ill effects. The ratio of “good” cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins, or HDL) to “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins, or LDL) in the bloodstream has a knock-on effect for cardiovascular health risks.

Manmade trans fats found in partially hydrogenated oils like shortening are definitely bad for the body. Fats found in olive oil and fish are rich in “good” cholesterol. The recent research moves saturated fat from the “bad” to the “neutral” column, as it contains both good and bad elements that appear to cancel one another out, Dr. Krauss says.

Steak is better for you than low-fat hot dogs

Processed meats like bologna and bacon are worse for the body than a steak. Research shows that low-fat hot dogs and processed deli meat may have less saturated fat than a steak, but as much as four times more sodium—which increases the risks of heart disease and diabetes.

Whole foods, be they beef, grains or vegetables, are always a better option than packaged foods. “Try to minimize intake of processed foods, especially processed carbohydrates,” Dr. Krauss says.

While steak may be healthier than you realized, a diet heavy on vegetables is always best, he adds. And carbohydrates such as bread or rice made from whole grains rather than refined white flour like white bread and bagels are much better for you, experts say.

Image Source: criticalbench.com

Beef isn’t bad, but nuts are better

Want to know the easiest, most cost-effective way to improve your eating habits? Add two servings of nuts to your weekly diet, and you’ll cut your risk of death due to heart disease by 11 percent.

That was the conclusion of research by Dariush Mozaffarian, formerly a leading Harvard researcher and now dean of the nutrition school at Tufts University, and Simon Capewell of the University of Liverpool. The next best option, according to their research: replacing refined grains and starches with a serving of whole grains every day to reduce risk of heart-related illness by 10 percent.

“Limiting saturated fat doesn’t make the cut, because we don’t think that on its own it offers much benefit,” Mozaffarian said in a 2012 interview explaining the findings.

So put down that bagel, and pick up a handful of nuts. And feel free to butter that whole-wheat bread.


Dr. Robert Pastore is a biochemist who designs nutritional plans based on the unique needs of his patients. For more discussions on nutrition and healthy eating, follow this Twitter account.

REPOST: Here's a Healthy Food Your Kids Already Eat

Maia James of The Huffington Post writes a reminder to parents that while feeding children healthy foods may seem like a Sisyphean endeavor, it is not without its subtle victories. While children often balk at vegetables, they do take to the sweet taste and delightful flavors of their sweet and healthy counterparts: fresh fruit.

Image source: huffingtonpost.com

My mom, Suzanne, is a health coach and my go-to resource for help getting my very picky 4-year-old to eat! Recently, I was lamenting the fact that he has now decided to cut out even broccoli, which historically has been a favorite green. My mom reminded me not to forget the importance of fruit, which most kids already eat, and which also packs a great nutritional punch.

Fruits are packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, enzymes and phytochemicals, all essential for optimal health. Fruit also contains water-soluble fiber, especially the inulins and saccharides, which are prebiotics (which serve as food for probiotics, the good bacteria that live in the digestive system). Johns Hopkins researcher Dr. Christiane Northrup says "Your gut is a very delicate ecosystem, with more flora (healthy bacteria) in it than all the other cells in the body put together. [The digestive tract] is your first line of defense against bugs and other organisms that can make you ill."

But What About All the Sugar in Fruit?

Many of my mom's clients worry about all the sugar in fruit. She had this take on it, which made a lot of sense to me:

The sugar from raw fruit is fuel for activity. How much fruit sugar one eats should be directly related to how active one is. Children are often very active, so it makes sense that they would be attracted to fruit. Bananas and dates have the most sugar and berries the least, so also keep that in mind when eating fruit.

Also good to remember: "The sugar in fruit has companion nutrients so a healthy person has no need to avoid sugar from raw fruit. Fruit juice, on the other hand, should be used sparingly, as it is the concentrated sugars without the fiber and other beneficial properties that slow sugar's absorption."

From now on, when Felix turns up his nose at broccoli, brussel sprouts, kale, lettuce, green beans and squash, I will hand him an apple, and feel good about all the nutrients he's getting from that.

Robert Pastore is a scientist who focuses on nutrition and biochemistry,  For more on him and his work, visit this website.