The main issue is finding time to read labels and figuring out what they really mean, experts say.
Most of us have probably heard that food marketers play it a little fast and loose with health claims.
So how much of what we read on a label can we trust? What, exactly, makes my bag of cereal clusters “lean,” for example? We asked two Toronto registered dietitians to separate fact from fiction to make it easier for us to navigate the grocery aisle. And the first thing we learned is that, even though there are tricky terms out there, words still have meaning and many of them are actually tightly regulated.
Sugar, Fat and Salt
“The truth is, the Government of Canada, specifically the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, does govern many of the terms that are seen on food packages,” explains Cara Rosenbloom, a registered dietitian and co-author of the book, “Food to Grow On.” “So, calories, salt, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, fibre, vitamins and minerals, all of these are all highly regulated.”
Every claim related to any property listed on the nutrition facts table is regulated, explains Rosenbloom: “So, if it says 25 per cent less sugar, that manufacturer has to be able to prove that product has more than 25 per cent less sugar than the most well-known competitor product.”
Cholesterol-Free and gluten free
Even though the nutritional world has softened its stance on cholesterol, most people like to see the words “No Cholesterol” on a package. Often, though, those words are found on foods that never would have contained cholesterol in the first place.
“Some clients can get confused as to what cholesterol is and where it comes from,” says Amanda Li, registered culinary dietitian and founder of Wellness Simplified, a practice in Toronto. “It only derives from animal products, but marketers know that not everyone knows that and use that to their advantage, because people think it’s better for their heart.”
Similarly, the term “gluten free” is slapped on a lot of packages, from potato chips to coleslaw, even though gluten comes from grains, most commonly wheat, barley and rye. “I’ve seen the words ‘gluten free’ on water,” says Rosenbloom.
No Refined Sugar
“The other one I see a lot that is a source of irritation is ‘no refined sugar,’” says Rosenbloom, who says that a lot of consumers infer that product is sugar-free.
Sadly, there are a lot of sugars that come from a less-refined source, such as agave syrup or honey, that sneak through on a technicality. That doesn’t make these sugars any healthier, though.
“At the end of the day, your body just knows it’s had sugar,” says Li. “People think maple syrup is better just because it contains tiny amounts of minerals, but there are much better ways to get minerals.”
A cup of maple syrup might supply about 20 per cent of our recommended daily intake of calcium, potassium and iron but, chugging back a cup of maple syrup is, um, really not a good idea.
Made with “Real Fruit”
“The other thing that bothers me is when a food package says ‘made with real fruit,’” Rosenbloom says. “Like, for example, there are ‘real fruit’ gummies which are literally candies made by taking some fruit juice concentrate and turning it into a sugar.”
The same is true for many “plant snacks” (including veggie straws and chips) that appear to be “healthier” choices but may not be any better than a (gluten free and cholesterol-free) potato chip. It’s worth pointing out that potato chips are also plant-based, they’re just plant snacks with an image problem.
“I like to call them hyper-palatable foods,” says Li. “Moms often say ‘I give my kids veggie chips’ and I’m not sure if they understand that they aren’t really vegetables. Most of them are just a lot of refined carbohydrates.”
Rosenbloom says she’s seen school lunch boxes packed with fruit candy and veggie straws and known that parents think they’ve done a great job and covered all the major food groups. “It tricks many Canadians into believing they are eating fruits and vegetables when they’re not getting the real deal.”
If we had the time to really think about what we were buying at the grocery store, we’d be able to see through a lot of meaningless sales pitches on packaging. The problem, especially for parents, is that time is a precious resource and decision fatigue is a real thing.
Marketers know that. Which is why, over the past decade, a lot of food has been rebranded as accessories to wellness culture. Increasingly, food is packaged in shiny white bags that are decorated with a splotch of green or eye-catching pictures of colourful fruits that pop, all of which give it what American nutritionist and food studies scholar Marion Nestle calls a “health halo” — a carefully constructed image that often hides yet another ultra-processed food.
So, it’s not so much that you can’t believe anything you read, since a fair bit of the information on packages is actually quite reliable. It’s finding the time to do it that’s the real problem.
A frighteningly large portion of the calories and sugar North Americans eat comes from ultra-processed foods, which are tinkered with even more than regularly processed foods and may contribute to serious health issues like Type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
Researchers from Tufts University and the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil found that ultra-processed foods are responsible for almost 60 percent of all the calories North Americans consume and about 90 percent of all added sugars they eat.
“The content of added sugars in ultra-processed foods was eightfold higher than in processed foods and fivefold higher than in unprocessed or minimally processed foods and processed culinary ingredients grouped together,” they write in the study published Wednesday in BMJ Open.
Added sugars should make up only about 10 percent of a person’s total caloric intake, the researchers note – however, they found that more than 80 percent of North Americans typically exceed this recommended limit.
Processed foods generally have added oils and salt. Ultra-processed foods are different because they’re enhanced with other additives, including colors, artificial flavoring and sweeteners, the study says.
Researchers say the top ultra-processed foods that North Americans consume are:
Breads
Cakes, cookies and pie
Salty snacks
Frozen meals
Soft drinks and fruit drinks
Pizza
Ice cream
French fries
For the study, researchers conducted at-home interviews and health examinations with 9,317 people of all ages, who also provided them with information about what they ate for a 24-hour period. The researchers say their study is the first to examine the relationship between ultra-processed foods and sugar intake in the U.S.
Eating excess amounts of added sugars is “most likely” contributing to health issues such as obesity, high blood pressure and coronary heart disease, the study warns.
The best thing to do is to entirely cut out these foods from your diet, the researchers say. That may sound easier said than done – and maybe even impossible, especially when life gets really busy. One way to do this is to avoid replacing water, pasteurized fresh milk and freshly squeezed fruit juices by soft drinks or flavored fruit drinks, said Professor Carlos A. Monteiro, one of the study’s authors.
Preparing at least some fresh foods at home rather than buying a lot of packaged meals will help decrease sugar intake, Monteiro added. And when you do buy packaged foods, be sure to look at the ingredient labels – even items like deli meats often contain sugar.
Consumers don’t even want all this cloying sweetness. Manufacturers made the decision for them.
Consumers’ most common complaint about taste? “Too sweet.”
Americans tend to associate our health problems with sin. It’s hard to find a health story in the press that doesn’t blame greed and lack of willpower for our ongoing epidemics of obesity and diabetes as well as a recent upturn in the rate of heart disease. But the problems stem more from a greedy food industry than from any weakness in consumers. Our supermarket shelves are filled with items made with cheap ingredients, especially sugar and corn syrup, whether people want it or not.
A fascinating new study out of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia showed that among 400,000 food reviews on Amazon.com, the primary complaint was that food was too sweet. People used terms like “syrupy, overwhelmingly or cloyingly sweet,” said behavioral geneticist Danielle Reed, who led the research. She and her colleagues used a machine- learning program to sort through the thousands of reviews covering 67,553 products.
The finding was a surprise; she had designed the study to add to her body of work on the way people vary in the perception of bitterness. Genetic differences make some people much more sensitive to bitter tastes than others, and this can affect whether we love or hate vegetables such as broccoli and kale. She was surprised, she said, that on Amazon reviews, consumers rarely complained about bitterness, or saltiness for that matter. They complained about sweetness. Manufacturers may think they are sweetening things to suit a common taste, in which case they are getting it wrong – but the market is full of oversweetened foods, so the manufacturers mostly don’t lose customers to better-tasting competitors.
Or the problem may be that manufacturers are trying to use the cheapest possible ingredients in a way that consumers will still tolerate. Sugar is cheap, and corn syrup even cheaper. In his book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” author Michael Pollan recounts the way the introduction of corn syrup in the late 20th century tempted manufacturers add as much as possible to many processed foods and to lure consumers with giant sodas and other supersized products that felt like bargains but came with hidden costs. Later, the medical dogma that fat was deadly lead to an explosion of extremely sweet low-fat products as well.
However we got here, it’s clear that the empty calories are contributing to epidemics of obesity in the U.S. and elsewhere. The food police should rethink chastising consumers and turn their attention on the true culprits who are dishing it out.
By Faye Flam July 10, 2019
Faye Flam is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.
She has written for the Economist, the New York Times, the Washington Post,
Psychology Today, Science and other publications.
She has a degree in geophysics from the California Institute of Technology.
When it comes to getting healthy, it’s not all about working up a sweat. In fact, there are tons of practical and beneficial habits you can work into your day-to-day that have nothing to do with hitting the gym or making rounds on the ClassPass circuit.
Some of these lifestyle adjustments involve eating more mindfully, which includes techniques like slowing down as you eat and paying attention to signals that let you know when you’re full. But getting enough sleep, reducing stress and cutting back on alcohol are all important too.
“Our environment, our habits and our mindset are almost just as important as what it is we are putting in our mouths. And we have to realize that,” said Lisa Young, a registered dietitian and adjunct professor of nutrition at New York University.
Here are some tips for boosting your health that have nothing to do with burning calories, but are almost guaranteed to leave you feeling better:
1. Slow down at meal time.
These days, everything we do ― eating included ― tends to happen at hyper speed. And it’s simply not good for your health. Nutritionists advise slowing down and chewing each bite of food somewhere between 20 and 30 times, which makes it easier to digest and absorb. In fact, the more you break down the food in your mouth, the more you’re going to absorb in the intestine, said Kelly Johnston, a registered dietitian and health coach at Parsley Health.
For the sake of digestion, try setting aside a bit more time so you can eat your meals in a less hasty way, even if it’s not 20 to 30 chews per bite of food.
“I always say the first line of digestion is your mouth, and chewing is such an important part of that,” Johnston said. “The less work you do in your mouth, the more work you have to do in your stomach and intestine, which can cause bloating downstream, constipation and just more work for the intestine.”
Eating at a slower pace also gives you more time to register fullness, which can lower your chances of overeating.
“Challenge yourself to take at least 15 to 20 minutes to finish a meal, because that is how long it takes for your gut to tell your brain it’s full,” said Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, a registered dietitian in New York City.
2. Limit your distractions while eating.
Despite the fact that more than half of Americans eat lunch at their desks each day, nutritionists say this isn’t the best choice for your health. For one, the body has trouble prioritizing digestion when you’re stressed.
“The uptick of the stress hormone cortisol may cause nutrients to become poorly digested and disrupt the normal digestion process,” Beckerman said.
We get it though: Sometimes you have no option other than to work through lunch. In these situations, Young suggested planning exactly what you’re going to eat. This can help you avoid overeating, which seems to happen way too easily when you’re focused on your screen rather than the food you’re putting in your mouth.
“The problem when you eat mindlessly is that you don’t even realize that you’ve eaten,” Young said.
3. Eat whole rather than processed foods.
Ultra-processed foods are often high in sodium and added sugars and come with long lists of ingredients, many of which do little in terms of benefiting your overall health. Making a real effort to swap processed for whole foods is a great way to get healthier. Consider focusing on foods that exist in nature like vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, healthy fats and high-quality proteins like beans, fish and meat.
“Processed foods have fillers, stabilizers and thickeners that can disrupt your body’s ability to soak in essential vitamins and nutrients from real foods,” Beckerman said. “You’ll be able to deliver and maximize the purest forms of nutrients to your body when you can eat whole foods.”
4. Get enough sleep.
When you’re trying to squeeze in time for everything possible in life ― work, social commitments, family, exercise, cooking healthy meals and more ― maintaining a healthy sleep schedule is often pushed aside. But getting enough sleep probably deserves a higher spot on your list of priorities. After all, this is the time of day where your body relaxes and repairs.
The exact amount of sleep varies from person to person, but somewhere around seven to eight hours a night is a good target, Johnston said. You surely know this from experience, but when you don’t get enough sleep, your body struggles the next day.
“Research shows that if you don’t get enough sleep, you automatically usually have an elevated blood sugar the following day because you haven’t metabolized well,” Johnston said.
Meanwhile, sleep deprivation disrupts the balance of the body’s hunger and satiety hormones, which can lead you toward that bottomless-pit feeling where you eat and eat but don’t feel full, Beckerman explained. Not getting enough sleep also leads to low levels of leptin, a hormone that helps regulate the body’s energy balance by inhibiting hunger. The result? Increased cravings of sugary and sweet foods, Beckerman said.
5. Find a way to let go of stress.
Some stress is good for you, especially the type that appears when you’re excited. But chronic stress, the kind that feels inescapable, can have a ton of negative effects on the body, from depression and anxiety to gastrointestinal problems and cardiovascular disease. For the sake of your health, it’s important to find a stress-relieving habit you can turn to regularly to balance the daily demands that drain you.
For some, this release can have to do with exercise, like going for a walk or going to a yoga class. For others, it might mean journaling, meditating or talking to a close friend. Really, the method is up to you as long as you take some time to yourself to let some of the stress fade away.
“Just recharging your battery is so important,” Johnston said.
6. Cut back on alcohol.
Besides contributing to those dreaded hangovers, drinking more than the recommended amount (up to one drink a day for women and two for men) can increase your risk of cancer and high blood pressure, as well as contribute to poor sleep, overeating, impaired cognitive function even after the alcohol leaves your system and earlier signs of aging, like wrinkles and broken blood vessels.
Many types of alcohol are also super sugary, which can lead to weight gain and problems with blood sugar levels. Additionally, alcohol and sugar can both negatively impact “the health of our gut and our microbiome,” Johnston said.
Alcohol also impairs the efficacy of the hormone leptin, which as mentioned earlier, plays a role in keeping you full.
“This imbalance influences our powerful brains towards convincing us that we want more carbohydrate heavy and greasy meals,” Beckerman said. So, while there’s usually nothing wrong with a drink here and there, it’s best to keep it to a minimum.
If nutrition headlines catch your attention, you’ve probably heard the advice to eat more fresh, whole foods and consume fewer processed foods.
It sounds straightforward enough, and you may have chosen to abide by this “food rule.” But like many topics in nutrition, the advice is not as simple as it sounds.
Before you do a pantry or freezer overhaul, keep in mind that “processed” is a very general term.
Some processed foods serve as important players in filling nutrient gaps and contribute to the availability of a safe and convenient food supply. Others are, well, pretty much junk food.
The challenge lies in knowing which ones to include in your diet and which processed foods pose a problem.
Processed Foods 101
Processed foods include any food that has been deliberately changed before we consume it. “I think it is important that people understand, anytime you alter the food from its natural state, that is actually considered ‘processed,’ ” said Kristi L. King, a senior registered dietitian at Texas Children’s Hospital and a national spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
According to the International Food Information Council, processing can be as simple as freezing or drying food to preserve nutrients and freshness, or as complex as formulating a frozen meal with the optimal balance of nutrients and ingredients.
Minimally processed foods retain most of their inherent nutritional and physical properties. Examples of these include washed and cut fruits and vegetables, bagged salads and roasted nuts.
Those, along with foods processed to help preserve and enhance nutrients and freshness of foods at their peak – canned tuna, beans and tomatoes, as well as frozen fruits and vegetables – are healthful and offer important nutrients.
Other processed foods include sauces and dressings, as well as ready-to-eat breakfast cereal, crackers, nut butters, yogurt and milk fortified with calcium and vitamin D.
It’s the more heavily processed foods, snacks and meals high in added sugars, sodium and unhealthy fats that are the “problem” processed foods, as consuming too many of them can lead to health problems. Also known as “ultra-processed” foods, they are formulations of salt, sugar, oils and fats, as well as flavors, colors and other additives.
“The problem with highly processed foods is, they are usually loaded with sodium for shelf stabilization, sugar for taste or added fats, including saturated and trans fats, for mouth feel,” King said. Research has linked all of these ingredients to chronic health problems, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and some types of cancer, according to King.
“The cookies, chips, snack cakes that we all know and think of as ‘processed foods’ would be ones that are not so healthy for us, as well as sugar-sweetened beverages and highly processed meats such as sausage,” she said.
How to cut back on highly processed foods
According to experts, the key to an overall healthy diet is to limit your intake of “ultra-processed” foods, which make up about 60% of our calories and contribute 90% of calories from added sugars, while choosing healthier, unprocessed and minimally processed foods that offer a variety of nutrients.
And there are some relatively painless ways to do it.
1. Start slowly. “If you eat a significant amount of highly processed foods, try taking small steps toward a less processed diet,” said Jackie Newgent, a registered dietitian, culinary nutritionist and author of “The All-Natural Diabetes Cookbook.” “There’s no need to go cold turkey today – and often, if you slowly ease into a less-processed eating plan, your likelihood of continuing your wholesome new habits increases.”
2. Supplement your meals with fresh foods. Try adding a banana or apple at breakfast or as a snack, or a vegetable at lunch. “Ultimately, half of your plate at lunch and dinner should be fruits and vegetables,” King said. “Simply adding a freshly prepared salad to an otherwise not-so-fresh meal makes it better for your body … and more enjoyable,” Newgent said.
3. Fewer sugar-sweetened beverages, more water. If you get tired of water, King recommends carbonated water or adding fruit to water for flavor.
4. Stop adding salt to foods. “If you need an extra flavor boost, add garlic or pepper instead,” King said.
5. Choose whole grains over processed grains. “Go with brown rice in place of white rice, whole-wheat pasta instead of ‘white’ pasta and whole-grain bread instead of ‘white’ bread. These swaps are nuttier-tasting and more filling, too,” Newgent said.
6. Limit or avoid processed meats. Meats such as bacon, ham, hot dogs and sausage have been linked to increased risk of colorectal cancer.
7. Plan ahead. “If you find that you are reaching for the highly processed foods because they are convenient and you are in a hurry to get to your meeting or your kid to soccer practice, try planning out snacks on the weekend for the weekdays,” King said. Set aside portions of trail mix, carrots and celery with hummus, Greek yogurts, and fruit with natural nut butters so they are ready to grab and go.
8. Use substitutes for highly processed snacks and foods. Instead of potato chips, try nonfat popcorn, which is whole grain and a good source of fiber and still gives the crunch you’re looking for. “You can add a dash of chili powder or Parmesan cheese for flavor,” King said. You can also replace sugar-sweetened cereal with unsweetened oatmeal and add fruit for flavor.
9. Make your own versions of traditionally processed foods. Consider homemade kale chips, granola and even salad dressings.
“Instead of bottled salad dressing that may contain preservatives your body doesn’t need, whip up your own,” Newgent said. “Simply whisk together three tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon vinegar of choice for an easy two-ingredient vinaigrette. Or add that oil and vinegar to a blender with a small handful of berries for a lovely fruity salad dressing.”
10. Make healthier versions of frozen meals. “Try batch cooking on the weekend or a weeknight when you have time,” King said. Consider a homemade mac and cheese with whole-wheat pasta and veggies or turkey burger patties with sautéed vegetables.
11. Don’t be fooled by the advertising. If you see fat- or sugar-modified food, such as fat-free mayo or sugar-free yogurt, be wary. “These foods may have artificial ingredients – such as the artificial colors yellow No. 6 or red No. 40 – or other chemical additives, such as the artificial sweetener acesulfame potassium, making them more processed and potentially less healthful for you,” Newgent said.
“Read the ingredient list on packaged foods, and look for a list that reads more like a recipe rather than a pseudo-science experiment,” she added.
By Lisa Drayer, CNN October 30, 2017
Lisa Drayer is a nutritionist, an author and a CNN health and nutrition contributor.
93 percent of North Americans eat too many refined grains, while only 7 percent eat enough whole grains in their diets. Refined grains do contain a substantial amount of starchy, or complex, carbohydrates, and they can provide the body with energy needed for exercise and for daily activities of living. However, if you are trying to eat a healthier diet, it is best to limit your intake of these refined foods.
What is a Refined Carbohydrate?
Refined carbohydrates are plant-based foods that have the whole grain extracted during processing. The process of refining a food not only removes the fiber, but it also removes much of the food’s nutritional value, including B-complex vitamins, healthy oils and fat-soluble vitamins. In many cases, food companies will then infuse, or enrich, the product with some of the nutrients that were extracted once the refining process is complete, but this does not always occur. Because refined grains often lack a desirable nutritional profile, the USDA recommends that only half of your daily 6 ounces of grains come from refined products.
Refined Breads
Many of the breads found on grocery store shelves are considered refined carbohydrates. These breads are often made from enriched and bleached flours, and these flours are typically listed as the first or second ingredient on the nutrition label. In addition, the list of ingredients will often include vitamins and minerals that are added during the post-refining, enrichment process. Sourdough, white and plain wheat bread are excellent examples of refined breads, whereas 100 percent whole-wheat or whole-grain breads are not refined.
Refined Rice
Like bread, some forms of rice are considered to be refined grains. White rice and most of the quick-cook rices are refined and, as a result, do not contain an intact grain. They may be enriched to enhance their nutritional profile, but they typically lack the fiber found in the non-refined brown rice. One cup of white rice counts as 2 ounces of refined grains.
Refined Cereals
Many of the sugary, cold cereals found in grocery stores are considered to be refined grains. They are typically made from enriched flour due to the refining of their original wheat, corn or oat grain. Refined cereals typically have 2 or fewer grams of fiber per serving, and one cup of a refined cereal, such as corn flakes, counts as 1 ounce of refined grains.
Refined Pasta
Unlike whole wheat or whole grain pasta, refined pasta lacks much of the fiber and the B-complex vitamins found in the unprocessed version. Like other processed starches, refined pasta may be enriched with nutrients such as folate, thiamin and riboflavin, and some versions of refined pasta may even have omega 3 fatty acids added during processing. Thus, if you prefer the less grainy taste of refined pasta, make sure that it has been fully enriched with the aforementioned nutrients.
Refined Snack Foods
Snack foods are typically made with refined carbs such as bleached flours and sugar in order to increase palatability. These snack foods have little nutritional value and, as a result, provide empty calories in the diet. Cakes, cookies, pie, candy and chips are all examples of refined snack foods, and according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, these foods should not constitute more than 120 to 330 calories per day.
About the Author Dr. Courtney Winston is a registered/licensed dietitian, certified diabetes educator and public health educator. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her doctoral degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center. Dr. Winston was recognized in 2012 with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Emerging Leader in Dietetics Award for the state of California.
Have you ever wondered what nitrates are and what foods contain nitrates? Are nitrates linked to any health concerns? If you have questions about nitrates and their role in the food supply, read on to get the truth about nitrates.
What are nitrates?
Nitrates (or nitrites) are natural chemicals that are found in the soil, air and water. Nitrates are also used as a food additive to stop the growth of bacteria and to enhance the flavour and colour of foods.
Where are nitrates found?
Nitrates are naturally found in vegetables such as:
Beets
Celery
Lettuce
Radishes and
Spinach
These foods provide the most nitrates in our diets. However, there is no recommendation to limit vegetables that naturally contain nitrates.
Smaller amounts are found in:
Dairy products like cheese
Beef
Poultry and
Fish
Nitrates are added to these foods to make their appearance and flavour more appealing.
Generally speaking, Canadian’s average daily intake of foods that contain nitrates is within safe limits.
What about nitrates and processed meat?
Nitrates are added to processed meat like:
Deli meat/cold cuts
Ham/Bacon
Sausages
Hot dogs/Wieners
This is done to preserve the product and prevent bacteria from growing. Nitrates also give processed meats their pink colour.
Should I avoid processed meat?
Yes. There is strong research that shows a diet high in processed meats increases the risk of colon cancer. However, it is not yet clear if this is because of the nitrates or other compounds in processed meat. To decrease your risk of colon cancer, it is a good idea to eat very little processed meats or avoid them altogether.
Do organic foods have nitrates?
It depends on the food. Organic foods like vegetables and fruit typically have fewer nitrates compared to conventional foods.
However, processed organic meats do not have nitrates. In Canada, adding nitrates to processed organic meats is not allowed. Read more about organic foods in Canada.
Tips on making nitrate-free food choices
Avoid foods with ingredients like potassium nitrate or sodium nitrate.
Avoid foods with the words ‘cured’ or ‘smoked’ on the ingredient list. This means that the food may contain nitrates.
Avoid processed meat or have them once in awhile. Have a cooked ham during the holidays or an occasional hot dog in the summer.
Skip the bacon and sausage for breakfast and try fresh fruit or grilled vegetables with your eggs.
Stuck on lunch ideas? Think beyond the sandwich! Try a vegetable wrap with hummus instead of a deli sandwich. Try other quick and easy lunch ideas for you and your kids.
Eat vegetarian more often. You might be surprised at how tasty it can be! Learn more about healthy vegetarian meals for you and your family.
Throwing a party? Avoid party sandwiches that use processed meats and instead try a variety of fresh salads with an assortment of flat breads and dips.
Bottom line
Nitrates are naturally found in some vegetables, dairy products and meat. There is no recommendation to limit foods that naturally contain nitrates. Nitrates are also added to processed meats as a preservative. There is strong research that shows a diet high in processed meats increases the risk of colon cancer. However, it is not yet clear if this is because of the nitrates or other compounds in processed meat. To decrease your risk of colon cancer, it is a good idea to eat very little processed meats or avoid them altogether.
Does the sodium nitrate in processed meat increase my risk of heart disease?
Answers from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.
Sodium nitrate, a preservative that’s used in some processed meats, such as bacon, jerky and luncheon meats, could increase your heart disease risk.
It’s thought that sodium nitrate may damage your blood vessels, making your arteries more likely to harden and narrow, leading to heart disease. Nitrates may also affect the way your body uses sugar, making you more likely to develop diabetes.
And you already know that most processed meats are high in sodium and some are high in saturated fat, which can disrupt a heart-healthy diet.
If you eat meat, it’s best to limit processed meat and instead choose lean, fresh meat and poultry, and keep serving sizes small. For greater heart health, consider going one step further and increasing the amount of seafood in your diet.
Everyone seems to “know” what is right, most often based on zero evidence.
Here are the top 11 most common nutrition mistakes that people keep repeating.
1. Drinking Fruit Juice
Fruit juice isn’t always what it seems to be.
It is often little more than water mixed with sugar and some kind of fruit concentrate.
In many cases, there isn’t any actual fruit in there, just chemicals that taste like fruit.
But even IF you’re drinking real, 100% fruit juice, it is still a bad idea.
That’s because fruit juices like orange juice have just about the same amount of sugar as Coca Cola and Pepsi!
Fruit juice is like fruit, except with all the good stuff removed.
There is no fiber, no chewing resistance and nothing to stop you from downing massive amounts of sugar.
While whole fruits take a long time to eat and digest, it is easy to consume large amounts of fruit juice in a short amount of time. One glass of orange juice can contain the sugar equivalent of several whole oranges.
If you’re healthy, lean and active or you just ran a marathon, then you can probably tolerate fruit juice and other sources of sugar without problems.
However, the majority of people would do best minimizing all rapidly digested sugars, which can lead to insulin resistance and all sorts of serious diseases down the line.
So… eat your fruit (unless if you’re on a low-carb diet, which may require moderating them) but avoid fruit juice like the plague.
Bottom Line: Most fruit juices contain as much sugar as sugar-sweetened beverages. It is best to avoid them and choose whole fruits instead.
2. Not Reading Labels
Many of the marketers at the junk food companies are shameless liars.
They tend to put highly misleading labels on foods… convincing health conscious people to buy unhealthy junk foods for themselves and their children.
Because most people don’t know much about nutrition, they repeatedly fall for labels like “includes whole grains,” “low-fat” or “contains Omega-3s.”
Adding small amounts of healthy ingredients to an unhealthy, highly processed food does not make it healthy.
For example, tiny amounts of Omega-3s are not going to make up for the fact that a food contains large amounts of sugar.
So… it is important to read labels. Even health foods can contain sugar, refined wheat and other very harmful ingredients.
This also applies to children’s foods that are marketed as healthy… do NOT trust the food manufacturers, READ the label.
Bottom Line: It is important to read labels, even “health foods” can contain nasty ingredients like added sugar.
3. Eating Whole Wheat
Awareness of the harmful effects of refined wheat has increased dramatically in the past few decades.
However, whole wheat is often mistakenly assumed to be healthy.
The problem is that whole wheat usually isn’t “whole” … the grains have been pulverized into very fine flour.
This makes the grain rapidly digestible and it can spike blood sugar just as fast as its refined counterpart.
Wheat also contains large amounts of gluten, a protein that many people are sensitive to and can contribute to various adverse effects like digestive issues, pain, fatigue and stool inconsistency.
There are also multiple studies linking wheat consumption to serious diseases, including schizophrenia, autism and cerebellar ataxia. One study shows a dramatic increase in cholesterol for people eating whole wheat.
Saying that whole wheat is better than refined wheat is like saying that filtered cigarettes are better than unfiltered cigarettes.
Using that same logic, everyone should be smoking filtered cigarettes for the health benefits. It doesn’t make sense.
Bottom Line: Whole wheat is often mistakenly assumed to be healthy, but studies show that it can contribute to various symptoms and health issues.
4. Not Focusing on Real, Unprocessed Foods
When it comes to optimal health, people tend to get lost in the details. They miss the forest for the trees.
Even though “nutrition” as an academic discipline can be incredibly complicated, eating healthy can and should be simple!
Keep in mind that humans and pre-humans have managed to survive and be healthy for millions of years.
Yet, we only learned about calories, vitamins, macronutrients and all that stuff very recently. Knowing about this stuff has NOT made us healthier.
What healthy, non-industrial societies that maintain excellent health all have in common is that they eat real, unprocessed foods that resemble what they looked like in nature.
Multiple studies have examined such societies and noted almost a complete absence of Western, lifestyle-related diseases like obesity, type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
If it looks like it was made in a factory, don’t eat it!
Bottom Line: It is most important to simply eat real, unprocessed foods. Avoid stuff that looks like it was made in a factory.
5. Not Eating Enough Protein
The health authorities advocate a relatively low protein intake.
They say that we should aim for about 56 grams per day for men and 46 grams per day for women.
However, even though this meager intake may be enough to prevent downright deficiency, it is not enough for optimal health.
Studies show that a higher protein intake can be beneficial for body composition, especially in people who are physically active.
Protein is also by far the most satiating macronutrient and your body expends quite a few calories metabolizing it. For this reason, adding protein to your diet can help you lose weight without even trying.
Bottom Line: Most people aren’t getting enough protein in their diet. Increased protein can enhance fat burning, reduce appetite and improve health in various ways.
6. Being Afraid of Eating Fat
Back in the 60s and 70s, many scientists believed that saturated fat was a leading cause of heart disease.
This idea formed the foundation of the low-fat, high-carb diet… which has been recommended to all Americans since the year 1977.
Since then, multiple studies have shown that the low-fat diet simply does not work. It doesn’t lead to weight loss or a lower risk of heart disease or cancer.
In the past few decades, many studies have examined the health effects of saturated fats.
They consistently show that these fats are harmless. They raise HDL (the “good”) cholesterol and change LDL (the “bad”) to a benign subtype. Saturated fat does NOT raise your risk of cardiovascular disease.
The fats to avoid are man-made trans fats and refined vegetable oils like corn, soybean and others.
There is no reason to avoid foods that are naturally high in saturated fat. This includes butter, coconut oil, eggs and red meat… these foods are perfectly healthy!
Bottom Line: Studies show that saturated fat is harmless and that the low-fat diet pushed by the mainstream nutrition organizations doesn’t work.
7. Throwing Away The Egg Yolks
“When life gives you eggs, you eat the damn yolks.”
– Mark Shields.
Nutrition professionals have an excellent track record of demonizing perfectly healthy foods.
Probably the worst example of that is eggs… which happen to contain a large amount of cholesterol.
Because of the cholesterol, people have been advised to reduce their consumption of eggs.
However, studies show that cholesterol in the diet doesn’t really raise cholesterol in the blood and that eggs do NOT increase your risk of heart disease.
What we’re left with is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. Eggs are loaded with vitamins, minerals, quality protein, healthy fats and various nutrients that are important for the eyes and brain.
Keep in mind that this applies to whole eggs only. The yolk is where almost all the nutrients reside, the white contains nothing but protein!
Throwing away the yolks and eating only the whites is just about the worst thing you could do.
Bottom Line: Eggs are incredibly nutritious, but most of the nutrients are found in the yolk. Despite being high in cholesterol, eggs do not raise the bad cholesterol in the blood or your risk of heart disease.
8. Thinking That All That Matters is Calories
There is a large misconception that all that matters for weight (and health for that matter) is calories.
Even though calories (the energy we take in and expend) are important, they are far from being the only thing that matters.
The truth is that different foods and macronutrients go through different metabolic pathways and can affect hunger and hormones in different ways.
Even though simple calorie counting and portion control work for a lot of people, many others fail using these methods.
For some people, it is much better to focus on the right foods and macronutrients to optimize your hunger and hormones to make your body want to lose weight.
Eating less sugar and carbohydrates with more protein and fat can help you lose weight without counting a single calorie.
Bottom Line: Weight loss and health are about much more than just calories. Different foods affect hunger, hormones and health in vastly different ways.
9. Cutting Back on Sodium
The nutrition organizations consistently tell us to reduce sodium in the diet.
This is supposed to lower blood pressure and reduce our risk of heart disease.
However, this doesn’t actually work.
Even though sodium restriction can cause mild reductions in blood pressure, studies show that this doesn’t lower the risk of heart disease, stroke or death.
Restricting sodium too much can even lead to adverse effects such as insulin resistance, as well as elevated cholesterol and triglycerides.
The biggest source of sodium in the diet is processed food. If you’re already avoiding highly processed foods, then there’s no reason not to add some salt to your foods to make them palatable.
If the “experts” had their way… we’d all be eating bland, tasteless foods with zero evidence that it would actually lead to health benefits.
Bottom Line: Despite being able to mildly reduce blood pressure, sodium restriction doesn’t lead to improved health outcomes. Avoiding salt is completely unnecessary for most people.
10. Eating Too Many Meals
Many people seem to think that it is best to eat 5-6 small meals per day.
They say that you need breakfast in the morning to “jump start metabolism” and then eat regularly throughout the day to “stoke the metabolic flame.”
It is true that eating can raise your metabolic rate slightly while you’re digesting and metabolizing the food
However, it is the total amount of food you eat that matters, NOT the number of meals.
This myth has actually been tested and refuted repeatedly. Controlled trials where one group eats many, smaller meals and the other fewer, larger meals find no difference between groups.
The thing is… it’s not natural for the human body to be constantly in the “fed” state.
The human body is well equipped to handle short periods of famine and there are studies showing that a cellular repair process called autophagy starts to occur when we fast for a short while.
Bottom Line: Eating so frequently is completely unnecessary and highly inconvenient. There is no evidence that it leads to improved outcomes.
11. Eating Too Many “Health Foods”
Every passing year, more and more people are becoming “health conscious.”
For this reason… the market for so-called “health foods” has grown rapidly in the past few decades.
The marketers have taken notice and brought all sorts of foods that are supposed to be healthy to the market. On these foods, you will find labels like “organic” and “gluten-free.”
The problem with many of these foods is that they usually aren’t healthy at all. Organic sugar is still sugar and gluten-free junk food is still junk food.
It is best to avoid processed, packaged foods… even if they are found in the “health food” aisle.
If the packaging of a food tells you that it is healthy, then it probably isn’t.
By Carina Storrs, special to CNN Mon October 26, 2015
(CNN) Pizza, French fries and ice cream may be the kinds of foods many of us love to indulge in after a night of drinking. But research earlier this year suggests we can actually have benders on these foods all by themselves, and it may even be a sign of an addiction.
Researchers have wondered whether we can become addicted to food for more than a century. There have been reports of people losing control over how much they eat, and experiencing withdrawal when they are cut off, just like with drug and alcohol addiction. By now, many agree that food addiction can be a real problem for at least some types of foods.
For the first time, a team of researchers looked at exactly which types of foods could be the most addictive. They asked a group of 120 undergraduates at the University of Michigan, and another group of nearly 400 adults, about 35 different types of food – from pizza to broccoli – and whether they think they could have problems controlling how much they ate of each one. Eighteen of the items were processed foods, meaning they contained added sugars and fats.
Topping the list were pizza, chocolate, chips, cookies, ice cream, French fries, cake and soda, all considered processed foods. They were followed by cheese and bacon – both unprocessed foods, but high in fat and salt.
Fruits and vegetables (strawberries, carrots and broccoli, for example) were at the bottom of the list.
“In a similar manner that drugs are processed to increase their addictive potential, this study provides insight that highly processed foods may be intentionally manufactured to be particularly rewarding through the addition of fat and refined carbohydrates, like white flour and sugar,” said Erica Schulte, graduate student of psychology at the University of Michigan and lead author of the study, which was published in February in PLOS One.
The researchers found that the most problematic foods tended to be those with a high glycemic load, meaning they contained a lot of sugar and caused a spike in blood sugar. The authors wrote that these qualities could make foods more difficult to stop eating in a similar way as drugs that are highly concentrated and rapidly absorbed into the body are more addictive.
The researchers also found that, among the adults in their study, those with a high BMI and those who were at risk of having any kind of food addiction were most likely to have difficulty controlling themselves around a particular food item.
The researchers assessed food addiction risk using the Yale Food Addiction Scale, which was developed by the study’s lead author, Ashley N. Gearhardt. (You can test your risk of having a food addiction by taking a short version of this survey.)
Although not all foods have the potential to be addictive, “it is critical to understand which ones do,” said Mike Robinson, assistant professor of psychology, neuroscience and behavior at Wesleyan University, who was not involved in the current study.
“We are all pressed for time, and food is becoming more and more available,” but we need to think about what we are grabbing on the go, Robinson said. Although a handful of almonds and a milkshake might have the same number of calories, they will have a different effects on your brain and your reward system, and you will be much more likely to go back to get more of the milkshake, he added.
Many of the symptoms of food addiction look like drug addiction, including that people need more and more of the food item to get the same effect. They also accept negative consequences to obtain it and feel the anxiety or agitation of withdrawal when they can’t have it. Although food withdrawal is not as intense as heroin withdrawal, neither is cocaine withdrawal. “It varies by the drug,” Robinson said.
Just like any addiction, the first step to recovery is to acknowledge there is a problem, Robinson said. “I think in the majority of cases when we have a problem with a substance, whether it’s a food or drug…we will ignore it,” he said.
Robinson suggests avoiding foods if you have trouble controlling how much of them you eat. “We are not in a situation where we will have dietary deficiencies (and) whenever possible we should be aiming to cook foods for ourselves,” he said.
BY ANGELA CHARLTON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OCTOBER 26, 2015
PARIS — It’s official: Bacon, ham, hot dogs and other processed meats can lead to colon, stomach and other cancers — and red meat is probably cancer-causing, too.
While doctors in rich countries have long warned against eating too much meat, the World Health Organization’s cancer agency gave the most definitive response yet on Monday about its relation to cancer — and put processed meats in the same danger category as smoking or asbestos.
The findings don’t say that a slice of salami is as dangerous as a cigarette, but they could weigh on public health policy and recommendations by medical groups amid a growing debate about how much meat is good for us. The meat industry protests the classification, arguing that cancer isn’t caused by a specific food but also involves lifestyle and environmental factors.
A group of 22 scientists from the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France evaluated more than 800 studies from several continents about meat and cancer. The studies looked at more than a dozen types of cancer in populations with diverse diets over the past 20 years.
Based on that evaluation, the IARC classified processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans,” noting links in particular to colon cancer. It said red meat contains some important nutrients, but still labeled it “probably carcinogenic,” with links to colon, prostate and pancreatic cancers.
Ian Johnson, a nutrition researcher with the Institute of Food Research who is unconnected to the IARC findings, cautioned that the classification doesn’t reflect “the actual size of the risk,” but said meat consumption is one of many factors contributing to high rates of bowel cancer in the U.S., western Europe and Australia.
“The mechanism is poorly understood, and the effect is much smaller than, for example, that of cigarette smoking on the risk of lung cancer,” he said.
The cancer agency noted research by the Global Burden of Disease Project suggesting that 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide are linked to diets heavy in processed meat — compared with one million deaths a year linked to smoking, 600,000 a year to alcohol consumption and 200,000 a year to air pollution.
The agency said it did not have enough data to define how much processed meat is too dangerous, but said the risk grows with the amount consumed. Analysis of 10 of the studies suggested that a 50-gram portion of processed meat daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer over a lifetime by about 18 per cent.
In view of the large number of people who consume processed meat, the global impact on cancer incidence is of public health importance
Doctors have warned that a diet loaded with red meat is linked to cancers, including those of the colon and pancreas. The American Cancer Society has long urged people to reduce consumption of red meat and processed meat.
“For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed,” Dr. Kurt Straif of the IARC said in a statement. “In view of the large number of people who consume processed meat, the global impact on cancer incidence is of public health importance.”
The North American Meat Institute argued in a statement that “cancer is a complex disease not caused by single foods” and stressed the importance of lifestyle and environmental factors.
The researchers defined processed meat as anything transformed to improve its flavour or to preserve it, including sausages, canned meat, beef jerky and anything smoked. They defined red meat as “all types of mammalian muscle meat, such as beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse and goat.”
The report said grilling, pan-frying or other high-temperature methods of cooking red meat produce the highest amounts of chemicals suspected to cause cancer.
I struggled with depression for a large majority of my life. In the past I used food as a means of coping with my feelings — and when I say “food” I mean processed sugary comfort type food.
During my emotional binges I felt good (while armed with deep fried chicken in one hand and a burger in the other) but immediately after I felt sicker, sadder, more miserable and in need of my next hit. So I continued to eat poorly and abuse my body for a few years in the hopes to feel better. After inevitably gaining over 100 pounds, I realized I had to cut the crap.
I made changes to my diet and began to notice that certain foods improved my mental clarity, boosted my mood, gave me more energy and removed my junk food cravings. Eventually these simple changes in what I ate allowed me to sort out both my physical and mental blockages. The top five foods I found, and what research has also shown, to be effective are outlined below.
1. Cacao
There’s good reason why we often turn to chocolate when we are feeling down. But next time you find yourself in this state, reach for real chocolate in its natural state without the nasty hormone disruptive additives and chemicals: cacao.
Cacao is one of the highest food sources of antioxidants and magnesium, and it also contains iron, fiber, chromium and manganese. It has been shown to help with cardiovascular health, boost energy levels, promote longevity, increase libido and improve your mood. Add cacao powder or nibs to smoothies, baking, or keep some raw chocolate bars ready to go!
2. Healthy Fats
In particular those foods loaded with omega-3s, such as wild salmon, sardines and walnuts have been proven effective to help improve depressive symptoms. Omega-3 content helps maintain healthy chemical levels in the brain. You could even look to incorporate wild fish oil as part of your daily diet.
3. Chili
Chili is not just a tasty addition to a dish, it’s actually been shown to increase the release of endorphins in the brain which boost symptoms of pleasure.
4. B Vitamins
By increasing the amount of B vitamins in your diet, you may begin to notice positive changes in your mood. Some excellent food sources that are rich in B vitamins are nutritional yeast, darky leafy greens, seafood, bananas, chicken, eggs, almonds, and avocados.
5. Real Food
The most dramatic change you can make to help ease your depressive symptoms and to lead a healthier life is by switching over to a diet of real food. By doing this you are removing processed junk, artificial flavors, colors and sweeteners from your diet.
It may seem dramatic to say, but changing what I ate changed my life and quite possibly saved it. No bull. By making simple changes in my diet, I was able and willing to make bigger changes in my life, and in return, regain control of my life. I was able to admit my need for help, to nourish rather than to sicken myself, to get energy and motivation to exercise and get outdoors and become healthier and happier than I ever imagined. Just by starting with a few simple changes.
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