Carbs Aren't Bad For You!

Current diet trends continue to focus on eating fewer or totally eliminating carbohydrates, especially grain foods, but are these diets simply one more fad diet?

As celebrities and athletes talk about their new attempts are going "carb free" or choosing the "keto" diet it can make these new diets tempting options but if you look at what you need for health, you might want to look at the reality of why we eat carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, which are found in grains, fruit, vegetables, dairy foods, beans, nuts, seeds and sugary foods are all built around molecules of glucose. Some carbohydrates are very short chains of glucose molecules so they provide fast, short-term energy - fruits, dairy and sugary foods are in this category. While others provide much longer chains and therefore energy that lasts longer - grains, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds are in this category.

Glucose is the fuel that propels the body, allows you to participate in physical activities and it keeps your brain thinking. Glucose is needed for a healthy body! If you consume the amount of energy from carbohydrates that your body needs, All of that energy will be used and None will be stored as body fat. Carbohydrates only become a problem when we eat more than we burn.

Improve your health by trying the following:

* Choose whole grains all the time or most of the time

* Limit your intake of sugary foods

* Consume the amount of fruit and vegetable you need each day

* Learn about proper portion sizes 

Visit http://www.choosemyplate.gov/ to learn more about carbohydrates, proper portions and exactly how much you need each day.

Connie Diekman, M.Ed., RD, CSSD, LD

Nutrition Communications Consultant

Foods and Inflammation

The role of foods in health is very clear - foods provide the calories we need to "make it through the day", the nutrients we need to be healthy and some might help us fight diseases like osteoporosis or hypertension. Now researchers are looking at how some foods might promote disease prevention through the role they play in inflammation.

Most people know inflammation as the redness that happens around a cut but inflammation also occurs inside the body. This internal inflammation appears to be connected to the development of some types of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes and Alzheimer's. While the exact mechanism on how inflammation triggers disease isn't totally clear - and likely is different for each disease - what is clear is that diet can help fight inflammation.

Consider adding the following foods to your meal plan to provide an anti-inflammation boost.

* Tomatoes, red peppers, beets

* Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, cranberries

* Soybeans, fatty fish and nuts - especially almonds and walnuts

* Garlic and onions

* Spinach, kale, broccoli and other dark greens

* Olive oil

If you see a theme here, you are correct - consume more plant foods to maximize health, increase enjoyment and possibly prevent disease.

Connie Diekman, M.Ed., RD, CSSD, LD, FADA, FAND

Nutrition Communications Consultant

Facts Up Front

        Food labels can help you choose which food product best meets your nutritional needs but sometimes using those labels gets time consuming.  A new food labeling tool brings nutrition information from the Nutrition Facts Panel on the back of packages, up to the front.

Facts Up Front is a new front of package tool that is reflected by icons that call out key nutrients so that you can more easily compare products. Facts Up Front is a joint effort of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). GMA is the organization that represents food and beverage companies and FMI represents food wholesalers and retailers. Together they have partnered to develop Facts Up Front and the educational campaign that supports it. I have been a member of the Facts Up Front Advisory group since its inception, which has allowed me to review the science behind this new labeling and provide guidance to best educate consumers on how to make this new tool work for them.

Packages that carry the Facts Up Front label must show four nutrients – Calories, Saturated Fat, Sodium and Sugars (small packages are allowed to show calories only). Food manufacturers may add up to two additional nutrients, out of a list of 8, if they are a good source (at least 10% of the Daily Value) of the nutrient.

The four nutrients that must appear on every Facts Up Front label are those which consumers should limit, since most people consume above and beyond what’s recommended in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The optional nutrients are those we need to consume more of, such as calcium, potassium, fiber and vitamin D.

If you haven’t seen this new labeling, start looking for it on packages in your store. For more information about the labels, or for recipes, shopping tips and a nutrition calculator option, visit www.factsupfront.org  

Choose MyPlate

 

Developing a Healthful eating plan is easiest when you use MyPlate to guide your choices. MyPlate graphically shows you how to balance food groups to maximize your nutrition. With 3/4 of the plate coming from plant foods MyPlate provides the opportunity for a wide variety of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients.

MyPlate is the visual representation of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, guidelines that are aimed at promoting health, achieving a healthy weight and meeting nutrient needs. You can learn more about MyPlate by visiting - http://www.choosemyplate.gov/index.html

When you visit the website you will notice that the site not only guides you on how to make food choices but it offers tips for shopping, reading labels and physical activity. The new year is just barely started so there is still time to start the year with a new – Healthier – routine.

Connie Diekman, M.Ed., RD, CSSD, LD

Best Diets for 2014

 

US News & World Report Best Diets for 2014 provides their recommendations for diets to checkout this year and the list does not include some “popular” choices. The winners in the Best Diet Overall category were - 1. The DASH Diet; 2. TLC Diet; 3. Mediterranean Diet.

The Best Diets list is designed to help consumers choose a diet that will meet their needs and goals. The list provides the “best” recommendations in 7 categories besides the best overall. The rankings were done by a team of health experts who scored the diets for short and long-term weight loss, ease of compliance, safety and nutrition.

The popular Paleo diet tied for last place with the Dukan diet. You can see more results at http://health.usnews.com/best-diet

If you’re planning to start the New Year with a new diet, consider a few of these points.

· Look for a diet that includes all food groups

· Look for a diet that provides guidance on portions

· Make sure your physician approves of the diet if you have any medical conditions

· Remember to include activity in with your diet plan

· Consider using www.Choosemyplate.gov for well-balanced advice

For a personalized plan, contact a Registered Dietitian. You can find a Registered Dietitian in your area by visiting www.Eatright.org and clicking on Find A Dietitian.

FDA Proposes Trans Fat Ban

 

Last week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed removing from the Generally Recognized as Safe list (GRAS), industrialized Trans fats or those that don’t exist naturally in foods. Yes, Trans fats exist in animal foods so we do consume them more than we probably think but most of the scientific evidence indicates that it is the industrialized Trans fats, those made in a food chemistry lab, that are connected to an increased risk of heart disease.

Most people know that there are good fats – plant fats – and bad fats – animal fats, and likely you’re aware of Trans fats as plant fats that are associated with an increased risk of heart disease, but you, like many others, may not think about all the foods that can contain Trans fats. The chemical process that converts plant oils into Trans fats acts to improve the stability of the plant fat making these fats good choices for foods that need a longer shelf-life like cookies, crackers, cakes, frozen baked good and pizza, coffee creamers, snack foods, and ready to use frostings.

Trans fats are listed on the label in the Nutrition Facts Panel but you can also see if they are present by looking in the ingredient list for the words “partially hydrogenated oil”. (PHOs) PHOs are vegetable or plant oils that have been chemically altered to change them from unsaturated fats to more saturated fats but the bigger concern is that the chemical process creates a more heart Unhealthy fat than naturally occurring saturated fats.

The FDA has issued a 60 day comment period for this proposal and if it is approved food companies will have time to make changes in their products. In the meantime, spend more time reading ingredient lists and looking at the Nutrition Facts panel. If a food has more Cholesterol, Trans or Saturated fat than another food, choose the one with less total of these three nutrients.

You can read more here: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/UCM373957.pdf

 

Connie Diekman<

Hydration isn’t Just for the Summer

 

When outside temperatures are high you automatically feel the need to drink fluids so you might be surprised to know that fluid needs are just as high when the temperatures are low. It’s true, at extreme temperatures the body has to work harder to stay at an even, more ideal core temperature, requiring more fluids than when the outside temperature is closer to that core temperature.

As temperatures turn to winter you need to keep your sights on consuming enough fluids. Current guidelines recommend at least 91 ounces of fluids per day for women and at least 108 ounces per day for men. These amounts will increase with activity, time spent in dry heated rooms or offices and drops in temperature. These amounts do include liquid foods like soup and watery foods likes fruits and vegetables. Trying to quantify how much fluid is in a watery food is hard so make sure you are consuming beverages throughout the day.

Contrary to old beliefs you can count beverages that contain caffeine but if you’re working out or as it gets extremely cold, make sure you consume more decaffeinated beverages. If you struggle to get enough fluids consider the following:

• Keep a mug or cup near your desk as a reminder
• Schedule fluid breaks just as you schedule time for lunch or actual break times
• Grab a beverage between meals before you grab a snack – hunger could really be thirst
• Start each meal with a cup of water
• Consume 3 cups of milk or soy milk for the nutrition and the 24 ounces

If you need to slowly increase your amounts that’s fine, just keep in mind the need for adequate hydration.