Archive for August 2017

Want to experience the tender deliciousness of a cut of meat or fish from a high-end restaurant without leaving your home or laboring in the kitchen for hours? If so, sous vide (pronounced sue-veed) cooking is right for you. For anywhere from under $100 to $300 for the sous vide precision cooker, plus a few dollars for plastic freezer bags and food cost, you can have a gourmet meal on the table in a couple of hours, with mere minutes spent in preparation.

As the gluten-free diet fad winds down, a “lectin-free” diet may become the next big trend. Fueling interest is a new book called The Plant Paradox by Steven R. Gundry (Harper Wave 2017), which claims that lectins in whole grains, legumes, nightshade vegetables (tomato, pepper, eggplant, potatoes), fruit, dairy and eggs are the enemy of anyone trying to lose weight and/or optimize health, according to a report on the Food Insight website.

More than 75% of food-related television ads that kids see promote high-calorie, unhealthy foods and drinks, according to a UConn Rudd Center study published in June. While exposure to such ads has generally declined since a 2007 self-regulation initiative aimed at reducing advertising of unhealthy food targeting kids, children are still seeing many more ads for candy, sugary drinks and fast-food restaurants than they are for healthy foods. This study looked only at television advertising.

The popularity of home-delivery meal kits is on the rise, at least in part because of a hot startup economy and increasing consumer interest in cooking and eating food at home (though many still lack the time or know-how to do it).

A presidential advisory from the American Heart Association released in June concluded strongly that lowering intake of saturated fat and replacing it with unsaturated fats—especially polyunsaturated ones—reduces cardiovascular disease rates. Studies indicate that this change would lower CVD rates by 30%, similar to the drop achieved by ubiquitous statin medications. Replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats lowers levels of “bad” low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides. Fat composition of commonly used oils is shown in the chart.

Everybody should eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables, which are rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals—nutrients associated with improved health and longevity. And it’s tempting to believe these benefits extend to 100% fruit juice.

A small 10-week pilot study found that patients who received a fruit and vegetable “prescription” along with $30 tokens per week to spend on fruits and vegetables at a local farmer’s market reduced weight, waist circumference and cholesterol levels compared with a control group given a $30 gas card per week, reports the Cape Cod Times.

With rates of prediabetes and diabetes climbing, there is great interest in inexpensive interventions that can help to control blood sugar levels. Studies suggest that people who consume 1 g of cinnamon (just under ½ teaspoon) per day have a blood sugar reduction in line with the decrease from prescription drugs, Time magazine reported in April. How
cinnamon exerts these effects is an area of active investigation. Add cinnamon to oatmeal, yogurt, tea and applesauce to boost intake.

People striving to lose weight have long been wooed by diet trends, hoping a new discovery or novel program will be their path to achieving a goal weight. Usually, research into the effectiveness of these diets lags behind media attention and public interest.
True to form, that has been the case with the alternate-day fast, a popular diet trend
that features a day of fasting for each day of eat-whatever-you-want “feasting.”