Sandy Todd Webster
Sandy Todd Webster
Article Archive
Clients and fitness pros alike must often feel they are chasing unicorns in the tricky quest to gain muscle and lose fat. Indeed, researchers at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, showed in a recent study just how difficult it can be to manage weight, control calories and balance protein during the process.
With lack of sleep already such a problem among North Americans, taking some simple dietary steps to promote better slumber may be something to consider.
Chocolate lovers the world over could subsist on great memories of eating their favorite treat. While the creamy deliciousness is hard to forget, it’s possible the recollection remains sharp in part because chocolate itself helps with recall.
New research in the May 1 edition of Appetite (2016; 100, 126–32) revealed that subjects who ate chocolate at least once per week performed better on multiple cognitive tasks, compared with those who ate chocolate less frequently.
Here’s a taste of what’s cooking in the nutrition world:
Regularly consuming the catch of the day might be just the thing to keep your brain sharp, shows research published in the Journal of American Medical Association (2016; 315 [5], 489–97).
Culturally we pretty much inhale our food. We eat at our desks; we gobble standing up; we down food mindlessly in the car and while multitasking. Such practices are not only unhealthy for adults; they also send kids an unhealthy message that negates the importance of appreciating food and enjoying its social aspects. Eating fast literally drowns out the critical satiety signal that would tell kids when to stop eating.
Cookbook author, television host and chef Diane Kochilas shares this recipe from her recent book Ikaria: Lessons on Food, Life, and Longevity from the Greek Island Where People Forget to Die (Rodale 2014).
Think twice before popping that pill. A report from earlier this year from CosumerLab.com, reaffirms that multivitamins don’t always live up to their package claims.
ConsumerLab.com recently tested dozens of multivitamin/multimineral supplements and found they varied widely in quality, with some providing far more or less of ingredients than claimed, said Tod Cooperman, MD, founder and president of the watchdog site. “Fortunately, we discovered that you don’t have to spend a lot to get a good multivitamin.”
Are Americans Really Cutting Back on Sugar?
An IPSOS/Reuters poll conducted in mid-January reported that 58% of Americans had tried to limit sugar in their diets in the previous 30 days. This paralleled the release of the new U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which recommended for the first time that Americans reduce their intake of added sugars (sugars added during food processing and preparation) to less than 10% of daily calories.
Plant-forward food culture has yet another new faction to consider: Vegganism. That’s right: You can practice a vegan diet, but now you don’t have to forgo the egg on top. Veggans eschew animal products and dairy, as vegans do, but opt to enjoy the protein and nutritional versatility eggs offer. Check out the hundreds of eggciting veggan possibilities on Pinterest and Instagram.
You’re tired and “hangry” as you step up to place your dinner order at the grab-and-go place in your neighborhood. Though you’re committed to making a good decision, the menu label’s numerical nutrient information is confounding and you lose patience trying to sort through it. You order, but you’re uncertain about the nutritional value of your food. Did you make a good decision?
Step away from the refined carbohydrates. The sad irony is that consuming food we often describe as “comforting” actually has the strong potential to push postmenopausal women out of their emotional comfort zones and into depression.
Over 75 of the world’s top nutrition scientists, medical experts and media members convened last November at Finding Common Ground—a summit organized by food and nutrition nonprofit Oldways—to reach consensus on what Americans should be eating. Their recommendations included strong support for the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report and for sustainability of our food systems and greater food literacy.
Kimberley Hasselbrink, photographer and creator of the blog The Year in Food (www.theyearinfood.com), invites you to look at ingredients differently and let their colors inspire you. Her book, Vibrant Food (Ten Speed Press 2014), will stir you to think about produce in terms of color to reinvigorate your relationship with food. Her collection of recipes is based on seasonal produce and employs aesthetics, flavor and texture to build gorgeous but unfussy dishes throughout the year.
What is your take on the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines? Do you think they hit the mark, and if so, how will you use them to guide clients’ nutrition challenges? If you don’t think they hit the mark, do you think highlights from the DGAC report are a sensible alternative? How will you use the DGs or the DGAC report to steer clients in the right direction?
Share your story with swebster@ideafit.com
Anticipated and debated for most of last year, the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans arrived with a disappointing fizzle the first week of January. Many leading researchers and public health experts openly criticized the final document, which largely ignored the painstaking work of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) appointed to research and develop science-based recommendations for contemporary eaters.
The comforting morning ritual of drinking coffee just became even more soothing.
Research shows that those who drink about 3–5 cups of coffee a day may be less likely to die pre- maturely from some illnesses than those who don’t drink coffee or who drink less, according to a study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers. Drinkers of both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee saw benefits, including a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, neurological diseases, type 2 diabetes and suicide.
Remember This Trio
There’s a simple formula for my 30-minutes-or-less dinners: Choose a quick-cooking protein (fish, chicken or lean meats are my faves), a quick-cooking whole grain (like whole-wheat couscous or those no-seasonings- added brown rice packets) and a prewashed green
(like arugula, spinach or snow peas). You can have a super-tasty dinner on the table in as little as 10 minutes if you know how to prepare these three things.
Sharpen Your Skills
Every year, new words get added to the English vernacular by various dictionary editors and the sheer force of pop culture. This year saw the names of many ethnic dishes and new verbal culinary mashups officially recognized as part of our language. Among the most popular?
It’s becoming clearer that unlocking the complexities
of human behavior, especially food motivation, can impact good and poor health. In a profound paradox, who
would ever have thought the McDonald’s Happy Meal model could be so instructive?
Researchers led by Martin Reimann, PhD, of the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, set out to see whether people would opt to eat less if food were paired with a nonedible bonus—comparable to a nonfood toy in a Happy Meal.
