Diets/Dieting/Fad Diets
Plant-Based Foods Curb Chronic Disease
Here’s another good reason to embrace the trend of eating more plants: A cohort study in Nature Communications involving 56,048 adults in Denmark found that people who over a 23-year period habitually consumed moderate to high amounts of foods rich in flavonoids—naturally occurring chemical compounds found predominantly in plant-based foods—were less likely to die from cancer or heart disease.
March 2020 Question of the Month: Is Red Meat No Longer the Enemy?
For years, nutrition and health experts have been telling us to cut back on our intake of red meat. Now, a controversial new analysis says this advice was largely unwarranted.
Weighing In on the Keto Diet
While extremely low-carbohydrate diets like fat-forward keto can aid in short-term weight loss, they have mixed effects on other health markers, according to a scientific statement issued by the National Lipid Association and published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology.
Why Dentists Don’t Approve of Energy Foods
Sports drinks, energy gels and bars can help athletes keep up the pace, but frequent use may land them in the dental chair. According to a study published in the British Dental Journal, regular consumption of these products is likely a major reason why professional athletes have higher rates of tooth decay than the general public, despite eating a healthy diet overall and practicing good oral hygiene, like twice-daily brushing. The sugar content and acidity of energy products can expedite gum inflammation and tooth decay, leading to poor oral health.
Athletes Have an Appetite for Social Media
Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook continue to open up new opportunities for athletes to learn about nutrition. Based on a questionnaire administered to 306 athletes, a report in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism found that 65% of study participants reported using social media to glean nutrition information over the previous 12 months.
Insomnia Linked to Refined Carbs
A new study on insomnia in postmenopausal women suggests the consumption of refined carbohydrates may be the cause. The findings were published online in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Finally, a Trick That Gets Kids to Eat More Broccoli
Most parents will agree that getting their kids to eat greens can be really difficult. Simultaneously offering them multiple options seems to be a solution.
Will You Get Faster on a Keto Diet?
Many proponents of the ketogenic diet claim that it not only helps with weight loss but also increases exercise endurance by making the body more efficient at burning fat and ketones for energy. However, an investigation by New Zealand researchers, published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, hints at a different outcome.
Hunger on the Mind
British researchers found that hunger can significantly influence the choices we make. For the study, reported in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, a group of 50 participants answered questions at two separate times, once 2 hours after eating and once after fasting for 10 hours. Participants had the option of immediately receiving a reward (including money) or waiting for a more substantial reward later on.
Another Win for Gluten
People without a gluten-related disorder (for instance, celiac disease or nonceliac gluten sensitivity) did not experience gastrointestinal symptoms like bloating after consuming gluten flour twice daily for 2 weeks, according to a double-blind, randomized controlled study in the journal Gastroenterology. This is more evidence to counteract the belief that eating gluten-free as a lifestyle choice is the healthier way to go.
You Can Get Ripped on Plants
Yes, it’s possible to bulk up on tofu. A joint research study by Canadian and Brazilian scientists, presented at the 2019 American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting, discovered no difference with respect to lean body mass and muscle strength gains between 19 vegan and 19 omnivorous young men enrolled in a 12-week, twice-weekly program of resistance training. During the intervention, each participant consumed 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, either solely from plants or from a mix of plants and animals.
Fruits and Veggies Silence Fat Genes
True, some people did not win the genetic lottery with respect to gaining pounds, but that doesn’t mean they can’t tweak their diets to stave off weight creep. A study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition involving more than 14,000 adults over a 20-year period discovered that increasing one’s intake of fruits and vegetables can be protective against a genetic susceptibility to obesity.
Americans Are Still Eating a Lousy Diet
Health organizations have given advice on nutritious eating for decades, and yet a diet “report card” published in JAMA shows that American adults are still consuming too many nutritionally poor carbohydrates and more saturated fat than is recommended. The study, conducted by researchers from Tufts and Harvard universities, examined data on food choices recorded between 1999 and 2016 by almost 44,000 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
What Diet Fuels Workouts Best?
A study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition suggests that athletes can thrive on a variety of different diets.
Should We Be Chicken to Eat Poultry?
Red meat gets all the flack, but in terms of cholesterol, research in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finds no advantage to picking white meat like chicken over red meat like beef.
Prenatal Nutrition is Lacking
Based on data collected from 1,003 pregnant women between 2001 and 2014, a study in JAMA Network Open suggests that many expectant mothers in the U.S. don’t get enough of some nutrients that are vital for a healthy pregnancy.
5 Big Benefits of Plant-Based Diets
People can get caught up in the details of paleo, ketogenic and gluten-free diets, but one of the most buzzworthy eating styles at the moment is also super simple. It’s the plant-based diet—one that places less emphasis on animal-based foods and more on dishes derived from the plant kingdom.
The Rise of Orange Corn
In partnership with Purdue University, American company NutraMaize LLC is forging ahead with plans to increase the commercialization of their orange corn in the United States.
Healthy Diet Pays Off for Gut Health
Looks like a healthy diet may help fertilize the human gut with beneficial bugs. That’s the conclusion of scientists from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston who recently compared the colonic biopsies of 34 people with their scores on a food questionnaire based on the Healthy Eating Index.
What’s the Caffeine Cutoff for Migraines?
For people prone to “throbbing brain pain,” it may be smart to go easy on the coffee.
