GREEN EGGS AND TUNA

By Marie Dufour, RD – At first, I thought it was a take on Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham.  Then, I realized that I had read it wrong. The headline was GREENS, EGGS, and TUNA… Among the Riskiest Foods in America.

Now, you’d tell me wild mushrooms or puffer fish, my ears would perk up and I’d put down my fork.  I’d certainly expect to inspect oysters and clams for norovirus and I’d make sure not to eat shellfish between the months of May and September. I might question my sushi server on the freshness of  tuna, afraid of scrombotoxin contamination.  But the news of potatoes and berries being dangerous to my health had me a bit puzzled.  What was that FDA report about?

On the heels of the Food Safety Enhancement Act passed last July, the Centers for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) just released a food safety report.  How common is food-borne illness? One in 3,000 to 4,000 meals, with the most common pathogens being Norovirus, E.coli, Salmonella and scrombotoxin.   The ten top foods that made the naughty list are: leafy greens, eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts, and berries, accounting for nearly 40% of all outbreaks among FDA-regulated foods.

BUT, what is not on the list is what the FDA does not regulate: Meat products.  While the media scare the public away from healthy foods by labeling them “RISKY,” they blissfully ignore the multiple recalls of beef and meat products, contaminated by the deadly E-coli.O157:H7.

The risks for food contamination are well known to food producers, processors, restaurateurs and other foodservice professionals.  HACCP protocols have long been in place to regulate provisioning, storing, cooking, and serving foods.  Standards have been developed and are followed in order to avoid time-temperature abuses.  This new FDA rule focuses on high-volume food processors (i.e. lettuce farms) to design and implement food safety plans.  It’s a good thing for the consumer.   You may feel that you’re doing your body a favor by purchasing the expensive bag of “organic greens,” but are just as much at risk for E. coli, and Salmonella as if you purchased a regular lettuce (and even more at risk as if you grew that lettuce yourself, I might add.)

How do we keep our foods safe in the home?  FIGHT BAC! Store food at the right temperature, cook it thoroughly, and, for crying out lout, don’t let that chicken thaw on the countertop!  See more tips at Fight Bac!

Defensive cooking, it’s a Healthy Thing!

Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition, prevention , e.coli, food contamination, food safety, healthy eating, Marie Dufour RD, norivirus, nutrition, Organic, public health, raw food diet, salmonella, scrombotoxin, tuna contamination, women's Health

THE OBESITY-CANCER LINK

By Marie Dufour, RD – It’s not news that obesity increases the risk for breast cancer in women. I was teaching that to women groups more than 25 years ago. The estrogen-producing property of stored fat raises the estrogen level and puts women at risk for estrogen-positive breast cancer.

Over the last 20 years, study after study have demonstrated that obesity is also damaging to the intestinal track and correlates to colon, kidney, and pancreas cancer as well as adenocarcinoma of the esophagus and endometrium. Just 2 years ago, Dr. Walter Willett presented his research in Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective and predicted that within 10 years obesity would become the leading risk factor for cancer. And we are getting closer to Dr. Willett’s prediction every day, as heralded by the latest European cancer research report.  Obesity accounts for 8% of all cancers, and rising.

The recipe for health is so simple: eat well, be active, stay as lean as possible. Why is it so hard to achieve? Confusing, conflicting, and overwhelming information make our heads spin. We hate to be fat and hate to hate ourselves… and feel trapped. We reach for diet pills and miracle cures, when the guidelines are simples. Perhaps taking just one at a time will help.

- Be physically active;

- Keep red meat to less than 18oz per week;

- Eat mostly foods from vegetable origin;

- Avoid sodas, juice and sports drinks if you’re not a hard-core athlete;

- Meet your nutritional needs through diet, avoid supplements;

- If you take fish oils supplement, respect the limit and check for purity of the product;

- If you drink, do so in moderation;

and – of course, don’t smoke.

More than ever, watch what you eat. Join support groups, be informed about healthy nutrition, and pass it on… It’s a Healthy Thing…

Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition , cancer prevention, diet, Health Nutrition Blog, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, Marie Dufour RD, men's health, nutrition, obesity, Obesity-cancer link, weight control, weight loss, women's Health

PREGNANT BUT NOT FAT

By Marie Dufour, RD – Yet another study to demonstrate that having children puts women at risk for metabolic syndrome, and for women with history of gestational diabetes to develop Type 2 diabetes.

I’d like to believe it: having had 5 children myself, I’d like to take multiple pregnancies as an excuse for the inches around my waist that prohibit wearing tight belts.  However, I’m going to argue against the results of this study. 

I’ll argue that it’s not pregnancy itself that makes us permanently fat around the waist; it’s the lack of proper education and care women get during and after pregnancy.

Historically, women used to bear many more children than they now do.  Multiple pregnancies were common, but obesity was not.  Clearly, food was not as easily accessible, women breastfed their children, and they continued to do manual chores and move their bodies.  But it’s no longer the case, and between food oversupply and lack of physical demand, the fat cells around the waist have a nice growing time.  And, with the central obesity come insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia, high blood pressure and associated risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

How do we, from a public health standpoint, prevent the “pot belly” and the risk of metabolic syndrome among pregnant women?

1.    Institute FREE prenatal care for ALL women;

2.    Include nutrition education to the prenatal visits at 3 months, 6 months, 8 months, 9 months and post-natal visits at 1 month and 3 months; (WIC is doing some of this… ALL women need this service)

3.    Encourage women to breastfeed (faster weight loss) and promote pro-breastfeeding policies in the workplace;

4.    Encourage city-sponsored fitness programs for pregnant women and “mommy & me” programs for mew mothers;

5.    TV and radio public address & messages to promote healthy pregnancies.

 I don’t see women stopping having children anytime soon.  But childbearing needs not be an excuse for post-partum obesity, metabolic syndrome, nor diabetes.  If you’re pregnant, eat right but not for two, exercise normally unless your doctor tells you not to, and plan on breastfeeding.  Your waist and your heart will thank you; your child will thank you.

Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition, diet, public health , community nutrition, diet, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, healthy pregnancy, heart health, Marie Dufour RD, metabolic syndrome, metabolic syndrome prevention, obesity, pregnancy, weight control, women's Health

THE FAT TRAP

By marie Dufour, RD – We used to think that cravings –and especially cravings for fat and sugar– were essentially tied to tour pleasure response centers. Eating any sweet-fat combo would release endorphins, and that high endorphin levels would call for more sweet-fat combo, therefore starting a never-ending and addictive cycle.

New research suggests that certain fats –but not all– hit the brain directly with a message: eat more fat! Such fat as palmitic acid have a specific ability to turn off the signal from the appetite-regulating hormone leptin.

Why does this matter? Leptin is the “STOP EATING” hormone. It is manufactured by our fat cells. The more fat cells we have, the more leptin we manufacture. “STOP” eating, says leptin, when we have enough fat stores or have ingested enough fat. But this new research shows that there is an override system to the leptin control.

The brain’s chemistry can change in a very short period of time. When you eat something high in fat, that fat goes straight to your brain, and your appetite center becomes deaf to the STOP signs it receives. Some fats are more sabotaging than others. Palmitic acid, the fat used for ice cream, cookies, chips, and most snack confections, as well as butter and beef fat, are particularly effective in turning off the brain’s response the leptin signals. Polyunsaturated fats such as olive oil, however, do not seem to have that effect.

Result? Not only does brain listen to the pleasure aspect of the experience, but it also ignores the “STOP EATING” signals, quickly sending us right to the bottom of the ice cream carton, bag of chips, box of chocolate… Fat asks for more fat.

How to resist? Do not launch those cravings. Stick to a low saturated fat diet. If you really want an ice cream, select a sherbet, granita, or shaved ice with fruit puree, and you’ll stay away from the fat trap.

Source: http://www.swmed.edu/ ;  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/ 090914110533.htm

Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition , childhood obesity, cravings, diet, emotional eating, fat craving, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, kids' health, Leptin, Marie Dufour RD, men's health, nutrition, obesity, weight control, weight loss, women's Health

A HA’PENNY A CALORIE

By Marie Dufour, RD -  My oldest son, a mortgage broker, keeps drilling me on the difference between cost and investment.  A rental property is an investment; a car is just a cost.  So, it was natural that I should look at the results from a Spanish study on the Mediterranean diet with a critical eye.

The Mediterranean diet, researchers found, costs Spaniards more than the traditional Western diet.  How much more? $1 for 1000 calories.  That’s ½ penny more a calorie.  This is not surprising.  Fish, fruits, vegetables, whole wheat bread, olive oil and almonds definitely are more expensive on the shelf than hot dogs, hamburgers, white bread and fast-food fare.  Indeed, the cost of fresh food is one of the objections I hear about following a healthy diet: “I cant’ afford it.”

I see it as an investment.  We have no greater wealth in this world than our good health.  The Mediterranean diet (and its associated lifestyle) is a proven recipe to prevent heart disease, diabetes and cancer, the three scourges that are sending health budgets worldwide into a global tailspin.  The cost of following fat-and-sugar-laden Western-type diet is in the billions of dollars: to governments worldwide, to companies, to workers, and -yes- to you too… and, worse, to all our children. 

Pay now or pay later.  Invest a little in making your plate as healthy as possible: Mediterranean, DASH, South Beach, Ornish, Katz, Willett, MyPyramid… all these are great healthy eating investment plans.  Rather than emptying your bank account at the health store to buy the vitamin pills, protein powder jars, food bars and vitamined water you think you need to offset a poor diet, rather spend a little more on the fresh food that goes on your plate.

Now, sit down, and take time to enjoy this nutrition-rich, low energy density meal, and know that you’re investing in your good health and that of your children.

 

Ref: Lopez CN, et al “Costs of Mediterranean and Western dietary patterns in a Spanish cohort and their relationship with prospective weight change” J Epidemiol Community Health 2009; DOI: 10.1136/jech.2008.081208.

Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition, diet , cancer prevention, childhood obesity, diet, food cost, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, heart health, High blood pressure, kids' health, Marie Dufour RD, Mediterranean Diet, men's health, nutrition, obesity, omega 3, weight control, weight loss, women's Health

HEALTHY FAMILIES EAT TOGETHER

By Marie Dufour, RD – Families are spending 40% of their food dollars away from home, up from the only 26% twenty five years ago.  The good-old family dinner is on the decline.  From a public policy standpoint, some of the reasons are

- food marketing to children (1.6 billion in 2006) who now want their XXX-brand meal and its associated toy or figure.  But 93% of the kids’s meals provide excessive calories.

- unavailability of fresh foods in some neighborhoods.  Grocery stores want to maximize their profits and have pulled out of many poor neighborhoods.  The unavailability of fresh foods in these areas force residents to rely on convenience stores and their snack foods for their meals.

- foods allowed on the Women Infant and Children (WIC) program are not conducive to healthy cooking and family meal preparation.

 Why focus on family meal preparation and family-style dinner in an environment free of distraction such as television, videogames, telephone and texting?  Because, as the latest research from the University of Indiana suggests, family who eat together live healthier lives. 

- Teens are less likely to smoke cigarettes and marijuana and to abuse alcohol.

- Children have greater vocabulary growth and higher academic achievement.

- Children are less likely to develop eating disorders.

- Young children exhibit fewer behavior problems.

- Teens tend to eat more fruits and vegetables.

- Meals prepared at home tend to be lower in calories and fat.

 What can be done in the context of public policy? Recommendations appear in volume 22, issue 4, of Social Policy Report, co-authored by Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University.

 Encouraging families to prepare and eat together at least 3 times per week a 20-minute meal is one public address message.  But we need to have the structures to support this:

- grocery stores and fresh food availability in poor neighborhoods;

- decentralized fresh produce carts for curbside access;

- no-fast food zones around schools and parks;

- WIC coupons that include fresh produce.

 So, get into the kitchen with the kids, set the table or the counter, turn all TVs and cell phones off, and enjoy a meal with your family.  It’s a healthy thing!

 

Ref: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009, September 9). Public Policy Should Promote Family Mealtimes, Researchers Urge.

Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition, diet, public health , childhood obesity, community nutrition, family meal, fast food, healthy eating, healthy kids, healthy lifestyle, kids' health, Marie Dufour RD, mealtime strategy, nutrition, obesity, produce carts, public health, public policy, weight control, women's Health

SOLVING CHILDHOOD OVERWEIGHT

 By Marie Dufour, RD – The last hospital patient I saw as a clinical dietitian was a 20-year old African-American girl.  She weighted over 400 pounds and was dying from lack of oxygen, her chest so heavy that she could no longer lift it to breathe.  That broke my heart just as much as did the teenagers asking me about bariatric surgery to save their lives.  With my little food guide and nutrition pamphlet, I felt quite alone and ineffective, having only one shot at nutrition education.

Reversing childhood overweight requires a complex, multi-faceted approach, not necessarily focusing on weight loss, but on behavioral change.

Sporadic nutrition education is ineffective, as demonstrated once more by an Australian intervention aimed at promoting weight loss in 258 overweight children ages 5 to 9.  Family physicians volunteered to provide four individual counseling sessions to overweight children and their families.  After 3 months, the children in the intervention group showed no change in eating habits, physical activity and water consumption.

This study fuels the debate of whether or not individual and sporadic intervention by family physicians is worth the cost.  The intervention cost investigators $1,100 per child, versus $67 in traditional setting, and although children were to attend four sessions, the mean attendance rate was only of 2.7 sessions. 

Let’s set aside the topic of physical activity, and look strictly at nutrition.  Children and their parents have lost touch with appropriate nutrition for two major reasons: lack of education and a toxic environment.  This can be reversed with structures already in place, repeated exposure to health-conscious messages, and an effort from food distributors to identify non-toxic products on their shelves.

 - Child education: nutrition needs to be taught as a mandatory school subject, year after year and starting early.

- Parent education: through television nutrition and healthy cooking shows, newspapers and magazine articles, written or produced by Registered Dietitians.

- Grocery stores health-promoting stance:

          - “Light” circuit shopping, away from “Heavy” aisles;

          - Decentralized produce carts located in parking lots and at curbside;

          - In-store light cooking shows;

          - In-store free dietitian consultation;

- Hospitals and medical groups proactive policies:

         – Nutrition education pamphlets to all members;

         – Free nutrition screening and dietitian initial consultation upon enrollment;

         – Healthy Living Health Fairs (Nutrition and physical activity);

- Business participation:

         – Healthy cafeteria menus, including nutrition labels on menu items;

         – Free initial nutrition evaluation; free healthy nutrition support groups;

         – Employee education via web-based “Nutrition Spots;”

         – Insurance discount for participation in nutrition education workshops.

- City programs:

         – Healthy Camps: nutrition, physical activity, healthy cooking;

         – Healthy Cooking for Moms, Dads, & Families community classes;

         – Health-promoting infrastructures: sidewalks, parks, and security;

         – Pro-health policies: produce cart licenses, no-Fast-Food zones near schools.

 Each of us has a role to play.  Whether a business owner, a city worker, a teacher or a health worker, each of us can create a climate and an environment where we can rear healthy and lean children. 

          Don’t wait for “THEM;”  What will YOU do?

Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition, diet, public health , childhood obesity, city action, community nutrition, diet, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, kids' health, Marie Dufour RD, men's health, nutrition, nutrition counseling, nutrition education, nutrition policy, obesity, pro-health policies, public health, solving childhood obesity, weight control, weight loss

NORMAL EATING

By Marie Dufour, RD – Interesting discussion in the NYT this morning, about what constitutes “Normal Eating.” Of course, there is no agreement.  Perhaps because there is no such thing as “Normal Eating.”

NORM has two meanings, according to the dictionary.

- Standard, or model – What we should do and are expected to do.

- Average, or mode* – What we actually do and measure.

                           * Note:  The word “mode” (as in “Apple-pie-a-la-mode”) also means “fashion” in French, a detail that is not lost on my French upbringing…

So, does our eating conflict just come from the dual meaning of the word “normal?”

Standard models abound.  The USDA has worked hard to develop dietary guidelines and the MyPyramid.gov website to help us define individualized healthy standards.  What is normal for me (1200 Kcal/day need) is not for my husband (2200 Kcal/day need) or our work team (3000 Kcal/day need).  But Standards are not just about calories.  They are also about ethnicity.  Our family tends to adhere to a Mediterranean-style diet because we were reared in Europe and always grew our own vegetables.  Moving to the US in our twenties, we felt that eating American-style was totally abnormal, of course.  And now that we live in Paraguay, our diet of fruit, vegetables and fish seems abnormal to the locals who survive on beef, corn and mandioca.  Normal standards vary around the world. 

Averages vary as well and are directly related to economic status and market availability.  Again, I’ll take my microsome of Paraguay because, typical of a developing country, the lines are so well drawn here.  The economically disadvantaged have a tendency to be of a healthy weight, still living according to traditional norms and not touched by modern-world marketing (no food stamps here!).  But the wealthy have a tendency to be overweight, and I can see them lining up at fashionable fast-food restaurants and their kids having replaced the traditional zero-calorie drinks with sodas and juices.  And then, there are the legions of under-nourished  (by porverty and/or alcoholism) with emaciated bodies and very, very abnormal eating.

Perhaps there is such a thing as “Healthy Eating” although eating too much of healthy things can be unhealthy and one can still eat something classified as “unhealthy” but keep a healthy balance.

HEALTHY BALANCE… yes, that’s the concept.  And it’s a concept that involves EDUCATION and PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.  How boring!

- Education:  know what the standard is for YOU.  Calorie-wise, fat and sugar-wise, protein-wise.  Develop a plan that works with your daily lifestyle, ethnic background, taste, cooking abilities and budget.

- Personal responsibility:  Yes, all this is WORK.  But our health and that of our children warrant our attention and efforts.  And if we don’t think so, well we won’t live very well for very long, and, sadly, our children’s lifespan will be even shorter than ours.

I’m no fun, I know.  But neither is eating a bland diet of measured portions in a hospital bed…

Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition, diet , childhood obesity, community nutrition, diet, ethnic eating, Health Nutrition Blog, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, heart health, Marie Dufour RD, Mediterranean Diet, normal diet, normal eating, nutrition, nutrition education, obesity, Paraguay, weight control, weight loss, women's Health

THE TRUTH ABOUT CARBS

For the last 2 days, I’ve blogged about carbs at http://dufourcrunch.blogspot.com/ , telling you how we NEED carbs in our diet IN VARIETY and IN MODERATION, of course.  And the Carbohydrate Authorities have heard my plight and are answering every question you may have on carbohydrate nutrition, glycemic index and then some… 

So, pour yourself a nice cup of tea, or make a big tumbler of Yerba Mate (you can see I’m still stuck in Paraguay)… and read on…

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/161547.php#ratethis

EAT carbs, and LIVE WELL

Domino marie

Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition, diet , Atkins, carbohydrates, diabetes, diet, glycemic index, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, healthy living, heart health, low-carb diet, Marie Dufour RD, men's health, nutrition, obesity, sports nutrition, weight control, women's Health

REGRESSIVE NUTRITION

By Marie Dufour, RD.  The human body has not evolved to process the foods currently been fed to its organs.  Result? Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and shortened life expectancy.

 It’s not a question of whether we’ve been created by a Higher Being or have evolved from primary life forms.  Whichever way we have appeared on this planet, we have slowly evolved to the life form we are today.  Over millions of years (or hundreds of thousands, or thousands), we have gradually adapted to our food environment.  We have lived off of the products of the earth in the most natural ways.  We’ve been hunters and gatherers first, then farmers.  But the industrial revolution has also brought a nutrition and health chaos.  I hinted at this concept yesterday in Meal Hierarchy but came across a medical news report this morning that I thought worth investigating.

Just released, a 7-year study of the 9,000-strong Tsimane tribe in the Bolivian Amazon reports the absence of vascular disease and heart attack. The main killers in this population are infectious and parasitic diseases. The Tsimane have high levels of C-reactive protein, which is a marker of inflammation used in the US to predict heart disease.  Although inflammation is prevalent (2/3 of the population have intestinal worms), peripheral vascular disease is virtually unknown.

Which brings us back to diet and lifestyle.  The Tsimane live a very traditional lifestyle.  They fish, hunt, gather, cultivate the soil, live in family groups and have little contact with the modern world. This tribe in the heart of the Bolivian Amazon lives the way our body is designed for: limited intake of non-processed foods*.

The human body is just not made to deal with the high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar and increasingly high-protein regimen we are putting it through.  Perhaps in few hundred years it will have adapted to this regimen.  But for now, it has not.  The change has been too sudden. The result is devastating to our specie:

Our children’s generation will have a shorter lifespan than ours.

We need to make a conscious and concerted effort to make what I will call “regressive food choices.”  Select fruits and vegetables, whole grains, seeds and nuts as our nutrition base, with a mix of non-processed meats and fish, organic dairy… and teach our children and grandchildren to do so.

Let’s go back to the more primitive “us”.  Regressive Food Choices: it’s a wild thing.

* “Non-processed foods” doesn’t mean “raw food.”  It means foodstuff that has not been denaturated through industrial processing.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/160425.php

Filed under: Lifestyle, community nutrition, diet , Amazon diet, amazon tribe, C-reactive protein, diet, Health Nutrition Blog, healthy eating, healthy lifestyle, heart health, Marie Dufour RD, Mediterranean Diet, men's health, Natural diet, nutrition, regressive nutrition, Tsiname diet, Tsiname Indians, unprocessed foods, weight control, women's Health