Diet and Nutrition

BHA is Lurking in Your Cereal, but is it Safe?

By Lauren O’Connor, MS, RD for Nutri-Savvy.

You may tread on it, wear it, and yes, even ingest it! The same chemical used in making tires and the make-up you wear may be found in a wide variety of common, everyday food products.

Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) is a synthetic chemical found in petroleum, rubber, cosmetics, animal feed, and food packaging. Because it prevents oxidation, it is also used to “preserve freshness” in food products. It works by retarding rancidity and eliminating odors in fat and oil-containing foods. Though an “antioxidant,” this widely-used substance may be cause for concern.

The exposure to BHA in foods increased nearly two-fold from the 1970s to the early eighties, with US annual usage rising from 170,000 kg to 300,000 kg. The additive may be found in butter, meats, cereals, chewing gum, baked goods, snacks, nut products, dry beverage mixes, active dry yeast, dehydrated potatoes and beer! And let’s not forget the environment: If you work around livestock or in the cosmetics, rubber or petroleum industries, you have increased exposure. Fast-food employees who cook and serve fried, oily foods are also more exposed. (more…)

Posted on February 5, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Tom Brady’s Football Workout and Diet

pats quarterbackPatriots quarterback Tom Brady stays in top physical shape with a combination of weight lifting and cardio, both during the football season and during the off-season.

During the season, he lifts four days per week. “I take off Wednesday, Saturday and obviously we play most Sundays,” he says. “I also do 40 to 60 minutes of cardio six days per week in order to improve my conditioning. “For cardio, he avoids doing the same workout too often. “I try to mix up my cardio using a variety of machines like the stepper, precor, as well as some running.” He also does drills that are designed to improve agility, as well as lots of jumping rope.

During the off season, he continues to do cardio workouts for close to an hour six days per week. “I do more running than in-season,” says Brady. His weight training program also focuses more on strength training. “My sessions are usually about 25% longer since my body isn’t beat up from playing,” he explains.

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Posted on February 3, 2024 by Health Buzz

50 Years of Consuming Too Much Salt Despite Warnings

Most of us already know that too much salt isn’t a good thing. Yet what’s surprising is that despite decades of warnings to reduce sodium intake, Americans continue to over-consume the flavorful staple in most households. A new Harvard study shows that our salt intake really hasn’t changed over the past 50 years, and it seems like that intake is hardwired and not easy to change no matter how many PSAs or dietitian visits we have.

As more processed foods hit our shelves and as obesity rates continue to soar, it almost seems as though sodium levels would have continued to increase, not necessarily stay the same. Yet, after multiple studies were reviewed, all occuring between 1957 and 2003, it appears that 3700 milligrams of sodium was consistently consumed over the years. Of course, other measures of our sodium intake don’t necessarily reflect the same pattern. In fact, the NHANES, or National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey,  does indeed show an increase in salt consumption. The biggest difference between these survey results and that observed in the Harvard study is that the NHANES relies on food records where as the Harvard study took a look at urinary sodium output which is supposedly more accurate.

Current guidelines for sodium intake are 2300 milligrams a day for healthy adults and 1500 milligrams a day for those at risk of high blood pressure. That’s quite a difference. And although this message has been touted for over twenty years, it appears that few are following it or that these recommendations are too stringent for the majority of Americans.

Elevated sodium intake isn’t just occurring in American populations though. In fact, the average sodium intake appears to be similar on an international level. This means that there may be more to this whole sodium intake thing than we think. It also begs the question- are our recommendations wrong?

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Posted on February 3, 2024 by Kati

5 Tips to Coupon Smart and Save on Healthy Meals

Most everyone can agree that they want to eat healthy. Of course, there are exceptions to this but, in general, it can be assumed that eating healthy and feeling great are goals most people have for themselves. Yet, purchasing healthy foods isn’t always the cheapest. In fact, if you aren’t careful, you can end up spending a lot of money on health foods that either go bad before you get a chance to eat them, or later find that you don’t enjoy them at all and end up being unable to finish them.

Luckily, there are many ways to save a buck in the grocery store. In fact, money saving has almost become its own sport in America with couponing becoming more popular year after year. In fact, US consumers have redeemed 3.5 billion in coupons and saved approximately 4.6 billion in 2024 alone. This is a 12% increase since 2024; however, are these savings helping people eat their best or just save money?

Although couponing and eating healthy may seem like two totally separate topics, they actually work very well together. Of course, you have to know how to best use your coupons and be able to identify what foods are worth the savings.

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Posted on February 3, 2024 by Kati

Choosing the Best Weight Loss Maintenance Plan for You

So you’ve lost the weight and you’ve achieved your goal – so now what? You’ve probably spent so much time thinking about your goal that you may not have thought too much about what to do after it was met. And although it’s easy to slip back into old eating habits, it’s also easy to gain back all that weight you worked so hard to lose in the first place. To keep that from happening, you need to have a plan – a maintenance plan. But how do you know what plan is right for you?

It’s Sustainable for the Long Haul. 

Any maintenance plan you decide to follow should be something you can do today, tomorrow, and every day after that. If it’s overly restrictive, requires you to eat weird foods or incorporate foods you don’t love, you probably won’t stick with it for very long. To avoid going back to a less nutritious way of eating, keep your maintenance plan balanced and realistic.

It Doesn’t Eliminate Major Food Groups. 

If you discover a maintenance plan that asks you to eliminate an entire food group from your eating plan, don’t walk, run away! Any type of diet or meal plan that restricts or eliminates whole food groups is often unbalanced and can result in nutritional deficiencies if you aren’t careful. Your body simply needs a wide variety of foods to function at its best. A decent maintenance plan should allow for all foods to be incorporated in some shape or form.

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Posted on February 2, 2024 by Kati

Belvita Breakfast Crackers Serve a Winning Product at the Super Bowl Commercial

Last week we reminded you of the gastronomic list of junk food marketing that’s about to burn our eyes on Sunday. Super Bowl commercials are traditionally made of potato chips, beer, soda, and pizza – the makings of a “proper” football party. We were pleasantly surprised to see Oikos Greek Yogurt make their Super Bowl debut, and deemed them Healthiest Super Bowl Ad. Now, it seems, we’ve got a runner-up in Belvita.

Belvita Breakfast Biscuits are a new packaged food from Nabisco, and they have a pretty amusing commercial running during the Super Bowl pre-game. You can watch it now. Then, read on to see why we aren’t throwing any flags on this new breakfast competitor.

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Posted on February 2, 2024 by Natalie K

Sugar Should Be Regulated Like Tobacco and Alcohol Argues Professor

pastreyIn the most recent edition of the medical journal Nature, Dr. Robert Lustig and co-authors Laura Schmidt and Clair Brindis make an argument for regulating access to sugar similar to the restrictions placed on alcohol and tobacco. Dr. Lustig, a professor of pediatric endocrinology at the University of California San Francisco, writes that sugar is responsible for an increasing number chronic diseases around the world.

Lustig’s call for regulations is sure to be controversial, just as the soda tax debate has been in the past. However, Lustig says that health risks posed by increased levels of sugar consumption makes it a danger that should not be left to individual responsibility alone. The paper outlines how sugar alters the body’s chemistry, not only leading to problems like metabolic resistance but also leading people to crave more and more sweetness.

The paper further argues that sugar is a bigger underlying than obesity alone, noting that 40 percent of individuals with a normal weight have metabolic resistance problems that can lead to diabetes and health disease. The average American consumes 22 teaspoons of sugar each day, which is three times as much as was consumed 30 years ago.

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Posted on February 2, 2024 by Health Buzz

Indianapolis Local Restaurants Weigh in on Super Bowl Specials, Price Gouging, and Menus

Even with road closures, more time spent in traffic, and parking rates unusual for the Circle City, it is hard to find anyone complaining in Indianapolis. We are all excited and proud to be a Super City. Despite the spike in business and catering orders that restaurant owners were already seeing the two weeks before the Super Bowl, I was able to interview a few local business owners to hear the truth about how they are or are not doing things differently for the Super Bowl.

One major rumor is that restaurants are jacking up prices to gouge out of towners this weekend, but Monon Food Company in Broad Ripple and Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company/Scotty’s Brewhouse assured me that they are not. The Scratch Truck food truck may have to cover additional expenses during the week leading up to the Super Bowl because they will be hiring additional staff and renting out extra space for all the food preparation that they need to do, which they anticipate being up to six times what they do during a normal week. While they may not be increasing prices, all the restaurants I spoke to assured me that they will be bringing in additional staff to ensure the best service possible.

Since Indianapolis is host to the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” – the Indianapolis 500 – every year, which sells three times the tickets that the Super Bowl will, as well as other major racing events that bring in fans from around the world, we are no stranger to crowd management. However, all of the restaurant representatives agreed that the Super Bowl is different. Tim of the Monon Food Company explained that the “press experience around [Super Bowl XLVI] far exceeds other events, so there is more excitement and more spectators who are coming to town just to party,” even if they are not going to the big game on Sunday. (more…)

Posted on February 2, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program Impresses Moms and Kids Alike

As I sat around the dinner table with my family recently, my son went into great detail about this food he had at school. He couldn’t remember the name, but he said it was kind of like a raw potato and also similar to an apple. He explained how they were given fresh lime to squeeze on it as a flavor enhancer. Totally perplexed, I got up to get the calendar from school to learn he had been sampling jicama. Jicama is just one of the many fruits and vegetables he and his peers are eating as part of the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) began through the Farm and Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002. The purpose was to determine the best ways to get more fruit and vegetables consumed in the schools. The program was authorized as a pilot in only 4 states, but the popularity of the program added new states almost every year and today all 50 states are participating. The FFVP is provided to select schools through grants administered through the State Departments of Education. My son’s school, College Hill Elementary in Wichita, KS was fortunate enough to receive the grant this year. They have been seeing fantastic results.

It’s no secret that a strong battle is being fought in order to increase the quality of our school lunches and to teach our children what healthy eating looks like. As the elementary students at College Hill have been introduced to these fruits and vegetables, good results have been shown.

“I think most of the staff has been pleasantly surprised at how willingly the kids have at least tasted everything. I’m sure that we are giving quite a few of these kids an experience with some types of foods that they would never have in their lifetime,” said Karla Stenzel, physical education teacher and the facilitator of the FFVP.
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Posted on February 2, 2024 by Lacy

7 Sneaky Foods for Heart Health

Written by Nicole German, RD for Diet-Blog.com

When you think about heart healthy foods, what comes to mind? Nuts, salmon, olive oil, and whole grains are the well-known foods for heart health. But, what about those lesser known foods that keep the heart pumping strong?

Dried Fruits: Some dried fruits like prunes contain a cocktail of phenol antioxidants that work together to prevent cell damage. An added bonus is that dried fruits contain good sources of fiber which can help to lower cholesterol levels and protect the heart.

Blueberries: We know blueberries as the anti-aging fruit—the fruit that will help keep the mind strong. Yet, blueberries protect the entire body. Studies show that eating at least one cup per day can improve cholesterol levels and lower triglycerides. Most interestingly, blueberries can actually improve the quality of the blood due to the combination of antioxidants they contain.

Grapes: Not a red wine drinker? Don’t worry; you can still get health benefits from eating the whole fruit. Grapes have a dual function: they are anti-inflammatory and have high antioxidant power. Grapes are most notable for their ability to lower blood pressure as they may help to dilate blood vessel walls and prevent cell build-up within the walls. (more…)

Posted on February 2, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Body By Vi Diet vs. Medifast Diet

When it comes to diets, many people look for a program that does most of the work for them. When it comes to weight loss, nutrition is key, and programs that can plan out your meals, tell you what to eat and when came make the whole process a lot easier. Two popular meal services are the Body by Vi program and Medifast. Both provide you with meal options, Body by Vi with meals replacement shakes, and Medifast that delivers full meals to your door. We’ve weighed the pros and cons for each so you can make the decision that is right for you.

Body by Vi allows you to purchase kits filled with meal replacement shakes to take the place of one or two meals a day, depending on your goals. Each kit that is available will come with a set amount of meal replacement shakes and range in price.

Medifast is a meal delivery service that sends high protein meals directly to your door step and was named #7 on the list of the Best Commercial Diets by US News in 2024. By controlling portions and calories, Medifast claims users can expect to lose up to 20 pounds in their first month on the program. Medifast’s success has been proven in multiple clinical studies. A Johns Hopkins study found Medifast helps dieters lose weight quickly and safely. The study also found Medifast helped type 2 diabetics lose 2 times the weight of those following the American Diabetes Association’s dietary recommendations. Medifast also shows positive results in those with hypertension and high cholesterol.

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Posted on February 1, 2024 by Kelly