Fiber is the Future

In a paper recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the authors suggest that rises in unemployment lead to dips in fruit and vegetable intake and increases in consumption of unhealthy foods like snack items and fast food.

The research is based on data from the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, “the world’s largest ongoing telephone health survey system.” The BRFSS interviews 350,000 Americans each year and the researchers compared responses within and among communities of differing rates of unemployment.

Results indicate that since December 2007, the national unemployment rate went from 5% to 10% while in that same period, the frequency of fruit and vegetable intake declined between 10% and 20%.

So, if unemployment has got you down – don’t let the economy take your diet down with it!

In 1977, Senator George McGovern chaired the US Senate’s Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs and recommended for the first time that dietary goals for Americans should be established. This report – originally known as the McGovern Report – has morphed into the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), a set of nutrition recommendations that are revised every five years.

In 2005, the DGA’s big news was that the USDA ditched their original 1992 food guide pyramid – this one:

…in exchange for MyPyramid – the heavily criticized nebulous rendering of how Americans should eat:

As of this writing, the 2005 DGAs remain the current guidelines until the 2010 version is published. And while the already-released 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans report has been met with less fanfare, there will be some important developments:

• The report is now entirely evidence based, using a “question-and-answer” format based on the USDA’s Evidence Library
• It includes a strong focus on at risk populations including pregnant women and infants and children
• Two new chapters on “Total Diet” and “Translation/Implementation” are included
• The report addresses – for the first time ever – an unhealthy (i.e. fat) American public

In the 2010 Dietary Guidelines report, fiber is referred to as a “shortfall nutrient” (along with vitamin D, calcium and potassium). Chapter 5 of the report (which you can download here) covers Carbohydrates and in turn, dietary fiber. A summary of the chapter’s mention of fiber includes:

• Get your fiber from foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes instead of isolated, added fibers
• Solid food sources of fiber tend to be more satiating than most liquid fiber sources
• Dietary fiber from whole foods protects against cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes and is essential for optimal GI health
• Moderate body of evidence shows whole grain intake protects against heart disease
• Limited evidence shows whole grain consumption is associated with lower type 2 diabetes risk
• Moderate evidence shows that whole grains and grain fiber is associated with lower body weight

All in all, there are no major breakthroughs in this report with regards to dietary fiber. And, as depicted in the graphic below, across almost every age and gender group, dietary fiber intakes do not – not surprisingly – meet recommended levels:

From: J Am Diet Assoc. 2010 Nov;110(11):1638-45. Van Horn, L. Development of the 2010 US Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report: perspectives from a registered dietitian.

Kellogg’s recently rolled out a line of Brown Rice Chips inspired by Chef Ming Tsai. If you like the notion of chips, but are looking for a lighter, higher fiber option with a pretty clean ingredient list – then these are the chips for you.

Blue Ginger Multi-Grain Brown Rice Chips come in Black Sesame and Sea Salt or Sour Cream and Scallion flavors. For the black sesame and sea salt variety, each 33 chip serving has 110 calories and 3 grams of fiber.

The product contains no functional or isolated fiber products and all of the fiber comes from these naturally-occurring ingredients:

• Brown rice flour
• Whole corn meal
• Whole oat flour
• Black sesame seeds

The chips are crunchy, salty and satisfying as far as snack foods go. If you like Indian food, you’ll recognize that the rice flour lends a flavor not unlike that of papadam.

Blue Ginger Brown Rice Chips are available at Costco, Sam’s Club and online from Ming’s website.

Desk jockeys always be askin’: “What’s the best juice or smoothie to have?” The only thing more annoying than being asked an annoying question is to answer that question with another question: “Why do you think drinking your fruit is healthier than eating it?”

If you’re a healthy adult – and particularly if you’re one of the 2 in 3 American adults who is overweight or obese – eat your fruit, don’t drink it!

Why is fruit better than juice? Here’s why:

• There are fewer calories per serving of fruit than fruit juice
• There is more fiber per serving in fruit than fruit juice
• Fruit is cheaper per serving than fruit juice

One orange has 70 calories and 3 grams of fiber. If you were to make fresh-squeezed orange juice, you would likely take 3 of those oranges, triple the calories to over 200 per glass and leave all of that good pulpy fiber for the garbage can.

That’s not that great for you, but keep in mind that no one makes fresh squeezed orange juice anymore: everyone wants overpriced 16 ounce colorful plastic bottles of sugar-water and fruit juice concentrate to make them feel healthier instead of lazier when they skip real breakfast.

Let’s take a look at 3 popular brands of fruit juice pushers and see where and how they fall flat:

Naked Juice

• Reduced Calorie Smoothies: 100 calories in 8 ounces (200 per bottle) but 0 grams fiber
• Pure Juices: 100 calories in 8 ounces (200 per bottle) but 0 grams fiber
• Probiotic 100% Juice Smoothie: 180 calories in 10 ounces and fiber information not listed so it doesn’t exist
• Antioxidant 100% Juice: 160 calories in 8 ounces (320 per bottle) but 0 grams fiber

Jamba Juice

• Fruit Smoothies: 4 grams of fiber for about 200-250 calorie sixteen ounce serving sizes (not bad but 3-4 times more calories than 1 serving of fruit would give you for the same amount of fiber)
• Fresh Squeezed Juice: 0-1 gram of fiber for 170-calorie 12oz or 220-calorie orange juice; 0 grams fiber in carrot juice
• Light Smoothie: 4 grams fiber for 150-calorie 15-oz Berry Fulfilling flavor – if you have to buy a commercial juice product, this would be it – but they add Splenda for sweetness without calories

Odwalla

• Smoothie Blends: 140 calories for 8 ounces (280 per bottle) but 0 grams fiber
• Odwalla Superfood: 130 calories for 8 ounces (260 per bottle) but 0 grams fiber
• Haiti Hope (100% profits to Haiti is nice, but only 25% juice isn’t…) 100 calories per 8 oz, 200 per bottle, 0 fiber

Your average piece of fruit has 4-5 grams of fiber per serving (which is also 1/2 cup cut fruit). If you aim to get 3 servings of real fruit per day, you can knock off about half of your daily fiber needs (50% of the 30 grams recommendation). And if you still insist on over-paying for fruit, stick to pre-cut fruit cups.

Keep in mind: juice is good for little kids (in moderation), teenage boys who can’t keep weight on and little old ladies who can’t meet their calorie needs from food alone. For the rest of us – eating your fruit – not drinking it is the most healthful way to go. If you need more disincentive to drink smoothies, check out this previous post on McDonald’s Real Fruit Smoothies.

One of the many benefits of a high fiber diet is that – when combined with adequate fluid intake – fiber helps prevent against constipation. This apparently applies to children as well as adults.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing, researchers in Hong Kong found that primary school children who don’t like eating fruits and vegetables are 13 times more likely to develop functional constipation (meaning the bowel is healthy but it just doesn’t work well…usually as a result of a poor diet and inactivity) than kids who do eat fruits and vegetables regularly.

The study analyzed 383 subjects aged 8-10 enrolled in a Hong Kong school. Some other findings include:

• Kids who drank only 200-400 ml of fluid per day (about 1-1.5 cups) were 8 times more likely to have constipation problems that those who drank 600-800 ml (2-4 cups) and 14 times more likely than kids who drank more than 4 cups per day
• Girls were more likely to have functional constipation than boys
• Nine-year-olds were more likely to report problems (13.3%) than eight-year-olds (10%) and ten-year-olds (5.2%)

So…if you want to set yourself up for a lifetime of good gut motility – get started on fruits and vegetables early in life!