Fiber is the Future

National interest in dietary fiber piqued at an all time high yesterday when Whoopi Goldberg, host of The View, farted on air amid a discussion about dietary fiber with Dr. Oz.

Oz was busy hyping the benefits of konjac fiber – which is unfortunate, since as a physician, he should be recommending dietary sources of fiber which have well established positive effects on health, as opposed to supplemental pills, which remain questionable, costly and essentially a waste of time and money…

Regardless, caught up in the passionate throes of dietary fiber discussions, Whoopi let one loose, disgusting not just her co-hosts, audience members and Oz – but at the same time, finally securing her place as the most insufferable of The View’s caddy cackle of hostesses.

To actually learn something about a food-based source of konjac fiber – check out this previous post on shirataki noodles and glucomannan.

And, if you must see Whoopi in action, you can first thank Perez Hilton for hosting it, and then click here to watch.

Do you have high blood pressure? Then May is your month to get your act together. May is not only National Stroke Awareness Month, but it also happens to be High Blood Pressure Education Month.

And what does this have to do with fiber? The connection is potassium. Sure, everyone knows that a diet low in sodium helps reduce blood pressure – but did you also know that increasing potassium in your diet might be just as important as lowering salt for lowering blood pressure?

And where exactly do you find potassium in the diet? Potassium is widespread in fruits and vegetables – those high fiber foods that are also naturally, and conveniently, low in sodium.

The kicker is you have to get the potassium from foods – not supplements. People with pre-existing or underlying heart conditions can be negatively impacted by taking supplemental or very high doses of potassium, such as those found in dietary supplements or salt-free salts like NuSalt and LiteSalt. Those products can disrupt heart rhythm and cause other health problems in at risk persons.

Confused? If you’re looking to lower salt intake and season food without high doses of potassium, try any of the Mrs. Dash products – they’re safe, salt-free seasoning blends – perfect for perking up all of those fruits and vegetables you’ll be eating this month!

You think YOU know produce? These guys know produce!

Check out the Produce Marketing Association new searchable database, “I Know Produce” – available at: http://legacy.pma.com/producedb/.

The site contains a rich compilation of:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Herbs
• Nuts

You can quickly access information about different varieties, species and learn about their storage & handling, seasonal availability, how to cook or use tips and of course, the produce product’s nutrition information.

In addition to providing the basic nutrition facts panel information – the Nutrition tab also includes “Nutritional Content Descriptors” – things like “high in vitamin C” or “saturated fat free” (which almost all fruits and vegetables are anyway!)

As Kelly Brownell from Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity never gets tired of pointing out, “Each year kids see more than 10,000 food ads on TV alone, almost all for items like soft drinks, fast foods and sugared cereals.” So…wasn’t it about time someone started marketing fruits and vegetables with an updated tool like this?

Thanks PMA – great information, good design, you guys got it all. Dietitians and nutrition professionals applaud you. You’ve done for doing for fruits and vegetables what crappy food creators usually kill you on!

TCBY announced today that it will introduce a line of “Super Fro-Yo”: frozen yogurt with added nutrition benefits.

The company maintains that the product will meet the following guidelines per serving:

• Less than 120 calories
• At least 3 grams dietary fiber
• 4 grams or more of fiber
• 7 types of probiotics
• Provide 20% DV for vitamin D and 10% DV for vitamin A
• Have live active cultures (20 billion after manufacturing)
• Less than 2 grams saturated fat

No information yet about the ingredient list – but rest assured that 3 grams of fiber will be from an isolated, functional source. Frozen yogurt – like all dairy and most desserts – lacks dietary fiber. The manufacturers will likely add a third party fiber source – something such as inulin – that old standby that gives Skinny Cow ice cream products their 3 grams of fiber per serving.

The probiotics will likely be this product’s primary selling point. Problem with probiotics is – there is no generally agreed upon consensus regarding how much or which types of probiotics are beneficial.

So it’s unlikely that this souped up sugary product will yield any significant health benefits beyond empty calories…but it doesn’t mean the marketers won’t try to convince you otherwise!