Fiber is the Future

The American Dietetic Association has just released its 20th annual nationwide consumer survey findings: “Nutrition and You: Trends 2011“. The survey asks a series of questions to determine the general state of perceived health in the US.

Are you doing all you can to achieve balanced nutrition & a healthy diet?

• 50% responded yes – up from just under 50% responding yes since 2002

Where do you get most of your nutrition information?

• 67% listed television as the preferred source, with magazines and the internet tied for second

What foods have you increased your consumption of?

• Respondents said they are eating more vegetables (49%), whole grains (48%), fish (46%) and chicken (44%)

What foods have you cut back on?

• Beef (39%), pork (35%), dairy products (22%)

What are the foods you hear “a lot” about?

Percentage of Respondents who Have Heard "A Lot" About Certain Foods

While the results were largely anticipated – it is still interesting to acknowledge that despite (all 754) respondents’ relatively positive opinion of their own diet, two-thirds of the country is still overweight or obese.

The FDA has a new video encouraging parents to help improve their kids’ fiber intake:

The FDA dietitian points out that for kids, fiber:

• Helps their digestive system
• Prevents against chronic disease when they’re older
• Needs are 14-31 grams of fiber per day

Recommended sources of fiber to incorporate in a child’s diet to help meet these needs include:

• Beans
• Peas
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole grain bread, cereal, pasta

To learn more about the FDA’s nutrition education efforts for children and teens, visit the Spot the Block campaign at http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/KidsTeens/ucm115810.htm.

Just a few months after the USDA ditched MyPyramid for MyPlate, the folks at the Harvard School of Public Health think they have a better idea: The Harvard Healthy Eating Plate.

Dr. Walter Willett and his Harvard colleagues have long been known for eschewing what they maintain are contradictory agendas of the USDA: agriculture & nutrition policy. How can the same government agency that tells and pays farmers what to grow and not grow also make impartial and sound nutrition recommendations?

Harvard’s beef with MyPlate includes:

• MyPlate does not differentiate between whole grains and refined grains
• MyPlate does not differentiate between high fat and low-fat animal vs. plant-based protein sources
• Potatoes are lumped with vegetables – even though most Americans eat potatoes in the french fried form
• Dairy is recommended at every meal – despite the fact that the majority of African American and Asian populations experience lactose intolerance
• There is no mention of limiting sugary drinks
• MyPlate does not mention the importance of physical activity

The new Healthy Eating Plate has a few simple, distinctive differences from MyPlate:

• Drink water
• Identify healthy oils
• Eat leaner proteins
• More whole grains

So, much like Harvard’s Healthy Eating Pyramid was a dramatically more effective version of the USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid, so too is the Healthy Eating Plate a more reasonable approach to plate-based meal-planning.

Apples are back in the news. Dr. Oz made headlines last week when he claimed on The Dr. Oz Show that his independent testing of some well-known brands of apple juice confirm the presence of harmful levels of arsenic. The story generated much interest among parents groups, public health institutions and the general media.

Apparently even the ever-overburdened FDA was paying attention – and now they’re fighting back. In two letters sent to the producers of The Dr. Oz Show, the FDA strongly reprimanded the sensationalist doctor for inciting unnecessary concerns about the safety of apple juice.

The issue at hand? Oz measured total arsenic – which doesn’t delineate between the harmless organic types of arsenic and the types of inorganic arsenic which are toxic. By failing to differentiate between inorganic vs. organic arsenic in his testing, the FDA maintains that, “These results cannot be used to determine whether there is an unsafe amount of arsenic in the juice tested by the Dr. Oz Show.”

So is apple juice really harmful? According to the FDA’s Q&A page about Apple Juice & Arsenic, don’t worry, drink up. But, according to most sage nutrition advice – why not just opt for the whole apple?

A cup of apple juice has 110 calories, 24 grams of sugar and less than 1 gram of fiber. Eating a whole medium-sized apple nets only 80 calories, less than 20 grams of sugar and an impressive 4.5 grams of fiber – proving once again, that it’s better to eat your fruit, not drink it!

McDonald’s rolls out their new healthier Happy Meals today. The skinny-sized Happy Meals will come now standard with apple slices, a smaller french fry serving and less calories:

• French fry serving is down to 1.1 ounces from 2.4 ounces for a total of 100 french fry calories
• Apple dippers drop from 3.1 to 1.2 ounces and now contain no added sugars or dipping sauces
• 20% reduction in calories per Happy Meal, equating to about 600 calories per meal

There’s no net boost in fiber in these revised meals. According to McDonald’s own nutrition information publications, even the original 3.1 ounce size of apple slices was so small it contained “0″ grams of dietary fiber! If you actually eat a whole, medium-sized apple with skin, you would get 4.4 grams of dietary fiber.

Why the push to improve processed kiddie food?

• According to the McDonald’s website, these changes help align McDonald’s more closely with the Council of Better Business Bureau’s Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative guidelines.
• The downsized Happy Meal moves come on the heels of laws recently passed in San Francisco and San Mateo counties in California that would limit the sale of kids’ foods that don’t meet certain nutritional standards.
• The Center for Science in the Public Interest also recently sued McDonald’s on behalf of a parent claiming the toys in Happy  Meals are used to seduce children.

The happier Happy Meals are certainly a move in the right direction. Now let’s get to work on what the parents are ordering!