Sandi Kaplan, MS, RD, Associate Director, Clinical Development & Support:

 

An interesting study published in this month’s Journal of the American Dietetic Association caught my eye. Researchers taped 28 days of prime-time television as well as Saturday-morning programming on the four major broadcast networks. They identified 800 foods promoted in 3,000 ads and used a nutritional software program to analyze the content of the items.

If you were to eat 2,000 calories per day of the foods most prominently advertised, you would be consuming too much salt, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sugar. Your diet would also be low in fiber as well as in a number of important vitamins and minerals like iron, calcium, and vitamins A, D, and E. Considering the appeal of these advertised foods, it would be easy to eat much more than 2,000 calories worth in a given day, meaning these unhealthy elements of your diet could potentially be even higher.

According to a recent article, if Americans ate only foods advertised on TV they would consume 25 times the recommended amount of sugar and 20 times the amount of fat they need, but less than half the dairy, fiber and fruits and vegetables.

Why did this study hit home for me personally? Well, we are a big baseball family and that means that our TV watching time goes up significantly during baseball season. My husband and I can easily sit more than we need to at this time of year. I am not concerned about the kids’ physical activity going down due to their TV watching. They typically are out playing baseball for longer than they are watching. And our five-year-old likes to use a bottle brush as his “baseball bat” while he stands in front of the TV and helps the MLB players with their batting and pitching!

However, there are so many unhealthy food commercials during the games. The research shows that we are more likely to want to eat the foods we see on commercials and I have noticed the kids asking for chips or French fries more often.

Imagine if we could have as many fruit and vegetable commercials as we do fast food commercials. I think it would be extremely powerful for our public health if TV was used as a way to increase cravings for healthy foods by making them look as delicious as the greasy burgers are made to look. It’s certainly easier to make fresh strawberries, peaches, or a yummy stir fry look delectable!

So I have been trying a little experiment. I have been muting the commercials and the family jumps up to do something fun instead. We bounce on the bed (all right, that might not go over well in your house but we do allow bed bouncing!), we do a team cheer (Go Mariners!) or we see who can do the most jumping jacks before the game comes back on.

It’s only been a few days but the experiment is working. We are moving, laughing and ignoring the commercials. Until the healthy stuff is featured on TV, we are going to work on not modeling our diets on what we see on the screen. Give it a try – we can be in this together!

Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD, Vice President, Clinical Development & Support:

 

I never knew whether the nutrition experts who coined the term “Standard American Diet,” with its abbreviation “S.A.D.,” were deliberately being tongue-in-cheek or not.  Regardless, all evidence is that our diets overall in the U.S. are indeed pretty sad and have only gotten sadder in recent years.

According to a study published by Briefel and Johnson in the Annual Review of Nutrition, since the 1970s our total calorie intake has increased by about 150-200 calories per day.  This increase is attributed mainly to the fact that more of us are eating outside the home and that portion sizes have increased dramatically (think “Super-Size Me”).  While this may not seem like much, this increase in calories can lead to a 5-10 pound weight gain in a year!

The percentage of carbohydrate in our diets has also increased in recent decades, largely due to increases in sugars.  The added sweetener story itself is particularly alarming – since 1960 total added sweeteners have increased by 33% but cane and beet sugar use has actually decreased by 33% while corn-based sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup have increased by a whopping 1060%.  Along with the increase in sugars there has been an increase in added fats, which have gone up 86% in the past 30 years according to the USDA.

But, apart from changes in various nutrients, what really makes the American diet “SAD” is our over-reliance on processed foods.  According to a recent New York Times article, “Americans eat 31 percent more packaged food than fresh food, and they consume more packaged food per person than their counterparts in nearly all other countries. A sizable part of the American diet is ready-to-eat meals, like frozen pizzas and microwave dinners, and sweet or salty snack foods.” Because processed food is so high in sugar, fat and salt, it is a major contributor to our obesity epidemic and the related epidemics of type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases.

I often wonder how it happened that we as Americans have lost sight of the fact that healthy food is fresh food.  I recently heard a presentation by a nutrition researcher who works with immigrant populations in the U.S.  He described how, to these populations who moved here from other countries, “nutritious food” by definition means “fresh, local food”.  They don’t trust “American food” (i.e. supermarket food) because they don’t know where it came from, who grew it or raised it, or how long ago it was picked.  My guess is that 50 years ago, almost all Americans would have defined nutritious food as fresh food.  Somehow in recent decades, we have been duped by the processed food industry to believe that buying food in packages, especially if it has a shelf-life of many years and has designer additives, is “healthy” for us.

A few weeks ago I was visiting Whidbey Island, one of our beautiful islands in the Puget Sound area, and I stopped by a local farm that sold fresh produce, honey, and cheese.  I talked to the cheese shop owner, who had all sorts of wonderful local and artisan cheeses available, and she shared a sad story.  She told me that she was thinking of changing her stock because, during summer tourist season, almost everyone who came to her shop was looking for processed cheese – Velveeta and “Cheez-Whiz” – for their picnics.  The freshly made local cheese didn’t sell as well as it seemed “non-food” processed cheese would and she worried about her bottom line.  I encouraged her to resist giving in to the current epidemic of bad taste but to help those who came to her shop to remember their roots.  There was a time when, if you were eating cheese, you probably knew whose cow the milk came from.  And that really wasn’t all that long ago!

So, come on America, let’s give up our “SAD” diet habits and remember who we are and how healthy and happy we were before “Big Food” came along to convince us that packaged food was the best choice.  With all the farmers’ markets and fresh food options available to us (including, ironically, online options), we can get back to our “food roots” and reclaim our health.

Sandi Kaplan, MS, RD, Associate Director, Clinical Development & Support:

 

The sun is shining in Seattle and spring is finally in the air. And my spring capri pants feel just a little snugger than this time last year. About 4 or 5 times snugger actually. This prompted me to do a couple of things recently:

a) dig my pedometer out of my drawer, buy a new battery for it and attach it to my pants
b) start tracking my food again

I somehow stopped doing both of those things during the winter months and I know those particular tools are invaluable for keeping me on track in terms of my weight and health goals.

While reviewing my food record, I noticed that my portion sizes were larger than my body needed them to be. So I got excited when I read about a Portion Distortion Profile on a website called PEERtrainer.

According to PEERtrainer, there are four basic categories of Portion Distortion. Read the questions below and see where you belong. Then I’ll share what resonated with me.

1. You distort what a portion size is because you never knew. You didn't pay attention, and have no idea what size your portions are.
2. Life has changed on you (you've just had a baby or you've started a new job and your hours have changed): you have moved to a new stage of your life.
3. You got rid of the processed foods and moved to real food, whole grains, vegetables and fruits but are having a hard time losing weight (or are gaining weight).
4. You work out all the time and look at portions in relation to your workouts, without really knowing whether calories burned equal calories eaten.

Do you recognize yourself in any of these?

I realized that categories 2 and 3 apply to me.

My work hours increased a year ago and thus my grocery shopping and meal preparation routines changed too. With less time to cook, I was buying lunch out way more than I had before. And we all know that restaurant servings are typically bigger than what we serve ourselves at home.

Added to this change, I had unconsciously been telling myself that because I was ordering whole foods like brown rice, tofu and veggies at the Thai restaurant, that portion size did not matter. Unfortunately, many healthy whole foods are high in calories, too, and so large portion sizes can start to increase the pounds.

What a relief to figure out why some weight had crept back on! The information that comes from self assessment enables us to make changes – to our thoughts, our beliefs and our behaviors.

If you are taking a closer look at your health behavior this spring, see if portion sizes may be part of the issue. Once you recognize some of your reasons for portion distortion, join me on my quest for continued healthier lifestyle changes!

Sandi Kaplan, MS, RD, Associate Director, Clinical Development and Support:

 

The organic food debate was back in the news this week when a study carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was released. The review study was commissioned by The Food Standards Agency (FSA) to discover whether Britain's organic industry could claim more health benefits for its products.

Although the study concluded that there was no important nutritional difference between organic and conventional produce, these conclusions have been widely criticized by both respected researchers and organic farmers.  And thank goodness for that, because there are plenty of reasons to mistrust the study’s findings.

Firstly, the study only included 55 out of 162 studies because of particular criteria determined (and not universally agreed upon) by the researchers. When you look at all 162 studies, organic foods were frequently higher in nutrients than conventional produce. For instance, beta carotenes were 53 percent higher and flavanoids 38 percent higher in organic food than non-organic food. Both of those substances are antioxidants which have many health benefits, and these are nutrients that were not even included in the analysis done in the review. A number of other key nutrients were also ignored in the review and, importantly, toxic minerals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic (which can be found in conventional fertilizers) were also not reported.

Also, this FSA review did not look at 15 very recent studies (completed since February 2008) that focus on organic versus conventional foods. An example of a recent study that was not included was published last year in the Journal of Science, Agriculture and Food. This study is part of a large European Union (EU) funded study which was completed in April 2009. It found that organic milk contained around 60 per cent more antioxidants and beneficial fatty acids than normal milk.

Provisional results from another part of the same EU funded study, which has not yet been published, suggests that organic wheat, tomatoes, cabbage, onions and lettuce also had between 10 and 20 percent more vitamins. These results were also not included in the FSA review.

The summary statement from the EU funded study will be released later this year. This study is actual research (rather than a review) and involves 31 research and university institutes.  The results released thus far show that food grown by organic methods contains more vitamins, minerals and beneficial fats and fewer heavy metals, toxins and pesticide residues.

It’s worth noting that many bigwigs at the FSA, the funders of the London group’s review, are former employees of agribusinesses.  Similarly, many of the previously published studies that find a lack of difference between organic and conventional foods were funded by Monsanto or other large agribusinesses with a vested interest in proving that conventionally-grown foods are not inferior.

So personally, I plan to continue to buy and feed my family organic foods as much as possible. And I suspect the bulk of research will continue to support that decision.

Cindy Cernohous, B2B Marketing Manager:

 

I am a new a parent, the mother to a 6-month-old little boy. When I read this, it hit me between the eyes.

The article begins,

“You would never give a child a cigarette. Or a drink, or a snort of cocaine. But every day we American parents are giving our children something almost as addictive—meals laden with sugar, salt and fat. That mac n’cheese we all think is the only thing our child will eat is priming them for a lifetime of 'conditioned hypereating.' That is, eating that is excessive, out of control and has nothing to do with satisfying hunger.”

As a mother, it is my responsibility to teach my child what is right, what is wrong, what is good for him, what is not so good, and what is okay in moderation. The problems of obesity and food addiction strongly resonate with me because as I start my son on solid food, I have a heightened awareness of what manufacturers are providing for us to feed to our kids. I do not like what I have found. When I can barely pronounce some of the preservatives and chemicals on the package labels, why would I give that to my son? Why did I have to be so extremely careful about what I ingested into my body during my pregnancy to throw it all away the second he starts learning to eat solid food?

I think about how I was raised. My mom stayed home, but used to work as a home economics teacher. Sure, once in a while we had a pre-packaged meal. But 95% of the time or more, our food was homemade, from scratch, and we saw popcorn and soda as treats, not as daily occurrences. Sure, you are thinking, your mom stayed home so she could do that. Well, both my husband and I work full time, but for the most part, we have a homemade meal every night (and so does our dog!).

So what do I feed my baby? It is surprisingly easy to find natural, whole food solutions.  I like to steam peas and puree them and then freeze the puree in ice cube trays. One cube is 1oz. of food, so I just warm one up and feed it to my son. Now I will say that plain peas don’t taste so great, so I add just a hint of sea salt -- he eats it right up! We have introduced him to yams, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, apple sauce, and bananas. This week it will be green beans or carrots. So far, so good!

Being so careful about what I am feeding my son has made me really look at myself and what am I taking in for my daily calories, and what am I expending in exercise. My husband and I still drink a glass of milk with our meal, just like our parents taught us. No, we wouldn’t be considered “health nuts.” I am from Wisconsin – just give me my beer, brats and cheese, please, and nobody will get hurt! But we eat these in moderation; and I think that once in a blue moon, that is okay. But the rest of the time, I like my carrot sticks and celery sticks, and just about any other vegetable just the same.

Now I have two motivators to get me back in pre-pregnancy shape (or better!): my son, and working for the Healthy Behaviors Company. And just for the record, they say it takes 9 months to put the weight on in a pregnancy and 9 months to take it off again. I am already 10 pounds UNDER my pre-pregnancy weight thanks to a little blue-eyed motivation and some behavior modeling in my household and my job. I have to be the example for my son (and my husband), and if I want him to have a happy, healthy lifestyle, it starts with responsible parenting, which starts with me.

Sandi Kaplan, Associate Director, Clinical Development and Support:  

 

A new nutritional term caught my eye as it hit the headlines last week – an ‘Eco-Atkins’ diet. This is what researchers are calling a diet which was tested in a small, four week randomized controlled clinical trial. Half of the participants were put on the ‘Eco-Atkins’ high-protein, low carbohydrate and entirely vegan diet which excluded all animal products. The other half were put on a high-carbohydrate, low-fat, vegetarian diet which included low-fat and nonfat dairy products and egg whites. Both diets were strictly calorie controlled and all participants lost weight – an average of 9 pounds in 4 weeks. All participants also had a reduction in their LDL cholesterol levels but the vegan diet participants had a greater reduction than those on the vegetarian diet.

So what new information is this recent research giving us? The truth is – nothing very much at all. We have known for decades that plant-based diets reduce our weight, lower our cholesterol and blood pressure and improve our overall health. This very small study does not add much in that regard.

It also can be misleading. The ‘Eco-Atkins’ vegan diet is not low in carbohydrates compared to the Atkins diet. The initial phase of the Atkins diet limits carbohydrate intake to about 20g per day. The ‘Eco-Atkins’ diet has a carbohydrate goal of 130g/day. That’s a huge difference! The good news is that you will be far less irritable on the ‘Eco-Atkins’ diet but you won’t have as much carbohydrate as you need to fuel any intense mental or physical workouts.

It’s worthwhile noting that the ‘Eco-Atkins’ diet gets most of its protein from gluten and soy products because these are the highest protein vegan food choices available. So if you are one of the people who cannot tolerate gluten and/or soy, this diet would not be a good choice for you. A vegan diet with a variety of protein sources (and thus a lower protein intake overall) would be a more manageable choice.

What worries me most about this research is that it draws our focus yet again to eliminating food groups from our diets. The ‘Eco-Atkins’ diet, besides allowing no animal foods at all, also removes foods like bread, rice and potatoes. Is this diet sustainable for most people? We know that we don’t maintain health benefits if we can’t maintain the eating changes that brought those about.

The message from this research for me is clear. Eat fewer calories if you need to lose weight. Increase plant based foods in your diet as they have lots of well proven health benefits and are easier on the planet. Include a variety of food groups so that you can sustain your eating plan ten years from now. And pay less attention to sensational nutrition headlines that promise good health from unsustainable diets!

Tiffany M. Reiss, Ph.D., Contributing Writer: 

 

We have all heard the grim statistics. We have seen the brightly colored maps that demonstrate quite effectively the trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity over the past 30+ years in the United States. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control reports that over 66% of US adults are overweight or obese based on Body Mass Index standards (BMI).

Recently there has been a great deal of press that points out that our pets’ waistlines are expanding following the human trend of weight gain. With those expanding waistlines, our pets are developing the same chronic diseases we are working so hard to prevent in ourselves. Diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and arthritis are becoming ever more prevalent in our pets, following the same trends and patterns we have increasingly seen in the human population, especially in the United States. According to the National Health Care Coalition, in 2008 alone, we spent over $2.4 trillion on health care in the United States. Ironically, in the US, we spend over $41 billion annually on our pets, a significant portion of that being on health care as well. And the experts all agree: many of our chronic diseases and our pets’ chronic diseases and hence the costs associate with them could be prevented with changes in our behaviors such as making healthier food choices, eating less and moving more.

Since our pets rely on us to take care of them, the burden for their health falls on us as well.

Making Healthier Food Choices

The problem with feeding our pets “human” foods is that many human foods are processed, not “natural” food – for humans or for cats and dogs! Whole foods such as lean meat, vegetables, fruits, low-fat dairy, whole grains, and nuts should form the basis of our diets; potato chips, marshmallows, soda, not so much. Consuming fewer processed foods, more whole foods and consuming less of everything is a simple solution for both humans and our pets.

Moving More

Food choices, however, are only half the equation. What about those sedentary lifestyles? As humans have become more sedentary, it seems so have our pets. Smaller yards, less time, and our pets end up sitting around as much as we do. Increasing activity can be a win-win for you and your pet. Take your dog for more frequent walks or play with them in the park; this also gets you up and moving. If you have a cat, play with them by dangling something from a string or throw their favorite toy for them so they chase after it. That will get you up and moving around a little as well. Make it a part of your daily routine thus insuring some movement on a daily basis for both you and your pet.

We need to take a good look at not only how we are caring for ourselves, but also how that translates to the care of those that rely on us to take care of them. We are responsible for their health, just like we are responsible for our own health. Let’s start taking responsibility.

Jennifer Lovejoy, PhD, Vice President, Clinical Development and Support:

 

The new flu outbreak has everyone concerned, but besides washing your hands a lot, the best way to stay healthy is to make sure your immune system is strong.  It’s well known that lifestyle choices have a big effect on immunity, so now is a good time to re-evaluate your current habits.

There are 3 key areas to look at:

1) Nutrition – If you are eating the Standard American Diet (“SAD”) full of white, processed foods and fats with few vegetables, fruits and whole grains, chances are your immune system is struggling.  This is partly because high-fat, highly-processed diets cause your body to be in a constant state of low-grade inflammation, which taxes the immune system.  Make sure your diet is full of fruits and vegetables with rainbow colors, which are not only high in vitamins and minerals but which also contain plant compounds that fight inflammation and boost immunity.  In addition, eat sources of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats (salmon, sardines, tuna, walnuts or flax seeds) often and reduce your intake of pro-inflammatory omega-6 fats (soybean oil, sunflower or safflower oil).  Finally, vitamin D is critical for proper immune function. It’s estimated that up to 70% of Americans are vitamin D deficient, leaving us vulnerable to infection.  Talk to your doctor about getting a blood test to check your vitamin D level but, in the meantime, consider taking a daily dietary supplement with at least 1000 IU vitamin D.

2) Exercise – Moderate exercise, like brisk walking, has a powerful, beneficial effect on the immune system.  Our bodies were meant to move and they function better when we do so.  Now that spring is here and the weather is getting better, consider taking a daily walk for 20-30 minutes in the fresh air.  Not only will your immune system get stronger, but the exercise will help you shed any extra winter pounds you might have put on!  If you’re feeling a bit under the weather, consider foregoing the really intense workout, though, since research shows that vigorous exercise can actually suppress immune function temporarily.

3) Stress Management – Ironically, all the media hype about the swine flu is creating a lot of worry and stress, which can actually worsen our immunity and make us more vulnerable to the disease.  Stress hormones like cortisol are powerful immune suppressors.  So, make sure you are practicing regular stress-management techniques.  Take deep breaths, letting your belly expand as you breathe in (I do this frequently while watching the news!).  Do daily mindfulness-based meditation, which has been proven to lower cortisol levels, increase immune function, and decrease feelings of stress.  Reducing stress also helps you sleep better, which boosts immunity, too.

Talk of pandemics raises a lot of fears and makes us feel like we have no control, but in reality we have a great deal of control over our bodies and our health.  Take steps now to make sure that you are practicing healthy habits that keep your immune system strong. Be well!

Liane Claassen, Quit Coach III, Service Delivery:

 

The office hours at Free & Clear are from 5:00am- midnight PST, seven days a week. Yep, we’re indeed that dedicated, because offering professional services to those interested in improving their lives is what we choose to do for a living. Now, does that schedule have an impact on our own way of living? You bet!

The job of a Free & Clear coach is very detail-oriented; it requires lots of concentration and emotional energy. We need brain power and that means we need nutritious food. Look at Quit Coaches who help people quit tobacco. They take call after call for eight hours a day. How do you think they keep each call fresh and concentrate on each person attentively? Having a snack can help, but if the snack is just sugar and salt (i.e. potato chips and a soft drink), it won’t replenish the coach’s energy. In fact, that type of snack would likely induce a sugar high followed by a sudden drop in blood sugar levels. In other words, another snack would be needed shortly after to bring his or her energy back in balance.

That’s why Free & Clear now offers organic fruit, fresh from the farm, free to its employees. Two big boxes of fruit are delivered every other Monday, one for each lunch room in the Seattle office. Free & Clear employees can count on fruit grown without pesticides, industrial waste or food additives. After all, an apple should only have one item on its ingredients list: apple.  This complimentary benefit offers a healthy alternative to processed snacks that have little nutrional value.

Whether we start our shifts at 5:00 am or end them at midnight, eating healthy prepares for whatever challenges we may face!

Beth Shepard, MS, Exercise Physiologist, Contributing Writer:

 

My husband is obsessed with organic gardening. With the addition of a greenhouse this year, not only should we have an abundant crop of tomatoes this summer, but we hope to eat fresh lettuce and carrots well into the winter.

Gardening is a popular pastime these days. According to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, people all over the U.S. are rediscovering the joys and benefits of gardening.

Victory gardens were promoted by the U.S. government during World War II, as a way for Americans to cope with food shortages and aid the war effort. In 1943, over 20 million gardens were planted, producing 8 million tons of food. Private and public businesses pitched in with ordinary citizens, planting gardens on school property, in city parks, on rooftops, and in tiny backyards.

Today, eco-conscious consumers want local produce that hasn’t been shipped thousands of miles. With tighter budgets, more people are taking their food into their own hands, literally. Those without property are joining community-sponsored pea patches, sharing backyard garden plots with neighbors, or planting windowsill herb gardens. According to Mel Bartholomew, author of Square-Foot Gardening: A new way to garden in less space with less work, you can enjoy fresh food no matter how small a space you have.

As newlyweds, we were apartment-dwellers – but my husband grew carrots, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, radishes, and parsley in containers on our pocket-sized deck. Now that we have a house and small patch of land, he also grows raspberries, squash, onions, garlic, artichokes, green beans, pumpkins, cabbage, potatoes,  peas, bell peppers, tomatillos, eggplants, and culinary herbs.

One of the best things about gardening is knowing who and what has touched your food and how fresh it is. We enjoyed our first crop of sugar pumpkins last fall, and savored pumpkin pie made from fresh pumpkin puree instead of canned – the difference was unbelievable.

Our children benefit not only from the good nutrition and flavor derived from fresh produce, but the life lessons they absorb by participating in the life of the garden. Planting seeds and tending them teaches patience. Working hard today to reap benefits several months down the road teaches perseverance and delayed gratification. Enjoying juicy strawberries they planted and harvested themselves produces a sense of satisfaction and self-efficacy that is hard to beat. And growing up in a family where food production is the norm is equipping them to do the same with their own families some day.

Americans are hungry for high-quality, environmentally-conscious, affordable food. What would happen if U.S. government and businesses put even a fraction of the effort into promoting gardening that they did during World War II? What if more people grew a portion of their own food? Would we become a healthier, happier nation? It’s certainly worth considering.