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Nutrition Trap #2: Quality vs. Quantity

In the first installment of this three-part series, I talked about the all-important difference between natural and healthy.  People often make the mistake of thinking that something is good for you just because it’s all-natural or organic.  Today, I want to explore a different kind of nutritional blind-spot that has to do with quality versus quantity. Even when a food is good for you, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you can eat it in unlimited quantities.  Whole grains and fresh fruits are two examples of healthy foods that can easily be over-consumed.

This article is also available as a podcast. Click to listen:

Hold the Line on Whole Grains

You hear an awful lot these days about the benefits of whole grains.  People who replace refined grain products like white bread with whole grain products like whole wheat bread have lower rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and many other diseases.  But a lot of people have misunderstood this to mean that whole grains are like vegetables—the more, the better!

I have friends, for example, who wouldn’t be caught dead eating a forkful of white rice—after all, they’re watching their waistlines!  Yet they see nothing wrong with eating two or three cups of brown rice with dinner—and can’t imagine why they struggle with their weight.

Whole grains are definitely better for you than refined grains. But that doesn’t mean that portion sizes don’t matter. Despite being higher in fiber and certain nutrients, whole-grain foods are primarily starch. They provide a lot of calories and relatively little nutritional value. And although whole-grain foods are a little easier on your blood sugar than refined grain foods, they still have a moderate to high glycemic impact.

When it comes to grains, you need to pay attention to quality and quantity.  In fact, when it comes right down to it, quantity may even be more important.  I’d actually rather see you have an appropriately-sized serving of white pasta than an over-sized serving of whole grain pasta. Best of all, of course, would be an appropriately-sized serving of whole grain pasta.

Fruit: How Sweet It Is!

Fruit also has a place in a healthy diet—but, again, more is not necessarily better. Fruits and vegetables both provide important antioxidants, phytonutrients, fiber, fluids—nutrients that protect and enhance your health. However, compared with vegetables, fruits tend to be significantly higher in sugar and calories.

I think people often rationalize that the sugar or calories in fruit doesn’t really “count” because it’s coming from a healthy source. After all, fruit is a food we’re supposed to be eating, right?  And when we talk about limited your added sugar, you don’t have to include fruit in that total. But that’s not a license to eat a pound of raisins at your desk every afternoon.

Fruit is both yummy and good for you. And you’re much better off satisfying your sweet tooth with a piece of fruit than a candy bar. But to keep your diet balanced and your sugar intake within bounds, I suggest limiting fruit to two to four servings a day—and no more than one of those should be in the form of juice.

In the next and final installment in this special three-part series, I’ll have one more tip on how to avoid the biggest nutritional traps.

This article was originally published at QuickandDirtyTips.com

High Protein Diets Pile On More Pounds? Yes, but…

The Managing Editor of ABC News Medical Unit emailed me yesterday, asking for help understanding a new study on high protein diets.  In the study, the researchers put people on high-calorie diets ranging from 5 to 25% protein. They expected to find that the people on the high-protein diets would gain less fat.  In fact, all three groups gained the same amount of fat. But the researchers were also surprised to find that those on the low-protein diet gained less weight.

“I am having trouble figuring out if low protein is a good thing thing or a bad thing according to this study,” he wrote. “Isn’t it good that it lead to [less weight gain] than high protein? I am not sure what message there is for the public.”

Here’s my answer:

First, remember this study involved purposely over-feeding people in order to make them gain weight, so it’s not directly relevant to people who are restricting calories in order to lose or maintain their weight.  (And, as an aside, people who eat more protein often end up eating fewer calories because protein tends to be more satiating.)

See also: How to Eat Less Without Feeling Hungry

Secondly, the subjects all gained similar amounts of body fat, which is exactly what you would expect when people eat more calories than they burn..the excess is stored as fat.

The key finding in my mind is that the people on the higher protein diet gained lean muscle tissue (in addition to fat) and the people on the lower protein diet lost lean muscle tissue.  That explains why the high protein group gained more weight. But it does not mean that they ended up worse off.  In fact, you could argue that the increase in muscle tissue (and the corresponding increase in metabolism) in the high protein group partially offsets the negative impact of the fat gain.

As I commented to Roger, I think there are two take-home messages for the public, neither of which is particularly new:

1.  Too many calories will lead to an increase in stored fat, no matter what the source of those calories.
2. Higher-protein diets appear to promote (or at least preserve) lean muscle tissue and that’s generally a good thing.

And one important take-home message for the scientific community.

3. BMI (weight) doesn’t tell the whole story. When evaluating the effects of different diets on health, you need to take body composition (percentages of body fat and lean muscle) into consideration as well.  In this study, if you only looked at the change in BMI, you’d conclude that the high-protein diet did more damage than the low-protein diet. But when you look at the changes in lean body tissue and fat, it appears to be just the opposite. If I weigh more but have less fat and more muscle, I’m probably better off than someone who weighs less but has more fat.

Related content: How Much Protein Should You Eat?

How is Alcohol Metabolized?

Quick and Dirty Nutrition Tips from Monica Reinagel

We’ll be ringing in a new year soon and I daresay a few glasses of champagne or other spirits will be enjoyed by many Nutrition Over Easy readers. So this seems like the perfect time to address some of the lore about alcohol and nutrition. For example, is it a good idea to eat a big meal if you’re going to be drinking? If you’ve over-indulged, can certain foods ward off a hangover? Is it true that alcohol is metabolized into sugar or that it blocks your body’s ability to burn fat? Answers to these and other frequently asked questions about alcohol—along with my tips on how to indulge safely—are in this week’s Nutrition Diva Podcast. Read or listen to it here.

Calculating Calorie Needs: What You Need to Know

Quick and Dirty Nutrition Tips from Monica ReinagelLee writes: “There are lots of calculators out there that are supposed to tell you how many calories you should be eating. But they all give me different values.  How do I know what my daily calorie intake should really be?” In this week’s show, I explain how these calculators work and what you need to know about estimating calorie needs (or caloric content of foods.) Read or listen to it here.

Caffeine and Sugar: An Unexpected Link

Did you know that caffeine reduces our perception of sweetness?  Researchers found that if they took the caffeine out of a sweetened beverage, they could then remove about 10% of the sugar without altering the taste.  I had no idea!  The researchers  go on to suggest that removing caffeine from sweetened beverages could allow manufacturers to lower the amount of sugar in those products, thereby reducing the amount consumed by the general population and aiding in the fight against obesity.

That doesn’t seem terribly likely. First of all,  people who consume caffeinated beverages are usually looking for that caffeine bump.  (See also: Benefits of Caffeine) Secondly, we already have caffeine-free versions of many sweetened beverages.  And interestingly, caffeine-free Coca-Cola and Sprite both contain the same amount of sugar as regular Coca-cola.

Nonetheless, it’s an interesting finding.   Have you ever noticed this effect? For example, does caffeine-free Coke taste sweeter than regular? (I find both types to be unpleasantly sweet so I’m not a good judge.)  If you drink sugar in your coffee, does it take less sugar to sweeten decaf to your liking?

Balancing a High Sodium Diet

Foods high in potassium can help to balance sodium intake.

Q.  I’m a college student and I try to eat healthy. But with the amount of processed foods in the school cafeteria, it’s almost impossible to avoid eating a lot of sodium.  I’m healthy and active with a normal blood pressure and I’ve always considered sodium the least worrisome of the food evils (though high blood pressure does run in my family). I assume that as long as I increase my water intake along with sodium, everything will “balance out” in the body.  Is there any truth to this? If so, how much water is necessary to offset 2400 mg sodium over the recommended daily value?

A. First, I congratulate you for making nutrition a priority!  Secondly, I sympathize with your challenge of limiting sodium when faced with typical cafeteria food. Thirdly, I agree that because you are healthy, active, and have normal blood pressure, you may not need to worry too much about some extra sodium in your diet. Continue reading “Balancing a High Sodium Diet” >

Industry Sponsored Research at its Most Useless

What a waste of everyone’s time.

A company that manufactures a soy-based meal replacement drink funds a study comparing a soy-based meal replacement (i.e., their product) with a “standard breakfast” which had the same number of calories but was lower in protein, higher in refined carbohydrates. They found–gasp!–that the high protein breakfast controlled hunger better and regulated fat-burning metabolism.  Conclusion: Meal replacement regimes high in soy protein are beneficial for weight loss and metabolic syndrome.

What about this study design suggests that soy had anything to do with this?  The results were completely predictable based solely on the glycemic load and protein content.  Here, in fact, is a different study showing that you get more or less the same results using casein (milk protein).

I’ve argued in the past that industry-funded research can play a valuable part in the expensive world of nutrition research.  This study, however, was a waste of time, money, and resources. It generates no useful, new information and serves only to promote a product. Shame on the researchers who dignified the study with their time and to the journal that published it.