Category: Nutrition in the News

My take on the latest diet and nutrition headlines.

Sugar and Cancer: What’s the Connection?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Whenever I talk about cancer and diet, I try to debunk the myth that eating sugar makes cancer grow faster. I explain that all cells, including cancer cells, use glucose (sugar) to fuel their metabolism. Cancer cells often have an accelerated metabolism and utilize blood glucose at a faster rate than other cells. But it’s a gross over-simplification to say that consuming sugar will make cancer grow faster or that eliminating sugar will slow the growth of a tumor.

So imagine my surprise to see a recent headline in Newsweek about a new study published in the prestigious science journal Nature.

Despite the provocative headline, however, this study has absolutely nothing to do with how sugar from foods affects cancer cells. The research explores how some cancer cells differ from healthy cells in the way that they metabolize glucose. This is undoubtedly important to cancer researchers. But it does not add to, subtract from, or change in any way what we know about the interaction of diet and cancer.  

The link between sugar consumption and cancer risk is more indirect.  Excessive sugar consumption often leads to obesity, which increases cancer risk. But it’s the excess body fat that is the problem, not the source of the calories that caused it. 

[bctt tweet=”This is important to cancer researchers, but it doesn’t change what we know about diet and cancer.” username=”nutritiondiva”]

There are a lot of good reasons to limit our consumption of added sugars.  Limiting these empty calories can make it easier to maintain a healthy weight. A diet that’s lower in added sugars is also likely to be higher in nutrients. Both can help to reduce your risk of cancer and/or improve your chances of beating it.

But the last thing a cancer patient (or survivor) needs is to stress about whether eating too much sugar may have caused their cancer or made it more aggressive. Neither is true.

See also: Diet Recommendations for Cancer Survivors

Related Listening

Despite billions spent on dieting, obesity rate hits new high

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Americans are spending more on dieting than ever before--more than $60 billion a year.  The percentage of obese adults is also at an all time high of 40%. 

Do you think there might be a connection between these two trends?  I do.

Clearly, dieting  is not the solution to the obesity problem. In fact, I think it's a big part of the problem.  

Problem #1:  Even the most "responsible" diets encourage you to lose weight far faster than your body can actually lose fat. As a result, you end up losing a little bit of fat and a lot of water and lean muscle tissue.

Problem #2: Diets teach you how to lose weight but they don't teach you how to weigh less.  (There's a big difference.)  As a result, most people will eventually regain all the weight they lose...or more.

Problem #3: When you regain the weight, you don't gain back the lean muscle that you lost while dieting. You replace it with fat, which makes it even harder to lose weight the next time.

It's time to try something different

Last summer, my colleague Brock Armstrong and I launched WeighlessTM, a program that shows people how to stop dieting and start weighing less. Weighless is not a diet or exercise program. It's a structured lifestyle change program that combines nutrition science, behavior modification, professional guidance, and community support.

The results have exceeded even our high hopes. It's been absolutely exhilarating to see people escape a lifetime of yo-yo dieting and find the path to sustainable weight loss.  I'm more convinced than ever before that diets are not the answer to our obesity epidemic. (They're a big part of the problem.)

If you think you might be ready to stop dieting and start weighing less, there are more details about the Weighless program here.

Losing weight will shorten your life? Not exactly.

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

A new study finds that people who lost more than 15% of their body weight over a five year period were actually more likely to die than those who didn’t lose weight. What’s more, the biggest losers were more likely to die than people who gained 20% during the same period.

How can this be? We’re constantly bombarded with headlines about the obesity epidemic and how it’s shaving years off our life span. Are you really better off remaining overweight than losing weight? 

[bctt tweet="Poor health causes weight loss, not the other way around." username="nutritiondiva"]

This latest study does not distinguish between intentional and unintentional weight loss, nor did it take into account the cause of death. People who are terminally ill tend to lose weight. But there's a world of difference between losing weight due to serious illness and intentionally losing weight.

Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss

One way to see this quite clearly is to distinguish between the loss of total body weight and the loss of body fat. The loss of total body weight may be associated with increased mortality. But the loss of body fat is associated with increased life span.

Another way to separate out the effect of wasting disease is to distinguish between intentional and unintentional weight loss. Previous studies have shown that while unintentional weight loss is associated with increased risk of death, intentional weight loss can reduce mortality by 15%

The Bottom Line(s)

Actually, I have three bottom lines for you

Bottom Line #1. Losing excess body fat will improve your health.

Bottom Line #2. Losing weight slowly will increase the percentage of body fat you lose.

Bottom Line #3. Losing a modest amount of weight and keeping it off will do more to improve your health than repeatedly losing and gaining large amounts of weight.

Need help with sustainable weight loss? That’s what the Weighless program is all about. ​Learn more.. 

More salad equals less joint pain?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

Eating more salads and other whole vegetables appears to reduce your risk of knee pain from arthritis. Interestingly, this does not appear to be simply a factor of consuming more vitamins or anti-oxidants. There seems to be something special about eating whole vegetables that’s protective.

Doctors evaluated the diets of more than 6,000 adults and found that those who reported eating the most vegetables and fruits had the lowest risk of severe knee pain. However, there didn’t seem to be any relationship between the total amount of vitamin C or beta carotene consumed and knee pain.

Of course, this study revealed an association (or correlation) but did not definitely prove that eating more vegetables prevents knee pain. But what exactly is the downside of taking this advice?

About half of all adults will  develop knee pain due to arthritis (wear and tear in the joint) and the risk is significatnly higher if you’re overweight.  Not surprisingly, knee pain has negative effects on mood, participation in social and recreational activities, and sleep.

Eating more vegetables, on the other hand, is linked to a wealth of benefits, ranging from lower body weight to reduced risk of cancer, diabetes, stroke and heart disease, and–that old favorite–a longer and healthier life.

So eat up! Here are tips on finding vegetables you like to eat.  And if eating more vegetables is one of your goals, consider participating in the upcoming 30-Day Nutrition Upgrade. It’s a fun way to improve your eating habits…and eating more veggies and less sugar are the two biggest changes people report making. Click below for all the details.

What can you do to help the bees?

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

On a recent trip (sponsored in part by the National Honey Board), I had a chance to rub wings with some professional beekeepers. Like many of you, I am concerned about the plight of our honey bees (and, by extension, all of us). Did you know that plants pollinated by honey bees and other pollinators make up about one-third of our diet?

Bees and other pollinators are struggling against many challenges, including decreasing food and water supplies as well as pathogens and pollutants that threaten the health of the hive. I wanted to pass along this list of four things we can all do to support the health of honey bees and pollinators.

  • Plant bee friendly flowers and herbs in your garden or yard. Bees are particularly fond of blue and purple flowers that are on the small side.
  • Put a shallow pan of fresh water out for bees to drink. Putting small rocks or marbles in the water gives them something to land on.
  • If you must apply pesticides or other chemicals to your lawn or garden, try to apply them at dusk, when bees and other pollinators are less likely to be visiting the flowers. (Happily, this is actually the most effective time to spray for mosquitoes).
  • Spread the word by sharing these bee-friendly tips with your neighbors and friends. Or, if you’re so inclined, learn more about bee-keeping, a hobby that many of my friends have taken up and find enormously satisfying (and not just because of the honey!)

Learn more by visiting the Honey Bee Health Coalition.

Why you shouldn’t drink sweetened beverages with meals

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

One of the reasons I suggest drinking only water (or unsweetened tea or coffee) with meals is that calories you drink don’t contribute at all to your sense of satiation.  In other words, you’re not likely to eat any less to compensate for those extra calories you’re drinking. They just get added to the total.

Conversely, replacing a caloric beverage with water is an easy way to subtract a few hundred calories from a meal without noticing a thing!

But here’s another log to throw on that fire: A small but meticulously done study finds that drinking a sweetened beverage along with a meal substantially increases the amount of fat that gets stored from the meal. Who needs that? The effect is magnified when the meal is high in protein, such as drinking a soda with a burger or chicken.

Interestingly, the study did not see the same effect with artificially-sweetened beverages. Although I recommend limiting your intake of diet soda, this would be one scenario where a diet soda might be a better choice than a regular soda (but still not as good as water).

Mac and cheese if you please

by Monica Reinagel, MS, LDN

On my list of things to do this week was write a post responding to the recent scare over toxic chemicals in boxed macaroni and cheese.  Fortunately, my friends at Examine.com have save me the trouble. If this is something that you saw in the headlines and were concerned about, here is an excellent analysis of what we know and how much we need to worry about it.

Here’s the bottom line. An occasional box of mac and cheese isn’t going to kill anyone. However, there’s a pretty good argument for not eating it every day.  Phthalates are just one more good reason to not make packaged foods the mainstay of our diets–and to eat a variety of foods.