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Chapter Goals:
- Know the complex and controversial nutrition topics held in the fitness industry.
- Discuss the evidence based strategies and their use for supporting claims for different dieting fads.
- Discuss the education of clients on trends in nutrition for the facilitation of making healthy decisions.
Introduction to Nutrition Hot Topics and Controversies
The modern world is always changing, and since that is true, so is science as we get new information and refine the old. The only bad thing with having so much info and access to all of this with the internet is that there tends to be a lot of misinformation for us to get through. The purpose of our learning these hot topics in nutrition is to help our clients by giving evidence based conclusions on the ones they encounter and bring to you for questions.
Organic vs. Conventional
The market for organic food has had some big increases lately, driven by consumers’ perception that organic foods are superior in health to conventional foods. There is a lot of evidence looking into this, and nutrition coaches need to understand everything well. Reference the USDA website to find the recent research data.
Agriculture
The main difference between conventional and organic is the reliance on pesticides or the more conventional methods. Organic produce has four times less pesticide residue than conventional produce. This can be a major health benefit for pregnant women, children, and developing infants. Switching to organic reduces the biomarkers of pesticides in 5 – 7 days significantly.
Switching from conventional to organic has been shown to increase the intake of polyphenols equal to 1 – 2 servings of fruits and veggies without additional energy taken in.
Organic is going to be the slightly better option just due to the low levels of pesticides or safer pesticides used and the higher levels of those secondary metabolites.
Meats, Milk, and Eggs
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Organic meat, milk, and eggs come from livestock raised on land certified to be organic. They are fed food that is 100% organic and raised without the use of antibiotics, hormones, or any animal by-products. Organic livestock has clearly been less exposed to environmental toxicants like pesticides and pollutants. It has not been thoroughly researched as to how much of an effect this has on the body, but it is around the same as air pollution and other toxicants we take in.
Organic meats will be much higher in their omega-3 amounts than conventional ones. The other nutrients do not have a huge difference when we compare them.
All in all, the animals raised organically will live a better life than the conventional ones, but this results in very little difference in the meat, milk, and eggs they give us.
Grass-Fed and Pasture-Raised
These have come up more lately. These environments more closely resemble how these animals would live in the wild, and thus, even more, organic if you think about it. These are driven by even more thoughts of animal welfare and healthfulness.
Meats
Organic standards are a step in the right direction for the welfare of animals. Some of the rules the organic certification set are not living up to it enough, so these two types take it a tad further. The changes in feeding before the animals are killed actually have a significant impact on the organic raised animals.
The grass-fed and finished cattle have been shown to affect the fat content of the meat the most. So, this is something to take into account.
Milk and Eggs
There is no difference resulting from milk in grass-fed cattle.
The eggs that are pasture raised have more omega-3 fatty acids and an increase in DHA. They also tend to have fewer omega-6 fatty acids. The pastured hens are seen to have more vitamin E and other bioactive compounds like lutein and zeaxanthin.
Genetically Modified Organisms
These are defined as organisms that have their genetic material modified unnaturally or through mating. They have been a huge worldwide conversation piece since their entrance to the market in the 90s. The big debate mainly focuses on whether companies should label their products as GMOs, which most companies voluntarily put out for the public.
Arguments in Favor of GMOs
- Increases in crop yields
- Their additional nutritional value
- Food processing improvements
One example is found in the addition of more beta-carotene into rice to give more vitamin A to developing countries. This is an obvious plus for those nations.
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GM Potatoes were made to reduce the amount of acrylamide formed when cooked at high temperatures. This acrylamide is a very hazardous chemical made from the cooking of starches.
Potential Risks of GMOs
- The expression of allergenic crop yields
- Changes made in the concentrations of metabolites
- Increases in exposure to pesticides.
Gluten-Free Diets
Wheat entered our diets around 10,000 years ago as we relied more on crops and less on hunting things. It then began to be a staple of our diets. But, some people are unable to tolerate wheat in their diet. These are people with wheat allergies, celiac disease, and then other sensitivities.
The signs and symptoms of allergies and wheat diet problems include eczema, asthma, nausea, and even more severe symptoms like anaphylactic shock. In most cases, these will be diagnosed very early in life.
Going Gluten Free
The belief that exists is that gluten free is much healthier than things containing gluten, and because of this, the industry has seen big growth. Many people have self-diagnosed themselves as having gluten sensitivity. In reality, there is nothing special about dies that avoid gluten when we look at losing weight. There are also no actual performance benefits that result. This is purely a decision someone can make, but nothing results in a big difference one way or the other.
We do not require wheat or gluten to be in the diet, so you can also do it without problems.
High-Fructose Corn Syrup
This sweetener is made from enzymatic conversions of starch from corn into both glucose and fructose. It is the most used replacement for sucrose in the U.S. because it costs less and is comparable in taste.
From a biochemical view, the difference is also subtle.
There is a solid reason for us to try to limit the sugars we add to our foods. This is more true with beverages since those calories are digested quickly.
The excess energy from these sugars that are taken in will result in storage in the form of fat. Thus, increasing the amount of fat in the body.
Nonnutritive Sweeteners
These food additives offer the joy of sugars minus the calories that come with them. These are taken from plants or synthetically made. We refer to these as artificial sweeteners. And of these, we have 6 artificial ones and two natural ones that the FDA approves for use in the food industry.
Their use has increased as people try to reduce their weight while also getting satisfaction from their sweet tooth. Why have a soda with all of the calories when you can have a diet soda and get zero calories?
It is important to take a look at these sweeteners and their role in common health problems that your clients may have.
Obesity and Weight Loss
Studies have shown that people who have become obese then begin to intake more of these sweeteners. This is because people will compensate for their intake of these sweeteners by believing they can intake even more food.
Appetite
The effects of these sweeteners and hunger appear benign; if anything, only the short term appetite is slightly affected.
Type 2 Diabetes and Glycemic Control
The blood sugar and insulin level are not affected by NNS. But it has been found that their use chronically has been linked to having worsened glycemic control.
Detoxes and Cleanses
These have historically been done by combining highly restrictive dieting and very expensive supplementation for more than a few weeks. They claim to purify and cleanse the body of the “toxins” sapping your health. Most of these programs will be gimmicks that give very little in terms of results.
We do not have much information and research on these detox programs, and their only real results and benefits come from the extreme calorie restriction.
Detoxification Done Right
We can actually detoxify our bodies already. This is because we do it every single day. Most toxins are metabolized in the liver and then put out through bile or kidneys. So, the idea of detoxing is not that crazy.
Juicing
This popular and growing trend is done so by taking the juice from the veggies and fruits and consuming these for 1 – 2 weeks. It is important to know how the body is affected by these juices and what makes up these juices. They are usually very high in sugar, even though they have such great nutrients in them.
Tyler Read
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