Five for Fridays – Jul 17, 2009

Happy Friday! Here are 5 interesting nutrition stories of the week that caught my eye. Enjoy and drop a comment to let me know what’s on your mind.

Are you getting your money’s worth by buying organic milk?

Organic milk costs more than regular milk – a lot more. Even if you have decided to buy organic milk for your kids, you have probably wondered if it is really worth that much. In an interesting article Is Organic Milk Worth the Price?, Registered Dietitian Maryann Jacobsen tackles this question and explains why she is sticking to her decision to continue buying organic milk for her children. We all know about the possibility of antibiotics, growth hormones and pesticides in regular milk, but as she points out, the more important question to ask is about how the cow is fed. Pasture-fed cows produce milk rich in nutrients. But watch out, not all “organic” milk may come from cows that feed on a pasture. I got quite curious about this point and decided to find out if the brand we buy comes from pasture-fed cows. We buy a brand called Horizon Organic Milk with DHA Omega-3 and I found this information on their website quite reassuring:

None of our organic-certified animals are given antibiotics or added growth hormones. Instead, we keep them healthy by providing organic pastures for grazing, holistic medical care, a wholesome diet and clean, comfortable living conditions.

Do you buy organic milk for your children? Which brand? Look up this information for your brand – I think this could make it worth the higher cost you pay for organic milk.

Adding soy sauce to food may help lower salt levels – really?

New research from Japan suggests that adding naturally brewed soy sauce to foods like salad dressings, soup and stir-fried pork can reduce their salt content without decreasing the perception of saltiness and overall taste. It seems to work because the smell of soy sauce also gives a sense of saltiness. Go figure! 1 tbsp of regular soy sauce contains over 900 mg of salt. Even the “less sodium” version contains 575 mg of salt. With so much salt from the soy sauce itself, I find it hard to believe that anyone can claim they can reduce the level of salt. It could be that the starting salt level itself is too high in these foods – I am not sure. By the way, this research was sponsored by Kikoman, the well-known manufacturer of soy sauce! So I am not sure how unbiased their results can be. Don’t get me wrong – we do enjoy soy sauce (certainly the less sodium version) occasionally, but I will not recommend it to anyone on a regular basis.

Flavonoid from Citrus fruits has potential to prevent obesity

Flavonoids are a type of anti-oxidant chemicals present in plants. You may have also heard the term bioflavonoid, which basically means the same type of plant chemicals. Recently published research suggests that adding a citrus-based flavonoid called naringenin to fatty foods can actually force the liver to burn up excess fat resulting in weight loss. Naringenin is found in grapefruits and oranges. But its absorption is not very good when taken as food or as an oral supplement. To that, I would say that eat more grapefruits and other citrus fruits, and not wait for the next amazing food product loaded with fat and naringenin to show up on the grocery shelves. This type of research is interesting, but can lead to clever ways of pushing fatty foods and making dubious marketing claims. Watch out for that! The best way to prevent obesity is to manage calories, exercise and eat a variety of low fat (no saturated fat or trans fat), low sugar foods including fruits and vegetables.

Race matters in obesity rates says the CDC

Data from telephone surveys analyzed by the CDC shows that obesity rates for African-Americans are 51% higher than obesity rates for non-Hispanic Whites. Hispanics had about 21% higher obesity rates compared to Whites. It is tempting to draw conclusions, as did the CDC report, about obesity among the minorities. If you look at the actual obesity rates – 1 in 4 Whites is obese while 1 in every 3 African-American is obese. Big deal! Obesity is not a “black” or a “white” problem. It is a national problem. Studies like these, based on highly inaccurate data collected over the phone, can have the unintended consequence of reinforcing the popular stereotypes for these minorities. Why should race matter in setting policy for good nutrition and physical activity? At the policy level, the focus should be on the root cause of the obesity problem. Strategy for allocating resources could of course consider the racial and geographical distribution.

Between “natural” and “organic” which one will you pick?

According to a recent survey, chances are that you will favor the natural label over organic. But is it really better? What is the difference? If you are confused about these buzz words, you have lots of company! An excellent blog article Natural vs. Organic – What’s Truth and What’s Hype attempts to clarify the difference between the two. In short, “natural” or “all natural ingredients” is very misleading and unregulated. It has more to do with the processing of food and less with how it was grown. “Organic” or “certified organic” on the other hand is a regulated label which means that the food was grown in a certain way without the use of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics or growth hormones. That is why it usually costs a lot more than regular or “natural” labeled foods. You will see a lot more of such marketing gimmicks and front-of-box labeling in future as food companies try to sell the idea of “health” at low price. Do not fall for them – continue to read the nutritional facts label and ingredient list. Buying organic does not need to bust your budget – here are 5 ideas to buy organic on a budget.

Enjoy your weekend! And let me know what you think.

Photo source -Finstr on Flickr
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