Tag Archives: Diet Studies

Nutrition Studies: 70% Of U.S. Fast-Food Meals Are “Poor Dietary Quality”

“Our findings show dining out is a recipe for unhealthy eating most of the time,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author and dean of the Friedman School. 

At fast-food restaurants, 70 percent of the meals Americans consumed were of poor dietary quality in 2015-16, down from 75 percent in 2003-04. At full-service restaurants, about 50 percent were of poor nutritional quality, an amount that remained stable over the study period. The remainder were of intermediate nutritional quality.

BOSTON (Jan. 29, 2020, 9:00 a.m. EST)—The typical American adult gets one of every five Tufts School of Nutrition Science and Policy logocalories from a restaurant, but eating out is a recipe for meals of poor nutritional quality in most cases, according to a new study by researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

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Published today in The Journal of Nutrition, the study analyzed the dietary selections of more than 35,000 U.S. adults from 2003-2016 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) who dined at full-service (those with wait staff) or fast-food restaurants, which included pizza shops and what has become known as fast-casual. The researchers assessed nutritional quality by evaluating specific foods and nutrients in the meals, based on the American Heart Association 2020 diet score.

To read more about study

Healthy Diets: “The Science Behind Fasting – Ketosis” (Infographic)

The Science Behind Fasting - Ketosis
Cellular Cleanup Crew Fasting and caloric restriction both can ramp up autophagy, a kind of cellular housekeeping. When cells are in famine mode and don’t have to break down food, they pause their usual tasks and stop dividing. Instead, they work on repairing and recycling damaged components, and cleaning out dead or harmful cell matter. Alison Mackey/Discover

…It seems fasting triggers a dramatic switch in the body’s metabolism, according Discover Magazine logoto a paper Mattson and colleagues published in February in the experimental biology journal FASEB. In humans, fasting for 12 hours or more drops the levels of glycogen, a form of cellular glucose. Like changing to a backup gas tank, the body switches from glucose to fatty acids, a more efficient fuel. The switch generates the production of ketones, which are energy molecules that are made in the liver. “When the fats are mobilized and used to produce ketones, we think that is a key factor in accruing the health benefits,” says Mattson.

Read more at Discover Magazine

New Studies: Beneficial Effects Of “18-Hour Intermittent Fasting” On Health And Aging (NEJM)

From a New England Journal of Medicine online release:

In humans, intermittent-fasting interventions ameliorate obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and inflammation. Intermittent fasting seems to confer health benefits to a greater extent than can be attributed just to a reduction in caloric intake.

Evidence is accumulating that eating in a 6-hour period and fasting for 18 hours can trigger a metabolic switch from glucose-based to ketone-based energy, with increased stress resistance, increased longevity, and a decreased incidence of diseases, including cancer and obesity.

The New England Journal of Medicine Logo

Preclinical studies and clinical trials have shown that intermittent fasting has broad-spectrum benefits for many health conditions, such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, cancers, and neurologic disorders. Animal models show that intermittent fasting improves health throughout the life span, whereas clinical studies have mainly involved relatively short-term interventions, over a period of months.

Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease New England Journal of Medicine December 26 2019

BOOMERS-DAILY.COM “18-HOUR INTERMITTENT FASTING DIET” STUDY

How much of the benefit of intermittent fasting is due to metabolic switching and how much is due to weight loss? Many studies have indicated that several of the benefits of intermittent fasting are dissociated from its effects on weight loss. These benefits include improvements in glucose regulation, blood pressure, and heart rate; the efficacy of endurance training; and abdominal fat loss.

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Diet Studies: Age-Related Macular Degeneration Linked To Processed, Refined And Fried Foods

From a Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News release:

Age-Related Macular Degeneration“Our work provides additional evidence that that diet matters,” Millen added. “From a public health standpoint, we can tell people that if you have early AMD, it is likely in your best interest to limit your intake of processed meat, fried food, refined grains, and high-fat dairy to preserve your vision over time.”

Participants who ate a diet high in red and processed meat, fried food, refined grains, and high-fat dairy were three times more likely to develop an eye condition that damages the retina and affects a person’s central vision, according to the results of a study, “Diet patterns and the incidence of age-related macular degeneration in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study,” from the University at Buffalo (UB) that appears in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

The condition is called late-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is irreversible and affects a person’s central vision, taking away their ability to drive, among other common daily activities.

To read more: https://www.genengnews.com/news/age-related-macular-degeneration-linked-to-diet-high-in-refined-processed-and-fried-foods/?utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=GEN+Daily+News+Highlights&utm_content=01&utm_campaign=GEN+Daily+News+Highlights_20191212&oly_enc_id=5678C5137845J4Z

Diet Studies: “10-Hour Time -Restricted Eating” (TRE) Lowers Weight, Visceral Fat & Blood Pressure

From a Cell Metabolism online study release:

Cell Metabolism December 2019Ten-hour time-restricted eating (TRE) limits daily dietary intake to a consistent 10-h window, creating a 14-h nightly fast. Researchers studied whether TRE for 12 weeks in people with metabolic syndrome receiving standard medical care (including medications to lower cholesterol and blood pressure) improves markers of health. TRE led to weight loss, healthier body composition (including decreased waist circumference), lower blood pressure and levels of cardiovascular disease-promoting lipids (i.e., “bad cholesterol” levels), and more restful sleep. TRE could be an effective dietary intervention to help those with metabolic syndrome.

10 Hour Time Restricted Eating (TRE) Benefits

Time-restricted eating (TRE) is an emerging dietary intervention that aims to maintain a consistent daily cycle of feeding and fasting to support robust circadian rhythms (Panda, 2016). Circadian regulation of the endocrine system, autonomic nervous system, and nutrient metabolism contributes to metabolic and physiological homeostasis (Asher and Sassone-Corsi, 2015,Panda, 2016). Both erratic eating patterns and eating over an extended period of time during the 24-h day can disrupt circadian rhythms.

To read entire study: https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(19)30611-4