Confused about what you are hearing about high fructose corn syrup?

You’re not alone. To help clear up confusion, I wanted to summarize a recent presentation by sweetener expert, Dr. John White, Ph.D., regarding High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) presented at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ annual Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo on September 25, 2011. Dr. John White is president and founder of WHITE Technical Research, an international consulting firm located in Argenta, Ill, that has served the food and beverage industry since 1994. Dr. White is one of the foremost experts in fructose and HFCS.

There seems to be a steady stream of news reports attempting to implicate HFCS as the magic bullet in causing the obesity epidemic in America, in addition to diabetes and other diseases. Many of these reports are based on poorly constructed experiments, as there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that added sugars are the cause for the obesity epidemic. Obesity is much more complex than this hypothesis. Many people are consuming an excess of total calories, not only from sugar, but also from fats and oils and grains in their diets, thereby increasing their risk for obesity. People are also less active than they were 40 plus years ago.

Dr. White encourages consumers to be aware of the research behind each study they may encounter. Knowing what to look for in the design of a study can help consumers, scientists, health professionals, and the media evaluate whether new research is pertinent or pointless. In the below video, Dr. White provides you with tips on what to look for when evaluating scientific research. http://vimeo.com/34906239.

As a dietitian working with children and adults, my motto for fueling is “80-20.” Eighty percent of the time I encourage people to choose nutrient-rich foods such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, lean proteins, and unsaturated fats, as they provide an array of vitamins and minerals for optimal health and performance. For the remaining 20 percent, I believe people should feel comfortable enjoying the foods and drinks they love, including those with added sugars.

My motto remains the same for HFCS or low- and no-calorie sweeteners: moderation. Science tells us that HFCS is metabolized by the body in the same way as sugar.

I currently serve as a consultant to the Corn Refiners Association (CRA), but my statements and opinions are my own.

You can see the full presentation at http://vimeo.com/34958933

Vitamin D - Are you Getting Enough of This “Super” Nutrient?

Vitamin D has always been known as the bone-building vitamin. However, are you aware that almost every human cell in our body relies on it? If you are deficient in this vitamin, your body will fail to work at its potential - including your metabolism. Experts believe that up to 77 percent of Americans are vitamin D deficient (defined as having blood levels of less than 30 nanograms per milliliter). So why do we come up so short, especially since vitamin D is one of the few vitamins our bodies can make? Sunlight converts a cholesterol-like substance naturally found in the skin into D. The challenge is, thanks to UV rays and skin cancer, soaking up sun to make more D would do you more harm than good. For your skin to make enough vitamin D, you would need direct midday summer sunlight on a huge portion of your body for 15 minutes a day—risking serious sun damage. It's even more difficult for people of color to make D as the melanin in dark skin decreases vitamin D production by up to 90 percent.

In the past few years, research has suggested that vitamin D might help relieve mood disorders because it seems to increase the amounts of serotonin, one of the neurotransmitters responsible for mood. In particular, vitamin D seems to help the type of depression called “seasonal affective disorder (SAD),” or the winter blues. Vitamin D also plays a positive role in heart disease, metabolism, pregnancy problems, birth defects, skin and other cancers such as colon, breast, and prostate, and multiple sclerosis. As a result, vitamin D’s daily requirements for adults have increased from 200 IUs to at least 600 IUs, and possibly more. I recommend that my clients first have their vitamin D levels checked and then for most, to take 1,000 IUs daily.

Wondering what foods and beverages are rich in vitamin D? The next time you visit the grocery store, look for fish such as salmon with bones, fat free or low-fat fortified milk, fortified soy milk and egg yolks. Because vitamin D-rich foods are so limited, it’s often beneficial to take a daily multivitamin with 600 IUs of vitamin D3. With the New Year upon us, I encourage you to have your vitamin D level checked the next time you visit your physician. Keep me posted! Wishing you a healthy and successful 2012.

-Chrissy Barth, Registered Dietitian and Sports Nutritionist

National School Lunch Week Begins with the Family

It’s that time of year again where we celebrate “National School Lunch Week” from October 10-14. Good nutrition begins with the involvement of the entire family. Research supports that what the family consumes at mealtimes relates to the nutritional adequacy of a child’s diet. When meals are eaten together, children are more likely to consume a nutrient-rich diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products and a decreased intake of fried foods and sweets.

Planning and preparing meals appear to be the most challenging for parents. Ways in which the family can intervene to make health a priority is through meal planning and preparation, food shopping, and eating together most nights of the week. At times, eating healthy can be challenging for kids because many of the recommended foods seem unappealing – fat free milk, whole grains, and plain yogurt. This is where sweeteners come into play. Added sugars can play a valuable role in getting your kids to eat healthy foods such as flavored oatmeal, low-fat chocolate milk, whole grain cookies, and pudding.

Brown Bagging It
For lunch, aim for 3-4 food groups, protein being one, to provide your child with long-lasting energy and stabilized blood sugars to help carry them throughout the afternoon hours at school. Some examples include:
Turkey, hummus, and cheese wrapped in a whole grain tortilla served with a salad in a bag and lite ranch dressing and a carton of low-fat chocolate milk to drink for its calcium and vitamin D combo for strong bones and healthy teeth.
Leftovers! Mac and cheese with broccoli made with a mixture of whole grain and white pasta noodles. Pack a 100% frozen fruit juice box and DHA-fortified fruit yogurt for a brain boost.
Leftover veggie and cheese pizza with a single serving snack pack size of baked chips and bottled water.

Snacks for School
Smart snacking helps maintain energy levels and prevents your child from overeating at meals. Go for that powerful carbohydrate-protein mix for sustained energy such as:
Apple slices dipped in peanut butter and caramel sauce.
Homemade trail mix: whole grain sweetened cereal, dried fruit, almonds, and a few dark chocolate chips or M&Ms.
2 small whole grain cookies with an 8-ounce glass of low-fat milk.
Baby carrots, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes, and a few pita wedges dipped in hummus.
Pudding cup with a banana.
Make your own smoothie with fruit, yogurt, and a squirt of chocolate syrup.

With these recommendations, families will be on track towards nutritious and delicious eating. My motto for fueling is “80-20” in that 80% of the time, choose nutrient-rich foods offering an array of vitamins and minerals and for the remainder, enjoy foods with added sugars. Living a healthy lifestyle comes down to balance, moderation, and variety. For additional information about the National School Lunch Week, check out www.schoolnutrition.org/Level2_NSLW2011.aspx?id=15284.

Disclosure: Chrissy Barth is a member of the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) RD panel.

15 Ways to Enjoy Soy

Once you get familiar with soyfoods, it’s easy to bring the benefits of soy into your everyday diet. Here are a few ideas to help get you started:

1. Pour soymilk over a bowl of morning cereal.
2. Substitute soymilk for water when cooking oatmeal or other hot cereals.
3. Use soy creamer in coffee rather than cream or milk.
4. Make French toast or pancakes using a flavored soymilk.
5. Blend a soymilk and fruit smoothie for breakfast or a snack on the go.
6. Try tempeh as a meat substitute — it can be baked or grilled as burgers, in a loaf, or skewered as kabobs.
7. Make fresh fruit parfaits using soy yogurt rather than dairy yogurt.
8. Sprinkle edamame over a salad.
9. Serve edamame as an appetizer or a vegetable side dish.
10. Substitute tofu for animal protein in curry or stir-fry recipes.
11. Use silken tofu instead of sour cream in a favorite dip recipe.
12. Sprinkle soy cheese over pasta, pizza or casseroles.
13. Spoon up some soy ice cream.
14. Snack on roasted soy nuts.
15. Bake with soymilk instead of dairy milk.

Brought to you by Silk.

Visit www.SoyNutrition.com for more info.

FNCE 2011 - San Diego, California

As an executive board member of Nutrition Entrepreneurs Dietetic Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association, I am thrilled to attend my first ever FNCE in San Diego! This is always an exciting time of the year where we are engaged by dynamic speakers and presentations.

Some of the presentations I hope to attend include...
*Engaging Your Audience with New and Traditional Media with Arizona’s own Michelle Dudash as a co-presenter.
*Multitasking & Mindless Eating: Breaking the Cycle with Intuitive Eating.
*The Great Sweetener Debate.
*Be the Brand: Growing Your Business for Ultimate Success with NEs very own Rebecca Scritchfield. Whoo hoo!
*Dietary Supplements.
*Fitness Center RDs: How to Make it a Win-Win Venture with my co-newsletter editor of Ventures, Yvette Quantz, co-presenting.
*Making Your Mark as a Nutrition Blogger: How to Take it to the Next Level

I look forward to seeing many of my colleagues and friends from around the country and catching up with my local network of RDs and DTRs. It’s such an exciting time in the nutrition world and I’m grateful to be a part of it. I look forward in sharing with you what I learn.

Be Well!

Chrissy

Why Yoga? Why Not?!

No matter what kind of day I am having, I always seem to feel my best during and after a yoga class. Just the other day for example, I had the worst headache. I went to a fantastic class my friend was subbing for and post class, my headache was gone. It’s a miracle! One of my teacher's always reminds us we practice today so we can practice tomorrow. This yogini in the picture above speaks volumes! I'm taking her class next...

There are many different types of classes out there. Find one that is right for you along with a teacher you connect with and give it a try. What's the worst thing that can happen? During the week, I like to mix it up with a variety of styles from vinyasa flow to yin to restorative to power.

Below are just a handful of benefits yoga offers...

*Decreases the risk of disease.
*Optimizes the immune system.
*Helps you manage stress more effectively. Stress? What stress?
*Can help the relief of pain from tension headaches. I second this one!
*Can help improve short term memory, focus, and concentration.
*Improves your breathing.
*Boosts creativity.
*Improves sleep.
*Helps you relax.
*Increases your overall health awareness.
*Improves your relationship with “YOU” and food.
*Assists in mindful and intuitive eating.
*Lowers your resting heart rate.
*Flushes out toxic build-up.
*Optimizes the metabolism.
*Excellent for cross training.
*Keeps us ageless!

The list is endless... see you in class!

The Benefits of Yoga for Runners and Other Athletes

Yoga and Running are sometimes seen as activities on opposite sides of the exercise spectrum; while running is an intense cardiovascular activity, yoga is seen as a practice of relaxation and stretching. Yoga, however, is not merely relaxation and stretching. Yoga is a practice that builds body strength, improves breathing technique, and stretches muscles that tighten over time from sedentary daily activities. Yoga is an excellent complement to the tightness and soreness that many runners experience from logging long distances on the track or trails. Below are five benefits that yoga can bring to your running or athletic performance.

1. Improved Breathing
Breathing is a natural process, and we do not need to consciously think about breathing in order to do it. But once you begin to be more conscious of your breath, you will notice a great difference in your body’s ability to breathe more efficiently. Being conscious of breath work and breathing efficiency can also help you push past any obstacles or difficult moments you face during your run.

2. Balance and Core Strength Development
Balance and core strength are so important for runners. Both help with maintaining proper form as well as to keep you feeling strong. Yoga is an ideal activity to build core strength, as many of the poses require you to support and balance your own body weight. Yoga also incorporates many side twists and back bends, which will activate lower and oblique abdominal muscles that you rarely use.

3. Flexibility
Yoga uses slow steady movements and isometric contractions to improve your flexibility and range of motion, which is beneficial for any athlete. Flexibility is important for running, since tight muscles limit range of motion and are pulled or damaged more easily. With consistency, practicing yoga will improve your range of motion and flexibility.

4. Injury Prevention
Running and many stop-and-go sports are repetitive motions that put much pressure on your joints and muscles. Yoga poses offer fluid and transitional movements that release tension from tight muscles. It loosens those hamstrings that become tight and contracted from long distance runs and alleviates much of the pressure we put on our knees. Many runners also have much tension in their low back, and yoga poses such as Bridge are excellent at relieving this lower back tension.

5. Relaxation
Yoga is a very relaxing activity, and is typically the main reason many people first seek out a yoga class. Yoga allows your mind to ease itself after a busy day of the stresses in daily living, much like casual running does. The final pose, savasana, allows the mind to relax in brief mediation while the body also relaxes after practicing many poses.

-Christine Scarcello - I have a B.A. in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in Nutrition from Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. I currently live in Chicago and am both excited and nervous to be applying to dietetic internships this fall! I am pursuing a career as a Registered Dietitian because I value the healing properties of food and firmly believe that a healthy diet contributes to and encourages a healthier mind, body, and life. My career interests include public health nutrition, exercise and wellness, disease prevention, and nutrition education and communications. I also love staying active and enjoy snowboarding, yoga, running, mountain biking, and being outdoors.