Is Tilapia the new RED meat?!?!?! (from Jill)

You may have heard news reports saying that a popular fish, Tilapia, is now thought to be LESS heart healthy than a burger, so let us clear up these confusing media headlines. A study was done to analyze the amount of two types of polyunsaturated fats (specifically omega-3 and omega-6) in commonly eaten fish. What they found was that tilapia had similar amount of omega-6 fats to that of bacon and 80% lean hamburger which is possibly related to increased inflammation in the body. However, there is no definitive evidence that this is true. In addition, the media left out the part of the statement from the researchers that talked about “all other nutritional content” of the fish – such as lower calories, total fat and saturated fat – as compared to bacon and burgers. The final word from the American Dietetic Association is that “…Fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, including trout, salmon, tuna and mackerel, may offer better health benefits. However, because fish that are low in omega-3’s, such as tilapia, catfish, cod and mahi-mahi, are still low in total and saturated fat and high in protein, they can remain part of a healthy diet”.

New Vitamins D recommendations for Kids (from Jill)

A report came out monday of this week (so you may have read about it by now) that says that the nation's leading pediatricians group says children from newborns to teens should get double the usually recommended amount of vitamin D because of evidence that it may help prevent serious diseases. The new recommendation of 400 units daily will mean that millions of children will need to take daily vitamin D supplements.

Every age group seems to be effected from infants to teens. The only group that might be getting adequate Vit D are babies who take formula since most contain vitamin D. However, the academy recommends breast-feeding for at least the first year of life and breast milk is sometimes deficient. For older children who drink milk, most commercially available milk is fortified with vitamin D, but most children and teens don't drink enough of it since four cups daily would be needed to meet the new requirement. Besides milk and some other fortified foods like cereal, vitamin D is found in oily fish including tuna, mackerel and sardines. Given the limited sources, it's hard to get enough through diet; the best source is sunlight because the body makes vitamin D when sunshine hits the skin. While it is believed that 10 to 15 minutes in the sun without sunscreen a few times weekly is sufficient for many, people with dark skin and those in northern, less sunny climates need more. Because of sunlight's link with skin cancer, "vitamin D supplements during infancy, childhood and adolescence are necessary," the academy's report says.

The new advice is based on mounting research about potential benefits from vitamin D besides keeping bones strong, including suggestions that it might reduce risks for cancer, diabetes and heart disease. But - AND THIS IS IMPORTANT - the evidence isn't conclusive and there's no consensus on how much of the vitamin would be needed for disease prevention. As with all research, you may want to wait to see if future studies prove the same findings and, in the meantime, it would be appropriate to try to figure out your child's Vitamin D intake and/or discuss it with your pediatrician (especially if you child doesn't like dairy foods or fortified cereals)

Should I avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup (from Jill)

First of all, let's learn what this substnace is....High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a manmade sweetener that’s found in a wide range of processed foods including things that don't even tast sweet. Things like ketchup, cereals, crackers and salad dressings. It also sweetens just about all of the (regular) soda Americans drink.

HFCS used in foods is between 50 to 55 percent fructose (a naturally occuring type of sugar in fruit) —so chemically, it’s virtually identical to table sugar (sucrose) becuase that is also 50 percent fructose. Metabolic studies suggest our bodies break down and use HFCS and sucrose the same way.

Yet, after HFCS began to be widely introduced into the food supply 30-odd years ago, obesity rates skyrocketed. And because the sweetener is so ubiquitous, many blame HFCS for playing a major role in our national obesity epidemic. As a result, some shoppers equate HFCS with “toxic waste” when they see it on a food label. But when it comes right down to it, a sugar is a sugar is a sugar. A can of soda contains around nine teaspoons of sugar in the form of HFCS—but, from a biochemical standpoint, drinking that soda is no worse for you than sipping home-brewed iced tea that you’ve doctored with nine teaspoons of table sugar or an equivalent amount of honey.

A nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, barry Popkin, Ph.D., who previously suggested, in an influential 2004 paper, a possible HFCS-obesity link, stresses that the real obesity problem doesn’t lie just with HFCS. Rather, it’s the fact that sugars from all sources have become so prevalent in our food supply, especially in our beverages. People think that “natural” sweeteners sometimes added to upscale processed foods and many "organic" foods are safer but, if a sugar is a sugar, then what we really want to be looking for are lower sugar foods - on the whole - not just the source of sugar in the product. Some of the other sugars you may find on a label is honey, brown sugar, rice syrup, brown rice syrup, concentrated fruit juice and other types of "syrups" but, what you want to remember is that they all have the same caloric effects as sugar.

You should also remember that not all of the sugar in a product is an added sugar (one of those listed above). Some foods - fruit, whole grain starches and dairy - have naturally occuring sugar. A good "rule of thumb" is to look for products with less than 5 grams of sugar. Some leeway can be given to allow up to 10 g sugar IF that sugar is coming from some of those natually occuring sugar in the product. How can you tell? Read the ingredients and, if there are no added sugar sources listed in the first 3 ingredients, you can assume that most of the grams of sugar listed on the label are coming from whole foods and not added sugars