And the Magic Number for Daily Fruit, Vegetable Intake Is… was written by Nicole Lou for MedPageToday.com, 1 March 2021.  Eating more fruits and vegetables was associated with less mortality in large observational studies, but there was a ceiling on how much these foods could improve health.

Two servings per day of fruit and three of vegetables conferred the greatest benefit; any more servings than that did not yield additional mortality risk reduction, according to researchers led by Dong Wang, MD, ScD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Their manuscript was published online in Circulation.  Exceptions were starchy vegetables (e.g., peas, corn), fruit juices, and potatoes, which were not associated with decreased mortality over 3 decades in the report.

The widely promoted “five-a-day” was, in fact, better than two servings per day in terms of: total mortality; cardiovascular disease mortality; cancer mortality, and respiratory disease mortality.

Average consumption in the U.S. is just one serving of fruit and 1.5 servings of vegetables per day, Wang and colleagues noted, despite public health campaigns urging people to eat more of these food items for decades.

Read more:  And the Magic Number for Daily Fruit, Vegetable Intake Is…


Protein and Diabetes: What You Need to Know was discussed by Constance Brown-Riggs for diaTribe.org, 15 March 2021.  In conversations about diabetes and meal planning, carbohydrates tend to take center stage. But protein also has a significant role to play in your health and wellbeing. Your organs, muscles, nervous system, blood vessels, and skeleton are all made of, and dependent on, protein.

  • How much protein do you need:  On average, people with diabetes eat about the same amount of protein as the general public, which is 15-20% of their daily calories (typically 1-1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day). 
  • What are the best sources of protein: poultry (chicken or turkey); fish and seafood; eggs; dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt); red meat (beef, pork, lamb, etc.); plant proteins such as nuts, seeds, soy, and beans. 
  • Will eating too much protein damage your kidneys?  if you have full kidney function, it is not necessary to restrict protein. Keeping your glucose levels and blood pressure within your target range is the best way to prevent kidney damage.
  • Do meals high in protein require extra insulin?  For people taking mealtime insulin, the effect of the protein (or fat) has to be taken into consideration. For big meals, some people “stretch out” the dose by taking less insulin around the time of the meal and then a correction bolus later, or they use their insulin pump to deliver a dual or extended bolus. 
  • Can you eat fruit for a snack without also eating protein?  Yes, you can eat fruit for a snack. Eating something with protein and fat when eating fruit is often suggested to keep you full and to help prevent a spike in glucose levels. 

Read more: Protein and Diabetes: What You Need to Know


‘Superfoods:’ Fad or fact? wsa reported by Jillian Kubala for MedicalNewsToday.com, 8 March 2021.  Currently, there is no set scientific definition for what counts as a superfood. Generally speaking, the term describes foods rich in nutrients and known to offer significant health benefits.

Many health experts are wary of the term superfood and for good reason. There is no set definition of the word and no regulations surrounding the use of the term on packaging labels.  Because of this, there is no guarantee that a product with the superfood label offers any special health benefits or contains certain nutrients.

Consumers may often think that products with superfood on their label are healthier than other products, which isn’t necessarily true. What’s more, many superfood products contain proprietary blends of fruit and vegetable powders and don’t disclose how much of each ingredient — or the amount of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants — a serving contains.  The European Union have even banned the use of this term on labels unless accompanied by explicit detailing of the product’s nutritional content.

“Not only is there no scientific definition of a superfood, but the concept itself could be harmful. Moreover, nominating some foods as nutritional talismans gives the impression that ordinary, affordable, and everyday foods are somehow deficient.”  – Catherine Collins, intensive care unit dietitian at the Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust in the United Kingdom

Read more:  ‘Superfoods:’ Fad or fact?


Sour cream substitutes for every need was offered by Sade Meeks, MS,RD, for MedicalNewsToday.com, 15 March 2021.  

Sour cream is a dairy product made from cream fermented with lactic acid bacteria. It has a creamy, tangy taste, and people can use it in baking and in dishes such as tacos, stews, or dips.

Some people may want to substitute sour cream for an alternative. This could be due to:  taste preferences, health reasons, wanting a low fat alternative, wanting a dairy-free alternative, following a vegan diet.

There are plenty of tasty and healthy alternatives to sour cream such as: Plain yogurt, cottage cheese, creme fraiche, buttermilk, kefir, coconut milk, blended cashews, soya cream,   Here, you’ll find several ways to use these substitutes.

Read more:  Sour cream substitutes for every need

 

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