Notes from the Canadian Nutrition Society Annual Meeting

Posted on May 28, 2012 by

Last week I attended the 2012 Canadian Nutrition Society Annual Meeting in Vancouver. It was a great conference with a broad spectrum of nutrition topics. Here are a few highlights.

  • Lydia Dumais – ‘Nutrition Labelling and Eating Behaviour’
  • Dr. Veronique Provencher – ‘Is Food Labelling Influencing Consumer’s Choices and Intake?’
  • Michelle Hooper – Canadian Community Health Survey, 2015
  • Dr. Stephen Cunnane – ‘Brain Fuel Metabolism During Aging: A PET-MRI Study’
  • Dr. Peter Howe – ‘Vasoactive Nutrients and Brain Function’

Continue reading →

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TGIF

Posted on May 25, 2012 by

“It’s easier to change a man’s religion than to change his diet.” Margaret Mead

  • Apparently it’s easier to do taxes too! In a survey of 1,057 American adults, 52% report that doing their own income tax is easier than knowing what to eat. Ouch! The majority of people (76%) identified ever-changing nutritional guidance as a major barrier to changing their food habits, so clear messaging from professionals is as important as ever.
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  • Part 1 in the Globe and Mail’s series on children’s fitness and education: physical inactivity in children is about more than just obesity rates, but also improved learning and behaviour too.
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  • Want your partner to eat better? New research suggests food dictatorships don’t work – consult and negotiate on dietary changes for success.
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  • More reasons to focus on food first – calcium supplements linked to increased risk of heart attack - despite the media splash, this was correlational data only so don’t panic just yet! The EPIC study (keep in mind, EPIC was designed to study cancer risk) finds that dietary intake between 920 – 1100 mg (read: adequate!) seems to offer the most protection. More was not better and confered no additional benefit, particularly when supplements were involved.
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  • Variations in “obesity genes” FTO and BDNF, which control appetite regulation in the brain, linked to consuming more calories, greater meal and snack frequency, higher fat intake and more “other” foods (fats, oils, sweets).
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  • Delivery method linked to obesity later in life?  UK study links Caesarean section delivery to higher rates of pediatric obesity compared with vaginal delivery. Not a matter of fetal programming necessarily (as we discussed earlier this week), but more likely due to gut microflora. Children born via C-section have more Firmicutes, less Bacteroides – this composition is correlated with higher obesity rates. See our previous post on Probiotics and Weight Loss? for more information on gut microbiota and obesity.
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Eat This! Rhubarb

Posted on May 24, 2012 by

Yes, the leaves are poisonous and the raw stalks are practically inedible because they are so sour… sounds unappealing, but rhubarb is delicious, versatile and packed with health benefits. All good things take a little bit of work, and rhubarb is no different!

Laura Ingalls Wilder may have referred to rhubarb as the “pie plant”, but there is so much more to this vegetable relative of buckwheat than just dousing it in sugar and dumping into a pie shell (though that is delicious too!). Continue reading →

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When In Doubt, Blame Your Mother!

Posted on May 22, 2012 by

Sorry, Mom! But we did wait until *after* Mother’s Day to write this post…

There is a growing body of research examining just how much of an impact uterine environment has on risk of disease later in life. While the association between malnutrition and fetal outcomes is well understood, undernutrition isn’t the predominant problem for most in the developed world any more!

Just like with underweight mothers, we now understand that higher pre-pregnancy body weight and excessive gestational weight gain significantly increases risk of disease later in life. With over 60% of our population overweight or obese, the impact of prenatal environment presents new and profound challenges in obesity management – if we are “pre-programmed” in the uterus to become obese, what chance do we have of halting the obesity epidemic? Continue reading →

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TGIF

Posted on May 18, 2012 by
  • Will we finally start making progress towards clear, useful food labels? The UK Department of Health is launching a food labelling consultation focused on front-of-label-packaging. Currently, in Canada, the official food label (sometimes tiny and hidden on the side or back panel) is highly regulated BUT you can advertise certain aspects of a product on the front of the package and this is NOT regulated. For instance, you could note that your product is trans-fat free in large bold font while not mentioning that the product is chock-full of sugar and salt. Keep a close watch and hope that Canada follows suit.
  • What to drink? Surprise! The answer is water – again. We have often mentioned the benefits of drinking water to help to control food intake and as a zero calorie way of staying hydrated. Now new research suggests that drinking water with your meals may positively impact your food choices. Turns out that drinking water with your meals encourages you to eat veggies, whereas, sugar sweetened beverages are linked to salty high calorie foods like fries. Check out our tips on how to add a little flavour to your water.
  • Yup – some dietary supplements, especially in higher amounts, may increase your risk of cancer. Beta-carotene, folic acid and selenium all appear to increase cancer risk when intake is very high. Our advice? Always stay below the UL for micronutrients and always go with food first!
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How Are We Doing and Where to Next, Canada?

Posted on May 17, 2012 by

The Conference Board of Canada, in association with the Centre for Food in Canada, released their report on “Improving Health Outcomes: The Role of Food in Addressing Chronic Diseases” this week, and the results show there are definitely areas for improvement (we’re putting it mildly!).

Of the three chronic diseases focused on in the report – heart disease, diabetes and cancer – food-related risk factors have only modestly changed at the population level, which supports the notion that rates will continue to rise as will the associated economic burden.

Here are some of the highlights (or lowlights, depending on your perspective!): Continue reading →

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Food Addiction

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

In the May edition of Nutrition Action Health Letter the cover story was Food and Addiction – Can Some Foods Hijack the Brain? (1). In light of the Institute of Medicine’s report on Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation and the corresponding discussion of obesity management, treatment, and policies, we thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of “Food Addiction” more closely.

Clearly obesity is a multifaceted disease but could “Food Addiction” play a role? If so, how can we manage it? Continue reading →

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