I am motivated to share this news release from the The Alliance for Natural Health USA
with my readers – the FDA is once again trying to prevent Americans from having access to supplements.

——–

Yesterday, both the FDA and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) dropped policy “bombs” on those of us who use dietary supplements. It is no mere coincidence that both were released on the Friday before a holiday weekend.
By timing the introduction of their anti-supplement legislation and regulatory guidance this way, the FDA and Sen. Durbin are both hoping to evade negative publicity. We think it is better to keep American citizens fully informed, and with your help, we will get the word out. Please send this communication far and wide.

First, the FDA has issued draft guidance for complying with the New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) notification protocols contained by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). As you may recall, DSHEA said that supplements already on sale prior to the passage of the act were “grandfathered” in, and did not have to be reviewed by the FDA. New supplements developed after the Act have been in a kind of limbo
waiting for the FDA to spell out the procedures to be followed.

These new supplements have always been at risk because of the uncertainly surrounding their regulatory status. And many of these new supplements are extremely important for our health. We won’t name them, because to do would be to put a bull’s-eye on them for the FDA to shoot at, but you would recognize many of them and may be currently taking them.  DSHEA was passed in 1994. The FDA has thus taken seventeen years to provide regulatory guidance for these new supplements. Now a draft version of guidance is here, and it isn’t good. It is just another effort by the FDA to suffocate the supplement industry so that everything—supplements and drugs alike—will go through the vastly expensive drug approval process, a process that pays for FDA salaries. We have said it before and we will say it again. Supplements cannot usually be patented. No non-patentable substance can be taken through a drug approval process that on average costs a billion dollars. If supplements are treated like drugs, there simply won’t be any supplements. The FDA knows this perfectly well.

The new draft guidance is written in the usual regulatory non-English, but buried within it are definitions of “new supplements” that will make more and more supplements subject to the new rules. The rules themselves are designed to make it harder and harder to market new supplements, all of which will need to submit notification to an agency that is fundamentally hostile to the supplement industry. Not only does each supplement require its own notification, a separate notification must be submitted by each company that offers it. Additionally, notification must be submitted again if the supplement is reformulated in any way or offered in combination
with any other supplement or ingredient. Based on what the FDA has done in the past, many more applications will be rejected than accepted and the cost of the whole process will be high.

The FDA is required to give us 90 days to comment on their proposed guidance. Our experts are busy analyzing the proposal in all its detail and we will report on it again and provide an Action Alert in our next newsletter right after the holiday. We already know this needs to be stopped. With your help we will do everything we can to change it. Your ability to use supplements not already documented as having been on the market under
the same exact name and formulation prior to 1994 will depend on it.

As we mentioned above, Sen. Durbin’s much-feared Dietary Supplement Labeling Act of 2011 (S.1310) has been formally introduced in Congress. The language is not available online yet, but the draft procured by ANH-USA yesterday reaffirmed the analysis we sent you earlier this week. Look for our in-depth article and Action
Alert on S.1310 in our newsletter on Tuesday, July 5th!

The Alliance for Natural Health USA
1350 Connecticut Ave NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
www.anh-usa.org

Seattle Nutritionist writes: The USDA unveiled its new food plate model to replace the food pyramid. It suggests to Americans that they fill half their plates with fruits and vegetables. The USDA’s new plate model could not be more at odds with federal food subsidies promote high fat, high calorie food products and grossly under-subsidize fruit and vegetable crops.

Both the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s icon and its recently released dietary guidelines ask Americans to limit their intake of sweeteners and fat- and cholesterol-heavy products, including meat and dairy, and to eat more fruits and vegetables. But more than 60 percent of agricultural subsidies in recent history have directly and indirectly (corn production for feed) supported meat and dairy production. Less than 1 percent goes to fruits and vegetables.

Angela Pifer – Certified Nutritionist

Offices in Bellevue, Woodinville and Seattle

Feeling adventuresome? A vegan challenge is like traveling to a foreign country. You’ll step out of your usual surroundings and learn to look at food differently as you begin to explore your world with a new perspective.

Created by local celebrity nutritionist Angela Pifer, whose videos and articles have been featured on MSN Health, Kashi.com and Livestrong.com – the 28 Day Online Vegan Challenge is being featured on Groupon for $49 (reg $249, $200 OFF!) TODAY!! Grab your friends, give this as a gift and you can breeze through the extra cookie, stuffing and wine frolicking with peace of mind. You’ll be doing something about it in 2011!

You must go to Groupon to purchase the deal!

This effective 4 Step Food Based Det0x Program offers you a practical way of ridding your body of toxins.You pick your start date! Group Programs start in 2011: February 15, April 15 and June 15:

Week One: Seven Day Prep!

• Each day you’ll be instructed to read a step in the 28 Day Vegan Challenge Manual.
• By completing a few simple actions during your 7 day pre-cleanse you’ll greatly increase your success in this program.

Week Two and Three: The Challenge is On!

• Experience and explore how good it feels to go vegan! 
• Get daily support through the member only website, personally led by Angela Pifer, which will provide you the motivation to cross the finish line!

Week Four: Veganism Meets Reality

• For many people veganism isn’t a lifelong reality. The goal here is to identify the aspects of the program that you love and learn how to combine old and new styles of eating to create a lifelong eating plan.

Seattle Nutritionist, Angela Pifer writes: How do you turn high fructose corn syrup into a healthy and fresh new harmless corn sugar? You rename it. The corn refiners recently launched a new campaign to rename the one single ‘food’ that Americans consume more than any other food calorie, high fructose corn syrup. With consumption of high fructose corn syrup at a twenty year low, the corn industry is looking for a hail Mary in an attempt to save its highly profitable ingredient (Archer Daniels Midland, one of the world’s top producers had 2009 revenues topping $69 billion).

Corn Sugar – doesn’t this sound harmless, unprocessed and natural? In fact the corn industry has already started marketing with this term by creating a new website and has commercials saying, “High fructose corn syrup HFCS — corn sugar — has been used in the food supply for more than forty years to make high fiber foods palatable, maintain freshness and enhance flavors in foods and beverages. Additionally, high fructose corn syrup keeps our foods affordable.” Audrae Erickson, president of the Washington-based group, says that the new name would help people understand the sweetener. Really?

I am not sure how renaming this product will help people better understand it. Instead the industry should take the time to educate people on the difference between HFCS and sugar. Both compounds contain two simple sugars, fructose and glucose. The difference between these two compounds is that sucrose is 50% fructose and 50% glucose. HFCS is made up of 55% fructose, 42% glucose and the remaining 3% are higher saccharides, larger sugar molecules. The fructose in HFCS is more easily absorbed and utilized because it is free and unbound (in sucrose, every fructose is bound to a glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized in the body). When fructose is quickly absorbed and metabolized, it is done independent of insulin. Though this may sound like a good thing, it is not. If insulin is not signaled and released then leptin is not signaled and released (a key signaling hormone that regulates food intake and body weight). When this signaling system is bypassed, the body will continue to crave food. Studies have shown that beverages with added sweeteners may enhance caloric overconsumption.

The industry should offer statistics on the amount of HFCS people consume and its availability:

• On average, Americans consume 60 pounds of HFCS per person per year.
• HFCS accounts for 40% of caloric sweeteners in the United States.
• The consumption of HFCS increased more than 1000% between 1970 and 1990, far exceeding the changes in intake of any other food or food group.
• The increased use of HFCS in the United States mirrors the rapid increase in obesity.

Instead of starting a new site and using the name corn sugar (prior to approval by the FDA) they should start a site that talks about recent studies published on HFCS. Until now, the majority of studies have been short term studies and the results have been mixed. A new study from Princeton researchers published in February 2010 looked at both short term and long term affects of HFCS on body weight, body fat and triglycerides. The study showed that over the course of 6-7 months mice that had 24 access to an 8% HFCS “drink” and mice chow gained significantly more body weight (specifically adipose fat in the abdominal region) and had elevated triglyceride levels. Previous studies from Princeton has firmly established that if you give rats access to a 10% table sugar “drink” in addition to their normal feed (mice chow), they do not gain additional fat. In other words, their bodies are able to metabolize the extra calories without creating more weight.

The take home message? Sucrose is not ‘better’ than HFCS, other than it is natural and we can metabolize it. If weight loss is your goal, keep all natural sugar intake to a minimum and remove every bit of HFCS from their diet. Limit the intake of natural sweeteners like honey, agave nectar and real maple syrup.

How to spot added sugar on food labels

Sugar is easy to spot on an ingredient label. Look for words ending in ‘ose’ (flucose, fructose, lactose), this indicates sugar. The following terms also indicate added sugar:

• white sugar
• brown sugar
• icing sugar
• invert sugar
• corn syrup
• high fructose corn syrup
• maple syrup
• honey
• molasses
• brown rice syrup
• cane juice
• evaporated cane juice
• all fruit juice concentrates, including apple and pear

Angela Pifer, CN Seattle Nutritionist

Seattle Weight Loss Programs – Get Results!

Seattle Nutritionist Angela Pifer writes:

If you have high cholesterol, chances are you were instructed to reduce your intake of total fat, specifically animal fats, from your diet, become more active and to work on weight loss. What you weren’t told is that you should also address your sugar intake. A new study published in the Journal of American Medical Association looked at the blood profiles and sugar intake of more than 6,100 adults (whose demographics were representative of the American population). On average, study participants consumed 21.4 teaspoons of sugar a day (24 teaspoons equals ½ cup!). Those who took in more sugar had lower levels of HDL (‘good’) cholesterol and higher levels of triglycerides. It seems that the message is clear, added dietary sugar is connected with poor lipid profiles.

This is the first study to look at the connection between how much added sugars and ‘empty’ calories people consume and the effect on blood lipid profiles. Some factors for heart disease, like family history, cannot be changed. By identifying added dietary sugars as a contributor for a poor lipid profile people at risk can now begin to address what can be changed.

In addition, the study found that:

• On average, people consumed 10.6% more calories from sugar a day than they did in the 1970’s.
• The higher the intake of added sugar, the lower the person’s HDL (“good”) cholesterol. Participants consuming 10% of total calories from added sugar had three times the risk of having low HDL than someone who took in half that much sugar.
• Participants with a higher intake of added sugar tended to have higher triglyceride levels as well.
• **Women who took in more added sugar also had higher LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.

How much Added Sugar is Too Much Sugar?

To make matters more confusing, medical and health organizations do not agree on a current recommendation. Depending on whom you ask the daily consumption of added sugars should fall below:

• 25% , according to the Institute of Medicine
• 10%, according to the World Health Organization
• 6% or 7%, according to the American Heart Association

The Type of Sugar Matters

Though it would seem that Americans are eating a lot more sugar now than they did forty years ago, they are not. Sugar calories are up just 10% over those consumed in the 1970’s. What is different is the type of sugar people are consuming. In the 1970’s people consumed on average 343 calories a day of refined cane and beet sugar and only 2 calories from high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). High-fructose corn syrup has now risen to 41% of Americans total sugar intake. It is also the single most consumed caloric nutrient for the American Population.

The Cost of Calories

One of the reasons Americans are eating more calories from high-fructose corn syrup today than in the 1970’s is due to government incentives on corn production and tariffs on sugar. It is simply less expensive to produce HFCS than it is to produce cane or beet sugar.

A person might expect that added sugars, along with other food groups, have increased equally over time in response to inflation. That person would be wrong. The inflation-adjusted cost of added sugars has dropped by half since 1970. This change can be credited to the steep rise of low-cost ‘foods’ containing high-fructose corn syrup over the last thirty years.

Over the past forty years, the price of added sugars has dropped significantly more than the purchase price of each food group:

• Fruit sources: 30% increase
• Vegetable sources: Unchanged
• Grain sources: 29% decrease
• Dairy sources: 38% decrease
• Fat sources: 38% decrease
• Protein sources: 50% decrease
• Sugar sources: 50% decrease

What Can You do?

• Read nutrition labels and take note of how much added sugar you consume.
• Reduce or replace foods containing corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, cane or beet sugar or sucrose.
• Replace soda with water, sparkling water or mineral water.
• Choose whole foods whenever possible. Fruit is a perfectly healthy addition to your eating plan. Eat frequently across the day and incorporate into green salads and grain dishes.
• Be patient. As you move away from sugar added foods it will take some time for your taste receptors to lower for perceived sweetness. Whole foods may taste a little bland at first, but as your taste receptors begin to adjust you will be able to taste the sweetness in real whole foods.

Angela Pifer, MSN CN Seattle Nutritionist

Seattle Weight Loss Programs that Get Results!

Seattle Nutritionist Angela Pifer writes:

Participating in a Danskin Triathlon is an experience like you have never imagined. Thousands of women coming together to warm heartedly compete and cheer each other on. For registered participants, training plans are offered on the site. But how should you eat? Food is fuel and training for the Danskin Triathlon with the proper diet, eating the right food at the right times, will help you train and cross that finish line with a smile on your face.

Two things are of the utmost importance as you approach your event day. The first is that you have eaten enough carbohydrates (“carb loading”) to make it through the race. The second is that you have trained for at least two months with the sponsored beverage at the race. For example, if the race is sponsored by Gatorade and you have trained with a different sports drink or water, you may get a stomach ache by introducing a new beverage on event day. Check with Danskin to see who the sponsor is. You can decide from there if you will stock your changing stations with water or partake in the drink stations along the course.

Now let’s talk about your triathlon training diet and why it is important to fuel up with the right kind of food at the right time of day.

To eat or not to eat before an early morning workout is a question that is bounced around by many people across America. Some people just don’t have time to eat in reasonable proximity to their workout, but others deliberately go without food. One client told me she believed she’d burn more fat by exercising on an empty stomach. Her reasoning was that if no food was available for fuel, her body would tap into its fat reserves. As it turns out, if your goal is to maximize your workout and get (or maintain) a lean body, eating, not starving, is your best strategy.

How Food Fuels You. Although your body burns some stored fat when you exercise, its main fuel is carbohydrate that’s been stored in the muscles and liver in the form of glycogen. When your glycogen stores are depleted, your body will indeed tap more of its fat reserves, just as my client anticipated, but at what price? Without readily available fuel, you’re not likely to feel too energetic. When you eat before exercise, whether it’s a large meal several hours in advance or a small snack only minutes ahead of time, you’ll have the extra energy you need for an effective workout.

Here’s the reason: Before carbohydrate is stored away in your muscles and liver as glycogen, it enters your bloodstream in the form of glucose (also called blood sugar), a readily available source of energy that helps perk you up when you’re feeling hungry and fatigued. If the glycogen stored in your muscles and liver is low, your body can rely on glucose for fuel; if you already have a fair amount of stored glycogen, your body will use the glucose as a secondary source of energy and spare the glycogen. This means that you have two sources of fuel as opposed to one, so you’ll have more endurance.

Something else you should consider is that the muscles and liver can only store so much glycogen. It’s important to “top off” your reserves fairly often, even if you haven’t been doing much. During a long night’s sleep, the body depletes as much as 80 percent of the glycogen stored in the liver. This is why eating a little something before you exercise in the morning can really help. Moreover, it doesn’t take long to deplete stored glycogen during exercise; this process will speed up when it is warm outside.

Here are Some Guidelines that will Help you Fuel Up Around Your Triathlon Training

2-3 Hours Before Event or Training

Food: Pre-Training Meal

Liquid: 2-3 Cups

1-2 Hours Before Event or Training

Food: Pre-Training Small Meal “if needed”

Liquid: ½ -1 Cup

1-0 Hours Before Event or Training

Food: Pre-Training Small Meal “if needed”

Liquid: ½ -1 Cup

Event

Food: Easily Digestible Food Only: Shot blocks, orange wedges, Raw Organic or Lara Bar, Juice/ water combination

Liquid: as needed…sip slowly during event

0-30 Minutes After Event or Training

Food: Post work-out Snack

Liquid: 2-3 cups

Pre-Training Snack:

Very light fare, only “if needed,” like fresh fruit, whole wheat crackers or whole wheat bread. To tell whether you might need a pre-workout snack or not, ask these questions:

Do I frequently run out of energy during training?

Do I have a quick metabolism…do I feel the need to eat small amounts of food often?

Do I often not eat enough food for my pre-training meal? For example, a bowl of cold cereal with milk at 10:00 won’t give you enough calories to sustain energy through your 1:00PM event.

Triathlon Diet – Easy to Digest Suggestions : 100% fruit juice, whole wheat bagel, bread or crackers, dried fruit, energy bar (Luna or Lara), fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, rice cakes, raisin bread, small smoothie or yogurt. Here is a snack list to help you pull together a healthy well balanced snack 75% carbohydrate: 25% protein (choose one from each column…the serving sizes listed are general guidelines and will change based on your individual caloric needs). Choose one food from each column below to create a healthy and tasty snack.

Pre-Training or Event Meal Plate:

45% grains, breads, pasta, potatoes

5% nuts, cheese, butter, olive oil

35% vegetables and fruits

15% beans, fish, chicken, meat, eggs

What if I train first thing in the morning?

If you train first thing in the morning, then have your pre-exercise meal the night before, have a healthy snack before you go to bed and then a snack in the morning. The morning snack is essential here…eat as early as possible, without interfering with your sleep schedule. At least 30 minutes before you train, preferably.

Post-Training Snack:

By eating here, muscle glycogen is synthesized three times faster than if a snack is not eaten here. This happens for two reasons. The first is that increased blood flow to the muscle cells brings more nutrients to make glycogen and the second is that muscle cells are more sensitive to the substances that transform nutrients into glycogen immediately after training.

To eat the proper triathlon training diet snack, aim for a ratio of 75% complex carbohydrates: 25% lean protein. Suggestions: ½ turkey, chicken or tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread or fruit, cheese and whole wheat crackers. Pita and hummus, gram crackers and peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat, rice cakes with spread, yogurt and fruit.

Hydration:

Are sports drinks necessary? No. You will get more nutrients by drinking water and eating an apple. Hydration is incredibly important…the focus should be on water. Hydration is not about being thirsty as much as it is about your body’s need to regulate its temperature, hydrate muscle cells and remove waste. Carry at least 1 liter of water to each practice or event and make it a habit of drinking consistently throughout the event. This will ensure you are well hydrated, ready to perform and ready to recover. Suggestions: diluted juice (8 oz of water to 2 oz juice), seltzer or 100 percent juice (sparingly).

Angela Pifer, MSN, CN Seattle Nutritionist

Seattle Nutrition Programs – Get the daily support that gets results! – Locally as well as nationally through Skype.

Seattle Nutritionist, Angela Pifer, writes:

For nearly three decades, obesity, heart disease and high cholesterol, have been linked to the fat content in the American diet. Regrettably, the low fat foods of the 80’s have not resulted in healthier weights. In fact, quite the opposite has occurred, the obesity rates for Americans have doubled in the last 20 years, coinciding with the arrival of the low-fat revolution. With all the conflicting messages in the media and policies handed down by the government, which type of diet is the right diet? Let’s explore the trends of the past few decades and take a look at the affects of lowing or increasing fat, carbohydrates and proteins on the American waistline and identify the right approach to eating healthy.

In 1964 Americans ate 39 percent of their calories from fat and only 13 percent were obese. Now, while most Americans get only about 33 percent of their calories from fat, two-thirds, more than 190 million Americans are overweight or obese.  New studies are showing that the type of fat consumed is more important than the total fat consumed.

Studies show that Americans today consider low fat content as the most important factor when they buy food and read food labels. The actual number of fat grams consumed per day has changed little since 1971 due to the increase in overall calories consumed daily. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), American women increased their daily calorie consumption 22 percent between 1971 and 2000, from 1542 calories per day to 1877 calories. During the same period the calorie intake for men increased 7 percent from 2450 calories per day to 2618 calories.

Because of its prominence in fast foods and processed foods, it is now estimated that an astounding 20 percent of calories in the American diet come from a single fat source: soybean oil. In fact, refined vegetable oils, such as soy oil, are used in most of the snack foods, cookies, crackers, and sweets in the American diet as well as in fast food. These oils are sources of omega 6 fatty acids which increase inflammation. Before Americans relied so heavily on convenience foods, it is estimated that omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acid intake were roughly in balance. Today, omega 6 fatty acid intake far outweighs that of omega 3.

Omega 3 fatty acids reduce inflammation in the body. Unfortunately they are not as readily prevalent in the American diet; sources include walnuts, flax seeds, and fish.

This dietary imbalance may explain the rise of inflammatory related diseases like asthma, coronary heart disease, many forms of cancer, autoimmunity and neurodegenerative diseases, and has also been linked to depression, dyslexia and hyperactivity. Studies are now showing a strong link between the imbalance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, inflammation and obesity.

The low fat policy pushed in the 1980’s caused an increase in carbohydrate consumption. Women increased their carbohydrate consumption from 45.4 percent of daily calorie intake to 51.6 percent and men increased their calorie consumption of carbohydrate calories from 42.4 percent to 49 percent. During the same time, protein consumption for both men and women remained about the same. Total calories need to be addressed along with a focus on healthier fats.

Where should the blame be placed – is it portion sizes? The typical cheeseburger has more than 333 calories today than it did 20 years ago. Is it the overabundance and availability of convenience foods and overuse of soybean oil in our foods? How about government social policies, subsidizing corn, soy, wheat and rice, the main sources of processed foods, when compared to fruits and vegetables, which drives up the prices of healthy foods? What about personal responsibility?

Taking control of your health and weight is easier if you focus on gradual changes. The first recommendation offered here, ‘Balance out your calories across the day’ is the most important recommendations to help you reduce your overall calorie intake. You could simply choose to work on this recommendation for the next two weeks.

1. Balance out your calories across the day. Your goal is to eat ½ your calories before 1PM and the other ½ after 1PM. Work on the daily pattern: Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner. Specifically focus on eating your midmorning snack 10-10:30 and your midafternoon snack 3-3:30. (This will help you eat fewer calories in the evening, where most people tend to overeat on unhealthy options).

2. A healthy dietary model is 30-40% healthy fat: 40-50% complex carbohydrate: 20% lean protein

3. You will need to cut calories to lose weight. Move away from ‘diet foods’ offering low fat or non fat options and choose whole food options. If you see ‘high fructose corn syrup,’ ‘hydrogenated,’ or ‘soybean oil’ on the ingredients label, choose a different food.

4. Focus on healthy fats, raw nuts, seeds, nut and seed butters, avocado, and healthy oils, walnut oil, extra virgin olive oil and extra virgin coconut oil.

5. Eat a protein at each meal or snack. The presence of a lean protein source at each meal or snack will slow down the digestion of the carbohydrates you are eating. This will help keep blood sugars and hunger swings in check. I most often see protein neglected at breakfast and snack time. Add a 5 raw walnuts to your oatmeal or switch to a healthy whole grain breakfast cereal and have 12 raw almonds or 1 T almond butter (milk does not have enough protein to balance out the meal).

6. At snack time, pair up a carbohydrate with a protein serving: 75%: 25% visually. Snacks should be around 150-200 calories. (Example: an apple and string cheese OR 12 raw almonds OR 1 T nut butter). Whole fruit is best here, but you can replace this with 3-4 pieces of dried fruit (no sugar added). KIND Bars, Raw Organic Bars or Lara Bars stand alone as a snack (these have a nice balance of carbohydrate and protein).

7. Don’t replace food with coffee or other caffeinated beverages. Time and time again I see the same pattern: little to no breakfast, coffee midmorning, a late lunch and then the majority of calories come in around dinner time and into the evening. Caffeine suppresses appetite and will leave you hungrier and tired in the afternoon. If you must have your coffee, then have it along with your breakfast or snack midmorning.

8. We should all be increasing our intake of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Include food sources of omega 3 fatty acids: walnuts, flax seeds, and fish and purchase a high quality omega 3 fish oil (be sure that it contains only omega 3 and does not include omega 6 or omega 9 – we get plenty of these fats). Use walnut oil or flax oil to replace extra virgin olive oil in homemade salad dressings.

Angela Pifer, MSN, CN Seattle Nutritionist

Seattle Weight Loss Programs – Get Results! Visit www.NutrionNorthwest.com

Angela works locally, as well as nationally through Skype.

Seattle Nutritionist Angela Pifer writes:

When was the last time you sat down and ate dinner without any distractions? It is rare that we’re simply eating when we’re eating. Meals have become yet another task we squeeze in during the day. In fact, 66 percent of Americans report regularly eating dinner in front of the television. Adults in the United States devote an average of nearly 35 hours to their TV each week. That is almost the equivalent to a full time job. We spend 1 hour and 12 minutes per day eating, yet spend 5 hours per day watching television. Our kids are feeling the effects as well. A new national study has linked obesity to excessive TV viewing, a lack of sleep and to a low frequency of family meals.  With obesity at epidemic proportions, it is essential that we take a closer look at not just what we eat, but how we eat.

‘Conscious eating,’ or eating with awareness, means savoring every mouthful. This enhances the experience of eating and keeps us aware of how much we take in. Studies have shown that when people are blindfolded while eating, they consume 30 percent less food and their meal lasts, on average, over 20 percent longer.

It may come as a big surprise to learn that ‘mindless eating,’ or eating without awareness, can have negative health consequences. Scientists are beginning to evaluate and better understand the complex role of the mind-body connection in eating behavior. It turns out that when our mind is tuned out during mealtime, the digestive process may be 30 percent to 40 percent less effective. This can contribute to digestive distress, such as gas, bloating and bowel irregularities.

Gas and bloating aside, overeating and obesity are perhaps the most significant health problems caused, at least in part, by mindless eating. The mind-body connection plays a pivotal role in our ability to accurately assess hunger and fullness.

Exploring Conscious Eating

Try this exercise with a friend. You will need one small slice of an apple for each person. One person reads the instructions listed below while the other person completes the exercise.

1. Take one bite of an apple slice and then close your eyes. Hold the apple in your mouth and do not begin chewing yet.
2. Try not to pay attention to the ideas running through your mind, just focus on the apple. Notice anything that comes to mind about taste, texture, temperature and sensation going on in your mouth.
3. Begin chewing now. Chew slowly, just noticing what it feels like. It’s normal that your mind will want to wander off. If you notice you’re paying more attention to your thinking than to the chewing, just let go of the thought for the moment and come back to the chewing. Notice each tiny movement of your jaw.
4. In these moments you may find yourself wanting to swallow the apple. See if you can stay present and notice the subtle transition from chewing to swallowing.
5. As you prepare to swallow the apple, try to follow it moving toward the back of your tongue and into your throat. Swallow the apple, following it until you can no longer feel any sensation of the food remaining.
6. Take a deep breath and exhale.

You may find it interesting to talk with your partner about your experience. What did you notice while chewing? Why did you swallow? Was the food no longer tasty? Did it dissolve? Were you bored?

The point of this exercise is not to suggest all your meals be consumed as meticulously as this experiment. Rather, by doing this exercise you may discover some things about your own eating habits. Some people find value in doing a shorter version of this exercise with the first bite of each meal. This helps set an intention of being mindful through the course of your meal. Try it and see what you discover!

Angela Pifer, MSN, CN Seattle Nutritionist

Seattle Weight Loss Programs – Get Results! Angela works locally as well as nationally through Skype

www.NutritionNorthwest.com

Seattle Nutritionist Angela Pifer writes:

New estimates place 12.5% of children as obese. Though most efforts target schoolchildren, new reports say this is not earlier enough. The best time to prevent weight problems may be in infancy and more likely, the womb, reports Roni Rabin in Tuesday’s Science Times. She writes:

New research suggests that interventions aimed at school-aged children may be, if not too little, too late.

More and more evidence points to pivotal events very early in life — during the toddler years, infancy and even before birth, in the womb — that can set young children on an obesity trajectory that is hard to alter by the time they’re in kindergarten. The evidence is not ironclad, but it suggests that prevention efforts should start very early.

Experts say change may require abandoning some cherished cultural attitudes. “The idea that a big baby is a healthy baby, and a crying baby is probably a hungry baby who should be fed, are things we really need to rethink,” Dr. Birch said.

During my time at Bastyr University I remember vividly the day in class when our professor told us that current studies were showing our efforts to reach school aged children were not enough. We (nutrition students) all gasped and looked at each other. How could this be? Most of us were going through school to help this generation and it seemed all for not. The more I have researched this, the more studies have revealed, the uterine environment should be the focus of our interventions.

Robin Rabin’s story eludes to the new efforts are being made to reach deeper into the development of the child, in utero, in the hopes that childhood obesity will be warded off.

To learn more, read the full story, “Baby Fat May Not Be So Cute After All”

Angela Pifer, MSN, CN Seattle Nutritionist

Seattle Weight Loss Program that gets results! Angela works locally as well as nationally through Skype

www.NutritionNorthwest.com

8 Degrees of Ingredients

Finalist 2008 Next Generation

Indie Book Awards!

8 Degrees of Ingredients is an essential, comprehensive cookbook for anyone suffering from food allergies, intolerance, or sensitivities.

Author Melisa Priem on

KARE 11 Showcase Minnesota

I applaud author Melisa Priem for creating recipes without the eight main allergens. Meal planning can be hard enough when you only have to pull gluten or dairy out. I come across so many people who are dealing with systemic inflammation and are reactive to pretty much everything. This book is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to remove soy, gluten, wheat, dairy, corn, nuts and shellfish (she removes all fish as well).

In addition to eliminating the top eight allergens from every recipe, this cookbook is 100 percent gluten- and dairy-free.

8 Degrees of Ingredients is the first cookbook on the market to incorporate essential hypoallergenic cooking techniques directly into the recipes.

Includes more than 250 recipes for gourmet classics like Osso Buco and Turkey Tetrazzini, traditional favorites like Classic American Potato Salad and Meat Loaf, and comfort foods like Vanilla Pudding and Cream of Chicken Soup.

8 Degrees of Ingredients is available online for purchase from Bookhouse Fulfilment and Amazon.com

Angela Pifer, MSN, CN Seattle Nutritionist

Seattle Weight Loss Programs – I work Nationally through Skype

www.NutritionNorthwest.com