Food Surveys and Studies: Sometimes They're Surprising

Surveys and studies can tell us about American eating habits, mistaken beliefs about food, and insights into what foods might improve our health. Parade, the Sunday supplement magazine, partnered with the market research company NPD Group, to obtain some of the statistics quoted below.  Other statistics come from health newsletters published by universities.  (See sources below.)  Let's look as some recent data.

About expiration dates and food labels:

That's good: 69% of Americans eat edibles that have passed their expiration dates. (Parade)  That cuts down on waste.  Remember, use-by dates are about quality, not safety.  If the quality satisfies your taste buds, why throw it out? 

That's too bad: In 1990, 65% of Americans were checking food labels. Since then, there has been a steady decline.  The 2014 figure is 47%. (Parade)  Shelf Life Advice regrets this.  We should all check food labels--not just the claims appearing in big letters but also the nutrition facts and even the small print that lists ingredients.  Don't you want to know what you're eating?

About breakfast: 

Most of us (77%) eat breakfast at home, but 11% have no breakfast anywhere. (Parade)  It's likely that many of the remaining 12% consume oatmeal or breakfast sandwiches in a fast food place.

Here's a study (discussed in the University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter) that contradicts the widespread notion that people who eat breakfast are more likely to lose weight than those that skip it.  This "well-designed study" conducted by the University of Alabama tested 307 overweight or obese people.  One group was told to eat breakfast and was given a handout listing healthy breakfast options; one group was told not to eat breakfast; and the control group was left unguided. After 16 weeks, the results showed no difference in weight loss among the groups. 

Still, your breakfast-eating Shelf Life Advice editor believes there are other benefits besides weight control to eating breakfast.  For example, wouldn't you feel deprived and miserable--not to mention hungry-- without it? And don't you think those cereal boxes are correct when they tell us we'll be better students or workers after a solid breakfast? 

About eating slowly for weight control:

To paraphrase the Berkeley Wellness Letter, an analysis of 22 well-designed clinical experiments on the effect of eating rate on calorie intake showed that eating slowly is an effective weight-control strategy.  The analysis concluded that, when people ate more slowly, they ate significantly less and were no more likely than those who ate more to feel hungry even a few hours after a meal. For more information about this phenomenon, read "The Benefits of Slow, Mindful Eating."

About foods that improve health or taste better (or claim they do):

Coffee: Here's evidence of yet another benefit of coffee-drinking: a recent study (discussed in the Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter) reports that coffee-drinking is associated with a slightly lower risk of type 2 diabetes.  This study followed more than 7,000 participants who had developed this condition.  Those who increased their coffee intake by more than eight ounces per day over 4 years were 11% less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes during the following 4 years. For information about other benefits of drinking coffee, read "Cheer up! Have a Cup of Coffee."

Pulses (the edible seeds of plants in the legume family):  The Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter also reports that a daily serving of beans, lentils, or dried peas is linked to a "modest but significant reduction in unhealthy LDL cholesterol levels."  This conclusion was drawn from a meta-analysis of 26 previous clinical trial reports.  What's so good about pulses?  They're high in protein and fiber but low in both fat and calories.  They also contain high levels of healthful minerals.  In general, Americans don't eat a lot of beans and other pulse products ("only .2 daily servings"), so there's plenty of room for improvement.  To learn more about the health benefits of eating beans often, read "If You Don't Know Beans about Beans..."

Grass-fed beef: In a recent Shelf Life Advice food survey, food scientists teaching at universities were asked if grass-fed beef tasted better than beef from cattle fed grains.  "Yes," said 100% of our respondents!  But, in addition, there are health benefits to buying grass-fed meats (including beef, bison, pork, lamb, goat, and poultry).  According to a Chicago Tribune article, the animals are leaner, less fatty, and healthier. Grass-fed beef, because of its composition of fatty acids, "is more healthful for humans than meat from industrially-raised animals, according to research." The animals are healthier when sent to slaughter and, in general, have been given less antibiotics. However, grass-fed meat is more expensive and not so easy to find because it's generally not sold in local supermarkets. Furthermore, because it's leaner, it needs to be cooked differently. Consult this short version of the Chicago Tribune article quoted above for tips on how to cook grass-fed meats.

Resveratrol:  This is an antioxidant compound found in red wine, purple grapes, grape juice, peanuts, and some berries. The Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter discusses the near-miraculous claims for the health benefits of this $30 billion supplement industry.  However, a recent study conducted in the Chianti wine-making region of Italy reported zero correlation with cancer risks, cardiovascular disease, or longevity.  It's been pointed out that resveratrol is rapidly metabolized and eliminated from the human body, so the amount that humans can get benefit from is quite limited.

Sources:

Parade (weekly Sunday supplement), "What America Eat," September 7, 2014.

sparkpeople.com "What America Eats...Part 2" (about the Parade article)

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=5780405

University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, "When it's good to be a slowpoke," September 2014.

University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, "Wellness Made Easy" column: "Don't count on eating breakfast to help with weight control," September 2014.

Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, "Reality Check on Resveratrol's Health Benefits," September 2014.

Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, "Drinking More Coffee Linked to Lower Diabetes Risk," September 2014.

Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter, "Daily Serving of Beans, Lentils, or Dried Peas Linked to Lower LDL Cholesterol," August 2014.

Chicago Tribune, "Good Eating" section, "Handle with care: You've made the decision to eat grass-fed meat. Now, how do you cook it?" August 27, 2014.

chicagotribune.com  "How to cook grass-fed meat"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/food/sc-food-0808-grass-fed-meat-20140826-story.html