FOOD LITERACY: LEARN FOOD FACT FROM FICTION, ENHANCE YOUR CREDIBILITY

OUR SPEAKERS

Amelia Winslow, MPHEating Made Easy@eatingmadeeasy

Kath Younger, RDKath Eats Real Food@katheats

Janet Helm, MS, RDNutrition Unplugged@janethelm

Easy-to-understand, science-based food information you can trust

Why Eating Made Easy?

• Obesity • Weight-related health problems• Obsession with dieting• More food available• More food information

It’s Confusing!

Diet Trends

Food TrendsDietingGluten-freeVeganismOrganicFunctional foodsSuper foodsKnowing where your food comes fromFarmer’s marketsJuicingGMOsChia seedsCoconutKale

Food Terms & Labels

NaturalOrganic Cage-Free, Free-Range, Pasture RaisedSustainably grownHumanely raisedNo rBGHNon-GMO verifiedFair TradeNo refined sugars

Package Claims

LightReduced ____Made with whole grainsNow with more fiberBoosts the immune systemPromotes better brain functionMay help lower risk of heart disease

What to Believe?

How do you know what’s truly healthy?

Trends that Last

• Whole, unprocessed foods• Mostly plant-based• Family meals• Eating at home• Not drinking your calories• Moderation

Tool Box

• The “5 Year Test”• All food groups• Patience and persistence

What I Look For When Buying Food

• Foods in their natural form• When in packages – minimal ingredients,

ingredients I recognize• Get to know your grocers, vendors, farmers• Country of origin • What’s in season• Local

Recommended Reading

Kath Eats Real Food

Kath Eats Real Food: Weight Loss

Kath Eats Real Food: Learning

Kath Eats Real Food: RD

The Benefit Of Whole Foods Numerous studies have found

epidemiological evidence that eating whole foods has a protective effect on health and reduces risk of chronic diseases including:

– Cancer– Cardiovascular disease– Stroke– Alzheimer disease– Cataracts– Some of the functional declines associated with

aging

We Know:– Fruits, vegetables and grains are nutrient

dense– Many of the beneficial phytochemicals we

have discovered are found in whole foods. (Ex: Antioxidants, or free-radical fighters)

– There are about 8,000 identified phytochemicals!

So we might conclude: Since whole foods are high in discovered nutrients, they are most likely high in undiscovered nutrients

Studies: Cancer• Epidemiologic review of 200 studies on cancer

• In 128 of 156 dietary studies (82%), the consumption of fruit and vegetables was found to have a significant protective effect.

• Risk of cancer with high F+V intake = 1x• Risk of cancer with low F+V intake = 2x

• Included cancers of lung, colon, breast, cervix, esophagus, oral cavity, stomach, bladder, pancreas, and ovary.

Diversity

“Potential synergy of phytochemicals in cancer prevention: mechanism of action.” Journal Of Nutrition, 2004

Diversity + Synergy

• Phytochemicals can have complementary and overlapping mechanisms of action, including:– Modulation of detoxification enzymes– Stimulation of the immune system– Reduction of platelet aggregation– Modulation of cholesterol synthesis– Hormone metabolism– Reduction of blood pressure– Antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiviral effects

Supplement Research + Nutritionalism• Most studies have concluded that antioxidant supplements do

not provide benefit to disease prevention.

• These trials have usually involved the administration of single antioxidant nutrients given at relatively high doses.

• Some trials may actually harm people (ex. Beta-carotene). Lack of diversity + nutrient competition may be responsible.

• The results of trials investigating the effect of a balanced combination of antioxidants at levels achievable by diet are awaited.

HOW Should You Eat Real Food?

Whole Food Bar– Dates, peanuts,

chocolate chips, salt

Baked Oatmeal Bars– Rolled oats, walnuts,

raisins, cinnamon, salt, milk, egg, vanilla

Chewy Granola Bar

HOW Should You Eat Real Food?

High Fiber + Protein Cereal Cinnamon Shredded Wheat

HOW Should You Eat Real Food?Extra Fiber Bread Homemade Bread

– Fresh-ground whole wheat flour

– Water– Fresh yeast– Salt– Honey

HOW Should You Eat Real Breakfasts?

• Overnight oats• Hearty cereal

with milk• Plain Greek

yogurt with fruit and nuts

• Smoothies• Hard-boiled egg

HOW Should You Eat Real Lunches?• Pre-chopped salads• Whole grain bread

sandwich• Soup + whole grain• Leftovers

Proteins• Leftovers• Eggs• Tempeh• Cheese

• Canned fish or SARDINES!

• Yogurt

HOW Should You Eat Real Dinners?

• Bean + rice bowls

• Burgers [veggie, grass-fed beef]

• Frozen fish/shrimp

• Frittatas• Whole wheat

pasta

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HOW AMERICANS GET HEALTH INFORMATION HAS CHANGED

80% 34% 25%

Of internet users have looked online for health information

Have read about someone else’s health experience on a blog, website or online news source

Have watched an online video about health or medical issues

People who are living with a chronic disease are even more likely to go online, often looking for “someone like

me.”

The Social Life of Health Information, Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2011

DEMOCRATIZATION OFINFLUENCE

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MEDIA TREND #1

EDITORIAL IS NOW DEMOCRATIZED

Recognizing the need to deliver a wealth of content in a non-stop news

cycle—and drive page views for ad revenue—media companies have

opened up their ranks to guest expert authors and contributed content to increase depth and

breadth of coverage.

Forbes features expert contributors to broaden and deepen content across a range of topics. Contributor points-of-view run side-by-side with journalist-written pieces. Forbes benefits from networks of industry leaders and celebrity authors—and has seen its page views rise and coverage spread dramatically through social network distribution.

FORBES: A LEADER IN EXPERT-DRIVEN BUSINESS EDITORIAL

MEDIA TREND #2

PRODUCTION IS HIGHLY DIMEMSIONALIZEDThe stand-alone, text-based article is dying. Digital content played a role in two-thirds of Pulitzer winners in 2012. Now media companies deliver multi-platform, multi-format storytelling that ranges from rich, multimedia infographics and video to applications built to bring data and stories to life. Media today is social by design.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: A LEADER IN MULTIMEDIA NEWS PRODUCTION

The New York Times is digitally-minded, with interactive elements, video, and photo slideshows embedded across its wide range of topics. Beyond innovating formats, Facebook integration allows readers to sign into nytimes.com via their accounts to see what articles their friends are “recommending” and sharing.

BlogsFacebook& Twitter

Photo Sharing

A virtual bulletin board or collage of images found on the web

An engaging platform that allows you to browse other pinboards

A branding-style social network with real-time trending

Breakout social network of 2012

A visual search engine with direct links

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MEDIA TREND #3

“BEATS” HAVE BECOME HIGHLY SPECIALIZEDTo address highly diverse and specialized areas of interest, media are not only broadening coverage, they’re going deeper. While traditional media carries finite space that demands professional editing, online media knows no boundaries, beyond the editorial agenda brought to readers.

WALL STREET JOURNAL: EDITORIAL THAT RUNS DEEP

Question: Are we pursuing and valuing the full range of options to get our story to the market?

The Wall Street Journal has morphed into a multi-sector news hub, with a multimedia publication strategy that includes over 40 blogs, breaking news updates via Twitter and exclusively digital content. Reporters themselves are their own brands with large followings; they regularly use the platforms to engage with readers and source material.

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“Ms. Levin has every right to believe in and follow a vegan diet—but why try to terrify and threaten others into doing so?This post is not a diatribe against vegans or veganism. The choice individuals make about their diet is theirs alone. This is about misleading, untrue information presented as fact. It is about a major media outlet not bothering to retract factually incorrect information. It is about frightening people into following an agenda…”

Marge Perry

An opinion about a fact is just an opinion.… It's a fact of particular importance to the world of nutrition guidance, where opinions are routinely substituted for facts, and where the expression of opinion all too often takes on a religious zeal. Often, we don't even bother to inform our opinions with complete stories -- but rather shop for the select factoids we like best.”

6 1 Reasons It Goes Wrong

• Profile mismatches

• Lack of defined objectives

• Strategic timidity

• Flawed technology implementation

psd on flickr