Nutrition in the News | Issue nº 2
It's the beginning of the year but let's go back a few days (or a couple of months) and think about all the news about nutrition.
Naturally, the end of the year means reflecting on your goals, what you have achieved and what you still want to achieve, obviously when it comes to nutrition and diet almost everyone has something to say or wish for.
Social media has been bombed with tips on how not to indulge during the holidays and how not to worry about it. Nevertheless, we'll be making here a recap on topics that caught our attention that might have gone unnoticed because, after all, it was the busiest time of the year.
Not using Nutrium yet?
Join more than 100.000 professionals changing nutrition counselling and register for free our nutrition software.
Vitamin D
Let's go back to the start and remember an interesting article about vitamin D supplementation. A very much discussed topic this winter since, in colder countries, it is advisable that people take supplementation of Vitamin D as requirements are not met in winter days.
So the Lancet has released a new study about the effects of Vitamin D supplementation on musculoskeletal health.
Our findings suggest that vitamin D supplementation does not prevent fractures or falls, or have clinically meaningful effects on bone mineral density. There were no differences between the effects of higher and lower doses of vitamin D. There is little justification to use vitamin D supplements to maintain or improve musculoskeletal health. This conclusion should be reflected in clinical guidelines.
Even though vitamin D is proven to have multiple benefits for our health, you can check a bit about this on this article by Examine.com and it is still advisable by the NHS to take supplementation during the winter period.
- Original Article - Effects of vitamin D supplementation on musculoskeletal health: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and trial sequential analysis
- Examine. com - The Truth about Vitamin D
Folic Acid Fortification
A new policy in the UK has come into force to reduce preventable disabilities in babies by fortifying flour with Folic Acid which you can check it in this post by The Guardian.
To support this new policy, the BDA has stated their position, and you can check a very useful and easy-to-read fact sheet on Folic Acid as well.
Despite recommendations, many women do not take folic acid supplements in early pregnancy. Routine fortification of flour with folic acid is a simple way to increase folic acid intake for everyone.
Many countries have introduced mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid, significantly reducing the number of neural tube defect births. The UK government is planning to consult mandatory fortification of flour in early 2019.
- The Guardian Article - Folic acid to be added to UK flour in effort to reduce birth defects;
- BDA position statement;
- Folic Acid Fact Sheet by the BDA.
Does eating organic foods reduce the risk of cancer?
A new study has been released on the effects of organic food consumption and cancer risk in middle-aged French women and headlines were booming about it. Check for yourself the article published in December 2018.
A higher frequency of organic food consumption was associated with a reduced risk of cancer; if the findings are confirmed, research investigating the underlying factors involved with this association is needed to implement adapted and targeted public health measures for cancer prevention.
It is also important to take note of the study's limitation and the NHS Behind the Headlines made a thorough analysis, check below.
- Original Article - Association of Frequency of Organic Food Consumption With Cancer Risk;
- NHS Behind the Headlines - Eating organic food linked with lower cancer risk.
GPs prescribe low-calorie diets
This topic has been all over the headlines and professionals were a bit confused about the implication of this new policy.
The program will be piloted in up to 5,000 people following the Diabetes UK funded DiRECT trial, where almost half of those who went on a very low-calorie diet achieved remission of their Type 2 diabetes after one year.
Check the statement article from the NHS, the DiRECT trial and its analysis by the NHS Behind the Headlines.
- NHS - Very low calorie diets part of NHS action to tackle growing obesity and Type 2 diabetes epidemic;
- Original Article - Primary care-led weight management for remission of type 2 diabetes (DiRECT): an open-label, cluster-randomised trial ;
- Behind the Headlines - 'Radical' low-calorie diet may help reverse type 2 diabetes;
Removing snacks from supermarket checkouts
A new study provided by researchers at the University of Cambridge, University of Stirling and Newcastle University in the UK suggests that:
Removing temptation, in the form of small packs of sweets and crisps, while we are waiting in a queue, can make a big difference to how likely we are to buy these foods.
Check Behind the Headlines and ScienceDaily review of this new study.
- Original Study - Supermarket policies on less-healthy food at checkouts: Natural experimental evaluation using interrupted time series analyses of purchases;
- Behind the Headlines - Removing snacks from supermarket checkouts cuts unhealthy purchases;
- ScienceDaily - Removing sweets from checkouts linked to dramatic fall in unhealthy snack purchases;
Diet Myths of 2018
It's no news that a diet with an attractive name "sells" much easier than the evidence-based recommendations. So to end the year with a little laugh, the BDA has released an article with the wildest diet fads in 2018. On that note, the Examine.com also has released an article, not about fad diets but a few diet myths that people usually come across. Check them out:
Not using Nutrium yet?
Join more than 100.000 professionals changing nutrition counselling and register for free our nutrition software.
Try it NowIf you haven't checked already make sure to give a look at our first edition of Nutrition in the News.
Please note that we do not share any particular side on any of these news headlines, our goal is simply to inform on what professionals and the news have been discussing about in order to keep you informed and deliver to you the information at the distance of one click.
Let us know what other sources you often go to for evidence-based analysis of the latest information about nutrition, and other topics that were highlighted recently.