Is Your Favorite Healthy Food As Healthy As You Think?

Cereals galore at any supernarket

Since my accident, unless we're travelling, I always have the same oats for breakfast with Oatly oat milk. (Disclaimer- we are not sponsored by Oatly, we buy all the Oatly milk we drink). Sometimes I have them for lunch too.

My breakfast (left) and lunch

One of my patients who moved to the UK recently but came back for a meeting came to see me in the clinic commented that she has seen me eat the same oats in a jar five years ago. Some (good) things never change. Often, patients who see me eating my jar of oats (for lunch) often ask me what I'm eating.

My lunch jar that I eat at work

Thanks to my wife, we have definitely become lots more aware of what we eat as a family. We know nutrient dense food is good for us so we always try to eat and drink healthy.

The oats/ cereal we eat is nothing like the boxes of cereal you get the at supermarkets. It's common to see words like "wholesome', "all natural" on boxes of cereal there. Turns out they may just be claims.

A group of researchers analyzed more than 600 boxes of breakfast cereals across four separate studies. Their goal was to determine whether cereal products marketing claim like "no additives" or "high in vitamins" were supported by actual health benefits like weight loss.

Turns out, there was no substance to the claims. There was no link to the cereal's nutritional quality. This however, did not stop shoppers from buying cereals that were perceived to be "healthier".

More specifically, shoppers had a more positive attitude and chose products that were claimed to be made with healthy ingredients like whole grains over cereals that claim to remove something "bad" like gluten.

Shoppers also believed that "homemade" labels or cereal made with "no preservatives" tended to be more delicious. They also believed that cereals labelled as "low fat", "low sugar" or "light" helped them lose weight.

Next time you see such claims or boasts, remember these claims are not indicators of health benefits. Best to look at the ingredients to gauge sugar, fiber, trans fat and protein etc to help you decide.

Reference

Andre Q, Chandon P et al (2019). Healthy Through Presence Or Absence, Nature Or Science? : A Framework Understanding Front-Of-Package Food Claims. J Pub Policy Mtkg. DOI: 10.1177/0743915618824332.

My boys like Nutri Grain or Iron man food (as they call it) by Kellogg's. I do too, but it's got way to much sugar in it. I used to eat lots of it while in Australia.

Gluten Free Diet May Not Boost Athletic Performance

If you're currently on a gluten free diet and miss eating bread, pizzas etc well, maybe it's time you indulge yourself.

Current research shows that there was no significant differences in athletic performance, gastrointestinal distress (GI), inflammatory markers, intestinal damage and general well being between those who ate a gluten free diet and those who did not.

This study was designed after researchers observed lots of athletes going gluten free. Their aim was to investigate if being gluten free helps athletic performance.

Researchers tracked competitive cyclists who were initially not on a gluten free diet and they were not allergic to wheat. They ate the same diet for two seven-day periods with a 10-day washout period in between. This was a double blind study, meaning both the researchers and cyclists did not know whether the cereal bars were gluten free or not.

The only difference between the two seven-day periods was that the cyclists had cereal bars with gluten. The other week they ate gluten free cereal bars. All the other food were cooked and supplied by the researchers.

The cyclists completed daily questionnaires on GI distress (after training and daily life) and overall well being. They could eat and train according to their wishes during the 10-day washout period.

They resumed the first week's diet and training with the second seven-day training but with the different bars.

The cyclists did a 45 minute steady state ride at 70 per cent maximum effort and a 15 minute all out time trial on the final day of the seven day trial. This was to investigate if a gluten free diet could reduce damage to the intestines and gut permeability. Previous research indicated so and this was to see if gluten made a difference.

Researchers did not get any changes between those who ate gluten free bars and those who did not.

The authors suggest that other than a strong placebo effect helping the cyclists feel better, the cyclists tend to eat more fruits and vegetables instead. These may all contribute to help them feel better.

Reference

Lis D, Stellingwerff T et al (2015). No Effects Of A Short-term Gluten-free Diet On Performance. Med and Sci in Sports and Ex. DOI: 10. 1249/MSS.0000000000000699.