This week, we summarize the top five news articles and studies in the real food realm. Plus, everyone's fave, the wall of shame...
News and Emerging Science
In a well-placed and easy-to-read article in The New York Times Magazine, Pulitzer Prize-winning cancer doc Sid Mukherjee makes the case that we should be doing more to investigate the impact of diets on our bodies and the ability of foods to help with healing. He writes about his large new research project, which pairs a promising yet thus-far-unsuccessful drug with a keto diet in hopes of boosting the drug’s efficacy and delivering life-saving results to cancer patients in the trial.
Might there be a magic pill to fight obesity? Something you can take that allows you to overeat and not gain weight? In spite of hopeful headlines, the real answer is “Not anytime soon.”
Evidence is emerging to show ketogenic diets help relieve chronic pain. Promising science suggests ketones reduce neuron excitability and inhibit pain pathways, blunting arthritis-related chronic pain.
Diabetes meds are a juggling act: physicians must consider the trade offs between cardiovascular considerations, microvascular damage, and cost. Plus, there is always the risk of dangerous or even life-threatening hypoglycemic events if blood sugar is managed too tightly. Perhaps that is why the journal Pediatrics named a paper about managing type 1 diabetes with fewer meds and a ketogenic diet the “Best Article of 2018.”
Can you help us tell the National Institutes of Health to include low-carb diets in its research agenda? A draft plan outlining the Institutes’ priorities does not mention low-carb diets. This plan, once finalized in early 2019, will drive the NIH’s nutrition research agenda, especially clinical trials, for the next decade. Public comments are welcome, but are due by November 15. Your voice matters. Let it be heard!
(Email nutritionresearch@niddk.nih.gov with your perspective.)
Wall of Shame
Chobani launches new yogurt line “Gimmie” targeted at kids, with flavors such as Poppin’ Cotton Candy, Best Birthday Ever and Ooey Gooey S’More. These low-fat products still have a lot of added sugar.
45,000 UK children & teens require hospitalization for tooth extractions each year. “NHS dental care for children is free and tooth decay is preventable, but eating sugary food and drinks is driving this unfortunate and unnecessary epidemic of extractions.”
When a packed school lunch contains “two bags of Cheetos, a small Sunny D-Lite, and a little water bottle”… Food justice advocates reflect on food insecurity and its effects on student performance.
High insulin prices cause some patients to skimp the drug, skipping prescribed doses.
Shortening makers scramble to tailor their refined, engineered product as they adjust to a world without partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats). “15 years ago Columbus Vegetable Oils had 12 shortenings. Today, the company manufactures more than 80.”
Ugh. More “Is it candy or is it breakfast cereal?” confusion. Popular gummy sweets, Sour Patch Kids, to be made into a cereal by Post. 😖
Years into the public health initiative, Kellogg finally caves to pressure and agrees to put “traffic light” health labels on its UK cereal brands.
Oreo Drink Mix. A new thing that you never knew you needed. Comes in a 16oz tub, just like laundry additives. Perfect for adding 13g of sugar to your child’s milk. 🤢
Finally, a “granola awakening”: Sales of granola bars slide, as consumers switch to higher-protein bars that aren’t filled with (just) sugar and starch.
New food industry document cache, archived at University of California at San Francisco, sheds light on corporate misdeeds. “The vector [of obesity] is food and beverage companies and the industry documents are helping us understand that vector.”
Plate of the Week
Click through for a basic recipe:
This plate is keto and takes about an hour to prepare.
What's on your plate?
Try our meal-idea-generator—
Want More?
Check out the Eat the Butter-authored absolute beginners’ guide to healthier eating, with six concrete steps away from ultra-processed food!! How did you celebrate National Lard Day on December 8th? What are “Phat Fats”, and why is Whole Foods listing them as a top food trend for 2019? Will doomsday package labels spread from Latin America to other regions? Might keto-friendly, trendy cauliflower products eventually overrun the entire grocery store?
Until then,
The Moms @ Eat the Butter
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