By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
June 1st, 2012
A week ago I was in Indianapolis attending Egg Quality School. It was great to be with so many people working in the egg industry (producers, plant and production workers, USDA staff, American Egg Board staff, Egg Nutrition Center staff and more). It is evident these people care greatly for the egg and hen! The motivating group leaders as well as the speakers showed great passion when they talked about the work they do each day.
I learned a lot of valuable information to share with health professionals. One part of the class focused on candling eggs. I learned how to look at the interior and exterior qualities of the egg. At first, I found this challenging and have a greater appreciation of how the egg gets from the farm to the store and all the steps between.
Did you know?
- Brown and white eggs have the same nutrition.
- The average hen lays one egg approximately every 26 hours, which is about 265 eggs per year.
- Eggs are a great high quality, affordable protein source!
- The size of the egg generally equates the hen’s age. Older hens tend to lay larger eggs, younger smaller eggs.
- Omelets are easy to make with Howard Helmer’s tips!
I have included a group photo of our class, one with me learning how to grade/candle eggs and one of me making a yummy omelet!
Tags: Egg Candling, Egg School, Hen, Howard Helmer
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
May 25th, 2012
Happy Friday and start to your Memorial Day weekend! The latest version of the Nutrition Close-Up is here! Articles include topics such as school nutrition, Vitamin D and cholesterol updates. In addition, it highlights outcomes from a health professional survey, which I’ll discuss more in a future blog. Enjoy catching up on great nutrition information!
Tags: cholesterol, Nutrition Close-Up, school nutrition, vitamin D
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
May 23rd, 2012
Last week ENC exhibited at the 4th Annual CPSDA Conference. These sports RDs who work with college, professional, Olympic and tactical (military and law enforcement) athletes are uniquely positioned to enhance and advance public perception and understanding of registered dietitians. The sessions were varied and included talks on protein, performance, working with different athletes and much more. More than 200 members came through the exhibit hall. Many participants commented that they appreciated we were there to support a whole food with many health benefits. Their populations can certainly use a high quality, affordable and versatile protein like the egg! They also reported that our materials really help them and many showed a specific interest in the MyPlate materials stating they are great for the different groups they work with and counsel.
Tags: athletes, CPSDA, MyPlate
By Marcia Greenblum, MS, RD
May 16th, 2012
If you’ve been watching the HBO series “Weight of the Nation” as I have, you too are probably wondering if the factors that got us into our current obesity crisis are too overwhelming to be fixed.
Well, I’m happy to say I do think there is hope, especially for the children. In fact, after attending the IFIC Scientific Communications Summit yesterday where obesity specialist Dr. William Dietz of the Centers for Disease Control spoke, I have new optimism. Dr. Dietz began his talk explaining the latest obesity tracking data published in JAMA shows the obesity epidemic appears to be leveling off, especially among Non-Hispanic White and Mexican American men and women. The stats aren’t as promising, however, for Non-Hispanic Black women. The better news is that among children age 2-19, obesity prevalence appears to be stable for both sexes. This gives us an opportunity to make progress in reversing these trends.
At yesterday’s summit, Dr. Dietz, who is often quoted in the HBO series, made several suggestions about ways communities can prevent and treat childhood obesity, including:
- Promoting safe routes to schools where children can walk
- Promoting active living where children have access to parks and playgrounds
- Supporting policies and programs that increase physical activity and physical education
- Including physical activity in all sectors of life, including where people work, during child care, in schools, throughout communities and throughout states
Successful community programs to address childhood obesity meet local needs by taking advantage of local opportunities. Examples include the Santa Ana California community that purchased a foreclosed property and turned it into a park, or the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools program that introduced salad bars into 100 Texas schools for children to become familiar with local fresh fruits and vegetables and even hard boiled eggs, which they can prepare inexpensively at home as well.
Dr. Dietz went on to discuss the difference between a social movement and today’s obesity prevention movement, which he feels still lacks the community grassroots commitment to make it a full-blown social movement. Examples of successful social movements are Mother’s Against Drunk Driving or the fight against secondhand smoking that resulted in laws outlawing smoking in public places. Social movements share some common threads, including:
- A shared personal perception of a threat
- An emotional engagement usually based on a personal incident or story
- A feeling of collective identity and solidarity with the cause
- A collective action against a common target
- Wide and rapidly responsive communication channels
- Sustained action that shows that this issue is not going to go away and demands attention
If the HBO series “Weight of the Nation” can kick off this social movement, then there is hope our obesity problem can be fixed.
Tags: CDC, childhood obesity, obesity, salad bars in schools, Weight of the Nation
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
May 15th, 2012
This week marks National Women’s Health Week and the theme is appropriately titled “It’s Your Time”. Health Professionals spend endless hours helping others, but we may forget to take “our” time. Be mindful of what you are doing for yourself and your patients/clients. This theme resembles the March “Get Your Plate in Shape” but is specifically for women. Men encourage and support the women in your life to take care of themselves too! Here are some tips from an article with a few of our own tips added in:
- YOUR regular checkups: There are a variety of articles circulating this week on multiple health issues related to women: preventive care and success rates with early diagnoses of medical conditions. We often put these visits off, yet we may do them every day for clients.
- YOUR nourishment: Eat to live healthy and well. Sometimes it can be hard to know what is really healthy. A Registered Dietitian can help you and your clients get on the road to good health. Forget the fads and enjoy healthy choices. Start your day out well with a protein rich breakfast such as an open=faced egg sandwich with veggies on a whole wheat English muffin and a glass of fat-free milk.
- YOUR movement: Exercise should be a part of your day just like breakfast! If you need fitness ideas consider enlisting a fitness professional (one on one or in a group setting). Also, if you have a sitting/desk job make sure to get up and move so you don’t sit for hours at a time!
- YOUR wellbeing: Sleep, mental health, and more fall into this category. This area can affect every other area of your health!
- YOUR habits: If eating well and exercise are not current habits, that is a great place to start and as you know health professionals can help you achieve this. You can overcome less healthy habits with other habits, such as smoking cessation, with the help of health professionals
- YOUR behaviors-this can include simple safety issues such as using your seatbelt, bike helmets, and more. We take these for granted but they cannot be forgotten.
I love how our health professional groups can play a part in every area for Women’s Health Week. I think too often we feel “we are the health professional”, so we can’t turn to other health professionals for guidance in other areas (for our own well-being). However, we of all people should know that using other health professionals improves our health forecast. After all, we are not Docstrainersnursedietitianphysicianassts are we? That would be quite the long title 
Tags: nutrition, wellness, women's health
By Marcia Greenblum, MS, RD
May 14th, 2012
Is it just me or is there growing interest in understanding the importance of the long overlooked macronutrient protein? Protein has always seemed like the Cinderella of diet planning. Carbohydrates and fats always commanded much more attention in dietary guidance, including protein as only afterthought.
As the baby boomer generation enters their senior years there seems to be a growing concern about keeping healthy through diet and exercise. Baby boomers are seeing that the high carbohydrate/low fat meals they were advised to prepare left them perpetually hungry and often at risk of cardiovascular disease related to the unattractive spare tire around their abdomen. It’s time to ask why have the last 20 years seen an epic growth of obesity, metabolic syndrome and little change in the cardiovascular disease rates despite this supposedly healthy dietary advice?
Enter the shocking success of the Atkins/South Beach diets that found followers experienced more sustained relief from hunger and improved cardiovascular risk factors resulting from a reduction in carbohydrates and an increase in both fat and protein intake. People who previously sacrificed their favorite full fat meat, cheese and chicken dishes found that they could eat these foods again if they gave up white rice, bagels and pasta and surprisingly, were rewarded with increased high density lipoprotein levels along with reduced triglycerides and body weight garnering praise from their physician.
Now the scientific community appears to be catching up with the success of the higher protein intake. Two published studies1,2 looked at the effect of high protein intake on diabetes control. In the Why WAIT (Weight Achievement and Intensive Treatment) Program, developed at the Joslin Diabetes Center for diabetes weight management in clinical practice, a high protein-low carbohydrate (30% protein [1.5–2 g/kg] and 40% carbohydrates) energy–restricted diet was tried within a multidisciplinary diabetes weight management program for 12 weeks. The authors conclude that an intake of 1.0-1.5 gm/kg of protein is appropriate for diabetics, helping to improve many health risk factors including a lower HbA1c in addition to a reducing total serum cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and markers of inflammation. The researchers reported diabetic patients were less hungry after meals, which contributes to their lower calorie intake and subsequent reduced body weight while maintaining muscle mass. The authors do however make the point that a higher protein intake may be contra- indicated in patients with diabetes accompanied by chronic kidney disease.
More recently, a study published in Advances in Nutrition 3 suggests the brain’s control of appetite is greatly affected by protein intake. From both animal and human research the authors conclude that after protein consumption, peptide hormones are released from the gastrointestinal tract that communicates information about the peripheral energy status to the brain. These hormones control food intake by acting on brain regions involved in energy homeostasis such as the brainstem and the hypothalamus. High-protein diets lead to greater activation than a normal-protein diet in the regions of the brain responsible for satiety. These areas are triggered particularly by leucine, a branched chain amino acid that influences the reward and motivation aspects of eating behavior and plays an important role in the reduced hedonic response associated with a high-protein intake.
Dietary Guidelines Protein Tips
1 Hamdy, O. Issues in Nutritional Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Obesity, Current Diabetes Reports, April 2011, 11(2):75-6.
2 Hamdy, O. and Norton E.S. Protein Content in Diabetes Nutrition Plan, Current Diabetes Reports, April 2011, 11(2):111-9.
3 Journel, M. et. al. Brain Responses to High Protein Diets, Advances in Nutrition, 2012, 3:322-9.
Tags: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, obesity, protein, satiety, weight management
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
May 1st, 2012
Last month I mentioned April is a big month for eggs, but you can keep reaping benefits of eggs throughout the year. May is National Egg Month. Celebrate National Egg Month by continuing to have the incredible edible egg at breakfast or during another meal or snack of the day. Why not try a new recipe for eggs? This past weekend, I tried a breakfast pizza with an egg!
So why are eggs so great?
Appealing Taste
Convenience
Economy
Natural Nutrition
Versatility
Also it is quite convenient that it is also National Salad Month, so why not merge the two holidays together and have a hardboiled egg on your salad!
Tags: May, National Egg Month
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
April 30th, 2012
Today’s blog post is written by Allison Fischer, Dietetic Intern at Loyola University.
Enjoy!
By now you have most certainly heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. There are many benefits to eating breakfast – positive impacts on learning and memory, increased likelihood of meeting daily nutrient intake recommendations, lower BMI, and avoiding weight gain. Another study area is relationship between breakfast consumption and decreased risk of Type 2 Diabetes (TD2).
A recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the relationship between eating patterns and T2D risk in men. Almost 30,000 health professionals were followed twenty years and provided information regarding their medical histories, lifestyles and health related behaviors. Their diets were assessed according to reported foods eaten and dietary patterns based on when and how often they ate daily. Diet quality was reflected as a prudent diet (increased fruit, vegetable, fish, poultry, and whole grain consumption) or a Western diet (increased red and processed meats, French fries, high-fat dairy, refined grains, sweets, and dessert consumption). This information was then synthesized to evaluate health habits and diabetes risks.
Out of all the men in the study, 83% consumed breakfast. These men generally had healthier lifestyle factors – slightly lower BMIs, smoked less, exercised more, better diet quality, consumed less alcohol and more cereal fiber, and drank less coffee. After adjusting for age, there was a 50% greater risk for T2D in men who did not eat breakfast versus the men who did. This was significant even after adjusting for other dietary and T2D risk factors. Even after adjusting for BMI (well known to correlate with T2D risk), skipping breakfast resulted in a 21% greater risk. The most significant increased risk came from skipping breakfast and having a Western dietary pattern, than for each factor separately.
While there is still work to be done to better understand the link between breakfast and diabetes, here is just one more reason to encourage getting the day off to a healthful start. Be sure to fill your plate with healthy foods, including a quality protein, fruits or vegetables, low or no fat dairy and complex carbohydrates. Fuel yourself for a healthy day and a healthy future!
Tags: AJCN, breakfast, diabetes
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
April 27th, 2012
Today’s blog post is written by Allison Fischer, Dietetic Intern at Loyola University. Allison is doing a rotation at ENC and completes her internship in May 2012.
Enjoy!
Updates on Choline and Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a nutritionally significant period of life and a healthful and balanced diet is required to support proper growth and development of the baby and mother. Choline is an essential, but not a widely known nutrient for which mothers have increased needs during pregnancy. An interview with Cornell researcher, Dr Marie Caudill, highlights the significance of choline and further research endeavors.
Choline is required for proper cell functioning, cognitive functioning, and stress modulation. Adequate maternal intake can have significant long term impact on the child such as improved memory and learning. It is also believed that reductions in stress hormones mediated by choline can improve the temperament of babies and reduce future anxiety and stress related diseases. While choline can be taken later in life, choline exposure in utero has a stronger effect over time.
For more information make sure to check out The Scientist: Prof. Caudill Researches the Effects of Choline on Fetal Development in the Cornell Daily Sun and be on the lookout for her published findings in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
Tags: choline, pregnancy
By Anna Shlachter, MS, RD, LDN
April 27th, 2012
The ENC team just returned from Experimental Biology (EB) in San Diego. This was my first EB- if you have never been it is crazy starting with the giant book you receive at check-in. A fellow tweeter said “pace yourself” and this was a great piece of advice for this conference! Protein was a hot topic in the American Society of Nutrition (ASN) section. In addition, I loved seeing the variety of research posters presented (including those by researchers conducting ENC related research). Here was a press release from the event.
Fast forward to Friday after the conference, my brain is still full of new information and things to check out. More blog posts to come on research topics.
Tags: American Society of Nutrition, Experimental Biology, protein
