Category Archives: Diet Choices

Diet Choices, Environmental Contaminants

New Study Finds Diet Influences Levels of Environmental Contaminants in the Blood Using Questionable Logic

Environmental contaminants, such as bisphenol-A (BPA), endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), other plastic-originating compounds, and persistent organic pollutants in general, are widespread in our environment and also in the foods that we eat on a daily basis. There

Photo By Bretwood Higman, Ground Truth Trekking. [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo By Bretwood Higman, Ground Truth Trekking. [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
is some debate that BPA and other EDCs are harmful to human health, but in general the lines of those debates are a result of political and financially-motivated agendas.

For more on the harm BPA and other EDCs cause on the environment and on your health, please visit stealthepidemic.com, a website founded by Lewis Perdue and Becca Yeamans-Irwin (the co-editors of the French Paradox site).

Other sources of environmental contaminants are known to come from the food chain, like mercury in fish and pesticides in various fruits and vegetables.

A new study looked at the associations, if any, between environmental contaminants circulating in the human body and diet type. Could eating a certain type of diet reduce the levels of harmful environmental contaminants in the body? Or does diet not affect these levels in the blood?

Continue reading New Study Finds Diet Influences Levels of Environmental Contaminants in the Blood Using Questionable Logic →

Diet Choices

Italian Consumers Split on Nutritional & Health Claims of Diets

You may have read a lot about the nutritional and health claims of the Mediterranean diet (and other diets for that matter) touted by researchers, bloggers, journalists, and many others. The big question becomes: is anyone even listening?

A new paper from a group of researchers in Italy aimed to address this question, specifically focusing on whether these nutritional and

Photo by juliegomoll (Grocery shopping at the HyperMart in Cairo) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by juliegomoll (Grocery shopping at the HyperMart in Cairo) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
health claims are actually of interest to consumers, and if they are, which types of consumers are interested.

This was a relatively small pilot study, doing face-to-face interviews with 240 individuals who were in charge of the grocery shopping for their household in Milan, Italy.

Important Findings:

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Diet Choices

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Drops in Economic Hard Times

Frequency of consumption or adherence to the Mediterranean diet

Photo by Rannpháirtí anaithnid, spitzl (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo by Rannpháirtí anaithnid, spitzl (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
has been on the decline in the past decade or so, though the exact reason why is not known. Of course, there are theories, but it is not clear what the causes are, or if there are multiple factors as work.

One theory is that this decrease in adherence to the Mediterranean diet may be linked to the global economic declines during the years between 2005 and 2010.

One recent study examined this very theory, surveying 21001 Italian citizens over the course of the five year period between 2005 and 2010. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet scores and wealth scores were monitored, as well as other socioeconomic data, for each participant over the course of the 5 year study.

Important Findings:

Continue reading Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Drops in Economic Hard Times →

Diet Choices, Mental Health and Cognition

Eating a Mediterranean Diet May Reduce Risk of Developing Binge Eating Disorder

A collaboration between Italian and Spanish researchers has uncovered a possible relationship between binge eating disorder and adherence to the Mediterranean diet.

It is not well know what causes binge eating disorders, though it is understood to be related to mental illness and the compulsive need to eat without actually being hungry.

Studies focusing on the Mediterranean diet have shown that consumption may be related to a possible decreased risk of certain mental illnesses, including depression and anxiety, though until recently, there have been no studies examining possible connections between Mediterranean diet adherence and mental illness related to binge eating.

One recent study looked at a group of individuals at risk of developing binge eating disorders (1472 participants total) and asked them questions about their diet. The answers to these surveys resulted in an adherence to the Mediterranean Diet score for each participant. Questionnaires related to binge eating, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and total body fat were also given to participants to complete.

Important Findings:

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Diet Choices

Low Adherence to Mediterranean Diet Associated with Lower Socio-Economic Status in Spanish School-Aged Children

Earlier this year, a study was published in the journal Appetite by a group of Spanish researchers examining the adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet within school children in Logroño, Spain, and how various socio-demographic and lifestyle factors may influence this

Photo By Brittany Carlson (USAG Stuttgart) (United States Army) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo By Brittany Carlson (USAG Stuttgart) (United States Army) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
adherence.

Logroño is located in the well-known wine region of La Rioja in Spain, and within this area, 321 school children between the ages of 11 and 12 from 31 schools were included in the study.

Social and lifestyle factors were determined for each child, in addition to blood pressure, level of physiological and mental development, aerobic fitness, physical activity habits, and adherence to the Mediterranean diet.

Important findings:

Continue reading Low Adherence to Mediterranean Diet Associated with Lower Socio-Economic Status in Spanish School-Aged Children →