Evaluating Nutrition Information: Its Your Decision

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Evaluating Nutrition Information Its Your
Decision

• Amy D. Eades PhD, RD, LD

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Lose 10 pounds in 3 days!
Confusion?
Carbohydrates are bad for you!
Vitamins that provide you with extra energy
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Top 10 Diets Consumers are Aware of

• Atkins
• Weight
• Watchers
• Slim Fast
• Jenny Craig
• South Beach
• Diet
• Subway Diet

• Richard Simmons
• Grapefruit Diet
• Metabolife
• Dr. Phils Ultimate Weight Loss

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How do you sort through the confusion?

• Armor yourself with knowledge
• Refer to health experts in the field
• Keep a check list of questions to ask
• yourself about a diet or product
• Know the red flags to fad diets
• If it sounds too good to be true, it
• probably is!

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Fad Diet Red Flags

• Quick and easy
• Use of
• supplements
• Meal skipping
• No changes in
• lifestyle
• Lose 2
• pounds/wk

• Purchase special
• foods
• Avoid one food
• group
• Single food is the
• key
• Lists of good
• foods bad foods

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Fad Diet Red Flags cont.

• Uses the words eliminate or
• avoid
• Recommendations based on a single
• study
• Recommendations based on studies
• published without peer review
• Uses testimonial as support for use
• Uses dramatic statements refuted by
• reputable scientific organizations.

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When evaluating nutrition information
products, identify

• Objective measurements
• vs.
• Subjective measurements

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When evaluating a diet or nutrition products...

• Is it creating permanent
• changes in diet and lifestyle?
• Are you learning behavior
• modifications?
• Can you survive stay on the
• regimen for life?
• Do they know the long term effects?
• Who is promoting the product/
• information?

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Claim or Truth?

• You can lose weight with
• exceptionally easy rules.
• You can lose weight by eating a
• specific ratio of carbohydrates,
• protein and fat.
• This revolutionary diet can reset your
• genetic code.
• High-protein diets are popular, selling
• more that 20 million books, because
• they work.

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The Subway Diet
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Low Carbohydrate Diet Myth or Fact?

• Weight lost quickly with initiation of
• diet
• Decreases appetite while increasing
• satiation
• Long term effects are documented by
• long term studies
• Allows forbidden foods
• Developed by a medical doctor
• It is easy
• Insulin is detrimental to weight

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Low Carbohydrate Diets The Facts

• Ketosis
• Low in fiber
• Original diet high in fat and
• saturated fats
• Excludes food groups
• Increases risk for dehydration
• Speculation that diet increases risk
• of osteoporosis
• Phytochemicals
• Poor long term results

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The Nutritional Bottom Line

• Calories count!
• Low-carbohydrate diet is monotonous
• Learn behavior modifications
• Food Guide Pyramid along with
• physical activity
• All Foods Can Fit
• This diet not supported by ADA,
• ACS, AHA, ADiabetesA, AMA, and
• the U.S. Surgeon General

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Case Scenario

• Madison wants to lose weight quickly. She
• Comes across a diet called Easy to Lose. The
• diet claims that by cutting out carbohydrates,
• they can lose weight quickly. On average, weight
  
• loss is about 5 pounds per week. The diet
• Consists of 1,000kcalories a day and calls
• carbohydrate foods bad foods that cause weight
• gain. Included with the diet is one study from
  its
• independent laboratory showing its effectiveness.
• Madison thinks that if the diet is supported by a
• research study, it must be safe and effective.
  Do
• you see any red flags to this diet?

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Web Reliability

• Look for
• .edu
• .org
• .gov
• Examples
• www.eatright.org
• www.navigator.tufts.edu
• www.ific.org
• www.fda.gov
• www.americanheart.org
• www.mayohealth.org
• www.healthfinder.gov 
• www.quackwatch.org