Newsbites: Celebrity Chefs; Type 1 Diabetes; Low Iron; Sugar Politics

Celebrity Chefs Set Bad Example for Food Safety

About 1 in 6 Americans suffer a foodborne illness each year, often in their own homes, so safe food handling practices can’t be overemphasized. Recently, scientists watched 100 episodes of cooking shows from 24 celebrity chefs preparing meat dishes and tracked the chefs’ food safety behaviors. This revealed that 88% did not wash (or weren’t shown washing) their hands after handling raw meat, and 79% used their presumably unwashed hands (after handling raw meat) to add ingredients that wouldn’t be cooked further, among several other food safety faux pas. “Celebrity chefs are great for entertaining us, but they are not good at modeling appropriate food safety behaviors,” says Edgar Chambers IV, PhD, a coauthor of the study published online in the Journal of Public Health. Learn more about food safety here.

Beyond Carbs in Type 1 Diabetes

In its 2017 update to the Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, the American Diabetes Association included a new recommendation to assess the amount of fat and protein in meals, in addition to carbohydrate counting, to determine insulin dosing for people with type 1 diabetes on flexible insulin schedules.

“Although carbohydrate is the main nutrient that affects blood sugar, this new guideline recognizes that the protein and fat in foods also have an impact,” says Denise Arthurs, MS, RD, at Frances Stern Nutrition Center at Tufts Medical Center. “When a carb-containing meal is higher in fat and protein, that can delay how long it takes blood sugar to peak after eating, and protein may contribute to the rise in blood sugar, with varying effects depending on how much you consume.”

If you have type 1 diabetes, are on a flexible insulin schedule and have mastered carbohydrate counting, consult your endocrinologist to determine whether there is a need to reassess how your insulin dosage and timing are determined based on your intake not only of carbohydrate, but also fat and protein.

Could Low Iron Affect Your Hearing?

Hearing loss increases with age, affecting 40 to 66% of adults over age 65 and 80% of adults over age 85. Scientists are exploring whether iron deficiency contributes to the problem. Using clinical data from electronic medical records of 305,339 young to elderly adults, scientists examined the relationship between hearing loss and iron deficiency anemia. They found that risk for sensorineural hearing loss, the type linked to problems in the nerves of the inner ear (as opposed to mechanical obstruction), was 82 percent higher in those deficient in iron.

“The inner ear blood supply is very sensitive to insufficient oxygen, and it has been suggested that iron deficiency anemia may further compromise this situation,” says Deepa Sekhar, MD, MSc, a coauthor of the study published in JAMA Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery. “At this point we don’t have evidence that iron deficiency anemia causes hearing loss, but only that there is an association between the two conditions.” It’s possible low iron status may just be a marker for another dietary component or underlying health-related issue causing hearing loss.

Are Sugar Politics Clouding Sound Advice?

Setting specific limits on sugar intake can alarm groups that profit from sugar use. A recent study in Annals of Internal Medicine reviewed the evidence for limits on sugar intake advised by nine public health groups. The conclusion was that sugar intake guidelines are based on low-quality evidence. However, the study has drawn sharp criticism because it was primarily funded by the International Life Sciences Institute, which is supported by food and agriculture companies that may have a vested interest in sugar use.

So, don’t rush to the candy dish. There’s plenty of science suggesting that the less sugar and other refined carbohydrate we consume, the lower our risk of health concerns such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity. The American Heart Association recommends limiting daily intake of added sugars (including what’s in packaged foods) to 9 teaspoons (36 grams) for men and 6 teaspoons (24 grams) for women, on average.

Price of Food May Unduly Influence How Healthy We Think It Is

If you expect healthy foods to cost more, you’re not alone (although this isn’t always true). When researchers asked people to make price/healthfulness judgments about food products based on descriptions and photos, the participants were more likely to:

• Rate the same food as healthier when it cost more.
• Use price to judge the value of a nutrient when they were unfamiliar with it.
• Disbelieve a food was the healthiest in its category if it cost less than average.

“One of the best ways to compare food products is to look at the Nutrition Facts label, since all products are required to feature the same factual information there,” says Rebecca Reczek, a co-author of the study published in the Journal of Consumer Research. If you’re unfamiliar with a touted nutrient, do some research before paying more for a product that contains it, she says.

The post Newsbites: Celebrity Chefs; Type 1 Diabetes; Low Iron; Sugar Politics appeared first on University Health News.

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