Newsbites: Fermented Foods; Leafy Greens; Almonds and Chocolate; Smaller Waistlines

RDs Predict Fermented Foods Will Be Top Trend for 2018

Anational survey of registered dietitians predicts that 2018’s top consumer interest will be fermented foods, such as yogurt, kefir, kombucha (fermented sweet tea), sauerkraut, tempeh, some pickles, kimchi and miso. Pollock Communications, a public relations firm, and the magazine Today’s Dietitian conducted the survey of 2,050 nutrition professionals.

The survey indicates that the top 10 “superfoods” likely to be of greatest public interest in 2018 will be, in descending order, fermented foods, avocados, seeds, nuts, green tea, ancient grains (like farro, kamut, millet and spelt), kale, exotic fruits, coconut products and salmon. While one should not believe health claims attributed to these superfoods, most of these items can contribute to an overall healthy eating pattern. Best to avoid those fermented foods that are high in sodium.

Leafy Greens Protect Aging Brains

Older adults who ate 1 to 2 daily servings of leafy green vegetables showed less age-related decline in memory and other mental skills than those eating less, according to a study in Neurology. Serving sizes for the study were 1 cup of raw salad greens or a ½ cup of cooked spinach, kale, collards or other greens. The study included 960 people, ages 58 to 99. Over 5 years, researchers tested participants’ memory and thinking skills using cognitive tests and used a questionnaire to measure their intake of leafy greens. As measured by the cognitive tests, participants who consumed the most servings were 11 years younger in their mental skills, compared with those who rarely or never ate leafy greens. The study is observational, so it doesn’t prove that eating leafy greens directly slows brain aging. But it contributes to ongoing research to identify plant foods that may protect the aging brain as part of an overall healthy dietary pattern.

Almonds and Chocolate Good for Cholesterol

Eating almonds or almonds and dark chocolate together, but not dark chocolate alone, improves blood cholesterol, says a study in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Thirty-one overweight or obese participants, ages 30 to 70, consumed four test diets for 4 weeks each, in random order. Each of the test diets included take-home meals consistent with an average American diet, with one serving as a control and the other three being enhanced with (a) almonds, (b) dark chocolate and cocoa powder, or (c) the combination of almonds and dark chocolate/cocoa powder. The nuts and chocolate/cocoa replaced butter, cheese and refined grains in the control diet.

Compared with the control diet, the overall cholesterol profile—such as total and “bad” LDL cholesterol, or the number of LDL particles—improved modestly on both the almond-enhanced diet and the almond plus dark chocolate/cocoa powder diet. There were also subtle differences in types of LDL that differ by size and density. For example, the almond-and-chocolate combo reduced levels of small, dense LDL particles, which have been associated with greater risk of plaques in the coronary arteries (atherosclerosis). No significant differences in cholesterol levels were seen for dark chocolate/cocoa powder alone, compared with control.

Greater Availability of Exercise Facilities Linked to Smaller Waistlines

Living in an area with a higher number of gyms and other exercise facilities nearby is associated with smaller waistlines, lower body mass index (BMI) and less body fat, according to a study in Lancet Public Health. Researchers tapped a national database of health information on about 400,000 people, ages 40 to 70, from across the United Kingdom. They correlated these data with information on the number of exercise facilities such as gyms, swimming pools and playing fields within about a half mile.

The study found that a higher density of exercise facilities was associated with modestly lower average waistlines, BMI, and percent body fat. In contrast, distance from fast food shops was not consistently associated with smaller waistlines, BMI, or body fats. Previous studies have come to similar conclusions.

Because these findings are observational and the participants were not tracked over time, the study cannot rule out the possibility that individuals who were generally healthier and already had smaller waists and lower body fat had consciously chosen to live near exercise facilities, which could also explain the findings.

If such findings can be confirmed by interventional studies, they may inform ways of designing cities that could reduce underlying environmental causes of obesity, the study authors noted. “We know a lot about what individuals need to do to be healthy, but through better planning we might be able to make it easier for people to make healthy choices about exercise and food,” says study lead author Kate E. Mason, MPH, a PhD candidate at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

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