Newsbriefs: Weight Watchers; Chocolate; “Healthy Foods”
Stick With Weight Watchers for Better Results
Participating in a Weight Watchers program for one year helps keep more weight off than taking part in a three-month program or using self-help materials, according to a study published May 3, 2017 in The Lancet. Study participants were assigned to a brief, one-time intervention (advice and a self-help booklet), Weight Watchers for three months, or Weight Watchers for one year. After one year, the brief-intervention group had lost an average of 7 pounds, compared to 11 pounds lost with three months of Weight Watchers and 15 pounds lost with one year of Weight Watchers. The researchers say that, compared with the three-month program, the one-year program would result in 1,786 fewer cases of weight-related disease per 100,000 people, including 642 fewer cases of hypertension, 373 fewer cases of diabetes, and 104 fewer cases of heart disease.
Hold the Chocolate…
File the news reports you may have seen claiming that chocolate may help prevent the abnormal heart rhythm atrial fibrillation (AF) under “too good to be true.” Researchers did find that participants who ate chocolate two to six times per week were 20 percent less likely to have AF and 17 percent less likely to have the condition if they ate chocolate once a week. However, participants who ate the least chocolate were more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. Since all of these conditions are AF risk factors, a more plausible interpretation of the data is not that chocolate protects against AF, but that people with AF avoid eating chocolate. The study appeared on May 23, 2017 in the journal Heart.
Most Americans Unsure What “Healthy Foods” Means
According to the International Food Information Council Foundation’s annual Food and Health Survey, 78 percent of Americans surveyed encounter conflicting information about healthy foods and unhealthy foods. And, more than half say that conflicting information makes them doubt their food choices.
In this study of 1,002 American adults, about 60 percent of those surveyed said that one of the top three factors that define healthy foods is that the foods are “high in healthy components or nutrients.” Just over half of them believed that one of the top three most important characteristics of healthy foods is that they are “free from artificial ingredients, preservatives, or additives.”
Researchers were somewhat disappointed at some of the survey results. Many respondents were unaware that unsaturated fats, such as those found in nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils, are considered healthy foods. About 50 percent of the respondents age 65 and older defined unsaturated fats as healthy, and only one-third of respondents ages 18 to 34 gave the same answer. The majority of older respondents also correctly identified saturated fats as unhealthy.
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