Well, it’s happened again and now there’s one more reason to focus on your nutrition to support your health. A major medication has been shown to have such severe or prevalent side effects that it may be taken off the market. Avandia, a widely-prescribed diabetes medication, greatly increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure, and death compared to a similar diabetes medication, Actos. Avandia has been linked to tens of thousands of heart attacks. Before that, the arthritis medication Vioxx was splashed across the headlines for raising the risk of cardiovascular disease almost three and a half times more than placebo.

This will happen again. Most medications affect the body in more ways than intended and their use should be limited whenever possible. Many people with type II diabetes (the primary users of Avandia) are able to control their blood sugar levels without medication by counting carbohydrates, exercising, and/or losing weight. Good nutrition has a profound effect on health and particularly on diabetes. Even people who ultimately aren’t able to cease their diabetes medications are able to use a lower dose because they learned to count carbohydrates. Many people with pre-diabetes (high blood sugars that aren’t yet high enough to qualify as diabetes) successfully prevent ever becoming diabetic because of their work with their dietitian or education in a diabetes class.

After the Vioxx scandal, many people successfully decreased their arthritis pain by losing weight and increasing their consumption of fruits, vegetables, and omega 3 fats (from cold-water, fatty fish) to lower inflammation.

Good nutrition affects the body in more ways than intended too. You may be focused on preventing diabetes because you have a family member with the disease, but your healthy eating and exercise are decreasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer and numerous other conditions too! What drug can do that?  Let a Registered Dietitian take the mystery out of nutrition and help you work towards a healthier you.

Brought to you by the dietitians at:                    

Nutrition Solutions

part of Washington’s Center for Health and Wellness

www.WACenterforHealth.com

500 SW 39^th St. Ste. 150

Renton, WA 98057

425-264-2568

Never eaten jack fruit? How about lotus root or bitter melon? South King County is now a great source for Asian Groceries to tantalize your taste buds. In addition to having a wide variety of foods not found in conventional grocery stores, Uwajimaya also carries many organic meats, some organic vegetables, and local whole-grain bread. Although Uwajimaya is primarily a Japanese grocery store, and Ranch 99 is primarily a Chinese grocery store, they carry a variety of international foods, like whole-wheat Indian naan.

There are many healthful Asian cooking traditions to incorporate into your diet. Like using a lot of fresh vegetables, focusing on seafood, and limiting dairy products. However, watch out for the salt. Most sauces available at Uwajimaya and Ranch 99 will be very high in salt. Soy sauce is so high in sodium (salt) that you should treat it like it is a salt shaker! Regular soy sauce typically has a whopping 900mg or more of sodium per tablespoon – more than half the daily amount recommended by The American Heart Association. A good way to reduce sodium is to use ‘low-sodium’ soy sauce and even then limit it to a teaspoon or less. Kikkoman’s “less sodium” soy sauce has 575mg of sodium per tablespoon. Using a teaspoon per serving would reduce the sodium intake to 192 mg. Better yet, tap into the other flavor traditions of Asian cuisine instead: use garlic, ginger, lemongrass, or chili peppers for delicious salt-free flavor.

Perhaps you enjoy the occasional sushi dinner, but don’t have time for restaurant style sushi.  Uwajimaya has to-go sushi made fresh and packaged daily.  This is also a less expensive way to get your sushi fix. Try lemon, typically served with sushi to brighten the flavor, in place of or to reduce the use of soy sauce.

Of course, all grocery stores carry both health-promoting, and health-harming products. If it looks like candy, it probably is candy and should be limited, no matter where it was imported from.

Go on a culinary adventure to Uwajimaya or Ranch 99 and re-invigorate yourself about cooking at home:

Uwajimaya

501 South Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057

Phone 425-277-1635

Ranch 99

18230 E. Valley Highway #100

Kent,WA 98032
Phone 425-251-9099

Brought to you by the dietitians at:                          

Nutrition Solutions

part of Washington’s Center for Health and Wellness

www.WACenterforHealth.com

500 SW 39^th St. Ste. 150

Renton, WA 98057

425-264-2568

Fish is often promoted as a great source of omega-3 fats, the kind that are really important for your brain, nerves, and lowering inflammation, among other things. However, eating too much fish greatly increases your exposure to mercury, heavy metals, and the toxins PCBs. Many fish species are over-fished or farmed in a way that does significant environmental damage.

Surf vs. Turf

Most of the fresh salmon sold in U.S. supermarkets today is actually farm-raised instead of caught in a body of water. There are some concerns about farm-raised fish. Farmed fish are treated with antibiotics and pesticides because they live in close-proximity to each other, a situation that allows disease to flourish. Unfortunately, even wild fish living near the fish farm appear to become sicker because of the excess pathogens in the shared water. Another problem is that farmed fish often contain higher levels of toxins than wild versions because of what they are fed.

You may be surprised to learn that farmed salmon are fed a synthetic color because they normally get their pink coloring from eating carotenoids in the wild. The pharmaceutical company allows the aquafarmer to choose the exact color their salmon flesh will be.

So what should you do?

Definitely eat fish, but limit it to 3 servings a week. Choose fish that are wild, a good source of omega 3 fats, and low in toxic contamination, like:¹

• King salmon
• Sockeye salmon
• Coho salmon
• Canned pink salmon
• Canned mackerel (except king)
• Anchovies

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has created a great pocket-guide for responsible eaters. It identifies which fish are sustainably fished, which are fished or farmed in a way that hurts marine life, and notes which ones have high levels of mercury. Get the pocket guide or mobile phone app here: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx

See The American Heart Association web page for fish consumption recommendations.  They also list omega-3 and mercury levels of selected fish. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3013797

If you are a sport fisher, check out local advisories and get information about the quality of the lake you are fishing in. Lakes can have high levels of PCB contamination. Washington State provides information about fishing in the King County area here: http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/oehas/fish/rma10.htm

¹ G. Mateljan. World’s Healthiest Foods. George Mateljan Foundation. Seattle, WA, 2006. Page 880.

Brought to you by the dietitians at:                    

Nutrition Solutions
part of Washington’s Center for Health and Wellness
www.WACenterforHealth.com
500 SW 39^th St. Ste. 150
Renton, WA 98057
425-264-2568

Can’t find organic apple sauce, grass-fed beef, or dairy-free ice cream at your local grocery store? How about raw nuts, quinoa, or low-salt bean soup? Here are some of our favorite stores in South King County that provide an abundance of healthy food choices. 

Health Foods Stores

• Nature’s Market – 26011-104th Ave. SE, Kent, WA 98030, (253) 854-5395
• Minkler’s Green Earth – 125 Airport Way South, Renton, WA 98057, (425) 226-7757
• Marlene’s Market and Deli – 2565 S. Gateway Center PL, Federal Way, WA 98003, (253)839-0933

Trader Joe’s

• 15868 1st Ave S, Burien, WA 98148, 206-901-9339
• 1758 S 320th St, Federal Way, WA 98003, 253-529-9242

Fred Meyers – has a great health food section 

• 365 Renton Center Way SW, Renton, WA 98057, (425) 204-5200
• 17801 108th Ave SE, Renton, WA 98055 (425) 235-5350
• 10201 SE 240th St, Kent, WA 98031, (253) 859-5500
• 25250 Pacific Hwy S, Kent, WA 98032, (253) 946-7400
• 16735 SE 272nd St, Covington, WA 98042, (253) 639-7400
• 801 Auburn Way N, Auburn, WA 98002, (253) 931-5550

Brought to you by the dietitians at:                    

Nutrition Solutions
part of Washington’s Center for Health and Wellness
www.WACenterforHealth.com
500 SW 39^th St. Ste. 150
Renton, WA 98057
425-264-2568

Eating nutritious food takes a little more work than picking up food from a drive-through. You have to grocery shop, chop some vegetables, and wash some pots and pans. If you don’t enjoy cooking, or have a busy life, it helps to get periodically jazzed about the profound impact nutrition has on your health, community, and planet.

Here are some of our favorite multi-media ways to re-invigorate ourselves to do the extra work to provide quality, nutritious meals to take care of ourselves and our families:

• The TV series “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” – Celebrity Chef Jamie Oliver passionately reveals and then tackles the problems in the school lunches. He fights to get people eating real food instead of processed food. http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

• Michael Pollan’s books, such as “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”, “In Defense of Food,” and “Food Rules” – Journalist Pollan tackles the spectrum of food issues from counter-intuitive farm subsidies to industrialized organic food production. His books are compelling manifestos for getting back to basics with food.

• The Movie “Super Size Me” – Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock goes on a McDonalds’-only diet for 1 month in which he agrees to supersize any meal when it is offered. Viewers follow his journey of weight gain and worsened health. While conducting this personal experiment, Spurlock investigates the food culture in America through its schools, corporations, and politics with interviews of regular people and health experts. 

• Your local Farmer’s Market – Talk to the people who grow your food! Did you know that much of the food in our grocery stores has traveled three thousand miles to get there?  Farmer’s Markets are a great way to explore new vegetables you’ve never heard of and get the freshest, most nutrient-dense food when it is in season. Find out more about the Renton and Kent Farmer’s Markets here: http://www.rentonfarmersmarket.com/ http://www.kentfarmersmarket.com/

• Join a CSA – CSA stands for “Community-Supported Agriculture.” You buy a share from a local organic farm. Once a week during the harvesting season (mainly summer), a box of the freshest, most nutrient-dense produce is delivered to a local area for you to pick up. This is a delicious way to force yourself to eat a large quantity of produce each week. Find out more about CSA’s that deliver to our area: http://www.boistfortvalleyfarm.com/ http://www.whistlingtrainfarm.com/

Brought to you by the dietitians at:   

Nutrition Solutions
part of Washington’s Center for Health and Wellness
www.WACenterforHealth.com
500 SW 39th St. Ste. 150
Renton, WA 98057
425-264-2568 

Why is there continuing controversy over whether organic foods are healthier than conventionally-grown foods? Because not all organic foods are considered healthful. A pesticide-laden apple is still a healthier choice than an organic donut. But let’s focus on why you should spring for an organic apple instead…

Less Bad
When you eat organic food, you are ingesting fewer pesticides, heavy metals, and solvents. Many pesticides have been classified as potentially cancer-causing by the National Institutes of Health. Heavy metals such as lead and mercury damage the nervous system, lower IQ, and are linked to diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Solvents lower immunity so that the body has a harder time fighting off infections. The Environmental Working Group found that people who eat five fruits and vegetables a day from the top 12 most heavily contaminated types of produce consume an average of 10 different pesticides a day! Compared to most areas of health, there isn’t a lot of research on organic foods, but what has been done deserves attention.

A fascinating study of school children investigated residues of two major pesticides.¹ These pesticides are restricted from use in homes but used in farming. The children, aged 3-11 years old, had their levels of these pesticides measured while eating their usual diets, and then after they switched to an all organic similar diet for 5 days. The children’s pesticide levels fell to almost undetectable levels immediately after beginning the organic diet. Why avoid these pesticides? Organophosphates are used to poison the nervous system of pests, but in high enough concentrations they harm human nervous systems too. Children, with small bodies and growing brains are more susceptible to damage from these toxins.

More Good
Not only do organic foods have lower levels of toxins, but there is some evidence that they have higher levels of nutrients.

A review of 34 studies that compared the nutrients in organic and conventionally-grown food found that organic food had better protein quality, more vitamin C in over half of the studies, and 5-20% higher levels of most minerals.²

A recent study of chickens found that those fed organic food had less weight gain than the group fed identical conventional food even though the calorie intake was the same.  The animals fed organic feed also had better immune system responses.³

Another study showed that feeding chickens organic food vs. the identical conventionally-grown food changed how the genes in their digestive tracts turned on.⁴ This study has fascinating implications about how the toxins on food affect health. You’ve probably heard how important genetics are to our health, but don’t forget that our genes are a blue print for how our bodies operate. Which instructions get turned on and used can be just as important as the genes we were born with.

Show Me the Money
The Environmental Working Group produces a great resource called the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and the ‘Clean 15’. They test produce to determine which kinds have the most pesticide residues and which have the least, so that you can spend those extra dollars wisely. Get the guide here and put it in your wallet: http://www.foodnews.org/EWG-shoppers-guide-download-final.pdf

Laws
In the U.S., food can be labeled as “organic” or have the USDA Organic Seal on it if 95% or more of its ingredients are organic. Food with at least 70% organic ingredients can list the organic ingredients on the front of the package. “Organic” food means that it is free of most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetically modified organisms, antibiotics, growth hormones, artificial ingredients, irradiation, and fertilizers made from human sewer sludge. There are additional regulations about how long the farm land has to be free of these contaminants before it can claim to produce organic food.⁵  

Brought to you by the dietitians at:                    

Nutrition Solutions
part of Washington’s Center for Health and Wellness
www.WACenterforHealth.com
500 SW 39^th St. Ste. 150
Renton, WA 98057
425-264-2568

References:

1. Lu C, Toepel K, Irish R, et al. Organic diets significantly lower children’s dietary exposure to organophosphorus pesticides. Environ Health Perspect. 2006 Feb;114(2):260-3.
2. Worthington V. Effect of agricultural methods on nutritional quality: a comparison of organic with conventional crops. Altern Ther Health Med. 1998 Jan;4(1):58-69.
3. Huber M, van de Vijver LP, Parmentier H, et al. Effects of organically and conventionally produced feed on biomarkers of health in a chicken model. Br J Nutr. 2010 Mar;103(5):663-76. Epub 2009 Oct 28.
4. de Greeff A, Huber M, van de Vijver L, et. al. Effect of organically and conventionally produced diets on jejunal gene expression in chickens. Br J Nutr. 2010 Mar;103(5):696-702. Epub 2009 Dec 8.
5. USDA Organic Standards http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop

 
Further Reading: World’s Healthiest Foods
http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=faq&dbid=17#Health

Have you noticed that fast food joints and chain restaurants now have certain nutrition information posted on their menus and drive-in boards? This is due to a regulation by the King County Board of Health. Other cities and counties across the U.S. have similar menu labeling laws. Why do we need to see the nutrition numbers when ordering? This information is crucial for helping people lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and control blood sugars. And the information may surprise you. Try answering this question from King County’s website:

Which item at McDonald’s has the MOST calories? (see the bottom of the article for the answer)

A. A Big Mac
B. Two Egg McMuffins
C. A large chocolate shake
D. Four regular hamburgers

In King County, chain restaurants are required to provide calorie, saturated fat, carbohydrate and sodium information to customers. Fast-food restaurants only have to put the calories on the menu boards in a font size and typeface similar to the prices, in a sign next to the menu board, or on a sign in the ordering line. They must have the saturated fat, carbohydrates and sodium content available in a clearly visible hand-out where the customer places their order. Full-service restaurants must include all the information on the menus in at least nine-point font. Otherwise, they can provide it in a menu insert, in a menu appendix, in a supplemental menu, or an electronic kiosk so long as the menu page states where to get the information. Restaurants with fewer than 15 locations, or meet certain other guidelines, are exempt from the regulations because it is considered too much of a burden on their business.

With the new federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, menu items at chain restaurants will be required to have nutrition labeling. All restaurant chains across the nation with 20 or more outlets will have to post calorie counts on their menus and drive-through signs. Vending machines will also be required to have nutrition labels. It isn’t yet known when this law will go into effect or what the specific regulations will be. The new national legislation will override many existing local laws, but some local governments will be able to continue to enforce their more stringent rules.

Pitfalls:
Q: Should I always choose the lowest calorie meal of the choices I am considering?
A: Not necessarily. If the low calorie meal is within 100 calories, but is significantly higher in salt or saturated fat, you should choose the slightly higher calorie meal.

Q: Fish is healthy, but is it still a better choice if it is deep-fried?
A: The reason fish is healthier is because it is lower in the “bad fats” and higher in the “good fats”. Deep-frying covers the fish in the most unhealthy and damaged fats, so avoid it as you should avoid all fried foods.

Q: Are the numbers accurate?
A: A recent study shows that calories in restaurant food is on average almost 20% higher than the number listed on the menu! This probably occurs because restaurant work is fast-paced and food is not being measured exactly. Even with this huge discrepancy, the menu labeling provides crucial information. Almost everyone is shocked to see how high the calories, fat, and salt are in the food.

Q: What else should I know?
A: The devil is in the details. Often the stated calorie amount does not include extras, for example the ketchup (15 calories/Tbsp) and mayonnaise (90 calories/Tbsp) you add at the table to the burger. Or the fries may be “bottomless” and only the calories for the first basket are counted.

Brought to you by the dietitians at:                    

Nutrition Solutions
part of Washington’s Center for Health and Wellness
www.WACenterforHealth.com
500 SW 39^th St. Ste. 150
Renton, WA 98057
425-264-2568

Resources:

• Nutrition labeling in King County. Accessed April 23, 2010. http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/nutrition/healthyeating/menu.aspx
• Urban LE, Dallal GE, Robinson LM, et. al. The accuracy of stated energy contents of reduced-energy, commercially prepared foods.J Am Diet Assoc. 2010 Jan;110(1):116-23. 

The answer is (D) large chocolate milkshake, which has 1,160 calories.