Diet Bytes August 2005

By Dietitian, Juliette Kellow BSc RD

Protein power

When low carbohydrate diets like the Atkins diet were at the peak of their popularity, the big question was ‘how can you lose weight when you can eat as much meat, cheese, cream and butter as you like?!’

Recent studies have helped solve this mystery by showing that like any other dieter, Atkins dieters eat fewer calories, and so lose weight. This seems to be at least partly because the high protein content of the diet helps suppress appetite.

Another reason is the rigid rules and lack of variety – how much meat can you really eat, butter and cream isn’t the same without some bread, pasta, or potatoes to put it on, no sugar means snacks and ‘afters’ are less more-ish.

Back to protein. An increasing number of studies suggest that having a higher intake of protein-rich foods such as lean meat, fish, chicken, tofu and low fat dairy foods can help people feel fuller sooner, so eat fewer calories over the day. The good news is that this benefit was found with more balanced diets, rather than extreme low carbohydrate diets.

More research is needed before clear recommendations can be made, but as a first step, and for good nutrition, make sure you include a protein-rich food at each meal with a total of 3 servings of milk and dairy foods over the day (see Milk, Calcium and Weight Loss and Eat Eggs for Weight Loss for more information).

For example at breakfast your protein-rich food could be a pot of yogurt, milk on cereal or an egg, light soft cheese, beans or peanut butter on toast. Then say, meat, fish, egg or houmous in a lunchtime sandwich. Protein-rich foods tend to naturally form a part of main evening meals, but if having pasta take care not to have it with just a tomato sauce. Include protein-rich ingredients such as tuna, chicken, pulses or ham and to keep calories in check serve yourself a bit less pasta - and enjoy it with a crisp green salad.

Every pound makes a difference to osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a form of arthritis where cartilage in the joints slowly deteriorates, leading to inflammation, swelling, pain and stiffness.

One of the key risk factors that we can have control over, for the development and worsening of osteoarthritis of the knee, is being overweight. Therefore people with knee arthritis are advised to achieve a healthier weight and be more active. Activity (to suit their abilities) helps to keep the joints mobile as well as keep weight in check.

And it seems that just losing a modest amount of weight could make a real difference.

Research published in the medical journal Arthritis & Rheumatism found that for every pound of weight lost, there is a four-fold decrease in the amount of pressure exerted on knee joints during day to day activities.

The researchers recommend more long-term research to see if weight loss will actually slow down the worsening of the condition, but are encouraged that losing a modest of weight could make a real difference to people’s symptoms and well-being.

WLR says

Osteoarthritis can be a painful and debilitating condition and in the UK affects around 8 out of 10 people over 50 to some extent. It can involve all joints of the body, but is most commonly found in the fingers, knees, hips and spine.

Risk factors include obesity, past joint injuries, being older, and being female – knee and hand osteoarthritis are especially more common amongst women. It also tends to run in families.

As with all things, prevention is better than cure, so looking after our weight, being as active as we can and enjoying a healthy fruit and veg-rich diet can help our health in many ways, including reducing our risk of this common health problem.

Trust me, I’m a doctor!

Around this time last year, 100 doctors signed up to the British Medical Association’s weight-loss challenge.

It was part of a World Medical Association initiative to not only help motivate overweight medics to shape up, but help them gain more insight into what losing weight is really like for the patients they advise to drop the pounds for their health’s sake.

A year of ‘dieting’ and exercise resulted in a reasonably impressive average weight loss of 8.7kg (1st 5lb). But like everyone, some clearly found it harder going than others with one doctor losing 7 stone over the year, with others gaining or losing just a little.

WLR says

This is great to see as so many different health professionals often lack understanding about what it is really like for their patients/clients to control their weight once they leave the consulting room and head back to the reality of their busy lives in a food-filled society.

Supplementary benefits?

July saw the introduction of new European Union laws to regulate vitamin and mineral supplements.

The legislation, which was approved three years ago, has established a list of vitamins and minerals that may be used in food supplements and lays down criteria relating to labelling to ensure that consumers are better informed about their contents. The measures are designed to protect the public’s health and to enable approved supplements to be sold throughout the EU.

Under the new rules, which start on 1 August, only food supplements on the approved list may go on sale.

However, any products that were already on the market before July 2002 will be given a four-year extension, provided that the manufacturer has already made an application to go on to the approved ‘list’. As a result, UK based manufacturers have submitted around 500 applications to the Food Standards Agency.

(Click here for a list of ingredients likely to be banned)

Despite concerns about how the new rules will restrict availability, in practice most vitamin and mineral supplements currently on the shelf will not need to be removed or changed as a result of this directive.

WLR says

This new law is a very welcome development, despite what some critics might say. It will ensure that the products available are safe, can offer some benefit, are clearly labelled and are in doses that are backed up by thorough scientific evidence.

Vitamins and minerals are vital to life, but does taking high doses mean better health?

In some cases we know that taking high doses over a long period can actually harm health, and in many cases we just don’t know what the effects might be. So some level of regulation is all about protecting the public’s health not simply denying them choice.

This new law has been further supported by a number of important studies that came out in July. One showed that high doses of vitamin E have no proven benefit in reducing the risk of health problems such as heart disease and cancers. While another found that high doses of vitamin C do not prevent the common cold.

A further study in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that there is good evidence to show that certain diet patterns such as eating plenty of fruit, veg and whole grains are linked to reducing the risk of diseases such as cancer and heart disease. But providing people with supplements to mimic the beneficial nutrients in these foods such as vitamin E, or beta-carotene has failed to provide the benefits that eating healthy food does.

In other words, a pill can’t provide the multitude of nutrients and beneficial goodness found in real food.

Some groups of people will benefit from vitamin and mineral supplements, for example people on a restricted diet; women planning pregnancy are advised to take 400mcg folic acid daily to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida; housebound people benefit from a vitamin D supplement.

Overall, the clear message is that for most of us, a healthy, balanced diet is the best way to meet nutritional needs and promote optimal health.

For more information visit:

Food Standards Agency

For more information on the use of supplements visit the British Dietetic Association’s Food Facts centre – and click on ‘Nutritional Nirvana – a pill for every ill’

Is aspartame still safe?

Aspartame, the artificial sweetener found in many of our favourite ‘no added sugar’ foods, hit the headlines again in July. A new study in Italy raised questions about a possible link between aspartame and some forms of leukaemia.

As a result the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has announced that it will review the evidence ‘as a matter of high priority’.

Meanwhile, it is useful to know that a comprehensive review of the safety of aspartame was carried out in the UK in 2002 and concluded that there was no need to change the current regulations on its use. The Food Standards Agency has said it will be looking carefully at the results of the EFSA review, which is expected to take a number of months.

Like many food additives, the safety assessment for aspartame has led to the setting of an Acceptable Daily Intake, or ADI. This is an estimate of the amount of an additive that could be routinely consumed every day over a lifetime with no appreciable health risk. In the case of aspartame, an adult would have to consume 14 cans of a sugar-free drink every day before reaching the ADI, assuming the sweetener was used in the drink at the maximum permitted level.

There is one very small group of people who cannot safely consume aspartame. They have the rare, inherited disease phenylketonuria (PKU), and as a result are unable to metabolise the amino acid phenylalanine (which is one of the building blocks of aspartame) effectively.

Read the Food Standards Agency report

Read Diabetes UK’s statement

Is computer use linked to overweight in teenagers?

Using the computer, playing computer and video games, and watching television are now part of children’s and teenagers’ everyday life. Because they involve sitting they have also been earmarked as one of the factors behind the rise in the number of overweight children in the UK.

However, not all of these games deserve this bad reputation according to a new study carried out amongst over 6500 teenagers in Finland. While spending more time watching the telly or using the computer (for email, writing or surfing) was linked to being overweight, playing digital games (with a computer, video or console) wasn’t.

The researchers suggest playing digital games is a more active pursuit than TV or surfing, or it may be that teenagers who like digital games tend to have lifestyles that reduce their risk of being overweight.

WLR says

One great example of a fun console game to keep the kids (and parents!) active are the interactive dance mats. Even a bit of karaoke will keep them moving and socialising.

With the summer holidays here it can be easier to get them out of the house so don’t forget old time favourites like frisbees, swing ball, hula hoops, skipping, hopscotch and rounders. Not to mention a family bike ride or walk in the park.

Studies suggest that active parents have active kids, so as for so many things, being a good role model will be a great help to you your kids.

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