Given the spattering of salt tossed on bags of potato chips it’s easy to assume that the bulk of sodium in our diets would come from that specific snack, however a recent stud by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that potato chips when combined with other salty snacks barely makes the top 10. According to the agency our biggest salt foe is actually bread.

The agency has found that 7% of the salt the average American eats each day comes from bread. The agency also discovered that while 2,300 milligrams of sodium are recommended for daily consumption we tend to consume around 3,300 milligrams.

The co-author of the research project says it’s not that we consume bread with massive amounts of sodium but rather that we consume a lot of bread on average which quickly adds up to increase our daily salt intake from that particular food.

Along with its finding about bread consumption and sodium intake the agency also discovered that the top 10 types of food we consume each day makes up 44% of our overall sodium intake. Here’s that top 10 list in order of sodium levels following bread:

2. cold cuts and cured meats
3. pizza
4. fresh and processed poultry
5. soups
6. fast-food hamburgers and sandwiches
7. cheese
8. spaghetti and other pasta dishes
9. meatloaf and other meat dishes
10. snacks like potato chips and pretzels

Are you surprised that it’s not necessarily the junk food that people consume that is leading to the highest level of sodium intake but rather our regular everyday meals?

No. 1 Source Of Salt In Our Diets Is Bread [CDC Report] is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH diet, has just been named the best diet of 2011 by U.S. News & World Report.

Deborah Enos, a certified nutritionist in Seattle said:

“While it may have started as a [blood pressure] lowering diet, it really has incredible nutritional value.”

The DASH diet, which aims to lower high blood pressure, topped the “best diet overall” list for the second consecutive year this year. The DASH diet also ranked at the top for best diet for healthy eating and the best diabetes diet. (DASH tied with the Biggest Loser diet for best diabetes diet.)

US News writes:

“DASH was developed to fight high blood pressure, not as an all-purpose diet. But it certainly looked like an all-star to our panel of experts, who gave it high marks for its nutritional completeness, safety, ability to prevent or control diabetes, and role in supporting heart health. Though obscure, it beat out a field full of better-known diets.

Fox News reports that the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes, or TLC diet, took second place for best overall diet. The Mayo Clinic diet took third place.

The LA Times reports that the Weight Watchers diet also received high marks this year. The Weight Watchers diet was voted best weight-loss diet, best commercial diet plan, and easiest diet to follow.

The best diets of 2011 were chosen by a 22-person volunteer panel that included Doctors, nutritionists, and researchers.

Have you tried the DASH diet? Do you think that it’s the best diet plan available?

DASH Diet Named Best Diet in Annual Poll is a post from: The Inquisitr

A recent study found in Chicago’s Radiological Society of North America has revealed that a low-calorie diet is capable of beating diabetes in as little as four months time.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers located in the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and examined the ardiac function and pericardial fat (the fat around the heart) in 15 patients with Type 2 diabetes.

By providing the studies seven men and eight women with a reduced diet of just 500-calories per day for four months researchers were able to closely monitor each participants body mass index (BMI) while determining when diabetes left the body.

Researchers found that the low-calorie diet reduced the amount of dangerous fats around the heart better than any available prescription medication.

According to lead researcher Sebastian Hammer:

“It is striking to see how a relatively simple intervention of a very low-calorie diet effectively cures Type 2 diabetes … Moreover, these effects are long term, illustrating the potential of this method. Lifestyle interventions may have more powerful beneficial cardiac effects than medication in these patients.”

While researcher into low-calorie dieting has yielded positive results researchers are quick to point out that such a strategy will not work for everyone and could in fact be dangerous if a doctor office consultation is not undertaken first.

Given the prevalence of type-2 diabetes in the United States this research and other similar studies could lead to a new fade in diabetes dieting.

Would you be willing to consume just 500-calories per day for four months in a row if you could eliminate your type-2 diabetes once and for all?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

Beat Diabetes In Four Months With Reduced Calorie Diet [Research] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Salt consumption is one of the areas in which those at risk of cardiovascular conditions are required to have less fun eating, and traditional wisdom long held that a reduction in salt was key in managing heart conditions and other co-morbid illnessses.

But a new study suggests that beliefs regarding salt consumption may be flawed, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not support its findings:

Dr. Peter Briss, a medical director at the centers, said that the study was small; that its subjects were relatively young, with an average age of 40 at the start; and that with few cardiovascular events, it was hard to draw conclusions. And the study, Dr. Briss and others say, flies in the face of a body of evidence indicating that higher sodium consumption can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

“At the moment, this study might need to be taken with a grain of salt,” he said.

The European study was published in JAMA, and included nearly 4,000 middle-aged Europeans without high blood pressure or cardiovascular diseases and tracked them for the better part of eight years. But what the study found was that the less salt participants consumed, the more likely they were to succumb to heart disease- “50 people in the lowest third of salt consumption (2.5 grams of sodium per day) died during the study as compared with 24 in the medium group (3.9 grams of sodium per day) and 10 in the highest salt consumption group (6.0 grams of sodium per day).” And while the biggest salt consumers had a slight increase in systolic blood pressure, there was no overall increase in hypertension.

In the New York Times piece on the study, several experts debate the feasibility of ever discovering the true impact of salt consumption, as the level of salt found in processed foods makes it nearly impossible to do long-term, controlled studies of individuals on low-sodium diets without pre-existing conditions necessitating said diets.

Wisdom of low-salt diet called into question is a post from: The Inquisitr

How have scientists not figured out that eggs hover between amazing superfood and OMG artery clogging nightmare a few times a year, considering standup comics have been making this observation for well over a decade?

Well, either way, eggs are totally on our good side again. Strangely, all the articles published or posted in the past few days over this debate seem to ignore the fact that eggs have had moments in the sun, and present findings by the USDA that eggs have 14% less cholesterol than previously believed and contain a whopping 64% more Vitamin D than once thought to be groundbreaking news.

Director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center Dr. David Katz says the USDA’s revised opinion was not news to him:

“My research focuses on ways to optimize diet quality, and I have long suspected that eliminating eggs from the diet generally has the opposite effect. In our own studies of egg intake, we have seen no harmful effects, even in people with high blood cholesterol.”

Guidelines on egg consumption levels haven’t changed- the USDA still recommends one egg a day- but USDA nutritionist Jacob Exeler, PhD, did not say if you can bank eggs over a few days so you can sometimes eat three egg omelets.

Update: We are no longer mad at eggs over cholesterol is a post from: The Inquisitr

The government has released new eating guidelines, as it does twice a decade, and it seems under the crushing weight of the obesity epidemic, the advice can be boiled down to a simple, two word set of instructions: “eat less.”

While there are some specific guidelines about what to eat in your smaller portions, the New York Times points out that the USDA has always been a bit reticent to dissuade Americans from shoving food in their collective faces due to the heavy sway held by the food lobby. A NYU nutrition expert lauds the move:

“They are blunter here than they’ve ever been before, and they deserve credit for that,” said Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University and a critic of government nutrition guidance. “They said, ‘Eat less!’ I think that’s great, and to avoid oversized portions. That’s the two best things you should do.”

The changes are many, and some are obvious, such as reducing sodium content and cutting down on trans fats. The guidelines also make the suggestion that 50% of meals be comprised of fruit and/or vegetables. Another nutritionist commented:

“Before, the dietary guidelines said eat more fruits and vegetables but that could mean add a slice of tomato to your hamburger,” she said.

Also recommended is upping your intake of whole grains in lieu of processed ones, and consuming more seafood. Nestle makes some good points in the NYT piece, but she does come off as a bit of a killjoy. After advising readers to “eat less junk food” (breakthrough!) she goes on to say:

“Cut back on cheese, hamburgers, pizza, cookies and pastries.”

Are the new USDA guidelines a step in the right direction, or are they still not enough in the land of eighty-eight cent Cheesy Beef Melts and buck McDoubles?

USDA releases ‘blunt’ new dietary guidelines, tells Americans to just eat less is a post from: The Inquisitr

A study out of Spain has linked consumption of foods high in trans-fats and saturated fats with an increased risk of depression.

The six year study at the universities of Navarra and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria tracked 12,000 people. None of the participants had been diagnosed with depression prior to the study, but at the end, 657 were sufferers.

“Participants with an elevated consumption of trans-fats (fats present in artificial form in industrially-produced pastries and fast food…) presented up to a 48 percent increase in the risk of depression when they were compared to participants who did not consume these fats,” the head study author said.

The study also looked at diets with a high percentage of “heart healthy” fats, such as olive oil or fish oils. These fats tended to be linked with a lower rate of depression in participants. The study notes that the link to depression was notable despite a relatively low presence of the “bad” fats in participants’ diets:

The report, published in the online journal PLoS ONE, noted the research was performed on a European population that enjoys a relatively low intake of trans-fats — making up only 0.4 percent “of the total energy ingested by the volunteers.”

“Despite this, we observed an increase in the risk of suffering depression of nearly 50 percent,” said researcher Miguel Martinez.

In the US, energy derived from trans fats clocks in at about 2.5%.

Trans-fats, saturated fats linked to depression is a post from: The Inquisitr

Ah those juicy morsels of chicken meat wrapped in a crispy cover just waiting to be dipped into a sauce of your choice.

Except, it’s not actually white meat they use in those nuggets and chicken burgers.

Take a close look at the image at the top of the post. That my good people is the result of what is euphemistically called mechanically separated chicken, and that is what actually goes into all those fast food chicken nuggets and burgers.

As Michael Kindt points out in the post to go along with that image:

Basically, the entire chicken is smashed and pressed through a sieve—bones, eyes, guts, and all. it comes out looking like this.

There’s more: because it’s crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.

Oh yum!

That’s pink meat, not white, in your chicken nuggets is a post from: The Inquisitr

While the evolution of trash cuisine in America can be somewhat intriguing and even drool-worthy when you care to admit it, some things are just head shakingly bad.

When Gawker posted this picture of Friendly’s Mac and Cheese Quesadilla, even I, a dedicated lover of fried chicken and bacon-on-anything- had to be sure that was what I was really looking it. Yes, the restaurant that is a favorite of kids everywhere and a pretty much culinary torture for adults has spawned this abomination, which is apparently what you non-Americans might call “Kraft Dinner” dumped into a soft tortilla and fried. You can also add a “Friendly frank” or bacon to the mix if mac and cheese wrapped in a bread product isn’t calorific enough. With a beverage and the obligatory ice cream sundae added to the calorie total, it comes in at just under 2,300 calories. For a kid.

Just for the record, kids are supposed to consume about 1,000-2,200 calories per day, based on age, size and activity level. But not at one meal. Even most fully grown adults are advised to consume around 2,000 calories a day. What do you think of the Friendly’s Mac and Cheese quesadilla? Would you feed it to your kids ever, at all? Even on National Junk Food Day?

[The Daily Beast via Gawker]

Celebrate national junk food day with a 2300 calorie mac & cheese-adilla for your kids is a post from: The Inquisitr

“Friends of the star claim she is going to extreme measures to look in top shape for her first performance on British TV screens in five years…

A source said: ‘She goes to bed hungry and is dieting so hard she’s suffering from insomnia, anxiety, flushes and shakes. ‘Her father and the people around her are trying to get her to eat more, but Britney is determined not to be criticised for having any extra bulk.’”

I wouldn’t put it past her, but don’t forget that we did see her riveting workout vid from earlier this year. I guess Starbs is still allowed!

Britney Spears Has An Extreme Diet is a post from: The Inquisitr