Even ‘Healthier’ Fast Food Meals Still Have Too Much Fat and Salt

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By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, April 6, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Popular restaurants have cut calories in children’s meals and are offering some healthier side dishes, such as fruits and vegetables, a new study reports.
But, the researchers added, while these restaurants appear to be making some progress in providing lower-calorie menu options, the meals are still packed with too much salt and fat.
“The industry has started to make some changes, but it’s focusing mostly on calories. Improvements are needed to consistently offer healthier combinations,” said study co-author Christina Economos. She is an associate professor at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition in Boston.
The investigators looked at online nutrition information for children’s meal options in 2014. The research included the 10 most popular fast-food outlets: Arby’s, Burger King, Chik-Fil-A, Dairy Queen, Jack-in-the-Box, KFC, McDonald’s, Sonic, Subway, and Wendy’s. It also included the 10 most popular sit-down restaurant chains: Applebee’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili’s, Denny’s, IHOP, Olive Garden, Outback Steakhouse, Red Lobster, Red Robin, and TGI Friday’s.
The study focused on the numerous combinations that children could create from the options for their meals at each restaurant. For example, a burger and fries could come with a variety of soft drink options.
According to the results, 72 percent of fast-food meals and 63 percent of sit-down meals had 600 calories or less, meaning they met recommended calorie guidelines. The researchers believe these options offer fewer calories than in the past.
“We can encourage parents to look at the menus and the nutrition numbers, and try to construct meals that fall within that 600-calorie guideline,” Economos said.
However, only 32 percent of meal combinations at fast-food restaurants and 22 percent of those at sit-down restaurants met guidelines for fat, saturated fat and salt (sodium), as well as calories. In both types of restaurants, “the calorie target was most frequently met, and the sodium target the least,” the study authors reported.
The researchers declined to identify which restaurants did the best and worst. Timing is one reason, Economos said: “If we were to single out a restaurant and finger point, they may have made some changes in the last month.”
High levels of fat contribute to obesity, which is a major problem among kids in the United States. But why is salt an issue when children don’t tend to get salt-related health problems, such as high blood pressure?
“When we’re providing kids with high-sodium meals, we’re encouraging them to develop a preference for those foods,” Economos said.
“No one would want to have a lot of sodium up to age 18 and then be restricted. We need to expose kids to less sodium in their younger years so they can continue that behavior into older years,” she said.
Besides calorie counts that appear to be decreasing, there’s good news with the presence of fruit and veggies as sides in children’s meals, Economos said.
“You didn’t see them a decade ago in many of the restaurants. There’s definitely a shift happening, and we’re excited about their availability,” she added.
The study comes with several caveats, however. For example, the study didn’t look at what kids actually eat. And the study assumed the nutrition information was accurate. Plus, it didn’t include details about free add-ons such as drink refills, toppings, and dressings, the study authors said.
While more research is needed to figure out what kids order and eat, Economos said, it’s still clear that “there are healthier options out there for kids.”
So, how do parents get their kids to make better choices?
“We can eat in restaurants and still maintain a good dietary pattern, but it requires some effort to be informed,” said Dr. Robert Murray, professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University.
He recommends that families mix and match items from five groups—fruits, vegetables, grains/whole grains, dairy, and quality proteins—at each meal.
“A hamburger or cheeseburger that has lettuce or spinach, tomato or salsa, and a whole grain bun—without the other sauces, bacon, or frills that run up calories—can be easily balanced using a side of fruit or veggie, perhaps a baked rather than fried potato,” he said. “A milk or flavored milk, or iced tea, rather than soft drinks can help immensely.”
As for the big picture, Murray said “restaurants can help shape the American eating pattern toward more healthful ends by moving toward lower calorie items and smaller portions, and including more diverse entrees and nutritious sides.”
The study appears in the April issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.
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How Mindful Munching Can Help You Shed Pounds

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WEDNESDAY, April 6, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Along with diet and exercise, mindful eating may benefit overweight people trying to shed excess pounds, new research suggests.
“Mindful eating practices promote awareness of experiences related to the desire to eat, actual sensations of hunger, fullness, satisfaction and enjoyment,” study author Jennifer Daubenmier, from the University of California, San Francisco, said in a university news release.
The study included almost 200 obese adults. All of the participants followed the same diet and exercise regimen.
Half of the group was randomly assigned to also receive additional information on nutrition and exercise, as well as information on relaxation and stress management, the study authors explained.
The other half of the study group followed a program focused on “mindful eating.” This group was taught to be “present” while eating and to be aware of the thoughts and emotions related to the experience. This program also included meditation, yoga, breathing exercises, and the practice of being loving and kind to oneself and others, the researchers said.
Both groups had similar weight loss. But six months after the program ended, people in the mindfulness group had greater improvements in triglyceride levels (a type of blood fat) and “good” (HDL) cholesterol levels. The mindfulness group also had lower blood sugar levels one year later, the study found.
The researchers noted that these small improvements would reduce some of the risks of metabolic syndrome, a serious condition that increases the risk of heart disease.
“High stress levels, sedentary lifestyles and availability of inexpensive high-calorie foods mean it is easy to fall into the habit of mindless eating. We often find ourselves overeating not because we’re hungry, but because the food looks or tastes delicious, we’re distracted or we wish to soothe away unpleasant feelings,” Daubenmier said.
“Practicing mindfulness can be effective in allowing us to recognize our patterns without judging ourselves, and to make more thoughtful food choices about when, what and how much to eat in ways that are both satisfying and healthy,” she added.
The mindfulness program didn’t force participants to give up all high-calorie foods. However, it directed them to recognize cravings and allow them to pass. It also encouraged participants to savor their favorite guilty pleasures in smaller portions that wouldn’t exceed their calorie goals, the study authors said.
“Mindfulness training may promote sustained improvements in healthy eating that may contribute to better longer-term improvement in some aspects of metabolic health [when combined with a weight-loss program],” Daubenmier said
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How to Make Energizing Banana Bread With Avocados

Photo: Beth Lipton

Banana bread—it can be a sugar bomb thinly disguised as healthy food, or an energizing breakfast or snack that helps fuel your day.
We set out to make the latter, a loaf that’s grain free for the Paleos, contains no refined sugar, and is chock full of healthy fats to keep you sated and make your skin glow. Our secret ingredient? Avocados. They give this loaf a moist texture and tons of fiber and nutrients.
This bread by itself isn’t sweet like traditional banana bread. If you want it to taste like a treat, fold some mini dark chocolate chips into the batter, or slather a slice with a chocolate nut butter spread like Nocciolata or Justin’s Chocolate-Hazelnut Butter, or some all-fruit jam. If you prefer a slice on the savory side, eat it on its own or spread on a bit of butter or cream cheese.
Any way you slice it, you’ll love this modern take on a classic.

Avocado-Banana Bread

Yield: 1 8-inch loaf
1 ½ cups almond meal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
8 oz. avocado, halved, pitted, flesh scooped out (about ¾ cup flesh)
2 medium ripe bananas (about 13 oz.), sliced
3 Tbsp. coconut oil, plus more for pan
2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 large egg
½ cup chopped nuts, unsweetened coconut or chocolate chips, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8-inch loaf pan with coconut oil.
2. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a food processor, process avocado and bananas until blended. Add 3 Tbsp. coconut oil, vanilla, maple syrup and egg; process just until blended. Add avocado mixture to almond mixture and stir until combined. Fold in nuts or chocolate chips, if using.
3. Spread batter in loaf pan. Bake until bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool completely.source-news.health

4 Things New Moms Don’t Need to Feel Guilty About, According to an Ob-Gyn

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As moms, we come up with countless reasons to feel guilty. (My motto as I was raising my four kids: I mother, therefore I am guilty.) But there are certain things that should never, ever cause you an ounce of guilt, including your childbirth choices, and the choices you make during your baby’s early infancy.
How do I know? As an obstetrician-gynecologist who writes extensively about natural childbirth, breastfeeding, and attachment parenting, I’ve read the scientific literature and know that it often differs dramatically from what new moms are told. Below, four instances in which feeling guilty is completely unjustified.

You had an epidural

Childbirth hurts—an unbelievable amount. Pain specialists have found that the pain of childbirth is among the worst pain a human being can experience.
What’s that you say? It’s good pain. No, there’s no such thing as good pain.
Childbirth pain is carried by the exact same nerves, along the same pathways in the spinal cord, to the same pain centers in the brain, by way of the same neurotransmitters as every other source of pain. Yes, the pain comes from a happy event, giving birth. But passing a kidney stone is also a happy event for a sufferer and you don’t notice men declining pain relief for kidney stones.
Epidurals “drug” the baby? The medication in an epidural isn’t injected into the blood stream. It bathes the nerves as they leave the spinal cord. So little of the medication gets into the mother’s blood stream that it doesn’t “drug” her. Even less crosses the placenta so it couldn’t possibly drug the baby.
Sure, epidurals like any form of pain medication carry risks, but those risks apply to the mother, not the baby, and if the mother judges the pain to be severe enough to accept the small risks associated with epidurals (like the 1% risk of spinal headache), it makes sense to accept those risks.
The pain of childbirth is empowering? Call me when they start telling men that unmedicated vasectomy is empowering.
RELATED: 16 Things You Must Know About Sex After Pregnancy

You had a C-section

Childbirth is dangerous. It is a leading cause of death among young women and the leading cause of death for babies. We’ve come a long way in preventing and managing deadly complications, but we can’t abolish all risk. Often the only thing we can decide is who—mother or baby—is going to shoulder that risk.
For example, when a baby is breech (bottom first), the risk of injury and death during childbirth is much higher than if it were positioned head first. If the mother opts to have a C-section, the additional risk to the baby disappears as mom takes on risk (from the surgery) to herself. Women who choose a C-section to protect the baby are behaving selflessly and deserve our admiration, not condemnation.
What about the harms of C-sections to babies? Most of those purported harms are either short-term breathing issues that resolve by themselves or purely speculative, like claims that a C-section can disturb an infant’s gut microbiome (the population of bacteria that lives in the digestive tract). We don’t yet know what constitutes a normal gut microbiome in infants, let alone what a disrupted microbiome looks like.

You stopped breastfeeding (or never started in the first place)

The biggest risk of infant formula comes from making it with contaminated water. In countries with clean water, that risk disappears.
How about the benefits of breastfeeding? The only benefits supported by solid scientific evidence are fewer colds and fewer episodes of diarrheal illness across the entire population of infants.
What about claims that breastfeeding prevents obesity, allergies, and other illnesses? They’re based on evidence that is weak, conflicting, and doesn’t correct for confounding variables like maternal education and socioeconomic status. Women who are more educated and wealthier are more likely to breastfeed. Most of the claimed benefits of breastfeeding are really benefits of having more money and access to high-quality healthcare.
RELATED: Myths and Facts About Breastfeeding

You didn’t feel bonded to your baby right away

Some women feel love at first sight when they meet their future partner, but most don’t. That’s because it takes time for deep and abiding love to develop. The same is true for many mothers and their infants. Love isn’t instantaneous; it grows slowly.
Babies are not ducklings. They don’t imprint on their mothers shortly after birth. Human bonding is a long process that happens spontaneously and inevitably. Everything we know about mother-infant attachment tells us that skin-to-skin contact isn’t necessary. Breastfeeding isn’t necessary. Even being born from the body of your mother isn’t necessary (as any adoptive parent could tell you).
The reality is that being a good mother is NOT about specific parenting choices. The most critical ingredient of good mothering is love. And that love is what makes for a healthy child.
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