Last week the World Health Organization (WHO)’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced that consumption of processed meat is “carcinogenic to humans (Group I ),” and that consumption of red meat is “probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A).” The report differentiates the two meats as follows: Continue reading
Category: Features
Improvements in U.S. diet lower premature deaths
A new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, published November 2, showed that while recent improvements in the U.S. diet have helped reduce disease and premature death, the overall American diet is still poor. Continue reading
2015 Dietary Guidelines will not include a focus on sustainability
The 2015 Dietary Guidelines will not include a focus on sustainability, according to a statement posted Tuesday on the USDA blog. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell wrote that sustainability – defined as evaluating the environmental impact of a food source – is beyond the scope of the […] Continue reading
How is heart disease risk affected when saturated fat is replaced by other nutrients?
In the recent Harvard Gazette article “Butter’s benefits melt away,” researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health debunk the controversy surrounding saturated fat and heart health. In a new study appearing online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, senior author Frank Hu and colleagues found that people who replace saturated […] Continue reading
Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
Eating spicy food is associated with a reduced risk for death, according to an analysis of dietary data on more than 485,000 people enrolled in a large Chinese health study from 2004 to 2008. Researchers found that compared with eating hot food (mainly chili peppers) less than once a week, once or twice a week […] Continue reading
The Healthy Eating Plate, now in Greek
The Healthy Eating Plate is now available in Greek, providing another example of how to create a Mediterranean diet. There isn’t one specific Mediterranean diet, as there are multiple countries that border the Mediterranean Sea — each with its own foods, eating patterns, and lifestyles — but there are some similarities that help define a Mediterranean eating […] Continue reading
The Healthy Eating Plate now available in other languages!
The Healthy Eating Plate — a simple, visual meal-planning guide that addresses important deficiencies in the U.S. government’s MyPlate icon—is now available in 15 languages, giving it the potential to reach over half the world’s population. Continue reading
Q&A with Dr. David Eisenberg: On self-care skills, teaching kitchens & thinking outside of the box
In his recently published article, “Nutrition education in an era of global obesity and diabetes: Thinking outside of the box,” Dr. David Eisenberg asserts that self-care skills are key in battling lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The heart of his message: Teach medical professionals about nutrition and self-care so that they will be […] Continue reading
Dietary linoleic acid and risk of coronary heart disease
Swapping saturated fat and carbohydrates for linoleic acid – the main polyunsaturated fat found in vegetable oil, nuts, and seeds – lowers risk of coronary heart disease, according to a new study by Harvard School of Public Health researchers. We talked to lead author Maryam Farvid, a visiting scientist and Takemi fellow in the Department […] Continue reading
Saturated or not: Does type of fat matter?
Saturated fat has long been considered detrimental to health, so when a recently published research paper suggested there is no evidence supporting the recommendation to limit saturated fat consumption, media outlets reported extensively on the subject. Continue reading