Nutrition 101: Prebiotics, Probiotics and the Gut Microbiome

This is the sixth installment of our “Nutrition 101” video series in partnership with Osmosis, a group that focuses on health science education, highlighting the basics of several nutrition topics. For a look back at what we’ve covered so far, watch our videos on fats, carbohydrates and sugars, hydration, low-calorie sweeteners and protein. The gastrointestinal tract is home to trillions of microbes, collectively called the gut microbiome. It was previously thought that there were about ten times as many microbial cells in our bodies as there are human cells, but more recent estimates have it at closer to a one-to-one ratio, with the balance tipped just slightly toward the microbes. In other words, it looks like we’re slightly more microbe than human! The gut microbiome is dominated by two main groups of bacteria: Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, along with much smaller numbers of Proteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Actinobacteria, and Fusobacteria. The amount and types of bacteria found in the body can vary drastically from person to person, and there’s no clear consensus as to what makes up a “healthy” human microbiome. Microbes are found throughout the gastrointestinal tract, but most are in the large intestine, or colon. And since what we eat and drink passes through our gastrointestinal tract every day, it’s no surprise that our diet affects our gut microbiome. For example, people who eat a high-fiber diet tend to have higher levels of Prevotella, and those with a diet higher in protein and fat have more Bacteroides (both Prevotella and Bacteroides are members of the Bacteroidetes group). In fact, studies have shown that even a single day of a strict animal-based diet or plant-based diet can alter the microbiome composition—but that we typically revert to our regular microbiome once our diets go back to normal. Two parts of our diet that […]

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Get the Lead Out

Spring is in the air—and so are the annual testing lab reports on everything from cars to washers and dryers and even lead in fruit juices. That report reminded me of how fortunate I am that I understand where our food comes from. With my background in Food and Nutrition Sciences, I was not shocked to know that low levels of metals—such as lead, cadmium and arsenic—are present in our day-to-day meals. As a typical science nerd, I’ve memorized every element on the classic periodic table and learned that most elements are found naturally on the earth. Elements can be solid or liquid and metals are typically seen in their solid forms. Elements Are Essential for Life My nutrition training has helped me understand how natural elements can promote good health and are critical to sustaining life. We interact with some elements more than others. Some elements help us build strong bodies and others help us build the structures and technologies that make our lives easier. In addition to commonly known elements, like oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen, there are dozens of others on the periodic table that are particularly necessary and beneficial to our health and well-being. For example, It All Starts in the Soil Plant-based foods and beverages all start in the soil. Plant life depends on the elements that are naturally present in the earth to grow. When fully grown, these plants are harvested, cleaned and sometimes processed to become the familiar foods we enjoy every day. Our bodies don’t produce every nutrient we need. We rely on our food to receive many of them. As part of their own growth process, plants take up all-natural forms of elements from the soil, air and water using their roots and stomata. Along the way, trace levels of natural metals […]

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Why Are People Juicing Their Celery?

Every day, we food-info-interested folks are bombarded by the latest food trends and off-the-wall fad diets. Many times, it’s easy to recognize unverified claims and walk away (or more accurately, close the tab or continue scrolling), but sometimes there’s an offbeat practice that just keeps popping up everywhere. The recent trend du jour is drinking large amounts of celery juice. How did a crisp, crunchy and (admittedly) often overlooked vegetable become the latest and greatest in liquid #healthy clickbait? And do any of the claims in the comments live up to reality? Let’s take a look. First of all, celery juice? Yep, you read that right. We’re talking about juicing again. Getting fruits and vegetables in drinkable form is sometimes viewed as a quick and easy way to take in vitamins and minerals while getting some hydration at the same time. Celery is mostly water, so it’s a very hydrating vegetable, and one stalk provides about 15% of our daily vitamin K needs in addition to some electrolytes, vitamin A and vitamin C. One large stalk also provides about a gram of fiber, a nutrient important for optimal digestion, among other things. But the problem with juicing is that it often removes fiber, leaving a liquid that provides some vitamins and minerals but without the feeling of fullness you’d get from eating a whole fruit or vegetable. Think about it this way: For most people, it would be next to impossible (or at the very least, uncomfortable) to eat a full head of celery in one sitting. In this case, celery juice packs the liquid from that amount of produce into one 16-ounce bottle. But there must be some redeeming health benefits, right? Well … not really. If you look through scientific literature, evidence of health benefits specific to celery—as […]

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What You Need to Know About Climate Change and Our Food

Many of us have heard the term “climate change” and may wonder what exactly it means and if it could impact the world’s food supply. Certainly, the term itself implies a change in weather patterns, so it seems logical that such changes could lead to changes in farming practices—an aspect of food production that depends heavily on weather patterns. To learn more about climate change and how it may affect food production, we caught up with Dr. Michael P. Hoffmann, executive director of the Cornell Institute for Climate Smart Solutions (part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University). What exactly is climate change? How long has it been happening, and why? Climate change has been occurring and is observed over decades. Since about the time of the Industrial Revolution (the late 1800s) humans began burning more and more fossil fuels to power factories and warm homes, and for the transportation of people and goods. This increase in fossil-fuel use led to an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mainly carbon dioxide. Today, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is over 40 percent higher than it should be. Notably, a large majority of environmental scientific experts agree that climate change is happening and that humans are the cause. Greenhouse gases are warming the atmosphere because they absorb heat radiating off the Earth’s surface. Imagine the heat radiating off a paved dark road on a hot sunny summer day. Some of that heat is absorbed by greenhouse gases and then re-radiated in all directions, essentially warming the atmosphere. Now, with these increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, there are resultant increased temperatures globally—about 2 degrees Fahrenheit. The warming of the atmosphere is called “global warming” and because of a warmer […]

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Nutrition 101 Video Series: Monosodium glutamate (MSG)

This is the seventh installment of our “Nutrition 101” video series, presented in partnership with Osmosis, a group that focuses on health science education, highlighting the basics of several nutrition topics. For a look back at what we’ve covered so far, watch our videos on  fats,  carbohydrates and sugars,  hydration, low-calorie sweeteners, protein and gut health.  Savory foods are inherently delicious—but have you ever wondered why? In 1908, a Japanese professor pondered this question when exploring what made kelp broth taste so good. He recognized a unique taste in it that was different from the four well-known tastes of sweet, sour, bitter and salty. It turns out that glutamate, an amino acid made by many plants and animals, was the source of this distinctive taste, which became known as “umami” in reference to “umai,” the Japanese word for delicious. The professor isolated glutamate from seaweed to produce a crystallized salt form of glutamate that combined one molecule of glutamate with the ion sodium to make it even tastier. This umami seasoning is still widely used today and is also known as monosodium glutamate, or MSG. Glutamate is the most abundant amino acid found in nature, and it’s one of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins in the human body. Because glutamate is synthesized as part of the normal metabolic process, it is considered a non-essential amino acid. In other words, we don’t technically need to get it from food. Our bodies synthesize about 50 grams of glutamate each day and store about 4.5 pounds of glutamate in major organs like the brain, muscles, kidneys and liver. On average we eat about 10 to 20 grams of glutamate each day, mostly from protein-containing foods like meat, cheese, nuts and legumes. Whether consumed from food or in the form of MSG, […]

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Meat and Other Novel Food Allergies

We likely all know someone allergic to peanuts, eggs, almonds or some of the other Big Eight allergens. But meat? That’s a new one. A meat allergy isn’t the only unique allergy you might run across. Cases of anaphylaxis to spices, celery, bananas and many other foods have also been reported in the past several years. Although these allergies affect a relatively small proportion of the population, they are still important to be aware of. First, let’s review allergies Before we dive into these novel food allergies, let’s recap the difference between an allergy and an intolerance. A food allergy is an immune-mediated response to a substance in foods and can be life-threatening. The immune system releases immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies in response to what it thinks is an invader, such as protein from peanuts or even peanut butter. On the flip side, an intolerance affects the digestive system and usually causes an upset stomach, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, but is typically not life-threatening. Some symptoms might overlap, which for many, can be confusing to know whether it’s a true food allergy or an intolerance. It’s important to remember that only a board-certified allergist can truly diagnose an allergy. We’ll be discussing allergies here, but an intolerance to any of these foods is also possible. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently recognizes eight major allergens (the “Big Eight”) which are responsible for ~90% of allergic reactions in the U.S.: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soybeans. FDA enforces the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) which regulates labeling of these major allergens. According to FALCPA, a food that contains any of these allergens as an ingredient must be labeled on the packaging. FDA also recognizes that more than 160 foods can and do […]

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What is Food Combining?

While most Americans eat meals with a mix of healthful nutrients, a small set of eaters are going in the opposite direction: completely separating out their food groups. They’re following a new trend known as food combining, which in its most basic form claims that the three macronutrients in our diets—carbohydrates, fat and protein—need to be eaten separately for optimal digestion. When digestive health and the microbiome are top-of-mind for so many folks, it’s easy to get pulled into a regimen promising a healthy, happy gut. But is food combining just another fad diet, or is it here to stay? First, a little history Unlike many other diet trends, food combining has a long history. It is rooted in the ancient Indian practice of Ayurvedic medicine, which is one of the planet’s oldest holistic healing practices. Ayurveda defines every food by its taste, energy (heating or cooling) and post-digestive effect, and food combinations based on these principles are essential for optimal digestion. Although food is one component of Ayurveda, this ancient way of thinking is more spiritually based than later iterations of food combining. The next historical round of food combining came from a physician named William Howard Hay who viewed and adapted the concept from a medical perspective. Popularized in the 1920s, the Hay Diet drew from Hay’s own personal experience with food and healing and had several strict guidelines to help a person achieve optimal health. Key components of the Hay Diet include: Current food combining advocates have taken principles from both Hay and Ayurveda to create appealing food combining charts under the notion that this eating pattern will heal the gut. New food combining rules keep the five Hay principles and add several others, such as that fats should not be eaten alongside proteins unless a green […]

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Coronavirus: Healthy Habits During a Pandemic

It’s hard to miss the news headlines or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updates about a wide-spreading pathogen, the coronavirus known as COVID-19. With travel restrictions rising and health officials advising the public to practice social distancing, many people are concerned about how contagious this virus is and what they can do to prevent themselves from getting sick. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), CDC, World Health Organization (WHO) and other public health authorities currently are working together to help keep the public informed and safe, but they are still investigating this new virus and its pathogenic characteristics, symptoms and rate of infection. As we continue to learn more about the person-to person spread of the new coronavirus, thoughts about best practices for safe food handling may come to mind. Let’s talk a bit more about this virus and how routine hygienic practices like handwashing are at the forefront of prevention. What is the new coronavirus? The coronavirus disease that is currently circulating is called COVID-19. The disease has now been labeled as a pandemic due to its worldwide spread and impacts. The CDC defines a pandemic as a global outbreak of disease that occurs when a new virus infects and passes between people persistently. Due to there being minimal to no pre-existing immunity among the human population against the new coronavirus, it is now spreading rapidly and exponentially worldwide. The COVID-19 virus is part of a family of other coronaviruses. These viruses can cause illness in animals and humans. The new coronavirus was first discovered during a disease outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The vast majority of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus are in mainland China. However, there are growing instances of infection on other continents and reported cases—including deaths—in the United States […]

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