Here’s to a Healthier Year: IFIC’s Tips for Staying on Track With Nutrition-Related New Year’s Resolutions

The new year always presents an opportunity for reflection and a look ahead, particularly when it comes to behaviors and patterns related to our health and nutrition. In fact, according to IFIC’s 2021 COVID-19 and the Holidays Survey, 44% of Americans intended to make a New Year’s resolution in 2022 related to what they ate and drank. Among those who intended to make this type of change, the most popular resolutions were “eating less sugar” (with 45% saying so), “losing weight” (44%), and “improving the healthfulness of my diet” (38%). Whether your upcoming resolutions reflect those listed above, or whether you intend to make food-related changes in other areas, one of the most important parts of creating any resolution is making sure that you are setting yourself up for success. Here are some SMART-goals-inspired tips that can help you feel more confident in making a nutrition-related resolution—and sticking to it. By implementing some SMART-goal-inspired tips, you can help set up yourself for success in meeting your New Year’s resolution. And remember, you should feel excited about your resolutions! – they should challenge you, but they shouldn’t be a huge additional stressor, either.

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Labs or Plants: Which Makes the Best Meat?

In the past year, our consumer research has explored peoples’ perceptions of environmentally sustainable and healthy diets and what they might mean for protein consumption. We’ve also seen an uptick in interest in alternative eating patterns, including a plant-based food diet and the flexitarian diet. These and other alternative eating patterns have led to an increased interest in consuming alternative meat products (e.g., “meat” made from vegetables). Variations of meat alternatives that have been around for years typically use ingredients such as soy, gluten and textured vegetable protein. More unusual alternative ingredients include tempeh, jackfruit, lentils, quinoa, mushrooms and more. What if you could still enjoy animal-based meat products without causing harm to animals and the environment? To meet this desire, food scientists are working to bring cultured meat (also known as “lab meat” because it is produced in a facility) to a grocer or restaurant near you. As consumers are committing to eating healthier—both for themselves and the planet—environmentally sustainable diets consisting of meat alternatives and/or plant-based meat products are becoming increasingly popular. Let’s take a closer look at the latest innovations in alternative protein production. Cell-cultured meat: if you grow it, they will come? Cultured meat goes by many names: cell-based meat, cell-cultured meat, lab-grown meat and “clean” meat. At the end of the day, all these designations refer to the same thing: growing a full piece of meat from animal cells in a lab. As we previously have discussed, these meat cells start from animal stem cells, a specific type of cell that can give rise to many other kinds of cells. After the stem cells are harvested, they are incubated in a nutrient-rich broth. Cells multiply, divide and begin development into muscles cells. After a time, these cells will start to rearrange themselves into small fibers, […]

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How To Stock Your Fridge Like a Pro

The refrigerator is the heart of a modern kitchen. It’s where we store many different foods in order to maintain their quality and freshness, prolong their shelf life and decrease the risk of foodborne illness. But have you ever considered the logic behind how you organize the items in your refrigerator? Where you store certain foods and drinks can matter quite a bit, since various sections of a fridge experience temperature a little differently. (For the record, the temperature of your refrigerator should be set to 40°F or below. You can adjust it using the thermostat on the inside.) For example, the temperature of the fridge door shelves fluctuates due to frequent opening and closing. In contrast, the inner shelves of the fridge are best able to maintain a stable, cold temperature. And those crisper drawers we tend to forget about? They can have a low or high humidity level, which is an especially good feature for certain kinds of produce. We spend a lot of money on the food that goes into a fridge’s storage units, and optimizing the organization of your fridge can help minimize food waste and help keep your food safe. But not every food should be stored in the same way. Let’s take a look at how best to store certain foods. Fruits and vegetables Fruits and vegetables tend to have the shortest shelf life of all the items in your refrigerator (some are in their prime for just one to three days!), so utilizing a crisper drawer is a good idea for these foods. A crisper drawer has a different humidity level than the rest of the fridge, which can optimize freshness for produce. Typically, if you have two crisper drawers, it’s best to set one to high humidity and one to low humidity, […]

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Beans and Biotech: Why Soybeans Are the Stars of Genetically Modified Foods

GMOs (genetically modified organisms) continue to be a hot topic in the food space, and soybeans are a particularly large part of that conversation since they make up a significant portion of GMOs grown in the United States. As people seek to know more about where their food comes from, what it contains, and how it was farmed, it’s essential to understand what it means for a food to be genetically modified. Soybeans are a great way to define and illustrate genetic modification, which is sometimes called bioengineering, because they are versatile crops, are frequently used in processed foods, and are a large player in the plant-based movement—a continued focus of consumers in the new year. Genetic modification can help farmers and consumers Consumers sometimes attribute GMO foods to a lack of sustainability and safety, but these foods represent the exact opposite. GMOs have been highly researched and analyzed for safety and are deemed safe for consumption in the U.S. Scientific evidence shows they do not have any adverse effects when eaten. In addition, GMO crops are beneficial in farming practices, as they can help increase crop yields and reduce pesticide use. Farmers choose to use GMOs as time- and labor-savers on their end; in addition, there are both economic and environmental benefits to using GMO crops. How does bioengineering work? Bioengineering can be done in a few different ways, but the basic idea is that the DNA (the genetic code of an organism) of the targeted crop is changed slightly. In most cases, GMO foods are engineered to have new genes added that can give the crops specific traits, such as resistance to herbicides and/or pests. Soybeans in particular are typically modified through this method. Inserting specific genes into soybeans improves the plant by making it stronger and more […]

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Bread Science and Black History: The Innovations of Joseph Lee

Bread is the proverbial stuff of life—a staple food in many households throughout ancient and modern history. Today, we encounter bread when we make a sandwich, eat a salad with croutons, or enjoy it as an accent on a delicious charcuterie board (we love a good baguette!). With the variety of breads that are now widely available in supermarkets, farmers’ markets, and bakeries, we can enjoy a plethora of tastes and textures to suit our day-to-day preferences. But if you’ve ever considered the bread-baking techniques that yield your desired loaf, you likely haven’t connected them with Black history. Let’s shed some light on a segment of rich history of Black food production innovators in the U.S.—in particular, the story of Joseph Lee, a bread-production pioneer and recently inducted member into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. It all started with a recipe—and kneading There are hundreds of different types of bread today, but most recipes have evolved to require four basic ingredients: flour (of which there are many different types), water, yeast, and salt. Joseph Lee, born in 1849 in Charleston, South Carolina, knew these ingredients well due to the many years he spent cooking and baking in restaurants and the hospitality industry in the late 1800s—which culminated in the opening of his own catering company and restaurant (a major feat for the son of former slaves). Over his many years of bread-baking, Lee observed the importance of kneading the dough to deliver consistent loaves at a large scale. Today’s researchers have observed that kneading dough promotes the “homogeneous mixing of all the ingredients, the hydration of the flour constituents, the phase transitions that involve proteins and amorphous starch, the development of the gluten network, and the inclusion of air bubbles, giving a viscoelastic dough as a result.” That may […]

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Your Mindful Eating Resource

Mindful eating is a dietary practice that emphasizes intentionality and awareness while eating, with a goal to develop a healthier relationship with food. In 2022, “mindful eating” was added to the list of options consumers could choose from to answer the Food and Health survey question, “Have you followed any specific eating pattern or diet at any time in the past year?” Mindful eating (14% had tried it over the past year) ranked second only to clean eating (16%) as the most popular diet or eating pattern. We’ve rounded up all our resources on mindful eating, including consumer research, articles, infographics and videos. Find mindful eating data in these resources: 2022 Food and Health Survey Results: A Focus on Eating Patterns 2022 Food and Health Survey 2021 Food and Health Survey 2020 Food and Health Survey 2019 Food and Health Survey Mindful eating resources Your Guide to Mindful Eating [Fact Sheet] The Science Behind Mindful Eating We Took a Mindful Eating Challenge and Here’s What Happened. Mindful Eating Checklist: How To Master Mindful Eating News Bite: 3 Ways to Practice Mindful Eating During Race Season A Mindful Approach to Eating During the Holidays Mindful and Intuitive Eating: The Perfect Pair Four Tips for Eating Healthy Without Going on a Diet 3 Ways Mindfulness Can Help Reduce Food Waste Learn How To Eat Mindfully with the “Eat-Mojis” [Infographic] Mindful Snacking [Infographic] How to Eat Out Mindfully [Infographic] The Benefits of Mindful Eating: Video 6 Tips for Mindful Eating: Video Mythbusting Monday Reel: The Difference between Mindful and Intuitive Eating Intuitive eating resources The Science Behind Intuitive Eating A Day in the Life of Intuitive Eating Can Intuitive Eating Work For Me? Intuitive Eating Misconception: Does Anti-Diet Mean Anti-Health? A New Health Option for the New Year: The Non-Diet Approach Say Farewell […]

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Taking a Look at Regenerative Agriculture

According to IFIC’s 2022 Food and Health Survey, 43% of consumers want to purchase food and beverages that were produced in a way that minimizes carbon footprint/climate impact. Climate change is affecting all our favorite foods—from avocado toast to acai bowls—and how farmers grow food matters more now than ever. One way farmers are improving their food-growing game is regenerative agriculture, or “regenerative ag,” a farming practice with the lofty goal of not just slowing, but actually reversing, climate change. This concept likely does not come up in many everyday conversations, thus knowing more about what regenerative farming is can held shed some light on how many of our favorite foods reach our markets via regenerative ag practices. Regenerative ag is all about “holistic land management,” meaning farmers employ techniques that give back to the land rather than take away. Practices are focused on building up high-quality soil, retaining rainwater, improving the water cycle, increasing biodiversity, and promoting both human and animal welfare. One way farmers can accomplish much of this effort is by working in sync with carbon, one of life’s most important elements. This fundamental element makes up all living things, including the building blocks of our food—carbohydrates, protein, and fat wouldn’t exist without carbon. Plants especially love carbon; they take it from the atmosphere and the soil to grow and produce nutrients. Carbon-rich soil not only nourishes plants, but also creates resilient soil that can retain water during a drought, doesn’t erode as quickly, and provides ample nutrition to growing plants. Carbon is important since it sustains all life, but when released into the atmosphere it can form the harmful greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and directly contribute to atmospheric warming and climate change. Capturing carbon from the atmosphere into the soil, a process called carbon sequestration, simultaneously pulls carbon dioxide out of the air and […]

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What is Regenerative Agriculture?

Climate change is affecting all our favorite foods—from avocado toast to acai bowls—and how farmers grow food matters more now than ever. One way farmers are improving their food-growing game is regenerative agriculture, or “regenerative ag,” a farming practice with the lofty goal of not just slowing, but actually reversing, climate change. Less than a quarter of participants in the International Food Information Council’s 2019 Food and Health Survey stated they were familiar with this term, so let’s dig in to some more details about regenerative ag practices and their farming impacts! Regenerative ag is all about “holistic land management,” meaning farmers employ techniques that give back to the land rather than take away. Practices are focused on building up high-quality soil, retaining rainwater, improving the water cycle, increasing biodiversity, and promoting both human and animal welfare. One way farmers can accomplish much of this effort is by working in sync with carbon, one of life’s most important elements. This fundamental element makes up all living things, including the building blocks of our food—carbohydrates, protein, and fat wouldn’t exist without carbon. Plants especially love carbon; they take it from the atmosphere and the soil to grow and produce nutrients. Carbon-rich soil not only nourishes plants, but also creates resilient soil that can retain water during a drought, doesn’t erode as quickly, and provides ample nutrition to growing plants. Carbon is important since it sustains all life, but when released into the atmosphere it can form the harmful greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and directly contribute to atmospheric warming and climate change. Capturing carbon from the atmosphere into the soil, a process called carbon sequestration, simultaneously pulls carbon dioxide out of the air and transfers it to the soil for nourishing. Many farmers are adopting carbon sequestering techniques because of this dual […]

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