Taking Another Look at GMO Crops: Q&A with a Farmer

Food production practices have evolved over the years to support food availability and choices for our ever-growing population. One of the tools is biotechnology. This technique has been used for over 20 years in food production and has been scientifically proven to be a safe and effective way to support our food system. You may have previously read an article or two of ours talking about how biotechnology and GMO (genetically modified organism) crops help to decrease food waste, give multiple populations nutritious food options, and help farmers use less pesticides. But what about getting more info on GMO crops straight from the horse’s…uh, farmer’s mouth? To do so, we recently caught up with farmer Katie Pratt. Katie and her husband have a family farm in northern Illinois, where they grow 7,500 acres of corn, soybeans and seed corn (field-corn seed that can be used to grow future commercial corn crops). Q: What crops do you grow that are genetically modified? A: All our commercial corn and soybeans are genetically modified. We also grow GMO and non-GMO seed corn. Q: Why do you grow GMO crops? A: We have seen that our GMO crops require less pesticide applications. We spray our fields before planting GMO seeds for weed control, and then we won’t spray again until right before the crop canopies. After that, we don’t have to spray for weeds again. Our insecticide applications are lower on GMO crops as well. We plant some hybrid crops that are resistant to corn borer [an insect that can significantly damage corn and other grain crops]. Since the crop has the ability to fight its own battle against these pests, we don’t need to spray for these particular insects. We have been able to decrease our pesticide applications, which means we are not […]

insights

Four Heart-Healthy Snack Ideas

According to our 2024 Food and Health Survey, 73% of consumers report snacking at least once a day, which is consistent with 2022 data but represents an increase from the 58% who said the same in 2021. The 2024 survey found that 30% are seeking out heart and cardiovascular health benefits from their food choices. Let’s bridge the gap and share a few heart-healthy snacks. Nuts Nuts are full of healthy fats, including mono- and polyunsaturated fats. Research suggests that eating 1.5 ounces of most nuts per day as part of a low-saturated-fat diet may reduce the risk of heart disease. And with nuts, there are also a ton of options to meet your taste preferences: Peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, and walnuts are just a few common varieties of nuts. Nuts also pack in protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals; have a long shelf life; and are portable, making them a great on-the-go snack option. Dairy Including fat-free and low-fat dairy products in your diet is recommended for an overall healthy dietary pattern that also supports heart health. Just keep in mind that this doesn’t mean you should avoid fat altogether, especially healthy unsaturated fats like those found in vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and fatty fish. Besides milk, dairy products include yogurt, cheese, and fortified soymilk, which are sources of protein and micronutrients like calcium, potassium and vitamin D. Some go-to dairy snacks include yogurt cups, string cheese, or snack-sized milk or soymilk. Whole Grains Whole grains have been shown to promote heart health in a variety of ways, including by lowering cholesterol, blood lipid levels, and blood pressure. Studies show that individuals with three or more servings of whole-grain foods per day have a 20 to 30 percent lower risk for cardiovascular disease compared with those who have lower intakes […]

article

Emulsifiers: Mending the Differences in Our Foods

Eggs Benedict is a brunch staple, and what makes or breaks the plate is—you guessed it—the Hollandaise sauce. This personal favorite is a combination of egg yolk, butter, water, and lemon juice or vinegar, making for the ultimate emulsion. What’s an emulsion, you may ask? It’s a common component of many of the foods we eat, and while not everyone is a food scientist, there are a few interesting things you might be curious to know about emulsifiers in our food. What are emulsifiers? Emulsifiers are found in many food products we buy at the grocery store. Beverages, milk, ice cream, and dressings often feature emulsifiers as additives to keep the mixture of ingredients stable. What exactly do we mean by that? Well, have you ever tried mixing together oil and vinegar for a simple salad dressing? For a short time, the two may appear homogenously mixed, but after a few minutes they are completely separated. Emulsifiers keep two components that normally do not mix well together from separating. Because oil and vinegar are so chemically different, they can often be challenging to mix. As food scientists, if we want to overcome this challenge, we can add an emulsifier. Said in a different way? If water and oil were a fighting couple, an emulsifier would be the therapist that mends their relationship. Specifically, food scientists and producers use continuous stirring and sometimes heat to add emulsifiers to two previously unmixable components—helping to keep them together over the course of the final product’s lifetime. What foods contain emulsifiers? Emulsifiers can either be naturally present or added as additional ingredients. In the case of the highly stable emulsion of mayonnaise, an egg yolk protein called lecithin aids in stabilizing the oil, egg, and lemon juice mixture that is the foundation of mayonnaise. Lecithin […]

insights

Going Low-Fat? Here’s What Your Diet Might Be Missing

It’s no secret that low-carbohydrate diets have enjoyed the spotlight for the last several years, but another nutrient-specific diet has been on the scene for even longer: low-fat. For decades, “eating fat makes you fat” was widely viewed as a dieting mantra, tied largely to the fact that fat provides more calories per gram (nine) compared to the other macronutrients, protein and carbohydrates (which each provide four calories per gram). Though the tides have shifted in recent years and fat isn’t feared like it once was, low-fat diets are still heavily associated with weight loss and dieting culture. We’ve written about dietary fats on several occasions (and made this helpful video), but in this article, we’re taking a different approach: laying out exactly what your diet may be missing if you drastically cut back on fat. What is Fat and Why Do We Need It? Fats are an essential part of a healthy diet. They provide us with a major source of energy, help us absorb vitamins and facilitate communication between the cells in our body. Fats also contribute to our enjoyment of food by adding taste and texture, like the creaminess of ice cream or the flakiness of a pie crust. The fats we eat can be either saturated or unsaturated. Polyunsaturated (PUFA), monounsaturated (MUFA) and trans fatty acids are all considered to be unsaturated fats, which means that they have a double bond in their structure that causes a “kink” in the chain. As a result, unsaturated fats tend to be liquid at room temperature (think olive or vegetable oils) because the fatty acids can’t pack as tightly together. Saturated fats are usually solid at room temperature because their fatty acids are able to pack tightly together. They’re found in foods like butter and other dairy products, fatty […]

insights

Nutrition 101 Video Series: Fundamentals of Fats

This is the first installment of a video series highlighting the basics of several nutrition topics in partnership with Osmosis, an organization that focuses on health science education. You can view a playlist of our video collaborations with Osmosis here. Fats are an essential part of a healthy diet—they’re involved in everything from providing us with a major source of energy, to helping us absorb vitamins, to refereeing communication between the cells in our bodies. As if these health benefits weren’t enough, fats also contribute to our enjoyment of food by adding taste and texture—like the smoothness of guacamole, or the flakiness of a croissant. The Basics of Dietary Fats: Chemical Structure and Naming Dietary fats usually have a three-carbon backbone—called glycerol—attached to one or more fatty acid chains, which are basically strings of carbon and hydrogen atoms. If there are three fatty acid chains, the structure is called a triglyceride. If there are only one or two fatty acid chains, the structure is called a monoglyceride or a diglyceride, respectively. There are various types of fatty acid chains, and one way to categorize them is by their length. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) have up to six carbon atoms. They can be found in dairy products and are also produced by our gut microbiome. Medium-chain fatty acids, like some of the fats found in coconut oil, have seven to 12 carbons. And long-chain fatty acids, like oleic acid in olive oil, have 13 or more carbon atoms in their fatty acid chains. Fatty acid chains are also categorized by whether they have single or double bonds connecting their carbon atoms. When a fatty acid has only single bonds, it’s called a saturated fatty acid because it has as many hydrogen atoms as possible—that is, it’s saturated with them! Triglycerides with […]

insights

What Is Vitamin D?

Highlights The Basics Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that also functions as a hormone in our bodies. It plays a critical role in building and maintaining skeletal health, since it helps the body absorb calcium and maintain appropriate concentrations of calcium and phosphorus, two of the primary minerals in bone. It’s also important for muscle function, helping nerves carry signals throughout the body and supporting the immune system. Vitamin D’s effect on preventing and treating a variety of health conditions is being actively studied, though no benefits have emerged as strongly as its role in preventing osteoporosis, osteomalacia and rickets (see “Vitamin D and Health,” below). Humans can get vitamin D in three ways: eating certain foods, taking dietary supplements and making it in our skin after sun exposure. When ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun comes in contact with the skin, vitamin D synthesis is triggered. However, this form of vitamin D is inactive and needs to undergo two activation steps before being used by the body. The amount of active vitamin D in our body is tightly regulated, so blood measurements of vitamin D status often measure the concentration of a form of inactive vitamin D known as 25(OH)D. The amount of 25(OH)D in the blood accounts for vitamin D consumed through foods and supplements as well as vitamin D made in the skin. Vitamin D and Health There is conclusive evidence that vitamin D plays an indispensable role in bone health. Long-term vitamin D deficiency leads to bone softening, known as rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Insufficient vitamin D can also contribute to osteoporosis, a loss in bone density that results in brittle bones that are prone to breaking. Because it is involved in so many systems in the human body, vitamin D continues […]

article

What’s the Dish on the DASH Diet?

Following diets or eating patterns is pretty common in the United States, with one in seven Americans reporting that they stick to a specific eating pattern or diet.  While fad diets and trends rotate in and out over time, there are a few tried-and-true eating styles (hey, there Mediterranean diet!) that stand the test of time. A recent panel of experts — including nutritionists, healthcare professionals and scientists who focused on chronic diseases, human behavior and weight loss — reviewed 40 diets. The panel rated each diet based on a variety of categories, including short- and long-term weight loss, ease of compliance, safety and nutrition. The panel concluded that the number one best overall diet was actually two diets: the Mediterranean diet and DASH diet. Since most of us have heard of the Mediterranean diet and we’ve already covered the basics of a Mediterranean eating style, let’s dish about the DASH diet. DASH 101 The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating style was developed in the 1990s in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health and five media research centers in the United States to research the role of dietary eating styles on blood pressure. Findings from these studies revealed that dietary eating styles impact blood pressure in at-risk populations such as hypertensive adults. Specifically, the DASH diet significantly lowered blood pressures compared to control diets, after two weeks of starting the diet and sustaining for six more weeks. The DASH eating style focuses on the notable nutrients and foods that have been touted for decades including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and vegetable oils. In addition, this eating style recommends limiting added sugars and sodium, as well as foods that are high in saturated fat such as fatty proteins, full-fat […]

article

Protein

What is protein? What are protein food sources? What is the recommended protein amount? In the IFIC Protein Toolkit, you’ll find insights, continuing education, resources and more to support your protein exploration and communication. 

toolkit