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

The Dairy Dilemma: Simultaneously Under-Consumed & Misunderstood

Dairy foods and beverages hold the not-so-coveted title as one of the most under-consumed food groups on the plate. In fact, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), approximately 90% of individuals do not consume the recommended three servings per day. More specifically, consumption appears to be the lowest among Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) subpopulations.   Rampant food and nutrition misinformation is counter to the goal of helping consumers build healthy dietary patterns. When food groups are not consumed in recommended amounts, nutrient inadequacies are exacerbated. Inadequate dairy intake can jeopardize health and wellness by limiting intake of three out of four under-consumed nutrients of public health concern – vitamin D, calcium, and potassium. The extent to which historically underserved communities are disproportionately affected by increasing rates of diet-related disease and food insecurity is widely chronicled, including in the National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health.   The International Food Information Council (IFIC) has a long history of conducting consumer research on US eating trends and behaviors to support improved diet quality. With the annual IFIC Food & Health Survey entering its 20th year, we have been inspired to augment our research methodology to gain greater insight into underserved populations’ perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, and needs. Specifically, we have committed to 1) tripling the number of respondents in the IFIC Food & Health Survey to better study and understand population subgroups (e.g., ethnic groups, those with lower income, etc.); and 2) oversampling certain demographics in standalone projects so that we can contribute subpopulation insights with greater statistical power.   A Complicated Web of Dairy Perceptions and Consumption Conundrums  It is important to understand motivators and barriers to providing equal access, availability, and actionability that enables the US population to regularly consume dairy foods and beverages in ways that meet their […]

insights

Optimal Daily Dairy Consumption Remains Elusive Despite Well-Established Health Benefits

New Research Reveals Opportunities To Improve Consumption In Advance Of National Dairy Month (Washington, D.C.) — Dairy foods and beverages are recommended as part of a healthy dietary pattern given their well-established benefits according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA), yet nearly 90% of Americans do not consume the recommended three servings per day. As June’s National Dairy Month approaches, the International Food Information Council’s (IFIC) most recent consumer research, Exploring Fluid Milk & Dairy Food Consumption Patterns to Improve Diet Quality & Nutrition Equity, dives deep into dairy consumption trends and examines the perceptions, motivators, and barriers that may keep consumers from experiencing dairy’s benefits. “While Americans acknowledge that dairy foods and beverages are affordable, accessible, and an essential part of a healthy diet, many are not fully experiencing dairy’s benefits. Given that dairy continues to be an under-consumed food group, we wanted to investigate potential consumption barriers, including those that may be uniquely attributable to race, ethnicity, and/or income level,” explained IFIC President & CEO Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, MS, RDN. “We seek to understand the many complex factors and layers that may affect how people, especially Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities, think about dairy foods and beverages.” Consumers Believe That Dairy Is An Essential Part In A Healthy Diet One thing is clear: A solid majority of Americans (78%) believe that dairy is an essential part of a healthy and balanced diet. In addition, most consumers can identify the health benefits of consuming dairy products. The most recognized benefits are bone health (90%) and dental health (79%). Lesser-known health benefits include the promotion of a healthy immune system (65%), heart health (54%), and maintaining healthy blood pressure (51%). Taste Is A Top Motivator for Dairy Consumption Consumers overwhelmingly rank taste as the main factor […]

Media

What is the Pegan Diet?

The pegan diet is a mash-up of two popular styles of eating: vegan and paleo. With the vegan diet’s strict adherence to animal-free eating and paleo’s reputation for being meat-centric, it might seem like these two eating styles are opposites. And yet, the pegan diet attempts to blend the best of both worlds. How does it work, and is it sustainable? Let’s take a look. More About the Pegan Diet The pegan diet borrows its plant-based philosophy from the vegan diet and its love of meat from the caveman-inspired paleo diet. If you need a refresher, the paleo diet attempts to model what those living 2.6 million years ago in the Paleolithic era ate: vegetables, fruits, fish, meat and nuts. It excludes dairy, grains, legumes, sugar, oils, salt, alcohol and coffee. Veganism, on the other hand, allows only the consumption of plant-based foods and prohibits the eating of animal-based foods. The main principle of the pegan diet is its emphasis on whole foods and its limitation of processed foods. Specifically, the pegan diet encourages its followers to make 75 percent of their diet plant-based, with the remaining 25 percent of foods coming from animal sources. Anything Else I Should Know? Yes. While the pegan diet’s emphasis on plant foods is a good one, it also includes other strict parameters that aren’t proven to benefit health. For example, gluten is not allowed on this diet—and not because of legitimate health conditions like celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. Instead, gluten is restricted for a few less-scientific reasons. For starters, milling technology hadn’t yet been invented in the Paleolithic era, so grains weren’t part of caveman diets. It’s also shunned for other reasons which are unproven in the published nutrition literature. Gluten-free grains, however—like quinoa, brown rice, oats, and amaranth—are allowed, but recommended […]

article

Survey: Nearly Half of U.S. Consumers Avoid GMO Foods; Large Majority Primarily Concerned About Human Health Impact

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 27, 2018 Download the full report Survey: Nearly Half of U.S. Consumers Avoid GMO Foods; Large Majority Primarily Concerned About Human Health Impact Proposed Federal Bioengineered (BE) Foods Disclosure Suggests Lower Consumer Acceptance, Less Willingness to Pay Under Various Labeling Options (Washington, D.C.)—Labels proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to disclose “bioengineered” (BE) foods dramatically increase a wide variety of consumer concerns, especially regarding human health. Those are among the findings of new research by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation into areas where AMS sought comments on its proposed BE labeling standards, as well as consumers’ views generally of genetically modified foods, or GMOs. Concerns Arise When BE Foods Are Labeled With AMS’s July 3 deadline to comment on the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law fast approaching, the IFIC Foundation tested reactions to the three BE labeling symbols and two variations of text disclosures. In every combination, levels of concern across a variety of factors increased—often substantially—when a disclosure label was applied. For example, consumers were shown bottles of canola oil 1) without any BE logo or text, 2) with one of the three symbols (a plant, a sun or a smile), 3) with a symbol, plus “bioengineered” in text and 4) with a symbol, plus “may be bioengineered” in text. An additional group of consumers were shown just text disclosure, without any BE logo. When shown the bottle without any disclosure, approximately one-third (31 percent) of a group of respondents had human health concerns. But that rose to 50 percent when shown the BE “plant” symbol, further increasing to 51 percent when text was added to indicate that the product was “bioengineered,” and to 57 percent when “may be bioengineered” was added to the “plant” logo. Human health […]

research

Protein with Ali Webster, PhD, RD [Podcast]

Protein is an essential nutrient — it’s important for everything from appetite regulation to physical fitness to healthy skin and hair. But what exactly is a protein? How much do we need, and where do we get it? On this edition of DataDish: Your Trusted Serving of Science, we talk with Ali Webster, PhD, RD, Associate Director of Nutrition Communications at IFIC and IFIC Foundation. Ali has bachelor of science and doctorate degrees in nutrition from the University of Minnesota, and she is also a Registered Dietitian. Some highlights from our conversation:

insights