As the United States attempts to refocus its attention away from ultra-processed junk foods and severe problems with food access and nutrition education, they are striving to tell a better story for the future of the country compared to the dangerous place we are at today:
Congress: Close the gap between funding for nutrition research and the toll diet-related disease takes on Americans
Diet-related conditions are the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. Not only is poor nutrition deadly, itβs expensive:
The combined health care spending and lost productivity from suboptimal eating costs the economy $1.1 trillion each year. Obesity alone has far-reaching consequences for the education system, American workplace, and national defense, with 1 in 3 young adults disqualified to serve in the military because of excess weight.
Americans who live in rural areas, have lower incomes, or are part of certain racial or ethnic groups often face higher rates of diet-related diseases like diabetes, obesity, stroke, and heart disease. The combined toll of poor nutrition is astronomical.
It seems calories in vs. calories out may not be the simple magic formula: We must get to the bottom of this and many other diet-related questions.
Despite this pressing need for more information, relative funding for nutrition research has remained flat for more than 40 years, even as diet-related diseases have skyrocketed. Government efforts to advance nutrition research are also fragmented, lacking coordination and synergy.
Itβs time for the nation to invest in a better understanding of the top cause of poor health and preventable health care spending among Americans: what we eat. We see three critical actions Congress can take to start closing the gap between the causes of disease among Americans and investment in scientific research.
Now, what are some of the leading concerns for our country today?
In my opinion these are just a few:
Most Americans have no idea what real food really is
Most Americans are raised in a system of specific dependency and lack autonomy with food, health, and nutrition
Most Americans delegate their health to outsiders and lack insight and ownership
Most Americans need substantial help and support, beyond the standard medical system rooted in emerging emergency medicine innovations
Most Americans deserve to have a chance at better health and improved happiness
Most Americans have very little chance to make appropriately informed decisions when it comes to their personal nutrition
We need to get the junk out of our food and stop mixing synthetic chemicals with our good products
Food products are designed for overconsumption and not for health
Speaking of βfood products,β we need to refocus on real, whole, nutritious food and take several steps away from relying on consumer packaged goods that are ultra-processed
The dozen-or-so companies that lead this countryβs food space must be open to change, ready to embark together in a healthier direction for the good of the country
Iβm sureβ¦ financially speaking, eating healthy whole foods places a lot of risk on corporations in consumer foods, so we must embark on these necessary changes with open eyes to recognize there are huge financial implications with any and all actions we may be striving to take. Things are complicated and complex when it comes to the massive infrastructure around food and our economy.
For Example, for many many years people have wonderedβ¦.
Are Food Dyes a Big Deal ?
Should I really be concerned with the colors in my snacks?
Most Americans lack the awareness, education, and understanding to see the big-picture and consider the systemic effects across the biochemical landscape of the human body and its environment.
Do they affect children more than adults? YES
Do they have a profound impact on our nervous system? YES
Do they need to be in our 'food' ? NO
Do you need to consume these kinds of manufactured 'foods' ? NO
Are they ubiquitously used throughout the food product industry? YES
Are most of these food dyes allowed in the US banned in other countries, YES
DO YOU DESERVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH?
ABSOLUTELY YES
But do researchers, clinicians, doctors, teachers, food companies or family members have the desire to go against the status quo, to question the norm, or to rock the boat? Most do not, despite the fact they may question things for a time, they tend to never take significant action or valuable determinative action to swim against the current and go against the status quo.
It takes time to read labels.
It takes effort to learn about chemicals.
It takes an open mind to consider any other option that what remains in front of us.
It takes a curious mind to consider how other countries, cultures, and communities consider these same issues. Is this normal? Is this needed?
It takes substantial discipline and motivation to swim upstreamβ¦ and thatβs why weβre here.
According to the Purdue researchers, the amount of artificial food dye certified for use by the Food and Drug Administration has increased five-fold, per capita, between 1950 and 2012. The researchers estimate that a child could easily consume 100 mg of dyes in a day and that some children could consume more than 200 mg per day. Studies that tested much smaller amounts could easily have downplayed or missed entirely the effect of dyes on behavior.
"In the 1970s and 1980s, many studies were conducted giving children 26 mg of a mixture of dyes," said Laura Stevens, research associate in the Nutrition Science Department at Purdue and lead author of the study. "Only a few children seemed to react to the dyes, so many doctors concluded that a dye-free diet was pointless. Later studies using larger doses showed that a much larger percentage of children reacted. But some researchers considered those doses unrealistically high. It is now clear that even the larger amounts may not have been high enough. The time is long past due for the FDA to get dyes out of the food supply or for companies to do so voluntarily and promptly."
In 2008, CSPI petitioned the FDA to ban Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, and five other artificial food dyes, and in 2011, as an interim measure, urged the FDA to require front-of-package disclosures on packages of dyed foods. The British government and the European Union require warning labels on most dyed foods, which has almost eliminated the use of food dyes in Europe.
In 2011, the FDA acknowledged that food dyes (and other ingredients) cause behavioral problems in some children, but has done nothing to protect children. Still, mounting public concerns about dyes has spurred several major companies to remove dyes in some of their foods. Kraft has removed food dyes from some child-oriented varieties of its Macaroni & Cheese but not the most popular one. General Mills has removed dyes from Trix and Yoplait Go-Gurt yogurts. Chick-fil-A removed Yellow 5 from its chicken soup. Frito-Lay has removed dyes from Lay's seasoned and kettle-cooked chips, Sun Chips, and Tostitos. Pepperidge Farm has removed dyes from its Goldfish Colors crackers
In the world of nutrition & mental health (aka nutritional psychiatry) many people have questions about the implications for food and diet related impacts for ADHD, a primary topic for my upcoming book.
Many people have wondered about the impact of nutrition for ADHD for many decades. We have seen waves of interest in research with the particular Feingold Diet, which is an elimination diet used to remove a bunch of unnecessary junk in a childβs diet to see if it makes a difference in their cognition, behavior, sleep, and overall wellness.
Personally, Iβve seen some people swear by its effects and others comment that it did very little for their children with ADHD.
Now, if I had another hour of time to spend with you we could chat through the reasons why we see different events as a result of an elimination diet. We could talk about chronic inflammation, gut dysbiosis, heavy metal toxicity, early childhood trauma, genetics and detoxification. Everyone is different and as youβve heard me declare before
EVERYTHING AFFECTS EVERYTHING
But every single person is so miraculously unique that we have a wide range of results that we can see. And just because we can see results in some people and not in others with one particular route of treatment does not mean it has had zero positive effects for others who lack a clearly observable change in health and happiness.
Sometimes, we canβt always see the net positive with immediate transparency, but we can go for additional lab testing to look at internal systems, we can evaluate mood and behavior scores, we can consider the long-term approach with the hope and trust in the positively purposeful approach of eliminating junk and progressing towards optimal lifestyle health adjustments.
Whatβs the harm in trying paths for improved wellness that are low cost and also very little risk? Elimination diets can be incredibly helpful - but also very stressful, especially if someone has very little experience working and eating with real food.
How to Eat for ADHD β 5 Tips from a Holistic Health Dietitian
What everyone should know, food plays a HUGE role in the ADHD brain
When it comes to ADHD, I often like to highlight the ideals to remove all unnecessary triggers that may be potentially impacting a child or adult.
Next, we strive to introduce as many healthy whole foods as possible with a wide range of colorful foods to keep things visually stimulating.
I also like to highlight the highly important role of quality protein and healthy fats in an ideal scenario.
We want to try to include a variety of organic meats and plant proteins as well (depending on an individualβs food sensitivities and GI tolerance).
We want to ensure someone is getting essential amino acids and essential fatty acids.
Ideally, we would try to minimize processed grains and AVOID added sugars, stimulatory ingredients such as MSG or concentrated sweeteners.
I have a dozen other ideals I could mention as well, but we donβt have enough time to dive into everything here.
We would try to make sure mealtime is calm, comfortable and nourishing in mind-body connection versus just scarfing oneβs food down, which is commonly the case as kids are well practiced at this within the public school system (and the militaryπ³)
Iβve delved into more of the details here for particular nutrients of high importance.
Minerals (Mg, Zn, Fe)
Protein (Amino Acids)
Carbohydrates (Complex Carbs)
Minerals are often ignored as most people tend to focus on βmacros.β Especially important in the case of ADHD are magnesium, zinc, and iron (Mg, Zn, Fe): three common deficient minerals in people with ADHD β for several different reasons.
As you are probably well aware, living with ADHD comes with its fair share of challenges, such as an anxious mind, racing thoughts, impulsivity, poor sleep, irritability, poor concentration, digestive issues and more.
All of the nutrients of interest today play a key role in moderating these symptoms. Sufficiency and balance of each of these minerals is critically important for the health of all people, especially those with ADHD.
In addition, complex carbohydrates often come with fiber and many vitamins and minerals that simple carbohydrates lack. Consider how filling a big bowl of wild rice and starchy veggies would be compared to drinking a green juice.
One is complex, one is simple. We want to focus more on the complex form of carbohydrates and reduce or even avoid consuming simple carbohydrates.
If youβre new to this concept, hereβs a brief list of complex carbohydrates for some inspiration: whole fruit and vegetables, wild or brown rice, beans (black, kidney, navy, etc.) and peas, spelt, millet, oats (old-fashioned, not quick-oats or oat flour), barley, rye, potato and sweet potato, squashes, quinoa, farro, lentils.
Your digestion of any foods that are predominantly carbohydrates may differ from your neighborβs digestion thanks to our unique microbiomes, genetics, activity levels, timing of meals and much more.
Designing a healthier way to eat doesnβt have to feel impossible as long as we align our fundamentals with fun, flavor, and let go of the pressure to try to control for every single little thing.
We are imperfect and yet can still be pretty impressive with the right mind and heart as we run into the arena of food and nutrition for an ADHD brain. As long as we are taking steps in the right direction towards progress and improvement, we can celebrate where we are going and hold on to hope in the process.
One of the main goals with complex carbs is to help support healthy blood sugar balance and prevent any unnecessary spikes or dips, which in turn will help regulate mood and energy, hormones and neurotransmitters throughout the day.
Jonathan Isbill MS, RD, LD is a Holistic Health Writer, Author, Dietitian, Coach | Dedicated to serving others | Your personal health journey deserves to be nurtured with careful, intelligent support. Submit your questions for deep dive reviews and share with others in your healthy lifestyle communities.
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