Health Beauty &
allontario.ca Vol.2 June 2015
everything about TRANS FATS
FOOD LABELS IN CANADA
Think bottled water is cleaner than from the tap? Think again! Beware of Bisphenol A!
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HEALTHY EATING EVERYTHING ABOUT TRANS FAT AN AVOCADO A DAY‌
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THINK BOTTLED WATER IS CLEANER THAN FROM THE TAP?
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6 TEASPOONS OF SUGAR PER DAY FOR AN ADULT FOOD LABELS IN CANADA
Healthy
A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition. The requirements for a healthy diet can be met from a variety of plant-based and animal-based foods from all food groups to feel good and maintain your health. Nutritious foods nourish your body and give you energy to lead a healthy, active lifestyle.
Nutrients The seven major classes of nutrients are: 1. Proteins 2. Carbohydrates 3. Fats 4. Fiber 5. Minerals 6. Vitamins 7. Water These nutrient classes can be categorized as either macronutrients (needed in relatively large amounts) or micronutrients (needed in smaller quantities). The macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats, fiber, proteins, and water. The micronutrients are minerals and vitamins.
The macronutrients (excluding fiber and water) provide structural material (amino acids from which proteins are built, and lipids from which cell membranes and some signaling molecules are built), and energy. Molecules of carbohydrates and fats consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. Carbohydrates range from simple monosaccharides (glucose, fructose, galactose) to complex polysaccharides (starch). Some fatty acids, but not all, are essential in the diet: they cannot be synthesized in the body. Protein molecules contain nitrogen atoms in addition to carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. The fundamental components of protein are nitrogen-containing amino acids, some of which are essential in the sense that humans cannot make them internally. Most microorganisms and plants can biosynthesize all 20 standard amino acids, while humans and animals must obtain some of the amino acids from the diet. Most foods contain a mix of some or all of the nutrient classes, together with other substances. Some nutrients can be stored internally (e.g., the fat-soluble vitamins), while others are required more or less continuously.
Ten Funny Diet Tips 1. Don't take diet tips too seriously. 2. Eat healthy and exercise: one minute of exercising adds one minute to your life. This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $5000 per month. 3. Wear black. Black, really, makes everyone look thinner. 4. Stand next to a person fatter than you whenever possible. 5. Eat naked and standing in front of a mirror. 6. Eat those little things called appetizers until you lose your appetite. 7. Always eat your dessert first because life is unsure. 8. Get a tan: a ruddy complexion helps you look thinner. 9. Always be optimistic: if you have flabby thighs, be happy that your tummy covers them. 10. Laugh every day: one minute of laughter kills 1,000 calories
Funny Sayings about Food • American special: double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke. • A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat (Old New York Proverb) • More diets start in dress shops than in doctors' offices. • Side effect of healthy food: its high price really makes you sick. • The four main food groups: fast, frozen, junk and instant. • Q: Why do Mexicans eat beans for dinner? A: So they can take bubble baths. • The best thing you can say about gravy is that is has no bones.
For all age groups, males need to consume higher amounts of macronutrients than females. In general, intakes increase with age until the second or third decade of life. A properly balanced diet (in addition to exercise) is also thought to be important for lowering health risks. A poor diet may have an injurious impact on health, causing deficiency diseases such as blindness, anemia, scurvy, preterm birth, stillbirth and cretinism; health-threatening conditions like obesity and metabolic syndrome; and such common chronic systemic diseases as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis. A poor diet can cause the stunting of marasmus in chronic cases of malnutrition. Poor health can be caused by a lack of required nutrients or, in extreme cases, too much of a required nutrient. For example, both salt and water (both absolutely required) will cause illness or even death in too large amounts. Healthy eating starts at the grocery store. It‘s easy to make nutritious meals and snacks when your kitchen is stocked with healthier ingredients. Eating healthy meals can be easy even when you’re busy. All you need is a good plan. Spend a few minutes each week to plan your meals and snacks. This will help get meals on the table faster and save time and money.
Remember: Your health is your responsibility! References: http://www.healthycanadians.gc.ca https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_diet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_food_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_nutrition
The idea of dietary therapy is rooted in Chinese understandings of the effects of food on the human organism.
The idea of dietary therapy is rooted in Chinese understandings of the effects of food on the human organism. Food therapy has long been a common approach to health among Chinese people. It was the prescientific analog of modern medical nutrition therapy; that is, it was a state-ofthe-art version of dietary therapy before the sciences of biology and chemistry allowed the discovery of present physiological knowledge. A number of ancient Chinese cookbooks describe the effect of individual food items on human body. The earliest extant Chinese dietary text is a chapter of Sun Simiao's Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold, which was completed in the 650s during the Tang dynasty. Sun's work contains the earliest known use of the term "food therapy". Sun stated that he wanted to present current knowledge about food so that people would first turn to food rather than drugs when suffering from a disorder. His chapter contains 154 entries divided into four sections – on fruits, vegetables, cereals, and meat – in which Sun explains the properties of individual foodstuffs. Food items are classified as "heating" or "cooling". Heating food is typically "high-calorie, subjected to high heat in cooking, spicy or bitter, or 'hot' in color (red, orange)", and includes red meat, innards, baked and deep-fried goods, and alcohol. They are to be avoided in the summer and can be used to treat "cold" illnesses like excessive pallor, watery feces, fatigue, chills, and low body temperature caused by a number of possible causes, including anemia. Green vegetables are the most typical cooling food, which is "lowcalorie, watery, soothing or sour in taste, or 'cool' in color (whitish, green)". They are recommended for "hot" conditions: rashes, dryness or redness of skin, heartburns, and other "symptoms similar to those of a burn", but also sore throat, swollen gums, and constipation.
A number of ancient Chinese cookbooks describe the effect of individual food items on human body.
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everything about
TRANS FAT
Trans fat is made when a liquid vegetable oil is changed into a solid fat. Trans fat is often added to processed foods because it can improve taste and texture and helps the food stay fresh longer. Trans fat increases your risk of heart disease because: • Trans fat raises your LDL (bad) cholesterol AND • Trans fat lowers your HDL (good) cholesterol Meat, milk, and butter naturally contain small amounts of trans fat. The trans fat found naturally in foods is different than manufactured trans fat and does not increase your risk of heart disease. The primary dietary source for trans fats in processed food is ―partially hydrogenated oils." Look for them on the ingredient list on food packages. Scientific evidence has shown that dietary trans fats can increase your risk of developing coronary heart disease, the worldwide leading cause of death. To combat this, you can choose food for yourself and your children that contains little to no trans fat.
Fat is an important part of a healthy diet. It provides essential fatty acids and energy, and helps the human body absorb vitamins A, D and E. Fatty acids are sources of fuel because, when metabolized, they yield large quantities of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Many cell types can use either glucose or fatty acids for this purpose. In particular, heart and skeletal muscle prefer fatty acids. Despite longstanding assertions to the contrary, fatty acids can be used as a source of fuel for brain cells.
Fatty Acids Fatty acids that are required by the human body but cannot be made in sufficient quantity from other substrates, and therefore must be obtained from food, are called essential fatty acids. There are two major types of fatty acids: Saturated fatty acids are long-chain carboxylic acids that have no carbon–carbon double bonds. Unsaturated fatty acids have some double bonds between carbon atoms in the chain.
What are TRANS FATS? Trans fats are a type of unsaturated fats that are uncommon in nature but became commonly produced industrially from vegetable fats for use in margarine, snack food, packaged baked goods and frying fast food starting in the 1950s. There are two main types of trans fats found in foods: 1. naturally-occurring trans fats - produced in the gut of some animals and foods made from these animals may contain small quantities of these fats. 2. artificial trans fats - created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid.
What “TRANS” actually means? A little bit of chemistry Saturated
Health Risks
Unsaturated - cis
Unsaturated - trans
Fats contain long hydrocarbon chains, which can either be unsaturated, i.e. have double bonds, or saturated, i.e. have no double bonds. In nature, unsaturated fatty acids generally have cis as opposed to trans configurations. Cis/trans isomerism (geometric isomerism, configurational isomerism) is a term used in organic chemistry to refer to the relative orientation of functional groups within a molecule. The terms ―cis‖ and ―trans‖ are from Latin, in which cis means "on this side" and trans means "on the other side" or "across". In food production, liquid cis-unsaturated fats such as vegetable oils are hydrogenated to produce saturated fats, which have more desirable physical properties, e.g. they melt at a desirable temperature (30–40°C). Partial hydrogenation of the unsaturated fat converts some of the cis double bonds into trans double bonds by an isomerization reaction with the catalyst used for the hydrogenation, which yields a trans fat. Although trans fats are edible, consumption of trans fats has shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease in part by raising levels of the lipoprotein LDL (so-called "bad cholesterol"), lowering levels of the lipoprotein HDL ("good cholesterol"), increasing triglycerides in the bloodstream and promoting systemic inflammation. Most artificial trans fats are chemically different from natural trans fats.
Hydrogenated vegetable oils have been an increasingly significant part of the human diet for about 100 years and some deleterious effects of trans fat consumption are scientifically proved. The exact biochemical methods by which trans fats produce specific health problems are a topic of continuing research. One theory is that the human lipase enzyme works only on the cis configuration and cannot metabolize a trans fat. It leads to changes in the phospholipid fatty acid composition in the aorta, the main artery of the heart, thereby increasing risk of coronary heart disease. High intake of trans fatty acids can lead to many health problems throughout one's life. Trans fat is abundant in fast food restaurants. It is consumed in greater quantities by people who do not have access to a diet consisting of fewer hydrogenated fats, or who often consume fast food. A diet high in trans fats can contribute to obesity, high blood pressure, and a greater risk for heart disease and type 2 Diabetes. For example, a low-income neighborhood in New York City, East Harlem, mostly has fast food restaurants, which might be a part of why 31% of adults in East Harlem are obese compared to 22% citywide and only 9% in the high-income Upper East Side (NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Eating Well in Harlem: How Available is Healthy Food? 2007)
Trans Fats’ History Historically, most trans fats have been found in such things as crackers, cookies, margarine (especially hard margarine), donuts, cakes, pastries, muffins, croissants, snack food and fried and breaded foods. Both the introduction of mandatory nutrition labelling on pre-packaged foods, and the two year recently completed Canadian Trans Fat Monitoring program have led to a reduction in the trans fat content of many, but not all foods. But how it’s all started? Nobel laureate Paul Sabatier worked in the late 1890s to develop the chemistry of hydrogenation, which enabled the margarine, oil hydrogenation, and synthetic methanol industries. The German chemist Wilhelm Normann showed in 1901 that liquid oils could be hydrogenated, and patented the process in 1902. During the years 1905–1910, Normann built a fat-hardening facility. At the same time, the invention was extended to a large-scale plant in Warrington, England. It took only two years until the hardened fat could be successfully produced in the plant in Warrington, commencing production in the autumn of 1909. The initial year's production totalled nearly 3,000 tonnes. In 1909, Procter & Gamble acquired the US rights to the Normann patent; in 1911, they began marketing the first hydrogenated shortening, Crisco (composed largely of partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil). Further success came from the marketing technique of giving away free cookbooks in which every recipe called for Crisco.
Normann's hydrogenation process made it possible to stabilize affordable whale oil or fish oil for human consumption, a practice kept secret to avoid consumer distaste. Prior to 1910, dietary fats consisted primarily of butterfat, beef tallow, and lard. During Napoleon's reign in France in the early 19th century, a type of margarine was invented to feed the troops using tallow and buttermilk; it did not gain acceptance in the U.S. In the early 20th century, soybeans began to be imported into the U.S. as a source of protein; soybean oil was a by-product. What to do with that oil became an issue. At the same time, there was not enough butterfat available for consumers. The method of hydrogenating fat and turning a liquid fat into a solid one had been discovered, and now the ingredients (soybeans) and the "need" (shortage of butter) were there. Later, the means for storage, the refrigerator, was a factor in trans fat development. The fat industry found that hydrogenated fats provided some special features to margarines, which allowed margarine, unlike butter, to be taken out of the refrigerator and immediately spread on bread. By some minor changes to the chemical composition of hydrogenated fat, such hydrogenated fat was found to provide superior baking properties compared to lard. Hydrogenated fat such as Crisco and Spry, sold in England, began to replace butter and lard in the baking of bread, pies, cookies, and cakes in 1920. In the 1940s, Catherine Kousmine researched the effects of trans fats on cancer. Production of hydrogenated fats increased steadily until the 1960s, as processed vegetable fats replaced animal fats in the US and other western countries. At first, the argument was a financial one due to lower costs; advocates also said that the unsaturated trans fats of margarine were healthier than the saturated fats of butter. As early as 1956 there were suggestions in the scientific literature that trans fats could be a cause of the large increase in coronary artery disease. However, by the 1980s, fats of animal origin had become one of the greatest concerns of dieticians. Activists, such as Phil Sokolof, who took out full page ads in major newspapers, attacked the use of beef tallow in McDonald's French fries and urged fast-food companies to switch to vegetable oils. The result was an almost overnight switch by most fastfood outlets to switch to trans fats. In 1994, it was estimated that trans fats caused 20,000 deaths annually in the US from heart disease. Mandatory food labeling for trans fats was introduced in several countries.
What foods have trans fat? These foods often have trans fat: • Deep fried foods (spring rolls, chicken nuggets, frozen hash browns, French fries) • Ready to eat frozen foods (quiche, burritos, pizza, pizza pockets, French fries, egg rolls, veggie and beef patties) • Hard (stick) margarine and shortening • Commercially baked goods (donuts, Danishes, cakes, pies) • Convenience foods (icing, puff pastry, taco shells, pie crusts, cake mixes) • Toaster pastries (waffles, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches) • Oriental noodles • Snack puddings • Liquid coffee whiteners • Packaged salty snacks (microwave popcorn, chips, crackers) • Packaged sweet snacks (cookies, granola bars)
To minimize the risk of trans fats • Follow the suggestions in Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating. The guide advises you and your children to choose lower fat dairy products, leaner meats and foods prepared with little or no fat. • Read the labels on pre-packaged food products. Since December 2005 it has been mandatory in Canada for most foods to list on the Nutrition Facts table the amount of trans fat in the product. • Also look for the phrase "partially hydrogenated oil" if you see this phrase in the list of ingredients on the label it means the product contains trans fat. • Choose soft margarines that are labelled as being free of trans fats or with ingredient lists including fully hydrogenated or non-hydrogenated oil. • Avoid products made with partially hydrogenated oil. • Fry foods less often and use healthier oils with a higher proportion of unsaturated fats. • Do not re-use oil for frying more than two or three times. • When you eat out, ask about the trans fat content of the foods on the menu. References: http://www.healthycanadians.gc.ca/eating-nutrition/healthy-eatingsaine-alimentation/tips-conseils/fat-trans-gras-eng.php https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat https://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/Articles/Fat/Tackling-Trans-Fat.aspx https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrition
Why trans fats are still widely in use? Trans fats are easy to use, inexpensive to produce and last a long time. Trans fats give foods a desirable taste and texture. Many restaurants and fast-food outlets use trans fats to deep-fry foods because oils with trans fats can be used many times in commercial fryers.
When: August 9, 2015 Where: TBA upon RSVP Price: $75 per person (for 21-35 people)
$50 per person (from 35 and up)
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Join us on August 9 for a day trip to
DOCVILLE – mysterious Wild West in rural Ontario Rush up to see and enjoy a FUN afternoon with Steve ‘Doc’ Holliday – a distant relative of infamous western outlaw Doc Holliday. This amazing place is a popular movie set. Even weddings are taking place here for people who like exotic. This is a rare opportunity to visit the place and have a program designed especially for our group. The program includes a tour of the property, pictures, and a rock band will perform 60 minute classic rock concert. You bring your own food.
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AN AVOCADO A DAY may help keep bad cholesterol at bay
American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report, Dallas, January 07, 2015 – Eating one avocado a day as part of a heart healthy, cholesterol-lowering moderate-fat diet can help improve bad cholesterol levels in overweight and obese individuals, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Study Highlights Individuals on a moderate-fat diet who ate an avocado every day had lower bad cholesterol than those on a similar diet without an avocado a day or on a lower-fat diet. Researchers evaluated the effect avocados had on traditional and novel cardiovascular risk factors by replacing saturated fatty acids from an average American diet with unsaturated fatty acids from avocados. Forty-five healthy, overweight or obese patients between the ages of 21 and 70 were put on three different cholesterol-lowering diets.
Participants consumed an average American diet (consisting of 34% of calories from fat, 51% carbohydrates, and 16% protein) for two weeks prior to starting one of the following cholesterol lowering diets: lower fat diet without avocado, moderate-fat diet without avocado, and moderate-fat diet with one avocado per day. The two moderate fat diets both provided 34% of calories as fat (17% of calories from monounsaturated fatty acids/MUFAs), whereas the lower fat diet provided 24% of calories as fat (11% from MUFAs). Each participant consumed each of the three test diet for five weeks. Participants were randomly sequenced through each of the three diets. Researchers found: • Compared to the baseline average American diet, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – the so called ‗bad cholesterol‘ – was 13.5 mg/dl lower after consuming the moderate fat diet that included an avocado. LDL was also lower on the moderate fat diet without the avocado (8.3 mg/dl lower) and the lower fat diet (7.4 mg/dl lower), though the results were not as striking as the avocado diet.
• Several additional blood measurements were also more favourable after the avocado diet versus the other two cholesterol-lowering diets as well: total cholesterol, triglycerides, small dense LDL, non-HDL cholesterol, and others. These measurements are all considered to be cardio-metabolic risk factors in ways that are independent of the heart-healthy fatty acid effects, said Penny M. Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., R.D., senior study author and Chair of the American Heart Association‘s Nutrition Committee and Distinguished Professor of Nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, in University Park, Pennsylvania. ―This was a controlled feeding study, but that is not the real-world – so it is a proof-of-concept investigation. We need to focus on getting people to eat a heart-healthy diet that includes avocados and other nutrient-rich food sources of better fats,‖ KrisEtherton said. ―In the United States avocados are not a mainstream food yet, and they can be expensive, especially at certain times of the year. Also, most people do not really know how to incorporate them in their diet except for making guacamole. But guacamole is typically eaten with corn chips, which are high in calories and sodium. Avocados, however, can also be eaten with salads, vegetables, sandwiches, lean protein foods (like chicken or fish) or even whole.‖
For the study researchers used Hass avocados, the ones with bumpy green skin. In addition to MUFAs, avocados also provided other bioactive components that could have contributed to the findings such as fiber, phytosterols, and other compounds. According to researchers, many heart-healthy diets recommend replacing saturated fatty acids with MUFAs or polyunsaturated fatty acids to reduce the risk of heart disease. This is because saturated fats can increase bad cholesterol levels and raise the risk of cardiovascular disease. The Mediterranean diet, includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fatty fish, and foods rich in monounsaturated fatty acids—like extra-virgin olive oil and nuts. Like avocados, some research indicates that these not only contain better fats but also certain micronutrients and bioactive components that may play an important role in reducing risk of heart disease. Co-authors are Li Wang, Ph.D.; Peter L Bordi, Ph.D.; Jennifer A Fleming, M.S, R.D. and Alison M. Hill, Ph.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript. The study was supported by the Hass Avocado Board, which had no other role in the trial, and the National Center for Research Resources, now the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health. Source: http://newsroom.heart.org/news/an-avocado-a-day-may-helpkeep-bad-cholesterol-at-bay
The avocado or alligator pear (Persea Americana) is a tree native to Mexico and Central America. Avocado also refers to the fruit, botanically, a large berry that contains a single seed. Avocados are commercially valuable. Commercially, they ripen after harvesting. Nutrients and fat composition A typical serving of avocado (100 g) is moderate to rich in several B vitamins and vitamin K, with good content of vitamin C, vitamin E and potassium. Avocados also contain phytosterols and carotenoids, such as lutein and zeaxanthin. Avocados have diverse fats: • About 75% of an avocado's energy comes from fat, most of which (67% of total fat) is unsaturated fat as oleic acid. • Other fats include palmitic acid and linoleic acid. • The saturated fat content amounts to 14% of the total fat. • Typical total fat composition is roughly (rounded to digits): 1% ω-3, 14% ω-6, 71% ω-9 (65% oleic and 6% palmitoleic), and 14% saturated fat (palmitic acid).
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TORONTO WALKING TOURS 2015
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July 19 Cabbagetown North
DISCOVER OUR TORONTO with FELIX TOURS – HAPPY VOYAGES In Toronto we are fortunate to have many beautiful historic neighbourhoods, which had survived influx of modern architecture. This makes our city different than any other mega-city of North America. All walking tours are for groups of 5 (min) to 20 (max) participants. Price for each tour is $35 per person. Place of meeting will be given upon registration by email or phone.
One of Toronto‘s historic residential areas that was nicely gentrified in last 20 years. Come with us for a leisurely 2-hour walk and find out about this unique neighbourhood and its strange name.
July 26 Yorkville
Cradle of legendary Canadian Pop Music Did you know that Bob Dylan grew up in this area? Or that on a small stretch of Yorkville almost every house had a coffee place, where pop musicians created and played their music?
August 8 Rosedale
Would you like to see mansions of Rosedale and hear stories of residents and history of this fashionable neighbourhood?
August 23 Heart of Toronto
Exciting walking tour in the neighbourhood of the City Hall
August 29 Riverdale
In the last 20 years Riverdale has changed from a quiet residential area into place which deserves to be introduced to tourists. We will look at some very interesting Victorian homes and visit the impressive building of the famous Don Jail, as well as panoramic vistas of Don Valley and Toronto downtown from the top of Bridgepoint Health Centre.
September 19 Annex
Until 1886 northern boundary of Toronto was Bloor Street, which today is considered a main thoroughfare of the city. By the end of 1880s, a few small villages north of Bloor Street were annexed to the city of Toronto and began to develop as attractive places for residents with higher than average income.
The question is – to drink or not to drink bottled water on a daily basis? It’s up to you. But maybe better safe than sorry?
THINK BOTTLED WATER IS CLEANER than from the tap? Think twice! Beware of Bisphenol A! Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical used to make a hard, clear plastic known as polycarbonate, which is used in many consumer products, including water bottles, baby bottles and as coatings on the inside of many food and beverage cans. Bisphenol A is an endocrine disruptor that can mimic estrogen and has been shown to cause negative health effects in animal studies. Regulatory authorities of many countries consider that BPA does not pose a risk to the general population. Consumers can continue to use polycarbonate water bottles and consume canned foods and beverages, as the level of exposure from these products is very low. However, there is a special concern about baby bottles. The European Union and Canada have banned BPA use in baby bottles and infant formula packaging. The Government of Canada is moving forward with legislation to ban the importation, sale and advertising of polycarbonate baby bottles. Although regulatory bodies have determined safety levels for humans, those safety levels are currently being questioned or are under review as a result of new scientific studies. A 2011 study that investigated the number of chemicals pregnant women are exposed to in the U.S. found BPA in 96% of women. One more thing you have to know about: the BPA concentration in the bottled water depends mainly on two factors – time of storage and the temperature.
The more time water was kept in the polycarbonate bottle the higher the BPA level; and the higher the temperature the faster BPA extraction. That‘s why it‘s recommended that parents and caregivers do not put very hot/boiling water in polycarbonate baby bottles, as very hot water causes BPA to migrate out of the bottle at a much higher rate. Now, LOOK AT JAPAN: Between 1998 and 2003, the Japanese canning industry voluntarily replaced its BPA-containing epoxy resin can liners with BPAfree polyethylene terephthalate in many of its products. For other products, it switched to a different epoxy lining that yielded much less migration of BPA into food than the previously used resin. In addition, polycarbonate tableware for school lunches was replaced by BPA-free plastics. As a result of these changes, Japanese risk assessors have found that virtually no BPA is detectable in canned foods or drinks, and blood levels of BPA in the Japanese people have declined up to 50% in one study. So, the question is – to drink or not to drink bottled water on a daily basis? It‘s up to you. But maybe better safe than sorry? References: http://www.chemicalsubstanceschimiques.gc.ca/factfait/bisphenol-a-eng.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A#Use “99% of pregnant women in US test positive for multiple chemicals including banned ones, study suggests”. ScienceDaily. 14 January 2011. doi:10.1289/ehp.1002727. Retrieved 1 February 2012. http://www.bisphenol-a.org/ http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthyliving/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/bpa/faq-20058331
6 Teaspoons of Sugar per Day for an Adult WHO SAYS World Health Organization (WHO) opens public consultation on draft sugars guideline. Once the peerreview and public consultation are completed, all comments will be reviewed, the draft guidelines will be revised if necessary and cleared by WHO‘s Guidelines Review Committee before being finalized.
New draft guideline proposals WHO‘s current recommendation, from 2002, is that sugars should make up less than 10% of total energy intake per day. The new draft guideline also proposes that sugars should be less than 10% of total energy intake per day. It further suggests that a reduction to below 5% of total energy intake per day would have additional benefits. Five per cent of total energy intake is equivalent to around 25 grams (around 6 teaspoons) of sugar per day for an adult of normal Body Mass Index (BMI). The suggested limits on intake of sugars in the draft guideline apply to all monosaccharides (such as glucose, fructose) and disaccharides (such as sucrose or table sugar) that are added to food by the manufacturer, the cook or the consumer, as well as sugars that are naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit concentrates. Much of the sugars consumed today are “hidden” in processed foods that are not usually seen as sweets. For example, 1 tablespoon of ketchup contains around 4 grams (around 1 teaspoon) of sugars. A single can of sugar-sweetened soda contains up to 40 grams (around 10 teaspoons) of sugar. The draft guideline was formulated based on analyses of all published scientific studies on the consumption of sugars and how that relates to excess weight gain and tooth decay in adults and children. Source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2014/consultation-sugar-guideline/en/
FOOD LABELS
in Canada Food labels are found on packaged food to help you make informed food choices. They provide the following information: • Nutrition facts table • Serving size • List of ingredients • Nutrition claims • Health claims • Percent daily value
NUTRITION FACTS TABLES By law, most packaged food in Canada must have a nutrition facts table. A nutrition facts table can help you make informed food choices when grocery shopping and preparing food at home. It gives you information on: • serving size • calories • % DV It also gives you information on the 13 core nutrients: 1. fat 2. saturated 3. trans fats 4. cholesterol 5. sodium 6. carbohydrate 7. fibre 8. sugars 9. protein 10. vitamin A 11. vitamin C 12. calcium 13. Iron The information in a nutrition facts table is based on the serving size. Serving size can be found at the top of the nutrition facts table.
You can use a nutrition facts table to compare the serving size to the amount of food you actually eat. For example, the serving size of bread in a nutrition facts table could be 1 slice. But if you eat 2 slices, you need to double the amount of calories and nutrients. A nutrition facts table can also be used to: • learn about a food's nutritional value (calories and nutrients) • see if a food contains a little (5% DV or less) or a lot (15% DV or more) of a nutrient • compare 2 products to make informed food choices • better manage special food needs such as a low-sodium diet. Foods that do not have a nutrition facts table: • fresh vegetables and fruit • raw meat and poultry (except when it is ground) • raw seafood • one-bite confections that are individually sold • milk sold in refillable glass containers • individual servings of food meant to be eaten immediately • foods prepared or processed instore made from its ingredients, such as bakery items and salads You will not find a nutrition facts table on foods that contain very few nutrients, such as: coffee, tea, vinegar, spices.
SERVING SIZE Information in the nutrition facts table is based on a quantity called serving size. It is listed at the top of the table. Serving size is not necessarily the suggested quantity of food you should eat. The serving size tells you the quantity of food used to calculate the numbers in the nutrition facts table. Serving size is listed in a common household measure. It also is listed in grams or millilitres depending on the type of food. Common household measures include: • a fraction of a food such as 1/4 pizza (90 g) • number of pieces such as 4 crackers (20 g) • cups, teaspoons or tablespoons (3/4 cup of yogurt [175 g] or 1 tablespoon of peanut butter [15 g])
The percent daily value (% DV) tells you if the serving size has a little or a lot of a particular nutrient. • 5% DV or less is a little • 15% DV or more is a lot EXAMPLE: Let‘s take cereal with a serving size of 1/2 cup (28 g) as an example. • If you eat 1 cup of cereal (56 g), double the amount of calories and nutrients. • If the amount of calories in a 1/2 cup (28 g) of cereal is 150 calories, then the amount of calories in 1 cup (56 g) of cereal is 300 calories. • If the % DV for fibre in 1/2 cup (28 g) of cereal is 7%, then the % DV for fibre in 1 cup (56 g) of cereal is 14%.
Saturated fat
Trans fat
Sodium
Sugar
Ingredients with many names
Bacon Beef fat Butter Chicken fat Cocoa butter Coconut or coconut oil Hydrogenated fats and oils Lard Palm or palm kernel oil Powdered whole milk solids Shortening Suet Tallow Hard margarine Hydrogenated fats and oils Partially hydrogenated fats and oils Shortening Baking powder Baking soda Brine Celery salt Disodium phosphate Garlic salt Monosodium glutamate (MSG) Onion salt Salt Sodium alginate Sodium benzoate Sodium bisulfate Sodium proprionate Soy sauce Brown sugar Cane juice extract Corn syrup Demerara or Turbinado sugar Dextrose Evaporated cane juice Fructose Galactose Glucose Glucose-fructose High-fructose corn syrup Honey Invert sugar Lactose Liquid sugar Maltose Molasses Sucrose Syrup Treacle Tip: A word ending in "ose" is usually sugar
INGREDIENT LIST The ingredient list shows all the ingredients in a packaged food. Ingredients are listed in order of weight, beginning with the ingredient that weighs the most and ending with the ingredient that weighs the least. This means that a food contains more of the ingredients found at the beginning of the list, and less of the ingredients at the end of the list. Reading the ingredient list is both important and useful. It can help you: • Check if a food product has a certain ingredient. • Avoid ingredients in case of a food allergy or intolerance. Ingredients with many names Sometimes nutrients like saturated and trans fats, sodium, and sugar appear on ingredient lists under many different names. Here's a list of the most commonly used terms.
NUTRITION CLAIMS There are two types of nutrition claims on foods: nutrient content claims and health claims. These claims must also follow certain rules from Health Canada to make sure that they are consistent and not misleading. These claims are optional and may be found on some food products. • Nutrient content claims describe the amount of a nutrient in a food. ―A good source of iron” is an example of a nutrient content claim. • Health claims are statements about the helpful effects of a certain food consumed within a healthy diet on a person's health. For example, ―a healthy diet containing foods high in potassium and low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure, a risk factor for stroke and heart disease‖ is a health claim. A nutrient content claim can help you choose foods that contain a nutrient you may want more of. Look for words such as: • Source, such as source of fibre • High or good source, such as high in vitamin A or good source of iron • Very high or excellent source, such as excellent source of calcium A nutrient content claim can also help you choose foods that contain a nutrient you may want less of. Look for words such as: • Free, such as sodium free or trans fat free • Low, such as low fat • Reduced, such as reduced in Calories Keep in mind, because nutrient claims are optional and only highlight one nutrient, you still need to refer to the Nutrition Facts table to make food choices that are better for you.
HEALTH CLAIMS: WHAT THEY MEAN A health claim can help you choose foods that you may want to include as part of a healthy diet to reduce risk of chronic diseases. An example of a health claim is a healthy diet rich in a variety of vegetables and fruit may help reduce the risk of some types of cancer. To make a health claim about potassium, sodium and reduced risk of high blood pressure, the food... • must be low in (or free of) sodium • may also be high in potassium • must be low in saturated fatty acids • must be limited in alcohol • must have more than 40 Calories if the food is not a vegetable or a fruit • must have a minimum amount of at least one vitamin or mineral To make a health claim about calcium, vitamin D and regular physical activity, and reduced risk of osteoporosis, the food ... • must be high (or very high) in calcium • may also be very high in vitamin D • cannot have more phosphorus than calcium • must be limited in alcohol] • must have more than 40 Calories if the food is not a vegetable or a fruit To make a health claim about saturated and trans fats and reduced risk of heart disease, the food ... • must be low in (or free of) saturated fat and trans fat • must be limited in cholesterol, sodium and alcohol • must have more than 40 Calories if the food is not a vegetable or a fruit • must have a minimum amount of at least one vitamin or mineral • must, if it is a fat or an oil, be a source of omega-3 or omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids To make a health claim about vegetables and fruit and reduced risk of some types of cancers, the food ... • must be a fresh, frozen, dried or canned fruit or vegetable; fruit juice; vegetable juice • must be limited in alcohol
PERCENT DAILY VALUE The % DV is found on the right-hand side of a nutrition facts table. It is a guide to help you make informed food choices. It applies to all nutrients with a % DV It shows you if the serving size has a little or a lot of a nutrient: • 5% DV or less is a little • 15% DV or more is a lot The % DV for the following nutrients must be listed in the nutrition facts table: fat, saturated and trans fats, sodium, carbohydrate, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron You can use % DV to choose products that are higher in the nutrients you may want more or less of.
References: http://www.healthycanadians.gc.ca/publications/eatingnutrition/label-etiquetage/serving-size-fact-sheet-portion-fichedinformation-eng.php?_ga=1.77568150.281436068.1433101282 http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/eating-nutrition/label-etiquetage/tipsconseils/index-eng.php http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/eating-nutrition/label-etiquetage/tipsconseils/what-quoi-eng.php
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