Web watch

Essential information and useful updates. Visit www.NHDmag.com for full listings.

Eatwell Guide update

The NHS Choices pages have a great range of healthy eating and lifestyle advice for patients. In light of the recent Eatwell Guide update, this section has been renewed and offers an excellent overview of the guide and how it fits in with daily eating. Patients can also find useful links to the Change for Life Sugar Swaps app, the One You - ‘How are you?’ health questionnaire, as well as other resources for 5-a-day, BMI calculation and calorie information.

NHS CHOICES

Full details here: www.nhs.uk/ Livewell/goodfood/Pages/theeatwell-guide.aspx

Top diets review for 2016

The key to weight loss and a healthy BMI is good old-fashioned healthy eating and exercise, right? Maybe not?! There is a plethora of diets out there, which promise weight loss results, but what do patients really know about them? NHS Choices, in conjunction with the BDA (British Dietetic

For full article references NICE STANDARDS ON please email ANTENATAL CARE info@ networkhealth Antenatal care - NICE quality group.co.uk standard [QS22]. Initially published in September 2012, the source recommendations and definitions for statement 6 (risk assessment - gestational diabetes) in this quality statement were updated in April 2016 to reflect changes to the NICE guideline on antenatal care which was published in March 2016. For more information click here: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs22

GLUTEN-FREE DIET AND IBS - NEW EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT EFFICACY

Efficacy of a gluten-free diet in subjects with IBS-D unaware of their HLA-DQ2/8 genotype. Aziz, A, Trott N, Briggs R et al (2006). Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. Around a third of all IBS patients are categorised as IBS-D (Irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea) and it is the most common subtype of IBS found in clinical practice. Up to 84% of patients with IBS report a link between food and their gastrointestinal symptoms. One in four patients report gluten containing products are a trigger. Following these observations, ‘non-coeliac gluten sensitivity’ (NCGS) has become an increasingly common label for these patients and their clinical condition. There is controversy surrounding NCGS, which is due to other non-gluten components such as FODMAPs, which may play a role in triggering IBS symptoms. This prospective study evaluated the clinical response to a gluten-free diet (GFD) in a cohort of patients with IBS-D who were blinded to their HLA-DQ status. The long-term benefits and sustainability of a gluten-free diet Association), has developed this excellent overview of the following diets, looking at the pros and cons and giving a final verdict on their efficacy and safety: 5:2 diet, Dukan diet, Paleo diet, New Atkins diet, Alkaline diet, Cambridge diet, South Beach diet, Slimming World diet, Slim-Fast diet, LighterLife diet, WeightWatchers diet and Rosemary Conley diet. For full information click here: www.nhs.uk/Livewell/ loseweight/Pages/top-10-mostpopular-diets-review.aspx

were also assessed. For the full report click here: www.drschaerinstitute.com/uk/news/latestresearch/1163-1367.html

NEW PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND DATA - SALT CONSUMPTION

Published on 22nd March 2016, the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) showed that on average adult consumption of salt is now around 8.0 grams per day. Between 2005 to 2014, adults have cut their average salt consumption by 0.9 grams per day according to this data. Average salt consumption for adults in 2014 was 8.0 grams per day. This has decreased from 8.5 grams in 2011 and 8.8 grams in 2005/06. Overall, salt intake has fallen by 11% since the 2005 to 2006 survey. More information here: www.gov.uk/ government/news/new-phe-dataon-salt-consumption-levels