Contemporary Research in Health and Wellness

My focus for this page is nutrition and food because nutrition is a much-needed aspect of health and wellness. Diet affects all aspects of health and is a very important component of wellness. Diet therapy is used to treat and prevent many illnesses. It can be said that good food equals good health! Therefore, knowledge of nutrition and good food is an important tool for any Health and Wellness Professional.

1. Etcheverry, P. (2011). Protein supplements: The good, the bad, and & the ugly…. Retrieved from http://www.healthandwellness.kaplan.edu/articles/nutrition/Protein Supplements.html

This article lays out the good, bad and ugly of protein supplements and as such does a pretty good job, but is lacking in some facts which I think are needed to determine if protein supplementation is needed by the average person. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007-2008, the average American diet provides 101.9 grams of protein for males and 70.1 grams of protein for females which is more than twice what is recommended by the dietary guidelines (Shamim, 2011). This being the case, I feel that if you eat the average American diet that you do not need protein supplementation. Personally, I am not good at eating a balanced breakfast and do use a meal replacement shake instead. I am very careful about my source of protein and avoid soy because I feel that its benefits do not outweigh the possible problems with it. I am also leery of whey proteins because I am lactose intolerant. I tend to choose vegetable protein supplements and I like whole food meal replacements.

Reference:

Shamim, S. (2011, March 8). Average protein intake. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/399188-the-average-grams-of-protein-intake-in-the-average-daily-diet/

2. Etcheverry, P. (2011). Is the organic produce more nutritious?. Retrieved from http://www.healthandwellness.kaplan.edu/articles/nutrition/Is the organic produce more nutritious.htmlerides/

This article attempts to determine whether or not organic foods are more nutritious than conventional type farming. It starts out by explaining the differences between the two types of farming. The main difference being that they are grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers thus it is perceived to be more eco-friendly. It then goes out to explore some of the scientific literature on the nutritional quality of organically grown produce. The studies that were reviewed that organically grown produce has increases in some nutrients and decreases in others. In the conclusion, it points out that while there are some differences in the nutritional value between the two, nutritional value should not be the main concern when deciding whether or not to consume them. I, like the author, am more concern about the pesticides that I might be consuming by eating conventional produce. If cost is a factor, I would recommend at least making sure that the produce considered to be the “dirty dozen” should be purchased organically. These are: apples, cherries, grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries, bell peppers, celery, potatoes,  and kale, spinach and other collards. My recommendation is to purchase organic whenever you can, but don’t skip your fruits and vegetables because you can’t afford organics. They are an important part of your diet.

3. Hatcher, N. L. (2011). Holistic approaches to heart health: Nutrition is chocolate good for your heart? . Retrieved from http://www.healthandwellness.kaplan.edu/articles/nutrition/Holistic Approaches to Heart Health – Nutrition.html

This was a fun article to read and who doesn’t like chocolate, so if it is good for your heart, I am all for it! But seriously this article discusses the health benefits of chocolate.  It talks about the fact the it contains flavonoids, which are powerful antioxidants that play a role in protecting against environmental toxins and repairing damage in plants and that evidence is increasing that shows that people who consume them may also reap health benefits. Flavanols are the primary flavonoids found in chocolate and cocoa. The article says that numerous dietary intervention studies show that there is a clear connection between flavanols and heart health. Namely that it decreased vascular inflammation and platelet aggregation. It points out that even with these evidence, that there is no standard recommendation for serving amount of frequency of use and because it is difficult to know the flavanol content in the chocolate you buy you can not be sure that you are getting the correct amount of them to achieve cardiovascular benefit. Keep in mind that because of this, more research is needed to know how much chocolate will really be beneficial (Hatcher, 2011). I agree that an occasional piece of chocolate probably will not do you any harm; but that at the present time,  it isn’t as a cure for anything.