Wheat Belly by William Davis throws us a curve when he says that our blood sugar is getting a spike from our increased use of whole wheat bread. Wait, it gets more frightening: Eating 2 slices of whole wheat bread is equivalent to drinking a can of sugar-sweetened soda. Wait. This was not the intended consequence.

Sugar was something we were trying to avoid as elevated blood sugar leads to a whole category of diseases such as diabetes. Davis goes on and details how wheat creates the visceral fat layer that is responsible for an increased risk of breast cancer. Were we not moving the family to whole wheat products, assuming they did not suffer from a gluten intolerance or even Celiac, for positive health results? Now all of a sudden we are out in left field having been advocates for a less than healthy path for our families.

The problem quite simply is that the wheat we eat today is not the wheat of earlier times.  In Davis’s words, the wheat has been “hybridized,” basically, overbred or, are we overbread? That process raises blood sugar and kicks up insulin levels. This resembles a sugar rush as one is often hungry within a few hours and the taste itself has an addictive quality, much as all sweets we savor.

Switching to whole wheat products created a conundrum: You thought you were doing something wonderful for your body but instead you were complicating matters and creating negative, rather than positive, results. One cannot help but ask if the number of people who now recognize that they are gluten intolerant are responding to this wheat intake.

The ultimate point is that wheat for whatever reason increases visceral fat (belly fat) which is associated with a range of negative health issues such as diabetes and heart disease. The cover of the book strikes the message with its stacked bagels which of course are fattening in and of themselves but Davis says, “Lose the wheat. Lose the weight.”

We know for a certainty that visceral fat has negative health consequences. Likewise diabetes numbers continue to spike. This may be the approach: Eliminating the wheat may be the simplest diet plan to follow.

The Bloomberg Businessweek issue for August 15-28 has a great cover shot for the “Popularity Issue” and inside awards its top spot to the Gluten-Free Diet which they say is being driven by those with celiac disease and the 15% of consumers who purchase these products and “help create a $2.6 billion market.” What has happened has occurred with an ease that often does not accompany most product rollouts which can be slow and focused on test markets. Now, big name manufacturers are vying for space alongside the stalwart G-F leaders such as Bob’s Red Mill and Udi’s. When you see 2 loaves of Rudi’s G-F multigrain bread at Costco you see a sea change, and a price drop. Let’s see, 2 loaves at the big box for about half the cost of a single one at the regular store!

The race is on.

More grocers are demonstrating their understanding of the growing numbers by integrating the G-F product line rather than isolating it into a small corner of the store. Sure shelves are often still marked with flip signs indicating a G-F product, but even that has somewhat lessened as consumers recognize the product labeling with the GF symbol. We’ve talked plenty about how obvious products are now quick to boast of their new popularity status. Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce remains my best go-to example, but the Chex family should not get excluded from their big bold banners. Wait, now Rice Krispies has the bold banner.

If you think you’ve seen a lot of GF products at the grocers and been passed GF restaurant menus, you’ve barely scraped the surface. Who wouldn’t want to be part of this impressive marketing action?

Not a trend, but a lifestyle choice with a wide arena for traditional companies to make the jump into the G-F universe! Expect to see more such gotcha labels.

Let’s see where to begin. How about chronologically? As in this is August 2011 and comment submission materials are now due in early October! Have we not wasted 4 years in trying to figure out how to help individuals who are by illness, as in Celiacs, in need of certified foods? The FDA says we are only talking about 1 % of the population that struggles with Celiac. I struggle with that low percentage for it hardly seems a day passes without more attention to this illness. Celiac research paints a different picture, a more startling numeric: 1 in 133 American people has Celiac, according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.

How about the people who are gluten intolerant? That number is certainly growing. The FDA focus is only on the US, but we know some countries, such as Ireland, have taken the lead on product identification and restaurant preparedness. Sure, more restaurants in the states are offering gluten-free menus and increasing their range of selections, but what about the security issue? Everyone needs to be certain that what is labeled or described as GF, truly has zero gluten.

Individuals who cannot tolerate gluten continue to struggle with dining out choices as they fear the separation of foods may not be tightly monitored. These are not whimsical fears. They are life-and-death matters.

So what happened to the “new” FDA that was promised to be a more responsive agency? Seems it is still buried under mounds of paper and limited in its roll-out of important mandates. What can a foodservice professional or a consumer do? React; respond within this extended deadline. Go to www.regulations.gov, and submit a comment. Follow the link.

As concerned consumers and food professionals, we cannot let this comment period slip away and allow mounds of paper to be ignored. We’ve had enough of that. GF and gluten intolerance deserve better attention and protection. Now.

Let’s cut to the chase. In a Harvard study entitled, “Changes in Specific Dietary Factors May Have Big Impact on Long-Term Weight Gain,” the potato ( in all forms, with fried leading the list) tops the chart of offenders. This study says it is not just a matter of how much we eat but specifically what we eat that will determine our future body frames! We are not talking about a small study or one over a short period of time; rather an examination of three major studies encompassing results over 20 years. That in itself is impressive: A true clarion cry or calorie headliner!

What changes need to be made in our diets to digest the conclusions. First off, yes, the potato, needs to be reduced (eliminated) or we will continue to rock the obesity numbers. Very sad reality. On the other hand, the love of nuts continues to be a positive. Well-known cookbook author Susan Herrmann Loomis may help you discover some new uses for nuts.

Sure, everything in moderation, but grabbing a handful of nuts over the small bag of chips proves a healthy decision. Yes, fruits and vegetables have overall high scores. Let’s hear it for the new USDA plate!

Yogurt scores well, too, and makes it into the slimming column. Another interesting takeaway from the study is that getting less sleep, less than 6 hours, proves a weight-gaining decision. Go for fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and yogurt. Get 8 hours of sleep, and you’ll be following the right approach to lessen weight gain.

I begin now: Major lifestyle changes ahead since there’s never been a potato I haven’t liked!

It was not that many months ago that women got a great pass on their coffee consumption. Now men have their day at the Java shops with a significant study detailing the benefits of 6 cups of coffee staving off prostate cancer. The specific details are worth stirring around:

–Study involved almost 50,000 men.

–Six (6) or more cups of coffee produced a 20% drop in prostate cancer (the 2nd leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the US). When compared with men who avoided coffee all together, the risk decrease was 60%.

–Even those who drank only 1-3 cups daily demonstrated a 30% lower risk of getting prostate cancer.

Coffee, often maligned, has gained new respect in the health community. Do not lose sight of the fact that coffee, because of its antioxidant properties, has brought positive news to those with Parkinson’s and diabetes. Plenty of studies moving coffee into the plus column!

Coffee may prove to be the beverage darling of health studies! Hot or cold: Coffee rocks. Today I’ll deal with the humidity with my espresso over ice. Thank you.

We are not talking about a trend unless we are referencing the increased shelf space for GF products. Rather this is a health issue that needs attention in the current environment. This past week there were numerous outreach programs to call attention to the numbers of individuals affected by the disease. Will all of these efforts help? Possibly one of the most powerful benefits will mean that more people will be tested for this type of diet and many will feel better if they make the switch to a GF lifestyle. Not a trend; a healthy reality.

What can manufacturers do? Continue to examine product line and make certain that all the safety precautions have been applied to ensure that the labeling is accurate. Just this week Barbara’s Bakery, the cereal manufacturer, added to its GF lineup. Why not have Puffins Multigrain? Freezer options continue as well with Glutino expanding its pizza lineup with multi-paks. What happens if you are time-starved but crave a complete Italian entree, then Caesar’s GF linup works wonders. You have numerous freezer choices including manicotti, shells, lasagna, and gnocchi. Add your favorite sauce, and you’re covered!

Choices abound. Read the labels carefully and make certain your specific health and allergy needs are met. In the meantime, let’s hope that the FDA gets moving.

Seems that all the good news about how red wine can help drive good heart-healthy numbers had respondents saying they consumed many more than the recommended two drinks a day limit. After all, if one glass works, why not enjoy yourself and indulge seems to be the thread. Overdrinking or over indulging leads to other issues and seems to negate the wine benefit! Of the 1,000 adults polled, only 30% knew there were limits to consumption. Really! How odd, limits!

The limits get narrowed into discernible amounts: Two (4-ounce) drinks for men on a daily basis and one for women. Drinking in greater quantities may diminish the heart-healthy benefits and increase blood pressure. Did I mention obesity?

Wine studies can be rather comical as a recent one acknowledged wine drinkers with multiple, as in 4-5 drinks daily, had fewer tremors as they aged. Call me cynical but regular daily consumption in that quantity may make one wonder if they were able to recognize a tremor as their consumption level was so significant!

I like a study that favors wine consumption as much as the next vinophile, but excess is excess. You’ll know by morning!

Common sense should play a role in any of our food or beverage decisions. It is hard to believe we need a study to confirm that there are negative risks to overindulgence!

It should be noted that the research indicates that women who do not drink coffee or have very limited coffee consumption are more likely to have a stroke. Other factors such as smoking, weight, and alcohol consumption did not affect the overall benefit women gain from daily, multiple cups of coffee. Researchers did not separate out the caffeinated from the decaffeinated drinkers, but Sweden is well known for its strong coffee brews so the authors doubt the number of decaf drinkers would significantly affect the data.

This study follows on the heels of an earlier one from Israel (The Heart Institute of Sheba) that found that 3 cups of coffee a day is good for you and protects against heart attacks and is good for the circulatory system. What is interesting about this study’s findings is that both individuals who have suffered heart conditions and those free of disease benefited from the caffeine dosage. People who have shied away from coffee for fear of a spike in their blood pressure and pulse rate might start to enjoy those multiple cups.

These studies support my overall philosophy that coffee has strong benefits and that days of diminished consumption help no one, especially those with whom you come into contact! Keep healthy, enjoy good coffee in beautiful cups.

Women do better with regular coffee than if they decaffeinate. We are talking about mental health, and the ability to handle stress. Yes, it’s true we can become overcaffeinated and be robotically productive, but in general drinking regular coffee means better situational responses for women than for men. OK, score another one for women and for coffee! Our brain power goes up with our consumption. Maybe we need to keep the numbers in check, but you get the point. The same UK study concludes that men do worse on memory tests after the coffee consumption than women. Slow down the inter-office friction and offer men decaffeinated coffee.

How about the diabetes and coffee link? That’s an important health discussion that seems to improve with coffee input: Lower diabetes numbers for those who drink coffee. That’s good news and again it seems women are the beneficiaries of this multiple cup approach to life. Men did not fare as well in being protected from diabetes. Women who had four cups of coffee daily were less likely to get Type 2 Diabetes, the most common form. The authors recognize that more research to uncover the complete causal relationship is still necessary, but the findings continue to support earlier reports.

No matter the report, one fact is certain: The morning cup of coffee works wonders especially in our frigid climes. Take out the china and treat yourself!

Branding is funny that way. Little shelf markings or aisle headers announcing the GF products does not seem sufficient as grocers are looking to enhance their product lineup. Popcorn really does not need the label, but marketers say, why not? Those who cannot have any gluten product need to be assured that a particular item is not made in an environment with other foods that could contaminate the gut. That’s a different commentary. The GF numbers for those with disease or merely conscious of their gluten intolerance are driving up sales and increasing marketing efforts.

One of the ironies of such markings are that unit pricing becomes hard to read. There are so many tabs and tags on the shelf trying to direct your eye toward the store’s latest product, it’s difficult to figure out how much this lemon wafer (GF) is in comparison to the one (GF) on the shelf below. The former GF wasteland has become a waist land as there are some people who believe going GF will help them lose weight. This has been disputed before and is getting a lot of attention again.

Those who need to follow such a diet should take advantage of the many books that separate out the foods and even help with recipes. Here’s one I just received the Complete Gluten-Free Diet & Nutrition Guide. What makes this book easy to use for anyone that has a medical need as with Celiac disease, is the amount of  helpful information. For anyone who needs to watch his gluten intake, the book has an easy to follow 30-day meal plan included with the recipes.

I’m always a little mystified by people who complain of numerous stomach issues but have not considered the various possibilities of discomfort. Taking gluten out of one’s diet is an easy comfort test case.

Marketing an issue which has become so popular among health reporters has helped consumers find materials and foods that make their lifestyles easier to digest.

A California firm sent out a recall notice for their organic ground beef. OK, not every state is affected by this E.coli announcement, but the fact remains we cannot be too diligent. The recall involves over 30,000 lbs of ground beef. That’s a lot of burgers, or meatloaf, or…When you link onto the government announcement, you’ll see a sidebar telling you how to handle ground beef for safe consumption. How about the companies? Where is their safe handling instruction book?

We need to remain extra vigilant about all products. This type of recall can have disastrous effects. The company deserves credit for its action, however…

Check your freezer. This is not a warm, cuddly introduction to the New Year. Let us hope this type of announcement will be a rarity and not a foreshadowing of continually escalating food safety issues.

The American Heart Association research hits several high notes. As in, women do not have to limit themselves to a single drink a day and that having more than one drink a day may actually have a positive benefit: A lowered risk of stroke. Earlier heart studies suggested women limit themselves to a single drink a day; now that has been amended. This study primarily focuses on middle-age women and the benefits of the daily drink or two. Women who reach that tender age no longer have to sidestep the alcohol and can truly enjoy themselves and say, it’s good for me! In turn, they will be rewarded with a longer, healthier life.

What a nice start for the weekend. Take a walk and exercise your heart and then relax with an approved solution. This type of research has heart-healthy benefits for everyone to enjoy!

Moderation. Cheers.

For every rule, there is an exception. At this time of year, candy corn grabs me as it fulfills so much of childhood memories even with the new harvest colorations. I indulge. When I travel I find it difficult, if not impossible, to walk past a candy shop, especially an old-fashioned shoppe. Did I mention that dark fudge and truffles pull me inside, too? Yet nothing is more disappointing than waiting for that special treat and discovering there’s nothing special about it. I just made that mistake with chocolate fudge recently. Major disappointment. Go for the good stuff.

It’s Halloween and candy choices are everywhere, and I’m happy to report that research acknowledges a candy eater as a happier and healthier person. Whoohoo!

Let’s examine the facts so that this weekend’s activities can be put to good use. Let’s start with a super one:

–People who regularly eat candy live longer than those who don’t. Need I say more? OK, the facts from a multi-decade study from the Harvard School of Public Health indicate that individuals who consumed candy 1-3 times a month did well in longevity, and daily candy eaters had better survival rates than those who abstained!

–Sugar actually gives you energy and helps you through difficult tasks. Sure there are health risks from too much sugar (obesity and diabetes as starters), but if you can handle sweets, then sugar has its benefits. That’s why the afternoon candy bar is such a wonderful option. Nap? Candy?

–Gum. Chewing gum can improve your mood and help you focus and lessen your stress levels. What a perfect time to become a gum chewer as flavor options seem to increase with each visit to the counter!

–Chocolate. Bet you thought we’d never get there, but the data continues to confirm the health benefits, as in lessening cardiovascular risk, from enjoying chocolate. The best results actually came from individuals who consumed chocolate 5 or more times a week!

What are you waiting for? Dig in. Halloween provides a mere excuse, but data cements the deal.

Then there is the grocery aisle with so many plastic containers. Yet, steps are being taken to improve the containers. Look at the plant-based advance just announced by the Stonyfield Farm folks. Their organic multi-pak yogurt, from YoBaby on up the chain, is now made from a new plant-based container. This then is the first yogurt cup made from plant-based plastic. Currently it’s a remanufactured corn-base container, but the most important takeaway is the reduction in carbon fossil fuels. Almost a 50% reduction in the plastic impact. We are talking a significant advancement!

Just think about the impact from just these two examples. How many coffee cups line the trash barrels v those that can be processed and get a second life? Some estimates are as high as 25 billion Styrofoam cups annually are disposed. The numbers alone are staggering, but when you add in the health consequences, you open up a different evil door. Whatever steps we take whether with our yogurt or our coffee can only benefit us in the future.

Time for a small round of applause as we watch for additional companies to come forth and announce their healthy, innovative approaches to save us from ourselves.

This time the beneficial focus rests with the eyes in preserving vision (even in instances where there has already been some deterioration). This made sense to the researchers who cited the anti-aging properties of the compound so eye degeneration issues formed a natural fit. Let’s see if I have this right: Eat and drink some of these special foods and beverages and your heart and eyes benefit from the consumption. Nothing too difficult about this concept.

Wait, there’s more. Another study also just released addressed the obesity-fighting properties of resveratrol. This quickly brings to mind the French Paradox: A phrase employed with the earliest resveratrol studies that questioned how the French can remain so thin while they consume such large quantities of wine. As Yogi would say, deja vu all over again.

Nothing wrong with either of these studies. They point us in the right nutritional direction, and they have the seasonal advantage of information. Peanuts for the baseball game; grapes and blueberries as new seasonally ripe fruits, and wine anytime.

This makes sense to me!

Check it out:

–A new study from the Netherlands found that coffee and tea drinking in moderation reduced the risk of heart disease. Too often we find studies with a particularly small sample size. Not this time. They followed almost 40,000 coffee and tea drinkers for 13 years. Impressive. Those that consumed 2-4 cups of coffee daily had a 20% lower risk of heart disease than those consuming less coffee. Tea drinkers: You’ll love this. Those who drank 3-6 cups of tea daily reduced their risk by 45%. Even those who drank more than 6 cups daily were able to reduce their risk by 36%. Wonder about the mixed drinkers: The coffee-tea-coffee-tea routine folks?

–More interested in the positive news re: wine? Got you covered. We’ve talked a lot about the health benefits from red wine and its major property, resveratrol, and now, not one, but two studies indicate the positive powers from the compound in red wine and grapes. Drink and be skinny one study finds (fat cell reduction protects against heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s). The other study reaffirms the overall heart-healthy benefits from red wine. Of course, the researchers point out additional research is needed, but these results are in the right column.

–Soft drink consumption down. Well, that’s not totally accurate but in a study at Harvard’s Brigham & Women’s University, researchers found that if they created a “soda tax” more people would forgo the sugary sweet drinks. They raised the price of the beverages by 35% for a 4-week period and watched sales drop while coffee and diet beverage increased by 20%. Not so sure about the diet drink approach but believe taxing sugary drinks may provide some of the positive health results (less diabetes, obesity) than relying completely on individual decision-making.

So it’s a hot week, this first official week of summer, cool yourself down with an iced coffee or iced tea. Enjoy dinner with a glass of red wine, and hydrate sufficiently with water. Your body will thank you.

An interesting side-note is that women seemed to fare better with this beverage link than their male counterparts. Just a few weeks ago we found that women are increasingly the largest purchasers of wine in this country but still are often ignored when a wine list is presented at a restaurant. Maybe someone will start to note that women are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about wines and are not afraid to walk into a wine store or order wine in a restaurant. Have you noticed that wine stores are hiring more women! Pay attention, restaurants!

A beverage at a totally different part of the spectrum has demonstrated positive results as well. Not that long ago we discovered that coffee drinking counted as part of our daily hydration endeavor. Now a study demonstrates that tea which had been considered a dehydrating beverage actually rehydrates better than plain water as it provides the positive, heart-healthy antioxidant effects.

Just one more bit of health news to ponder today. Again we look at the heart-health link and this time we toss out much of what we previously considered about the dangerous factors in dairy food contributing to higher cholesterol and possible weight gain. A new Swedish study demonstrates the opposite result between dairy foods and cholesterol. Again, women fared better than men; this time with improved heart-cholesterol numbers. Women who consumed the most milk products had an improved cholesterol profile.

If one study says go to the right, an author awaits to disprove the notion. That’s a possible end result of the dairy-cholesterol link. Call me a skeptic!

As with all studies, these are beginning pieces of welcome news for lifestyle changes and improved health benefits.

Stay tuned.

Yet, if you make circle fries out of your potatoes, you’ll shorten the cooking time, i.e. reduce the oil you’ll need and still come up with a similar tasting product, albeit healthier.

This all rests on the premise if you believe potatoes are healthy to start with! I confess: I’m a potato person and like the nutritional benefits from this food!

My prediction: More circle potato products with fun-sounding recipe names!

Just a few helpful reminders. We need to be properly hydrated. That phrase gets mired in complexity. Does everyone, regardless of size, health condition, or physical activity, need the same amount of water a day? Can the sport dictate the rules? How about the length of the activity? The time of day? All relevant questions, but hydration is not a single-focused, exclusive phenomena. If you plan to start running today, grabbing a couple water bottles will not do the trick. Sure, they won’t hurt but that is not considered proper hydrating.

Let’s look at a few factors. Jimmy Connors one of tennis’s great athletes used to get leg cramps if he didn’t prepare for a match with an intensive amount of water for several days prior to the matches. He could feel them coming on and knew his lack of (water) diligence was going to cause pain. Research also indicates you can overdose on water and that can have a debilitating effect. Getting the balance can be accomplished by a daily intake of water which matches your daily physical commitment. Many recommend a sports drink to supplement water as you’ll be losing too much water through perspiration. Or, just give your water an energy boost with powder packs to turn it into a more powerful beverage. Over or under-doing liquids has severe negative consequences from leg cramps and extreme nausea to heat-related medical problems.

No one needs to remind you about sunscreen and time of day. OK, I just did, but application of the SPF’s and reapplication may be a long-term critical commitment. There are numerous products that reduce the sweating off (as in dripping into your eyes) during physical activity. Until you find the right balance of fluids and have your activity in a manageable zone, consider skipping the high noon workout or consider an indoor regimen when it’s 100 humid degrees. Keep your body hydrated no matter time of day or physical activity.

Participate. Drink. Be smart.

Nintendo has the very popular WiiFit Plus and the Wii Sports Resort games which will form the basis for this program to get people active. The benefits of moving and exercising are well-known, but accessibility often proves a deterrent. The new campaign is called “Get Informed,” “Get Empowered”and “Get Active.”

Research indicates the average person spends more than 8 hours daily just sitting down. That is about to change if this partnership has its way. Later this year they will jointly host a summit of leaders from a variety of fields to find ways to create synergies and benefits of active-play video games and physically active lifestyles. Beginning this summer they will host an information website with a component (www.activeplaynow.com) to help people conduct personal assessments of their lifestyle. Speculation abounds that a new Wii Sensor will be available to measure pulse rates.

Any approach we take to help us get off the couch and on our feet has to be given serious attention. Combine the acitivty with a heart-healthy diet, and you’ve got a winner.

I’m a gamer–Check out the tennis ball machine!