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Video feature: How to avoid holiday weight gain

December 22, 2011 By 2 Comments

It’s that time of year full of merriment, parties, and lots of special food treats.  It’s also the time of year that the majority of Americans gain weight. And some studies have shown the holiday weight gain actually accumulates year after year.

Sure, there are all sorts of theories about how to avoid those few extra pounds over the holidays. But which strategies actually work?

Brian Wansink – a Cornell professor and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab – has conducted dozens of studies on environmental cues and diet. He explained there are three main pitfalls to avoid at holiday meals:

  •  First, studies have shown that those who cook food eat more of it because preparing the food makes them feel as if they deserve it. Take home message:  If you’re hosting a holiday gathering, serve yourself a normal portion and then move on to socializing with your guests.
  • Research from Wansink’s lab has also shown that 9 percent of all calories consumed on Thanksgiving are eaten before the big meal. You can make a major dent in your holiday calorie consumption just by avoiding high-calorie appetizers.  If you must munch, stick with plain vegetables.
  • Wansink’s lab has also documented the “happy host” syndrome – essentially when people take more food as a compliment to the host. Research has found that the host won’t actually remember who much food you took in your first plate, only how many times you went back for more. So start with a tiny portion and then go back for a tiny bit more to send the message you’re a fan of the meal.

You can see Wansink discussing his holiday-eating tips in the following video.

Here’s wishing you a happy, healthy holiday!
Note: EBL will be taking a break for the holiday season, but will return with new evidence-based info in the New Year.

Filed Under: Evidence-Based Living, Health and Wellness Tagged With: , , , , ,

A rise in food allergies: Fact or fiction?

December 19, 2011 By 1 Comment

I recently attended a children’s holiday party that ended with a group of parents discussing the treats they brought to share. One parent lamented that she could not bring her family’s favorite cookies (which contain peanut butter) for fear a child at the party was allergic to peanuts. The discussion eventually arrived at the question, are more children really suffering from allergies to food items like peanuts, dairy products and wheat?

Everyone at the party had an opinion, but no one quite knew the answer for sure.  Of course, I hurried home to do some research.

I wasn’t able to find a clear conclusion because the evidence on food allergies is limited. Two separate, large systematic reviews published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Journal of the American Medical Association found inconclusive evidence about the prevalence of food allergies, mainly because there is not uniform criteria available for diagnosing and tracking food allergies.

The review in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology included 36 studies and a total of more than 250,000 children and adults. Only 6 studies included food challenge tests – the gold standard for allergy testing that involves serving a patient a suspected allergen unknowingly.  More importantly, the analysis found very little uniformity in study methods, making difficult to compile data.

The review in the Journal of the American Medical Association came to the same conclusion – without a uniform method for studying food allergies, it’s difficult to draw conclusions about what’s going on. This review concluded that food allergy affects more than 1 percent of the population but less than 10 percent and found it unclear if the prevalence of food allergies is increasing. The analysis also found that a common diagnostic process for food allergies called the elimination diet – where patients eliminate suspected allergens from their meals – have rarely been studied.

So, the jury is still out. But the good news is that the federal government has recognized the critical need for more research in this area and provided a steady stream of funding to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease to address these questions. Their first step was to commission a review of the scientific and clinical literature that would eventually lead to the development of guidelines for diagnosing and managing food allergies.  (You can read it here.)

In the meantime, my son’s school will remain peanut-free. And I agree, it’s probably better that way.  If there are students who is seriously allergic to peanuts, it’s important to keep them safe. We’ll just have to make our own peanut butter cookies to enjoy at home.

Filed Under: Evidence-Based Living, Health and Wellness Tagged With: , , ,

More evidence supporting the systematic review

December 14, 2011 By 2 Comments

Frequent EBL readers are well aware of the importance we put on systematic reviews, studies that synthesize many articles on a given topic and draw a conclusion about what the body of evidence shows.

So we were excited this week to stumble across a paper funded by the Milbank Memorial Fund and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control extolling the virtues of the systematic review for improving health across populations – especially for our policymakers.

The paper includes case studies on a wide range of topics — underage drinking, tobacco use and traffic safety interventions, to name a few.

And it draws the following conclusions about systematic reviews, in general:

  • Policymakers should feel confident about the findings of systematic reviews because, by definition, they help reduce the bias often present in single studies.
  • Systematic reviews help policymakers work efficiently and reduce the influence of outside interests.
  • Researchers in all fields must make strategic efforts to publicize and implement review findings. (Here at EBL, we’re doing our best in this area!)
  • Enhancing the “literacy” of decision makers and the public about the strengths and weaknesses of different types of evidence can help improve population health policy.

So there you have it: More evidence in support of the systematic review.  The next time you’re thinking about making a health decision, considering checking the body of evidence. Just Google “systematic review” along with the topic you’re interested in and see what you can find.

Filed Under: Evidence-Based Living, policy, The Learning Center Tagged With: , , ,

Can you boost your IQ? The evidence says yes

December 7, 2011 By 1 Comment

It’s an age-old question studied by researchers for more than a century:  Is there anyone to make your-self smarter?

In the early days of this inquiry, researchers were certain the answer was no.  But studies over the past two decade have proven otherwise.  Yes, you can raise your intelligence quotient, or IQ.   In fact, the very question was covered in a recent Wall Street Journal article.

While I didn’t manage to track down a systematic review of the topic, I did find a body of literature pointing to methods for improving your IQ.  One study that followed 250 adults over the course of six years found that people in jobs involving complex relationships, elaborate systems or difficult problems tend to perform better over time on cognitive tests.

Likewise, the work of Cornell Professor Steve Ceci has found that schooling raises IQ by several points a year, mainly because students are exposed to information and problem-solving often included in cognitive tests.

In another recent study, British students were given IQ tests and brain scans at ages 12 to 16 and again four years later. The students with significant improvements in IQ – 15 points or more – showed changes in gray matter in areas corresponding with their improvements.

Alas, the issue is complicated.  Another recent study tested adults using at Wii video game, reading and reference ability. While the participants showed improvements in what they practiced, their new-found skills didn’t transfer well to other areas, suggesting that learning for adults may be more narrow than for young adults and children.

Clearly, more research is needed. But it seems that we can say definitely that if you practice something – whether physical or mental – you will see improvements in that specific area.

Filed Under: Evidence-Based Living, In The Media Tagged With: , ,

Video feature: Q&A on decision-making

December 2, 2011 By 1 Comment

Most of us have seen it before.  Maybe it was a neighborhood boy riding his bike down the middle of the road, or a group of girls performing stunts on the diving board at the local pool. Whatever the circumstance, it’s fairly common knowledge that young people don’t always make the best decisions. In fact, it’s a topic we’ve written about here on EBL.  But given the stakes, it’s one worth revisiting.

Earlier this month, Cornell professor Valerie Reyna — an expert in decision-making  — was featured in a new video on the topic.  In it, Reyna explains the science behind decision-making in adolescents, as well as how the neuroscience of decision-making plays a role in other areas of our lives including health care and memory.

It’s certainly worth a watch!

Filed Under: Evidence-Based Living, The Learning Center Tagged With: , , , ,
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