Diet Trends and Healthy Behaviour

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Top Health and Nutrition Articles of 2022

In 2022, our experts focused on a few of the major factors influencing the world of food, beverage, and nutrition – the microbiome, food waste, and nutrients linked to health like fibre and omega-3 fats. These nutrition articles were the most popular among our readers from our content published last year.

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Does the Keto Diet Help Endurance Athletes?

Author(s): Lisa Ryan, PhD, RNutr

The Ketogenic diet is a low carbohydrate, high fat (LCHF) diet Different dietary trends come into popularity at various stages and recent times have seen the resurgence of the low carbohydrate – high fat diet (LCHF) diet, this time in the form of ‘the ketogenic diet’.  This diet encourages less than 10% of total calories… Read more »

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The Dairy Matrix: Beyond Individual Nutrients

Author(s): Aoife Marie Murphy, PhD

Is dairy fat healthy or unhealthy? Why do we see recommendations to reduce saturated fat intake, while at the same time see headlines from studies showing full-fat dairy may be healthy for us? The answer lies in the fact that food can often be more than the sum of its parts. Dairy, saturated fat &… Read more »

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Soy’s Role in Health

Author(s): Aoife Marie Murphy, PhD and Michael Kemp, PhD, RD

Soy has received more attention in the past few years due to the growing popularity of plant protein and plant-based diets. However, there have also been mixed messages about soy in the media over the past few decades, which leaves many people confused about soy’s role in health. “Is soy unhealthy or healthy?” is the… Read more »

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Nutrient Density and the “Quality Calorie Concept”

Author(s): Gemma Velayos, MSc

Anyone who has ever been on a diet will be familiar with the terms ‘reduced calories’ or ‘counting calories’, but what about the other parts of a healthy diet, beyond calories? Nutrient density has a large role to play in a healthy diet. The high obesity rates globally suggest that on average, we consume too… Read more »

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The Impact of Social Isolation on Eating Behaviour and Nutrition

Author(s): Caoileann Murphy, PhD, RD

Staying at home with minimal human contact can significantly increase our feelings of loneliness. People of all ages may experience loneliness. However, older people, particularly those living alone and advised to “cocoon”, are especially vulnerable. Loneliness and social isolation can negatively impact our mental and physical health (1), in part through adversely affecting behaviours like… Read more »

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Maintaining Healthy Muscles and Mobility in Older Adults During Social Distancing

Author(s): Caoileann Murphy, PhD, RD and Aoife Marie Murphy, PhD

People aged 60 years and over are a vulnerable group with respect to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Measures to protect older people from contracting the virus include personal hygiene practices, social distancing and staying at home. These are extraordinary measures, and while it is vital for public health that these are adhered to, they can… Read more »

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Is Your Breakfast Healthy or Not? Why Foods Like Eggs or Coffee Change From “Unhealthy” to “Healthy” Status

Author(s): Heather Nelson Cortes, PhD

Key takeaways: Dietary recommendations change because science develops new understanding It is key to focus on an entire food’s role in health, not just one nutrient or chemical within that food One of the most common criticisms of nutrition science is how confusing it can be. Recommendations will change from “eggs are unhealthy, avoid them”… Read more »

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The FODMAP Diet for IBS – An FAQ

What is the FODMAP diet? The FODMAP diet is an eating pattern designed to help people with irritable bowel syndrome or other gastrointestinal discomfort choose foods that can help them with their symptoms like bloating and abdominal pain. Many consider it to be the next wave of the gluten-free trend. Researchers from Monash University in… Read more »

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3 Tips for Eating Healthy While Traveling

Author(s): Nathan Pratt, PhD, RD

It’s hard to focus on eating healthy when we’re traveling, whether it’s flying across the country on a business trip or driving 7 hours to see family for a holiday visit. The mood is hectic and to-do lists are long, so eating healthy often becomes an afterthought. Even worse, food often feels out of our… Read more »

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Where Do Fibers Come From and What Role Do They Have in Food and Health?

Author(s): Bryan Le, MA

Dietary fiber has become an important functional ingredient in recent times due to growing consumer interest in the many health benefits of fiber touted by the scientific community (Anderson 2009).  Fiber has been recently defined by the FDA as “non-digestible soluble and insoluble carbohydrates (with three or more monomeric units) and lignin that are intrinsic… Read more »

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MCTs and Coconut Oil for Weight: What Does Science Say?

Author(s): Rebecca Kinsella, MS

In the past decade, foods like coconut oil and bulletproof coffee have been in the headlines of countless nutrition news articles. One of the most common questions dietitians get asked is “what’s the truth about coconut oil, is it healthy?”. Scientific studies have shown that consuming certain types of dietary fats can reduce the amount… Read more »

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Does Low-Fat Still Matter?

Author(s): Mindy Hermann, MBA, RDN

After decades of emphasis on the importance of low-fat diets, guidelines are now shifting toward emphasis on the quality of fat instead of the quantity.