Build UP Catch UP - 4/21/23
Go Away GOLO, Diet (book/plan) Detective, "GULP", TickTalk and ASN Savings
GO(LO) Away
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re aware of the excessive number of ads for GOLO, an acronym for "GoLose Weight, GoLook Great, GoLove Life" that are on TV and social media. Each cringey TV ad features a testimonial from a supposedly happy, satisfied user who proclaims their life (aka weight) changing difference is due to this supplement and eating plan (of course they wouldn’t bother featuring the story of a failure).
In this 2020 article in US News about GOLO, dietitians Matthew Black and Elena Gagliardi countered many of the claims Jennifer Brooks, president of GOLO and a “holistic nutritionist”, made about the GOLO plan and supplements.
Generally speaking, that US News article presented the information and responses in the way you’d want to evaluate diet plans, especially ones that include proprietary supplements.
Here are some questions to ask when evaluating a diet:
-What kind of claims are being made about the plan (the diet and supplements), are they accurate and science-based and how are they supported?
-What research was done to show efficacy of the diet plan and/or supplements? Who did or who supported the research? How good (methods/design) were the studies? Who were the subjects (humans/rodents/in vitro) if there was a study? Where was the study published? (OR are the claims solely based on anecdotes and testimonials?)
-What is the diet like? Does it eliminate entire food groups? Is it sustainable for a long period of time without resulting in macro or micronutrient shortfalls? How expensive is it for someone to eat this way?
-If there are supplements…what’s in them? Will they interact with medications? Are the ingredients safe/GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe). What is the cost of the supplements? How do we know they actually contain what they claim to contain?
For more resources explaining GOLO:
SkepDoc “GOLO for Weight Loss”
Good Housekeeping “What is the GOLO Diet and Does it Work for Weight Loss?” - dietitian Alissa Rumsey quoted.
Group for dietitians to join: Build UP Dietitians Weight Management (and Bariatrics)
Bottom Line: Often our customers/clients may have questions about various (fad) diets. Before you endorse any (fad) diet plan or diet/weight loss book; we strongly recommend you do your due diligence to check any supplements that are part of a diet plan and the parameters of the diet itself to make sure what’s being promoted is accurate and safe.
Diet/Nutrition Plan Nonsense
Red Pen Reviews evaluates and scores nutrition books based on: Scientific Accuracy, Reference Accuracy, and Healthfulness and gives them an Overall Score (out of 100%). Red Pen also provides explanations and summaries of some key issues in the books, including “How hard would it be to apply the book’s advice?”.
Some of the books they’ve evaluated include:
“Anti-Diet”- overall score 53%; “The Carnivore Code”- overall score 38%; “The Obesity Code” - overall score 60%; “Plant Paradox” - overall score 49% and “Eat Fat Get Thin” - overall score 48%
Dietitian Abby Langer of Abby Langer Nutrition also does a great job staying on top of diet fads/plans on social media and diet books and her assessments in blogs and on social media are often as brutally honest as they are science-based. Recent blogs include ones on: Optavia, The Keto Diet, Beachbody. We recommend following her on her various social channels for more critiques.
Group for Dietitians to Join: Build Up Book and Podcast Group
Book Nook
“GULP: Adventures of the Alimentary Canal” by Mary Roach
If you want to read a science book about the digestive system that’s highly digestible (pun intended)—this is a good one. Mary Roach takes readers through facts, history, interesting and sometimes tasty tidbits about smell, taste, digestion and even flatulence.
Group for dietitians to join: Build Up Dietitians GASTRO
Alpha-Gal - TickTalk
Alpha-gal Syndrome (AGS), also known as alpha-gal allergy, or mammalian meat allergy (MMA), is a new discovery in the world of food allergies. It began to get notice in the early 2000s and testing wasn’t widely available until about 2010. AGS is a tick-borne condition that makes people allergic to mammalian meat and sometimes also includes anything made from these animals, like dairy products and gelatins used in foods, surgical supplies and medications.
One of the more interesting aspects of AGS is that the presentation is different than a typical food allergy in that symptoms can take several hours to manifest. This also makes it more difficult to diagnose and why sometimes it is misdiagnosed as a case of foodborne illness or irritable bowel syndrome. (for more detail and explanation about AGS click on hyperlinks in this post!)
Podcast Pick: Listen to Dr. Kevin Folta speak with Dr. Jeffery Wilson from the University of Virginia about AGS on Talking Biotech Podcast.
Groups for dietitians to join: Build UP Dietitians Food Service and Culinary and Build UP Dietitians - Clinical Dietetics Group
UPCOMING CONFERENCE - July 22-25th - Nutrition 2023-BOSTON
#Sponsored - Special Rate Deal
Join the nutrition community this July in Boston. RDs are eligible to save $300 and get the ASN Member rate! Register by April 28 for the lowest rate. https://nutrition.org/n23-rd/?utm_source=buildup&utm_medium=promo&utm_campaign=RD
