Build UP Catch UP - 7/28/23

Full of Fiber(Fibre), Mini Meet-Ups, The Sound of SPAM, 3 Things You May Have Missed...and more.

Full of FIBER (FIBRE)

We know that there are certain foods that come with fiber as a part of their packaging…fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains…but have you noticed how many more products in your local supermarket now have added fiber (prebiotic and probiotic)? Yogurts, frozen treats, snack bars, beverages…and they all sport claims of promoting microbiome/gut health. This blog by Chef Anthony Warner (One Angry Chef) writes about the often ignored issue of the complexity of fiber/fibre. “…rarely are the different types of fibre considered in dietary surveys or nutrition recommendations. Studies of the impact of fibre on health usually take a broad-brush approach, classifying it as one entity with a single unified impact on the body, whereas the reality could not be further from the truth…”

What about new generation of products that add prebiotic fibers like inulin and make gut health claims? Inulin occurs naturally in chickory root or Jerusalem artichoke.

That’s all well and good, unless you have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and are sensitive to FODMAPs, since inulin is a HIGH FODMAP ingredient. How would someone sensitive to FODMAPs fair with a “sparkling soda” with an ingredient list like this:

Carbonated Water, OLISMART (Cassava Root Fiber, Chicory Root Inulin, Jerusalem Artichoke Inulin, Nopal Cactus*, Marshmallow Root*, Calendula Flower*, Kudzu Root*)….

Unfortunately, inulin is not FODMAP friendly….”In the slow process of breaking down inulin in the large intestine the gas produced from this process can lead to side-effects…bloating, stomach pain and distension, worsening symptoms of IBS … Inulin acts like a high FODMAP food item by causing symptoms as experienced in IBS.”

Bottom Line: All fiber is not created equal. A fiber that may be good for you may not be good for someone else. Be sure read the list of ingredients.

Mini Meet Ups are BACK!

We’re resuming doing Build UP Mini Meetups at various events!

Here’s how it works:

1. If you’re planning on going to a state or national nutrition conference and would like to host a Build Up Mini Meet Up - let us know.

2. We’ll help find a site (restaurant/bar) and make reservations for a time that’s convenient for you.

3. We’ll promote the event with images on our platforms (like the one above).

4. You’ll get $50 for being the Build Up Mini Meet Up host AND we’ll pay up to $100 towards food! If you feel more comfortable working with someone we’ll pay you and a dietitian friend $50 each to co-host.

You’ll send us photos of you and other Build UP friends/followers at the event and we’ll post them on social media.

Podcast Pick

From Duke Sanford World Policy Center

“8 Ways White Bias Can Misdirect Food System Work” with Alison Conrad

“Often white institutions and organizations get to come into communities and set the agenda for what is needed and what will happen in those communities. And so organizations need to think about how they can shift from doing the work on behalf of BIPOC communities to supporting community-defined agendas and working with communities.”

3 Things You May Have Missed

1. Proposals to make SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) more like WIC (Women, Infants, and Children), i.e. have more nutrition focused targets, exclude/include certain foods and include nutrition education. One item immediately targeted would likely be sodas. Helena Bottemiller Evich talks about this more in a recent Food Fix Co.

   What do dietitians think about the this? Here’s a comment from our Build UP Dietitians Public Health group:

   

   2.Sports Supplements Don’t Contain What They Claim

   

   These sorts of stories seem to come up quite regularly. “…clinicians should advise consumers that supplements listing botanical ingredients with purported stimulant or anabolic effects may not be accurately labeled and may contain FDA-prohibited drugs.” (More from epidemiologist Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz (aka Health Nerd) in a recent blog

   3.Tyson’s Change of Direction on Antibiotics

   (thanks to Dietitian Milton Stokes for asking about this!)

   “Tyson Foods… has announced that it will remove the “No Antibiotics Ever” label from certain chicken products…Tyson’s decision to drop the “No Antibiotics Ever” label is driven by the reintroduction of ionophores to chickens’ diets... Ionophores are primarily used to control coccidiosis, a parasitic disease commonly found in poultry.”

   

   A few important points:

   - Ionophores are NOT used in human medicine.

   - Ionophores are used in animal and poultry veterinary medicine. In poultry, both in small backyard farms and large commercial farms, ionophores are used to control a parasite which can cause gut damage and death.

   -When animals and poultry are given antibiotics, a withdrawal period must be observed so antibiotics have cleared their system before they are harvested for food. The withdrawal period for ionophores is 0-5 days depending on the specific type.

   For more information on this see: National Chicken Council: Questions and Answers about Antibiotics in Chicken Production.