The Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council’s Whole Grain Week is coming soon (next week!). We’re bringing you Elissa Price, PhD Candidate at the University of New South Wales to discuss her research findings on ultra-processed foods (UPF) and whole grains.

We cover:

• What is food processing?
• Why are foods processed? Is it always bad?
• What is an UPF?
• The latest evidence on UPFs and health
• Regardless of how whole grains are processed, what does the research tell us about whole grains and health?
• Can UPFs be part of a healthy diet?
• Elissa’s three key takeaways on UPFs and whole grains

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“They categorise foods based on the level of processing and that UPF is that more extreme group of processing. They define an UPF based on the nature, extent and purpose of the food processing and are identified foods that have gone through more extensive processing.”

“Higher ultra-processed food intake and worse health outcomes. Some of those being obesity, cancer, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, irritable bowel syndrome, depression and all-cause mortality. There is a lot of research happening in this space and a lot of links being made.”


References

Whole-grain health benefits

Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet, 2019. 393(10184): p. 1958-1972.

UPF health associations

Taneri, P.E., et al., Association Between Ultra-Processed Food İntake and All-Cause Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Am J Epidemiol, 2022.

Martínez Steele, E., et al., Dietary share of ultra-processed foods and metabolic syndrome in the US adult population. Preventive Medicine, 2019. 125: p. 40-48.

Lane, M.M., et al., Higher Ultra-Processed Food Consumption Is Associated with Greater High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein Concentration in Adults: Cross-Sectional Results from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study. Nutrients, 2022. 14(16): p. 3309.

Beslay, M., et al., Ultra-processed food intake in association with BMI change and risk of overweight and obesity: A prospective analysis of the French NutriNet-Santé cohort. PLOS Medicine, 2020. 17(8): p. e1003256.

Nova UPF subgroup associations

Mendoza, K., et al., Ultra-processed foods and cardiovascular disease: analysis of three large US prospective cohorts and a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, 2024. 37.

Chen, Z., et al., Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: Three Large Prospective U.S. Cohort Studies. Diabetes Care, 2023. 46(7): p. 1335-1344.

Cordova, R., et al., Consumption of ultra-processed foods and risk of multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases: a multinational cohort study. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe.

Nova UPF whole-grain exclusion

Price, E.J., et al., Excluding whole grain-containing foods from the Nova ultraprocessed food category: a cross-sectional analysis of the impact on associations with cardiometabolic risk measures. Am J Clin Nutr, 2024.

Nova and ADG discordance

Nguyen, H., et al., Extent of alignment between the Australian Dietary Guidelines and the NOVA classification system across the Australian packaged food supply. Nutr Diet, 2024.

Join us for a conversation on alternative proteins through the lens of nutrition and health.

We cover:

• What are alternative proteins?
• What are complementary proteins?
• Mainstream media on diet, health and alternative proteins
• Are conventional processed meat products (e.g. sausages, bacon) improving the nutritional profile of their products?
• Food Frontiers position on the ultra-processed foods
• How alternative proteins could be positioned within the Australian Dietary Guidelines

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“We are told constantly through dietary guidelines and information that comes out of health associations that processed meats are very bad for us. And it’s gone to the extreme in some cases - state governments in Australia banning the use in school canteens of some of the processed meats. As by definition they are heavily processed, they have all sorts of processes involved in the production of that product that we now understand are detrimental to health and in some cases carcinogenic. ”

“I think we are going to see the growth of portfolios within government that have a clear focus on food systems because it is going to become essential. We are seeing in Australia the pressure on our food systems that are coming from climate change, particularly areas that have been impacted by food and draught.”

To drink juice or not to drink juice? Tim Cassettari has been researching juice for the past 3 years, so we are in excellent hands as we cover the latest research on juice and health.

We cover:

• Why study juice?
• What do dietary guidelines say about juice?
• The latest research
• Health benefits and health risks of juice
• The effect of juice on satiety & weight, dental health, brain health, gut health
• The optimal amount and type of juice
• What about pulp?
• The different types of juice processing and their effect on health
• Why might 100% juice have health benefits?
• How concerned should we be about sugars?
• What to look for on the label
• Practical considerations of juice
• Bigger picture health & nutrition learnings that can be taken from juice

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“Under extreme conditions juice can lead to worsening to some markers of dental health but we don’t actually have evidence to say that’s the case in normal circumstances.”

“100% juice can also improve markers of cardiovascular health and help to lower markers of chronic inflammation.”

“We now have 19 randomised controlled trials comparing 100% juice to non-calorie beverages, so that could be water, an artificially sweetened beverage. There is not one study that shows any change in body weight with 100% juice. ”

It's Women's Health Week and mental health always matters! Join us as we discuss what the evidence says when it comes to nutrition and depression & anxiety. We also look at a new study that was published in the Lancet comparing lifestyle (diet and exercise) and psychotherapy interventions.

We cover:

• WHO definitions of depression & anxiety
• Rates of depression & anxiety in NZ and Australia
• Mediterranean diet & mental health
• New Lancet study around nutrition & mental health

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“Across Australia and New Zealand, rates of depression and anxiety are ever-increasing.”

“Overall, research shows that diet is important to mental health, the same way it is to physical health. Eating healthier positively impacts mental wellbeing, such as improving depressive symptoms.”

“Over eight weeks they found that those assigned the lifestyle intervention had a 42% reduction in symptoms of depression and a 37% reduction in the psychotherapy program.”

References
https://theconversation.com/food-and-exercise-can-treat-depression-as-well-as-a-psychologist-our-study-found-and-its-cheaper-235952

What exactly is the Mediterranean diet? Easy adjustments you can make now to reap health benefits

It’s Women’s Health Week and Clare Goodwin, the PCOS Nutritionist and founder of Ovie is here to answer your questions on PCOS. We cover it all, including how PCOS affects weight and fertility.

We cover:

• What is PCOS?
• How common in PCOS?
• Does it matter if someone remains undiagnosed?
• Causes of PCOS
• Main symptoms of PCOS
• How PCOS affects weight
• How PCOS affects fertility

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“For years and years women have been treated like hypochondriacs and so a lot of that stems from this women not being taken seriously with pain, especially period pain and being told that this is normal when it is absolutely not. And thinking we need to dull down our symptoms.”

“PCOS isn’t a particularly well named syndrome as a lot of the emphasis gets put on the “cysts” on the ovary which are just follicles and just a symptom of what was going on.”

“We know that insulin and testosterone both cause body fat gain in females. So then we have this weight gain, and with this we get more testosterone and more insulin resistance, and this again causes more weight gain. And so it is this vicious cycle and in our body there is no negative feedback loop for this.”

References

https://www.ovie.io/

It’s Women’s Health Week and endocrinologist, Dr Megan Ogilvie is with us and flipping the script on menopause. Megan draws from different cultures and looks at menopause through a positive lens. A must-listen for all women that will leave you feeling aspired!

We cover:

• What is menopause? And what is “normal” for women?
• How do you think women should view this time?
• What does this time really mean?
• Menopause myths
• Menopause and belly fat, why?

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“In the 1800s life expectancy was about 45-50 years, we all died of our postpartum haemorrhage having our eighth baby. In 2024, life expectancy for women is about 85 so we can all expect very reasonably to live about 1/3 of our lifetimes in our postmenopausal years.”

“Increasingly, science is showing us that this midlife time that is often the menopausal time for women, is a real window of opportunity to shape their health and wellbeing and therefore quality of life over their postmenopausal years.”

“All of this talk around menopause which is so vast now is mostly good, but it’s a very negative Westernised narrative out there at the moment. It’s all about you’ll get this symptom, this symptom and this symptom then you get old and you become invisible. All tied up with Western ideas of ageing.”

References

https://www.menopause.org.au/health-info
https://erhassociates.co.nz/curated-resources

It’s Women’s Health Week and endocrinologist, Dr Sasha Nair is with us to discuss premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

We cover:

• What is PMS and PMDD
• Signs & symptoms of PMS
• PMDD the more severe variant of PMS
• What impacts PMS?
• How does PMS typically change throughout life?
• PMS myths
• Management & treatment of PMS
• How to talk to teenagers about PMS

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“Things that may impact your symptoms are basically things that impact your nervous system sensitivity - stress, trauma, sleep deprivation. ”

“PMS varies and is individualised. Sometimes it comes on very clearly at the time of having your period in the beginning, some people start to notice it after a traumatic event. It goes away by definition in pregnancy...”

“The biggest myth is that PMS is normal or you have to put up with it.”

“When you ovulate estrogen is at its highest point and a lot of people feel good at that time. Quickly after ovulation your estrogen drops quite suddenly and you can get estrogen withdrawal symptoms or headaches/migraines, drop in mood and energy…”

Are packaged snack foods creeping into your diet more than you would like? Join us as we look at what we are snacking on, how we are snacking and what changes could be made that take into account the reasons you love to snack.

We cover:

• The Healthylife 2024 Living Healthy Report
• An overview of recommended serve sizes from the dietary guidelines compared to those found on food packets
• Australian’s favourite packaged food snacks
• How snacking has changed across the last 4 years
• How core food groups and their consumption have changed across the last 4 years
• How to improve portion control
• What Healthylife does to help the snacking habits of Australians
• What snacks Simone recommends to children, teens and adults
• The easiest way to select better-for-you packaged food snacks
• Simone’s take on how the population is going to move towards a healthier dietary pattern

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“Definitely biscuits, these are our biggest discretionary “unhealthy” food that people are purchasing, followed by ice cream. ”

“Try and think about snacking as just a smaller meal, because that way you don’t think about it as biscuits and ice cream and chocolate as much.”

“How do we make sure that people are putting fresh produce into their basket? I think alot of that is probably around the misconception that healthy is more expensive. Yes we want convenience, but it is just as convenient to me to peel a banana than open a packet of bisicuits.”

“We seem to have this social status where we talk about discretionary “unhealthy” foods as treat foods. We need to improve our language and embrace that fresh produce taste delicious. But we talk about, you have been really good so let’s have a fast food burger, or chocolate, lollies, ice cream or at a party it is these sorts of foods. We sort of give a status that these foods are better, more rewarding and taste better than the others.