Cinnamon is a spice that has been used around the world for thousands of years. It is far more than a food accompaniment. It’s the use of cinnamon as a medicinal agent that has scientists interested because of unique compounds found in cinnamon that appear to offer some unique health benefits. In this podcast, I’ll look at those health benefits with the spotlight firmly placed on how cinnamon may help people with diabetes keep their blood sugar levels under better control. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Meta-analysis of cinnamon and blood glucose control (2012) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22579946 
• Meta-analysis of cinnamon use in type 2 diabetes (2013) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24019277 
• Meta-analysis of cinnamon use in type 2 diabetes (2019) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30935562 
• Meta-analysis of cinnamon and weight loss trials https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30799194

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Chocolate. It’s sweet, it’s tasty, we desire it and crave it. It is a food that brings immense pleasure and enjoyment. And in case you were looking for any more valid reasons to eat it, scientific research now confirms that it can be good for you. In this podcast, you’ll learn about the heart, exercise and brain health benefits of chocolate. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Meta-analysis of chocolate and cardiovascular disease https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30061161 
• Dark chocolate and exercise performance http://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-015-0106-7 
• Dark chocolate and mental health https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/12/8/2445/htm 
• Cocoa and cognitive function https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22892813

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Detox or liver cleansing diets have been around for many years. With astonishing claims of rapid and easy weight loss, improved health, and more energy, they offer the ultimate quick fix to get you healthy again. In this podcast, I will give you the essential guide to detox diets, look at the claims made versus the reality and outline my list of pros and cons for anyone considering going on a cleanse. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Review of the evidence for detox diets https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jhn.12286 
• Choice review of detox diets  https://www.choice.com.au/health-and-body/diet-and-fitness/weight-loss/articles/do-detox-products-work

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"Just cut out processed foods if you want to be healthy". It’s an easy throw-away line loved by nutrition wellness influencers on social media, but such advice shows naivety for what happens to food in its journey to our plate. Almost everything you eat to some extent has been processed, and not all processed foods are bad for the body. Now nutrition researchers are better defining the world of processed foods and here, it is the new term of ‘ultra-processed foods’ that you will be seeing used more in the future. In this podcast, I look at what defines an ultra-processed food and explain how they are now recognised for the unhealthy addition they make to your diet. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• NOVA classification system  http://www.fao.org/3/ca5644en/ca5644en.pdf 
• Ultra-processed foods and obesity https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7194406 
• Ultra-processed foods, health and mortality https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31623843 
• Clinical trial of ultra-processed foods and weight gain https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31105044

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What’s blue, round, sweet, grows on a bush and can boost your brainpower? If you answered blueberries, you would be right. Or that should be: ‘mostly right’. The ‘brain-boosting’ part needs a bit more science to catch up to the headlines, but it is looking promising that blueberries may be one food worthy of the ‘superfood’ title. In this podcast, I’ll look at the science behind how blueberries can help keep your brain healthy and functioning well throughout life.  

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Clinical trial of blueberries and brain function  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28249119 
• Berries and cardiovascular disease risk factors: meta-analysis https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4804301 
• Frozen versus fresh blueberries https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1082901 
• Fish oil and rheumatoid arthritis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28606571

Episode transcript
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Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints. Characterised by abdominal pain and bloating and alternating periods of diarrhoea and constipation, this chronic condition can go on to cause anxiety, depression and severely affect the quality of life of a person suffering from it. With no one single identified trigger or treatment, IBS can be a minefield for a person to try and get on top of. Diet changes are one area that can have a positive impact on IBS and in this podcast, I look at the evidence for different approaches from supplements such as peppermint oil right through to the very promising research on low-FODMAP diets. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Review on diet and supplements for IBS https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nmo.13951 
•  Meta-analysis of low-FODMAP diet and IBS http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/134755 
•  Low-FODMAP diet versus traditional advice for IBS www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016508515010860 
•  Mindfulness and IBS www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6502251

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Want to keep up with the latest developments in nutrition research? Nothing beats curating your own information-gathering network from a variety of credible sources. But where to start? If you want to keep up with breaking nutrition research like a boss, then this podcast is for you. I’ll let you in on the key journals to subscribe to, the best search databases to use, and profile some of the best secondary sources that do a lot of the curating for you.

Links referred to in the podcast 

• American Journal of Clinical Nutrition https://ajcn.nutrition.org
• Annual Review of Nutrition www.annualreviews.org/journal/nutr 
• European Journal of Clinical Nutrition www.nature.com/ejcn 
• Journal of Nutrition https://jn.nutrition.org
• Nutrition Reviews www.academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews 
• Obesity Reviews www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1467789x 
• PubCrawler http://pubcrawler.gen.tcd.ie 
• Science Daily www.sciencedaily.com/news/health_medicine/nutrition 
• Medscape www.medscape.com 
• Examine www.examine.com 
• Effect of diet and exercise on the risk of caesarean-section www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3119

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Nutrition is based on science. And while the science may not always agree and even change over time, just like all scientific fields of research, without credible research to inform your views you are really just flying blind in the wind at the mercy of feelpinions and what your social media news feed shows you. The base of all scientific research is the communication of it through research papers published in peer-reviewed journals. In this podcast, I’ll show you how to delve beyond the title of a research paper and instead apply a critical filter to all parts of the research study. Developing this skill will allow you to form your own view of how much influence to give to a research study, rather than be led astray from those seeking to influence you. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Research study design online tutorial http://himmelfarb.gwu.edu/tutorials/studydesign101 
• Examine.com guide on how to read a scientific study https://examine.com/guides/how-to-read-a-study

Episode transcript
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Zinc is an essential mineral which is needed for the proper growth and maintenance of our body. It is a key factor in helping hundreds of enzymes work and is needed for immune function, wound healing, blood clotting, thyroid function and much more. While rare, zinc deficiency in a country like Australia can occur and there are certain groups particularly at risk. In this podcast, I’ll outline the key roles of zinc, what the consequences of deficiency are and give you suggestions on the best food sources and supplemental forms of zinc. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Zinc and the common cold https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28515951 
• Breastfeeding and the infant microbiome https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28492938

Episode transcript
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Diets are like clothing fashion trends: they come into and out of style. And if you wait long enough: back into style again. One of my favourite pop culture research tools is Google Trends. Google Trends keeps a global finger on the pulse of what’s hot and what’s not in the world of nutrition and diets. And tracks this over time based on the popularity of search terms. Now a research team has mined this wealth of data to produce a snapshot of the ever-changing diet trends with some surprising results. 

Links referred to in the podcast 

• Popularity of diets using Google Trends data https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0899900720300423 
• Popular diets compared https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182351 
• Diet and association with cancer mortality and cancer recurrence https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/74/12/737/2656957

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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