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An episode for the Aussie listeners, brought to you by The Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council in celebration of Whole Grain Week in November. 

Australian Native Grains are re-emerging and Jacob Birch (an academic & entrepreneur) is here to tell us where the opportunity lies. 

We cover:

• The nutritional composition of Australian Native Grains
• Who benefits from popularising the health benefits of native foods
• Breeding for commercial viability at the cost of nutrition
• Nutritional quality of food grown in degraded landscapes
• The vision for Australian Native Grains
• Indigenous principles of reciprocity, relationality, respect & responsibility in relation to food and health

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“Grain comes from grass whether it’s wheat, rice, barley, corn they are all in the grass family. We have 1100+ native species of grass and quite a few of those have been used in the past by First Nations People in a similar way that you would use grains anywhere else in the world.”

“Protein levels equivalent to what you get in chicken breast.”

“Our natives take a lot of extra processing to get the grain out of the husk. We need to showcase how to do that on a commercially viable scale.”

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It’s Whole Grain Week in November! In this episode we are joined by Kathy La Maccia, General Manager of the Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council. We are going against the grain and busting 5 top myths about grain foods. 

We cover:

• Myth: Eliminating carbs is the key to weight loss
• Myth: Grains cause bloating
• Myth: Grains cause inflammation
• Myth: Grains cause blood sugar levels to spike
• Myth: Those with coeliac disease can’t eat whole grains

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“People can see sudden weight loss shifting into a low carb diet because carbs do cause the body to store extra water. So the sudden weight loss is essentially the water weight loss.”

“When you have refined grains they definitely do increase some inflammatory markers, but that is the complete opposite to what whole grains do.” 

“If you are having a refined grain like white flour or white bread, they do have a much higher and faster peak in blood sugar levels. What we are talking about are whole grains - which are full of fibre which actually help to maintain a more steady blood sugar level.”

References 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6627338/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18005489/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9777732/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2821887/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5537883/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24158434/

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The Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council’s Whole Grain Week is here! We’re bringing you Ali Baldwin, the Nutritionist at Arnott’s, to answer your top questions about Vita-Weat. 

Your top questions:

• Are Vita-Weat good for you? 
• What does 100% whole grains mean?
• What’s the Health Star Rating of Vita-Weat?
• Are Vita-Weat plant-based?
• How do Vita-Weat support digestive wellbeing?
• Are Vita-Weat high in carbs?
• + plus more!

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“This little crispbread packs a whole grain punch, they are made with 100% whole grains and those whole grains deliver a natural source of fibre which helps support your gut. It also provides a natural source of vitamin B3 which is an essential B vitamin which helps you unlock your energy for the day.”

“A chocolate coated Vita-Weat is surprisingly good.” :p

“Vita-Weat is made from 100% whole grain and that means that all of the grain used to make Vita-Weat is a whole grain and comes from a whole grain. 

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It’s Whole Grain Week in November! In this episode we are joined by Kathy La Maccia, General Manager of the Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council. We dive into whole grains and why they are one of the missing pieces when it comes to health for the whole family and what you can do about it.

We cover:

• The difference between whole grains and refined grains
• What “made from 100% whole grains” means on food packaging
• The key health benefits of incorporating whole grains into your family’s diet
• Three simple ways the whole family can enjoy whole grains
• How to minimise food waste when it comes to whole grains

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“A diet low in whole grains was the second biggest risk factor for mortality.” 

“1 in 3 toddlers in Australia are constipated. Healthy bowel habits are of huge importance and it needs to start early".

“As we move on in age everyone at some stage is trying to manage their weight. Whole grains are a great way to manage weight. They help with satiety and keeping us fuller for longer.”

References 
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(23)00123-8/fulltext

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9777732/

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/impact-of-whole-grains-on-the-gut-microbiota-the-next-frontier-for-oats/7D421E4843AEA0E4548A92BBC284093E

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29985786/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24158434/ 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5310957/

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In under 15-minutes I answer your top 5 questions on chia seeds! 

Your top 5 questions:

• What are the benefits of eating chia seeds?
• Is it good to eat chia seeds daily?
• How much chia seed should you eat a day?
• Can chia seeds reduce belly fat?
• Do you need to soak chia seeds before eating? 

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The Nutrition Society of New Zealand released a podcast series where they interviewed a group of NZ Registered Nutritionists to help graduates and early career nutritionists navigate their nutrition career. Emma Wylie interviews Steph Polson about her nutrition career to date. 

From how Steph's upbringing and certain “moments” have influenced her career path, to landing her dream role at Sanitarium, to now spreading her message about nutrition through the up_statuss brand. 

We cover: 

What Steph’s upbringing with food and health was like and how that shaped her career path 

What was it that lead Steph on the path of nutrition? 

Some of the people and moments that have influence Steph along her journey 

The transition from study into the workplace and what it really takes to land a "dream job"

Career growth prior to landing Sanitarium role 

Career growth at Sanitarium 

What is up_statuss out to do? 

What is next for Steph? 

If you could go back and change something with your career what would it be? 

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Kiwi’s and Aussie’s love a drink or three. But does your knowledge on alcohol stop at “hangover”? 

This conversation strikes a balance between recommendations and what may be realistic for you. This discussion is based around the most up-to-date synthesis of evidence from the Heart Foundation NZ’s 2023 alcohol position statement and Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol & Health 2023.

We cover: 

• Alcohol is a psychoactive substance - what does that mean? 
• How does alcohol affect the body?
• Where is the evidence strongest when it comes to alcohol intake and health risks?
• The key heart health outcomes from the NZ Heart Foundation 2023 alcohol position statement
• The Mediterranean diet and red wine 
• Are some alcoholic drinks better than others (beer vs wine vs spirits etc.)? 
• What do the current New Zealand and Australian alcohol guidelines recommend? 
• What is the evidence that underpins daily vs weekly standard drink limits? 
• The Canadian alcohol guidelines use the most recent evidence when it comes to alcohol and health. What are their recommendations? 
• Why does New Zealand have different standard drink recommendations for females and males? 
• Food products must contain nutrition information panels. What about alcoholic beverages? 
• Has there been much research done on zero and low alcohol products?
• Are younger people drinking less? 
• NZ’s alcohol use is projected to increase over the next decade and likely by adults aged 50 years and over.
• Relationship between accessibility and affordability of alcohol and its consumption
• Q+A (questions from social media followers) 

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

“Prior to this there were lots of myths floating around like “I am going to drink red wine instead of white wine because this is going to benefit my heart”

“In Ireland earlier this year they have announced they are making changes to mandatory labelling of alcohol. There will now be a health warning for cancer and liver disease.”

“Essentially our key message was that any steps you can take to drink less is going to benefit your heart health but also your overall health too.”


Reference links:

https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/getmedia/9990a17c-19f7-41fd-a276-ca747df3801b/210311_Position-Statement-Alcohol.pdf

https://ccsa.ca/canadas-guidance-alcohol-and-health

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You’ve probably heard about the Health Star Rating (HSR) by now. Either via news articles pointing out its flaws or Hamish & Andy as they give it their comedic spin. It has been the centre of much controversy and confusion - but can it actually help you during your supermarket shop? 

I’ve bought in two people to have this conversation. An everyday shopper like many of you (Jimmy) and a former pro who has applied the HSR to food products for a number of years (Marie). 

We cover: 

How your everyday shopper may perceive the health star rating (HSR)

Why the HSR exists 

How many products actually display the HSR on their product? 

The HSR in mainstream media 

The algorithm - how does it work? 

The categories - what are they? 

Review of the HSR in 2020

Why does the exact same product have different star ratings? 

Algorithm rules you need to know 

How can you use the HSR? 

Does the HSR align with the dietary guidelines?

One-liners you don’t want to miss 

“The big problem around the health star rating at the moment is the lack of education to the consumer. I don’t think people understand that it is grouped on products and it isn’t necessarily reflective of how healthy it is for you, but a healthier option than others in that same category.” 

“There are now automatic star ratings on top of the algorithm to fix some of these previous problems of the system.” 

“Nutrition isn’t simple, creating an algorithm that simplifies nutrition down to a star rating from 0.5 to 5, this is a huge feat. There is always going to be inconsistencies.”

“All HSR are done on a per 100g basis so serve size is not a consideration of the health star rating which I think is another thing that people get confused about.”

“The HSR does’t take into account the processing of a food. It is more of a nutritional measure rather than processed.”

“Health star rating isn’t all encompassing, it essentially just uses most of what is on the nutrition panel.”

“I also like to use the HSR as a red flag or a green flag. If something has a lower rating than I thought it should, it prompts me to take a further look into the nutrition of the product.”

“If you can, take your learning a little bit further. Say there is product you consume all the time and you have no idea why you consume it, look at the HSR. Then if you are feeling really into nutrition that day, flip the box over and look at the ingredients list and see if you can learn a bit more that way as well.” 

P.S. The last 10-minutes of the podcast we didn't have Marie as she had other commitments and our podcast went a little longer than expected..!

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If you love a fizzy drink or two - this one is for you. With Dr Tim Crowe’s extensive nutrition research background we discuss the WHO’s advice against using non-sugar sweeteners for weight control. By the end of this episode you will know how to apply this guidance to your everyday. 

We cover: 

• Background of added sugars and non-sugar sweeteners in the diet 
• Overview of the WHO’s systematic review (the evidence that informs the new guideline)
• Non sugar sweeteners and weight control in the short & long term
• Potential undesirable effects from long-term use of non-sugar sweeteners such as increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
• Other health effects
• Non-sugar sweeteners and their impact on eating behaviour (e.g. appetite and desire to eat) 
• Non-sugar sweeteners and their impact on sweet preference (e.g. sugar intake and sweet taste perception) 
• Do individuals need to consider the overall sweetness of their diet? If so, how to do it.
• Non-sugar sweeteners in the Australian and New Zealand food supply 

One-liners you don’t want to miss: 

“There is some evidence that we have been reducing the amount of added sugars in our diet over the last 10 or so years. And this is probably coming from a shift from the soft drinks to the diet varieties.”

“If artificial sweeteners were to drive our consumption of sugary foods and overeat more, we should’ve seen a much bigger weight gain in the observational research.”

"We have the WHO telling us that if you are drinking sweetened beverages your number 1 substitution is to swap this with naturally occurring sugars, so foods like fruit or a beverage that hasn’t been sweetened. This will help reduce the overall sweetness of your diet and you should be doing this form a very young age.”

“We can all agree we are eating too much added sugar, it’s not only in soft drinks, many foods contain added sugar and the free sugars. We still have a way to go to reduce these in our diet hence the non-nutritive or non-calorie sweeteners being a partial solution to at least transition people to less sugar in their diet.”

References 

Rios-Leyvraz M, Montez J. Health effects of the use of non-sugar sweeteners: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2022. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Use of non-sugar sweeteners: WHO guideline. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Intense sweeteners review: Steviol glycosides risk assessment, March 2023. 

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An all-encompassing conversation on the essential nutrient, iron. Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder in the world. Angela Saunders brings 37+ years experience and has a particular interest in the adequacy of vegetarian and vegan diets.

We cover: 

• Concerns and importance of iron 
• Groups of people considered most at risk of iron deficiency anaemia 
• The three levels of iron deficiency and when you should be concerned 
• Concerns when it comes to plant-based (vegetarian/vegan) diets and iron intake 
• Are vegetarians and vegans at a greater risk of developing iron deficiency anaemia than omnivores? 
• What is the difference between plant foods and animal foods when it comes to iron? Why is it that people commonly associate red meat as a better source of iron?
• Non-haem iron absorption is carefully controlled by our gut; we absorb more only when we need it. Is this a protective measure? 
• Nutrients that enhance iron absorption and nutrients that inhibit iron absorption - do these matter? 
• The US, Australian and NZ governments set higher iron requirements for vegetarians. Are these higher requirements necessary? 
• Summary on what the research tells us about vegetarians and iron deficiency

 

One-liners you don’t want to miss:

• “In Australia, the groups we are most concerned about tend to be those that limit their food intake. Particularly young women and men who follow a restricted diet, perhaps for weight loss/ weight management or food intolerance or other concerns they may have. They are cutting back on grains, meat etc. - these folk are going to be at risk of iron deficiency.” 
• “We have to acknowledge that there are some vegetarians and vegans, who without realising perhaps, are eating poorly planned, imbalanced plant-based diets, with an inadequate variety of food and they may not be thinking about where they are getting their iron from.”
• “If the diet is well-planned, vegetarians/vegans actually eat as much or more iron than omnivorous diets. That is quite an amazing finding.” 
• “With iron from plants we only absorb what we need and this means our storage levels of iron don’t get too high. This is actually very protective and may actually be one of the reasons why vegetarians have less risk of chronic disease because of the lower levels of iron, a pro-oxidant, in our bodies.”

References
 
Craig WJ, Mangels AR, Fresán U, Marsh K, Miles FL, Saunders AV, Haddad EH, Heskey CE, Johnston P, Larson-Meyer E, Orlich M. The Safe and Effective Use of Plant-Based Diets with Guidelines for Health Professionals. Nutrients. 2021 Nov 19;13(11):4144. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34836399/

Saunders AV, Craig WJ, Surinder K Bains, Posen JS. Iron and vegetarian diets. Med J Aust 2013; 199 (4): S11-S16. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2013/199/4/iron-and-vegetarian-diets

Craig WJ, Saunders AV. (2018). Critical Nutrients in a Plant-based Diet. In Winston J Craig (Ed), Vegetarian Nutrition and Wellness (pp. 213-230). CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group.
 
Marsh, K., Saunders, A., & Zeuschner, C. (2018). The Health Impact of Eating Foods of Animal Origin: Evidence Regarding Animal Foods, Health, and Disease Risk. In D. Bogueva, D. Marinova, & T. Raphaely (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Social Marketing and Its Influence on Animal Origin Food Product Consumption (pp. 17-36). IGI Global.

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