Trail mix vs. Granola bar

So you’re going hiking for the day, and you want to pack an easy, tasty snack to keep yourself refueled.  Which should you take along with you – trail mix or a granola bar?

Answer: While both can be high in calories, and you should be mindful of how much you’re consuming, trail mix is the better choice.

Trail mix is a bit higher in both calories and fats than a granola bar, but most of the fats are heart-healthy.  Plus, the nuts in trail mix provide you with more protein and fiber, which will give you more energy and keep you fuller longer.

Typically – though it depends on the brand – trail mix also has less sodium and sugar.

Keep in mind when you’re buying (or mixing) trail mix that any additions, like chocolate or yogurt bits, can pile on extra calories.  Also, you really don’t need that much – a small handful every hour should be enough to keep you satisfied.

So now that you’re armed with the right snack, get out there and enjoy the great outdoors.  It’s beautiful out.  Happy trails, everyone!

They’re both popular fruits ideal for easy snacking, but in terms of getting fit and staying healthy, it’s better to swap out grapes for blueberries, according to nutrition experts.

Blueberries are known for being a fantastic source of antioxidants, which help fight free radicals in your body.  They also help boost concentration and memory.

Furthermore, one cup of blueberries has less calories (79 cals per serving) and carbohydrates (18.9 g per serving) than red grapes but nearly four times the fiber.  This means they keep you full for longer.

Blueberries make a great topping for a number of healthy breakfast foods, like oatmeal or Greek yogurt.  Just stay away from that blueberry muffin!

When it comes to health and weight management, not all calories are created equal.

Doctors and nutritionists have long known that some foods are simply better for you than others, even when their nutritional information seems to match up.

Sure, sometimes that’s an easy distinction to make.  For example, a 150 calorie serving of fruit is clearly preferable over a twinkie – also 150 calories.  But other times, the line is blurred, especially when it comes to “healthy” foods.

This week, as part of a series called “This vs. That”, let’s take a look at two popular snacks among conscientious dieters: Pretzels vs. Pistachios.

Seems easy, right?  Pistachios are higher in fat than pretzels – surely a diet buster.

Wrong!

When faced with these party snacks, reach for that bowl of pistachios.  It’ll support your weight goals and promote heart health.  Pistachios come with 30 vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients and are a terrific source of fiber, which makes them a healthy and filling snack.

Need more proof?  In a recent study, researchers put 52 overweight participants on a diet.  As part of the regimen, the participants were either assigned to a daily snack of 75 pistachios (240 calories) or a similar 220 calorie serving of pretzels.

They found that the group eating pistachios had better success with their weight goals compared to the pretzel group – even though the pistachios had a higher amount of calories from fat.  Something for snackers to keep in mind is that almost 90 percent of the fat found in pistachios is the healthy unsaturated type.

You already know that high fructose corn syrup is bad for your waistline, but what you may not know is that it’s also bad for your heart.

A new study has found that adults who consumed high amounts of high fructose corn syrup as a part of their daily diet had increased cholesterol and triglycerides in their blood, which have both been shown to be risk factors for heart disease.

While the American Heart Association recommends that people consume only five percent of calories as added sugar, the The Dietary Guidelines for Americans lists 25 percent as the upper limit for consumption of calories from sugar.

To investigate this discrepancy, researchers put young, healthy adults on specific diets for two weeks.  One group was assigned to consume fructose, high fructose corn syrup or glucose as 25 percent of their daily calories.

They found that, after two weeks, the adults in the high fructose and high fructose corn syrup group exhibited increased levels of LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and a protein that causes plaque and may lead to vascular disease.

Interestingly, high consumption of glucose did not show the same effect.

“These results suggest that consumption of sugar may promote heart disease,” summarized senior author Kimber Stanhope, PhD, of the University of California, Davis. “Additionally our findings provide evidence that the upper limit of 25 percent of daily calories consumed as added sugar as suggested by The Dietary Guidelines for American 2010 may need to be re-evaluated.”

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

As childhood obesity rates continue to rise, a new study has found that fast food is now the largest source of calories for kids outside of the home.

University of North Carolina researchers have found that over the years, the average American diet has steadily shifted towards eating meals prepared outside of the home.

In particular, there has been a significant increase in the calories consumed from fast food, which is typically nutritionally-deficit and high in calories.

In regards to children’s diets, the percentage of calories consumed from fast food has surpassed intake from school meals.  Fast food has now become the largest source of calories for meals prepared outside of the home for all age groups.

This increase in eating out is associated with a corresponding increase in total calories consumed, according to the researchers.  Today’s youth are eating about 200 calories more than they did 30 years ago.

“Overall, this study highlights the continuing rapid shifts in the sources of food for children in the US—both where it’s eaten and where it’s prepared,” said Barry Popkin, PhD, professor of nutrition at UNC.

“Because of the increased energy intake and lower nutritional quality associated with away-from-home prepared foods, such insight can be used to focus future efforts to reduce calorie intake and improve dietary quality for American children,” he added.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

In the “land of the plenty,” some researchers suggest it may be too much choice that may be spurring America’s high rates of obesity.

The researchers say that when people are repeatedly exposed to a certain food, they become disinterested and eat less of it.  This process is called habituation.

However, when people are given a variety of different choices every day, the opposite may occur – they eat more of it.

This possibility, called the “food addiction hypothesis,” presents the idea that people may overeat because they are insensitive to normal habituation and therefore need even more exposure to food to trigger disinterest.

“We’ve known for years that foods – even eating, itself – can trigger release of various brain chemicals, some of which are also involved in what happens with drug addiction and withdrawal,” explained Shelley McGuire, PhD. “And, as can happen with substance abusers, tolerance or ‘habituation’ can occur, meaning that repeated exposure is sometimes accompanied by a lack of response or disinterest.”

“The study provides a very interesting new piece to the obesity puzzle by suggesting that meal monotony may actually lead to reduced calorie consumption,” she added.

The researchers recommend, based on the results of the study, that reducing variety of food choices may be a potential strategy for weight loss.  They also believe the study could hold implications for school-lunch planners and public health officials who wish to curb obesity in a community.

The study was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.