But by the end of the 20th century, the dieting trend was starting to decline. The reality that diets very rarely produce sustained weight loss started to sink in. People gradually shifted their emphasis from shrinking their size to improving their health.

The Health at Every Size and Body Positivity movements were central to this shift. And the Dove brand received widespread praise for its Real Beauty campaign, featuring models with full-figured bodies.

By the 2010s, polls were showing record lows in the percentage of people who wanted to lose weight, and news outlets were reporting that fewer than 1 in 5 people in the US was dieting. All this spelled trouble for the weight loss industry.

Fast forward to the present day, and — shazam! — the semaglutide drugs Ozempic and Wegovy have hit the scene. It turns out that people still want to lose weight after all.

The New Weight Loss Drugs

If companies needed reassurance that weight loss can still be big business, they’ve gotten it. Novo Nordisk, the Danish corporation that makes Ozempic and Wegovy, is now the most valuable company in all of Europe, with a market capitalization of $425 billion dollars, an amount greater than the entire economy of Denmark.

But what are these drugs, and how do they work? Are they really that effective for weight loss? What are the benefits of being on them, and what are the side effects? And, more importantly, are they safe?

There are indeed some surprising benefits — and also eye-opening risks — to semaglutide drugs for weight loss. And in this article, we will cover all of them. We’ll even introduce you to an alternative approach that research shows produces weight loss results equal to Ozempic and Wegovy, without the negative side effects. (Hint: it’s not weight loss surgery, and Big Pharma is not involved).

But first, we need to start at the beginning. Should people even try to lose weight in the first place? And why have conventional approaches to weight loss failed them?

A Rise in Obesity and its Health Effects

Over the last 50–75 years, the average weight of the human population has risen steadily, in lockstep with dramatic changes to our food supply.

According to the World Obesity Atlas, by 2035, fully one-half of all people worldwide, over four billion people, will be living with overweight or obesity. And that’s not good news, for many reasons.

There is still a tremendous stigma associated with excess weight, making overweight and obesity difficult to live with, both socially and psychologically. Obviously, we should continue to strive to reduce that stigma. And people should aim to be healthy, and to love and respect themselves, their bodies, and the people around them, no matter their size.

If negative stigma were the only issue, universal size acceptance and body positivity would be the straightforward answer. However, research continues to confirm that body size is not at all irrelevant to human health.

Furthermore, health-promoting efforts like exercise do not fully offset the risks of carrying excess weight. For example, in a large study of over 50,000 people, researchers found that even robust levels of physical activity don’t neutralize the profoundly damaging toll that obesity takes on cardiovascular health.

Alas, excess weight is simply not benign. It’s linked with mental health conditions like depression and anxiety, conditions of poor well-being like fatigue and chronic pain, potentially life-ending conditions like heart disease and 13 forms of cancer, and, of course (as we were all reminded by the media over and over in 2020 and 2021), severe illness and potential death from diseases like COVID-19.

Bringing our body composition in line with the body fat ratios that our ancient ancestors used to have may well be the healthiest for longevity, not to mention quality of life along the way.

The Truth Behind Weight Gain and Weight Loss

So, what’s driving all this weight gain?

It’s easy to assume that our sedentary lifestyles are to blame. But research shows that active people in hunter-gatherer tribes actually burn no more calories than sedentary people in the Western world.

How can that be?

It turns out that, when we’re very active, the body compensates by burning significantly less fuel the rest of the time, resulting in little to no change to overall daily energy output.

Keep that in mind the next time you think you’ll go to the gym to “burn off” the food you’ve just eaten. You can do that workout, and it will absolutely be healthy for you overall. But when you come home afterward, your body will shift into low gear. (And after a few days, you will have burned no more total calories than if you had just stayed home.) This is part of the reason why exercise won’t make you thin.

Ultra-Processed Foods

More and more experts are starting to converge on the opinion that the true cause of the obesity pandemic is all the ultra-processed food we’re eating. And indeed, solid research shows that ultra-processed foods drive us to eat more and gain weight quite rapidly.

In fact, even when controlling for total presented calories, energy density, and grams of protein, carbohydrate, fat, fiber, sugar, and salt, on a processed foods diet (versus an unprocessed diet of nearly identical composition), participants in the above trial ate significantly more and gained weight in as little as two weeks.

People eating ultra-processed foods don’t just gain weight, though. Their brains and bodies change. Inflammation rises, baseline insulin levels go up, and triglycerides increase. Together these changes are associated with leptin resistance, a condition that means the brain never gets the signal to stop eating.

Plus, ultra-processed foods are addictive, creating the same deficit in dopamine receptors that’s characteristic of cocaine and heroin addiction. And this change in brain chemistry causes powerful food cravings that further drive people to overeat.

This is all bad news for humankind because ultra-processed food consumption is only becoming more and more prevalent.

Today, a full two-thirds of the calories children consume is not what their grandmothers would have called “food” at all, but rather industrial concoctions born in a factory and poured into a plastic wrapper. And the trends aren’t stopping — they’re just going global.

Every 10 hours in 2023, a new McDonald’s opened in China, with a record 900 new franchises added by the end of the year. That’s on top of the roughly 1,200 new KFC and Pizza Hut stores that opened in China as well. The US has spread its “cuisine” around the world — with devastating effects.

How the Brain Can Sabotage Weight Loss Efforts

On a personal level, for the 70% of people in industrialized countries today carrying excess weight, the conundrum is that once weight is gained, it’s incredibly difficult to shed for good. And this is by design.

The brain is happy to allow us to gain weight. After all, fat stores are what will keep us alive when food becomes scarce over a long winter. But the brain fiercely protects our current body weight (even if it’s too high for optimal health) by launching a full-fledged hormonal assault when we lose weight. It very deliberately toggles our hormonal dials: lowering thyroid hormones (reducing our metabolism), increasing ghrelin (triggering hunger pangs), and lowering leptin (so the brain comes to think we’re starving), making sustained weight loss about as easy as holding our breath while climbing a long staircase.

Many people engage in yo-yo dieting and ultimately find themselves demoralized. In a nutshell, diets don’t work. People tend to lose perhaps 2–7% of their starting weight (when they might be aiming to lose several times that much). And then, almost always, they gain it back. Indeed, weight loss programs don’t tend to publish results beyond one year, because after that, weight regain is the norm.

Enter Ozempic and Wegovy

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No wonder people are looking for a different solution. And for people who have tried everything else, the new weight loss drugs are offering much-needed hope again. Celebrities of every ilk, from actors, models, and comedians to business magnates and even the former Prime Minister of the UK, are talking about their use of these drugs. But is the hype warranted? Let’s dive in.

What Are the New Weight Loss Drugs and How Do They Work?

Semaglutide drugs were originally designed to help control blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. They work by mimicking the hormone GLP-1, which has an appetite-suppressing effect.

Tirzepatide drugs, which are also part of the current weight loss trend, mimic both GLP-1 and the hormone GIP, but overall have a similar effect. They increase insulin released from the pancreas and decrease glucagon from the liver, which balances out blood sugar. As a result, people lose weight because they become less interested in eating.

Additionally, these drugs modulate dopamine levels in the addictive centers in the brain, resulting in fewer cravings and decreased anticipation of pleasure from eating. In animal models (FRN’s stance on the use of animals in medical research is here), these drugs were able to reduce cocaine, amphetamine, alcohol, and nicotine use, too. And in fact, reports are flooding in that people on Ozempic and Wegovy are not just eating less, they’re also smoking fewer cigarettes and losing their taste for alcohol.

With the double whammy of less hunger and fewer food cravings, weight loss results can average upwards of 15% of starting body weight. This is many times greater than what people can expect from a conventional weight loss program.

From that perspective, it definitely is the case that semaglutide drugs can work for weight loss. However, from the perspective of a 300-pound person looking to lose perhaps 35–60% of their body weight, the prospect of losing 15% of their starting weight isn’t exactly a home run.

For context, the average person getting Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery — the approach that results in the most dramatic weight loss but also comes with a 3.34% mortality rate — can expect to lose a lot of weight initially and then regain a fair bit, settling at a net loss of about 25% of their starting weight after five years. Certainly, weight loss surgeries are far more invasive and involve a host of risks. But are weight loss drugs risky, too?

Is Semaglutide Safe?

The question “Are they safe?” requires us to consider our standards for safety and our tolerance for risk. Is driving a car safe? Flying in an airplane? Jumping out of an airplane with a parachute?

One might argue that carrying a lot of excess weight isn’t “safe,” which means it really comes down to managing risk. So, what are the risks of semaglutide and other weight loss drugs?

Gastrointestinal Symptoms

The main side effects of semaglutide drugs are gastrointestinal in nature, and they can range from very mild to severe. Many people who start on these drugs experience symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, sharp pain, belching, gas, bloating, or intestinal blockage.

For some people, the side effects are problematic enough that they stop taking the drug. In fact, many prominent celebrities have done so because it made them feel too sick. But most people find that the side effects subside with continued use. Starting on a low dose and then gradually increasing it can reduce the likelihood that GI symptoms will be debilitating.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any clear long-term data on what these drugs do to the gastrointestinal system over time.

Thyroid Cancer Risk

People taking semaglutide drugs may also have an increased risk of developing thyroid cancer, so people with a family history of the disease are cautioned not to take them. As a result, the FDA has put a black box warning (its highest level of warning) on the Ozempic and Wegovy packaging for thyroid cancer.

That said, a meta-analysis of 45 randomized controlled trials showed an increase in thyroid disorders, but not thyroid cancer. Because these instances are rare occurrences, more research is needed.

Muscle Reduction

Finally, many outlets have reported that semaglutide drugs reduce lean muscle mass (rather than just fat mass). But there are also several studies that contradict that claim — so the jury is still out on this point.

How Much Does Ozempic or Wegovy Cost?

One of the biggest downsides to semaglutide drugs for weight loss is the financial cost. Getting a weekly injection (and yes, most of these drugs are administered by injection) of Wegovy can cost over $1,300 per month in the US — that’s around $16,000 per year. The drugs are priced significantly lower in other countries (although still expensive). But these sky-high prices are resulting in insurance companies dropping these medications from their plans, so getting coverage can be difficult.

There are innumerable plans, and policies change frequently, so a Google search is not likely to help you determine whether insurance will cover Ozempic or Wegovy. If you have health insurance, the best way to find out is to contact your insurance provider directly. There are some coupons and programs that help people pay for the drugs. But the bottom line is that the financial investment is likely significant.

And the cost doesn’t just impact the user. Any time insurance providers, even including governments, pay for an expensive treatment, the cost is ultimately absorbed by everyone in their covered pool — through higher premiums and/or taxes. This means that if costly weight loss drugs come to be used widely, the price of medical insurance could go up for just about everyone.

Weight Regain

If you’re not prepared to be on the drugs for the rest of your life, then it’s also important to know that, once the drugs are discontinued, most of the weight tends to come back rather quickly.

One large study found that participants regained two-thirds of the total weight they’d lost within the first year of stopping the medication. This is perhaps not surprising. When you stop taking cholesterol medication, you expect your cholesterol to go up again. The same logic applies to semaglutide drugs.

It would be nice if the brain would adapt to your new, lower weight and allow you to maintain it as a “new normal.” But it doesn’t. This means that someone taking the drugs for weight loss will either need to prepare to be on them for life or adopt new lifestyle interventions that will allow them to manage their weight when they wean off.

The trouble is that, when appetite and cravings are artificially suppressed, motivation is not strong to adopt rigorous new eating habits. If the person could have done that in the first place, they would have lost weight without the drug.

Are There Long-Term Studies on the New Weight Loss Drugs?

Unfortunately, no. We don’t have a lot of long-term data on Ozempic or Wegovy. But the first GLP-1 agonist to be approved for type 2 diabetes was Byetta (Exenatide) in 2005. You can think of it as a first cousin to Ozempic and Wegovy.

That drug does have a study on long-term outcomes. Results showed that Exenatide continued to provide blood sugar stabilization to type 2 diabetics with no unexpected adverse events for seven years.

Semaglutide drugs also seem to protect people from death and adverse events from heart disease, so much so that the FDA has approved Ozempic as a treatment for heart disease.

In a double-blind, randomized clinical trial with 17,604 patients, weekly semaglutide injections were found to reduce cardiovascular events like strokes and heart attacks by 20%.

Are There Alternatives to Ozempic and Wegovy?

Since the Ozempic and Wegovy craze has hit the world, reports have been coming out that eating more fiber (the kind naturally found in whole, plant-based foods) can have a semaglutide-like effect.

Interestingly enough, just the act of chewing increases GLP-1 release. It also decreases the release of ghrelin, the hunger hormone. That’s super interesting because ultra-processed foods are designed to minimize chewing, and experts have highlighted the stark difference in chewing intensity and frequency between eating the standard American diet versus a diet of whole, real foods.

In short, it’s reasonable to conclude that, if you’re eating the right foods, the results that people are getting with Ozempic and Wegovy should be achievable through diet alone.

And, there is a line of research that shows exactly that. Over the past nine years, a habit-based program focused on eliminating ultra-processed foods and eating only whole, real foods, Bright Line Eating, has published weight loss results comparable to semaglutide drugs.

Full disclosure: I developed this program, which grew out of my decades of research in the field, and I’m the CEO and owner of an organization that champions bringing this body of work into the world. The following graph shows the weight loss results, published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, of many of the most common commercial weight loss programs, compared with Bright Line Eating and semaglutide drugs.

References:

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Bright Line Eating is the only commercial weight loss program that addresses the addictive nature of ultra-processed foods. Indeed, it’s tailored mainly for people who score between 7 and 10 on a Food Addiction Susceptibility Scale that goes from 1–10. By taking this short quiz, you can see how you score.

Research also shows that losing weight within a community like Bright Line Eating is associated with positive “side effects” such as higher energy, greater feelings of connection, better quality of life, decreased depression, and fewer days of poor mental health — and that with this way of eating, hunger and food cravings go steadily down.

The Future of the Weight Loss Industry

Without a doubt, the genie is out of the bottle. Weight loss drugs are here to stay. And the development of further drugs in this category is progressing rapidly.

Currently, the drugs approved for weight loss require regular injections because the peptides in semaglutide don’t absorb well through the digestive system. But Novo Nordisk has innovated a pill form of semaglutide called Rybelsus that the FDA has already approved for the treatment of diabetes.

In November of 2023, the FDA also approved Zepbound, a new tirzepatide drug developed by Eli Lilly, for weight loss. Given the multibillion-dollar market that’s available here, there’s no doubt that the rapid development of new options will continue. And as generics come out (Novo Nordisk’s patent on Ozempic expires December 5, 2031), the cost will eventually come down at least somewhat from the current stratospheric levels.

About 45% of people polled in the US say they would consider taking a weight loss drug. That comes down to 16% if it’s not covered by insurance. But these are people who have come to believe that sustained weight loss is largely impossible without a pharmacological or surgical solution.

But the results of Bright Line Eating highlight the reality that lifestyle-based approaches are worth pursuing, and that ultra-processed food addiction needs to be addressed for people to be successful.

Losing weight when you’re hungry and plagued by food cravings is unsustainable. We now live in a world where there are drugs that can take away excessive hunger and addictive food cravings. But emerging evidence shows that we can eat to reduce hunger and cravings as well. Not to be Twiggy, but to be healthy.

Tell us in the comments:

• Are you trying to lose weight or have you tried to in the past?
• What do you find most challenging about weight loss?
• Do you plan on trying a semaglutide drug like Wegovy or a more natural alternative?

Featured Image: iStock.com/CR

Read Next:

• What No One Tells You About Weight Loss
• 11 Top Weight Loss-Friendly Foods

The post Are Semaglutide Drugs Like Wegovy and Ozempic Safe and Effective for Weight Loss? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

According to economists (who, it seems to me, are a lot better at explaining the past than predicting the future), this massive food inflation is actually caused by a perfect storm of rising demand and lower supply — both intensified by several calamities (like droughts, floods, wars, and knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic) — as well as rising costs for fuel and fertilizer.

For perspective, food prices have typically been rising by about 2% a year for a long time. But from 2021 to 2022, they went up by an average of 11%. And while things seem to have calmed down a bit since then, it’s still easy to get sticker shock any time you visit a cash register.

Even if you’re not paying more outright, you might be paying more in subtle ways. The food industry has recently implemented a tactic known as “shrinkflation,” whereby they offer the same product for the same price — in a smaller quantity, thus avoiding the appearance of higher prices. (“Hey, this is one expensive cornflake!”)

So why exactly have food prices gone up so much? Why do some foods always seem to cost more (or less) than others? And what can you, as a consumer, do about it?

What Influences Food Prices

Did I mention that I’m not an economist? That might be good news here because I’m going to try to simplify the issue of food pricing. There are a few major factors that always influence food pricing. These include how much it costs to produce the food (including the cost of labor for everyone involved in growing and processing it), the cost of transportation and distribution, good old supply and demand, and global trade policies.

Why have food prices gone up so much in the last few years? Three factors stand out, in particular: the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the intensifying climate crisis.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

Starting in 2020, the pandemic disrupted nearly every link in the food supply chain. The food processing sector was hit particularly hard, with COVID-19 outbreaks racing through the workforce, due to many people working in close, inadequately ventilated quarters. And the increase in worker turnover, in addition to new COVID protocols, further increased food production costs.

The same labor shortages affected the shipping industry, causing delays and increasing competition for limited shipping space. This led to rising transportation costs. It also increased the price of labor: In order to attract workers, companies had to increase wages, a cost they largely passed directly on to consumers.

As many people shifted their food spending from restaurants to grocery stores, suppliers could not keep up with the change in demand, resulting in massive food waste that effectively decreased supply.

And while 2020 is in the rearview mirror, there’s a funny thing about economics. When prices go up, they rarely come down again. So in some ways, we’re still feeling the effects of the price increases that started in 2020. And now, some additional factors have intensified the situation.

The War in Ukraine

Before the war, Russia and Ukraine were among the largest wheat producers in the world, together accounting for 30% of all exports — and a staggering 12% of all agricultural calories traded on earth. Both production and export have dropped dramatically due to the war.

Russia set up blockades of Ukrainian food exports in the Black Sea, stranding food in ports and creating global shortages. Western countries responded with sanctions against Russian grain exports, intensifying those shortages.

In addition to embargoes on food, the West has also implemented partial bans on Russian exports. These have included oil and gas, which have increased the energy costs associated with food production around the world.

Another blockaded product is fertilizer. As Russia is a major exporter of synthetic fertilizers, accounting for almost 30% of all exports globally, fertilizer prices have also been soaring — impacting farmers and, therefore, food prices.

Increasing Climate Chaos and Disasters

As temperatures continue to rise, crops are sustaining damage from excess heat. And as precipitation patterns change, droughts and flooding (sometimes alternating in the same place) also prevent crops from thriving. This can harm crops by eroding soil, depleting soil nutrients, and increasing runoff.

No farmer wants to try to coax crops out of the ground in conditions of extreme and prolonged drought. As more and more of the arable land on Earth suffers under multiyear drought, farmers are increasingly relying on groundwater, which they’re depleting at an alarming rate.

Additionally, rising temperatures increase pest populations and sometimes allow new pests to take up residence in regions that had previously been inhospitable for them. Temperature shifts can also cause a mismatch in pollination cycles, so the “good” bugs can’t do their jobs — leading to low pollination rates or delayed pollination.

One more disastrous effect of a warming planet is the danger to agricultural workers. More and more of them are suffering from the effects of extreme heat as they toil in parched fields. The National Institutes of Health tells us that farmworkers are 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure than workers in other industries. As conditions become less hospitable, it can be harder for farm owners to find the skilled laborers they need to get their fields planted and harvested. And dynamics in US immigration policy have contributed to a shortage of these workers.

As the planet continues to overheat, and as groundwater gets depleted and droughts and floods intensify, food prices are expected to continue to increase in the coming decades.

Why Do Some Foods Always Cost More (or Less)?

Governmental policies cause some foods to be more expensive than they would be otherwise — while others are made artificially cheaper. To see this in action, let’s look at a category of foods whose price is inflated (organic foods) and another whose price is deflated (grains and the products derived from grains).

Organic and Healthy Food Costs

Organic foods are more expensive than their “conventional” counterparts for several reasons. For one, organic food typically costs more to produce because the process is more labor-intensive than large-scale industrial agricultural methods.

Supply and demand play a role here as well. There’s a much smaller supply of organic food than nonorganic, even though demand for organic foods has more than doubled in the past 10 years. While this demand has caught the attention of some farmers who have decided to convert part or all of their operations to organic methods, this process takes time. In the meanwhile, prices continue to rise as demand grows, but supply lags.

There’s also a policy choice that makes organic food more expensive, which is that organic certification is costly, and getting that certification can be time-consuming. Organic farmers must keep extensive records and pay for organic certification, while farms that use synthetic pesticides don’t have to do either.

Another reason for organic’s higher prices has to do with the concept of “externalities” — that is, costs that arguably should be included in the market price but aren’t.

For example, what are the true costs of topsoil erosion, pesticide exposure for farmworkers and consumers, water and air pollution, or of the routine use of antibiotics in modern factory farms? If these were factored in, we might find that organic food would cost less, not more, than its conventional counterparts.

The fact is that organically grown foods tend to be better for environmental protection and carbon sequestration, deliver higher standards for animal welfare, and contribute to a safer and healthier food supply.

But consumers still have to pay more, and sometimes a lot more, to purchase foods that are grown organically.

Despite this, there are still some compelling advantages to go organic if you can afford to do so. And if you can’t, then you might want to soak your produce in a dab of baking soda to help rid it of pesticide exposure (for our article on what works best, click here).

Government Subsidies

The US government provides agricultural subsidies — monetary payments and other types of support — to farmers or agribusinesses. This ensures that farmers receive a minimum price for their crops while also incentivizing overproduction and inflated production costs. That way, subsidized foods and products made from them appear cheaper than nonsubsidized foods.

Generally, only the largest producers can take advantage of farm subsidies. According to a report from the Environmental Working Group, between 1995 and 2021, the top 10% of all US farm subsidy recipients received almost 80% of all subsidies, while the bottom 80% got less than 10%.

The five major “program” commodities are corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice.

Most soybeans and corn are produced by massive monocrop farms rather than small family enterprises. A lot of this subsidized corn and soy is fed to livestock, which artificially lowers the price of animal-derived foods produced on factory farms. All told, the US federal government spends $38 billion every year subsidizing the meat and dairy industries. Without these subsidies, a pound of hamburger meat could cost $30, rather than the $5 price seen today. But the true cost plays out in its impact on our health, animals, and the environment — and in the form of taxes and expansion of the national debt.

Is it better in Europe? Well, in many ways, it’s not. According to a 2019 report from Greenpeace, nearly one-fifth of the EU’s entire budget goes to subsidizing the livestock industry.

In effect, these subsidies consistently decrease the price of things like factory-farmed meat, high-fructose corn syrup, white bread, and many of the additives in our food supply — creating a marketplace distortion that makes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and other healthy staples more expensive in comparison.

To my eyes, it’s a bit like we’re all being fined for wearing our seatbelts. If we want to do the safer and more responsible thing, we have to pay extra.

What You Can Do About Rising Food Prices

If you’re feeling the pinch of rising food prices yourself, there are several strategies that can help you stay within your budget without sacrificing your family’s health.

Make a budget and shop from a list to avoid making impulse purchases while at the store. Prioritize nutrient-dense foods over calorie-dense ones. The latter may seem cheaper by the pound or the calorie, but in terms of what foods can do for you (or to you), good nutrition is more economical than impaired functioning or chronic disease. And buy and cook in bulk to save money and time.

Try to shop locally if you can to avoid incentivizing costly supply chains. If you’re in the US and use SNAP benefits, keep in mind that you can use them to shop for fresh produce at many farmers markets.

Also, buy organic when you can. If you are in a position financially where you can afford to spend more, you can “vote with your dollars” (or euros or pounds or rupees) to make the system fairer and more accessible to everyone. But if you can’t afford the organic price premium, then aim for non-GMO produce items and wash them thoroughly to reduce your pesticide exposure as much as possible.

If you have to choose which fruits and veggies to buy organic, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15. Choose organic members of the Dirty Dozen club, and don’t sweat nonorganic Clean 15 items.

Frozen fruits and vegetables can sometimes be more affordable than fresh ones, and they contain abundant nutrition.

And reducing your consumption of animal products can not only help feed the world’s population because we aren’t cycling our crops through animals (a process that wastes at least 9 out of every 10 calories, depending on the crop and the animal eating it), but it can also lead to reductions in costly greenhouse gas emissions, too. Plus, beans tend to be a lot less costly than beef (to animals, the environment, and your wallet, too).

Food Pricing Is Complex, But Healthy Eating Shouldn’t Be

The recent surge in food prices has highlighted the intricate web of factors influencing the cost of our food. From labor shortages and technology costs to climate change and war, the forces at play are vast and interconnected.

But there are ways to navigate these challenging times. By adopting conscious strategies, we can mitigate the impact of rising food prices on our wallets and well-being. Through awareness and mindful decision-making, we can not only do right for our health, but we can also contribute to a more healthy, sustainable, and equitable food system.

Tell us in the comments:

• What foods that you buy frequently have gone up the most in price recently?
• Have you made any changes or substitutions because of food price inflation?
• Which cost-saving strategies could you try?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Ilija Erceg

Read Next:

• A Guide to Going Plant-Based: What to Eat, Benefits, and How to Succeed
• 7 Healthy Recipes for Eating Plant-Based on a Budget

The post The Price of Food: What’s Making Food So Expensive & What You Can Do About It appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Humans have been cultivating grapes for a long time — possibly as long as we’ve been living in civilizations. Babylonian ruler Hammurabi, famous for publishing the world’s first written code of laws, used his power to regulate the wine trade in the 18th century BCE.

The ancient Greeks and Romans worshiped the God of Wine (named Dionysus and Bacchus, respectively) with festivals, rituals, and, yes, drunken parties, too. When the Vikings first landed in North America, they found it so covered in wild grapes that they named it “Vinland.”

And the grape’s popularity hasn’t diminished with time. By edible weight, grapes are the world’s number one fruit crop, with about 74 million tons produced each year.

Grapes are grown for three purposes: eating fresh (as table grapes), eating dried (as raisins), and drinking (as wine and grape juice). But roughly half of all grapes grown around the world end up in wine bottles.

Given that grapes are high in naturally occurring sugars, and that they’re frequently fermented in alcoholic beverages, are grapes actually healthy? What about when that sweetness is concentrated in raisins? And how do we make sense of all the conflicting information about whether compounds in wine help us live longer, or cause disease?

What Are Grapes?

Grapes are small, round fruits — technically berries — that grow in clusters on deciduous vines of the flowering plant genus Vitis.

There are a number of grape colors, ranging from yellow to green to red to crimson to purple to black (with even some dark blue and orange varieties thrown in for good measure). The darker grapes get their hue from differing kinds and concentrations of anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid that’s very interesting to health and antiaging researchers because of its unique antioxidant effects.

The taste of grapes can vary from very sweet to slightly tart, depending on the variety. They’re commonly enjoyed both fresh and as a key ingredient in various culinary preparations such as juices, jams, jellies, wines, and raisins.

Types of Grapes

While you could theoretically dehydrate any old grape into a raisin, cook it into jelly, or press and ferment it into wine, there are different varieties that are considered optimal for each of these culinary purposes.

Vitis vinifera is the dominant grape species for winemaking (in Latin, its name means “grapevine carrying wine”). You may be familiar with some of its more famous varieties, including Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Riesling, and Muscat Blanc. Vinifera grapes have a high sugar content and come in a wide range of berry sizes.

Table grape varieties include Thompson, Flame, Crimson seedless, Concord, Muscat, Niagra, and Red Globes. Most are bred to be seedless.

I know that seedless fruit can seem weird and unnatural (how do they have children!), but they are created through natural mutation and cultivated via cuttings. That’s a completely different process from genetic engineering. Interestingly, the descendants of this process are clones of their parents (meaning that they are genetically identical).

Raisin grapes are also typically high-sugar cultivars that are seedless. Some of the most popular raisin grapes include common table grapes like Muscat, Sultana, Thompson seedless, and Fiesta.

Grape Nutrition

As proud members of the fruit and berry families, grapes are nutritional powerhouses. According to the USDA, a serving of grapes is one cup or about 32 grapes. (I would have guessed fewer. But this is one experiment that is totally safe to do at home, so the next time I buy a bunch of grapes, I’m going to count one cup’s worth myself.)

In addition to a hefty dose of hydration, a cup of grapes will provide, on average:

• 104 calories
• 27.3 grams of carbohydrates
• 23.4 grams of sugar
• 1.1 grams of protein
• 1.4 grams of fiber
• 18% of the daily value (DV) for vitamin K
• 6% DV for potassium
• 21% DV for copper
• 9% DV for thiamin
• 8% DV for riboflavin
• 8% DV for vitamin B6

Raisins also contain a decent amount of potassium, copper, and fiber. However, because the water content of the grapes has been removed, you’re mostly left with a concentrated sugar source. One small 1.5-oz box of raisins can contain a whopping 28g of sugar! However, as you’ll see below in the section on health benefits, raisins do share many of the health benefits of raw grapes. But make sure to brush your teeth after, as dried fruit tends to stick to the teeth.

For more on dehydrated foods like raisins, check out our Guide to Dehydrating Food: Methods, Foods to Try, and Recipes.

Antioxidants in Grapes

When it comes to antioxidants, the darker the grape, the higher the antioxidant concentration. And the red and purple grape varieties are highest in anthocyanins. Research shows that these compounds may help reduce the risk of heart disease, cognitive decline, and type 2 diabetes, as well as support healthy weight maintenance and a normal inflammatory response.

Grapes also contain resveratrol, which has been associated with increased nitric oxide (NO) production. This NO isn’t a Bond villain, but a powerful neurotransmitter that helps blood vessels relax and also improves circulation, both of which are associated with heart health.

Resveratrol also acts against tumors, and people are looking into using it to help prevent and treat several kinds of cancer.

One challenge is that, in general, resveratrol has a low bioavailability, which means that even if you consume large quantities, your body can only absorb a little. The good news is resveratrol can interact with fatty acids, so you can increase its bioavailability by consuming foods that contain it (like grapes!) alongside a healthy source of fat.

Grapes and avocado toast, anyone?

Don’t turn your nose up at green grapes just because they aren’t anthocyanin or resveratrol superstars, though. They also deliver a wealth of phytonutrients and antioxidants, most of which belong to the flavanol family of polyphenols.

What Are Grapes Good for?

With all those antioxidants and polyphenols and anthocyanins and NO boosters, you’d expect grapes to provide oodles of health benefits. And luckily, they don’t disappoint.

Grapes and Type 2 Diabetes

Grapes can be very sweet. So you might be surprised to learn that both red and green grapes, as well as unsweetened grape juice, are considered to be low on the glycemic index and have a low glycemic load. Apparently, the fiber, water, and other cofactors in grapes help to create balance and to slow the absorption of the sugars they contain.

And might grapes also contain compounds that are helpful in the prevention of type 2 diabetes? Yes! The skin and seeds of the Vitis vinifera grape can reduce inflammation, prevent cell death, and encourage cell growth in people with type 2 diabetes. They can also reduce oxidative stress (which can damage cells) and improve the way your body metabolizes fats. Ironically, the skin and seeds of grapes, called grape pomace, are typically discarded in the wine-making process. But they are included in many fresh grape juices.

In 2021, researchers discovered that grape pomace can help treat type 2 diabetes. They chose a grape called Carménère (used in Chilean winemaking) and subjected its pomace to hot pressurized liquid extraction (which would make a great name for a spy thriller about a plot to smuggle hot water balloons out of the country).

Several of the polyphenols of interest in the resultant mixture were found to inhibit diabetes-related enzymes. A cluster of proanthocyanidins reduced the activity of two of the enzymes more effectively than the drug acarbose (you might know it as Precose or Prandase) that’s prescribed to accomplish the same thing.

Grapes’ Metabolic Benefits

Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions, often caused or worsened by diet, that can lead to serious problems like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. The polyphenols found in grapes may protect the body from some of the health problems that are often associated with a high-fat, highly processed diet: high LDL cholesterol, high blood sugar, and high blood pressure. The polyphenols also appear to protect the stomach and liver, and can help prevent obesity.

A 2017 study found that a compound extracted from the skin of grapes also improved metabolic markers in rats fed a high-fat diet. Protection included lower cholesterol, decreased insulin resistance, protection against oxidative damage, and reduced inflammation. (Our view on the use of animals in medical research is here.)

Are Grapes Good for the Liver?

In 2012, researchers studied the effects of extracts from the Suosuo grape variety, which is popular in China, on mice whose livers had been damaged by an overactive immune response. They discovered that two substances from the grapes, triterpenoids and flavonoids, seemed to calm this response down. They also reduced the concentrations of harmful chemicals in the liver, helped restore its enzyme activity, and balanced out proteins that control cell death, as well as regulated immune system messengers in the liver.

Eight years later, scientists were able to more or less replicate these findings in humans. A 2020 study found that the flesh and skin of seedless black grapes protected people’s livers from chemical damage more effectively than the standard-of-care drug, silymarin. A particular class of polyphenols known as phenolics decreased stress and inflammation in the liver, which in turn helped to reduce damage and prevent liver scarring.

Grapes and Inflammation

Inflammation in the body is a good thing — until it’s not. Acute inflammation helps with wound healing, but chronic inflammation can cause damage to tissues and organs, lead to diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and inflammatory bowel disease, and lead to premature aging.

IL-8, also known as Interleukin-8, is a type of protein in the body that plays a major role in the inflammation process. It’s needed to fight infections and heal wounds, but too much IL-8 can also lead to excessive inflammation and potentially contribute to disease. And many people in the modern world suffer from ongoing and excessive chronic inflammation.

A 2016 study found that a Turkish variety of raisins had a significant effect in reducing the release of IL-8. It was discovered that this was mainly because these raisins have seeds, unlike many other types.

In 2020, Romanian researchers tested fresh and fermented extracts of the pomace of a local grape variety, Fetească neagră, as well as pomace from Pinot Noir grapes, to compare their effects on inflammation, oxidative stress, and cancer cell growth in test tubes and in rats with inflammation. Both fresh and fermented pomace extracts reduced oxidative stress caused by inflammation, while the fermented Fetească neagră extracts most powerfully inhibited cancer cell growth.

And a 2023 review article noted that grape extracts’ antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties make them ideal ingredients in skin care products, due to their potential to improve skin condition and reduce signs of aging.

Grapes’ Antimicrobial Benefits

Grape extracts can also do a number on potentially harmful microbial pathogens. Compounds from grape pomace may help control gum inflammation caused by harmful bacteria, suggesting that you might start seeing grapes in the ingredient list of some brands of toothpaste.

A 2015 study measured the antibacterial and antifungal activity of black grape peel extracts against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and toxin-producing molds. Impressively, researchers found that the extracts significantly inhibited many bacterial and mold species.

Are Grapes and Grape Products Good for You?

Fresh grapes check a lot of nutritional boxes. They contain antioxidants and flavonoids that can help to reduce inflammation and lower heart disease risk. They’re high in fiber, which can promote healthy digestion. And thanks in part to their fiber, which is especially high in grape skins and seeds, grapes’ high sugar content doesn’t appear to be a problem for most people. But what about other grape products, like wine, raisins, jams, juices, and jellies? Do the benefits of consuming those foods outweigh the negatives?

Wine

There’s a lot of evidence that drinking alcohol, even in moderation, can increase your risk of certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases. But recent research has found what appears to be an exception for wine. A 2023 review determined that wine differs from other alcoholic beverages in how it interacts with our cells. Drinking wine in moderation not only does not increase the risk of chronic degenerative diseases, the researchers concluded, but it may actually be associated with health benefits.

One reason could be wine’s high polyphenol content, including but not limited to resveratrol, anthocyanins, catechins, and tannins. Polyphenol content and composition vary from grape to grape and wine to wine, but red wines tend to contain more polyphenols than whites.

Variations in winemaking techniques matter as well when it comes to potential wine health benefits. Fermentation, maceration (grinding up the grapes), aging, clarification (fining and filtering), and the use of preservatives can impact what polyphenols make it into the bottle and how long they remain active.

And there are other well-known catches related to alcohol to consider, too, including its negative effects on mental health and its well-known propensity for addiction.

Grape Juice

So maybe the best way to get all these awesome polyphenols is to drink the juice of the grape before it’s fermented into alcohol. It’s certainly a common way to consume grapes: Grape juice is one of the most popular fruit juice flavors in the US. And it has a similar biochemical makeup as wine, so it could potentially deliver similar health benefits minus the alcoholic toxicity and danger of dependence.

The downside here is that many brands of grape juice contain added sugar. If you want to drink grape juice, you may want to consider making your own, so you can be sure the final product is 100% juice.

But — even if you find a brand with zero added sugar, or make your own, the juice still may deliver large concentrations of sugar to your body all at once. That’s because it’s missing the fiber that can act to slow down absorption, meaning it could trigger an unhealthy blood sugar spike in some people.

Grape Jam and Jelly

Grape jams and jellies are another popular way to consume grapes. And for a fruit that’s already so sweet on its own, you might be shocked to discover how much refined sweetener is often added to the final product. Many brands of grape jam and jelly use high-fructose corn syrup manufactured from bioengineered (GMO) corn. They may also contain other harmful additives, such as artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.

The bottom line here? If you want to derive the maximum health benefits from grapes, the safest way is to consume them in their whole food form.

If you need ideas on how to use grapes in recipes, check out our article on How to Store, Clean, and Eat Grapes.

Other Downsides and Risks of Eating Grapes

That’s not to say that all grapes are safe for all people. Many grapes (as well as the wines, raisins, and condiments made from them) contain concerning levels of pesticide contamination. So much so, in fact, that grapes have “earned” a spot on the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list, meaning they are among the 12 types of produce you should consider purchasing organically. That goes for grape products as well.

While rare, grape allergy is also a thing for some people — although those who react in an allergic fashion to grapes are more likely to be experiencing oral allergy syndrome, a condition that affects some people who are already allergic to different types of pollen.

And then there’s the issue of FODMAPs — short-chain carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed and can trigger gastrointestinal symptoms in people with irritable bowel syndrome. Grapes are generally considered low-FODMAP, but the amount of FODMAPs may depend on the grape variety and how they’re processed. Raisins and sultanas may also contain more FODMAPs than raw grapes because their sugars are concentrated (and primarily fructose and glucose).

Grapes Can Be Great!

Grapes are packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and powerful antioxidants. In their whole food form, they offer a host of health benefits, including lessening symptoms of metabolic syndrome, providing anti-inflammatory properties, protecting the liver, and fighting harmful pathogens.

While there are some risks associated with consuming nonorganic grapes in particular, for most people they’re an excellent fruit to include in a balanced diet. And a one-cup serving can be a sweet, juicy, and delicious way to help you meet the five-a-day recommendation of fruits and vegetables.

Tell us in the comments:

• What are your favorite kinds of grapes?

• Do you have any recipes or dishes that include grapes?

• What other sweet whole foods do you enjoy?

Featured Image:iStock.com/Fani Kurti

Read Next:

• Alcohol: Its Effects, Risks, Uses, & Potential Benefits
• Eat the Rainbow: Why Is it Important to Eat a Colorful Variety of Fruits and Vegetables?

The post Are Grapes Good for You? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

But then there are topics like this. “Inconvenient truths” that I’d prefer didn’t exist. So here it is: Dark chocolate, one of the most beloved foods by health enthusiasts and gourmands alike, has a serious heavy metal problem.

You may, like many other people, have a special place in your heart for chocolate, in general, and dark chocolate, in particular. It’s a delightful treat. It can lift your mood. It’s rich in antioxidants and other powerful phytochemicals linked to good health. It’s like the Dolly Parton of food — the one good thing that almost everyone can agree on.

However, recent studies have unveiled a disconcerting truth: Certain dark chocolate products contain worrisome levels of two hazardous heavy metals — lead and cadmium. These metals can cause a variety of health complications in people of all ages.

And in case you were thinking, “Well, that’s too bad, but I buy only the finest quality and highest cacao, organic dark chocolates,” I’m sorry to burst your bubble. Some of the most contaminated chocolates are popular organic varieties. And the higher the cacao content, the more cadmium and lead they are likely to contain.

In this article, I’ll take an unflinching look at the latest research on heavy metals in chocolate. You’ll see why heavy metals are dangerous to your health — and find out how they get into chocolate in the first place. You’ll also see that not all chocolate brands are equally problematic. (I’ll name names and point you to original research so you can make informed choices.) And we’ll look at some of the experimental strategies agronomists and other scientists are using to reduce the amount of heavy metals in the world’s beloved chocolate supply.

The Research on Heavy Metals in Chocolate

Given all the positive press about the health benefits of dark chocolate, the news that many dark chocolate bars contain traces of heavy metals may come as a surprise. But research about this goes back a long time.

In 2005, researchers discovered that while Nigerian cocoa beans in their shells contained virtually no lead, by the time they were turned into finished cocoa products (i.e., chocolate bars and cocoa powder), they had some of the highest lead levels of any food.

And tests published by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2018, As You Sow in 2022, and Consumer Reports in 2023 confirmed that there are concerning amounts of lead and cadmium across many of the world’s best-known brands.

Since there’s no threshold for lead and cadmium safety mandated by the US government, the researchers relied on California’s standards for how much is too much. The California maximum allowable dose levels (MADLs) are, per day, no more than 0.5 mcg (short for “microgram”) for lead and 4.1 mcg for cadmium. (Researchers who have figured out how to get their keyboards to produce non-Latin characters often refer to a mcg as a µg.)

Consumer Reports Data on Lead and Cadmium in Chocolate

Consumer Reports, the nonprofit known for its consumer ratings magazine that can help you purchase a car or a toaster, used its testing lab to measure cadmium and lead levels in some of the most recognized chocolate brands in the US. The brands tested include Trader Joe’s, Lily’s, Lindt, and Dove. Many other brands were also tested, including organic, fair trade, and Rainforest Alliance Certified chocolate, such as Equal Exchange, Beyond Good, and Alter Eco.

The Consumer Reports lab found that out of the 28 dark chocolate bars, eight had more than 100% of the MADL of cadmium in a single ounce. Ten had more than 100% of the daily allowable dose of lead per ounce. And five contained more than 100% of both cadmium and lead.

Chocolate bars with relatively safe amounts of heavy metals included:

• Mast Organic Dark Chocolate 80% Cacao
• Taza Organic Deliciously Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao
• Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate 86% Cacao
• Ghirardelli Intense Dark Chocolate Twilight Delight 72% Cacao
• Valrhona Abinao Dark Chocolate 85% Cacao

As You Sow Data on Heavy Metals in Chocolate

As You Sow is an organization dedicated to helping shareholders in large public companies hold those companies accountable for aligning their environmental, social, and financial policies with their stated values. Between 2014 and 2017, the organization tested many chocolate bars, both dark and milk chocolate, for cadmium and lead.

As You Sow’s methodology differed slightly from the one used by Consumer Reports. Instead of reporting how much of the daily safe limit (California’s MADL) of the heavy metals was in a single ounce, they calculated the percentage based on the serving size suggested on the label of each product.

They also tested very recognizable brands like Hershey’s, Godiva, Endangered Species, and others, in a comprehensive study that looked at 469 different chocolate bars.

Out of those 469 chocolate bars tested, 285 had cadmium or lead above the maximum allowable dose per serving. Specifically, 191 had more than 100% of the allowable dose of cadmium, 285 had more than 100% of the allowable dose of lead, and 171 had more than 100% of the allowable dose of both cadmium and lead.

The safest chocolate options, according to As You Sow, were:

• Endangered Species Natural Dark Chocolate 72% Cocoa — (neither lead nor cadmium was detected)
• Ojio Organic Cacao Nibs Ethically Sourced: Peru — (no lead detected, 0.2 mcg of cadmium)
• 365 Everyday Value Organic Dark Chocolate Coconut 56% Cacao — (0.5 mcg lead, no cadmium detected)
• Chocolove Chilies & Cherries in Dark Chocolate 55% Cocoa — (0.2 mcg lead, 0.1 mcg cadmium)
• Snickers Bar (no lead detected, 0.6 mcg cadmium)

Why Heavy Metals are Dangerous

At this point, you may be wondering if heavy metals in chocolate are a big deal. After all, not all metals are dangerous. Your body actually needs small amounts of minerals like zinc, copper, chromium, iron, and manganese in order to function properly.

And the amounts are so small. I mean, how much even is half a microgram? I looked it up, and a microgram is one-millionth of a gram. Do you know what weighs a gram? A raisin. So then half a microgram of lead — one two-millionth of a raisin’s worth — really doesn’t seem like much. But should you be concerned?

In a word, yes. First, even essential metals can be harmful in excess. And heavy metals aren’t safe for human consumption, let alone necessary, even in tiny quantities. Lead and cadmium are two of the heavy metals most commonly associated with human poisoning, the other two being mercury and arsenic.

These metals can get into our bodies in a number of ways: through industrial exposure, polluted air or water, medications, poorly made food containers, and exposure to lead-based paints. And in the case of cadmium and lead, via contaminated food.

Cadmium Health Effects

Cadmium (whose elemental abbreviation is Cd, although it has nothing to do with disks of music or with bank accounts) can be found in household waste, industrial discharges, and — here’s where it affects chocolate — soil.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies cadmium as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning that it’s known to cause cancer in humans.

When you ingest cadmium in solid form, your body goes to work to rid itself of the toxin. First, your liver metabolizes it and then sends it to your kidneys for filtering, and then it gets forwarded to your bladder for excretion via urine. Problems occur when the amount of cadmium exceeds your kidneys’ ability to detoxify it, which can lead to kidney disease.

When cadmium is inhaled, it can cause lung cancer and emphysema.

Lead Health Effects

Lead (elemental abbreviation Pb, from the Latin “plumbum”, which actually IS related to “plumber,” on account of the fact that the early plumbers used lead pipes) can be found in our soil, drinking water (via contact with old plumbing pipes), paint in US homes built before 1978, and occupational exposure.

The IARC puts inorganic lead compounds in Group 2A, meaning they are a “probable human carcinogen.” But there are many disorders related to lead exposure that aren’t cancer.

In adults, acute symptoms of lead poisoning include gastrointestinal issues, musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and neuropsychiatric symptoms such as irritability, fatigue, and anxiety. In some cases, lead exposure can mimic the effects of PTSD even in the absence of a traumatic event.

And as harmful as it is to adults, lead exposure in children is even worse. There’s no safe amount for children in whom exposure may cause deficits in cognitive development, behavioral problems, hearing loss, and acute encephalopathy (an umbrella term for any damage to the brain).

In children, lead exposure can also affect the kidneys and gastrointestinal system, and can even lead to anemia by interfering with vitamin D metabolism and hemoglobin synthesis.

How Do Heavy Metals Get in Chocolate?

When I first heard about this issue, I wanted to know: “Who’s putting toxic heavy metals into my dark chocolate? And how can we stop them?”

Unfortunately, it’s not a simple problem to solve. Lead and cadmium both occur naturally in the earth’s crust, and cadmium, in particular, exists in soil. Humans have made things much worse, however, through activities like mining, manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture. Modern-day levels of these metals have not only been increasing in soil but also in water and air.

As cacao trees grow, they absorb soil nutrients through their roots. And they also absorb cadmium, which accumulates in the tree as it grows. Not all cacao-producing regions are equal in soil cadmium, which explains why some of the chocolates had very little cadmium while others were much higher.

Lead, on the other hand, hardly gets into the tree’s tissues at all. Researchers have found almost no lead in the interior of cacao beans while they’re still on the tree. Instead, the lead accumulated on the outer shell.

What’s more, lead levels were low soon after beans were picked and removed from pods, but increased as beans dried in the sun for days, as lead-contaminated dust and dirt settled on the beans. During fermentation, the sticky pulp from the bean can also attract particles of lead from the environment, which are transferred to the nibs during sorting and processing and end up in the final chocolate product.

Where’s all this lead coming from? Researchers tested high-lead beans from Nigeria and discovered that the lead isotopes implicated fumes and particulates from leaded gasoline. Subsequent investigation found that the harvested beans were typically dried next to the road, to make transport easier and more efficient.

Efforts to Reduce Heavy Metal Content in Chocolate

As you were reading the previous section, some ideas may have already begun occurring to you about how to decrease cadmium and lead levels in chocolate. And agronomists and industrial engineers have also come up with some recommendations for chocolate companies to adopt.

To reduce lead contamination, manufacturers are advised to minimize soil contact with cacao beans during drying, as well as to dry them far away from roads (especially in regions where leaded gasoline is still used) and other lead-rich environments. Food scientists are also developing methods of removing some of the lead as part of the cleaning process at factories.

Cadmium is a harder problem since it originates in the soil. Chocolate companies can make a dent by conducting soil surveys to measure cadmium in various soils, and can then choose to source more beans from regions with lower levels of this element.

In some cases, cadmium-heavy soil can be treated, or even removed to make room for cleaner soil.

And since cadmium accumulates as trees age, cacao farmers are urged to replace older cacao trees with younger ones.

What Can You Do as a Chocolate Consumer?

If you’re a fan of dark chocolate, does this mean you have to wave goodbye to one of your favorite treats? Not necessarily. There are several steps you can take to minimize your exposure without abstaining.

First, it may help to balance your chocolate consumption with a varied and nutritious diet. That involves eating a lot of health-promoting foods and keeping chocolate consumption low. (After all, the chocolate bar wasn’t invented until 1847 — before that, for most people, cocoa was a condiment rather than a food in its own right.)

If you’re eating dark chocolate for its cardiovascular and mental health benefits, you’ll be pleased to know that research shows you can still reap those benefits with as little as one-third of an ounce per day. At that level, many of the offending bars no longer tip your lead and cadmium consumption over the MADL threshold.

Opting for the dark chocolate brands that contain lower levels of heavy metals, as identified by Consumer Reports and As You Sow, can also help you protect your health. And some experts recommend choosing chocolates with a lower percentage of cacao. Dark chocolate tends to be higher in heavy metals, probably because of its higher cacao content. Be aware, though, that this strategy may have the side effect of increasing the amount of sugar and fat you consume from the bar, and depending on the brand, may mean that you’re also consuming dairy.

Finally, you may want to restrict children’s consumption of chocolate, given their heightened vulnerability to heavy metals, and the long-term damage those elements can do.

You can find out more about the health benefits of chocolate and how to avoid choosing brands that rely on child slavery in our article: The Truth About Chocolate: How to Choose Healthy and Ethically Produced Cacao Products.

The Bottom Line About Lead and Cadmium in Chocolate

Recent studies reveal dangerous levels of lead and cadmium in many dark chocolate brands. These metals can present significant health risks, including potential heavy metal poisoning and severe organ damage. Cadmium contamination comes mainly from the soil in which cacao trees grow, while lead particles accumulate during drying and fermentation in lead-contaminated environments.

But while the chocolate industry grapples with this problem by altering its harvesting and manufacturing processes, there are things you can do to reduce your exposure to heavy metals in chocolate. These strategies include maintaining a diverse diet in which dark chocolate plays a small part, choosing chocolate brands with lower heavy metal levels, and limiting children’s chocolate consumption.

By staying informed and making conscious choices, you can still savor the goodness of dark chocolate from time to time, while safeguarding your — and your family’s — well-being. Together, with industry advancements and individual efforts, we can ensure a healthier and happier chocolate experience for all.

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you eat dark chocolate on a regular basis? If so, is it for your health, pleasure, or both?

• Did you see your favorite chocolate brands and bars on either of the lists?

• What steps will you take to limit your exposure to heavy metals in dark chocolate?

Featured Image: iStock.com/fcafotodigital

Read Next:

• How to Reduce Your Exposure to Harmful Heavy Metals and Detoxify Your Body

The post Heavy Metals in Chocolate: The Lead and Cadmium Concern appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Then tests started detecting PFAS in people’s blood.

Today, PFAS are pervasive in soil, dust, and drinking water around the world. Studies suggest they’re in 98% of Americans’ bodies, where they’ve been associated with health problems including thyroid disease, liver damage, and kidney and testicular cancer. There are now over 9,000 types of PFAS. They’re often referred to as “forever chemicals” because the same properties that make them so useful also ensure they don’t break down in nature.

Scientists are working on methods to capture these synthetic chemicals and destroy them, but it isn’t simple.

The latest breakthrough, published Aug. 18, 2022, in the journal Science, shows how one class of PFAS can be broken down into mostly harmless components using sodium hydroxide, or lye, an inexpensive compound used in soap. It isn’t an immediate solution to this vast problem, but it offers new insight.

Biochemist A. Daniel Jones and soil scientist Hui Li work on PFAS solutions at Michigan State University and explained the promising PFAS destruction techniques being tested today.

How do PFAS get from everyday products into water, soil, and eventually humans?

There are two main exposure pathways for PFAS to get into humans — drinking water and food consumption.

PFAS can get into soil through land application of biosolids, that is, sludge from wastewater treatment, and they can leach out from landfills. If contaminated biosolids are applied to farm fields as fertilizer, PFAS can get into water and into crops and vegetables.

For example, livestock can consume PFAS through the crops they eat and water they drink. There have been cases reported in Michigan, Maine, and New Mexico of elevated levels of PFAS in beef and dairy cows. How big the potential risk is to humans is still largely unknown.

Scientists in our group at Michigan State University are working on materials added to soil that could prevent plants from taking up PFAS, but it would leave PFAS in the soil.

The problem is that these chemicals are everywhere, and there is no natural process in water or soil that breaks them down. Many consumer products are loaded with PFAS, including makeup, dental floss, guitar strings, and ski wax.

How are remediation projects removing PFAS contamination now?

Methods exist for filtering them out of water. The chemicals will stick to activated carbon, for example. But these methods are expensive for large-scale projects, and you still have to get rid of the chemicals.

For example, near a former military base near Sacramento, California, there is a huge activated carbon tank that takes in about 1,500 gallons of contaminated groundwater per minute, filters it, and then pumps it underground. That remediation project has cost over $3 million, but it prevents PFAS from moving into drinking water the community uses.

Filtering is just one step. Once PFAS is captured, then you have to dispose of PFAS-loaded activated carbons, and PFAS still moves around. If you bury contaminated materials in a landfill or elsewhere, PFAS will eventually leach out. That’s why finding ways to destroy it is essential.

What are the most promising methods scientists have found for breaking down PFAS?

The most common method of destroying PFAS is incineration, but most PFAS are remarkably resistant to being burned. That’s why they’re in firefighting foams.

PFAS have multiple fluorine atoms attached to a carbon atom, and the bond between carbon and fluorine is one of the strongest. Normally, to burn something, you have to break the bond, but fluorine resists breaking off from carbon. Most PFAS will break down completely at incineration temperatures around 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,730 degrees Fahrenheit), but it’s energy-intensive, and suitable incinerators are scarce.

There are several other experimental techniques that are promising but haven’t been scaled up to treat large amounts of the chemicals.

A group at Battelle has developed supercritical water oxidation to destroy PFAS. High temperatures and pressures change the state of water, accelerating chemistry in a way that can destroy hazardous substances. However, scaling up remains a challenge.

Others are working with plasma reactors, which use water, electricity, and argon gas to break down PFAS. They’re fast, but also not easy to scale up.

The method described in the new paper, led by scientists at Northwestern, is promising for what they’ve learned about how to break up PFAS. It won’t scale up to industrial treatment, and it uses dimethyl sulfoxide, or DMSO, but these findings will guide future discoveries about what might work.

What are we likely to see in the future?

A lot will depend on what we learn about where humans’ PFAS exposure is primarily coming from.

If the exposure is mostly from drinking water, there are more methods with potential. It’s possible it could eventually be destroyed at the household level with electrochemical methods, but there are also potential risks that remain to be understood, such as converting common substances such as chloride into more toxic by-products.

The big challenge of remediation is making sure we don’t make the problem worse by releasing other gases or creating harmful chemicals. Humans have a long history of trying to solve problems and making things worse. Refrigerators are a great example. Freon, a chlorofluorocarbon, was the solution to replace toxic and flammable ammonia in refrigerators, but then it caused stratospheric ozone depletion. It was replaced with hydrofluorocarbons, which now contribute to climate change.

If there’s a lesson to be learned, it’s that we need to think through the full life cycle of products. How long do we really need chemicals to last?

Tell us in the comments:

• Had you heard of PFAS or “forever chemicals” before reading this story?

• Do you filter your tap water?

• What other chemicals in our food supply are concerning to you?

Featured Image: iStock.com/SolStock

Read Next:

• Drinking Water Treatment: When It’s Necessary & What Your Options Are
• Safe and Healthy Cookware: What You Need To Know When Choosing Non-Toxic Pots & Pans

The post How to Destroy a “Forever Chemical” – Scientists Are Discovering Ways to Eliminate PFAS, but This Growing Global Health Problem Isn’t Going Away Soon appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

One of the many tools that people use to navigate through the confusion is guidelines that aim to tell us how much of certain foods to eat, and when to stop: serving size and portion size. While both refer to how much of a particular food is considered appropriate to eat, the two terms actually have very different meanings.

These guidelines matter because overeating is one of the leading causes of obesity, a condition that has reached epidemic proportions in the US and, increasingly, around the globe. But the fact that there are two different metrics, which are sometimes used interchangeably, can cause real confusion about how much to eat.

In this article, we’ll explore the distinction between serving size vs portion size, to help you make informed eating choices. We’ll also discuss different ways to determine how much to eat, as well as tips on managing portion control.

The goal here is to help you make informed choices about how much is best for you to eat to optimize your diet and overall health.

But First…

Let’s make sure one thing is totally clear: What you eat is at least as important as how much you eat. Eating “just one serving” of donuts won’t do your health any favors, and overeating kale probably will. On this website, you’ll find lots of articles on why certain foods are healthier than others — and the data on this is overwhelming. But for now, let’s focus on the “how much” part of the equation, because that matters, too.

So, What Is a Serving Size?

Serving size has a legal definition: the measured amount of food that is considered to be an appropriate amount to consume in one sitting. The manufacturer determines this amount, with regulatory oversight from government agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In the US, serving sizes derive from the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9, Chapter 3, Subtitle A, Part 317, Subpart B: 317, poetically labeled “reference amounts customarily consumed per eating occasion” (RACCs for short).

Mostly, they’re based on data gleaned from national food consumption surveys.

Sometimes there’s not enough survey data to figure out how much the average person eats of, say, Fruity Blergs breakfast cereal or canned chickpeas. In that case, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) considers other sources of information, including dietary guidelines, serving sizes used by manufacturers and grocers, and serving sizes used by other countries.

A cryptic source of data is “serving sizes recommended in comments,” although the law fails to describe exactly what comments it’s referring to. Blog comments? Offhand remarks at dinner parties? Stand-up routines?

Here’s the truly mind-boggling thing about serving sizes: They aren’t technically recommendations. Instead, serving sizes are mandated by law to reflect the amount of food that people typically consume, rather than how much they should consume.

Comedian Brian Regan jokingly put it this way: “I’m in the store reading the Fig Newtons label. I looked at the serving size: two cookies! Who… eats two cookies? I eat Fig Newtons by the sleeve. Two sleeves are a serving size!”

Changes to Serving Sizes

The reference amounts customarily consumed, or RACCs, are currently based on 2003–2008 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. And many of them have changed over time to reflect what the FDA calls a “reality check.” A serving of ice cream, for example, is now ¾ cup, a 50% increase over the old size, which means that the same pint of Rocky Road now “serves” three rather than four. (I’d argue that it’s also serving cancer and obesity, both of which tend to be promoted by a high-sugar diet, but that’s a rant for another time.)

One package of food can also contain multiple servings, as with cookies and ice cream. But some packages acknowledge the fact that for many people, a container is a serving, by including two columns on the nutrition label: one for nutritional info per serving, and one for the entire package.

Also, some foods and beverages previously labeled as more than one serving are now required to be labeled as just one serving. This is because, according to survey and manufacturer data, people are more likely to eat or drink the entire container or item in a single sitting (or, just as likely, a single standing or driving).

How Are Serving Sizes Used?

Manufacturers use serving size to quantify nutrition data for the nutrition facts label and compare their foods to similar foods. As a consumer, the serving size can help you understand how much of a particular nutrient you’re getting.

If you typically consume a whole cup of rolled oats for your morning oatmeal, checking the label will tell you that a single serving is 1⁄2 cup of dry oats. And since that single serving provides 40 mg of magnesium, you know that your breakfast bowl provides 80 mg of that nutrient.

Remember that serving sizes are norms, not recommendations. So they aren’t reliable guides to how much you should consume for optimal health. If you are satisfied with that full cup of rolled oats, cutting back because you’re eating two servings may leave you underfed, especially if you’re omitting other breakfast foods. (For more on why oats can make an awesome and healthy breakfast, see our article here.)

Because serving sizes reflect what people consume on average, they can also change over time. In some cases, serving sizes have increased, as we saw with ice cream. Another example is soda, which went up from an 8- to a 12-ounce serving.

On the other hand, some foods have had their serving sizes reduced. A serving of yogurt, for example, is now six ounces, down from an earlier eight ounces.

Why does this matter? Because if the serving size for a food or beverage has either increased or decreased, the calories and other nutrients listed on the Nutrition Facts label will change as well.

And since serving sizes are a lagging indicator of people’s average eating and drinking habits, adhering to them — particularly in the case of highly processed foods — means that you’ll probably also consume the average number of calories. In 2022, the average person in Europe and North America consumed nearly 3,540 calories per person per day. Especially if a lot of those calories are coming from highly processed foods, that’s probably not a good thing.

Serving Sizes for Different Foods

The 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act requires all packaged foods to present nutritional information on their labels, including serving size and number of servings per package.

If you’re preparing for Jeopardy! and you’ve got a strong hunch that one of the categories will be serving sizes of various foods, here are some serving sizes for different foods you can memorize.

What Is Portion Size?

Now that we’ve learned all about serving size, it’s time to tackle that other mysterious term: portion size. At this point, you might be expecting portion size to be another concept steeped in regulatory complexity.

But it turns out that portion size is basically the amount of a food or beverage that you choose to consume in one sitting. Unlike serving size, it’s not regulated by any governmental agency but often comes in the form of advice from nutrition professionals. Your “portion” can be more or less than the serving size, contain multiple servings, or just fractions of a serving.

For example, the serving size for cooked broccoli, 85 grams, is a shade under one cup. If you like broccoli as much as I do, and you have a yummy sauce to boot, your portion size might be double or even triple the serving size.

You decide on your portion, unless you’re eating out, in which case the restaurant does it for you. When you watch people serve themselves on a buffet line, you might notice that the portion sizes are often determined by the size of the plate; if the pasta primavera is spilling onto their shoes, it’s probably even more than a portion.

The variability of portion size reminds me of the “two scoops” of raisins in Kellogg’s Raisin Bran commercials. They made a very big deal about it, but never got around to defining the size of a “scoop.” There were two scoops on the big family-size box and two scoops in the tiny variety pack box — so I’m guessing that “scoop” was as malleable and imprecise as “portion.”

Determining How Much to Eat

Since both serving and portion sizes are attempts to identify ideal consumption patterns, I think it’s useful at this point to ask: How can serving or portion sizes help you eat enough but not too much food?

First, it’s important to understand that individuals have vastly different nutritional needs. Factors that may influence how much you need to eat can include your age, your current weight and height, the speed and efficiency of your metabolism, your biological sex, how active you are, and your health status and health goals.

So what is a large portion to one person might be a tiny nibble to another.

Second, serving and portion sizes are completely noncommittal when it comes to the nutritional qualities of food. Looking at food just in terms of weight, volume, or even calories and macronutrient ratios only gives us a slice of the larger (and more important) whole picture. Nutritional density — how many and what kinds of micronutrients are delivered by weight, volume, or number of calories — matters more for your diet and ability to meet your nutritional needs.

Hand Portion Sizes

With both of those caveats, you can still use serving and portion sizes to help you choose amounts to consume with awareness and intention. Measuring food by hand can help you get closer to recommended serving sizes. (It’s probably a good idea to use your actual hand, and not, say, that of Andre the Giant.)

Using human body measurements has a long history. Those who use the imperial system still measure human height in feet and the height of horses in hands. And since most of us are more familiar with our own bodies than with grams, ounces, cubic milliliters, and calories, we can use them to approximate servings.

Hand portion sizes include:

• An average-sized fist — about 1 cup
• A small, scooped handful — about ½ cup
• The palm of the hand — about 3 ounces
• The size of the thumb — about 1 tablespoon
• The tip of the pointer finger to the first joint — about 1 teaspoon

Mindful Eating

The most conscious way to determine how much you should eat may be by practicing mindful eating, which simply means consciously directing your attention to your food via your senses.

Many of us have had the experience of overeating, especially very tasty or highly processed food, when we weren’t paying attention. Moviegoers can down huge amounts of popcorn during thrillers. And all of us are susceptible to over-nibbling while watching TV, working on the computer, or attending to stressful thoughts.

Mindful eating can allow you to notice your hunger and satiety cues with sensitivity and in a timely fashion, so you can stop before you feel like you’ve swallowed a baby (or not-so-baby) elephant.

Tips for Practicing Portion Control

In addition to mindful eating, which takes practice and can be difficult for some people, there are other practical ways to guard against overeating and the resultant weight gain and health problems it can cause.

Many experts blame overeating and unwanted weight gain on portion sizes that have increased over the years. The trend of the last few decades towards “supersizing” meals has had the consequence of supersizing people as well.

And it’s not just in the United States (although many Europeans are amazed at the huge American portions and the speed at which Americans can consume them). One billion people worldwide are obese, and that number is still rising.

Fat-shaming is cruel, and as far as I’m concerned, it has no place in a compassionate society. Anybody can be beautiful, and everybody deserves love, regardless of their size or their girth.

And we also do know that excess weight is a real health issue and that it can contribute to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and various forms of cancer, among many other dangerous conditions.

So if you want to avoid overeating, here are some portion control strategies that might help.

1. Use a smaller plate at mealtime.

Studies have shown that we tend to think of whatever is on our plate as a portion.

2. Don’t eat directly out of the package.

If you’re going to have Fig Newtons, take out a couple and put the rest of the cookies back in the box. Better yet, skip the Newtons and just have some figs — we’re often far less likely to overeat foods that are whole and minimally processed.

3. Order smaller portions.

When eating with others, order small plates or appetizers instead of entrées; skip appetizers, drinks, and desserts in favor of a single entrée; or split dishes with friends and family. And try to eat mindfully whether you’re alone or with others — really taking time to chew and experience the flavors and textures of what you eat.

4. Use a portion guide.

Use the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine’s “Power Plate” as a guide to how much to eat of different foods. And read nutrition labels for serving size, as well as the nutrients provided in each serving.

The Bottom Line: Servings vs Portions

Understanding the difference between serving size and portion size can help you make informed choices about your diet and overall health. While the terms are often used interchangeably, they do have distinct meanings.

Serving size refers to a measured amount of food typically found on packaged foods, while portion size is the actual amount of food served and consumed at one time. By familiarizing ourselves with serving sizes and utilizing portion control strategies, we can avoid overeating and make healthier and more conscious choices about the amount of food that we consume.

Ultimately, by incorporating strategies like mindful eating, emphasizing nutrient-dense foods, and paying attention to portion and serving size, you can make positive changes to your diet and health.

Tell us in the comments:

• What foods do you tend to overeat if you’re not careful?

• Think of a food you eat a lot and take a guess at the serving size. Now check — how close were you? Did you over- or underestimate?

• What’s one food where your ideal portion size is very different from the official serving size?

Featured Image: iStock.com/RLT_Images

Read Next:

• Should You Count Calories? How Daily Calorie Intake Fits into Health
• How to Read Food Labels: Your Complete Consumer Guide

The post “How Much Should I Eat?”: Understanding Serving Size and Portion Size appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Whether or not you’ve heard of the chemical bisphenol A, better known as BPA, studies show that it’s almost certainly in your body. BPA is used in the manufacturing of products like plastic water bottles, baby bottles, toys, and food packaging, including in the lining of cans.

BPA is one of many harmful chemicals in everyday products and a poster child for chemicals in plastics. It is probably best known for its presence in baby bottles due to campaigns by organizations such as Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, and Breast Cancer Prevention Partners.

An extensive body of research has linked BPA to reproductive health problems, including endometriosis, infertility, diabetes, asthma, obesity, and harming fetal neurodevelopment.

After years of pressure from environmental and public health advocates, the US Food and Drug Administration agreed in June 2022 to reevaluate the health risks of BPA. This is significant because a vast body of research has documented that BPA is leaching from products and packaging into our food and drink and, ultimately, our bodies.

What Is BPA?

BPA is not only used in plastics and food and drink containers but also in pizza boxes, shopping receipts, liners of aluminum cans, and much more. Scientists have found that BPA is an endocrine disruptor, which means it disrupts hormonal systems that support the body’s functioning and health.

Hormonal disruption is a particular problem during pregnancy and fetal development when even minor changes can alter the trajectory of developmental processes, including brain and metabolic development.

Over the last two decades, public awareness of the risks led many companies to remove BPA from their products. As a result, studies have shown that BPA levels in people’s bodies appear to be declining in the US. However, a nationwide research team that I helped lead as part of a national NIH consortium showed in a recent study of pregnant women that the decline in BPA could, in part, be explained by the fact that BPA replacement chemicals have been on the rise over the last 12 years. And other studies have found that many BPA substitutes are typically just as harmful as the original.

As an environmental health scientist and professor and director of the University of California, San Francisco Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment who specializes in how toxic chemicals affect pregnancy and child development, I am part of a scientific panel that decides if chemicals are reproductive or developmental toxicants for the State of California. In 2015, this committee declared BPA a reproductive toxicant because it has been shown to be toxic to ovaries.

BPA and the FDA

BPA was first approved for use in food packaging by the FDA in the 1960s. In 2008, the agency released a draft report concluding that “BPA remains safe in food contact materials.” This assessment was met with pushback from many health advocates and environmental health organizations. The FDA claimed BPA to be “safe in food contact materials” as recently as 2018.

Meanwhile, since 2011, Canada and Europe have taken steps to ban or limit BPA in children’s products. In 2021, the European Union proposed “dramatic” decreases in BPA exposure limits due to a growing body of evidence linking BPA to health harms.

One of the major challenges to limiting harmful chemicals is that regulatory agencies like the FDA try to figure out the levels of exposure that they consider harmful. In the US, both the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency have a long history of underestimating exposures — in some cases because they do not adequately capture “real-world exposures,” or because they fail to fully consider how even small exposures can affect vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children.

Latest Research On BPA

A large body of research has explored BPA’s effects on reproductive health. These studies have also revealed that many BPA substitutes are potentially even worse than BPA and have looked at how these chemicals act in combination with other chemical exposures that can also come from a variety of sources.

And while much attention has been paid to BPA’s effects on pregnancy and child development, there is also significant research on its effects on male reproductive health. It has been linked to prostate cancer and drops in sperm count.

In a study our research team conducted that measured BPA in pregnant women, we asked study participants if they knew about BPA or tried to avoid BPA. Many of our study participants said they knew about it or tried to avoid it, but we found their actions appeared to have no effect on exposure levels. We believe this is, in part, because of BPA’s presence in so many products, some of them known and some unknown, that are difficult to control.

What You Can Do About BPA and BPA Substitutes

One of the most common questions our staff and clinicians that work with patients are asked is how to avoid harmful chemicals like BPA and BPA substitutes. A good rule of thumb is to avoid drinking and eating from plastics, microwaving food in plastic, and using plastic take-out containers — admittedly easier said than done. Even some paper take-out containers can be lined with BPA or BPA substitutes.

Our recent review of the research found that avoiding plastic containers and packaging, fast and processed foods, and canned food and beverages, and instead using alternatives like glass containers and consuming fresh food, can reduce exposures to BPA and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Research has shown that when heat comes into contact with plastic — whether water bottles, Tupperware, take-out containers, or cans — BPA and other chemicals are more likely to leach into the food inside. One should also avoid putting hot food into a food processor or putting plastic containers into the dishwasher. Heat breaks down the plastic, and while the product might appear fine, the chemicals are more likely to migrate into the food or drink — and, ultimately, into you.

We also know that when acidic foods like tomatoes are packaged in cans, they have higher levels of BPA in them. And the amount of time food is stored in plastic or BPA-lined cans can also be a factor in how much the chemicals migrate into the food.

No matter how much people do as individuals, policy change is essential to reducing harmful chemical exposures. A large part of our work at UCSF’s Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment is to hold regulatory agencies accountable for assessing chemical risks and protecting public health. What we have learned is that it is essential for agencies like the EPA and FDA to use the most up-to-date science and scientific methods to determine risk.

Tell us in the comments:

• Had you heard of BPA before reading this article?

• Were you aware of the health effects of BPA and BPA substitutes?

• How do you avoid using plastic in your everyday life?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Ziga Plahutar

Read Next:

• Is a Plastic-Free Lifestyle Possible? Tips for Reducing Your Plastic Footprint

The post Decades of Research Document the Detrimental Health Effects of BPA – an Expert on Environmental Pollution and Maternal Health Explains What it All Means appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

For many of us, summer means hot weather and plenty of sunshine. It also often means get-togethers and outdoor activities, sometimes over a shared meal. But as sweat beads our brows and our core temperatures rise, we often look for ways to cool off. Maybe that means jumping in a body of water if you’re near the ocean or a lake or pool. Or maybe it means chilling in the shade during a cookout, or enjoying an ice-cold beverage and bringing the cool glass to your forehead as a simple way to beat the heat. But it could also mean enjoying a cooling and refreshing dessert at the end of your meal.

Many favorite summertime desserts are frozen or chilled treats designed to cool us down. But most of these summer favorites, especially when store-bought, aren’t exactly what most of us would call healthy.

So, what can you eat if you want a sweet, cold treat after a healthy summer meal?

Luckily, just as there are whole food, plant-based alternatives to many popular breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes — there are also healthful, plant-powered summer desserts. And many of them taste pretty darn good! So, whether you have a bit of a sweet tooth or just want a fun and healthy way to eat more whole foods, we’re going to look at ways to make traditional summer dessert recipes more healthful and provide you with seven different treats to try yourself!

Hot Weather Desserts

Hot weather calls for light and refreshing desserts that can help cool us down. There are many different types of cold desserts that are summertime favorites.

• Sorbet
• Ice cream
• Frozen yogurt
• Popsicles
• Snow cones or shaved ice
• Cheesecake
• Icebox cake
• Fruit tarts
• Pies
• Fruit and fruit salads
• Cookies

But aside from their shared status as summer treats, what else do the majority of these desserts have in common?

Not-So-Sweet Ingredients in Summer Desserts (and How to Replace Them)

Aside from cooling us down, many summer desserts are also made with similar ingredients. But many of those ingredients can do more harm than good for your health.

Sugar Is Sweet Until It Isn’t

Sugar seems to be almost everywhere in the modern industrialized food system. Even foods that are naturally sweetened with fruit sometimes have additional sugar added to them. But all that added sugar is wreaking havoc on many of our bodies.

Too much sugar, without the absence of fiber, elevates insulin to levels beyond what our bodies are equipped to handle. As a result, it’s one of the biggest contributing factors to chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease — never mind contributing to food addiction and unhealthy cravings.

To replace refined sugar in your summer dessert recipes, there are some sugar substitutes to consider. But in many cases, you can leave out sugar completely and just let nature’s candy — fruit! — sweeten the dessert for you.

Dairy Can Be Scary

Many cold desserts are made with dairy, which gives them their creamy consistency and rich flavor. But those very qualities hide a much more sinister side due to their saturated fat content.

One ⅔-cup serving of the popular Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream contains 14g of saturated fat. That’s 70% of the recommended maximum amount for an entire day.

Saturated fat, especially when it comes from animal products, has been directly associated with inflammation and the development of cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis.

And dairy is no picnic for cows or the environment, either. The vast majority of cows, especially those raised on feedlot farms, never even see a blade of grass — despite how dairy farms are often portrayed on packaging and in advertisements. Cows are subject to constant impregnation and little space, as well as antibiotic and hormone treatments to ensure they’re producing as much milk as possible.

Industrialized animal agriculture is also a huge water hog and contributes to the pollution of air, water, and soil.

You can replace dairy products easily these days with the rise in plant-based milks, creams, cheeses, yogurts, and butters. Make your own to save money and to avoid processed and unhealthy ingredients. Find out more in our Vegan Substitutions for Cooking & Baking article.

Food Additives Don’t Add Up to Health

Additives are used to thicken, preserve, flavor, or color food — among other things. But they’re not present in natural, whole foods. They’re often used in packaged and processed foods to mimic elements of real food or create something that doesn’t even resemble food.

Just take a look at the ingredients of a popular popsicle that looks like a firework, and you’ll be greeted with natural and artificial flavors, additives, and food dyes that are known to cause or increase hyperactivity in children.

The truth is, over 40% of the approved food additives in the United States are not even regulated or reviewed by the FDA. And many of those additives or ingredients are banned in other countries.

To thicken desserts, you can use tofu, beans, or nuts. Whole grain flour, starch, or a meal like almond meal or corn meal are also good thickening alternatives.

You don’t need any artificial or natural flavorings when you can let the real flavor shine through in a freshly made dessert. You can also always rely on herbs and spices (either fresh or dried) for additional whole-food flavor.

And there’s no need to add any food dyes or artificial colorings to a dessert when it’s homemade, especially when using fruits, vegetables, and spices. Many food pigments act as natural dyes, so don’t be afraid to eat the rainbow!

7 Healthy Summer Desserts that Are Powered by Plants

Punctuate a plant-powered meal with these healthy summer desserts. They’re full of whole foods like nuts, seeds, fruit, spices — and even legumes. Summer never tasted so sweet!

1. Cherry Cheesecake Smoothie

Can a smoothie that sounds like dessert be healthy? You bet! Cherry Cheesecake Smoothie is a one-stop smoothie shop for when you’re craving something decadent and don’t want to sacrifice nutrition. This fruit-based blend melds cherries (which are high in fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants to fight inflammation), creamy plant-based yogurt, and a surprise guest — just a touch of miso paste. Miso lends an umami, cheese-like flavor to this smoothie which makes this recipe one of a kind and a pure delight to enjoy as a fruity and creamy dessert on a hot summer day. The cherry on top is that miso also provides probiotic goodness!

2. Creamy Vanilla Cinnamon Chia Pudding

This pudding is the right amount of silky, creamy, and naturally sweet, and absolutely hits the sweet spot on a warm summer evening. Creamy Vanilla Cinnamon Chia Pudding is so scrumptious that it might remind you of homemade rice pudding from childhood. Create lasting summer memories with your own family by making this wholesome, everyday recipe!

3. Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Ice Cream

Stay cool and energized this summer with Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Ice Cream, which gets its creaminess from coconut milk and bananas and natural sweetness from dates and bananas (wow, bananas are doing double duty!). You can adjust the sweetness to your liking, so no more, “This is too sweet,” or, “It’s not sweet enough.” Just taste and adjust as you go!

4. Mango Chili Pops

Add a little spice to your summer, or shall we say, popsicles, with these nutrient-dense and fiber-filled Mango Chili Pops. Bright, juicy, and naturally sweet, they scream refreshing summer treats. Fresh and naturally sweet mango combined with creamy avocado and bright lime with a dash of chipotle chili powder makes for a culinary delight that’s both cooling and warming. Don’t love spice? You don’t need it! Make it a tasty three-ingredient recipe with just the mango, avocado, and lime juice.

5. Plum Cobbler

As berries and stone fruits begin to ripen during warmer months, it’s time to break out summer’s quintessential warm dessert — cobbler! Our warm and sticky Plum Cobbler does just the trick. While you can use your favorite summer berries, cherries, or other stone fruits like peaches, we highly recommend you try this cobbler with rich, sweet, and slightly tart plums. If you’re on the fence, we think this recipe might make you hop right off into a plum tree orchard! When combined with maple syrup (or date paste) and baked in the oven, the plums transform into a nectarous, ooey-gooey delight. Topped with oat crumble, this yummy treat is full of wholesome goodness and sweet summer memories in the making.

6. Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

There’s only one thing better than a homemade pie during the summer — a homemade pie made with fresh fruits (strawberries!) and veggies (rhubarb!) that is actually good for you! If you’re a fan of strawberry rhubarb pie then you’re going to love this glorious Sheet Pan Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp. All you need are two bowls, a baking sheet, some mixing utensils, and a hungry belly ready to taste test as soon as it comes out of the oven. Pair it with vanilla n’ice cream for an extra special summer treat.

7. Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chickpeas are one of the most versatile plant-based foods and transform into seemingly decadent baked goods with a few simple ingredients. High-protein and high-fiber garbanzos create the most delicious chocolate chip cookie dough to enjoy as is or bake into soft and chewy treats. In fact, these cookies are an ideal treat to pack up for your next summer road trip or to share with friends and family during a festive (plant-based) barbecue.

Look to Nature for the Best Summer Desserts of All!

Of course, for the healthiest summer dessert of all, you can simply reach for a few pieces of fruit. Try mixed berries in a bowl, watermelon and fresh mint, or sliced apples with a bit of nut butter.

Or grab some frozen slices of peach or mango right out of the freezer, and munch away!

Enjoying nature’s candy also has the benefit of giving you a belly full of fiber. And evidence suggests fiber aids weight loss and control, helps prevent certain chronic diseases, and assists with overall mental and physical wellness.

So, don’t desert fruit — or these healthy summer desserts!

Tell us in the comments:

• What do you think of these healthy summer desserts?

• What are some of your favorite summer desserts?

• Which fruits or fruit-filled desserts will you enjoy next?

Featured Image: iStock.com/wmaster890

Read Next:

• Summer fruits: What’s in season, and why are they healthy?

The post Healthy Summer Desserts to Sweeten the End of a Nourishing Meal appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

It started with Austrian clergyman and scientist Gregor Mendel, the acknowledged “father of genetics” (side note: isn’t it weird that historians of science didn’t also identify a mother, since that’s kind of how genetics works?), who unraveled many of the secrets of genes and inherited characteristics. His work, which formed the basis for most of our modern understanding of genetics, was carried out on pea plants.

And these days, scientists are once again turning to peas with great interest, this time in attempts to solve some of humanity’s most pressing problems: climate chaos, chronic disease, and malnutrition. And so far, the humble pea is proving more than capable of delivering.

At the center of these efforts is pea protein, which stands poised to replace animal-based protein in multiple industries. Major brands like Beyond Meat have made huge financial and technological bets on their ability to use plant-based protein to create meat analogues that can fool even the most devout meat-lover.

But unlike that steaming bowl of green mushy peas, pea protein is a factory-produced substance, not a whole food. And we hear often that we should be eating food that comes from plants (as in, plant foods), not food manufactured in plants (as in, factories). So what’s the truth here? Is pea protein healthy? Can it truly provide adequate protein or replace animal protein? And what’s preferable: pea protein powder or isolates, or whole food sources?

The Rise of Pea Protein

Pea protein is having its moment; it’s now one of the most popular protein options in the plant-based world. And for several good reasons: It’s highly bioavailable, it offers great nutritional value, it greatly reduces land use and greenhouse gas emissions compared to animal-based protein production, it’s less expensive to produce, and it can provide significant health benefits.

Of course, not everyone needs an additional protein source outside of the food they eat. While vegans and vegetarians are far too familiar with the question, “But where do you get your protein?” analysis of common foods shows that if you’re consuming enough calories from plant-based foods, you’re almost certainly consuming enough protein as well.

While many people get plenty of protein — often, far too much — it’s also true that protein needs vary. Some people, like the elderly or those with particular conditions, may need an additional or alternative protein source. And while soy has traditionally been that alternative — think tofu, tempeh, soy-based hot dogs and burgers, and textured vegetable protein (TVP) — many people are allergic to soy or otherwise want to limit their consumption of it. (For more on soy, see our article, here.)

So is it a good idea to include pea protein in your diet? It’s time to take a PEA-k at this lovely little legume.

What Is Pea Protein?

Pea protein comes from yellow peas, or Pisum sativum, grown in Europe and North America. The creation of pea protein happens by separating the protein from the pea starch and fiber in a factory. As a result, it’s not a whole food.

Processors can output two main types of protein: pea protein isolate and textured pea protein. The isolate, with a protein content of 85–90%, is used primarily in protein powders.

Textured pea protein serves mainly as a plant-based meat alternative. It’s versatile and can take the form of fibers, shreds, chunks, bits, granules, slices, or similar food forms. Since heat application occurs during processing, its protein content is lower than that of pea protein isolate (typically around 65–80%).

Pea Protein vs Animal Protein

So what’s the deal with pea protein as an alternative to and potential replacement for animal protein? As plant-based meat has improved meteorically in culinary quality in the past decade, the animal agriculture industry has been funding studies and pumping out press releases decrying this “artificial” product as vastly inferior to “natural” meat. But what’s the truth beyond the hype?

Are Pea and Animal Proteins Nutritionally Similar?

There are longstanding concerns that plant proteins are inferior to animal proteins on three counts. Let’s take a look at them.

“Incomplete Proteins”

First, there’s the assumption that plant-based proteins are “incomplete.” That is, while animal protein contains all 20 amino acids that make up the human body (which makes sense because, while we’re encouraged to forget the fact, we ourselves are animals, too), plants were thought to provide some but not all of the 20. And while humans can synthesize 11 of them, that leaves 9 “essential” amino acids that we must get from our diets.

That belief led to the practice of “protein combining” among vegetarians in the 1970s, making meals of so-called “complementary proteins” such as rice and beans, whole grain bread and peanut butter, hummus (chickpeas and tahini), and so on. (To be fair, these are all amazing meals that do provide a lot of nutritional benefits; it’s just not necessary to consume these various plant foods simultaneously to get them.)

While long ago debunked, the concept of complementary proteins reinforced the idea in the popular imagination that consuming a vegetarian diet was inviting protein deficiency. The truth is, all plants do contain all 20 amino acids; the only potential issue is the ratios of specific ones. Because your body makes complex proteins from all 20, if your diet is low in a particular amino acid, it becomes the limiting factor in protein synthesis.

Grains, for example, tend to be low in lysine. Other amino acids of concern include methionine, isoleucine, threonine, and tryptophan. But a varied plant-based diet can provide adequate sources of all of these.

In other words, eating a variety of foods is important. Combining specific foods in any given meal is not.

And, it turns out, pea protein has a very well-balanced amino acid profile, with highly bioavailable forms of all the amino acids. It’s high in lysine, which makes it a perfect complement to a grain-strong diet. In fact, pea protein is one of the plant-based proteins that meet the amino acid requirements of the alphabet soup of acronyms that is the WHO, FAO, and UNU.

What About Building Muscle?

Some people believe that whey protein and other forms of animal protein are necessary to build muscle. And there’s no doubt that many bodybuilders consume large amounts of animal-based protein. But do they need to?

At the time of writing, many studies have shown that pea protein produces similar results to an animal-based protein when it comes to athletic performance and fitness results. This finding validates the lived experience of many plant-based athletes as well.

How does pea protein compare to whey protein? A 2015 study looked at a muscle-building intervention among young men ages 18–35. One experimental group took pea protein, while the second used whey protein. To keep things clear, there was a control group that received a placebo. The pea group was the only one with significant increases in muscle size — beating both the whey protein group and the placebo.

More Bioavailable Amino Acids?

It’s widely believed that, because animal tissue is so similar to human tissue, amino acids from animal protein are absorbed more fully by the body, and therefore are more bioavailable. Of course, by this logic, the healthiest human diet would be cannibalism (at least from the perspective of the diner, if not the dinner). But is it true?

It turns out that animal protein is typically about 10–20% more readily absorbed than plant protein, generally speaking. But this may not be the advantage many people assume it is. Because there are some compelling reasons to favor plant protein over animal protein sources — as we’re about to see.

Is Pea Protein Healthier?

Well, yes, for a bunch of reasons.

Avoid Harmful Dietary Compounds

For one thing, pea protein doesn’t form harmful compounds in your digestive system. Meat — in particular, red meat — promotes the formation of TMAO, a nasty compound associated with the development of multiple inflammatory conditions. Animal proteins are also high in the accurately acronym-ed “AGEs” — Advanced Glycation End-products — which form during the cooking process when animal proteins are in proximity to sugars and fats at high heat. AGEs can lead to type 2 diabetes and heart disease, among other maladies.

Animal protein also comes with heme iron, which is much more easily absorbed into the body than the plant-based, nonheme variety. While this sounds like a good thing, it often isn’t. Heme iron intake is associated with the development of several cancers, including ​​colorectal, pancreatic, and lung cancer, as well as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Pea protein, and plant proteins, in general, may also be better for heart health and longevity than animal proteins. As a result, you may be able to reduce your risk of chronic disease by eating pea protein instead of whey or other animal proteins.

Pea Protein and Gut Health

Second, pea protein is better for gut health and weight management than whey protein. For example, it can support the growth of two types of beneficial gut bacteria: Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria. In several studies, people who consumed pea protein felt very full after eating, which tends to discourage overeating and subsequent weight gain. It also contributed to reducing the blood sugar spike that occurs after eating.

And pea protein is also being studied as a tool in helping to prevent irritable bowel disease, with early successes reported in mouse trials. (Our view on the use of animals in medical research is here.)

A Major Allergen Alternative

Pea protein also shows promise as a supplemental protein for people with two common food allergies: dairy and soy.

Pea protein isn’t officially hypoallergenic, as there are some people who suffer from pea allergies. Nevertheless, it can be an alternative protein source for those allergic to pea’s legume cousins: soy and peanuts. Its advantage may be short-lived, however, as increased exposure to a protein often leads to increased sensitivity among a population.

But it beats soy in another respect as well: most of the world’s soy is now bio-engineered (BE; aka “GMO”). It’s true that scientists have been tinkering with pea plant genes since old Gregor Mendel in the 19th century, but so far, it’s been resistant to effective modification using modern gene-splicing technology. Research on a strain of BE peas was discontinued in Australia in the early 2000s after scientists discovered that it caused an immune response in mice. For anyone who prefers to be non-GMO, pea beats soy unless the soy is organic.

Is Pea Protein More Sustainable?

In addition to being a potential boon to the health of individuals, pea protein gaining ground on animal protein can also lead to giant environmental steps forward. Let’s just look at one aspect of pea protein’s environmental impact: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Right now, animal agriculture is responsible for a large share of the world’s GHG output. Through methane released via cow “eructations” (there’s a less technical word for that which my kids were very fond of around age 3), huge amounts of carbon released through deforestation to make room for grazing land, and highly inefficient conversion of animal feed into animal protein, animal agriculture is a major driver of climate chaos.

Livestock provides only 18% of the food calories eaten by humans and 37% of the protein, yet it uses over 83% of all farmland. Even the lowest-impact beef is responsible for six times more greenhouse gases than plant-based proteins like peas. And in terms of land requirements, it’s far worse: It takes 36 times more land to grow the same amount of protein from beef as it does from plants. It’s clear that beef farming is a huge waste of resources, almost like buying a new iPhone and then smashing it just to get your hands on the roughly two bucks worth of gold it contains.

Peas, in particular, have a tiny carbon footprint when compared to any type of animal protein. One hundred grams of protein produced from peas emits 0.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq), while the same amount of protein from beef creates 35 kilograms of CO2eq — nearly 90 times as much! Peas also have a massively smaller water footprint, requiring only 71 gallons of water per pound compared to beef’s 1,847 gallons per pound.

And of course, peas also don’t contribute to animal cruelty.

Pea Protein Dangers and Downsides to Consider

Things are not all rainbows and unicorns in pea protein land, however. There are at least two downsides to the heavy consumption of pea protein.

Pea Protein Heavy Metals

The first is that many plant protein powders may contain contaminants and toxins, including heavy metals and other known carcinogens. These typically include things like cadmium, lead, arsenic, and BPA. This fact isn’t limited to pea protein but can occur across the board in food. Plants absorb lots of things from the soil, including heavy metals. That’s why their levels of contamination can be higher than those found in whey-based proteins.

One way to address this is to visit a pea protein manufacturer’s website and look for information about what is actually in their product. Specifically, look for any third-party testing for heavy metals and toxins — and certification they may have received.

Is Pea Protein Processed?

We’ve seen that pea protein is superior in many respects to animal protein sources. But it’s still a highly processed food. Processing involves taking things out (like starch, fiber, and water). And it often involves putting other things in, too.

Pea protein isolate, textured pea protein, and the products made from them may also contain natural and artificial flavors, fillers, preservatives, refined oils, and sugar.​​

So while plant-based protein powders, meats, and dairy products can be helpful for transitioning to a plant-based diet, it’s still often preferable to get the bulk of your protein from whole food sources. Whether you choose to include pea protein in your diet is up to you. But instead of eating pea protein, you could eat actual peas and reap many of the same benefits plus more that come with the fiber, vitamins, and minerals that your body will also appreciate.

Even if mushy peas aren’t your thing, there’s split pea soup, stir-fries with peas, peas and carrots, pasta and peas, fresh pea salad, and even green pea hummus.

You can find out more about peas, along with three yummy recipes to get you started, in our comprehensive article on peas. And remember — peas are just one of the awesome foods in the legume family.

In fact (and not many people know this), beans were John Lennon’s favorite vegetable… up until he decided to give peas a chance.

Giving Peas a Chance

Pea protein is a popular plant-based protein, often used as an alternative to whey protein powders or as an ingredient in meat substitutes. Although it was once thought that pea protein was inferior to animal protein, it turns out that it’s plenty nutritious and effective for building muscle, and that it may be better for your health since it doesn’t contribute to the formation of TMAO and AGEs. It’s also produced more sustainably and has a much lower carbon and water footprint than animal proteins.

Although there are some risks to consider when consuming pea protein products, overall they can offer a good source of protein for those who want or need extra protein in their diets. But for most people, it’s probably not necessary to consume pea protein. Getting your protein from whole plant sources is often healthier, tastier, and more cost-effective.

Tell us in the comments:

• Have you ever used pea protein powder? What was your goal in doing so?
• Do you eat plant-based meat alternatives made with pea protein?
• What are your favorite sources of plant-based protein?

Read Next:

• 3 Things That Shouldn’t Be in Your Protein Powder (But Probably Are)
• Are Peas Good for You? — What You Need to Know About Peas

The post What Is Pea Protein & Should You Eat It? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

And if you’ve ever eaten a raw olive off a tree, you’ll understand why nobody thought that this particular fruit was going to amount to much gastronomically. It’s hard, bitter, and a lot of work to remove the flesh from the relatively large stone.

One legend about how people discovered the culinary qualities of the olive tells of a fisherman who tossed a bag full of olives into his boat and forgot about it for a few weeks. As he went to sea day after day, the salt water sloshed around and turned the unappetizing fruit into the fragrant, fermented delicacy we know today.

From their humble beginnings, olives now feature in both peasant food and sophisticated fare, appearing in meze platters, Greek salads, and as a pizza topping.

These days, olives and olive oil are associated with the Mediterranean diet, which is consistently rated one of the world’s healthiest eating patterns (it’s on a winning streak, having been named the “Best Diet Overall” by U.S. News & World Report five years in a row). And, as a result, many people consider olive oil to be a health food, capable of preventing heart disease.

But are olives and olive oil actually good for you? Or is the Mediterranean diet a healthy (or healthier) option in spite of, rather than because of the olive oil? What’s the truth about olives, and what’s just nutritional hype?

What Are Olives?

Like tomatoes and cucumbers, olives are technically fruits, although they’re thought of as vegetables because of their savory flavor. Even more technically, olives are drupes, which is a funny name for a tree fruit with a stone pit inside. Other common drupes include plums and peaches.

Olives are primarily grown in the Mediterranean and Mediterranean-like climates. California produces around 95% of the olives grown in the US.

To differentiate from other olives, the ones grown for eating are known as table olives. Not that you’d pick one from the tree and serve it straightaway on a dinner table. Unlike most fruits, olives require a lot of processing to become edible.

Off the tree, olives are incredibly bitter, thanks to low sugar content (about ¼–½ of the sugar in most stone fruits) and a compound called oleuropein. You can remove this substance and render olives tasty by packing them in salt, fermenting them, or preserving them in brine or a lye solution.

Alternatively, you can grind, crush, and filter olives to create olive oil — unlike peaches and plums, they’re very high in fat (up to 30%).

About 1,400 olives are pressed in order to make 1 liter of olive oil. It takes about 8,000 sunflower seeds to make a liter of sunflower oil. (Don’t even get me started on baby oil. Just kidding!)

Types of Olives

There are many different types of culinary olives, based on botanical variety, harvesting, and subsequent processing. Olives from Spain are typically fermented, while American-produced olives are generally unfermented. You can find olives whole (including the pits), pitted (with the pit removed), or stuffed with other vegetables (like garlic, pimento, or even, for the most daring or foolish among us, ghost pepper).

The most obvious distinction among olives is color-based — there are green olives and there are black olives. Green olives are harvested during the ripening cycle, at the point when the fruits have reached their full size but have not yet changed color from green to black. Black olives are kept on the tree longer and handpicked when ripe (purple or black) but before becoming overripe, and before the danger of frost. Except for black olives from California — they are typically put through an oxidation process after curing.

Common green olive varieties include Manzanillo, Gordal, and Moroccan Picholine. Some black olive varieties are Conservolea, Gemlik, Megaritiki, and Kalamata.

Olive vs Olive Oil Nutrition

Olives are high in vitamins A, E, and K, fiber, and monounsaturated fats. They also contain small amounts of essential minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, and copper. Because of their high fat content, olives are calorically rich, which is one reason to eat them in moderation if you’re trying to lose weight or if you struggle to maintain a healthy weight.

Unprocessed olives aren’t salty, but processed olives are very high in sodium because of the salt or brine used in curing the fruits. As we’ll see, that’s another reason to limit how many you eat. The standard serving size for olives is 100 grams — or 10 olives.

Compared with olives, olive oil is far lower in sodium. It’s also a more concentrated source of fat, as it lacks fiber and other nutrients. One serving of olive oil is about one tablespoon and provides 120 calories, all of them from fat.

Both olives and olive oil are high in polyphenols and antioxidants, however. They’re also a rich source of omega-9 fatty acids, including oleic acid, which is generally considered one of the healthier forms of fat.

Are Olives Healthy?

Hold on tight; we’re going to take a bit of a roller-coaster ride to answer this question, with lots of “on the one hand”s and “on the other hand”s.

Phytochemicals in Olives

On the one hand, olives contain phytochemicals and polyphenols that have anti-inflammatory properties, which give them disease-fighting abilities. Both green and black olives offer health benefits based on the phytochemicals that give each type its color. So that’s one big checkmark on the plus side.

Olives are High in Fat and Calories

On the other hand, olives are mostly fat, and therefore are a dense source of calories. Because you can get a lot of calories from just a handful of olives, it’s easy to gain weight if they’re a regular snack.

Back to that first hand, though: Olives are rich in healthy unsaturated fats, with a very modest amount of saturated fat. And the fat in olives goes hand in hand with their high vitamin E content, which makes that fat-soluble vitamin super-absorbable by the body. This is good because vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant, preventing and repairing oxidative stress in the body.

Sticking with that first hand for just another few seconds, we all need fat in our diet. And, in general, many plants (including olives) appear to be healthier sources of fat than animals.

For more on the good and bad of fat, see our article here.

Olives are High in Sodium

The biggest “other hand” when it comes to olives is their through-the-roof sodium content. This is not an issue with olive oil, but that little snack consisting of 10 table olives delivers almost 100% of the World Health Organization’s recommended maximum daily intake of sodium. If they were our major or only source, that wouldn’t necessarily be a big problem; but the modern industrialized diet is already high in sodium. And too much of it contributes to high incidences of heart disease, kidney disease, and type 2 diabetes.

For more on sodium, see our article here.

Use Olives as a Condiment

So the answer to whether or not olives are healthy is, it depends. If you choose to include olives in your diet, eat them as a condiment rather than an entire dish. Flavor your pizza, salad, or stew with a few sliced olives, rather than munching them by the handful. Pay attention to serving size and sodium content. And if you’re struggling with weight, you may want to eliminate olives altogether or enjoy them in small amounts as a rare treat.

This question becomes even more nuanced when we consider that the health effects of olives vary according to the type of olive and how it was processed. California-style olives contain much lower concentrations of healthy phenolic compounds compared with Spanish- or Greek-style table olives. So score one for Mediterranean olives.

At the same time, anaerobic fermentation of Spanish or Greek olives can induce the loss of anthocyanins, a powerful class of antioxidants found in many dark red, purple, blue, or black foods. But, to add another twist, these fermented olives with fewer antioxidants also contain gut-restoring probiotics.

Some types of processing, such as destoning, stuffing, and seasoning, may also lower the nutrient content of olives. Overall, the healthiest olives are intact and unseasoned.

And some brands offer reduced-sodium olives. A serving of PEARLS unseasoned low-sodium black olives (which they define as four olives) contains just 70 mg sodium, which is less than one-quarter of the sodium content of many other varieties.

What About Olive Oil?

First, let’s distinguish between the main grades of olive oil. There’s extra virgin, virgin, refined, and pomace.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is made from cold-pressed olives and has a superior flavor and aroma. It’s also healthier, with higher levels of antioxidants and other beneficial compounds than the other grades.

Virgin olive oil is made the same way as EVOO, from pure, cold-pressed olives. The difference is in the acidity and “defect rate,” both of which are slightly higher. Virgin olive oil nonetheless retains the olive’s flavor, aroma, and most of its health benefits.

Refined olive oil, often just labeled “olive oil” without a virgin in sight, is oil that has been extracted from the fruit using heat, solvents, or both. It typically has about ¼–⅕ the antioxidants of extra virgin, and has less of an olive taste. Some refined olive oil is blended with virgin and/or EVOO to give it more flavor at a cheaper cost.

Finally, pomace olive oil is made from the pulp and pits of olives that have already been pressed for their first cold press. Unlike EVOO or virgin olive oil, pomace olive oil comes from the leftover materials after the oil has been pressed out. The result is a cheaper oil with a more neutral flavor.

Is Olive Oil Good for You?

You saw how complicated it is to determine whether olives are healthy. The data is even more nuanced when it comes to olive oil. To simplify a bit, let’s focus solely on the highest grade, since many of the studies on the health effects of olive oil use EVOO exclusively.

Potential Olive Oil Health Benefits

In the popular press, olive oil is lauded for its health benefits, often based on its association with the Mediterranean diet. The oil does retain antioxidants found in the whole fruits, although in lesser amounts. And some studies, including clinical trials with human subjects, have found health benefits from the oil, including protection against cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and dementia.

Olive oil is low in omega-6 fatty acids, which is beneficial because it reduces the risk of inflammation caused by consuming too many omega-6s compared to anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats. It contains nutrients that reduce cholesterol and improve heart and eye health. When used in salad dressings, it can increase the absorption of healthful carotenoids found in salad vegetables like carrots and leafy greens. Extra-virgin olive oil, in particular, is rich in oleic acid and antioxidants which may reduce inflammation.

Turning olives into olive oil also means you get to avoid the sodium that’s added when fermenting or curing the fruits.

Case closed? Not yet!

The Downside of Olive Oil

Atherosclerotic lesions contribute to a buildup of plaque, the narrowing of the arterial walls, and the promotion of cardiovascular disease. Back in 1990, researchers conducted angiograms on people with coronary heart disease, monitored their dietary patterns, and then conducted follow-up angiograms two years later. They found that over the course of the study, all forms of fat, including saturated fat, monounsaturated fat (i.e., olive oil), and polyunsaturated fat, were associated with the development of new atherosclerotic lesions. Only when patients reduced fat intake overall did they experience improvement.

Another way that researchers measure cardiovascular health is through a test called flow-mediated dilation (FMD). FMD uses ultrasound to measure the diameter of the brachial artery. The level of dilation is an indication of the health of the vessels in the cardiovascular system.

In one study conducted in 1999, researchers gave people high-fat meals and then measured their FMD three hours later, finding an immediate decline in their brachial artery dilation. This was true whether the fat in that meal came from hamburgers, cheesecake, or olive oil. Another study conducted in 2007 using soybean, palm, and olive oils found that all three had a similar negative effect on endothelial function and triglyceride levels (both of which have a link to cardiovascular health).

So there’s a case to be made that, especially for people who are concerned about heart health, olive oil may not be a “health food.”

No Room for Olive Oil in an SOS-free Plant-Based Diet

Many of the original proponents of a whole foods, plant-based diet argue against consuming bottled oils, especially in the presence of heart disease and/or metabolic syndrome. They tell us that no oil is a health food — and that includes olive oil. Humans, they argue, will thrive best on an “SOS-free” diet — SOS being an acronym for Salt, Oil, and Sugar.

However, even within the plant-based community, this isn’t universally accepted as truth. Indeed, there is a pretty good case in the medical literature pointing to the health benefits of olives and olive oils, at least in comparison to other oils and other sources of fat.

This might be a case where the health benefits of olive oil come down to “it depends.” If you are replacing less healthy fats with olives or olive oil, you are probably taking a big step in the right direction. But particularly if you are trying to lose weight, or are suffering from cardiovascular disease, then a low-fat diet may be advisable.

I don’t know anyone who would consume a pound of olive oil, which is a good thing because olive oil delivers almost 4,000 calories per pound, making it one of the most calorically dense foods you could eat.

Considerations for Buying Olives and Olive Oil

So far, we’ve been looking at olive oil in a pretty theoretical way, as if products that say “olive oil” are actually full of olive oil. It would be great if that were always true, but it turns out that olive oil is one of the most faked foods worldwide, with much of the fraud perpetrated in Italy.

To save money and thus increase profits, many producers blend their olive oil with other unlisted plant oils of lower quality. They may then add colorings and flavorings to disguise the deceit. Even old, rancid canola oil has been sold and presented as extra virgin olive oil. Unfortunately, there’s no federal regulation of bottled oils and their label claims in the US.

Even if the olive oil is genuine and unadulterated, you may still be getting a dose of harmful pesticides with your olive oil if you choose to buy nonorganic varieties. Olive groves are vulnerable to many pests, including the fruit fly. While organic growers rely on rich and diverse ecosystems to keep pests in check, conventional farmers deploy multiple pesticides on olive trees. These pesticides have been banned in some countries and may cause harm to humans, animals, and pollinators.

The best way to avoid or limit your exposure to pesticides is to buy certified organic olive oil. When possible, choose glass containers over plastic or cans to avoid BPA. In addition to avoiding these harmful compounds, when you go organic you also get the benefit of a higher degree of oversight — in the form of regulation and inspection — to ensure you’re getting real olive oil.

Unfortunately, organic olive oil is much more expensive than conventional, putting it out of reach for some. For guidance on how to choose authentic olive oils, including some organic varieties, check out our full article on avoiding food fraud here.

How to Eat Olives

Olives have a salty and somewhat sour or bitter taste that can complement a variety of dishes. Because of their high sodium content, they are best used as a condiment.

Safety tip: If you buy a variety that includes the pits, make sure to slice and remove them before cooking.

Here are some ways to use olives:

• As a snack on their own (remember to check the serving size so you don’t end up consuming a day’s worth of sodium and calories while you mindlessly munch)
• As part of a vegan charcuterie or grazing board
• In salads
• Sliced on pizza or as a taco topping
• In grain bowls and pasta dishes
• In tapenades, dips, or spreads
• With roasted vegetables

Olive Recipes

Olives are incredibly flavorful and versatile. Whether you want to experience the multilayered taste and velvety texture on its own or as a special addition to a robust and colorful dish, these olive recipes are sure to be your go-to when you’re looking to satisfy a salty umami craving.

1. Olive Tapenade

If you’re a superfan of salty, briny flavors, this Olive Tapenade will not disappoint. A twist on the standard olive tapenade, this one combines both black olives and Kalamata olives (a type of black olive) along with toasted walnuts. The taste is still pungent and flavorful, but not overpowering or overly salty. Each bite is just as delicious as the next, making this an excellent topping to your favorite creamy or tomato-based pasta, pizza, or herb crackers!

2. Healthy Charcuterie Board

Make olives the star of the show with this festive Healthy Charcuterie Board. This appetizer will wow your friends and family (in the most positive way) when they visit for a plant-based evening extravaganza. From your homemade 2-Ingredient Flax Crackers to the creamy Herbed Cashew Cheese to a colorful array of pungent olives, this recipe is the epitome of a plant-based party!

3. Braised Green Beans Puttanesca

Braised Green Beans Puttanesca harnesses the fruity, salty, briny, and slightly sour flavor of the mighty olive, which is wonderfully juxtaposed against the sweetness of the green beans, the acidity of the tomatoes, and the rich flavor of the aromatics. Although the olives seem like the supporting character in this recipe, trust us — they make all the difference when creating this beautifully harmonious meal!

Enjoy Olives in Moderation

Olives can provide a number of health benefits, mainly due to their healthy fats, vitamin E content, and antioxidants. But fermentation, sodium content, and processing all can compromise their nutritional value. And olive oil, while associated with health benefits in many studies, may be good for you only in comparison to less healthy sources of fat.

There are some people, especially those with heart disease, who should probably limit their intake of olives or avoid olives and olive oil altogether. But when used in moderation, olives in their whole food form can add flavor and nutrition to plant-based meals. And from a health perspective, unadulterated olive oil is probably among the least problematic oils, and may, in fact, confer some real health benefits.

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you eat olives? If so, what are your favorite kinds?
• Do you use olive oil for cooking? If so, what do you add it to?

Featured Image: iStock.com/FabioBalbi

Read Next:

• 5 Easy Oil-Free Salad Dressings for a Healthier Mealtime
• Food Fraud: What You Need To Know About Olive and Avocado Oil

The post Are Olives or Olive Oil Really Healthy? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.