Dr Tim Wood, Vice President of Research and Development at USANA Health Sciences explains in this interview why making changes to dietary plans, otherwise thought to be good enough, can also offer potential benefits.
Q : What research prompted USANA to shift away from the American Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) formula?
A: USANA doesn’t just rely on in house research. Rather, we rely on the board range of research published in leading scientific and medical journals around the world concerning the relationship between nutrition and health. It has been found that potencies of many individual ingredients are based not on RDAs, but on the advanced intakes shown in clinical and epidemiological research to reduce the risk of chronic degenerative disease. Take antioxidants nutrients. The US government recognizes only three nutrients with primary antioxidant function – vitamin c, vitamin E and selenium. Add up all the recommended daily intakes of these three nutrients and you’ll get just 100mg per day. However, we don’t believe that is enough. The recommendation for a healthy, well balanced diet is one that is rich in fruits and vegetables. If you add up all the antioxidants that are contained in a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, you’ll get almost 1500mg per day- 15 times more than the government recommendation. Furthermore, clinical and epidemiological research shows that advanced intakes of antioxidant nutrients like vitamin E, CoQ10 and alpha lipoic acid in the neighborhood of hundreds of milligrams, further support long-term health. So we firmly believe that the optimal antioxidant intake per day should be 2000mg or more. Another examples is Vitamin D. A very high percentages of people, particularly people living in the temperate zones, are chronically deficient in Vitamin D. The levels of dietary vitamin D intake needed to boost people’s levels into the optimal zone, are far higher than the RDA. The adult RDA for vitamin D is 400 to 600 International Units(IU) per day. People need 3000 to 5000 IUs per day to get the blood levels of circulating vitamin D into the optimal zone.
Q : Ethnic genetic make –up has been found to play an important part in recommended dietary formulas. What are some of USANA’s findings in relation to the Asian ethnic genetic make-up?
A : With respect to ethnic genetic make up, there is sound evidence that people with some ethnic backgrounds, such as American Indians, African Americans, Hispanics, and perhaps Asians, are at increased risk for metabolic syndrome and diabetes. We believed that the genetic make-ups are such that they have a hard time processing western diets that are high in calories, and rich in starches and sugars. Such diets lead to obesity and insulin resistance and eventually to diabetes. As such, these people need to be particularly careful not to eat or over eat too many western type foods, highly processed starchy food, which have a high glycemic index. On recent reports that several chronic diseases can be linked to Asian genes, like early findings that Indians are more susceptible to heart attacks, more research still needs to be done before any conclusion can be made.
Q : There has been a long documented lactose-intolerance by those of Asian and Chinese heritage. What new dietary or nutritional recommendations have been found in relation to addressing this issue?
A : People who are lactose intolerance don’t produce lactose, the enzyme that breaks down lactose. This deficiency leads to gastric distress, bloating and diarrhea etc. You need to be careful to avoid lactose containing foods and dairy products in your diet. However, there are enzyme supplements to help control the situation. You take the enzyme that breaks down lactose with a meal containing lactose or just beforehand to avoid the symptoms of lactose intolerance. There no certain food, which can help avoid lactose intolerance. The best alternative is to avoid lactose-containing foods and you won’t have any problem. Since lactose is dairy sugar, you have to avoid diary products.
Q : What would USANA consider to be a balanced diet/food pyramid?
A : A very well-established and general rule about healthy eating is to maintain a well-balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains and foods containing proteins and fats from healthy sources. “Balance” is the key. Many people resort to extreme diets like grapefruit diet or broccoli diet. Others recommended diet that are “low fat” or “no fat”, or “low carbohydrate” or “no carbohydrate”. This is not a healthy approach to eating. Concentrate more on whole foods rich in fiber, rich in vitamins and minerals and avoid heavily processed food because they have been stripped of their essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. In term of how much to eat, the best indicator is your weight- to maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI). All these revolve around the concept of gaining and burning calories. Balance the number of calories consumed through diet or burned during exercise. If you’re already doing that, you’re going to maintain a healthy weight. In summary, the secret to a healthy diet is to eat a wide variety of whole foods, mostly plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and stay away from heavily processed foods that are rich in simple starches and sugars. Also, strive to eat a low glycemic diet, which is characterized by foods rich in fiber and containing a good balance of carbohydrates, protein and fats.
Petikan dari Health Magazines July/Aug 2009
Q : What research prompted USANA to shift away from the American Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) formula?
A: USANA doesn’t just rely on in house research. Rather, we rely on the board range of research published in leading scientific and medical journals around the world concerning the relationship between nutrition and health. It has been found that potencies of many individual ingredients are based not on RDAs, but on the advanced intakes shown in clinical and epidemiological research to reduce the risk of chronic degenerative disease. Take antioxidants nutrients. The US government recognizes only three nutrients with primary antioxidant function – vitamin c, vitamin E and selenium. Add up all the recommended daily intakes of these three nutrients and you’ll get just 100mg per day. However, we don’t believe that is enough. The recommendation for a healthy, well balanced diet is one that is rich in fruits and vegetables. If you add up all the antioxidants that are contained in a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, you’ll get almost 1500mg per day- 15 times more than the government recommendation. Furthermore, clinical and epidemiological research shows that advanced intakes of antioxidant nutrients like vitamin E, CoQ10 and alpha lipoic acid in the neighborhood of hundreds of milligrams, further support long-term health. So we firmly believe that the optimal antioxidant intake per day should be 2000mg or more. Another examples is Vitamin D. A very high percentages of people, particularly people living in the temperate zones, are chronically deficient in Vitamin D. The levels of dietary vitamin D intake needed to boost people’s levels into the optimal zone, are far higher than the RDA. The adult RDA for vitamin D is 400 to 600 International Units(IU) per day. People need 3000 to 5000 IUs per day to get the blood levels of circulating vitamin D into the optimal zone.
Q : Ethnic genetic make –up has been found to play an important part in recommended dietary formulas. What are some of USANA’s findings in relation to the Asian ethnic genetic make-up?
A : With respect to ethnic genetic make up, there is sound evidence that people with some ethnic backgrounds, such as American Indians, African Americans, Hispanics, and perhaps Asians, are at increased risk for metabolic syndrome and diabetes. We believed that the genetic make-ups are such that they have a hard time processing western diets that are high in calories, and rich in starches and sugars. Such diets lead to obesity and insulin resistance and eventually to diabetes. As such, these people need to be particularly careful not to eat or over eat too many western type foods, highly processed starchy food, which have a high glycemic index. On recent reports that several chronic diseases can be linked to Asian genes, like early findings that Indians are more susceptible to heart attacks, more research still needs to be done before any conclusion can be made.
Q : There has been a long documented lactose-intolerance by those of Asian and Chinese heritage. What new dietary or nutritional recommendations have been found in relation to addressing this issue?
A : People who are lactose intolerance don’t produce lactose, the enzyme that breaks down lactose. This deficiency leads to gastric distress, bloating and diarrhea etc. You need to be careful to avoid lactose containing foods and dairy products in your diet. However, there are enzyme supplements to help control the situation. You take the enzyme that breaks down lactose with a meal containing lactose or just beforehand to avoid the symptoms of lactose intolerance. There no certain food, which can help avoid lactose intolerance. The best alternative is to avoid lactose-containing foods and you won’t have any problem. Since lactose is dairy sugar, you have to avoid diary products.
Q : What would USANA consider to be a balanced diet/food pyramid?
A : A very well-established and general rule about healthy eating is to maintain a well-balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains and foods containing proteins and fats from healthy sources. “Balance” is the key. Many people resort to extreme diets like grapefruit diet or broccoli diet. Others recommended diet that are “low fat” or “no fat”, or “low carbohydrate” or “no carbohydrate”. This is not a healthy approach to eating. Concentrate more on whole foods rich in fiber, rich in vitamins and minerals and avoid heavily processed food because they have been stripped of their essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. In term of how much to eat, the best indicator is your weight- to maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI). All these revolve around the concept of gaining and burning calories. Balance the number of calories consumed through diet or burned during exercise. If you’re already doing that, you’re going to maintain a healthy weight. In summary, the secret to a healthy diet is to eat a wide variety of whole foods, mostly plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and stay away from heavily processed foods that are rich in simple starches and sugars. Also, strive to eat a low glycemic diet, which is characterized by foods rich in fiber and containing a good balance of carbohydrates, protein and fats.
Petikan dari Health Magazines July/Aug 2009
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