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Interview with food expert: How diet relates to heart disease, obesity and cancer
Jul 21, 2023
Consumers tend to find out how to save money on groceries, and at the same time select good quality food. "Food should taste good", says Lisa Andrews, a nutrition and food safety expert. We invited Lisa to help us educate consumers on how to choose good quality and healthy products, understand the food safety standards and sort out the food problem. 00:00 - Introduction 00:23 - About Lisa Andrews 00:47 - Quality of food 01:28 - Culture of healthy food in EU 02:24 - Healthy eating 03:30 - Psychology of losing weight 05:10 - Health food stores 08:10 - Types of diets 11:33 - Food labels 14:32 - Where to report food problems 15:25 - Food recalls 17:30 - Food stores 19:30 - Conclusion More food tips from Lisa Andrews: https://soundbitesnutrition.com/ #food #healthyfood #healthyeating #PissedConsumer #ExpertTalksWithPissedconsumer
View Video Transcript
0:00
thank you for joining my name is Michael I am the best consumer and we're going to talk today
0:10
with Lisa Andrews who runs soundbitenutrition.com what is it important for consumer to choose the
0:18
quality of food that they're eating when I talk about quality of food I think of nutrient density
0:24
So for example, I want people to buy seasonal fruit versus fruit snacks or fruit roll-ups
0:31
or those types of things. So I think of less processing in food, less added sugar, less added fat, less added sodium
0:38
is better for people's health in the long term. Because we're, at least in the US, we're worried about things like heart disease, obesity
0:47
cancer, diabetes, which are all diet related. So I want people to choose nutrient-dense foods that are culturally appropriate that they can afford
0:56
If you travel to Europe, you see people that are much more slimmer than in the United States in general
1:04
Why? I would say they're probably more active, for one. So they probably walk to the market or they ride their bikes
1:12
They get around probably a little bit more frequently on their legs than we do
1:15
I also think that they eat less processed foods or less packaged foods, and they may not snack as frequently as people in the U.S
1:26
We're kind of a country of feeding our feelings, so people seem to be constantly snacking and eating when they may not even be hungry
1:36
That's actually interesting. Let me poke you here a little bit as a dietitian
1:40
I've heard that it's much healthier to eat little but very often versus eating a lot and only several times a day
1:53
Well, it depends on the time of the day, and it depends on what you're eating as a snack
1:59
So, for example, if you're snacking on fruits and vegetables or maybe Greek yogurt or something that's nutrient-dense, that's great
2:07
But if you're grabbing a candy bar or a protein bar or a Pop-Tart or a bag of chips in between your meals, then you're really not giving your body any nutrients
2:16
You're just getting a lot of calories and fat. As far as the quantity of food, I think, you know, we've kind of shifted the focus away from grazing frequently to making your meals really count
2:29
So, you know, for me, I do a lot of counseling with weight management, and I typically suggest that people eat the majority of their calories earlier in the day
2:38
And if they're not hungry, don't keep snacking. And then, you know, set a time in the evening, at least three or four hours before you go to bed, where you just stop eating
2:48
Because, you know, you want to give your body a rest to digest your food, but also to tap into fat stores to use for calories in between meals so that you don't gain weight
2:57
It's very difficult to stay on the diet, to be on the diet
3:02
When you are able to lower your weight, you reduced your body weight
3:08
and you feel good about yourself, and then three months later, you gain all that weight back
3:16
Mentally, can you help me? How do I keep myself not getting into that eating binge after the diet
3:25
What is the secret? And it's constant and it's frequent. I call it sort of this bummer cycle of diet, cheat
3:32
repent, repeat, you know, and people are constantly in this cycle of losing and gaining
3:37
And to me, you know, you can lose weight very quickly on a fad diet, whether that's a ketogenic
3:43
diet or, you know, giving up a certain food group, giving up all carbs or going on a low fat diet
3:50
But the problem with that is that it's not sustainable. So I, for me, I try to work with
3:55
people on sustainable habits that are going to last that will help them maintain their weight
4:01
loss. Because whatever you did to lose the weight, unless it's sustainable and you go back to your
4:06
old eating habits, you're just going to gain the weight back. So for example, you know, if liquids
4:11
are the problem, if you're consuming a lot of calories from liquids, whether that's sport drinks
4:16
or, you know, sodas or alcohol, reducing the consumption of those or giving them up completely
4:22
and switching to seltzer water or something that's lower in calories and just sticking with it is probably going to help
4:29
than going on like a Whole30 diet and giving everything up and then 30 days later going right back to whatever you were doing before
4:36
You're going to gain the weight back. It's difficult. We all go to supermarkets and we see a lot of nice marketing packaging
4:47
You want to grab the food. Yet at the same time, there is no store to keep your diet
4:54
I want to go to the store where there is only healthy stuff Do such stores exist I would say maybe you know a quote health food store that selling supplements maybe but you know even even places like Whole Foods that have this
5:12
reputation of being, you know, natural or organic and non-GMO and non-bioengineered and everything
5:18
they still have, they still have cake, they still have desserts, they still have cookies
5:23
They still have ice cream. They still have brownies. So, you know, it's a it's a matter of kind of managing your mindset when you go shopping
5:31
You know, don't don't go hungry. Bring a list with you. If you have coupons for things, make sure that it's things that you would actually use and not buy them just because I have a dollar off of these frozen, you know, dairy free popsicles
5:45
Well, what part in their diet do they really play? Are they just more processed food in your diet or is it something that you're actually going to eat
5:54
Because we do have quite a bit of food waste in this country because we, to me, part of it is that we have so much food compared to what we had
6:03
I mean, when I was growing up, things were in season. You know, so in the summer you had strawberries and melon and peaches and in the winter you had apples and citrus fruit
6:12
But now we have all of those things all of the time, which is lovely
6:17
But I also think it leads to a lot of overconsumption and waste and then really confusion of what to buy and what's appropriate to buy when
6:27
Completely understood. Another business idea for you. I think you should open up a health store where there is only health food
6:37
And yes, you can sell cake. But next to the cake, there's got to be a treadmill
6:42
And until the person finishes running and burns all the calories in that cake
6:48
cake is not given to the person. Something to that effect. Well, what's interesting in the U.S. is that a lot of our strip malls will have a Dunkin' Donuts
6:59
right next to a Jenny Craig Weight Loss Center or a Weight Watchers
7:04
And I think to myself, who set that up? It's just failure. I mean, it's like you're in one door and then you're coming next door because you've gained too much weight from the ice cream
7:13
You know what I mean? So we you know, we have sort of this society of I want to I want to eat my cake, but I don't want it to show up on my hips
7:22
Well, and here's the thing. I mean, I love food. I embrace food, and I don't want people to be super militant about it
7:30
But I do think we need to reel ourselves in and be more moderate about our consumption of calories that are not really doing us any good
7:38
On your opinion, which diet in general is the best? I understand that for different body types, you need to have different diets
7:49
That's why dietitians. What is the most popular diet that you think works
7:54
So from a popular diet perspective and what's healthiest for us, I mean, there's lots of great research on the Mediterranean diet
8:02
But at the same time, I don't want to dismiss other cultures that aren't Mediterranean
8:07
So, for example, Mediterranean cuisine, we have lots of fruits and vegetables and fish and low-fat dairy products and whole grains and beans
8:15
But there's also great qualities to Asian food. We have lots of vegetables and lean meats and more tofu and things like that
8:23
So I think really we need to look at what different cultures are eating and pick out the parts that make the most sense to us and that are culturally appropriate for us
8:34
Because I don't want to tell somebody never to eat a certain food that they've grown up with and they love
8:40
So maybe they reduce the portion or maybe they alter the cooking method so it's not as high in calories or whatever it is
8:46
But we, you know, we find a way to make peace with our food. And I think that's that we've kind of lost that sense of maybe lost that sense of enjoyment with our food
8:57
And we're just kind of feeding ourselves because of I mean, at least I've noticed with COVID, the most referrals that I've gotten for counseling have been either for weight gain or for gastrointestinal issues, which are directly related to stress eating or stressful conditions
9:15
so it's tricky weight watchers as a program they have points but it's very similar to
9:24
counting calories what i've done is i've counted calories my wife was going crazy on me when i was
9:32
weighing a bowl of soup but i actually was able to stick to it and i was able to lose weight
9:38
while eating all the different types of food. But you need to be mean in order to sustain it, right
9:45
Because you have to weigh every single apple that you consume during the day
9:50
But it worked for me for a period of time. And then I just dropped it
9:54
and I went back to eating abnormal portions. So I had that
9:59
That my experience The thing with dieting is that no one size fits everybody And it just like medication We have medications for blood sugar multiple medications for high blood pressure
10:11
We have multiple diets that work for different people. I mean, Weight Watchers, to me, has been a very successful program
10:19
However, I feel like I've seen them sort of shift towards whatever the latest trend is
10:25
So, for example, for a while, they were telling people that, you know, fruit was free
10:29
well, what if I was a binge eater and I decided to eat an entire watermelon
10:34
Well, I'm not going to lose any weight that way. So you have to put some parameters that make sense to people
10:40
For myself, I usually tell or advise people to look more at, you know
10:46
the serving sizes and also just pay attention to hunger cues. Think about what they're missing from their diet in addition to what are they eating too much of
10:56
Because I really look at the quality of a person's diet in addition to the quantity of food that they're consuming when it comes to weight loss
11:03
Labels on products in the supermarket. Do you advise consumers to pay attention to the labels
11:14
Are they important? Oh, yeah, they're definitely important. And to be honest, they're changing, although they take a long time to change because it's expensive to change the nutrition facts label
11:25
It's expensive to do all the research in order to add health claims to foods
11:30
What I usually suggest to people, if they're trying to focus on a particular nutrient
11:35
so say, for example, their physician or dietitian or someone tells them they need more fiber
11:41
in their diet. So, you know, maybe they key into that particular nutrient, but an easy way to look at whether
11:48
something is high or low is to look at the percent daily value on the label
11:52
So for fiber, you want something to have 20% or more of your daily value for fiber
12:01
for it to be a good source of fiber or high in fiber. If they're trying to cut back on sodium, it should be 5% or less of the daily value
12:10
So that's one way to look at it. There is sort of this movement towards clean labels where we don't want as many ingredients
12:18
in the food. the issue with that is some of those ingredients are vitamin fortification or they're preservatives
12:24
that need to be in the food in order to prevent spoiling or foodborne illness or to extend the
12:29
shelf life so you know while i well you know yeah i don't want a whole lot of additives in my food
12:36
i recognize that some of the words that we can't pronounce are appropriate so things like
12:42
cyanocobalamin well that sounds like a really scary word and in reality it's just vitamin b12
12:47
But the consumer doesn't know that. They see that and they go, oh, I don't know. I can't pronounce that
12:52
I guess I shouldn't eat it. Well, that's just, to me, that's bad advice, you know
12:57
So to summarize, you're suggesting consumers to actually do a little bit of research upon reading the food label, not to make assumptions based on, oh, this word is too long
13:08
The things that we really want to, you know, increase in our foods or in our diets are, you know, foods that help to prevent disease
13:17
So calcium, because it's related to osteoporosis and blood pressure, potassium, because it's related to stroke and blood pressure and fiber
13:26
And then we want to reduce things like added sugars and saturated fat and trans fat and too much sodium and cholesterol
13:33
And then just also the calorie load, because sometimes, you know, we think of things like protein bars as being healthy because, oh, we clearly we need more protein
13:43
Well, we get plenty of protein. That's not an issue unless you're completely vegan or vegetarian and not including plant-based sources
13:51
We've got plenty of protein in our diets, but we get kind of focused on certain nutrients and think that we need them when in reality, we probably don't
14:00
Where can consumers complain about food quality that they're buying at the store, your experience
14:09
Yeah, absolutely. If they're not happy with a particular quality of a food or if the food is spoiled in some way
14:17
maybe they brought some milk home and it's moldy or it smells bad or something
14:20
they can certainly bring it back to the store and get a refund if they become sick from that particular product
14:29
The product will have a label. Now, if it's a processed product, obviously it'll have a label on the back with the company's address
14:35
and a phone number for you to contact to complain about it. fruits and vegetables are more difficult because obviously they're not labeled unless you buy like
14:43
a bulk bag of apples or a bulk bag of something and there's a contact on there otherwise i would
14:48
take it back to the grocery store that you purchased it from from time to time food gets recalled
14:55
salmonella other possible spoils that happened at the factory how can consumers find out to keep track of what going on for which stores besides mass media Right So the CDC typically will keep track of outbreaks of food
15:17
borne illness. And when we say outbreak, it doesn't have to be hundreds and hundreds of people. It only
15:22
needs to be like two people that are impacted by a food borne illness to be considered an outbreak
15:27
So I would look at, you know, if you don't know the exact website, I would just Google, you know, CDC food recall, and it will pull up the most recent recalls
15:37
And it will tell you what to look for on the package and what stores it might have been sold to or under which brand names
15:46
Because what's interesting about food is that, for example, Dole salads might, you know, might sell only Dole salads
15:54
but underneath that umbrella of Dole salads, they might sell salads to Aldi under a different name
16:02
So, you know, you might hear, oh, well, I didn't buy Dole salads. Well, you probably did. It's just
16:07
been marketed differently. It's just been repackaged and repurposed under a different brand name
16:12
And that gets back to even your question about food quality and cost of food
16:18
I shop at some of the lower cost markets I'm a big fan of Aldi
16:26
I don't know if you have Aldi where you are For a few reasons One, it's much smaller
16:31
So I can get in and out very quickly Two, the prices are lower
16:36
And three, they have pretty much everything that I'm looking for Where I'm not going to be so overwhelmed
16:41
That I'm going to be staring at 50 different types of yogurt
16:44
When I really only need two So I think we've gotten to the point where there's just almost too much choice and people are just buying scads of stuff and then it increases a lot of food waste
16:58
Oldie is actually a trend. I would separate Oldie and Little. Yeah, we don't have that story here
17:07
Oldie and Little are European chains that are coming into U.S. market
17:12
In the past two years, they started popping up. um where are you located i'm in new york i'm in cincinnati so i'm in the midwest
17:22
got it so we have oldie we have little and uh they are coming in places of
17:28
keep key foods shop rides it's different stores different type of atmosphere and different types
17:35
of products being sold there so and prices are less expensive than what u.s stores would be
17:45
selling it for. So we'll see how it changes our consumption long term
17:52
Well, and even prices in those lower cost stores have gone up. For example
17:58
and not by much, I'm not complaining, but it's if a can of beans was normally
18:05
59 cents, which is still lower than most chains, and now it's 72 cents
18:11
it's still an increase. It's still less than what I would pay at maybe another big box store, but it is definitely still an increase
18:18
We've seen an increase in the food costs for sure over the pandemic. It's not only pandemic
18:23
I totally agree with you. It has to do with world economy right now, U.S. economy and world economy
18:30
We are in the inflation market. Inflation is here and food prices, I think, will continue to grow
18:41
Yeah. Well, and as the price of oil goes up, as we have changes in climate, all of those things impact the cost of food. So, you know, we have to figure out a way to make it sustainable
18:53
Lisa, understood. Thank you very much. Is there anything you would like to add for our consumers? Maybe you can introduce your website a little bit more about what you do as part of this final word
19:07
Yeah. So final word to most people is, is eat more plants and less cow. I'm not vegetarian. I love dairy. But, you know, our part of kind of keeping our world footprint a little smaller, our carbon footprint a little smaller and our health a little better is probably eating a little bit less meat, particularly processed meat
19:30
and then just, you know, adding more beans, vegetables, fruit, and that sort of thing into
19:37
our diet. Website, I'm at soundbitesnutrition.com. And then Instagram is NutriGirl66. I do a few
19:46
reels here and there. I like to prepare simple recipes. You know, my whole philosophy is that
19:52
food should taste good. And if you have to plug your nose to eat it, then you're eating the wrong
19:57
food lisa thank you very much guys please don't forget to like this video please share this content bye
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