Food Fad or Good Nutrition? Using Food Studies to Make Healthy Choices

What did the study find? The walnut-fed mice had significantly fewer tumors, and those who did develop tumors had smaller, slower-growing ones.  This is very good news and one of the most conclusive connections between food and cancer that I’ve seen.  Usually the data is less directly linked.

Why?  This can be the hardest part to understand of any study.  The AACR press release on the walnut research explains it this way, “Walnut consumption may provide the body with essential omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytosterols that reduce the risk of breast cancer. . . . Elaine Hardman, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at Marshall University School of Medicine, said that while her study was done with laboratory animals rather than humans, people should heed the recommendation to eat more walnuts.

‘Walnuts are better than cookies, french fries or potato chips when you need a snack,’ said Hardman. ‘We know that a healthy diet overall prevents all manner of chronic diseases.’"

Now what?  So what am I going to do with this information?  If I hated walnuts or was allergic to them, I would ignore it.  People are always touting the specific health benefits of particular foods, but few of us are going to make a radical change in our diet and eat foods we hate—at least not for very long.

But I do like walnuts, and I find this study fits into other information that I’ve been reading about how heart healthy nuts are in general and walnuts are in particular.  In the study, the mice received the equivalent of two servings of walnuts a day in human dietary terms; that would be almost 400 calories worth of walnuts a day.  A teenager with a high metabolism might be able to eat that many calories, especially if the walnuts were substituting for empty calories she used to waste on soda and chips.

But I don’t have that many calories to spare in my diet, so I’ll probably be adding walnuts to oatmeal, salads and baked goods more often, but not two servings a day.  I'll probably take some to work to ward off my late afternoon cravings for something sweet.  

I’ve made other incremental changes to my diet based on research, especially in varying the colors of the foods I eat:  red and green cabbage; blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries; red, green, yellow, and orange peppers.    I don’t usually spend as much time digging into the background as I did for the walnut study, but I don’t buy new products until I read more than just the label at the health food store.

Taking the time to learn more about your food choices will make you a more informed consumer.  And eating better will help you feel better and may prevent cancer and other health problems.  There is no point in jumping on a bandwagon for the latest fad food if you don’t like it, but paying attention to food research and making gradual changes in your diet to more healthy foods makes sense.