Summary of Nutrition Class from Tuesday 9th June 2015

Which types of nuts are the best?

Each type of nut has its own nutrition profile. Balance is the most important thing as far as diet (and indeed life) is concerned and in fact no one nut is better than another - each has its own mineral profile and nutrition profile in general. The solution is to have a good variety of nuts.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/health-benefits-nuts

Do our genes determine the type of nutritional requirements we have?

Yes they do - but remember there are also other important factors to a healthy diet. Locally sourced fresh and hopefully organic fruit and vegetables will always be nutrient dense irrelevant of whether your ancestors had those particular fruit vegetables. The balanced diet is the best diet. Wholegrains are always nutrient dense too. But in short the answer is still yes.

'Genetic variation certainly has an important influence on human nutritional requirements'
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/83/2/436S.full


Is juicing good or bad for us?

In general juicing vegetables seems to be healthy and is not associated with diabetes. Also eating fresh fruit or fresh vegetables is healthy and they contain many antioxidants. Eating fruit and vegetables whole is not associated with diabetes. However having fruit as juice often is associated with diabetes.

A study in 2008 showed 'An increase of three servings/day in total fruit and vegetable consumption was not associated with development of diabetes (multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio 0.99 [95% CI 0.94–1.05]), whereas the same increase in whole fruit consumption was associated with a lower hazard of diabetes (0.82 [0.72–0.94]). An increase of 1 serving/day in green leafy vegetable consumption was associated with a modestly lower hazard of diabetes (0.91 [0.84–0.98]), whereas the same change in fruit juice intake was associated with an increased hazard of diabetes (1.18 [1.10–1.26]).'

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2453647/


Is consuming Kombu healthy?

Kombu may help prevent certain cancers. A study on mice in 2005 concluded that 'Humans are exposed to various environmental carcinogens such as BaP, and kombu fibers probably contribute to longevity by removing them.'

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16392709

However intake should be limited as excessive intake can affect thyroid function. One study from 2008 concluded that 'Based on these findings that thyroid function was suppressed during ingestion of Kombu, though the effect was reversible, we recommend Japanese people avoid ingesting excessive amounts of seaweed.'


What are the health benefits of molasses?

Molasses are extremely high in minerals and antioxidants.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23190112