Getty CreativeThe smell of freshly baked apple cinnamon raisin bagels (whole grain, of course) and a cup of hot tea or cocoa in the morning takes me back to my grandmother’s kitchen. But would it surprise you that there was some truth to my grandma’s favorite mantra,“an apple a day keeps the doctor away?”
My grandmother lived to be 95 years old and oversaw a 75-plus-acre farm until right before she passed in 2013. I don’t remember a single visit where there weren’t fresh fruits and vegetables from her garden stacked on the counter, and apples from my family’s orchard. She also always had a pitcher of freshly brewed iced tea (remember that as you read this article). She drank five cups of unsweetened iced tea every day for as long as I can remember.
Cacao Bliss – Chocolate That’s Actually Healthy
Looking for a chocolatey and healthy way to feed your cravings? Earth Echo Cacao Bliss provides an alternative option for making chocolate-flavored drinks, shakes, smoothies, desserts and much more.
As it turns out, my grandmother was on the right track for long-term health and vitality. She had low blood pressure, normal cholesterol levels and no issues with her blood sugar levels. So, it wasn’t surprising to me that after over a year of reviewing hundreds of millions of dollars and decades of research, our group of internationally-recognized scientists within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics published the first intake recommendation around a non-essential set of nutrients called flavan-3-ols.
The intake recommendation—published in Advances in Nutrition—recommends that 400 to 600 milligrams daily of flavan-3-ols may reduce risk associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
So, what exactly does that mean? Below, I explain what flavan-3-ols are—and why this new recommendation is noteworthy.
What Are Dietary Bioactive Compounds?
Food scientists and researchers (like me) are learning more and more about the benefits of specific plant compounds called bioactives. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines bioactives as “constituents in foods or dietary supplements other than those needed to meet basic human nutritional needs, which are responsible for changes in health status.”
While vitamins and minerals like iron, calcium and vitamin D are essential for the functioning—and even survival—of humans, bioactive compounds (most derived from plants) are not necessarily required to survive, but may have significant health benefits. Examples of bioactive compounds include carotenoids (beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein), flavonoids (flavan-3-ols, anthocyanins, isoflavones), cannabinoids (CBD), phytosterols, glucosinolates and thousands more.
For example, we know that higher intakes of certain foods that contain bioactive compounds can help prevent the onset of most chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, dementia and others. After decades of debate, the scientific community has finally decided that the evidence is sufficient to move forward with an official intake recommendation for what is arguably the most studied group of dietary bioactive compounds: The flavan-3-ols.
What Are Flavan-3-ols?
Flavan-3-ols are a sub-group of flavonoids, or healthy plant compounds found in many foods and drinks, such as tea, apples, berries, cocoa and my personal favorite, red wine. Decades of intake recommendations have taught most people that it’s important to consume enough calcium, iron, vitamin C, potassium and other essential nutrients that our bodies need for preventing deficiencies and promoting long-term vitality.
The intake recommendation for flavan-3-ols really isn’t much different, aside from their non-essential nature—meaning you won’t develop scurvy and die from not consuming them, as is the case with vitamin C and other essential nutrients.
Flavan-3-ols aren’t just your typical “antioxidants,” as marketed by many food companies. For decades, research has accumulated consistently demonstrating their ability to help reduce the risk of diet-related conditions such as heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes through a variety of mechanisms. They exert protective effects by helping to improve blood pressure, blood flow, cholesterol levels and even blood sugar, among others. Flavan-3-ols have even been shown to help protect the body’s cells from damage as we age.
How to Incorporate Flavan-3-ols Into Your Diet
While many foods contain flavan-3-ols, freshly brewed, unsweetened tea contains the highest amount. You can get flavan-3-ols from other foods that also contain many other nutrients that are important for health, including:
So, when it comes to flavanol-3s, what do us dorky scientists recommend?
“Among the general adult population, we suggest increasing consumption of nutrient-dense foods rich in flavan-3-ols and low (or absent) in added sugars, including but not limited to tea, apples, berries and cocoa,” reads our new dietary recommendation, published in Advances in Nutrition. “Based on moderate quality research, consumption of 400 to 600 milligrams daily of flavan-3-ols may reduce risk associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”
Additionally, we found that, “increasing consumption of dietary flavan-3-ols may help improve blood pressure, cholesterol levels and blood sugar. A continuously growing body of research demonstrates higher consumption may reduce the risk of certain cardiometabolic disease states and related mortality.”
An important caveat: “This is a food-based guideline and not necessarily an endorsement for supplements (e.g., green tea or cocoa extract) as these may cause gastrointestinal irritation and/or liver injury, particularly when taken on an empty stomach.” If you choose to supplement, make sure to stay within the 400 and 600 milligrams recommendation and take them with food.
While I’m partial as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Dietary Supplements and a longstanding researcher in the field of dietary supplements, my way of incorporating plenty of flavan-3-ols into my daily diet is through modest supplementation with healthy foods. There are lots of flavan-3-ol supplements out there, but with varying quality and safety.
I take CocoaVia because it’s the only supplement to my knowledge with a very large clinical trial of over 21,000 adults that establishes safety and demonstrates preventative effects on cardiovascular disease[1].
Oh, and like my grandma, I drink a freshly brewed cup of unsweet tea just about every day. I guess the flavan-3-ol-rich apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.
By:
.
Critics:
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide nutritional advice for Americans who are healthy or who are at risk for chronic disease but do not currently have chronic disease.[1][2] The Guidelines are published every five years by the US Department of Agriculture, together with the US Department of Health and Human Services. Notably, the most recent ninth edition for 2020–25 includes dietary guidelines for children from birth to 23 months.[3]
In addition to the Dietary Guidelines per se, there additional tools for assessing diet and nutrition, including the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) which can be used to assess the quality of a given selection of foods in the context of the Dietary Guidelines.[4] Also provided are additional explanations regarding customization of the Guidelines to individual eating preferences,[4] application of the Guidelines during pregnancy and infancy,[5] the USDA Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review,[6] information about the Nutrition Communicators Network and the MyPlate initiative,[7] information from the National Academies about redesigning the process by which the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are created,[8] and information about dietary guidelines from other nations.
The nominal purpose of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans is to help health professionals and policymakers to advise Americans about healthy choices for their diet; many critics have suggested that the chief purpose is instead to support the commercial interests of agribusiness and food manufacturers.
For the expert panel that developed the new guidelines, 19 of the twenty panel members had conflicts of interest due to ties to the food or pharmaceutical industries with research funding or membership of an advisory/executive board accounting for more than 60% of the documented conflicts of interest. Multiple panel members had connections with one or more of Kellogg, Abbott, Kraft, Mead Johnson, General Mills, Dannon, and the International Life Sciences.[13][14] In formulating the Dietary Guidelines for 2020–2025, the US Federal government rejected the advice of the expert scientific panel that the guidelines set new low targets for consumption of sugar and alcoholic beverages.
The current edition (2020-2025) gives four overarching guidelines: Follow a healthy dietary pattern throughout life; use nutrient-dense food and beverages to reflect personal preferences, cultural traditions, and budgetary considerations; meet dietary food group needs with nutrient-dense foods and beverages within calorie limits; and limit foods and beverages with higher added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium, and limit alcoholic beverages.
In support of these four guidelines, the key recommendations are: avoid added sugars for infants and toddlers and limit added sugars to less than 10% of calories for those 2 years old and older; limit saturated fat to less than 10% of calories starting at age 2; limit sodium to less than 2,300 mg per day (or even less if younger than 14) and limit alcoholic beverages (if consumed) to 2 drinks or less daily for men and 1 drink or less a daily for women. In 2022, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued a new “mid-course correction” report evaluating how well the USDA has followed their 2016 recommendations. Six of the seven recommendations made by the NASEM in 2017 have not been fully adopted; one recommendation could not be assessed by the NASEM.
Since the introduction of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans in 1980, many Americans have followed the recommendations in these guidelines, markedly increasing their consumption of carbohydrates. Since 1980, there has been a marked increase in obesity and diabetes mellitus type 2 in the American population.
.
Related contents:
- “Purpose of the Dietary Guidelines | Dietary Guidelines for Americans”.
- Robinson, Daniel T. (23 March 2021). “Big steps for advising the smallest bites: Dietary Guidelines for Americans address feeding infants and toddlers”. Journal of Perinatology. 41 (5): 926–927. doi:10.1038/s41372-021-01027-4. PMID 33758397. S2CID 232315152.
- https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/DGA_2020-2025_CustomizingTheDietaryGuidelines.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- “Pregnancy and Birth to 24 Months | Food and Nutrition Service”.
- Teicholz, Nina (23 September 2015). “The scientific report guiding the US dietary guidelines: is it scientific?”. BMJ. 351: h4962. doi:10.1136/bmj.h4962. PMID 26400973. S2CID 42013152.
- Locke, Amy B., and Rachel Goossen. “Translating the 2020-2025 US Dietary Guidelines into Clinical Practice.” American family physician 104, no. 5 (2021): 448-449.
- Laura Reiley (2019-09-09) [2019-08-30]. “How the Trump administration limited the scope of the USDA’s 2020 dietary guidelines”. The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
- Mialon, Mélissa; Serodio, Paulo; Crosbie, Eric; Teicholz, Nina; Naik, Ashka; Carriedo, Angela (n.d.). “Conflicts of interest for members of the U.S. 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee”. Public Health Nutrition: 1–28. doi:10.1017/S1368980022000672. PMID 35311630. S2CID 247583483.
- Jacobs, Andrew (17 June 2020). “Scientific Panel on New Dietary Guidelines Draws Criticism from Health Advocates”. The New York Times.
- Rabin, Roni Caryn (29 December 2020). “U.S. Diet Guidelines Sidestep Scientific Advice to Cut Sugar and Alcohol”. The New York Times.
- “Nutrition Coalition Submits Final Public Comments to USDA re: 2020 Expert Report”.
- https://health.gov/our-work/nutrition-physical-activity/dietary-guidelines/current-dietary-guidelines
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering (19 May 2022). Rasmussen, Kathleen M; Yaktine, Ann L; Delaney, Katherine M (eds.). Evaluating the Process to Develop the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025: A Midcourse Report. doi:10.17226/26406. ISBN 978-0-309-27408-1. S2CID 245521456.
- “Widespread Criticism”.
- “nutrition : USDA ARS”. Ars.usda.gov.
- Arwater, W (1894). “Farmer’s Bulletin” (PDF). Ars.usda.gov.
- “Dietary goals for the United States”. 1977. pp. xli, 83 : ill., 24 cm.–Other US.
- “History of the Dietary Guidelines | Dietary Guidelines for Americans”.
- Oppenheimer, Gerald M.; Benrubi, I. Daniel (January 2014). “McGovern’s Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs Versus the: Meat Industry on the Diet-Heart Question (1976–1977)”. American Journal of Public Health. 104 (1): 59–69. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2013.301464. PMC 3910043. PMID 24228658.
- “Dietary Guidelines for Americans – History”. Health.gov. Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
- Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Dietary guidelines for Americans, 1980 TO 2000. http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/1980_2000_chart.pdf.
- “The Dietary Guidelines for Americans: What It Is, What It Is Not – 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines – health.gov”. health.gov.
- https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2021-03/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans-2020-2025.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2020-12/DGA_2020-2025_ExecutiveSummary_English.pdf[bare URL PDF]
- “Academy Supports Funding for the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans”. eatrightpro.org. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 11 May 2018. Archived from the original on 4 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- “US Asst. Secretary of Health Writes 12-page Letter to the Nutrition Coalition: See Letter and Response — the Nutrition Coalition”. Archived from the original on 2021-07-17. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
- Alvim Leite, Maria; Aksnes, Brooke; Garduno-Diaz, Sara Diana (2017). “The normalization of conflicts of interest in the USA and their potential impact on public health nutrition”. World Nutrition. 8 (1): 123–127. doi:10.26596/wn.201781123-127.
- Teicholz, Nina (2015). “The scientific report guiding the US dietary guidelines: is it scientific?”. BMJ. 351: h4962. doi:10.1136/bmj.h4962. PMID 26400973.
- Nissen, Steven E (2016). “US dietary guidelines: an evidence-free zone”. Annals of Internal Medicine. 164 (8): 558–559. doi:10.7326/m16-0035. PMID 26783992. S2CID 207538573.
- Harcombe, Zoë (2017). “Dietary fat guidelines have no evidence base: where next for public health nutritional advice?”. Br J Sports Med. 51 (10): 769–774. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096734. PMID 27797736.
- Hite, Adele H (2017). “The 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Irrelevant or Alarming? or Both?”. Journal of Evolution and Health. 2 (1): 14. doi:10.15310/2334-3591.1046. S2CID 79015057.
- Feinman, Richard D.; Pogozelski, Wendy K.; Astrup, Arne; Bernstein, Richard K.; Fine, Eugene J.; Westman, Eric C.; Accurso, Anthony; et al. (2015). “Dietary carbohydrate restriction as the first approach in diabetes management: critical review and evidence base”. Nutrition. 31 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1016/j.nut.2014.06.011. PMID 25287761.
- Marketing App to Buy:
.