Too much sugar in whole foods. At least in the US. This is the alarm raised by a study by Harvard Medical School in Boston published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, which puts the spotlight on the current rules for the classification of foods made with whole flours. They are not consistent, in fact, they could be misleading, the researchers say. Let's see why.
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Too much sugar in whole foods. At least in the US. This is the alarm raised by a study by Harvard Medical School in Boston published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, which puts the spotlight on current rules for classification of foods made with wholemeal flours. They are not consistent, in fact, they could be misleading, the researchers say. Let's see why.
First of all, the team led by Rebecca Mozaffarian, project manager of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences identified a total of 545 grain products in eight categories: bread, bagels, English muffins, cereals, crackers, cereal bars, cereal bars and chips. They then analyzed the nutritional content, the ingredient lists and the presence, or absence, of timbro Whole Grain, one of the most popular standards that identifies products containing at least 8 grams of whole grains per serving.
This is how they discovered how the certified products had higher levels of fiber and a low trans fat content, but also much more sugar and calories than non-branded products. So they are more bad for your health and can contribute to the risk of obesity. “Our findings will help deliver national debates about product labeling, school lunch programs and one guide for consumers and organizations in theirs attempts to select integral productsi, ”Senior author Steven Gortmaker, professor of the practice of sociology of health, said in a statement.
The researchers, in fact, hope to solicit, thanks to their research, the adoption of a consistent standard, based on standard evidence for whole food labeling that help consumers and organizations make healthy choices. The road, therefore, is still long, given that this is the first study that empirically evaluates the healthiness of whole foods.
“Given the significant prevalence of refined grains, starches and sugars in modern dietsidentifying a unified criterion for identifying superior quality carbohydrates is a key public health priority, ”concludes first author, Rebecca Mozaffarian.
But will it just be a made in USA problem?
Roberta Ragni
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