Is soy a complete protein?

Soy is the plant that is closest in amino acids to animal protein. Methionine is the only limiting amino acid, otherwise, soy contains all the essential amino acids needed to meet the body's protein requirements.

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) and other medical communities, as well as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), recognize soy protein as equal in quality to animal protein. And unlike many sources of animal protein, soy is low in saturated fat.

Reference
Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation, FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 51. FAO, Rome, Italy, 1991.

Soynutrition.com

Recent update on Vitamin D intake

Vitamin D intake

The U.S. government panel in charge of setting recommended daily intake levels for vitamins recently announced an increase in vitamin D recommendations for all populations in North America. Specifically, the Institute of Medicine report advocated a doubling of vitamin D intake for infants (to 400 IU), a tripling of vitamin D intake for those between ages 1 and 50 (to 600 IU), a 50 percent hike in those ages 51 to 70 (to 600 IU), and a 33 percent increase for those older than 71 years old (to 800 IU).

Several major news outlets, however, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, confused the issue by claiming that the report actually questioned the necessity for extra vitamin D. (For more on the debate, visit NPI Center.)

Here, Dr. Brad Jacobs, MD and Chair of Pharmaca's Integrative Health Advisory Board, weighs in on the sunshine vitamin. Dr. Jacobs, is the former founding medical director and Endowed Chair of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine Clinical Programs at University of California - San Francisco. People who take regular doses of vitamin D have a significantly lower risk of dying early than those who do not use supplements.

Previous studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of cancer, heart disease or diabetes, but the new findings indicate that the vitamin provides an even bigger bang, researchers wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The reasons why are not well understood but the researchers suggested the vitamin might block cancer cells from spreading or boost the immune system. The results were based on a meta-analysis that reviewed 18 separate trials involving nearly 60,000 patients. The doses averaged 528 international units, within the range of most commercially available vitamin D supplements. Those who took vitamin D supplements had a 7 percent lower risk of death. The specific causes of death were not yet evaluated.

We do know that Vitamin D is important for both healthy teeth and bones as well as nerve cells such as in the brain and seems to act as an important regulator of the immune system. It is found naturally in only a few foods like oily fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines) and fish liver oil. It is often added to milk, cereals and orange juice.

But sunlight is the main source for most people; the ultraviolet rays stimulate the skin to produce vitamin D. Many Americans, however, don't have enough vitamin D in their bodies. Many studies have looked at the relationship between cancer and vitamin D, but they have not been able to pinpoint exactly how vitamin D might influence cancer development, how much of an impact it might have or how much vitamin D would be necessary to have any effect.

Two recent studies suggest getting enough vitamin D could help prevent colon, breast and ovarian cancers. The researchers, from the University of California -San Diego, say taking supplements to get more vitamin D might be an easy, inexpensive way to reduce the number of cancer cases in the US. But other experts say it's too soon to recommend taking vitamin D supplements for cancer prevention.

Harvard Medical School researchers reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine that high intakes of vitamin D and calcium cut the risk of breast cancer by nearly one-third in pre-menopausal women, but not women past menopause.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine's new levels aren't Recommended Dietary Allowances, or RDAs, because the institute doesn't think there's enough evidence to establish an RDA for vitamin D.

Discuss vitamin D intake with your doctor. And be aware that the Institute of Medicine has declared that 4,000 IUs is the upper tolerable, or safe level, for most people. For babies up to 1 year old, the limit is 1,500 IUs.

Take action to protect yourself:
1. Talk to your health provider about the latest research on vitamin D and ask for a blood test to see if you are deficient (<15>30 ng/ml.
2. Find good sources of vitamin D in your diet, e.g. oily fish and fortified foods (milk, orange juice, cereals).
3. Get 10-15 minutes of sun exposure on your face/arms or back 2 days per week, then apply sunscreen to reduce the risk of skin cancer.
4. Take 1,000-2,000 IU of vitamin D as a dietary supplement on days that you do not get enough intake from the sun and food. Check the label on your multi-vitamin, since most don't have adequate amounts.

reprinted from Pharmaca.com

Don't toss the yolks and where to buy the best eggs!

Dietary nutrition and egg yolks

Eggs were once considered a food to be avoided because of their high cholesterol content. Many people avoided eggs completely or threw away the yolks to only eat the egg whites.

Although egg yolks do contain a high amount of cholesterol (about 200 mg per egg), recent research studies show that egg yolks do not directly affect our blood cholesterol as much as initially thought. Most of the cholesterol in your body is made by the liver and the diet appears to not have a big impact on blood-fat levels.

Don't waste the yolks. There are a lot of really healthy nutrients in them.

Egg Yolk Nutritional Value

Protein

1 egg yolk can supply approximately 2.7 gm of protein. Egg yolk nutrition value is certainly high.

Calcium
Egg yolk is also a good source of calcium. Including calcium in the diet is essential to keep the bones healthy and strong. If you consume 1 egg yolk in your breakfast, your body gains around 22 mg of calcium, which is about 20% of your Recommended Daily Allowance.

Amino Acids
Raw egg yolk is also an excellent source of amino acids like leutin and xeaxanthin that can help to prevent development of different types of cancer.

Fats and Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids

One raw egg yolk contains 4.51 g of fat. The unhealthy fat content is found to be 1.624 g but the good news is that it also has 'good' fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) in good amounts. So, out of the total fat content (4.51 mg), the good fats contained in raw egg yolk is around 2.75 g. Another important constituent of raw egg yolk are healthy fats such as omega 3 essential fatty acids (38.8 mg) that ensure a healthy heart and reduce inflammation in the body.

Potassium
Potassium deficiency that puts a person in the risk zone of high blood pressure, can certainly be avoided by having egg yolk at meal times. 1 fresh raw egg yolk contains approximately 19 mg of potassium.

Selenium
Selenium that behaves like an antioxidant, is also present in egg yolk. Increased level of selenium in the blood reduces the probability of suffering from dreaded diseases like skin and prostrate cancer. Studies show that selenium content in raw egg yolk is approximately 9.5 mcg.

Iron
Egg yolks are also fortified with iron that can help to prevent iron deficiency anemia in children and adults. To increase blood iron levels that provide a wide range of health benefits, egg yolk is definitely a good choice.

Egg Yolk Calories
How much calories does 1 raw egg yolk contain? A raw egg yolk supplies around 55-60 calories. Remember our bodies NEED some energy dense calories so don't throw away the yolk to save calories and fat. Skip fast food to save fat calories!

Vitamins
Egg yolks contain vitamin B12 and vitamin E in significant amounts.

What are the best eggs and where do you buy them?

A happy hen lays the highest quality and best tasting eggs. Lab research has documented differences in nutritional value in Certified Humane Cage Free hens compared to inhumanely raised battery caged hens. Choose eggs laid by humanely raised and handled hens both for their improved nutritional value and the ethical treatment of hens. Labeling an egg carton cage-free DOES NOT guarantee the ethical treatment of hens.

Look for the Certified Humane Raised and Handled label. NestFresh and Vital fresh are the ONLY egg companies in Boulder that pass the Certified Humane criteria.

Outside of Boulder please visit certifiedhumane.org to find a store near you!

King Soopers, Whole Foods, Vitamin Cottage, and Lucky's Market sell:

• 
  

• Vital Farms Cage Free Eggs

• vitalfarms.com

NestFresh Cage Free Eggs

nestfresh.org

Ask Andie?

Hello Nutrition Coach Andie blog followers,

I have a lot of great nutrition articles and topics that I'm in the process of writing for the blog. So stay tuned! So much to write about such little time.

In the meantime, please send your nutrition related questions to coachandie@gmail.com and I will select a question weekly and post my answers on the blog!

Eat smart,
Andie

Welcome to my new blog!

Hello food enthusiasts,

Welcome to my new nutrition blog! The goal of this blog is to provide you with the most up to date nutrition and food information. Plus fun food recipes

I am in my final year of a Registered Dietitian program at Metro State College of Denver and very excited to be specializing in Human Nutrition and Dietetics.

Please stay tuned to my One a Day Nutrition Blog!

In Health,
Andie Bernard