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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1995)
Advice can be manageable By Doug Kouma Senior Editor In the beginning, you buttered your toast, and it was good. But you switched to margarine, because “they” told you to. Then came lower-fat margarine, followed by fat free. “They” told you to switch again and again, because fat was bad. Before long, word came of trans fatty acids in fat-free foods, which some said were worse than saturated fat, itself. And “they” said, “Have you con sidered switching to butter?” These days, health and nutrition advice seems to come from all comers. With the amount of nutrition informa tion doubling every 18 months, sifting through the studies can be a difficult task, said Karen Miller, the registered dietician and nutrition educator at Campus Recreation and the Universi ty Health Center. “The popular press likes to pick up on the things that are the most sensa tional, and they aren’t always very discriminating on the research it came from,” she said. Miller said looking behind the re sults of any given study was important. “Usually when I see a big study, and it doesn’t seem logical, I try to go back and find the original research.” Charlotte Burke, a dietician at the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, said looking atthe study’s parameters was important. “There is a lot of information com ing out,” she said, “and the consumer needs to be educated, at least to a degree, so that when they’re reading an article they can use some fairly sound judgement to determine what’s appropriate and not appropriate.” Burke said some things to look for included who did the study, how large it was and where the information came from. Miller said the size of the study was especially important. “Did they do this study on two people or 3,000 people? It makes a huge difference,” she said. Both dieticians said the best way to maneuver through the sea of new health information was to take each study with a grain of salt and stick to the basics when it comes to nutrition. Miller said, “The basic information hasn’t changed.” A basic healthy diet, she said, con sists of a variety of foods — including at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day — and total fat calo ries of less than 30 percent To stay within that limit on fat, Miller said, women generally can eat Jim Mehsling/DN 40 to 45 grams of fat per day, and men can go as high as 70. And, Miller said, eating healthy doesn’t always mean doing away with high-fat, high-calorie foods. “If you’re counting fat grams, and you want to go to McDonald’s and have a Big Mac, well, you can have that. But then you know that the rest of the day you have to be careful what you are taking in. You’ve got a fat budget.” Burke said the amount of fat grams could generally be kept track of by reading nutrition labels on food. “The whole business of nutrition really gets down to eating a variety of foods in moderation and maintaining an appropriate weight,” she said. Miller said handouts dealing with a variety of topics were available at the health center. “There is a lot of information out there,” Miller said. “My best advice is to find the original research and see if it makes sense, or find a professional that can help you sort through it.” Debate over vitamin supplements leaves students ivith questions By Erin Schulte Staff Reporter o take or not to take? That is the question. Not enough vitamins can re sult in low energy levels, poor night vision and bleeding gums. But getting too many vitamins can be toxic or result in symptoms similar to those of vitamin deficiency, plus discoloration of the skin. Advice on whether to take vitamin supplements varies widely, depending on whom you ask. Some insist vita mins are unnecessary; others recom mend megadoses to insure proper nu trition. Relying on foods for the body’s vitamin needs is the best way to stay healthy, said Claudia Pankoke, a reg istered dietitian with the Lincoln Lancaster County Department of Health. * “I don’t recommend that peopie buy supplements. But people like to— it makes them feel better, like they’re doing something extra fortheir health,” Pankoke said. “If they insist on a vita min, I would recommend an inexpen sive, generic multivitamin. They’re just as good as the expensive vita mins.” Karen Miller, the registered dieti cian and nutrition educator at Campus Recreation and the University Health Center, said it would be a good idea for most college students to take a multi “In theory, if you eat a well-balanced diet, you don't need vitamins. But how many college students do you know who eat right?" KAREN MILLER Dietician, University Health Center vitamin supplement. “In theory, if you eat a well-bal anced diet, you don’t need vitamins,” Miller said. “But how many college students do you know who eat right?” She said it was hard to overdose on water-soluble vitamins, which are re leased from the body in sweat and urine, but fat soluble vitamins are more likely to be toxic. A debate has been waging the last few years about whether “megavitamins,” which may offer eight to ten times the daily recommended dosage, are helpful or harmful. Miller recommended supplements that do not exceed 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance. However, Debbie Wyrrick, man ager of the Golden Carrot at 70th and O streets, saidmegavitamins have high er dosages because FDA levels may be set too low. “It’s a raging debate among scien tists. FDA levels were set many years ago for people that were considered i basically healthy, not taking into ac count differing needs,” Wyrrick said. “No manufacturer makes vitamins with unsafe levels of vitamins.” While some supplements, such as multivitamins and calcium, are con sistently purchased, others have gained popularity just recently. Chromium piccolinate, a trace min eral that regulates blood sugar, has been a big seller among dieters. Wyrrick said college-aged women had come in requesting the supplement, which costs about $5 for 100 pills. Chromium is supposed to help the body retain lean muscle tissue while dieting. It could also help curb sugar cravings, Wyrrick said. Nearly 80 percent of the popula tion has deficiencies in chromium, Wyrrick said, so the supplement is not just for dieters. Chromium is found in whole grains and nuts, and most peo ple eat white bread and flour pasta that do not contain the mineral. 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