Fitting Into Those Skinny Genes (Part 1)

Do our genes play a role in weight?

Some coworkers and I got into a heated discussion about whether some people draw the genetic short straw when it comes to weight or if people from heavier families are more likely to pack on the pounds because they are raised on Quarter Pounders and Häagen Dazs. We went back and forth talking about friends who ended up skinny in overweight families, friends who ended up overweight in skinny families, and, more often, people who look a whole lot like the rest of their families.

All of these stories came with the added bonus of eating up a good chunk of my morning at work (shhh, don’t tell my boss and Curtis, if you’re reading this, I’m totally making this up); however, this really didn’t get us any closer to solving the nature vs. nurture debate. Sorry, we couldn’t have been of more help, field of psychology.



So, I did what the geek-girl inside of me needed to do and set up a mini experiment. There are a couple of ways to measure metabolic rate (a.k.a. how many calories we burn a day). The more accurate way is to measure a person’s basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR is measured in a dark room after 8 hours of sleep and 12 hours of fasting. Needless to say, we didn’t choose this option as it would have been a little awkward and cramped for us all to sleep in the conference room. My hair also works its way into a fauxhawk overnight and I really didn’t want my coworkers to see me like that. 

Instead, we had a company come in with equipment to measure our resting metabolic rates (RMR). RMR is way less cumbersome and only requires 4 hours of fasting (and no coffee!). The tech had each of us lie down in a reclining chair (one at a time, of course); she put a clothespin on our noses, and then has us breathe into a contraption for 15 minutes.

Afterwards, we all shared our results. With a few exceptions, the number of calories each of us burned a day at rest was as expected based on our sexes, weights, heights, and ages. Caloriesperhour.com provides a calculator that gave us our comparison RMRs. As a general rule, the taller, heavier, and younger a person, the more calories she burns at rest each day. Men burn more calories than women. #sonotfair

Based on RMR readings, it seems like our bodies try to compensate for extra weight by burning more calories. If a bigger person burns more calories, why are they bigger? And why do some people seem to be immune to weight gain?

The question of the week is: Do you think genetics play a role in weight? Click here to vote, or put your vote in the comments section below if you have rebelled against the facebook machine. Voting is open through Sunday, July 3^rd.

Case Closed on Whole Milk vs. Skim Milk

It's a hung jury.

Every Saturday morning from April through November, I visit my neighborhood farmer’s market primarily to pick up my week’s supply of Strawberry Yo-Light from Blue Ridge Dairy. The ingredients in this delightful creation are pasteurized low-fat milk, organic strawberries, nonfat dry milk, organic sugar, fruit pectin, citric acid, and live and active cultures. Sometimes the guy at the farmer’s market sells out before I get there and I have to go with the Honey Yo-Light. (Then I shake my fist towards the heavens and I ask myself, “Why does he only bring five containers of the good stuff? Why?!?!?!” If you’re reading this Mr. Blue Ridge Dairy, let’s get going on the strawberry this week, ‘kay?) Either with the strawberry yogurt or the somewhat inferior honey, I feel like my weekday breakfast of oatmeal, light yogurt, fruit, and a vat of coffee is super healthy. Well, maybe not so much the vat of coffee.

This week, I picked up some fresh mozzarella to make a caprese salad to accompany our pre-triathlon carb-loading pasta. The mozzarella was made with whole milk and it was delicious. I can’t imagine that a fat-free mozzarella would have complemented the farmer’s market fresh, local basil and tomatoes quite so well. So, it was light on the yogurt and the real thing on the cheese, and I felt pretty darn good about it, based on both my taste buds and the science.

That’s right, the case of whole vs. skim ended with a hung jury. Readers were split 50/50 on the case and scientists leaned towards low-fat dairy by a thin margin. Many studies gave skim milk an advantage in promoting a healthy weight with the caveat that people who take care of themselves gravitate towards lighter choices in all areas, including dairy. Some studies also found that skim or whole didn’t matter, especially in moderate amounts. There were too many other possible explanations for the results in the pro-whole milk studies.

So, in sorting through the e-confusion, we’re going with a mixed-method approach:

• Light yogurt wins. It’s just as creamy and good and is way lower in calories. Let’s face it—most of us don’t need extra calories. (Check the back of Fage Whole Milk Greek yogurt if you want a good shock to the system.)
• Non-fat cheese doesn’t melt (other than “cheese food”—yuck!) and is pretty unappetizing and ultra-processed. I would go with a 2% or part skim for extra-cheesy dishes like enchiladas, or a full-fat cheese as a treat, but in small quantities.
• I’m having the hardest time with straight-up milk, mostly because I don’t like the way milk tastes and I can’t imagine sitting down with a glass of it. I also don’t like the concept of drinking calories (unless said beverage begins with a “w” and ends with an “ine”). My recommendation here is to drink what tastes better in moderation if you love milk. If you don’t love the taste of milk, eat yogurt, or get your calcium from food sources like broccoli (my favorite food), leafy greens, or canned salmon (Sound gross? Try these salmon cakes with fiery salsa. You’ll be a believer!)

Just like anything in life, moderation is truly the way to go. After all, we don’t eat fat or calories; we eat food. And, Mr. Blue Ridge Dairy, please remember my strawberry yo-lite this weekend. Thank you very much.

Note: Some of you noticed that I didn’t touch organic vs. conventional milk, raw milk, or dairy alternatives (soy, almond, etc.) in this post. That’s a blog for another day.

The Case of Whole Milk vs. Skim Milk

This case is a tough one. As anticipated, there is a mess of conflicting information out there. Luckily, my husband has been out of town for work so I got to geek out reading research articles all night. (Woo hoo! Anybody want to come over?)

You will be the jury in the case. The voting is now open. Below you will find the evidence on both sides. After weighing the evidence, vote on Health-e-Confusion's facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Health-e-Confusion/193710437345611?sk=wall.

The rules for voting:

• Vote only once.
• Supply any additional information or ask questions in the comment box below.
• Vote by Tuesday, June 28th, 5 pm ET. 

Now, for what we've all been waiting for. ("We all" meaning me and the other three people in the world who are hopelessly obsessed with nutrition news.)

Whole milk’s argument:

No suspicious additives in this brand.

• In 2-3 year old children, switching from full-fat to reduced-fat milk doesn't make a difference in children’s weight (Huh, 2010). (Take that, Skim!)
• A handful of studies that followed people over several years found that people who consumed high-fat dairy lost or maintained weight, but many of these studies didn’t take into account physical activity or other factors (Rosell, 2006).
• A study that followed teens over several years found that girls who regularly drank large amounts of skim or 1% milk gained more weight than girls who drank large amounts of whole milk when everything else was the same (Berkey, 2005).
• The study that brought this whole controversy to light is interesting, but doesn’t quite show that consuming high-fat dairy causes weight loss. The researchers at Harvard found that seniors who had high levels of something called trans-palmitoleic acid in their system has lower rates of diabetes, smaller waist circumferences, and weighed less. They also found that these people consumed more high-fat dairy, ate more red meat, and did a few other things that we think of as not so healthy. Interesting results, but the article doesn’t go as far as to claim that they proved that the full-fat dairy was the reason for this; it’s just an interesting association (Mozaffarian, 2010). 
• If you look on a carton of skim milk, you might see more ingredients than just milk and the added vitamins A and D. When the fat is removed, powered milk is added for color. That’s why it’s pretty and white and not blue. I didn’t see this additive listed on my skim milk (pic above), but I know it’s on some brands.
• One study found an increase in prostate cancer among men who regularly drank skim milk or ate low-fat dairy (Park, 2007).
• Eating a diet somewhat high in fat, doesn't make you fat and eating a low-fat diet doesn't make you skinny (source: The 1990s).
• On my favorite app, Fooducate, most brands of whole milk are graded around a C based on the rating system behind the app. (You should really download this app. It makes the grocery store super fun.)

Skim came back strong with:

• In 2006, a review of a large number of studies on dairy and weight management was published. The authors found that people who consume more dairy generally weigh less, regardless of the type of dairy. However, studies don’t show that consuming dairy causes weight loss or prevented weight gain. It’s more likely that people who consume dairy tend to make overall healthy choices. There’s a correlation, but not a cause-and-effect relationship. All of these studies in this article revolved around low-fat dairy, like the defendant in this case, Skim, or did not make a distinction about type of dairy (Barba, 2006).
• In response to the hype surrounding the magical weight-loss powers of dairy products, many people thought that the type of dairy product did not matter. Researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health tested low-fat and high-fat dairy products on a group of college students. The young people who ate high-fat dairy experienced significant weight gain and their systolic blood pressure (the top number) increased. Neither weight nor blood pressure changed significantly in the low-fat dairy group (Alonso, 2009).
• There are a very large number of studies published looking at low-fat dairy and its positive effects on weight and health. There is a reason that the government recommends low-fat dairy.
• Eating a diet high in calories causes weight gain, regardless of the fat content. Whole milk provides 150 calories a cup, and skim provides a mere 90 calories. 
• The brand of skim milk pictured above received an A- from Fooducate. 

What's healthier, skim or whole? Voting will be open until Tuesday, June 28^th at 5:00 pm ET.

Where I got my info:

Alonso, A. (2009). The effect of low-fat versus whole-fat dairy product intake on blood pressure and weight in young normotensive adults. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. 22(4):336-42.

Barba, G. & Russo, P. (2006). Dairy foods, dietary calcium and obesity: a short review of the evidence. Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases. 16(6), 445-451.

Berkey, C.S., et al. (2005). Milk, dairy fat, dietary calcium, and weight gain: a longitudinal study of adolescents. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. 159(6), 543-550.

Huh, S.Y., et al. (2010). Prospective association between milk intake and adiposity in preschool-aged children. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 110(4): 563-570.

Mozaffarian, D., et al. (2010). Trans-Palmitoleic acid, metabolic risk factors, and new-onset diabetes in U.S. adults.  Annals of Internal Medicine. 153: 790-799.

Park, Y., et al. (2007). Calcium, dairy foods, and risk of incident and fatal prostate cancer: the NIH-AARP diet and health study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 166(11), 1270-1279.

Rosell, M. (2006). Association between dairy food consumption and weight change over 9 years in 19,352 perimenopausal women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 84(6), 1481-1488.

Greetings and Salutations

Recently, one of my facebook friends posted an article about the evils of skim milk. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this article depicted whole milk as infinitely superior to skim. It described skim milk's terrible, fat-causing effects, and its unappealing blue hue if suspicious chemicals aren't added during pasteurization. (I knew it! All those overweight Americans with their glasses of skim milk and their oddly blue teeth! So glad that mystery is solved.) Of course, this article totally contradicted all we've been taught about the supremacy of low-fat dairy. So, what to do? Believe the article and shun all of those government recommendations?* Or write it off as another bogus health trend (Snackwells, anyone)?

Seriously??!?! Either of those options would be way too easy for this girl who is always looking for a project. I had to research the hell out of it.

Well, I actually did need to figure out the answer. I went to school for this. This is what I do for a living. I even teach college students about this. Yes, I get paid to talk about nutrition and I didn't know the answer.

I thought that if I felt confused and frustrated by this article and the constant swirl of contradictory info out there, how does the average consumer get by? And that's the story of the birth of this blog.

Still wondering about battle skim vs. whole? You'll just have to tune in next time.

*Not always a bad idea.