The US leads
the world in
introducing lowsodium
products—
with food
giant Kraft recently
announcing it
will cut the sodium
in all its North
American products
by an average
10% over the next
few years. But
low-sodium foods
aren’t high on
consumers’ shopping
lists, according
to a new
report from
Packaged Facts
market research.
From 2005 to
2009, US companies
launched 762
food products or
non-alcoholic beverages with a reducedor
no-sodium claim—five times the
number of the next-highest nation,
Japan.…
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When dieting to lose weight — like 1 in 3 Americans — you're not just cutting out calories; you're also omitting vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that tag along with those calories. To test these nutritional effects of popular weight-loss plans, Stanford University scientists randomly assigned 300 overweight or obese women to one of four diets: Atkins, Zone, LEARN and Ornish. By repeatedly quizzing the women on what they'd actually eaten, researchers were able to calculate their vitamin and nutrient intake from food. While cutting an average of 500 daily calories, overall the women also reduced their intake of 12 of the 17 nutrients measured, putting some at risk of deficiency. The reduction in dietary vitamin E was most pronounced, with more than 65% of the dieters not getting enough. One surprise: Women on the Zone diet actually boosted their intake of vitamins A, E, C and K, while seeing no dip in other nutrients. Researchers said that finding demonstrated the benefits of a regimen, like the Zone plan, that encourages moderate but not extreme carbohydrate reductions — cutting back on added sugars and refined grains while keeping beans, greens and other veggies. — American Journal of Clinical Nutrition…
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