Nutrition and Breastfeeding Articles

Zinc is an important mineral involved in making new cells and enzymes to help your body fight infection. It also helps use to digest nutrients such as carbohydrates, fat, and protein in food and is vital in wound healing. Does supplementation help treat or prevent a cold? Which foods should you eat?
 
Good food sources of zinc are:
-      Meat
-      Shellfish
-      Dairy foods such as cheese
-      Bread – fortified with zinc
-      Cereal products – with added zinc
-      Nuts, seeds
 
Studies show that zinc may help to prevent or reduce the length of a cold (not COVID specific), though more research is needed. If you are vegetarian or vegan, you may need a supplementation as zinc is found mostly in animal products. The fibre in plant foods, such as legumes, can reduce the absorption of zinc. Supplements are not needed unless your diet is low in the above foods, or you are diagnosed with a zinc deficiency. Too much zinc can affect the absorption of other minerals, such as iron and copper, so it’s important to seek professional advice before supplementing. Include a good range of lean meats, fish, low fat dairy, wholegrains, nuts & seeds to meet your needs.

References:
Penny M, E: Zinc Supplementation in Public Health. Ann Nutr Metab 2013;62(suppl 1):31-42. doi: 10.1159/000348263
 
Wolfgang Maret, Harold H. Sandstead, Zinc requirements and the risks and benefits of zinc supplementation, Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, Volume 20, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 3-18 ,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2006.01.006.
 
Office of Dietary Supplements. Zinc Factsheet for Health Professionals [online]. National Institutes of Health. 2021. Available at: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Zinc-HealthProfessional/ [accessed 26 June 2022].
 
TH. Chan. The Nutrition Source. 2020. Zinc [online]. Harvard, School of Public Health. Available at h https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/zinc/ [accessed 26 June 2022].
By Emma McShane, Dietitian, (Edited by Nicole Bando (APD, IBCLC),) July 2022

By Nicole Bando, Dietitian & Lactation Consultant, November 2019

I’ll start by saying that I’m all for encouraging people to eat healthier food. There is absolute scientific consensus that we cannot sustain a future population of 10 billion people with our current diet and food production methods. An urgent, systematic review of how we produce, transport and eat food is required. Game Changers rightly touched on the global impact of current food production. However, should you obtain nutrition information from a Netflix documentary? I’d say no, and here is why:

Let’s talk ‘plant-based’:
The term ‘plant-based diet’ is new and what does it mean? Game Changers did not make this clear. If I took my dietitian hat off, the main message I received was to eat lots of vegetables and maybe some beans, absolutely no meat and I’d be good to go. But the reality is far more complex than that. It is true that a vegetarian or vegan diet confers many health benefits (lower risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, lower body weight). However, this diet must be carefully planned or serious deficiencies from lack of key nutrients such as iron, Vitamin B12, zinc, iodine and omega-3 fatty acids can develop.

The long-term consequences of deficiencies include anaemia, osteoporosis (brittle bones), loss of nerve function, depression and long-term cognitive impairment. At vital times such as pregnancy and breastfeeding, inadequate omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish, chia, flaxseeds, walnuts, microalgae) can impact a baby’s brain development. Serious stuff, no?

Athletes have far greater requirements than the general population, and risk inadequate iron, energy and protein intakes. This impairs recovery, increase injury risk and has long-term health consequences. The female athlete is risk of consequences including irregular periods, infertility, osteoporosis and a host of cardiovascular and mental health side effects.

None of these risks were mentioned, which is why it’s best to seek advice from a trained health professional, rather than Hollywood. I will give kudos to Game Changers for using some pretty good party tricks, such as finding the strongest man in the world who only eats plants to move some heavy stuff, measuring nocturnal erections of college students and centrifuging blood after a meat vs vegetarian meal. All very convincing, but a little lacking in scientific depth.

It's a little extreme to compare the meat industry to the tobacco industry. Whilst the science does tell us that a diet heavy in processed meats can increase the risk of certain cancers, meat isn’t out to get us. I’m confused, aren’t we the ones hunting down the animals and putting them on our plates? My issue is the demonising of one food. Our health crisis is related to myriad factors, including added sugars, salt, overall saturated fat, caloric intake and lack of enough of the good stuff, mainly fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Even that is oversimplifying matters.

The bottom line?

• If this documentary made you consider changing your diet to eat more plant foods and reduce meat, processed foods and sugar, awesome.
• The Eat Lancet Commission gathered 37 of the world’s leading scientists produced a global document that addresses the environmental and health crisis we face as a planet, with food as the driver for change.
• It is ok to keep some meat on your plate, try to reduce total to 300g per week. Include dairy, eggs and fish.
• Base your diet on plant-based foods: nuts, legumes, fruit, vegetables, whole grains
• Include good fats
• Reduce added sugars
• And please, seek advice from a university qualified nutrition professional if you are considering a vegetarian or vegan diet, especially if you are in a vulnerable category (pregnancy, breastfeeding, child, adolescent or athlete).
• For some hard-hitting evidence-based information, explore this: www.eatforum.org
• And a documentary that is right on the money? 2040 by Damon Gameau: www.whatsyour2040.com