Thinking Nutrition

Latest Episodes:

Collagen supplements: legit or Insta influencer fairy dust? Feb 23, 2021

Show notes

Collagen supplements are big business. And is it any wonder when they are touted as the elixir for youthful and glowing skin. With plenty of A-list celebrities singing its praises, it’s no wonder collagen is having a moment in the spotlight. And a look at Google Trends shows search interest in collagen supplements really took off at the start of 2019 and it is showing no signs of slowing down. Reading the shopping list of health claims made about collagen - from turning back the clock on your skin, treating joint pain and even ‘healing your gut’ - you should rightly raise your sceptical flag. Yet when you look at the scientific evidence, there could just be some validity to some of these claims. That’s what I’ll be exploring in this podcast.

Links referred to in the podcast

Clinical trial of collagen supplementation and skin health in women https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/351376
Systematic review of the effect of collagen supplementation on skin https://jddonline.com/articles/dermatology/S1545961619P0009X
Meta-analysis of the effect of collagen supplementation on osteoarthritis https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00264-018-4211-5

Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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Alkaline diets: the antithesis of how human physiology works Feb 16, 2021

Show notes

What if I told you that all it takes to lose weight, boost energy and prevent diseases like arthritis, osteoporosis and cancer was to eat the right foods to keep the pH of your body in the alkaline zone? Well, if I were prepared to throw out every bit of scientific knowledge that I have of how the human body works to buffer against acidity and alkalinity then sure, I could tell you that. But I’m not. Instead, in today’s podcast, I’m going to investigate those wild health claims made by the celebrity-endorsed alkaline diet and explain why it is pseudoscience squared.
Episode transcript
To access the full episode transcript, go to the following link and select the individual podcast episode and then click on the ‘Transcript’ tab https://thinkingnutrition.buzzsprout.com

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Twitter: CroweTim

Coeliac disease, gluten sensitivity and the rise of gluten-free diets Feb 09, 2021

Show notes

Coeliac disease affects less than 1 percent of the population, yet, despite its relative rarity, there has been an explosion in the adoption of a gluten-free lifestyle. It is becoming more and more common for people to report having problematic reactions to foods containing gluten. Termed non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, this is a condition still in search of a defined disease despite having a large degree of overlap in symptoms with coeliac disease. In this podcast, I’ll explore the connection between coeliac disease, gluten sensitivity and gluten.

Links referred to in the podcast

Clinical trial of gluten challenge in people with gluten sensitivity https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apt.13372
Nutritional quality of gluten vs gluten-free foods https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26119206

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The rise of meatless meat Feb 02, 2021

Show notes

There was a time when plant-based meat substitutes were the exclusive domain of vegetarians and vegans. Now the food science technology behind these plant-based foods has come of age with products designed to closely look, feel, taste and even bleed like the real thing. The rise of meatless meats is all about meeting the demands of traditional meat-eaters who want to cut down on meat and are looking for plant-based protein alternatives. But are these foods really a healthier alternative to their animal counterparts? That’s what I’ll explore in this podcast.

Links referred to in the podcast

Beyond Meat environmental impact https://css.umich.edu/publications/research-publications/beyond-meats-beyond-burger-life-cycle-assessment-detailed
CHOICE survey of plant-based meats www.choice.com.au/food-and-drink/meat-fish-and-eggs/meat-substitutes/buying-guides/plant-based-meat

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How do the plant-based milks stack up? Jan 26, 2021

Show notes

Gone are the days when cow’s milk was the only choice at the supermarket. There has been an explosion in recent years of plant-based non-dairy alternative milks. From the very familiar soy milk, we now have almond, coconut, oat, and rice milk plus a host of others joining the party. How well these contender alt-milks stack up against the ‘reference standard’ of cow’s milk is what I’ll be digging into in this podcast.

Links referred to in the podcast

Scientific review of plant-based milks compared to cow’s milk https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13197-017-2915-y
CHOICE review of almond milks https://www.choice.com.au/food-and-drink/dairy/milk/articles/almond-milk

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2020's most popular: what makes nutrition so confusing? Jan 19, 2021

Show notes

If you want to be less confused about just how to make sense of conflicting nutrition messages that you hear about each day then you’ve come to the right place. In today’s podcast, I’ll unpack what makes nutrition appear to be such a confusing area. But importantly, I’ll help set you straight in knowing how to make sense of it all.
Links referred to in the podcast

Industry conflict of interest in research https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040005
Review of dietary patterns and health https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article-lookup/doi/10.1111/nure.12153
Avocado and oxidised LDL clinical trial https://academic.oup.com/jn/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jn/nxz231/5588100

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2020's most popular: coffee and its surprising health benefits Jan 12, 2021

Show notes

Coffee. For some, it is deserving of its own essential food group. But is coffee more than just a way to achieve functioning human capacity first thing in the morning? You may have seen media headlines in the past warning about health risks of coffee. But now that the science has matured, coffee turns out to be one of the most surprisingly positive health stories of recent years. Forget about the latest superfood trend, coffee is where it is at. In this podcast, I’ll look closer at those health benefits and give you the validation you’ve been seeking to justify your caffeine habit.
Links referred to in the podcast

Review of coffee and health https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1541-4337.12206
Caffeine use in Parkinson’s disease https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3414662/
Sports Dietitians Australia fact sheet on caffeine https://www.sportsdietitians.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/110721-Caffeine-Fact-Sheet_SD-Version.pdf
Caffeine and the risk of miscarriage https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5733907/
Intermittent fasting in sport https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/Fulltext/2019/07000/Intermittent_Fasting_and_Its_Effects_on_Athletic.6.aspx

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2020's most popular: intermittent fasting Jan 05, 2021

Show notes

Intermittent fasting is currently one of the world's most popular health trends. Characterised by alternating periods of food absence followed by periods of normal eating, promoters of intermittent fasting claim that it is the ‘metabolic key’ to unlocking weight loss, reducing inflammation, cutting the risk of diabetes and heart disease and maybe….even extending your life. This show covers what intermittent fasting is, how to do it, and what the evidence says about that long list of health claims.
Links referred to in the podcast

Intermittent fasting vs traditional dieting for weight loss https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/10/2442
Review of the effects of intermittent fasting on health, ageing and disease https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmra1905136
Fasting during cancer treatment https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324169.php
Children's food choices after watching a healthy cooking show https://www.jneb.org/article/S1499-4046(19)31055-3/fulltext

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2020's most popular: food, mood and mental health Dec 29, 2020

Show notes

You are what you eat, but when it comes to your mental health, what you eat can have a profound impact on your mood and how you feel. Welcome to the rapidly moving world of nutritional psychiatry which is uncovering the key links between diet and mental health. And it could just be that it is our gut microbes, by acting as psychobiotics, that are the stars of the show here; so long as they are kept fed well.

Links referred to in the podcast

Fruits and vegetables consumption and life satisfaction https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303260
Nutrition intervention in depression: the SMILES study https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-017-0791-y
Nutrition intervention in young people with depression https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0222768
Meta-analysis of diet in depression and anxiety https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30720698/
Meta-analysis of fish oil in depression https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-019-0515-5
Meta-analysis of fish oil in anxiety https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2702216
Meta-analysis of vitamin D in depression https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6515787

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A Christmas Carol of vitamin D deficiency Dec 22, 2020

Show notes

As the end of 2020 approaches, I thought I’d bring in a Christmas theme, but of course, one with a nutritionally based message. And what better way to do that than by unpacking Charles Dickens’ classic: ‘A Christmas Carol’, as a medical case study in vitamin D deficiency. Listen on to learn more.

Links referred to in the podcast