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Donna Feldman
Denver Health ExaminerDonna Feldman grew up in New Jersey with a nutrition-obsessed mother who put wheat
germ in everything. She rebelled, but during a college all-nighter, she picked up a copy
of a popular nutrition paperback, eventually earning a Master of Science in Nutrition at Cornell University. She now has a private practice in nutrition counseling in
Boulder County. Contact her at health.examiner@mindspring.com.
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Showing entries for Category: flu
Bad PR week for the humble egg
Donna Feldman - Denver Health Examiner
There’s an ad running on TV for Eggbeaters that I think is cute. A flock of chickens hijacks a cart full of Eggbeaters. Those darn Eggbeaters are so much like real eggs, the chickens were confused. Cute, but you’ll never find Eggbeaters in my house. I’m not that confused.
Which brings me to the recent screaming headline: “Seven or more eggs a week linked to death risk” (Reuters http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24028358/). Makes you want to rethink that omelet for Sunday brunch. Before you do, consider my Rule of Nutrition News Reporting: nutrition research information, as reported by non-nutritionists, is always, always mangled beyond belief, until the media story bears no resemblance to the actual research findings.
Subjects in this study were diabetic and non-diabetic men, who were followed for several years. They were asked about their egg consumption, and consumption was compared to risk of dying during the study period. It turns out the diabetic men who ate the most eggs - an average of one per day - had the greatest risk for dying. Why? Well, the researchers couldn’t connect the eggs to death from heart attacks or strokes. Could it be because these guys were also, according to the report, non-exercisers, more overweight, older and more likely to drink and smoke? Makes sense to me. But the media stories were completely focused on just one thing - the eggs. A headline that says “non-exercising, overweight diabetic men who smoke and drink have higher death rate” would have been more accurate but much less titillating.
There’s another non-egg factor that the researchers didn’t think about. What were the eggs cooked in? Whether these egg-eating men went out for breakfast or cooked eggs at home, margarine would have been the cooking fat of choice. Since much of this study was conducted before the recent trans fat hysteria, cooking margarines were likely the higher trans fat variety. So maybe the issue isn’t the eggs. Maybe it’s the trans fats.
By the way, for non-diabetic men, eating up to 6 eggs a week was not associated with an increased risk of dying. That's good news. Where was that headline? If you’re still confused, like the chickens, you might opt for Eggbeaters. Just don’t cook them in trans fats.
Topics: flu , eggs , Eggbeaters , diabetes
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Writing debut hit by flu
Donna Feldman - Denver Health Examiner
I was minding my own business over the weekend when I got that creepy feeling that says “Fever alert”: chills, sudden fatigue. The next morning, I had full-blown flu. I’ve never gotten a flu shot, and can’t remember the last... Read More
Topics: flu , Vitamin C , chicken soup , ibuprofen
