Tag Archive for: NHANES

Changes in Supplement Use

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I take dietary supplements, and so do most of the people I know. We’re not alone. Using data from the NHANES data in 1999 and 2012, researchers compared how many people used supplements and what type of supplements they used (1).

Close to 38,000 subjects were included in the study. The percentage of people using supplements remained fairly stable over the time span at 52%; what changed was the types of supplements people took. Multivitamin-multimineral (MVMM) dropped 6% from 37% to 31%. There were some increases: vitamin D supplementation (other than from MVMM) increased from 5.1 . . .

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Healthy Lifestyle? A Tiny 2.7 Percent

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“Only 2.7% of all Americans achieve all four of the basic behavioral characteristics that experts say add up to a healthy lifestyle.”

Sensational? Yes. True? That’s what we’re going to look at this week. The health news reported about a recent study that examined the health behaviors of a group of people who participated in the Nutrition and Health Examination Survey (NHANES) in 2002–2006. The researchers picked four behaviors and assessed them with the best techniques available.

This is not the typical BMI and Food Frequency Questionnaire survey; these are numbers based on excellent assessment equipment . . .

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Why Now?

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In the last two messages, I’ve challenged you not to waste the entire month of December before changing to a healthier lifestyle after January 1st. Why now? Why didn’t I just wait until the New Year when everyone is “ready”? Maybe the latest report from the CDC will put things in perspective.

Researchers from the CDC and Emory University analyzed data from NHANES studies conducted between 2005 and 2012. They were interested in finding out how many people with high LDL cholesterol were taking medication and making lifestyle changes. There were a lot of results reported in the . . .

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The Cause of Obesity: The Data

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The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, NHANES for short, is large-scale survey performed by the CDC every few years. I’ve written about studies that have used the data many times. I like the survey because they use a dietary recall from the previous 24 hours instead of a food frequency questionnaire; there’s still potential for errors, but most people can remember what they ate yesterday. It’s also open-access data, meaning that if you have the credentials, you can use the data to answer questions. A couple of Cornell researchers did have a question: did . . .

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Avocados: Nutrition Powerhouse

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Let’s finish up our look at avocados. I covered most of the micronutrients on Thursday but there’s one more group to go: the phytonutrients.

The avocado contains three classes of phytonutrients. The first ones are called phytosterols, plant-derived compounds similar in structure and function to cholesterol. Research shows that phytosterols may help prevent the absorption of animal cholesterol, and that can benefit our overall heart health.

Avocados are also high in carotenoid antioxidants such as lutein and beta-carotene. We tend to think about carotenoids in bright orange or red vegetables such as carrots or tomatoes. Those . . .

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Vitamin E Update

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As a member of the American Society of Nutrition, I receive three e-journals. I’m not going to tell you I read them cover to cover, but I check out what’s going on in nutrition research. That’s why a recent review article titled “Vitamin E Inadequacy in Humans: Causes and Consequences” caught my attention (1). See if this wouldn’t catch your attention:

It is estimated that more than 90% of Americans do not consume sufficient dietary vitamin E as alpha-tocopherol to meet estimated average requirements.

Wow! More than 90% of us come up short? How . . .

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