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OSU research studies ‘stealthy contributors’ to saturated fat, sugar intake
KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News
Published: September 3, 2024
Ohio State University researchers recently published results of a study that analyzed the diets of more than 35,000 adults in an effort to assist consumers with the task of selecting healthy foods.
Beyond the greatest sources of saturated fat and added sugar in participants’ diets––cheese and soft drinks, respectively––the study identified a lengthy list of food items that contributed to diets that exceed dietary guidelines for each, a news release provided.
“Chicken breast is promoted as a lower saturated fat food, but it still has a little bit of saturated fat,” said OSU School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Medical Dietetics Director Christopher Taylor, first author of the study. “But it is helpful to know how foods with smaller amounts also slowly add saturated fat in a stealthy way into the diet. Being able to meet less than 10 percent is to identify the big contributors, but also to be able to see where saturated fat and added sugar may still exist in other food choices.”
He said the fact that chicken breast has some saturated fat doesn’t make it a poor choice. Rather, it shows how the lesser amount contributes to the overall amount of saturated fat in one’s diet.
Published in the journal Nutrients, the study considered not only what participants, aged 19 and older, ate each day of a two-day period, but when they ate it, the release noted. The survey ran from 2005 to 2018.
Other leading sources of saturated fat were pizza, ice cream and eggs, while tea, fruit drinks, and cakes and pies filled out the list for added sugar.
Results of the analysis showed that saturated fat made up at least 12 percent of a day’s calories, while added sugar consumption ranged from 14 percent to 16 percent of calories, the release provided.
Taylor acknowledged dietary recommendations generally focus on avoiding major contributors such as cheese and soft drinks.
“There are the foods that are higher in saturated fat and added sugar that are consumed frequently, and they get targeted, but there’s also that smaller cumulative effect of things that are generally perceived as healthy, but they’re all contributing just a little bit,” he said. “And then when you top it off with some of those higher sources, it ends up taking you over the threshold for that 10 percent of the day’s calories. We’re trying to hit the sweet spot of capturing the big front-seat items, but also understanding those things that are stealthy contributors.”
Researchers said they are working on the development of an app for better assessment of so-called nutrients of concern.
The study was supported by the National Cancer Institute.
Peter Madril of Ohio State was co-author of the study.
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