2024 Healthy Eating for a Better Life

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has finalized a rule on what food companies can say is "healthy" to be more in line with the latest science.

For food packaging to have a "healthy" claim, it must have a certain amount of food recommended by the Dietary Guidelines and follow limits for saturated fat, sodium and added sugars, the FDA said Thursday.

"Providing informative and accessible food labeling empowers consumers and may help foster a healthier food supply for all if some manufacturers voluntarily reformulate food products to meet the updated criteria," the FDA said.

It marks the first overhaul of the FDA's definition of "healthy" since 1994 as part of efforts to fight chronic disease due to bad eating habits.

For example, the FDA said for a cereal box to have a "healthy" label it needs to have a certain amount of whole grains and limit saturated fat, sodium and added sugars.

Before, nuts and seeds, higher fat fish, such as salmon, certain oils, some peanut butters, canned fruits and vegetables and water didn't qualify for a "healthy" claim but now qualify because they are considered "foundational to a healthy eating pattern," the FDA said.

What impact will the updated 'healthy' rule have?

Food manufacturers can voluntarily choose to include a "healthy" claim if they meet requirements, the FDA said, adding that they have three years to conform but can use the new criteria sooner.

Still, the rule is expected to only "have a limited impact because it only applies to those few products bearing the voluntary 'healthy' claim," said Eva Greenthal, senior policy scientist at nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest.

She said "the most important step" the White House could take is publishing a new rule on mandatory front-of-package nutrition labeling, which the FDA proposed to the Biden administration in late November.

A new study by researchers at Tulane University found that people who mainly drink beer have worse diets, exercise less, and smoke more than people who drink wine, liquor, or a mix of these.

Why this matters: Drinking too much alcohol can cause serious liver problems. Eating healthy and being active are really important for preventing these problems.

What the study found:

Researchers looked at the diets of over 1,900 adults who drink alcohol. They found that none of the groups had very healthy diets.

• Beer drinkers had the unhealthiest diets, ate the most calories, and were the least active. They were also more likely to be male, younger, smokers, and have lower incomes.
• Wine drinkers had the healthiest diets.

Possible reasons:

• Food choices: People often drink beer with unhealthy foods like pizza and burgers. Wine is often paired with healthier meals that include vegetables and lean protein.
• Thirst: Salty and fried foods make people thirsty, which might lead them to drink more beer.

What doctors can do:

Doctors should ask patients what kinds of alcohol they drink. This can help doctors give advice about healthy eating and exercise habits.

What you drink matters

Basically, the study suggests that what you drink can be linked to your overall lifestyle. If you're mainly a beer drinker, it might be a good idea to think about improving your diet and exercising more.

The study is being presented at a meeting of liver disease specialists. 

“Alcohol overuse is the leading cause of cirrhosis in the U.S., and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is rapidly increasing,” said Madeline Novack, chief resident at Tulane School of Medicine’s internal medicine residency program and lead author of the study.

“Both types of liver disease often coexist, and lifestyle changes are key to managing and preventing these conditions, starting with understanding the link between alcohol use and poor nutrition,” Novack said.

Using a survey of a nationally representative sample of more than 1,900 U.S. adults who reported current alcohol use, researchers compared the diet quality among people who consume beer only (38.9%), wine only (21.8%), liquor only (18.2%), or a combination of alcohol types (21%), measuring self-reported eating habits against the Healthy Eating Index, a validated standardized tool based on dietary guidelines.

None of the alcohol-using groups came close to achieving the 80-point score that is considered an adequate diet on the 100-point Healthy Eating Index, Novack said, but the beer drinkers scored lowest at 49. Wine drinkers scored 55, and both liquor-only drinkers and combination drinkers scored nearly 53.

Beer-only drinkers, who were more likely to be male, younger, smokers, and low income, also reported the highest total daily caloric intake, adjusting for body weight, and the lowest level of physical activity.

Previous studies have found that dietary quality declines with increasing alcohol consumption of any type, but little has been reported on the influence of specific alcoholic beverage type. 

For prevention of liver disease and other health issues, physicians should ask about the type of alcohol consumed to guide discussion of healthy behaviors, Novack said. For example, findings of this study can be applied to patients who identify as beer-only drinkers and physicians could suggest increasing fruit and vegetable intake, as well as physical activity.

The study is being published in the journal Nutrients.

According to researchers who've published a new study, it may be time to rethink our consumption of sugar- and artificially-sweetened drinks. 

The study found that having sugar-sweetened or artificially-sweetened drinks each day may increase your risk of atrial fibrillation (AFib), or an irregular heartbeat. 

“Our study’s findings cannot definitively conclude that one beverage poses more health risks than another due to the complexity of our diets and because some people may drink more than one type of beverage,” said lead researcher Dr. Ningjian Wang.

“However, based on these findings, we recommend that people reduce or even avoid artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened beverages whenever possible. 

“Do not take it for granted that drinking low-sugar and low-calorie artificially sweetened beverages is healthy; it may pose potential health risks.” 

The link between sugary drinks and heart health

For the study, the researchers analyzed data from over 200,000 adults enrolled in the U.K. Biobank between 2006 and 2010. Participants answered questionnaires about their diets, genetics, and medical histories, and researchers followed up with them over the course of 10 years. 

Ultimately, the researchers learned that consistent consumption of artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened drinks was linked with a higher risk of AFib. 

The study showed that participants were at the highest risk of AFib – 20% higher than those who never drank sugary drinks – when they drank more than two liters of these kinds of drinks each week. The risk of AFib was 10% higher for those who were hitting that two-liter mark each week. 

Two liters can be rather easy to reach each week. This translates to nearly 68 ounces, or about one 12-ounce drink six days per week. For many consumers, this could mean a daily diet soda or iced tea. 

Diet or regular sodas aren’t the only culprit, though. The researchers found that participants who regularly drank pure fruit juice were also at a higher risk of AFib. Drinking one liter, or about 34 ounces, of pure fruit juice each week was associated with an 8% higher risk of heart complications. 

“This is the first study to report an association between no- and low-calories sweeteners and also sugar-sweetened beverages and increased risk of atrial fibrillation,” said Dr. Penny M. Kris-Etherton, American Heart Association nutrition committee member. “We still need more research on these beverages to confirm these findings and to fully understand all the health consequences on heart disease and health conditions. 

“In the meantime, water is the best choice, and, based on this study, no- and low-calorie sweetened beverages should be limited or avoided.”