http://www.whfoods.org/index.php
I love looking for online articles that describe the “best” or “”worst” foods. Before I decided to major in nutrition I used to search for articles like “Worst foods in America” or “Healthiest Fruits” because I found them interesting, and they were a quick and easy way to learn about food. As my knowledge about nutrition increased, I started to seek out reputable websites that did more than just provide quick lists. I wanted details about macronutrients, micronutrients, vitamins, minerals, etc., and by searching for “best sources of vitamin B12” I discovered the website “World’s Healthiest Foods.”
This website has an abundance of information about food, nutrition, and is strongly based on research. At the end of every article you will find a long list of references they used to support their claims. If you look at their homepage you would find topics like, “Food of the Week,” “Nutrient of the Week,” “The Healthiest Way of Eating,” “100 World’s Healthiest Foods,” and “Everything you need to know about Digestion” among others. One of my favorite features of the site is that you can sign up to receive “Healthy Food Tip of the Week and Recipe” emails that are chock-full of useful nutrition information.
One of the most recent “Healthy Food Tip of the Week and Recipe” emails I received was about broccoli, my favorite vegetable. The email contained quite a lot of information about the vegetable, and it provided a link to an article on the website that goes into even greater detail. http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=9
The email described what’s new and beneficial about broccoli, recommendations for amounts to consume, benefits of cruciferous vegetables, its nutritional profile, and a discussion about broccoli as a “goitrogenic” food. This information was surprising and interesting to me as a food and nutrition lover.
The information I found most surprising was the recommendation to steam broccoli instead of eating it raw. It stated that even though consuming raw broccoli has cholesterol-reducing benefits, steamed broccoli is better for that task. If the broccoli is steamed the fiber can bind together better with the bile acids in the digestive tract, making the excretion of bile acids easier, and allowing for lowering of cholesterol levels. I previously would have assumed that raw broccoli would be more “fibrous” and thus more able to bind to bile acids. There was also a recommendation to cut the broccoli “into quarters and let sit for several minutes before cooking to enhance its health-promoting benefits,” which I found to be useful and interesting.
What was most interesting in the email was the discussion about “goitrogenic” foods. Broccoli is believed to be “goitrogenic” meaning that it would potentially cause a goiter when consumed in excessive amounts. This is not true for healthy individuals and it can make broccoli sound “bad’ or give it a negative association that it doesn’t deserve. It is important for those diagnosed with thyroid disorders to monitor their intake of large amounts of cruciferous vegetables (like broccoli), but for healthy individuals consuming broccoli daily does not pose a risk. In fact, the article states, “there are many well-documented health benefits from daily consumption of cruciferous vegetables, including decreased risk of colorectal cancer. One study has even found a weak association between high intake of cruciferous vegetables and slightly decreased risk of thyroid cancer.” The email provides a link for further information about this topic http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=250.
As a nutrition educator I would use this website as one of my resources to keep myself up-to-date with nutrition research and information. Nutrition is an always-changing field, and it is important to stay up-to-date so you can providing the most accurate information to your clients or audience. For example, I would now be more inclined to encourage healthy individuals to eat as much broccoli as they would like than I would have prior to reading the article. As a broccoli lover this is music to my ears! The “World’s Healthiest Foods” website can be a great resource for nutrition information and I have learned a lot through their emails.
Check it out!