6/16/25: Just Say it...UPFs=Junk Food; Is Sugar "Poison"; Should Bananas be Banned from Smoothies?; Free Fruit Art
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🎭Nova & UPFs: “Junk food” in disguise?
LinkedIn: From Fairy Tale to Global Nightmare: What the NOVA Classification Refuses to See - Marcia Terra (dietitian)
“…Few people know this, but the NOVA classification was inspired by an American journalist…. Michael Pollan is the author of Food Rules, a book that captivated a Brazilian physician who went on to create the NOVA system and coined the term "ultra-processed." The idea was built around a romantic vision: a world where everyone grows their food, cooks every meal from scratch, lives near their workplace, gets home early, and has access to cheap fruits and vegetables. But that world does not exist….Implementing NOVA in public food policy is a step backward, both scientifically and in real life. The attacks on food additives are a threat to humanity itself. We'd return to the Middle Ages without preservatives, stabilizers, added vitamins, or artificial flavors….”.
➕More resources to check out on UPF’s:
📖Substack: A deep dive into Processing Terminology - Thought For Food by James Collier.
🎙️Podcast Pick: Maintenance Phase on UPF’s
This podcast offers one of the better summaries of the history behind UPFs and validity behind some of the UPF studies.
🚫🍌 Bananas in Smoothies BANNED?
New Study Says Stop Adding Bananas To Your Smoothie—Here’s What Experts Think
Dietitian Lauren Manaker quoted: "While flavan-3-ols are beneficial, they’re just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to fruit smoothies," says Manaker. "Even if bananas do slightly impact the absorption of flavan-3-ols, that shouldn’t overshadow all the other amazing benefits of including them in your diet."
✂️Potential Cuts to SNAP
In case you missed it. This was mentioned in Helena Bottemiller Evich’s Friday Food Fix Newsletter.
What's on the table to be cut from SNAP?
✂️expansion of existing work requirements for able-bodied adults aged 55 to 64 as well as those who have school-aged children who are 10 and older.
✂️shift SNAP benefit costs onto the states, particularly in states with a high rate of mistakes in processing eligibility and benefits.
✂️block USDA from substantially raising SNAP benefits
✂️bar refugees, those granted asylum and others with legal status from accessing SNAP benefits.
✂️eliminate SNAP-Ed, which funds nutrition education, cooking classes and other similar programs designed to promote healthier eating.
🤳🏽What can you do? CALL YOUR SENATORS!
🤔Would YOU be affected by these SNAP cuts?
🛒Donut Season: Swag for Nutrition Nerds
Looking for some fun swag for yourself or gifts for friends? Check out Donut Season (by Dietitian Miranda Reagan) - you get 15% off because you’re part of the Build UP Dietitian community.
😨SUBSTACK: The Cult of Anti-Sugar - by Dustin Moore
“…Sugar is not poison because in an acute setting, all it does is elevate blood sugar. Nobody has ever been killed by consuming too much sugar on one occasion, but the same cannot be said of alcohol, fentanyl, cocaine, or heroin.
The worst thing you can attribute to sugar intake is how persistent and excess doses represent a long-term lifestyle risk factor…
Do members of this anti-sugar cult actually believe what they say, that sugar is a poison, a weapon of mass destruction?…”.
🎨Free Fruit Art
Looking for some free fruit art? Here’s some government funded drawings of FRUIT from the late 19th ce and early 20th ce. Go HERE to see all the drawings.