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Put The Pop Down And Step Away: Diet Soda Linked To Depression

America is a vast orchestra of accents and dialects.  Sweetened carbonated beverages are known as pop, soda, soda pop, or coke.  There are probably a few more out there lurking.  

New research links sweetened diet drinks, particularly artificially sweetened drinks with depression in adults. Whereas those to drink coffee had a slightly lower risk for depression.

This study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting

"'Sweetened beverages, coffee and tea are commonly consumed worldwide and have important physical—and may have important mental—health consequences', said study author Honglei Chen, MD, PhD, with the National Institutes of Health in Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.'

263,925 participants who were between 50-71 years of age were studied from 1995-1996.  Different sweetened drinks were studied: pop, tea, fruit punch, coffee.  Ten years post study, the researches followed up with participants to see if they received a diagnosis of depression since 2000.

11,311 participants were diagnosed with depression or 4.28% of the study.

The number of consumed beverages of soda was 4 and this lead to a 30 percent likelihood of depression compared to those who did not drink soda.  

Participants who drank four cups of coffee daily were 10% likely to have depression compared to non-coffee drinkers.  

"'Our research suggests that cutting out or down on sweetened diet drinks or replacing them with unsweetened coffee may naturally help lower your depression risk,' said Chen.  'More research is needed to confirm these findings, and people with depression should continue to take depression medications prescribed by their doctors.'"

Source: Seroka, Rachel, ed. "Hold the diet soda? Sweetened drinks linked to depression, coffee tied to lower risk."EurekAlert!. American Academy of Neurology, 08 01 2013. Web. 13 Jan 2013. <http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/aaon-htd010313.php?goback=.gde_2361947_member_203456924>.


Gina Lesako RD, LD is the SCAN blog coordinator, those interested in writing for SCAN can email her directly at glesako@gmail.com.  (Resolve to increase your online exposure in 2013!)

She can also be found blogging at http://dietitianseatchocolatetoo.blogspot.com/).  Find her on SCAN: http://www.scandpg.org/dietitians/15720/

There's Fresh And Then There Is 'Just Caught' Fresh

Today in society we are so accustomed to hearing the fast way to lose weight constantly bombarded with fad diets or workout machines that will magically "vibrate" the fat off as your sitting and watching TV. Although, they might work for a short period of time it doesn't contribute to a long term lifestyle. Living a healthy lifestyle goes beyond just a diet or quick fix. For me it's walking to the post office on a sunny day, getting at least 6 hours of sleep, dancing when cleaning the house, running a few miles, cooking meals that are nutrient dense for my family and me, laughing till my stomach hurts and fishing. That's right…fishing. Who said you had to subdue yourself to a treadmill or lock yourself up in your basement to do the 'Insanity' workouts all the time?

To give you a picture of my surroundings on my excursion in Salt Water Stripe Bass fishing, the boat is 46 feet long and the water swells were about 3 feet making the boat rock and your sea legs turned on. The Stripe Bass fish were between 20-25 lbs and 36 inches long and was having quite the fight trying to wheel it in. As I had the rod tucked under my arm, with the pole looking as if it was on the verge of snapping in two, my hand struggling to wheel her in and my body wedged in the corner of the boat, this fish was going to be mine! Low-and-behold, with the mate guiding me and my unveiling determination to get this fish on the boat, it was mine. Did I mention I caught 3? What an exciting and tiring activity! But guess what we had for dinner for 1 1/2 weeks straight! So I created a tasty recipe that I'd like to share with all of you:

Fresh Sea Bass in a Chile Glaze

·         1 Large Sea Bass Fillet
·         1/4 C White Wine
·         1 Tbsp Olive oil
·         1Tbsp Smart Balance
·         2 Tbsp Agave Nectar
·         2 Limes, Halved
Chile Seasoning
·         1 Tbsp Chili Powder
·         1 Tbsp Chipotle Powder
·         1 tsp Garlic Salt
·         1/4 C AP Flour


Directions:
1. In a plastic bag mix all the chili seasonings together and then coat both sides of the Sea Bass and pat off excess seasonings
2. In a large sauté pan, heat up olive oil, smart balance and agave nectar, then place the fillets in the pan until 3/4 cooked & then flip
3. Just before the fish is done, deglaze the pan with white wine & swirl
4. Plate the fish & pour the sauce on top, garnish with the lime.

This is one example of many, it doesn't have to be just fishing you can go apple picking in the fall and use them to make a homemade apple pie or go strawberry picking to dunk in dark chocolate for a sweet treat. These are all active ways to promoting a healthy lifestyle and having fun while doing it. For other ways to leading a healthy lifestyle you can visit:http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/4-steps-healthy-lifestyle

Christa Petersen is currently a Dietetic Technician, Registered going to school full time at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ on the road to becoming a Dietitian and applying for dietetic internships for the fall 2013. She is an outdoorsy person who can be found running, biking, walking, swimming, playing soccer or pursuing anything from pushing high intensity cardio-workouts all the way down to relaxing yoga. One of her favorite hobbies aside from working out is creating healthy recipes and cooking them! Just recently she created a blog named "Teaspoon of Delight" sharing with the public creative recipes, nutrition facts and journal articles to keep others on tract to leading a healthy lifestyle. She cannot wait to become a Registered Dietitian and share her passion with others as a full-time career!

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Gina Lesako RD, LD is the SCAN blog coordinator (those interested in writing for SCAN can email her directly at glesako@gmail.com, resolve to increase your online exposure).  

She can also be found blogging at http://dietitianseatchocolatetoo.blogspot.com/).  Find her on SCAN: http://www.scandpg.org/dietitians/15720/