For roughly the past five years, states, cities and counties have been implementing laws and regulations requiring restaurants to provide calories and sometimes other nutrients on menus and menu boards.  In 2010, legislation was passed that will make this mandatory for all restaurants with 20 or more establishments under the same name (think McDonalds, Taco Bell, TGIFridays).  The thought is that posting calories on these menu boards will help consumers make healthier choices and turn the tide on rising rates of obesity in our country.

On Friday, however, Time.com highlighted a study done in Washington state, showing that posting of calorie information on fast food items did not impact sales of items nor shift sales to more healthy items on the menu.  Other studies in New York City and elsewhere have shown conflicting results, some indicating the posting of this information helps, some showing it doesn’t impact consumer choice in restaurants.

My assessment of this data, in part, relates to the fact that consumers are smart enough to know that it isn’t just about one nutrient.  You can’t base your eating patterns off of just one nutrient, even if it is calories.  Diet Coke doesn’t have any calories per se, but it also doesn’t provide any of the good nutrients your body needs (think fiber, calcium, vitamin C).  Some research suggests, too, that simply the taste of sweetness (even if there are no calories) impacts what we eat the rest of the day and our ongoing craving for sweet foods.  So basing a decision off of just calories, or any one nutrient alone isn’t enough.

Visit www.nuval.com to see a system that gives you the full nutrition assessment on every food it ranks.

Last week, the Boston Globe included an article on 100-calorie packs of snacks.  I found it so compelling, I even stole their title and used it here. 

The article focuses on how our culture today is all about sound bites.  Everything is in compartmentalized doses.  Twitter is 140 characters or less.   Curves offers 30 minute workouts.  iTunes lets us download one song instead of the entire album.  We spend all our time multitasking so we can’t handle more than bite-size doses of anything.

Enter the 100-calorie pack.  It fits the bill.  It’s portable, it’s compartmentalized.  It’s simple. 

Sales data support the integration of the snack pack into our culture.  As presented in the Boston Globe article, a 2010 Health and Wellness Survey by the Grocery Manufacturers Association indicates that since 2002 49% of companies who participated in the survey have introduced new single-serve products.  In 2009 alone, 206 new 100-calorie pack products were introduced at the grocery store.

So as a nutritionist, how do I feel about the 100-calorie pack?  Here are my thoughts, each in 140 characters or less.

 100-Calorie packs help all of us control portion sizes.  With obesity rates at an all time high, portions matter.

 Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full.  100-calorie packs help you do this when you’re on the go. 

 Every calorie we consume should be packed with positive nutrients and limited in negatives.  100-calorie packs  don’t fit the bill here. 

In 140 characters or less, can you share your thoughts on 100-calorie packs?

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On Tuesday, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans final report was released.  If you’re not familiar with these guidelines, they are updated every five years, and used to set policy around healthy eating.  In total, the full report is more than 1,000 pages.  Needless to say, I haven’t read it all yet, but in what my husband would call a “People Magazine browse,” I did find some interesting nuggets worth blogging about.

One area of the report that struck me right away is the number of calories we get from beverages.  Here’s the breakdown:

The AVERAGE ADULT (19+) gets 394 calories a day from beverages:

• 114 from soda
• 108 from alcohol (someone is getting my share on most days!)
• 80 from fluid milk
• 67 from 100% fruit juice and juice drinks
• 26 from coffee and tea

KIDS aged 2-18 get 400 calories a day from beverages:

• 162 from milk
• 121 from soda
• 112 from 100% fruit juices and fruit drinks
• In kids age 14-18, soda, sports and energy drinks are the highest contributor of calories.

Intriguing data isn’t it.  Growing up, I remember drinking milk with every meal, getting a cold glass of water when I was hot from running around with my friends all day in the summer, and having lemonade or pop (remember, I’m from the Midwest) as a treat, maybe once a month.  But clearly, these numbers tell a different story.  Skim milk has 90 calories in a cup.  With the total ranging from 80-162 calories a day from milk, no one – adults nor kids – are getting enough milk and with it the calcium and vitamin D we all need.  Kids and adults alike are getting a hit of calories from pop – and this is straight sugar.  If adults quit drinking fully sugar-loaded pops, they could save more than 41,000 calories in a year.  That’s 12 pounds of weight.  For kids, the total is more than 44,000 calories in a year, or almost 13 pounds of weight.

Bottom line?  We all need to rethink our drinks.

Visit NuVal.com to find the scores of your usual beverages.