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Sunday, April 29, 2007
Lower Your Cholesterol With Pizza?
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Lower Your Cholesterol With Pizza?
Sounds good, but how does it taste? And does it really work?
In another example of functional foods — which are foods that provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition — The Heart Healthy Road Pizza may soon roll out to your grocer’s shelves or your local pizzeria.
If they agree to distribute this new product.
Road Pizza Company has applied for a patent for their new thin crust pizza which is supposed to lower LDL, the bad type of cholesterol.
The company has added plant sterols, called VitaSterols, to the cheese topping and the dough to help consumers to reduce their cholesterol.
I can’t comment on their cholesterol claims. And it’s too soon to say how the pizza will taste.
But I’m really concerned about all these enhanced functional and bioengineered foods. No one really knows what the long-term effects of tampering with our food will be.
Sure, we’re told it will benefit our health. But that’s what we were told when saturated fats were replaced by trans fats, too.
Now city after city across the U.S. is banning trans fats because the experts were wrong about their health claims.
But it took a decade before they realized their mistake. It turned out that trans fats increase LDL cholesterol (the bad one) and decrease HDL cholesterol (the good one).
So they actually increase your risk of heart disease.
Many people are unaware that interesterified fats — which are largely replacing trans fats — have been shown to significantly raise blood sugar and depress insulin. That’s a diabetes risk.
Worst of all, interesterified fats still reduce HDL (the good cholesterol). So there’s still a heart risk.
Want a non-food example? How about HRT, hormone replacement therapy?
That was touted for years as a way to not only stop hot flashes for older women, but also to protect their hearts. Years later, we find out it doesn’t protect your heart, but it may cause breast cancer.
So you see, this is why I’m skeptical of functional food claims. Again, I have no knowledge of whether The Heart Healthy Road Pizza will live up to the company’s claims or not.
And I certainly don’t want to single them out.
But I really wish we’d just go back to natural foods. Or at least, I’d like to see the results of long-term studies verifying health and safety claims before the public becomes guinea pigs in these modified food experiments.
What’s the big rush to market these functional and bioengineered foods? Is it really to benefit our health or is it just to increase company profits?
Technorati Tags: pizza, functional foods, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, bioengineered foods, trans fat, HRT, hormone replacement therapy
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at 11:03 am and is filed under Nutrition, Controversial Posts, Foods And Medicine, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Weight Loss Surgery: How To Predict Your Risk Of Death »
Lower Your Cholesterol With Pizza?
Sounds good, but how does it taste? And does it really work?
In another example of functional foods — which are foods that provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition — The Heart Healthy Road Pizza may soon roll out to your grocer’s shelves or your local pizzeria.
If they agree to distribute this new product.
Road Pizza Company has applied for a patent for their new thin crust pizza which is supposed to lower LDL, the bad type of cholesterol.
The company has added plant sterols, called VitaSterols, to the cheese topping and the dough to help consumers to reduce their cholesterol.
I can’t comment on their cholesterol claims. And it’s too soon to say how the pizza will taste.
But I’m really concerned about all these enhanced functional and bioengineered foods. No one really knows what the long-term effects of tampering with our food will be.
Sure, we’re told it will benefit our health. But that’s what we were told when saturated fats were replaced by trans fats, too.
Now city after city across the U.S. is banning trans fats because the experts were wrong about their health claims.
But it took a decade before they realized their mistake. It turned out that trans fats increase LDL cholesterol (the bad one) and decrease HDL cholesterol (the good one).
So they actually increase your risk of heart disease.
Many people are unaware that interesterified fats — which are largely replacing trans fats — have been shown to significantly raise blood sugar and depress insulin. That’s a diabetes risk.
Worst of all, interesterified fats still reduce HDL (the good cholesterol). So there’s still a heart risk.
Want a non-food example? How about HRT, hormone replacement therapy?
That was touted for years as a way to not only stop hot flashes for older women, but also to protect their hearts. Years later, we find out it doesn’t protect your heart, but it may cause breast cancer.
So you see, this is why I’m skeptical of functional food claims. Again, I have no knowledge of whether The Heart Healthy Road Pizza will live up to the company’s claims or not.
And I certainly don’t want to single them out.
But I really wish we’d just go back to natural foods. Or at least, I’d like to see the results of long-term studies verifying health and safety claims before the public becomes guinea pigs in these modified food experiments.
What’s the big rush to market these functional and bioengineered foods? Is it really to benefit our health or is it just to increase company profits?
Technorati Tags: pizza, functional foods, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, bioengineered foods, trans fat, HRT, hormone replacement therapy
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at 11:03 am and is filed under Nutrition, Controversial Posts, Foods And Medicine, Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Fast food turns functional with cholesterol-lowering pizza
Breaking News on Supplements & Nutrition - North AmericaPrevious page : Fast food turns functional with cholesterol-lowering pizza
Fast food turns functional with cholesterol-lowering pizzaBy Catherine Boal
4/26/2007- A new pizza dough mixture which incorporates cholesterol-lowering plant sterols is set to further expand the market for functional snack foods.The dough, developed by the Road Pizza Company, is part of a Californian style thin crust pizza and claims to help consumers regulate their levels of LDL 'bad' cholesterol.High cholesterol has been linked to many illnesses, in particular cardiovascular disease (CVD) which causes almost 50 per cent of deaths in Europe and is estimated to cost the EU around €169 billion each year.It is widely accepted that a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol can reduce the risk of CVD.Many food manufacturers have targeted this dietary concern with a raft of products claiming to reduce cholesterol levels. Most recently, cereals and snack manufacturer Kelloggs introduced breakfast cereal Smart Start with cholesterol-lowering ingredients to its health and wellness portfolio.The Heart Healthy Road Pizza, which is awaiting a patent, could soon be introduced into major retailers - offering consumers a healthier version to what is generally regarded as an indulgence snack food.According to the creator of the pizza, each serving contains a gram of natural plant sterols, VitaSterols, which have been added to the product's dough base and cheese topping.
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From the Los Angeles Times
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http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-hew-webbooster26apr26,1,4339531.story?track=crosspromo
From the Los Angeles Times
BOOSTER SHOTS
Pizza and chocolate--health foods?April 26, 2007Isn't it fabulous how healthful junky foods (or "indulgences," as they're termed in the trade) are becoming?Recently, some samples of Hershey's Antioxidant Milk Chocolate showed up at our office. Never mind that sugar is the first listed ingredient: These things are laced with natural flavanols! They're good for us!We hear that another American staple is soon to be rejiggered: A cholesterol-lowering pizza is in the works. Both dough and cheese of the patent-pending are impregnated with plant sterols, creating a pizza that will theoretically lower blood levels of LDL, or bad, cholesterol."I believe Heart Healthy RoadPizza is the perfect vehicle to help lower cholesterol," says the pizza's inventor, Ira Scott, in a press release."Chocolate and pizza are two foods that are fine just the way they are," comments a colleague. "No one should be messing with them."— Rosie Mestel
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.Article licensing and reprint options
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Monday, April 23, 2007
Cholesterol-lowering Heart-Healthy Road Pizza
Friday, April 20, 2007 6:33 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Road Pizza Company
Cholesterol-lowering Heart-Healthy Road Pizza, Coming Soon To Your Grocer’s Freezer
Cholesterol-lowering Heart-Healthy Road Pizza, Coming Soon To Your Grocer’s Freezer
MERRILLVILLE, Indiana, Friday, April 20, 2007/BeverageMarketing/ -- If that heavenly slice of pizza pie from your grocer’s freezer is raising your cholesterol level, just wait. You soon may be able to have your cake and eat it too. An Indiana man has developed a way to add heart healthy plant sterols to baked goods and he is now pitching the concept to some of your favorite fast food pizzerias. It’s the pizza gourmet’s wildest dream come true an FDA-approved heart-healthy all natural cholesterol-lowering pizza pie.
Heart Healthy Road Pizza™ is the brainchild of Ira Scott, a beverage executive living in Valparaiso, Indiana, but who works in Chicago, a Mecca for deep-dish, thick-crust pizza. Scott has developed a new slender California-style heart-healthy super-thin-crust pizza dough that exceeds the FDA’s new coronary heart disease health claim for plant sterols and plant stanol ester. Each slice and/or serving (depending on the size of the pie) of Heart Healthy Road Pizza contains a gram of Kosher-certified VitaSterols™ natural plant sterols, pizza aficionados who have tried Scott’s experimental pizzas, say it taste like ordinary delivery pizzas, and they would go for an extra slice or two if it really drops your cholesterol as Scott claims it will work.
"I had the idea for a health pizza several years ago, but no one would listen," exclaimed Scott, "I eventually worked with some plant sterol experts and designed a method to incorporate plant sterols into the pizza dough and into the cheese." said Scott. "I believe Heart Healthy Road Pizza is the perfect vehicle to help lower cholesterol," said Scott, who has already approached some well-known chains with the idea, including, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Domino's and Godfather’s Pizza. He thinks it’s only a matter of time before a Yum! Brands executive will call him about his new pizza innovation. In the mean time he is calling on mom and pop pizzerias to try out his new patent-pending pizza recipe. The all-natural heart healthy frozen pizzas will be offered to convenience stores and natural food chains such as Wild Oats and Trader Joe’s.
Upon review of existing evidence, the FDA concluded that "there is significant scientific agreement that plant sterols/stanols reduce total and LDL cholesterol levels." The FDA authorized a health claim describing the relationship between dietary intake of plant sterols and reduced risk of heart disease. That health claim states that "Foods containing at least 0.65 grams per serving of plant sterol esters, eaten twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 1.3 grams, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease." In a recent study; researchers at the University of California, Davis, gave study subjects 1 gram of plant sterols twice daily for an eight-week period. Subjects included both men and women, with normal and borderline high total cholesterol. Total cholesterol was reduced by approximately 8 percent and LDL-C fell by almost 13 percent.
"Vegetable consumption in the United States is not ideal for maintaining healthy cholesterol levels, especially since these important plant sterols are difficult to absorb, thus exacerbating the dietary deficiency," says Cecilia McCollum, Blue California’s Executive Vice President. "In addition, a complete bio-availability study to determine the degree of absorption and the effect on cholesterol from dietary supplementation with this new ingredient is being considered at this time." said McCollum.
Plant sterols are clinically shown to lower cholesterol as a part of a heart-healthy diet*
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
* Please consult your physician or registered dietitian for the best overall health plan, and ask how products with plant sterols can reduce your cholesterol. For more information visit http://www.VitaSterols.com or http://www.VitaSterols.info
CONTACT:
Road Pizza Company
Ira Scott, 219/916-8402
xetex420@hotmail.com
http://www.VitaSterols.info
SOURCE: Road Pizza Company
Heart Healthy Road Pizza™ is the brainchild of Ira Scott, a beverage executive living in Valparaiso, Indiana, but who works in Chicago, a Mecca for deep-dish, thick-crust pizza. Scott has developed a new slender California-style heart-healthy super-thin-crust pizza dough that exceeds the FDA’s new coronary heart disease health claim for plant sterols and plant stanol ester. Each slice and/or serving (depending on the size of the pie) of Heart Healthy Road Pizza contains a gram of Kosher-certified VitaSterols™ natural plant sterols, pizza aficionados who have tried Scott’s experimental pizzas, say it taste like ordinary delivery pizzas, and they would go for an extra slice or two if it really drops your cholesterol as Scott claims it will work.
"I had the idea for a health pizza several years ago, but no one would listen," exclaimed Scott, "I eventually worked with some plant sterol experts and designed a method to incorporate plant sterols into the pizza dough and into the cheese." said Scott. "I believe Heart Healthy Road Pizza is the perfect vehicle to help lower cholesterol," said Scott, who has already approached some well-known chains with the idea, including, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Domino's and Godfather’s Pizza. He thinks it’s only a matter of time before a Yum! Brands executive will call him about his new pizza innovation. In the mean time he is calling on mom and pop pizzerias to try out his new patent-pending pizza recipe. The all-natural heart healthy frozen pizzas will be offered to convenience stores and natural food chains such as Wild Oats and Trader Joe’s.
Upon review of existing evidence, the FDA concluded that "there is significant scientific agreement that plant sterols/stanols reduce total and LDL cholesterol levels." The FDA authorized a health claim describing the relationship between dietary intake of plant sterols and reduced risk of heart disease. That health claim states that "Foods containing at least 0.65 grams per serving of plant sterol esters, eaten twice a day with meals for a daily total intake of at least 1.3 grams, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease." In a recent study; researchers at the University of California, Davis, gave study subjects 1 gram of plant sterols twice daily for an eight-week period. Subjects included both men and women, with normal and borderline high total cholesterol. Total cholesterol was reduced by approximately 8 percent and LDL-C fell by almost 13 percent.
"Vegetable consumption in the United States is not ideal for maintaining healthy cholesterol levels, especially since these important plant sterols are difficult to absorb, thus exacerbating the dietary deficiency," says Cecilia McCollum, Blue California’s Executive Vice President. "In addition, a complete bio-availability study to determine the degree of absorption and the effect on cholesterol from dietary supplementation with this new ingredient is being considered at this time." said McCollum.
Plant sterols are clinically shown to lower cholesterol as a part of a heart-healthy diet*
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
* Please consult your physician or registered dietitian for the best overall health plan, and ask how products with plant sterols can reduce your cholesterol. For more information visit http://www.VitaSterols.com or http://www.VitaSterols.info
CONTACT:
Road Pizza Company
Ira Scott, 219/916-8402
xetex420@hotmail.com
http://www.VitaSterols.info
SOURCE: Road Pizza Company
http://www.VitaSterols.info
Micro-Encapsulated Phytosterols 40% Offered by Blue California
January 2, 2007
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA – Blue California, an ingredient manufacturer in Southern California, announced its introduction of micro-encapsulated phytosterols 40%, in powder form, for water-soluble applications. Phytosterols are plant sterols structurally similar to cholesterol that act in the intestine to lower cholesterol absorption.
Phytosterols (also called plant sterols) are a group of steroid alcohol phytochemicals naturally occurring in plants. They are white powders with mild, characteristic odor, normally insoluble in water and soluble in alcohols. They have many applications as food additives, and in medicine and cosmetics. Blue California’s micro-encapsulation technology was used in the development of this new water-soluble form of phytosterols creating a wide array of opportunities for its customers in the beverage, dietary supplement and food industries.
Phytosterols are widely found in the plant kingdom and studies have consistently shown that plant sterols can help reduce cholesterol levels and may even reduce cancer risk. A 2004 study from Washington University in St. Louis found phytosterols effectively reduce LDL-cholesterol when given as supplements, and the smaller amounts in natural foods also appear to be important. The study also found that since phytosterols have very low systemic absorption and are already present in healthy diets, increasing the intake of phytosterols may be a practical way to reduce coronary heart disease with minimum risk. Contraindications for phytosterol supplementation include those with the rare genetic disorders sitosterolemia and cerebrotendinotic xanthomatosis and pregnant and nursing women.
Cecilia McCollum, Blue California’s Executive Vice President states, "Blue California is proud to offer this new form of water-soluble phyterols to the beverage, food and dietary supplement industries. The excellent water-solubility of our micro-encapsulated phytosterols is expected to improve the absorption of these important plant sterols making dietary supplementation for cholesterol control safe and efficacious". Vegetable consumption in the U.S. is not ideal for maintaining healthy cholesterol levels, especially since these important plant sterols are difficult to absorb, thus exacerbating the dietary deficiency. "A complete bioavailability study to determine the degree of absorption and the effect on cholesterol from dietary supplementation with this new ingredient is being considered at this time," added McCollum.
Blue California is a GMP-registered manufacturer of Kosher-certified standardized botanical extracts and other specialty ingredients. Blue California uses raw materials from around the world to produce high quality ingredients for the dietary supplement and functional foods industries. In addition, Blue California offers also contract-manufacturing services such as blending, granulation and chilsonation.
For more information, contact Cecilia McCollum at Blue California, 30111 Tomas, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688. (949) 635-1990, (949) 459-2729 Fax, cecilia@bluecal-ingredients.com, http://www.bluecal-ingredients.com
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