FDA Dietary Supplement Crackdown Makes Case for Simplified Nutrition Advice in Wellness Programs

Dec. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- Fewer than 25% of US adults eat the recommended daily amount of 5 or more vegetable and fruit servings — with devastating costs to workplace wellness, according to a new white paper published by Health Enhancement Systems. Produce First: The Compelling Case for Simplifying Nutrition Programs (http://whitepapers.hesonline.com/produce) is a free resource providing wellness program managers with evidence-based strategies to boost produce consumption and long-term employee health.

Rather than making permanent healthy lifestyle changes, many consumers — endlessly bombarded with complex nutrition advice and weight loss program options —  instead purchase products that promise a quick fix, spending over $20 billion annually on diet supplements alone. The Food and Drug Administration’s recent crackdown (www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm236967.htm) on this loosely regulated market highlights the danger of substitutions for eating well. The FDA’s probe uncovered dozens of popular over-the-counter weight loss products containing sky-high levels of sibutramine, an appetite suppressant linked to a 16% increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and death. By contrast, eating 5 or more vegetable and fruit servings slashes risks of obesity by 24%, stroke by 30%, and heart attack by 15%.  The benefits for any employers’ population are undeniable.

Employers promoting healthy eating need a direct, compelling message  — like the motto, “Eat produce first, other foods next” —  to cut through the noise and inspire results. Recent research (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19751781) finds that nutrition programs organized around clear, simple concepts are far more successful at producing long-term health and weight loss than complex diet plans.

The produce first concept supports popular Health Enhancement Systems nutrition program, Colorful Choices, http://www.colorfulchoices.com. This engaging wellness campaign eliminates time-consuming, complicated calorie counting and food weighing with delicious daily selections of over 120 vibrant vegetables and fruits. As research cited in the white paper affirms, increased produce consumption lowers risk of heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, and hypertension while increasing physical energy.

“Employee wellness managers who enthusiastically promote the produce first message see immediate gains in worker productivity and impressive long-term cost savings,” states Dean Witherspoon, CEO and founder of Health Enhancement Systems. “Effective nutrition programs (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11917669) have been shown to yield over $10 in health care savings for every $1 spent. With employers scrambling to cut costs in a tough economy, corporate health promotion of simple, nutritious eating habits makes solid fiscal sense.”

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About Health Enhancement Systems:

Health Enhancement Systems creates employee wellness programs for organizations in North America and throughout the world. More than 20 effective, engaging HES wellness campaigns have been successfully implemented by over a thousand organizations.

Visit http://www.healthenhancementsystems.com.
For more information about Colorful Choices, visit http://colorfulchoices.com.