Food Chemicals
NW: Questions about what a legume REALLY is, protein water drinks and weight gain, and aspartame safety.
By AICR
Sep 13, 2007 - 7:20:47 PM

Editor's note:  For aspartame safety, readers may find other articles on the site to have a deep understanding of this issue.

Week of September 10, 2007
Contact: Glen Weldon, (202) 328-7744

Nutrition Wise

Karen Collins, MS, RD, CDN
American Institute for Cancer Research

Q: Are green peas also known as legumes?

A: Botanically speaking, yes. Legumes are a class of vegetables that includes peas, beans and lentils. These plants grow as vines or bushes, developing pods that contain edible seeds. Legumes can be eaten as whole, fresh pods (like green beans), fresh seeds (like green peas) and dried seeds (like black-eyed peas and kidney beans). All are healthful food choices. But when people usually speak of legumes, they only mean dried legumes. From a nutrition perspective, dried legumes are different. They are an excellent alternative protein to meat. Dried legumes include kidney, garbanzo, pinto and black beans, as well as split peas, lentils and soybeans. These dried foods contain about twice as much protein, fiber and iron as an equal portion of fresh green peas. Because the differences are so great, most nutrition experts consider green peas and green beans vegetables and only refer to the dried forms as legumes.

Q: How do protein water drinks help with weight control?

A: There’s really no evidence that they do. Protein tends to help keep hunger satisfied, although generally solid food or soup is more effective at staving off hunger than liquids. Having a portion-controlled food or drink that provides a small amount of calories can help with weight control by avoiding two problems: 1) choosing a snack with too many calories and 2) getting too hungry from avoiding a snack and then overeating at the next meal. However, you can avoid both of these problems in a variety of ways. A piece of fruit provides portion-controlled energy and filling fiber, as well as a host of vitamins and health-protective phytochemicals. Following it with some water, tea or coffee may allow that fiber to be even more filling. A container of yogurt, a piece of string cheese or a one-ounce sleeve of nuts supplies hunger-satisfying protein and a variety of nutrients. For that matter, a large coffee or tea with a half-cup of skim milk contains about the same protein and calories as a popular commercial protein water beverage, for much less money. Also, read labels carefully: when a beverage or food is part of an overall recommended approach to weight loss, it may be other steps in the program (such as eating smaller meals) that produce the advertised weight loss rather than the “special” food or drink.

Q: What is the latest understanding of the safety of aspartame?

A: In one of the most recent studies, researchers fed various doses of aspartame (marketed as NutraSweet and Equal) to rats and found that the highest dose increased risk of leukemia, lymphoma and breast cancer. However, that dose (100 milligrams per kilogram of body weight) would equal 36 cans of diet soda a day for someone who weighs 150 pounds, and 12 cans a day for a 50-pound child. Some people are worried about a tendency in that study for increased risk at even 20 mg per kg of body weight, but those results were not “statistically significant,” which means that the slight increase could just as likely be due to chance. A study of over half a million people by the National Cancer Institute found no cancer link with amounts of aspartame found in about 18 cans of diet soda. The upper limit of safety, called the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI), is set at 50 mg per kg body weight in the United States. That figure corresponds to about 6 cans of diet soda per day for a 50-pound child and 18 cans for someone who weighs 150 pounds. Of course, aspartame can be found in a variety of foods. As with any part of our diet, moderation is the best policy. Most of us can make changes to our eating habits that will have much more cancer-prevention benefit than worrying about moderate use of aspartame-sweetened foods.

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AICR’s Nutrition Hotline is a free service that allows you to ask a registered dietitian questions about diet, nutrition and cancer. Access it online at www.aicr.org/hotline or by phone (1-800-843-8114) 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET Monday-Friday. AICR is the only major cancer charity focused exclusively on the link between diet, nutrition and cancer. It provides education programs that help Americans learn to make changes for lower cancer risk. AICR also supports innovative research in cancer prevention and treatment at universities, hospitals and research centers. It has provided more than $78 million for research in diet, nutrition and cancer. AICR’s Web address is www.aicr.org .

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