December 2015
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Greetings!


The holiday season is upon us, and we at APRE extend to you our best wishes for happy holidays this year. To each of you, our valued partners and colleagues, we'd also like to say thanks. We appreciate your great support of APRE's work in 2015 to promote and advance potato nutrition science through a variety of education and communications initiatives. We look forward to continued success in the coming year and we wish you a healthy and happy New Year.

P
lease visit the APRE website at www.apre.org to access the latest science-based potato nutrition resources, as we frequently update the content online. As always, we welcome your feedback, so feel free to send your comments and suggestions about what resources are most helpful to you and your practice via email to info@apre.org.  
 
Maureen Storey, PhD
APRE President and CEO
 
Research Highlights

In Case You Missed It          
 

When food is wasted, not only are children not getting valuable nutrition, but schools are also losing money. New research published this fall in Food and Nutrition Sciences suggests that schools may be able to reduce plate waste and save money by optimizing entr�e and vegetable pairings.

In fact, the study found that four out of five of the food pairings with the lowest overall plate waste included white potatoes. Nutrient-dense and cost-effective, white potatoes in all forms--from baked to mashed to oven-baked French fries--are a clear "win-win-win" for kids, parents, and schools.
Read the full paper...

Get the APRE Fact Sheet: Potatoes Make the Grade for School Meals to find out more about the nutritious contribution of this versatile vegetable on school lunch trays.

APRE Blog

Get Your Game On with Potatoes!          

In our most recent blog, "A Fresh Take on Fall Tailgating," APRE nutrition communicator and registered dietitian Sophia Kamveris, MS, RD, LD, writes that with football season in full swing, you can elevate your game with the nutrition-packed power of potatoes. Whether gathered in front of TVs or huddled in stadium parking lots, sports fans can
borrow a page from the athlete's nutrition playbook about the importance of eating a properly balanced diet that's full of essential nutrients.  

Potatoes are not only a favorite of fans on the sidelines, Kamveris notes, they are also ideal fuel for athletes on the field. Their combination of carbohydrates, potassium, and B vitamins makes potatoes a great choice for both pre- and post-game meals by providing energy during the game and replenishing muscle glycogen stores and electrolytes after the game. In fact, a recent study affirmed the power of potatoes. Athletes who ate hash browned or French fried potatoes as part of a fast food meal recovered just as well as those who ate a meal of sports supplements and beverages.

Check out the three delicious recipes, too: Overnight Egg, Spinach and Hashbrown Strata; Salt and Vinegar Roasted Potatoes; and Spicy Yogurt Horseradish Dip.
Read the blog... 

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE ALERT

New Journal Supplement Explores Roles of Dietary Fats and Oils in Health, Innovation
 
Are dietary fats and oils really good for us after all? And if so, what types and how much should we consume to achieve a health benefit? How realistic is the dietary advice about fats and oils? These questions and more are discussed in the scientific supplement  "Fats and Oils: Where Food Function Meets Health," published May 15 in the peer-reviewed journal, Advances in Nutrition
 
The supplement features papers from the University of Massachusetts Roundtable on Fats & Oils: Where Food Function Meets Health, held November 18-19, 2013, in Chicago, IL. The roundtable was funded by an unrestricted education grant from APRE.  
  
The Fats and Oils: Where Food Function Meets Health supplement is available from the Advances in Nutrition website.  
 
 
Danielle R. Reed, PhD
FEATURED PAPER:
This month, we link to the abstract of the featured supplement paper, "Recent Advances in Fatty Acid Perception and Genetics," by Danielle R. Reed, PhD and Mary B. Xia of the Monell Chemical Senses Center.

This paper summarizes new knowledge about the contribution of genetic variation to the differences underlying some sensory aspects of dietary fatty acids. The study of fat as a taste quality has lagged behind the other more obvious tastes such as sweet or bitter. It is currently unclear whether fatty acids (FAs) are the only ligands that stimulate the sense of taste or whether other unknown receptors exist.

Fat taste may depend on the brain
's integration of multiple inputs, such as texture and odor, more so than do other taste qualities, and thus may be less amenable to the study of fat molecules in isolation. Regardless of the difficulties, it is important to understand why the taste of fat, defined narrowly or broadly, is appealing and what impact this has on food selection from a nutritional standpoint. Read the abstract...
 
GET THE FACTS
 
Did You Know?
  • Potatoes have one of the highest contents of both potassium and fiber.
  • One medium baked potato with skin provides 26% of the daily value of potassium (920 mg) and 16% of the daily value of fiber (3.6 g).
  • A serving of potato wedges contributes 13% (440 mg) of the daily value of potassium and 8% of the daily value of fiber (2 g).
PARTNER POWER
 
Free Mini-Poster with Holiday Meal Tips


ChooseMyPlate.gov offers several colorful and informational, infographics that each provide a quick message about a potentially complex issue. This month, check out the MyPlate Holiday Makeover infographic, which can be downloaded as a printable mini-poster. The illustrated sheet features simple advice for healthier options during the holiday season.

USDA MyPlate National Partner logo
APRE is a National Strategic Partner of the USDA's MyPlate campaign. Partnering organizations have a health mandate consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) and the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy & Promotion. As a partner, APRE promotes the DGA and MyPlate messaging, such as "Make half your plate fruits and vegetables." 
 
CONNECT WITH APRE


social media network APRE regularly shares a variety of digital links, resources and news with dietitians, health professionals and the nutrition science community through its social media channels.

There are lots of ways to connect with us--LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter--and we invite you to take a moment to Link, Like and Follow us today!

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The Alliance for Potato Research and Education (APRE) is a not-for-profit organization 100% dedicated to expanding and translating scientific research into evidence-based policy and education initiatives that recognize the role of all forms of the potato-a nutritious vegetable-in promoting health for all age groups. APRE is actively building the science foundation concerning the nutritional benefits of the white potato; creating partnerships with critical health professional organizations in the United States and Canada; and providing dietitians and health professionals with the latest scientific research and information on potato nutrition, consumption and affordability. For more, visit www.apre.org