Our daughter Liv is eight years old. We adore her. To the chagrin of her parents, however, she likes to eat slowly – with dinner taking up to 45 minutes to get through. This stands in stark contrast to our habits created over decades of eating quickly (unless at a celebratory event where this would be inappropriate!), and then moving on to the next thing on the agenda… So we have been encouraging her to speed up her chewing. But, it turns out, studies on nutrition and health show that it is in fact us who need to slow down and we should be learning from our eight year old.

To find out more I picked up ‘Savor’, by Harvard lecturer Dr. Lilian Cheung and Thich Nhat Hanh (whom the New York Times calls ‘second to the Dalai Lama’). ‘Savor’ is a dense and extremely informative read. But what differentiates it from many books on healthy nutrition is that it introduces practical elements of ‘mindfulness’ into the mix – based both on Buddhist inspiration and on scientific evidence. Being in the here and now not only promotes optimal weight and health, but also more general well-being. I spoke with Cheung to find out more about her research, her personal journey and what her ethos can do for us.

The role

Lilian Cheung is director of health promotion and communication at the Harvard School of Public Health. She also serves as editorial director for the school’s Nutrition’s Source website, The Nutrition Source, and has been teaching at Harvard since 1985. Her role is to translate nutrition science into multimedia resources and community programs that promote healthy lifestyles for children, adults and families. Moderator, author and researcher, she was also pivotal in the launch of ‘Eat Well & Keep Moving’, a nutrition and physical education program for elementary school children. In addition, she regularly blogs on her own website on mindful eating and living.

Planting the seeds

Born in Hong Kong, Cheung was raised in a traditional Chinese family. As a teenager she wanted to be a doctor. Her mother did not think this was advisable for a woman though, as to have a demanding career would interfere with having a family. Her mother’s influence was significant in other areas too, “She introduced me to the field of nutrition as food is very important in Chinese culture, it is considered a form of preventive medicine.” Raised in Confucianism, which encourages children to show respect for the wishes and demands of parents, Lilian Cheung agreed and pursued this as her career.

At 16 Cheung finished her final year of high school in Canada and then went on to get her bachelor’s degree from the University of Guelph, Canada, and a master’s degree and a doctorate in nutrition from Harvard University.

Ironically, Cheung found herself gaining close to 25 pounds over this period – primarily due to eating in the school’s dining halls. Moving off campus and going back to the basics of Chinese cuisine, however, allowed her to lose all the weight quickly and without too much difficulty. This experience set her on a path of emphasizing the importance of wholesome, unprocessed food and healthy lifestyles in the educational sector...

Nationally, the percentage of adults who eat fruit twice a day or more was just 32.5% in 2009, down from 34.4% in 2000. The percentage who eat vegetables three or more times a day remained relatively the same: 26.3% in 2009, down just a fraction from 26.7% in 2000.

No state met the government target that aimed to have 75% of adults consuming two or more fruit servings a day and 50% consuming three or more vegetable servings a day. That goal was spelled out in a report called Healthy People 2010 by the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

Fruit juice in the same category as soda? This is the sort of generalizing that happens when foods are reduced to nutrient profiles. The truth is that SSBs, like cookies, cakes, or other sweet nothings, aren't inherently bad. But consuming too much of them is.

Studies have essentially linked SSB consumption to weight gain, which in part may be due to the fact that liquid calories go down so easily—so easily that we do a bad job of cutting back elsewhere in our diets to compensate for the extra calorie intake.

But the harm likely comes from more than just the calories. Research indicates that a steady stream of liquid sugar can wreak havoc on your body. According to Lilian Cheung, DSc, RD, Director of Health Promotion and Communication at Harvard's School of Public Health, "Drinking sugary beverages on a regular basis is associated with an increased risk of becoming overweight or obese, developing diabetes and possibly high blood pressure, unfavorable blood lipid profiles, inflammation, and heart disease."

Most American men consume about 11 grams of salt every day. It's one of our basic tastes, and it's in just about everything we eat.

"Nightline" investigates what too much salt and sodium can do to your body. Although we do need some salt to live, many doctors say those 11 grams -- less than two teaspoons a day -- are killing 150,000 people each year.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and doctors have declared a renewed attack in the war on salt. This attack is aimed at restaurants that overuse it and the manufacturers that liberally use salt to process food.

The push is also an attempt to educate consumers, who, for the most part, are oblivious to the amount of salt in their food.

According to Dr. Frank Sacks, a professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at Harvard who is at the forefront of the war on salt, the food industry and our own taste buds have contributed to our salt consumption.