Julie Hess, Ph.D.

Contact Information

(701) 795-8146
julie.hess@usda.gov

Biography

Dr. Hess received Bachelor of Arts degrees in French and English from the University of Texas at Austin and earned a doctoral degree in Human Nutrition from the University of Minnesota, where she studied the health impacts, consumption patterns, and dietary guidance around snacking, mushroom intake, and dairy intake.

Before joining the USDA ARS Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center (GFHNRC) as a Research Nutritionist in July 2021, Dr. Hess served as Vice President of Scientific Affairs for the National Dairy Council. She is an active member and volunteer with several nutrition and scientific organizations, including the Institute of Food Technologists and the American Society for Nutrition.

Research Interests

Dr. Hess’s research is centered on identifying and evaluating strategies to help Americans meet recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Her work involves investigating how American diets currently align with dietary guidance and recognizing and addressing barriers to following recommendations, including diet cost, dietary restrictions, and dietary preferences. She is especially interested in eating frequency and how “snacking,” or eating between meals, may impact overall energy and nutrient intakes as well as how external factors may affect eating frequency and eating behaviors.

Research Accomplishments

• Established that “snacking” as an eating occasion was poorly defined in the nutrition literature and that, in cross-sectional studies, “snacks” were largely comprised of nutrient-poor foods, indicating an important opportunity to encourage nutrient-dense choices
• Demonstrated that the food patterns recommended for adults by the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans can be modified to accommodate vegan and dairy-free diets with minimal impact on nutrient adequacy
• Demonstrated that white button mushrooms consumed as part of a typical American diet do not impact energy (calorie) intake in healthy young adults
• Established that whole- and reduced-fat dairy products can be included in recommended USDA food patterns from the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans with minimal impacts on energy and saturated fat intake
• Established that Americans meeting recommendations for dairy food intake from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans were more likely to have adequate intake of several micronutrients (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, riboflavin, vitamin A, vitamin B12, zinc) than Americans not meeting dairy recommendations
• Determined the lowest cost food sources for nutrients of public health concern (calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and fiber) in the American diet

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

• Projects

  Dietary and Physical Activity Guidance for Weight Loss and Maintenance In-House Appropriated (D)   Accession Number:435947

• Publications

  • (Clicking on the reprint icon will take you to the publication reprint.)
  • Editorial: secondary analysis of national nutrition surveys: from science to policy-(Other)
    
    
  • A research roadmap about processed foods, food processing, and human health in the context of the US food system: proceedings from an interdisciplinary workshop-(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    
    
  • What exactly are “ultra-processed” foods? Can they be part of a healthy diet?-(Review Article)
    
    
  • Defining ultra-processed foods-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Defining ultra-processed foods. Nutrition meeting July 22-25, 2023. Nutrition-Translation Research Interest Section (NT-RIS).
    
  • Building healthy dietary patterns with ultra-processed foods-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Building healthy dietary patterns with ultra-processed foods. FoodFluence Conference (vitural follow-up presentation July 13, 2023).
    
  • Pilot study protocol- application of non-invasive vitamin D hair test and screening e-tool for indigenous populations in the Great Northern Plains-(Abstract Only)
    
    
  • Creating a nutrient-dense menu using indigenous foods for use in dietary intervention trial: A study protocol-(Abstract Only)
    
    
  • Multidisciplinary collaboration for development of culturally appropriate local, traditional indigenous dietary intervention-(Abstract Only)
    
    
  • Dietary guidelines meet NOVA: developing a menu for a healthy dietary pattern using ultra-processed foods -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Hess, J.M., Comeau, M.E., Casperson, S.L., Slavin, J., Johnson, G.H., Messina, M., Raatz, S., Scheet, A.J., Bodensteiner, A., Palmer, D. 2023. Dietary guidelines meet NOVA: developing a menu for a healthy dietary pattern using ultra-processed foods. Journal of Nutrition. 153(8):2472-2481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.06.028.
    
  • Ultra-processed foods in healthy dietary patterns-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Ultra-processed foods in healthy dietary patterns. International Food Information Council Mid-Year Meeting, Washington, D.C.
    
  • Building healthy dietary patterns with ultra-processed foods-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Building healthy dietary patterns with ultra-processed foods. IFANS Food Classification Workshop, Washington, D.C.
    
  • Ultra-processed foods in healthy dietary patterns-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Ultra-processed foods in healthy dietary patterns. Presentation to Nestle Global Public Affairs, Nutrition Research Center.
    
  • Dietary supplements are an important nutrient source for older Americans- what does this mean for dietary guidance? -(Other)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Dietary supplements are an important nutrient source for older Americans- what does this mean for dietary guidance?. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 118(1):3-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.04.028.
    
  • Nutrition and wellness-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Nutrition and wellness. University of Minnesota CFANS presentation.
    
  • Ultra-processed dga: building healthy dietary patterns with ultra-processed foods-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Ultra-processed dga: building healthy dietary patterns with ultra-processed foods. Institute of Food Technologists meeting, Chicago, IL.
    
  • Developing a healthy dietary pattern with ultra-processed foods-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Developing a healthy dietary pattern with ultra-processed foods. Institute of Food Technologists Meeting, Washington D.C.
    
  • Modeling lacto-vegetarian, pescatarian, and 'pescavegan' USDA Food patterns and assessing nutrient adequacy for healthy, non-pregnant, non-lactating adults -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Hess, J.M., Comeau, M.E. 2023. Modeling lacto-vegetarian, pescatarian, and 'pescavegan' USDA Food patterns and assessing nutrient adequacy for healthy, non-pregnant, non-lactating adults. Frontiers in Nutrition. 10. Article 113792. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2023.1113792.
    
  • Dietary guidelines for americans meets ultra-processed foods-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Dietary guidelines for americans meets ultra-processed foods. FoodFluence Conference, New Orleans, LA.
    
  • Current evidence on front of pack labeling in the U.S.-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2023. Current evidence on front of pack labeling in the U.S. FoodFluence Conference, New Orleans, LA.
    
  • Sensitivity of pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy to detect dose-dependent changes in skin carotenoids: A randomized controlled trial -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Casperson, S.L., Jahns, L.A., Larson, K.J., Hess, J.M., Palmer, D., Roemmich, J.N. 2023. Sensitivity of pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy to detect dose-dependent changes in skin carotenoids: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Nutrition. 153(2):588-597. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.01.002.
    
  • Biochemical validation of a self-administered carotenoid intake screener to assess carotenoid intake in non-obese adults -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Casperson, S.L., Scheett, A., Palmer, D.G., Jahns, L., Hess, J.M., Roemmich, J.N. 2023. Biochemical validation of a self-administered carotenoid intake screener to assess carotenoid intake in non-obese adults. Current Developments in Nutrition. 7(2):1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2022.100024.
    
  • Application of dairy-free vegetarian and vegan USDA food pattern models for non-pregnant, non-lactating healthy adults-(Other)
    
    
  • Disparity in dairy servings intake by ethnicity and age in NHANES 2015-2018 -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Cifelli, C.J., Fulgoni, K., Fulgoni, V.L., Hess, J.M. 2022. Disparity in dairy servings intake by ethnicity and age in NHANES 2015-2018. Current Developments in Nutrition. 7(2). Article 100010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2022.100010.
    
  • Understanding the link between frequency of eating and cardiometabolic health outcomes in Americans who "snack" -(Review Article)
    Hess, J.M. 2022. Understanding the link between frequency of eating and cardiometabolic health outcomes in Americans who "snack". Journal of Dairy Science Communications. 3(6):462-466. https://doi.org/10.3168/jdsc.2022-0289.
    
  • Application of dairy-free vegetarian and vegan USDA Food Pattern Models for non-pregnant, non-lactating healthy adults -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Hess, J.M., Comeau, M.E. 2022. Application of dairy-free vegetarian and vegan USDA Food Pattern Models for non-pregnant, non-lactating healthy adults. Journal of Food Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.16314.
    
  • Understanding the link between eating occasions and health outcomes in Americans who “snack”-(Abstract Only)
    
    
  • Modeling dairy-free vegetarian and vegan USDA food patterns for non-pregnant, non-lactating adults -(Peer Reviewed Journal)
    Hess, J.M. 2022. Modeling dairy-free vegetarian and vegan USDA food patterns for non-pregnant, non-lactating adults. Journal of Nutrition. Article nxac100. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxac100.
    
  • Modeling dairy-free and vegan USDA food patterns-(Abstract Only)
    
    
  • Application of a vegan USDA food pattern model-(Abstract Only)
    
    
  • Nutrition and wellness-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2022. Nutrition and wellness. University of Dakota (virtual) March 1.
    
  • Building a nutrition science research career-(Abstract Only)
    Hess, J.M. 2021. Building a nutrition science research career. Nutrition & Dietetics Course 494 at Univeristy of North Dakota (virtual).
    

• ARS News Articles

  Scientist Evaluates Dietary Food Patterns for Healthy Adults Eating Dairy-Free Vegetarian or Vegan Diets