Nutrition: October 2006 Archives

LAWRENCE, Kan. - It's hard to tell what's actually healthy for you to eat these days. As soon as there is evidence of something having health benefits, the media grabs hold of it and spins it out of control.

After researchers found that diets rich in whole grains reduced incidence of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and some forms of cancer, every food company came out with "whole grain" foods. There are now whole grain cookies, Goldfish, chips, cereals and more.

This all sounds great, but how healthy can they be?

NEW YORK - There are plenty of things in Kentucky Fried Chicken that are bad for your health — cholesterol, saturated fat and salt, to name a few. But only one has the potential to get the colonel’s recipe banned in New York City.

That ingredient is artificial trans fatty acids, which are so common that the average American eats 4.7 pounds a year, according to the Food and Drug Administration. City health officials say these so-called trans fats are so unhealthy they belong in the same category as food spoiled by rodent droppings.

On Monday, the Board of Health will hold its first public hearing on a proposal to make New York the first U.S. city to ban restaurants from serving food containing artificial trans fats.

A brilliant article revealing the hidden motives of the FDA that caused 24 warning letter to small nutrition remedies and the following campaign against "small fish" on the nutrition market.

"The last victims were cherry farmers, terrorized for quoting solid science that cherries may help people reduce inflammation and pain without any side effects."

The FDA is trying to distract the public, portraying themselves as effective while they continue to this day to allow thousands of Americans to be injured and die in the name of profits for Bayer.

Read below the whole article.

Summertime treats of tomorrow might include a chilled slice of gooseberry pie, made with a luscious new, dark-red gooseberry called "Jeanne." Scientists with the ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Corvallis, Ore., made the berry available to other researchers and to plant nurseries for the first time this year, following more than 12 years of lab, greenhouse and outdoor tests.

Jeanne gooseberry plants each produce about 3 pounds of sweet, good-sized fruit every year—an impressive harvest that should please commercial growers and backyard gardeners alike.

Whether sold fresh or processed into frozen potato products, Blazer Russet potato is a top-quality tuber. The oblong, medium-to-large veggie weighs in at about seven to eight ounces and has the characteristic light netting, or russeting, on its brown-to-tan skin, with firm, cream-white or white flesh inside.

ARS scientists at Aberdeen, Idaho, and their University of Idaho, Washington State University and Oregon State University colleagues put the tuber through nearly two decades of rigorous laboratory, field and test-kitchen scrutiny before deciding in December 2005 to make this experimental potato a named variety.

Blazer Russet is ready to harvest at about the same time as the popular, early-maturing Shepody potato. But Blazer provides higher yields of premium, U.S. No. 1 potatoes.

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Besides adding their distinctive flavors and textures to salads, soups, burgers—and more—mushrooms also give us key nutrients like copper, potassium, folate and niacin. New nutrient data for seven different kinds of mushrooms—crimini, enoki, maitake, oyster, portabella, shiitake and white button—are now available on the World Wide Web at: www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata as part of the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 19.

ARS scientists at the Beltsville (Md.) Human Nutrition Research Center led the mushroom-data-gathering project, which was funded in part by the Mushroom Council, Dublin, Calif.

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Experimental washes, also called antibrowning dips, for freshly sliced apples show promise for keeping the fruit safe to eat, while at the same time protecting its appealing textures, flavors and colors (Food Microbiology, volume 21, pages 319 to 326). Laboratory experiments by ARS researchers based in Beltsville, Md., showed these protective effects in tests with freshly cut apple slices.

Today's calcium-ascorbate-based washes forestall browning but apparently don't knock out as extensive a range of unwanted microbes, according to the Maryland scientists. The newer formulations, not only kept the apple slices from browning, but also killed unwanted microbes.

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You can't hear the fruits and veggies in your refrigerator breathe, but they do. They take in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. Pairing your fresh produce with a wrapping, or film, best suited to the fruit or veggie's respiratory needs enhances the length of time it will stay fresh and appealing, new tests confirm.

The wraps, newer versions of the familiar, clear-plastic films already used widely in home and commercial kitchens, act as modified-atmosphere packaging that regulates the flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from packages of produce.

Watermelon, besides being fun to eat, is an excellent source of lycopene--a red-pigmented antioxidant thought to guard against heart disease and some cancers.

Now, an ARS researcher based in Lane, Okla., has developed a new technique that makes it easier to extract lycopene from watermelon flesh and juice.

Users can avoid damaging the fragile membranes of the tiny structures—organelles—that protect the lycopene. This gentle approach yields lycopene that is more stable and thus has a longer shelf life.

Sweet, chewy dates provide healthful antioxidants—mostly the kind known as phenolics. But the levels of these compounds vary according to what variety of date you're eating, ARS and University of California-Davis scientists have found.

Deglet Noor dates, the leading commercial variety in the United States, logged a higher antioxidant score than five other types of dates grown in California, the nation's leading producer of this exotic crop.

Fresh blackberries contain a compound that may interfere with genes associated with cancer-promoting agents. The purified compound, cyanidin-3-glucoside (C3G), inhibited growth and spread of skin and lung tumors in tests with laboratory mice (Journal of Biological Chemistry, volume 281, pages 17359 to 17368).

The number and size of skin tumors were significantly reduced among mice that had been supplemented with C3G, when compared to those that had not, the scientists found. In another study, the growth of lung tumors and spread of the cancer to other organs were significantly reduced in immune-system-suppressed mice fed the C3G compound.

Scientists with ARS at Beltsville, Md., and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Morgantown, W.Va., collaborated in the research.

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Blueberries and strawberries may help slow the decline in learning and memory that often occurs as we age. That's according to new findings from tests with 60 laboratory rats, studied for about three months.

Rats in either of three groups of 20 each ate either a standard feed or feed with blueberry extract equal to that of a daily one-cup portion for humans, or feed with strawberry extract equal to a daily one-pint bowlful.

After two months on the regimens, half of the rats in each group were treated to induce aging. Compared to the aged rats on nonsupplemented feed, the aged-but-supplemented rats performed better in a test of their ability to find, and in some cases remember, a particular feature in their environment.

Already shown in some studies to reduce "bad" (LDL) cholesterol, walnuts may have yet another way of enhancing your cardiovascular health.

Tests on 100 laboratory hamsters that ate feed containing ground walnuts for a half-year showed they had significantly lower levels of a protein called endothelin in their arteries. This protein helps regulate blood pressure. But, it also causes inflammation of arteries and growth of sticky deposits, called plaque, in blood vessels. These two conditions contribute to heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.

Wellness is not a static condition. Our health is constantly changing and one of the greatest influences on the state of our health, or wellness, is our nutrition.
Nutrition influences our health because the food we eat becomes our tissue, bone, blood, mind and mood. Looking at food this way, it is easy to see it has enormous potential to affect our health.
Many major food markets today feature a section of the store that is designated the "healthy food aisle". If you look carefully at the ingredient labels on the foods found here, and compare them to similar foods found in other sections of the store, you will likely find different ingredients. Most, but not all, foods in the healthy food aisle are free of trans fats, the partially hydrogenated oils found in so many name brand products. You will likely see cane sugar as the sweetener in the healthy food aisle rather than high fructose corn syrup, a step up from the standard fare.

The government is considering introducing a traffic-light colour coded system on packaging to indicate if a food is healthy.

The proposal was debated at a meeting of the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council in Sydney, which was chaired by Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Christopher Pyne.

The council, which includes ministers responsible for food issues in Australia and New Zealand, is considering a plan to introduce nutrition labelling on the front of packs.

When the time comes that you want to start a workout routine you need to keep one thing in mind if you want results in weight loss and muscle tone: you need to have proper nutrition.

Nutrition is the key element to success for getting into shape. By adopting a proper daily meal plan and measuring the correct amount of each food group into your eating routine you will make your results come quicker and easier.

New report from MoH shows alarming trends in nutrition

A new report showing that the average Kiwi household spends more on confectionary every week than on fresh fruit underlines just how challenging it will be to improve the nutrition of New Zealand families, Health Minister Pete Hodgson said today.

The Food and Nutrition Monitoring Report 2006 – released by the Minister today – includes the latest information on food supply and purchasing patterns, food and nutrient intake, nutritional status and factors influencing dietary intake.

Very daring Press Release by Ardea Beverage Company. I'd even say overbold.

Immune is a nutrient enhanced soda with vitamins, minerals and amino acids that helps boost the immune system to defend against fall and winter ailments..

A recent BBC news report discussed how common colds and flu are very easily transmitted by hands and even just contact with commonly touched surfaces. Immune serves as a powerful tool in supporting the combat of spreading germs and viruses by this type of transmission.

And the most important part of this PR:

The statements in this press release have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

This is not the first attempt to release such kind of "bomb" to the market. Remember Coca-Cola's attempt to make a Weight-Loss soda? Now this. Just "in time" before the horror of coming winter, which is promised to bring another flu pandemic. At least, according to the media.

It looks like a good article. At least it asks you to think before going for wide-advertised products.

However, I am somewhat concerned about it. I want solid numbers in order to believe. And the link at the bottom fo the article is broken...

Well, I let you to decide for yourself

Are you a good cook? We're not asking about how things taste but rather about your healthy cooking habits. Here's a quiz to find out.

1. Adding salt to water will make food cook faster.

True or false?

2. Add fresh herbs at the end of cooking time to get the most flavor from them.

True or false?

Over 700,000 babies and children could be saved every year in the Eastern Mediterranean region if countries adopted some simple low cost health measures, say researchers in this week's British Medical Journal.

The Eastern Mediterranean region accounts for 1.4 million deaths among children under 5 every year. Most of these occur in just seven countries (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, and Yemen) where mortality exceeds 50 for every 1,000 live births.

Yet more than half of these deaths could be prevented if these countries implemented a range of proven, low cost health measures, write Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta and colleagues.

by S. Anderson and E. Lerch, 19 Oct 2006

In response to national trends, West’s administration has taken an aggressive stance on the fight against obesity this year. The district has made food healthier, portions smaller, and the vending machines are making a slow change to diet sodas and juice. Assistant Principal Peter Cernohous believes the changes are responding to national health concerns.

“We switched to healthy food because there had been a major concern of obesity, and a lot of kids at West go for the junk food at lunch,” he said.

Philippines - The government is taking its fight against malnutrition to a new level through the e-nutrition portal, a website that would help arrest the problem of "double burden of malnutrition" prevalent in developing countries, including the Philippines.

The recently-launched http://www.enutrition.fnri.dost.gov.ph portal offers features and key nutrition information, including basic nutritional guide, Body Mass Index calculator, and the nutri-GIS (geographical information system) that identify areas plagued by malnutrition.

The veggie's green pigment makes it a potent disease-fighter. Substances called isothiocyanates, found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, stimulate our bodies to break down potential carcinogens. Plus, ounce for ounce, broccoli contains as much calcium as milk.

by Ebbina Clorah, IPP media, 18 Oct 2006

Good nutrition improves immunity and so helps in the prevention of infections. Malnutrition is a significant underlying factor in more than half the deaths of young children in developing countries.

This is particularly true for deaths from diarrhoea, measles, acute respiratory, infection, meningitis and malaria. Malnutrition impairs the immune system so that infections are more frequent, more serious and last longer.

Programmes for the prevention and early treatment of childhood illnesses include several key nutritional interventions such as reducing prevalence of low birth weight.

SYDNEY (AFP) - An obesity epidemic affecting almost 16 percent of Australians cost the country a staggering 21 billion dollars (15.8 billion US dollars) last year, double what it spends on health, new figures show.

About 3.24 million Australians are obese, according to analysis by Access Economics released at a forum at Parliament House in Canberra, attended by more than 130 Australian and international experts on health and food.

That figure should force every Australian to look at their lifestyle, said government senator Guy Barnett, who hosted the forum.

Food Company Danone-Serdika Bulgaria started the second stage of an educational campaign for healthy nutrition aimed to the children on October 17.

The company organized a performance lesson that included tests and task that will help the children learn the "golden rules" for healthy nutrition while solving tasks and lessons. At the end of the event, the children received a certificate for the successful completion of the course.

Organically grown wheat may have different labeling and a higher price in stores, but it contains essentially the same profile of amino acids, sugars and other metabolic substances as wheat grown with conventional farming.

That's the conclusion of a German study, which produced perhaps the most comprehensive metabolic profile of wheat from organic and conventional agriculture.

NEW YORK -- Health experts have dismissed claims that a new green tea-based drink would help people lose weight by speeding up the drinker's metabolic rate, thus burning more calories.
Read "Calorie-burning drink: Too good to be true?" on ImmunoDefence.com for more information.

Coca-Cola Co. unveiled plans last Thursday to start selling Enviga, a sparkling, caffeinated soft drink, stating that consuming three 12-ounce cans over 24 hours could burn off between 60 to 100 calories.

by Jodi Hawkins, The Southern Health, 16 Oct 2006

Ask anyone who works for a living how much time they have to focus on healthy eating and chances are the answer will end in dietary disaster.

Single professionals, in particular, may find it harder to meet their own nutritional needs through grocery shopping or cooking than their married counterparts. That's because many working individuals who live alone rarely place healthy eating high on their priority lists, especially when time is limited and there's no one else to consider their nutritional welfare at home or help in preparing meals.

By Lorraine Heller, 16 Oct 2006

Most Americans use food labels and the government Food Pyramid to make informed diet choices, with a main priority being to follow a more nutritious diet, according to a new survey.

Two out of five US adults say they have changed their eating habits to conform to the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) nutrition guidelines, while just over half claim to check food labels when choosing products for themselves or their families, revealed the Harris Interactive/Wall Street Journal Online survey.

The Bangladeshi government and the World Bank (WB) on Sunday signed an agreement to provide 460 million U.S. dollars of Development Partners Grant Fund for the Bangladesh's Health Nutrition and Population Sector Program (HNPSP) , local news agency UNB reported.

The HNPSP builds on Bangladesh's achievements in the health sector, targeting resources at the poor and aiming to create a healthcare system that is efficient and accountable to users.

The project has three components. The first one focuses on accelerating the achievements of the health related Millennium Development Goals and the government's poverty reduction strategies and population policy objectives.

In an effort to lose weight or at least cut down on calories, many people look for foods made with artificial sweeteners. How much do you know about these common additives?

1 Artificial sweeteners are chemicals that offer the sweetness of sugar without the calories.

True or false?

2 According to the National Cancer Institute, there is no scientific evidence that any artificial sweeteners approved for use in the United States cause cancer.

True or false?

The Food Standards Agency and the Department of Health have set up a nutrition strategy steering group and held the first meeting last week. The NSSG is chaired jointly by FSA chair Deirdre Hutton and public health minister Caroline Flint.

The group brings together representatives from consumer and health groups but also industry representatives including Sainsbury’s Justin King and Waitrose md Steven Esom.

by Laurie Barclay, News CME, 11 Oct 2006

Regular consumption of carbonated cola drinks may increase risk for low bone mineral density (BMD) in women, according to the results of the Framingham Osteoporosis Study reported in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"Soft drink consumption may have adverse effects on bone mineral density (BMD), but studies have shown mixed results," write Katherine L. Tucker, MD, from Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues. "In addition to displacing healthier beverages, colas contain caffeine and phosphoric acid (H3PO4), which may adversely affect bone."

By Jennifer Warner, WebMD, 11 Oct 2006

Sticking to decaf isn't going to eliminate caffeine from your coffee.

That's according to a new study that shows even decaffeinated coffee comes with at least a small dose of caffeine.

"If someone drinks five to 10 cups of decaffeinated coffee, the dose of caffeine could easily reach the level present in a cup or two of caffeinated coffee," says researcher Bruce A. Goldberger, PhD, of the University of Florida, in a news release.

by Gabrielle Fagan, 10 Oct 2006

Don't be fooled by late sunshine. Winter's on its way, and now's the time to boost your immune system. Avoid succumbing to colds and flu in a few months by using our immune-boosting tips.

DOCTORS' surgeries will soon start filling up with cold and flu sufferers and the worst months - January and February - usually see them overflowing with sneezing, shivering victims.

In Britain, the national average for each of us is about 2.5 colds a year. That means the average person spends around 20 days each year coughing, and blowing through reddened nostrils, and around 15% of us will have fallen victim to flu by February.

Right Direction Chocolate Chip Cookies lower cholesterol and improve lipid subfraction profile, lowering the risk of heart disease, according to a published study in The Journal of Nutrition (October). The chocolate chip cookies, made with a combination of psyllium and plant sterols, are a tasty all-natural approach to reducing cardiovascular risk associated with cholesterol.

The American Heart Association estimates at least 50 percent of the American adult population has high cholesterol. The study revealed eating two Right Direction Cookies daily showed a ten percent decrease in LDL cholesterol as well as shifting the LDL particles toward a less atherogenic pattern.

by Dr. Mallika Marshall Rolls, CBS, 7 Oct 2006

Are your children eating what they should for good health and growth? Well, the latest government dietary guidelines say: Maybe not, especially when it comes to five essential nutrients. Dr. Mallika Marshall shared more information on The Saturday Early Show.

Here are five nutrients children need that they might lack:

WASHINGTON - The same brain circuits are involved when obese people fill their stomachs as when drug addicts think about drugs, a finding that suggests overeating and addiction may be linked, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. The finding may help in creating better treatments for obesity — a growing problem in the United States and elsewhere. "We wanted to know why, when people are already full, why people are still eating a lot," said Dr. Gene-Jack Wang of Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York.

By Caroline Jacobs Tue Sep 19, 1:14 PM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - The French are becoming bigger and fatter and French women in particular are increasingly giving up on their renowned "taille fine," a survey that tracks weight patterns in France shows.

Nearly 42 percent of the French population older than 15 years has a weight problem, an ObEpi-Roche survey showed on Tuesday. Almost a third is overweight and 12.4 percent is obese.

Despite a notion that the French shun overeating and junk food, obesity is still on the rise, according to the study, which has been conducted every three years since 1997.

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TUESDAY, Oct. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Japanese researchers have discovered a naturally occurring molecule that suppresses appetite in mammals, raising hopes that it might one day treat obesity in humans.

Over a period of 10 days, rats that received a continuous infusion of the compound, called nesfatin-1, ate significantly less food than untreated rats. They also gained significantly less weight than untreated rats (an average of 12.6 grams vs. an average of 30.4 grams), apparently without any adverse effects.

The findings, published in the Oct. 1 online edition of Nature, "indicate that nesfatin-1 might be a useful target for the development of drug therapies to treat obese persons," the study authors concluded.