Food studies don’t always tell the whole story
The flip-flop nature of food research is enough to drive you crazy.
Every day, it seems, there’s a new study about whether coffee, eggs or other foods are life-lengtheners or heart-stoppers, often appearing to contradict the study that came before.
Take, for example, two studies that made headlines recently. One found little evidence that organically grown food is more nutritious than conventionally grown produce, and the other challenged the long-held assumption that severe calorie-restricted diets would increase lifespan in higher primates.
For Luisa Newton, the news that Stanford University researchers found little evidence that organic products consistently were higher in vitamins won’t change her habit of buying mostly organic produce.
“In most of the publicity, they don’t point out that non-organic food has more pesticide residue, and that concerns me as much as any nutrition comparison,” said Newton, a retired singer in San Antonio. “So does the effect of pesticides on the rest of the environment.”
Nutrition supplement may help treat rare form of autism
People who have a very rare form of autism may benefit from treatment with a common nutritional supplement, a new study suggests.
The results show some people who have symptoms of both autism and epilepsy have a rare genetic mutation that causes them to have abnormally low levels of essential nutrients called branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs).
When the researchers fed a diet enriched with BCAAs to mice that were engineered to have that same genetic mutation, the diet completely reversed the symptoms, the researchers said. The mice not fed the enriched diet showed the symptoms of epilepsy and other neurological problems.
However, it’s not clear whether the findings will translate to people. Because the mutation is so rare, the researchers have not yet studied the effects of adding BCAA supplements to the diet of people with this particular form of autism, and it’s possible a change in diet may only be beneficial if started early in life (the patients currently known to have the mutation are no longer young children).
Red wine polyphenols show blood sugar benefits
Polyphenols from wine may improve glucose metabolism in men at high risk of heart disease, suggests a new study from Spain.
A daily glass of red wine or dealcoholized red wine for four weeks was associated with a significant improvement in glucose metabolism, as measured by insulin resistance, according to findings published in Clinical Nutrition .
“In our study both red wine and dealcoholized red wine improved insulin sensitivity which, together with prior findings, suggests that both ethanol and polyphenols are responsible for this beneficial effect,” wrote researchers from the University of Barcelona and the University of Valencia in Spain.
Yerba mate tea fights diabetes mellitus type 2
If you are overweight or obese, you may be at risk for diabetes mellitus type 2 or you may have already acquired prediabetes. One thing to do to minimize your risk or to stop the disease is drinking Yerba mate tea infusions, according to a study in Journal of American College of Nutrition.
Yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis) infusions have been demonstrated to reduce plasma glucose in animals and serum lipids in humans. The current study was intended to evaluate the effect of roasted mate tea consumption on the glycemic and lipid profiles of men and women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or pre-diabetes.
Involved in the study were 29 people with diabetes mellitus type 2 and 29 with pre-diabetes who were divided into 3 groups, subject to different interventions: mate tea regimen, dietary intervention, and mate tea and dietary intervention. The mate tea regimen required subjects to drink 330 mL of roasted mate tea 3 times a day for over 60 days and the dietary intervention meant nutritional counseling also over 60 days. Food intake was assessed and blood samples were analysed at baseline, and 20, 40, and 60 days of treatments.
Swim training plus healthy diet factor in cancer fight
A new study just published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism (APNM) reaffirms the crucial role exercise along with good nutrition play in maintaining health and fighting disease.
“Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most frequent cancer worldwide, ranking third among all cancer-related deaths. Clinical and experimental studies have shown that physical exercise helps to prevent cancer and improving quality of life,” says Dr. Luís Fernando Barbisan, a coauthor of this study and a researcher in the Department of Morphology at the Institute of Biosciences of São Paulo State University in Brazil. “This study is the first to demonstrate that there is a beneficial effect of exercise training against progression of liver carcinogenesis in rats fed a low-fat diet, but not in rats fed a high-fat diet. That high-fat diet regimen mimics the food habits of humans living in Western countries.”
Exercise, good nutrition play a crucial role in maintaining health and fighting disease
A new study just published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism (APNM) reaffirms the crucial role exercise along with good nutrition play in maintaining health and fighting disease.
“Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most frequent cancer worldwide, ranking third among all cancer-related deaths. Clinical and experimental studies have shown that physical exercise helps to prevent cancer and improving quality of life,” says Dr. Lu-s Fernando Barbisan, a coauthor of this study and a researcher in the Department of Morphology at the Institute of Biosciences of S-o Paulo State University in Brazil. “This study is the first to demonstrate that there is a beneficial effect of exercise training against progression of liver carcinogenesis in rats fed a low-fat diet, but not in rats fed a high-fat diet. That high-fat diet regimen mimics the food habits of humans living in Western countries.”
A banana a day doesn’t cut it
Thumbing through the nutrition journals published this month, a story caught my eye. Lost among the public debate around eggs and organic foods, a study published in the September edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that only 2% of the U.S. population is meeting its needs for potassium. Two percent! Why does this matter? Well, first, we can assume that, if our U.S. counterparts are so very far from meeting their needs, it’s unlikely that those of us north of the border are doing better. But that aside, while we spend an endless amount of energy discussing reducing sodium, very little seems to be said about the importance of getting more of this important mineral into our diets.
A FAILING GRADE
The new study is based on data taken from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES), which tracked the diets of adult Americans every two years from 2003 to 2008. In this study, researchers broke down subjects’ diets according to both sodium and potassium. In the case of the former, various groups, including the American Heart Association, recommend an upper intake level of 2,300 mg per day (about the equivalent of one teaspoon of table salt), with an ideal intake of less than 1,500 mg per day.
Fatty Foods Cause Brain Damage
A new study finds that fat-filled foods may damage the region of the brain responsible for regulating a person’s appetite, which scientists say could account for why overweight people struggle with sticking to a diet plan.
Announced on Friday at the British Science Festival, the study found that a diet rich in saturated fats leads to damage to the brain’s hypothalamus, a key region involved in controlling appetite. The findings suggest that saturated fats may have a direct impact on the body’s ability to stick to a diet, said Lynda Williams of the Rowett Institute for Nutrition and Health at Aberdeen University.
“The hypothalamus is a small area at the base of the brain containing neurones that control the amount of food we eat and the energy we expend,” she explains. “However, this control breaks down in obesity — the system appears not to work — and we don’t really know why this happens.”
8 Min Abs Workout
Soup may prevent childhood asthma
Soup is being investigated as a potential solution to childhood asthma.
Scientists have modified a range of commercially available soups to boost vitamin E levels.
They hope pregnant women consuming the products will have babies with built-in protection against asthma.
Previous research has shown that women lacking vitamin E in their diet give birth to children who are more at risk of developing asthma by the age of five.
The team added natural ingredients containing the vitamin, such as sun-dried tomatoes, sunflower oil, beans and lentils, to canned soup.
In a pilot study starting in the next month, 25 women 12 weeks into their pregnancies will be given three bowls of vitamin E-enhanced soup a week. Another group of 25 women will eat ordinary soup, but neither will know what variety they are getting.
