Organic Foods Not Necessarily Better
Will eating pricey organic foods make you healthier? Maybe not, a new research review shows.
The review sums up evidence from hundreds of studies of organic foods. It’s published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Some of the studies compared organic milk, meats, eggs, and produce to non-organic foods. Those studies measured nutrients in the foods as well as contaminants like pesticides and bacteria. A few studies tried to find health differences between people who ate only organic or only non-organic foods.
After weighing all the evidence, the researchers conclude that organic foods don’t appear to have more vitamins or nutrients than non-organic foods.
Non-organic fruits and vegetables were30% more likely to have pesticides than organic fruits and vegetables. But because it’s rare for any produce to exceed pesticide safety limits set by the FDA, researchers say it’s not known whether reducing an already small exposure makes a difference.
The review also shows that organic meats are less likely to harbor “superbug” bacteria that are resistant to treatment with antibiotics. But researchers say most antibiotic-resistant infections in people come from misuse of antibiotics, not from eating contaminated foods.
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Coffee could protect against bowel cancer
It can cut the risk of developing a tumour by between15 per cent and 25 per cent, the study of almost half a million people found.
Some previous studies have hinted that coffee could have a protective effect, but their findings have been inconclusive.
However, researchers at the US National Cancer Research Institute in Rockville, Maryland, have found evidence of a possible protective effect.
They looked at 490,000 people who agreed to have their health monitored for a decade, after answering questions about their lifestyle and diet in the mid 1990s. The research is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Among the sixth who said they drank four or more cups a day, the risk of being diagnosed with bowel or rectal cancer over the decade was 15 per cent lower than non-drinkers of coffee.
Blueberries are ‘powerhouse’ fruit
Toronto’s Steve Fry is crazy for blueberries. So much so that he started a campaign to make them Canada’s national fruit.
“They are native to North America and half of the global production of the fruit is Canadian,” says the business consultant. “And they’re so healthy.”
While his four-year-old campaign didn’t get the result he wanted, he’s still convinced the fruit is the nation’s best. He is continuing his blueberry campaign on his website Blueberrycanada.com.
“I was in Nunavut and saw native women picking something off the tundra. It turned out to be blueberries. I had no idea they grew up there, so they really are a national fruit!”
Canadians should listen to Fry and also to Madonna, who has such a high regard for Canadian blueberries that she has said they are her berry of choice.
“Blueberries are nutritional powerhouses,” says Sun nutrition columnist Fran Berkoff. While one cup of raw blueberries contains 15 mg of vitamin C, 4 grams of fibre and 84 calories, the more important nutritional benefits come from their plant chemicals, which are responsible for their deep blue colour and their antioxidant power.
Study Examines Why Some Fats Are Worse than Others
All dietary fats are not created equal. Some types of fats have been linked to ailments like heart disease and diabetes, while others, like those often found in plants and fish, have well documented health benefits.
So why do our bodies respond so destructively to some fats but not others?
A new hypothesis described in latest issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology suggests the answer may lie in how different fats interact with the microbes in our guts. According to researchers from the University of New Mexico and Northwestern University, some fats may encourage the growth of harmful bacteria in the digestive system. Our bodies have evolved to recognize those fats and launch an immune response to preempt the impeding changes in harmful bacteria. The result is low-level inflammation that, over the long term, causes chronic disease.
Olive oil may boost blood vessel function
Supplementing the diet with olive oil may improve the function of cells lining blood vessels in people with atherosclerosis, says a new study from the US and Italy.
Fortifying olive oil with epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG), however, did not produce any additional benefits, report researchers.
“The current study demonstrates that longer-term supplementation of olive oil improves endothelial function in individuals with low to intermediate cardiovascular risk, an effect likely attributed to reduction in vascular inflammation,” they wrote in the European Journal of Nutrition .
“This is the first such demonstration of such a permanent endothelial benefit via long-term supplementation of a macronutrient.”
Vitamin D: Something you’re likely to lack
Bravo to those who seek cover from the sun to prevent premature aging, melanoma and other skin damage. But it’s important to recognize that more sun protection means less Vitamin D, which our bodies produce after exposure to UVB rays.
Experts agree that Vitamin D is essential for good health and wellness. However, there is no consensus about how many diseases it can prevent, how much is necessary and how people should go about getting enough.
What is known is that many of us don’t get enough. A 2010 study in Nutrition Journalfound that 42 percent of U.S. adults were deficient in Vitamin D, with the highest rates among African Americans and Hispanics.
Children are also at risk: A report in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine showed that 12 percent of children had Vitamin D deficiencies, and an additional 40 percent exhibited higher but still insufficient levels.
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Study: Gallstones On The Rise In Obese Teenagers
Gallstones, historically an adult problem, have been showing up in teenagers in an ever increasing rate, directly linked to obesity.
A new study, published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, has found that obese children are up to eight times more likely than those of a healthy weight to be diagnosed with gallstones. The gallstones, which can be excruciatingly painful, are only adding to a growing trend of children presenting with conditions only seen before in adults.
Researchers from Kaiser Permanente looked at the incidence of gallstones in over 500,000 California children from the ages of ten to nineteen; 766 of those children were diagnosed with gallstones. What they found is that the link is not only weight based, but gender based as well.
Extremely obese girls were eight times more likely than their healthy-weight female classmates to be diagnosed with gallstones were. Girls who were merely obese were six times as likely. Those who were just mildly overweight came in at three times the rate of healthy weight females.
