Sweetened drinks may be linked to premature births
Women who drink a lot of sweet sodas during pregnancy may be more likely to give birth prematurely, a new study suggests.
The study, of more than 60,000 pregnant women in Norway, found that those who drank one sugary soda a day were up to 25 percent more likely to give birth prematurely than those who avoided the sweetened drinks.
However, it’s not clear whether the drinks themselves are to blame for the early births.
“We are all desperately searching for causes of preterm birth,” said Dr. Michael Katz at the New York-based March of Dimes foundation, a non-profit organization that works to improve babies’ health. But, added Katz, who was not involved in the study, “this study does not indicate that (drinking soda) is a tremendously serious risk of any sort.”
Fruits, vegetables may be key to long-term weight loss
Some new research tried to figure out what might help post-menopausal women achieve long-term weight loss. And it turns out that adding produce to their diet didn’t show up as especially helpful in the short term, but in the long term it mattered.
The researchers didn’t find that eating fried chicken was just fine as long as it came with a side of broccoli. What they found was that some behaviors are hard to maintain forever, and adding produce might be easier than avoiding all fried foods for the long haul.
“People are so motivated when they start a weight-loss program. You can say, ‘I’m never going to eat another piece of pie,’ and you see the pounds coming off,” Bethany Barone Gibbs, the lead investigator, said in a statement. “Eating fruits and vegetables may not make as big a difference in your caloric intake. But that small change can build up and give you a better long-term result, because it’s not as hard to do as giving up French fries forever.”
Omega-3s possess antioxidant potential, says gene expression study
Omega-3 fatty acids may offer antioxidant potential by modifying gene expression linked to antioxidant enzymes, says a new study from Germany.
Fish oil supplements were associated with up-regulation of expression of antioxidative enzymes, and the down-regulation of pro-oxidative enzymes, with effects particularly notable in people with abnormal blood lipid profiles.
“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first intervention study disclosing gene expression changes in normo- and dyslipidemic subjects after fish oil supplementation,” wrote researchers from Leibniz University of Hannover in Nutrition & Metabolism .
“We suggest that n-3 PUFAs [polyunsaturated fatty acids] may have an antioxidative potential.”
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Magnesium’s Potential in Cardiometabolic Health
Magnesium is an essential mineral that plays a role in more than 300 metabolic reactions in the human body. The need for magnesium is crucial, in areas as diverse as bone tissue, muscles, DNA, RNA and protein synthesis, energy production, and structural support for cell membranes and chromosomes. Now, clear effort is being made to explore the benefits of magnesium in cardiovascular and metabolic—or cardiometabolic—health. The need for cardiometabolic support is clear, given the ever-increasing prevalence of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in the population and the increasing economic burden of these disorders to society.
Much is already known about magnesium and cardiometabolic function from a mechanistic perspective. In terms of some of the mechanisms associated with its benefit, magnesium acts as a calcium channel blocker, increases nitric oxide production, improves endothelial function, enhances the efficiency of insulin, reduces inflammation, and improves the ability of blood vessels to dilate.
Tomatoes Boosted Low HDL in Small Study
Consuming two midsize uncooked tomatoes daily for a month resulted in a mean 5 mg/dL gain in HDL cholesterol level in a randomized trial in patients with low HDL.
A control group assigned to eat an equal quantity of cucumber – 300 g/day – saw no change in HDL, according to Dr. Daniel Cuevas Ramos of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition in Mexico City.
He reported on 41 women and 11 men with low HDL but normal triglyceride levels who participated in the month-long randomized trial, during which they consumed an isocaloric diet.
Over the course of 1 month of follow-up, mean HDL levels in the tomato eaters climbed from 36.5 mg/dL at baseline to 41.6 mg/dL, while the cucumber-eating controls saw no significant change over time.
Low calorie diets don’t boost longevity
A new study conducted by scientists at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggests following a calorie-restricted diet may not prolong longevity or reduce age-related deaths as previously thought.
The study, published in the journal Nature, concluded calorie restriction does not extend years of life or reduce age-related deaths in a 23-year study of rhesus monkeys; however, calorie restriction does extend certain aspects of health.
The survival results in the study reported today by NIA researchers differ from those published in 2009 by NIA-supported investigators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Wisconsin study followed two groups of rhesus monkeys for 20 years and found that monkeys on a calorie-restricted diet lived longer than those on a standard diet.
Beyond longevity, the parallel NIA and Wisconsin studies have reported similar beneficial health effects of calorie-restriction. Both studies found that certain age-related diseases, including diabetes, arthritis, diverticulosis and cardiovascular problems, occurred at an earlier age in monkeys on the standard diet compared to those on calorie restriction. However, this observation was not statistically significant in the NIA study. NIA researchers did find that monkeys started on calorie restriction at an early age had a statistically significant reduction in cancer incidence.
Study backs addition of fibre in partially baked breads
The addition fibre to partially baked and frozen breads could help to improve functional characteristics whilst meeting consumer demand for healthy foods, according to new research.
The study – published in Food Hydrocolloids – aimed to optimise the composition of a blend of inulin, pectin and guar gum to enrich the fibre content of partially baked frozen bread without impairing its technological quality.
Led by Duška Ćurić from the University of Zagreb, Croatia, the research team explained that in addition to being a convenient food, bread is expected to be nutritious. As a result the team proposed to create a fibre rich product in the form of partially baked frozen (PBF) bread.
“In this study we investigated the effects of inulin, pectin and guar alone and in combination on the quality and stability of partially baked frozen breads using response surface methodology,” explained the researchers.
“In PBF breads stored frozen for one day and rebaked, we found that a blend of all three components can improve the specific volume, crumb hardness and chewiness.”
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Key to long-term weight loss for post-menopausal women may be more fruits and vegetables
Post-menopausal women often have a hard time losing weight. But, promising new research shows that there may be simple dietary considerations that may help shed pounds – and keep them off for good.
What’s on the list of foods to avoid and items to chow down on? It’s relatively simple: Eating less sugar, meats and cheeses and consuming more fruits and vegetables were shown to help long-term weight loss.
“With more than one-third of all Americans considered obese, it’s clear that standard behavioral obesity treatment is producing poor long-term results,” lead investigator Bethany Barone Gibbs, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s department of health and physical activity, said in the university press release. “We found that some important behaviors differ for long-term versus short-term weight control among women in their 50s and 60s, who are already at higher risk for weight gain.”
Traditionally, women are told to watch their calorie intake to lose weight, which may not be sustainable for long periods of time. Because post-menopausal women have a natural energy expenditure decline, it’s even harder for them to lose and maintain weight.
