Dieting
Salt increases ulcer-bug virulence
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Scientists have identified yet another risk from a high-salt diet. High concentrations of salt in the stomach appear to induce gene activity in the ulcer-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori, making it more virulent and increasing the likelihood of an infected person developing a severe gastric disease.
“Apparently the stomach pathogen H. pylori closely monitors the diets of those people whom it infects. Epidemiological evidence has long implied that there is a connection between H. pylori and the composition of the human diet. This is especially true for diets rich in salt,” says Hanan Gancz, of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, who presents the research May 22, 2007 at the 107th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Toronto.
Mediterranean Diet Halves Risk of Progressive Lung Disease (COPD)
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A Mediterranean diet halves the chances of developing progressive inflammatory lung disease (COPD), reveals a large study, published ahead of print in Thorax.
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is an umbrella term for chronic progressive lung disease, such as emphysema and bronchitis. It is expected to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020, with cigarette smoking the primary factor in its development.
Fish oil may preserve thinking ability in elderly
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High blood levels of omega-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids, which are found in fish oil, may help preserve thinking ability in the elderly, according to the findings of two studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The results were particularly striking among subjects with high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels.
Accumulating evidence suggests that diets that include omega-3 fatty acids, specifically, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), protect against the development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to a Dutch research team. However, the effect of EPA+DHA consumption on thinking ability, or “cognitive function,” has received less scrutiny.
Mediterranean diet may ward off asthma, allergies
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A traditional Mediterranean diet rich in fruits, vegetables and nuts during childhood appears to protect against symptoms of asthma and nasal allergies, according to a new study.
“There has been increasing interest in the role of nutrition in the development of asthma, and in the modulating effect of nutrition on environmental exposures,” Dr. Paul Cullinan, of Royal Brompton Hospital and National Heart and Lung Institute, London, UK, and colleagues write in the medical journal Thorax.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind And Other Tips for Eating Less
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Here’s a diet tip that doesn’t involve counting calories or fat. Research shows that changing how foods are served and stored can help with weight loss or maintaining a healthy weight.
The April issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter offers these tricks for eating less:
Eggs will raise your cholesterol, and other myths
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Avoid eggs. Drink 8 glasses of water a day. Eating carbs will make you fat. Nutritional advice such as this has been touted for years—but is it accurate?
Not necessarily, according to Wendy Repovich, an exercise physiologist at Eastern Washington University in Cheyenne, Washington, who did her best to dispel several common nutrition misconceptions during an American College of Sports Medicine-sponsored health and fitness summit held recently in Dallas.
Low-cal ketogenic diet slows brain cancer in mice
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A calorically restricted ketogenic diet decreases the growth of malignant brain tumors in laboratory mice, according to an online report in the journal Nutrition & Metabolism.
A ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that induces excess production of ketone bodies, which are incompletely burned fat molecules. This diet has been used to control epileptic seizures that do not respond to drug treatment.
What not to eat
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Once, there were vegetarians and carnivores. Today, there’s a bewildering variety of food regimes. But which diet is really best for us? Kate Craven reports
Many of us have aspirations to eat more healthily, hoping that a better diet will improve our health, and boost how we feel and look. We all know that vegetables are good for us, so would eating more of them and junking meat forever be the answer? And which of vegetarianism’s many derivatives should we opt for? Are each as healthy as their disciples believe or are food faddists doing themselves more harm than good? (To say nothing of the inconvenience they cause to dinner party hosts.)
High-fat diet may increase breast cancer risk
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A large study of middle-age women with a wide range of fat in their diet shows that eating a high-fat diet raises the risk of developing invasive breast cancer.
The findings, reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, stem from the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study, in which 188,736 postmenopausal women reported detailed information on their diet in the mid-1990s.
Simple question gets school children to eat fruit
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Getting children to eat more fruit may be as simple as getting cafeteria workers to use a simple verbal prompt in the lunch line, a study of school lunch programs suggests.
The study found that when cafeteria workers asked elementary school children if they wanted fruit or juice with their lunch, the children usually took one or the other. More importantly, most of the children actually consumed it.
Americans still not eating enough fruits and vegetables, according to two recent studies
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“Eat your vegetables” has been heard at the dinner tables of America for a long time. Has the message gotten through? Since 1990 the Dietary Guidelines for Americans has recommended consuming at least two servings of fruits and three servings of vegetables daily. However, two studies published in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine clearly show that Americans are not meeting the mark. This is a serious public health concern because consuming a diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with decreased risk of obesity and certain chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research in Baltimore analyzed NHANES data (National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys) to determine trends over time for fruit and vegetable consumption among American adults.
Salt consumption falling but still 50 per cent higher than advised
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Salt consumption in Britain has dropped but is still on average 50 per cent higher than the recommended amount, new research claims. Tests on 1,287 adults showed their average salt intake was 9g per day compared to 9.5g when tests were done in 2001.
But consumption is still higher than the Government’s national target of 6g per day, the Food Standards Agency said.
How eating less might make you live longer
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Caloric Restriction in non-obese people translates into less oxidative damage in muscle cells, according to a new study by Anthony Civitarese, Eric Ravussin, and colleagues (Pennington Biomedical Research Center). As oxidative damage has been linked to aging, this could explain how limiting calorie intake without malnutrition extends life span.
A calorie-restricted diet provides all the nutrients necessary for a healthy life but minimizes the energy (calories) supplied in the diet. This type of diet increases the life span of mice and delays the onset of age-related chronic diseases such as cancers, heart disease, and stroke in rodents. There are also hints that people who eat a calorie-restricted diet might live longer than those who overeat. In addition, calorie-restricted diets beneficially affect several biomarkers of aging, including decreased insulin sensitivity (a precursor to diabetes). But how might caloric restriction slow aging? A major factor in the age-related decline of bodily functions is the accumulation of “oxidative damage” in the body’s proteins, fats, and DNA. Oxidants - in particular, chemicals called “free radicals”- are produced when food is converted to energy by cellular structures called mitochondria. One theory for h ow caloric restriction slows aging is that it lowers free-radical production by inducing the formation of efficient mitochondria.
Dietary copper may ease heart disease
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Including more copper in your everyday diet could be good for your heart, according to scientists at the University of Louisville Medical Center and the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center. Their studies show that giving copper supplements to mice eased the stress on their over-worked hearts by preventing heart enlargement. The study will be published online on March 5th in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Insufficient copper intake is associated with increases in cholesterol levels, clot formation, and heart disease. The new study found that feeding mice copper relieved heart disease and restored proper heart function, even when the animals’ hearts were continually stressed. Stressed mice that were not given copper supplements suffered heart failure. The copper-rich diet increased the production of a protein that promotes the growth of new blood vessels, although exactly how this protein might aid heart recovery is not yet clear.
When pregnant mom eats fish, kids do better
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Children of mothers who ate more fish and other seafood while pregnant are smarter and have better developmental skills than kids of women who ate less or none, researchers said on Thursday in findings they called surprising.
The study, sure to be controversial, sought to assess whether it is wise, as some experts and the U.S. government have recommended, for pregnant women to limit their seafood intake to avoid mercury, a toxin that can harm the nervous system of developing fetuses.
