Nutrition Diet News

While soy may be beneficial to women in a variety of ways, research in monkeys suggests that it could have an adverse effect on the behavior of men, according to researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Reporting in the current issue of the scientific journal Hormones and Behavior, the researchers found that in male monkeys, "long-term consumption of a diet rich in soy isoflavones can have marked influences on patterns of aggression and social behavior." Isoflavones are a naturally occurring plant estrogen in soy protein. "Although considerable attention has been directed at the potentially beneficial effects of isoflavones in reducing the risk of various cancers, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and postmenopausal symptoms, less effort has been invested in characterizing neurobehavioral effects," according to the study.

Not only can vending machines with healthy options be good for students, but they can help a school's bank balance too, a pilot study has found. The Food Standards Agency funded the study, which put machines containing healthier drinks, such as water, fruit juice and milk into 12 secondary schools, to go alongside their usual vending machines. It found that, given the option, students will frequently choose healthier options About 70,000 healthier drinks were bought from the machines during the 24 weeks of the project, the most popular being pure juices, flavoured milk and milkshakes, semi-skimmed milk and mineral water.

A small-scale study in the US has shown that a stringent calorie-restricted diet may produce large reductions in heart disease and diabetes risk. The researchers, from the Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, studied the effects following a calorie-restricted diet of between 10-25 percent less calorie intake than the average western diet. The study appeared in the online version of the journal The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 19 April and will be published in the 27 April 2004 edition. It offers further support to idea that eating a varied, balanced diet and staying at a healthy weight by being physically active will help to lower your risk of developing heart disease.

Food Standards Agency Scotland today outlined its main strategies for improving Scotland's diet. The Diet and Nutrition Strategy's four priorities are: -- promoting the consumption of healthy diet and food choices -- making it easier for everyone, particularly those in low income or rural areas, to access healthier food choices -- promoting the preparation and provision of meals which offer a balanced diet -- working with the food manufacturing, processing and retailing industries to further develop healthier food choices FSA Scotland Director George Paterson said: 'This plan covers a number of key topics which we need to address over the coming years to work towards a healthier Scotland. 'The FSA will by no means be working alone, indeed we'll be working closely with partners across Scotland nationally and locally on such diverse activities as developing product specifications to improving access to fresh fruit and vegetables for low income consumers....

While many women who are going through the menopause all over the world are taken off HRT and wonder what to do, it is important to remember the importance of good nutrition, regular exercise and a detailed stress reduction plan. Remember that HRT is not the be all and end all of everything. What you eat is crucial, the amount of exercise and the quality of that exercise should never be underestimated. And most definitely, you should have a detailed stress reduction plan. Menopausal and perimenopausal (just before the menopause) women undergo hormonal changes. These changes often result in the woman putting on some weight, and often a lot of weight. As the menopause approaches, it becomes harder for the woman's body to make the best use of her nutrients in comparison to when she was younger.

The nutrition label on packaged foods provides a lot of helpful information, but consumers don't always understand what it means for them. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are using a tool they call "See it, Do it, Teach it" to help people learn how to interpret and calculate nutrition information on food labels and apply the knowledge to their own daily requirements. "One of the goals of the project was to help particularly teenaged girls and menopausal women understand how they can get the daily requirement for calcium into their diet in order to help prevent osteoporosis," said Karen Chapman-Novakofski, associate professor and nutritionist in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. Chapman-Novakofski and registered dietician Lisa Tussing in the Illinois Division of Nutritional Sciences together developed an activity to help people have more confidence in understanding and being able to apply informati...

According to new figures from the Centers for Disease Control, obesity and lack of exercise cause more deaths in the United States than any preventable cause except smoking. Many people who want to shed pounds either lose their determination because there are no quick fixes or reach weight-loss plateaus and give up in frustration. Are low-carbohydrate, high-fat plans, such as the Atkins diet, a workable answer to the obesity epidemic? Millions of Americans believe so, but conclusive research, especially on long-term effects of such diets, still is lacking. Writing in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Dean Ornish, founder of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute and author of numerous diet books, seeks to "find common ground among seemingly contradictory information about different diets, present an evidence-based rationale for optimal nutrition and describe many of the half-truths and distortions of the Atkins diet and other similar diet...

Honey may have sweet health benefits, according to researchers who conducted what is believed to be the first study of chronic honey consumption in humans. Biochemist Heidrun Gross and colleagues fed 25 study participants about four tablespoons each of buckwheat honey daily for 29 days in addition to their regular diets. The volunteers were divided into two groups receiving honey that provided different amounts of polyphenols -- compounds found in fruits, vegetables and seeds that have been linked with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The researchers drew blood samples from the participants at given intervals following honey consumption. They found that there was a direct link between the honey consumption and the level of polyphenolic antioxidants in the plasma. These findings further strengthen existing evidence that suggests that honey in the diet can provide people with protective antioxidant compounds.

Alexandria, Va.--A new study by researchers at the Center for Food and Nutrition Policy (CFNP) at Virginia Tech published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that calcium intake among U.S. adolescents although inadequate, has remained a constant since the 1970s and does not appear to be linked to soft drink consumption. The study, conducted by Maureen Storey, PhD, Richard Forshee, PhD and Patricia Anderson, MPP, assessed diet and beverage choices of boys and girls in four age groups: two to three year olds, four to eight year olds, nine to 13 year olds, and 14 to 18 year olds. The data used in the study were from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals from (CSFII) 1994-96 and 1998. According to Maureen Storey, PhD, director of CFNP and lead author of the study, the data continue to show that soft drink consumption by teens is actually far less than is perceived.

CHAPEL HILL (USA) - Five years ago, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers first reported finding that the nutrient choline played a critical role in memory and brain function by positively affecting the brain's physical development. Differences in development influenced action, the scientists and their colleagues found. In animal experiments conducted at Duke University, both young and old rats performed significantly better on memory tasks if they received enough choline before birth compared with same-age rats whose mothers were fed choline-deficient diets. The latter showed deficits in the hippocampus and septums of their brains. Because humans and rodents are so similar biologically, something comparable probably happens in humans, the investigators believe. Now, working with nerve tissue derived from a human cancer known as a neuroblastoma, the UNC researchers have discovered why more choline causes stem cells -- the parents of brain cells -- to reprodu...

A new study shows eating dietary fiber specifically from fruits and cereals lowers the risk of heart disease. Previous research has suggested a connection between higher intake of fiber and lower risk of heart disease. However, few studies have actually looked at the dietary fiber from different sources and the relationship to heart disease. In a recent study researchers analyzed several studies to determine whether the source of dietary fiber had any effect on the reduction in heart disease risk. The research included information from 91,058 men and 245,186 women. Each study recorded what kind of foods and how much the participant ate. Researchers say among the total participants, 5,249 suffered from heart disease and 2,011 died from coronary heart disease during the six- to 10-year follow-ups. For each 10-gram increment of fiber consumed per day, study researchers found a 14-percent decrease in the risk of coronary heart disease. They also found for each 10-gram increment o...

If you do not want your child to get fatter, keep him/her away from the kid's menu, says a consumer report. As restaurants try to cater for the changing needs of health conscious adults, most of them have completely ignored the child. This is according to a report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (USA). Go to most restaurants today and you will see children's menus loaded with fast carbohydrates, saturated fats and additives. In this report 20 chains of restaurants were examined. The researchers took meals from seven of them to an independent laboratory. They asked the laboratory to test the meals for their nutritional content. Dishes that contained fries had over 65% of a child's recommended daily intake of fats.

CORVALLIS - Researchers at Oregon State University have created purple-fruited tomatoes that include anthocyanins - the same class of health-promoting pigments in red wine that function as antioxidants and are believed to prevent heart disease. Their research is featured as the cover story in the latest issue of the Journal of Heredity. Domestic tomato varieties grown and consumed in the United States do not normally produce fruit containing any anthocyanin, explained Jim Myers, OSU's Baggett Frazier professor of vegetable breeding.

UK - Hundreds of thousands of parents will receive vouchers for free fruit and vegetables as part of a new drive to encourage lifelong healthy eating habits and tackle obesity. The move, announced by UK Health Secretary John Reid today, is aimed at improving nutritional balance among young children in poorer families. Last week a report by doctors classed 9 per cent of children aged between two and four years old as obese. The changes come under reforms to the Welfare Food Scheme which supports some of the poorest pregnant women and families. Currently, parents eligible for the scheme only receive tokens for liquid milk and infant formula milk. The tokens will be replaced with weekly vouchers that can be used to buy fresh produce as well as milk.

The cardiologist who is accused of inappropriately getting a report on the death of Dr. Robert Atkins has said he never wanted the report to end up in the media. According to the New York City medical examiner's office, Dr. Richard Fleming was sent a copy of the report when he asked for it (it was mistakenly sent). The office thinks that Dr. Richard Fleming then gave it to Physicians for Responsible Medicine and they released the details (a few days ago). Reports like this are only ever sent to a doctor who had been treating the patient. A spokeswoman for the New York medical examiner said that her department sent a letter to Nebraska health officials. The letter said that Fleming inappropriately got and distributed a copy of its report. Fleming denies this.

The grapefruit diet is not a myth. That's what a new study by the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic confirmed. Researchers there found that the simple act of adding grapefruit and grapefruit juice to one's diet can result in weight loss. The 12-week pilot study, led by Dr. Ken Fujioka, monitored weight and metabolic factors, such as insulin secretion, of the 100 men and women who participated in the Scripps Clinic 'Grapefruit Diet' study. On average, participants who ate half a grapefruit with each meal lost 3.6 pounds, while those who drank a serving of grapefruit juice three times a day lost 3.3 pounds. However, many patients in the study lost more than 10 pounds.

Sacramento, CA, USA - A person's genetic predisposition to develop heart disease and history of hypertension are just as important as gender and age when it comes to determining dietary needs, according to an article in Nutrition Today. 'Individualization of Nutrition Recommendations and Food Choices,' written by Lori Hoolihan, PhD RD, discusses how a person's biological make-up coupled with personal lifestyle choices are among the many considerations that contribute to nutrition recommendations; a trend that may significantly alter the way health professionals prescribe diets for patients. 'Health professionals have been using family history of disease to determine their patients' risks for genetic diseases for years. Now, the science is getting to be such that health professionals will be able to recommend specific foods and nutrients for optimal health based on detailed patient profiles,' states Hoolihan, research specialist for the Dairy Council of C...

CORVALLIS (Oregan State Univ, USA) - A new study has found that cereal fortified with vitamin E has a very high rate of absorption into the bloodstream, whereas pills taken separately with the same food have inconsistent effects, and taking the supplements alone is largely useless. The research was just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by scientists from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. The study points the way to more effective methods of taking this essential vitamin if people wish to supplement their diet, said Maret Traber, a professor with OSU's Linus Pauling Institute and national expert on vitamin E who recently served on federal panels to update the RDA for this vitamin.

HEALTHY EATING AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY habits are key to your child's well-being. Eating too much and exercising too little can lead to overweight and related health problems that can follow children into adult years. You can take an active role in helping your child-and your whole family-learn healthy eating and physical activity habits that may last for a lifetime. IS MY CHILD OVERWEIGHT? Because children grow at different rates at different times, it is not always easy to tell if a child is overweight. If you think that your child is overweight, talk to your health care provider. Your health care provider can measure your child's height and weight and tell you if your child is in a healthy range. HOW CAN I HELP MY OVERWEIGHT CHILD? Involve the whole family in building healthy eating and physical activity habits. It benefits everyone and does not single out the child who is overweight. Try to: - Be supportive - Encourage healthy eating habits - Encourage daily ph...

TempusClinic, in Los Gatos California, announced that the results of a 6-month study on the effects of its Metabolic-Hormonal Transformation (MHT) Program shows that participants in the TempusClinic personalized fitness and nutrition program showed a 90% reduction in their risks of heart disease, without any medications. Increased vitality and higher sex and growth hormonal levels were additional positive results. Participants were average people who had no history of significant athletic activity, and who had previously followed a self-directed low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. Dr. Mike Nichols, founder and director of TempusClinic, presented the findings at the American College of Sports Medicine Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. 'The results are outstanding,' said Dr. Nichols. 'Participants reduced their risk factors for future cardiac events by 90%.

SAN ANTONIO, TX, (USA) - The glycemic index may be a beneficial tool in food selection and meal planning, according to leading health experts who explored the issues and scientific research related to the glycemic index at the American Dietetic Association's Food & Nutrition Conference & Exhibition (FNCE). The glycemic index or GI - one of the most talked about topics in nutrition today - ranks foods based on the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels over a 2 hour period. Foods with a low GI can result in a modest rise and fall in blood sugar, which helps provide lasting energy. The FNCE session entitled Emerging Role of Glycemic Index and Glycemic Response: A Useful Tool? featured Patti Geil, MS, RD, Author and Certified Diabetes Educator; Thomas Wolever, MD, PhD, internationally renowned expert in carbohydrates and diabetes; and Professor of Nutritional Sciences and Medicine at the University of Toronto; and David Grotto, RD, LD, ADA Spokesperson and Director ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (USA) - Adding peanuts to that apple a day that keeps the doctor away is a good way to stay heart-healthy and trim, says a Purdue University professor. Research by Richard Mattes, professor of foods and nutrition, and his doctoral student, Corinna Alper, proves regular peanut consumption helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease without weight gain. 'Peanuts are the most widely consumed nut in this country,' Mattes said. 'They are a rich source of monosaturated fatty acids, magnesium and folate, vitamin E, copper, arginine and fiber, all of which have cardiovascular disease risk-reducing properties.'

Barbecues poison the air with toxins and could cause cancer, research suggests. A study by the French environmental campaigning group Robin des Bois found that a typical two-hour barbecue can release the same level of dioxins as up to 220,000 cigarettes. Dioxins are a group of chemicals known to increase the likelihood of cancer. The figures were based on grilling four large steaks, four turkey cuts and eight large sausages. This amount of cooking was found to release 12-22 nannograms of dioxins into the atmosphere. The researchers also found that the average concentrations of dioxins in the vicinity of the barbecue ranged from 0.6 to 0.7 nannograms per cubic metre - up to seven times higher than the level authorised for public incinerators at the point of discharge from the chimney. Food The French food safety agency is also undertaking research into the possible cancer-causing effect of carbonising food during the barbecuing process. They have found that some hydrocar...

Teachers won't be the only ones issuing grades from now on. The Food and Drug Administration plans to start grading health claims on product labels. The ranking system will assign letter grades - ranging from 'A' to 'D' - on each claim a company makes, indicating the quality and strength of the scientific evidence that supports the claim. 'We want to see more of a focus on getting that information out to consumers and we want to see more of a focus on food producers competing based on the health consequences of their products,' says FDA Commissioner Dr. Mark McClellan.

Trans fat hasn't gotten the attention its infamous cousin, saturated fat, earned through warnings and labels. That's about to change: After 10 years of debate, the US government is requiring food labels to reveal exact levels of the artery clogger. 'We have so many Americans -- 500,000 -- that are suffering each year from heart disease and heart defects and a lot of that (is) attributable to trans fatty acids,' said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, appearing on CNN. Trans fat is the stuff that helps make such foods as doughnuts, french fries, crackers and fried chicken taste so good. But it's at least as dangerous to the heart as saturated fat -- and many doctors consider it worse. And until now, consumers have had no way of knowing how much trans fat they eat.

Contact: Barry M. Popkin popkin@unc.edu 919-966-1732 Center for the Advancement of Health For healthy diet, learning level counts more than earning level Americans are eating healthier diets than they did in 1965, but college-educated people are doing better than high school dropouts, new research indicates. That may seem obvious, but it wasn't the case in 1965. Then, people who had not finished high school, those who were high school graduates and those who went to college all had about the same level of diet quality. But a more recent survey by Barry Popkin, Ph.D., and colleagues from the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that while dietary quality has improved overall, those with more education now have much healthier diets. 'In fact, the gap in diet between higher educated persons and lower educated persons may explain the large disparity in health between higher and lower socioeconomic groups in the United States,...

People who eat a Mediterranean-style diet rich in fruit, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil and fish have at least a 25 percent reduced risk of dying from heart disease and cancer, researchers reported in a study being published today. For decades, scientists have had inklings that a diet that derives about 40 percent of its calories from healthy fat and about half from complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruit and vegetables, combined with daily exercise, could promote health and reduce premature death. But this is the first large trial of healthy men and women to demonstrate a significant reduction in death rates for heart disease, cancer and all other causes of mortality for those who follow a Mediterranean diet and are physically active.