Talking Tuna - How much sushi and albacore is too much? Be careful who you ask. By Amanda Schaffer

Talking Tuna - How much sushi and albacore is too much? Be careful who you ask. By Amanda Schaffer

A very informative article on how much we should be worrying about the mercury in fish! SHort version? we really do not know how dangerous (or safe) it is.

"The FDA justifies these loosey-goosey guidelines by painting the EPA's traditional approach to exposure limits as overly cautious. In establishing the mercury reference dose in 2001, the EPA looked at studies of adverse effects of exposure in the Faroe Islands, the Seychelles Islands, and New Zealand, and applied some standard statistical calculations. Then the agency built in an uncertainty factor to account for the reality that information is incomplete, some people are more sensitive to mercury than others, and so forth. All this is customary practice. Still, David Acheson, head of the FDA's Office of Food Safety, says that the EPA's threshold should be treated not as a "bright line" but as a sort of general guide. (Translation: Forget the mercury calculator.)"

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Metro -- Mother sues over cereal nutrition

SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Metro -- Mother sues over cereal nutrition


A follow up on the post that Low Sugar cereals were approximately the same nutritionally as regular sugar cereals.

Now a San Diego California mother (I would say something but do not want to be sued) is suing the national cereal manufacturers on grounds that "she bought the three cereals believing the low-sugar products were better for her children, according to her lawyer."


Wow. I am almost speechless.

Plant diet may not be bad for bones

While I am a vegetarian, I do eat dairy products. That said, I always find strict vegans interesting studies. Especially those who do not cook their foods.

Plant diet may not be bad for bones: "Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied 18 strict raw food vegans, aged from 33 to 85, and found that although their bones were light in weight, they may be healthy."

"They also had significantly lower bone mass in important skeletal regions such as the hip and lumbar spine, sites where low bone mass often means osteoporosis and fracture risk. But they did not have other biological markers that typically accompany osteoporosis, shows the study, published in the 28 March issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine (vol 165, pp 1-6)."

"We think it's possible these people don't have increased risk of fracture but that their low bone mass is related to the fact that they are lighter because they take in fewer calories."

Further study is needed to prove that raw food vegans have light-but-healthy bones."

St. Paul Pioneer Press | 03/27/2005 | For baby boomers, health after midlife can be improved

Spinach is on a Hot streak! Eyes, skin, and now brain!
St. Paul Pioneer Press | 03/27/2005 | For baby boomers, health after midlife can be improved: ": Among all the research on fruits and vegetables, the evidence appears to be greatest for the benefits of green, leafy vegetables. Even far fewer servings than the government recommends can make a difference.

Research suggests such vegetables can prevent age-related diseases and even preserve cognitive function. A Harvard Medical School study released last summer found women who ate eight servings or more a week of green, leafy vegetables like spinach and romaine lettuce had the cognitive function of someone 1.7 years younger than women who ate three servings or fewer of the vegetables a week."

Yahoo! News - Government Recommends Eating Whole Grains

Gee, you never would have guessed...lol...

Of course you would! Easting whole grains is good for you!!! and don't forget it :)

Yahoo! News - Government Recommends Eating Whole Grains: "Three servings of whole grains each day will reduce your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It doesn't have to be bread. Brown or wild rice, oatmeal, cold cereal flakes, popcorn "

SouthBendTribune.com: American diet is swimming in sodium

SouthBendTribune.com: American diet is swimming in sodium: "

The SouthBend Tribune provides a good reminder that too much salt is not good for us and provides ten useful tips to cut sodium intake.

Yahoo! News - Genetically Modified Foods Eaten Regularly

WHile we are all hearing frequent stories of the possible downside of genetically modiifed foods, it is worthwhile to also see the good things that GM brings.

Yahoo! News - Genetically Modified Foods Eaten Regularly: "Despite dire warnings about 'Frankenfoods,' there have been no reports of illness from these products of biotechnology."

" Experts say within several years there will be new GM foods with taste and nutrition improvements: cooking oils with less trans fat, tastier potatoes and peanuts that don't trigger allergies.

At North Carolina State University, one of the biggest U.S. plant breeding programs, scientists are developing drought-tolerant wheat and are a couple years from field testing GM peanuts that have no life-threatening allergens, said Steven Leath, associate dean for health research.

At Rutgers University's agricultural college, plant biology professor Nilgun Tumer and colleagues modified potatoes to better keep their flavor when processed as french fries and to limit browning when sliced, but she said farmers haven't adopted the new varieties."

Yahoo! News - Experts Question Reduced-Sugar Cereals

Let me say that we did sell these, but most varieties have been discountinued due to lack of sales. I had only tried the Reduced Sugar Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It tasted about the same.

Yahoo! News - Experts Question Reduced-Sugar Cereals: "'You're supposed to think it's healthy,' said Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University and author of a book critical of the food industry's influence on public health. 'This is about marketing. It is about nothing else. It is not about kids' health.'

Only one cereal, General Mills' Cinnamon Toast Crunch, saw a true calorie reduction, dropping from 130 calories to 120 per three-fourths cup serving."

Spurs decide you are what you eat / Skipping the junk food helps increase energy and stamina

Do you follow the NBA much? I don't nearly as much as the NFL or MLB, but when I do, the Spurs are by far my favorite team, so I was particularly happy to hear that they have adopted a new food and nutrition program.

Why it is included here is that the same ideas they use shuold be implemented around homes. For instance haivng fruits around rather than potato chips.

The Ferry in the article is Danny Ferry (former player himself and now assistant GM of the Spurs).

"What surprised Ferry was the type of food available to the players on the team's charter flights. In addition to the usual meal options, the Spurs typically had an overhead container filled with an assortment of potato chips. Flight attendants patrolled the aisle offering ice cream and chocolate-chip cookies"

Spurs decide you are what you eat / Skipping the junk food helps increase energy and stamina: "'The intention and goal is not to turn them into a bunch of granola- eating food whackos,' said Danny Ferry, who has helped oversee the program as the team's assistant general manager. 'If that's the direction they want to take, that's fine. We just want to put them in a situation where they have healthy options in front of them.'"

Obesity Epidemic Threatens To Cut Life Expectancy

Obesity Epidemic Threatens To Cut Life Expectancy: "Researchers report that the current obesity epidemic will have a negative impact on life expectancy in the United States.
University of Illinois at Chicago researchers report in the New England Journal of Medicine that obesity will cut between two to five years off life expectancy in the next 50 years."

While it is of course not a shock, 5 years is quite a bit to take off of life expectancy!

Good news, bad news on green tea

the Mail online | Mail - news, sport, showbiz, health and more | Green tea danger for pregnant mums

Good news and bad news on Green tea.

The good news is that researchers have identified how green tea helps fight cancer. "Scientists found that polyphenol EGCG binds to the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) which is already an established target for chemotherapy drugs...

The green tea compound stops DHFR promoting DNA synthesis in tumour cells. It appears to work in the same way as the cancer drug methotrexate, but in practice would probably have fewer side effects."

The bad news? The same DHFR is associated with increased birth defects if the pregnant mother drinks much green tea! :(


From news-medical.net:
The research was conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Murcia (UMU), Spain , in collaboration with the John Innes Centre (JIC) Norwich, UK .

Yahoo! News - Study Raises Doubts About Vitamin E Supplements

More evidence that vitamin pills, especially Vitamin E may not be the answer.

Yahoo! News - Study Raises Doubts About Vitamin E Supplements: "Daily vitamin E supplements do not prevent cancer, strokes or heart attacks in older people with vascular disease or diabetes, and may increase their risk of heart failure, a study said on Tuesday."

" The study's chief author, Dr. Eva Lonn, said: "In high risk people vitamin E does not prevent cardiovascular disease, namely heart attack and stroke, and it does not prevent cancer. Furthermore, we noticed an increased risk of heart failure, so there is a potential for harm in people receiving vitamin E."

Cornell researcher show food is better than pills

This one should come as no suprise to regular readers of this blog.

From WEB MD:

"Antioxidants in foods work together and their combined effect is greatest, they explain."No single antioxidant can replace the combination of natural phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables in achieving ultimate health benefits," write the researchers.

"The pure compounds either lose their bioactivities in isolation or may not behave the same way as the compound in complex whole foods.

"Our findings suggest that consumers may gain more significant health benefits from including whole foods in their balanced diet than from more expensive dietary supplements, which do not contain the same array of balanced, complex components."

The study looked at rats and the consumption of apples (Red Delicious). The finding? Apples helped fight cancer!

Again from Web MD:

The extracts "effectively inhibited" breast cancer in rats, write food science professor Rui Hai Liu, PhD, MD, MS, and colleagues. "Thus, consumption of apples may be an effective strategy for cancer protection," says their study.

The study will appear in the March 23 edition of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

BBC NEWS | Health | Oily fish helps cut inflammation

We now have the "why", not just the "what" :)

BBC NEWS | Health | Oily fish helps cut inflammation: "identified a new class of fats in the human body, called resolvins, which they showed can control inflammation.

They do this both by stopping the migration of inflammatory cells to sites of inflammation, and the turning on of other inflammatory cells.

Resolvins are made from the omega-3 fatty acids, found in high concentration in oily fish."

"They have found a key anti-inflammatory fat in humans is derived from a fatty acid found in fish oil."

So eat your fish!


Interestingly, the researchers may also have stumbled upon why COX-2 inhibitors have been shown to increase heart problems:
"The study also reveals a potential pitfall of COX-2 inhibitors, drugs designed to block inflammation, which have been shown to have negative cardiovascular side effects.

The enzyme COX-2 is involved in making resolvin E1, and the researchers suspect that taking the drugs may disrupt the body's ability to synthesise the fat.

Thus, while the drugs are designed to reduce inflammation, it is possible that they actually undermine one of the body's most important methods for achieving the same effect.

However, the researchers stress the experiment to prove this idea has yet to be done with humans."

MayoClinic.com - Recipe makeovers: 5 ways to make your recipes healthier

This is a great article!!!! From the Mayo Clinic. It suggests ways to make your recipes healthier. Many of the tips you probably knew (like using applesauce to replace some of the fat in recipes), but others may surprise you.

I would also add (pun intended) that you can add oatmeal, flaxseed, and wheat germ to most foods (in moderation) with improved taste and nutrition!

VERY good!!!!
MayoClinic.com - Recipe makeovers: 5 ways to make your recipes healthier

Vitamin B12 after stroke reduces risk of hip fracture

Vitamin B12 after stroke reduces risk of hip fracture

Not only may vitamin B reduce heart disease, now evidence suggests it may reduce the risk of broken bones (at least if we can infer that from a study of stroke patients).

"The researchers recorded six hip fractures in patients who received folic acid and B12, and 27 hip fractures in the placebo group. The difference in total number of fractures over the two-year follow up was significant, with eight fractures in the treatment group and 32 in the placebo group. Patients receiving folic acid and B12 experienced a 38 percent decrease in their plasma homocysteine levels, while levels increased by 31 percent in the placebo group."


from Healthtalk.ca

"The researchers believe stroke patients have a greater risk of hip fracture due to higher levels of the amino acid homocysteine, associated with osteoporosis and the risk of a hip fracture."

It should be noted that the hypothesis that vitamin B reduces heart risk has not been definitively proven.