A candy bar a week?

Dark Chocolate Prevents Heart Disease:

"An Italian study shows that dark chocolate can significantly reduce the inflammation that leads to cardiovascular disease. The ideal amount is 6.7 grams per day (0.23 ounces). A typical Hershey chocolate bar weighs about 43 grams. That means eating one dark chocolate bar over the course of 6 1/2 days to get 6.7 grams per day."

wow. That would take much patience! Unfortunately, milk chocolate does not seem to work.

Why Maple Syrup Costs So Much

Why Maple Syrup Costs So Much:

"Unfavorable weather in Quebec—the source of 80% of the world's maple syrup—have depressed output to a 10-year low. At the same time, demand for maple syrup, which is slightly lower in calories than cane sugar and corn syrup, has been growing in recent years"

Osteoporosis: Drink Less for Strong Bones

Osteoporosis: Drink Less for Strong Bones:

"Research shows that chronic heavy alcohol use, especially during adolescence and young adult years, can dramatically affect bone health and increase the risk of osteoporosis later in life.

What do doctors advise? Drink less for strong bones.

Calcium is an essential nutrient for healthy bones, and alcohol is its enemy. 'Alcohol has multiple effects on calcium,' says Primal Kaur, MD, an osteoporosis specialist at Temple University Health System in Philadelphia. 'The bones deteriorate because not enough calcium is getting into bones -- and the body is leaching it away from bones.'"

The Associated Press: Fish oil appears to help against heart failure

The Associated Press: Fish oil appears to help against heart failure:

"Fish oil supplements may work slightly better than a popular cholesterol-reducing drug to help patients with chronic heart failure, according to new research released Sunday....

Fish oils also are thought to increase the body's good cholesterol levels, as well as possibly stabilizing the electrical system in heart cells, to prevent abnormal heart rhythms.

In contrast, statins act on the body's bad cholesterol, which may not have a big impact on heart failure."

"

Good news. It would be interesting to see if this prevents problems in healthy people too.

Trans fats linked to pre-cancerous colon growths - Yahoo! News

If we didn't have enough reasons to avoid trans fats.

Trans fats linked to pre-cancerous colon growths - Yahoo! News:

"A high intake of trans fats could increase colon cancer risk, according to new research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.... People who ate the most trans fatty acids were more likely to have pre-cancerous growths or polyps in their colons than those who consumed the least, Dr. Lisa C. Vinikoor of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and colleagues found."

While it might be overkill, it is a pretty simple rule, if it says "hydrogenated" or "partially hydrogenated" put it back.

More Strawberries, More Antioxidant Absorption

Short version: the body seems to absorb the nutrients from Strawberries! :)

More Strawberries, More Antioxidant Absorption:

"...strawberries are the fifth most consumed fresh fruit in the United States, and consumption more than doubled in the past decade, according to experts. Strawberry's antioxidants come in the form of both long-established vitamins and newly defined plant chemicals. Berries are particularly well endowed with a series of compounds called anthocyanins--the source of the berries' blue, purple and red pigments....The study showed that the human body is capable of assimilating more anthocyanin pigments as intakes increase."

Part Of The In-group? A Surprising New Strategy Helps Reduce Unhealthy Behaviors

Part Of The In-group? A Surprising New Strategy Helps Reduce Unhealthy Behaviors:

"Authors Jonah Berger (University of Pennsylvania) and Lindsay Rand (Stanford University) found that linking a risky behavior with an 'outgroup' (a group that the targeted audience doesn't want to be confused with) caused participants to reduce unhealthy behaviors..."

All the more reason why movie stars and other celebrities should not smoke!

Breakfast time!

Team Beachbody:

" A study presented at the recent Endocrine Society's annual meeting showed that participants who consumed large breakfasts lost almost five times as much weight as the participants who followed a traditional diet. So what's the big deal about breakfast?.....The study supported the idea that when we wake up in the morning, our bodies want food. You've burned through all the fuel from the previous day, and now your body is ready to burn anything, like muscle, to get a jump-start on the day. And if you skip breakfast, muscle is indeed what your body will burn. Later in the day, your brain is still in starvation mode from breakfast (or lack thereof), so your body will store all the calories you eat as adipose tissue, or fat, to save up for the next day when you try to starve it again. The study also found that serotonin (the chemical responsible for controlling cravings) levels were much higher in the morning, which is why breakfast is the meal so many of us are willing to skip. But if our bodies are left unfed, our serotonin levels drop, and the cravings for sweets begin to rise throughout the day."

I have consistently been impressed with the material over at BeachBody.com. Check it out. A bunch of marketing stuff too, but it has good content too.

Parents Shape Whether Their Children Learn To Eat Fruits And Vegetables

Parents Shape Whether Their Children Learn To Eat Fruits And Vegetables:

"Providing fruits for snacks and serving vegetables at dinner can shape a preschooler's eating patterns for his or her lifetime....When parents eat more fruits and vegetables, so do their children. When parents eat and give their children high fat snacks or soft drinks, children learn these eating patterns instead.""

Takeaway: what you feed your children helps to form patterns that will last into later life.


So I guess Rodney Atkins had it right all along!

MSG Use Linked To Obesity

MSG Use Linked To Obesity:

"People who use monosodium glutamate, or MSG, as a flavor enhancer in their food are more likely than people who don't use it to be overweight or obese even though they have the same amount of physical activity and total calorie intake, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health study published this month in the journal Obesity."

Yet another reason to read ingredients and to not eat out as often.

Is Your Drinking Water Giving You Diabetes? - US News and World Report

Is Your Drinking Water Giving You Diabetes? - US News and World Report:

"...scientists have proved that chronic exposure to drinking water contaminated with arsenic can cause cancers of the bladder, lung, kidney, and skin, as well as a collection of other diseases. Now there's a new twist. Research published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association has linked the ancient poison to type 2 diabetes, a disease that has reached pandemic proportions and now accounts for 1 in every 10 American dollars spent on healthcare..."

The Science of Aphrodisiacs - US News and World Report

Given all of the recent talk about watermelon, this is noteworthy.

The Science of Aphrodisiacs - US News and World Report:

"They've been touted to increase sex drive, boost arousal, and put men and women in the 'mood' for hundreds of years. But the skeptical consider aphrodisiacs—foods, drinks, and now cleverly marketed extracts and supplements—to be more mental than physical. A brief look at some of the more notorious of these purported libido enhancers reveals both flimsy claims and some sound science."

The article looks at watermelon, chocolate, oysters, and other foods.

Vitamin B, Folate Supplements Won't Help Heart - US News and World Report

Vitamin B, Folate Supplements Won't Help Heart - US News and World Report:

"'This confirms what a lot of recent studies have found -- no benefit of taking vitamin B supplements to reduce the risk of heart disease, and it raises a few red flags,' said Alice H. Lichtenstein, Gershoff professor of nutrition at Tufts University, Boston.

In the new study, reported in the Aug. 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, physicians at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway, enrolled almost 3,100 volunteers. Three-quarters of them took various doses of vitamin B and folic acid (which is chemically a B vitamin), while the others got a placebo, an inactive substance.

The study was ended early, after an average follow-up of 38 months, because 'we could not detect any preventive effect of intervention with folic acid plus vitamin B12 or with vitamin B6 on mortality or major cardiovascular events,' the researchers reported."

Another one bites the dust.

Smoking doubles stroke risk in younger women | Health | Reuters

Smoking doubles stroke risk in younger women | Health | Reuters:

"Younger women who smoke have more than double the risk of stroke compared to nonsmokers, with the heaviest smokers among them having nine times the risk, according to a U.S. study published on Thursday."

Runners' High: Joggers Live Longer - TIME

Runners' High: Joggers Live Longer - TIME: "

"the data showed that exercise was a boon to health. Over the years, compared with the never-exercisers, people who exercised regularly — in addition to running, activities included biking, aerobic dance and swimming — showed improved aerobic capacity, better cardiovascular fitness, increased bone mass, fewer inflammatory markers, less physical disability, better response to vaccinations and even improved thinking, learning and memory. They also lived significantly longer."

BBC NEWS | Health | Hour's exercise 'to lose weight'

Better go workout for a bit longer...

From WebMD:

"A new study says that obese and overweight women need to cut calories and exercise 275 minutes a week more than their baseline physical activity -- or at least 55 minutes a day, five days a week to lose weight and keep it off.

The research was led by John M. Jakicic, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues."

BBC NEWS | Health | Hour's exercise 'to lose weight':

"Thirty minutes a day is good for general health, but if you want to lose weight, you need to be doing more, and if you want to sustain weight loss, you need to be doing even more than that"

Compound in Red Wine Fights Ravages of Age - washingtonpost.com

Compound in Red Wine Fights Ravages of Age - washingtonpost.com:

"...red wine is a good source of resveratrol,' he added. 'And, in this mouse study, we have shown that this particular compound has very strong positive effects on preventing cardiovascular disease, reducing heart inflammation, keeping bone health in terms of structure and function, and maintaining loco-motor and balance activity. So, if these effects translate into humans, it will have a very good impact on the standard of human health.'
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De Cabo conducted the research with David A. Sinclair, of Harvard Medical School. Their team is publishing its findings in the July 3 online issue ofCell Metabolism."

Study shows how broccoli fights cancer - Yahoo! News

Study shows how broccoli fights cancer - Yahoo! News:

"Just a few more portions of broccoli each week may protect men from prostate cancer, British researchers reported on Wednesday. The researchers believe a chemical in the food sparks hundreds of genetic changes, activating some genes that fight cancer and switching off others that fuel tumors, said Richard Mithen, a biologist at Britain's Institute of Food Research."

Lack of 'Good' HDL Cholesterol Linked to Memory Loss - US News and World Report

Lack of 'Good' HDL Cholesterol Linked to Memory Loss - US News and World Report:

"The study, published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology: Journal of the American Heart Association, underscores the dangers of allowing HDL levels to fall as you age, which often occurs with a sedentary lifestyle and expanding waistline;"

MedHeadlines - High-carb, high-protein breakfast for losing weight

MedHeadlines - High-carb, high-protein breakfast for losing weight:

"the big breakfast diet calls for a daily breakfast composed of foods high in carbohydrates, fiber, and protein. What’s more, with this diet, breakfast is so big it provides approximately half of a full day’s calorie count.

The main trick to the big breakfast diet is to eat lots of whole-grain, complex carbohydrates and lean proteins, such as fat-free milk, yogurt, and eggs. Add fruits and veggies to round out a breakfast that controls appetite until lunchtime at the same time it will minimize cravings for sweets and starches of poor nutritional value."