Health News Tidbits –
September 2006
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Food/Diet
Lifestyle
Public Health
More Vitamin B6 Linked to Lower Parkinson's Risk -
Increased intake of vitamin B6, from diet and supplements, could cut the risk of Parkinson’s disease by half
suggests a prospective study from the Netherlands.
The researchers, from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, recruited 5,289 people over the age of 55 and found that those with the highest total
vitamin B6 intake had significantly lower risk of developing risk that those with the lowest intake. The Rotterdam Study looked into reports that
increased levels of the amino acid homocysteine might promote Parkinson’s disease. Numerous studies have reported that higher intakes of folate,
vitamin B12, and vitamin B6 decrease plasma homocysteine levels and therefore might offer protection from Parkinson’s. The researchers found that
people who had daily vitamin B6 intakes of 230.9 micrograms or more had an associated risk of developing Parkinson’s disease 54 per cent lower than
people who had average daily intakes lower than 185.1 micrograms. The results are published in the journal Neurology (Vol. 67, pp. 315-318).
Courtesy of nutraingredients.com
Teenagers may benefit from vitamin D -
The new study, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood (Vol. 91, pp. 569-572), suggests that the burden of osteoporosis could
increase in the future with the finding that over 70 per cent of the teenage girls who took part in this study were vitamin D deficient. The
researchers, led by Dr Zulf Mughal, recruited 51 teenage girls with an average age of 15.3 years. Fourteen girls were white, and the other 37 were
non-white. Dietary intake of vitamin D and calcium were assessed using food frequency questionnaires, and skin exposure to sunlight was also
calculated based on typical everyday clothing cover. The girls also had blood samples taken to measure levels of calcium and 25- hydroxyvitamin D
(25(OH)D), the non-active ‘storage’ form of the vitamin. The researches report that 73 per cent of the girls (37 girls) were vitamin D deficient,
with levels of 25(OH)D below 30 nanomoles per litre of serum. Worryingly, nine girls (17 per cent) had levels below 12.5 nanomoles per litre. These
low levels are typically associated with rickets and osteomalacia. “Avoidance of exposure to sunshine for religious and cultural beliefs that
encourage wearing of concealing clothing and restriction of outdoor activities has previously been reported as a risk factor for vitamin D deficiency
in Saudi Arabian adolescents. “Increased skin pigmentation is a further factor that might explain the difference in vitamin D status of white
and non-white girls in our study,” wrote the researchers. UK researchers recently proposed 10 to 15 minutes of unprotected exposure to the
midday sun as a good source of the vitamin. In the US, where over 1.5 million people are diagnosed with skin cancer every year, experts are pushing
supplements, claiming recommendations for sun exposure are “highly irresponsible”. By this thinking, the best source could be from
fortified foods and supplements.
Steve - UK researchers are right on with the 10 to 15 minutes of unprotected sun exposure. Although, for much of the year, that is not possible in
Northern climates, so supplementation from sources such as cod Liver Oil is warranted.
Antioxidants may reduce polyp size -
Dietary supplementation with curcumin and quercetin may reduce the number and size of polyps in individuals with familial adenomatous polyposis who
have undergone surgical removal of the colon. These results were published in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Adenomatous polyps are non-cancerous growths in the colon or rectum that may eventually develop into cancer. Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is
an inherited genetic condition characterized by the development of many—often more than a hundred—adenomatous polyps in the colon or rectum.
Individuals with FAP have a greatly increased risk of developing colorectal cancer.
To evaluate a potential alternative to COX-2 inhibitors in patients with FAP who have undergone surgery, researchers conducted a study to explore the
safety and effectiveness of dietary supplementation with curcumin and quercetin. Curcumin is a constituent of the spice turmeric. Quercetin is found
in foods such as apples, onions, and tea. After an average of six months, all patients had a decrease in the number and size of polyps. The average
decrease in the number of polyps was 60%, and the average decrease in polyp size was 51%.Curcumin and quercetin produced minimal side effects, and
none of the patients developed laboratory abnormalities.
The researchers conclude that the combination of curcumin and quercetin may reduce the number and size of rectal and ileal polyps in patients with FAP
who have undergone surgical removal of the colon. Larger studies that include an appropriate comparison group will be needed to confirm these findings.
Drugs/Meds -
Food/Diet -
Soft drinks pile on pounds -
An extra can of soda a day can pile on 15 pounds in a single year, and the "weight of evidence" strongly suggests that this sort of
increased consumption is a key reason that more people have gained weight, the researchers say. "We tried to look at the big picture rather than
individual studies," and it clearly justifies public health efforts to limit sugar-sweetened beverages, said Dr. Frank Hu, who led the report
published Tuesday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. He and others at the Harvard School of Public Health reviewed 40 years of nutrition
studies that met strict standards for relevance and scientific muster. The work was funded by ongoing grants to his lab from the federal government
and the American Heart Association. Soft drink trends have marched lock-step with the growing obesity epidemic, but industry groups have long fought
efforts to say one directly caused the other. Not all studies conclude that beverages are at fault, and the new analysis ignored some that would have
discounted such a link, the American Beverage Association said in a statement issued in response to the study. About one-third of all carbohydrate
calories in the American diet come from added sweeteners, and beverages account for about half of this amount, the new report says. The main sweetener
in beverages — high-fructose corn syrup — contains slightly more fructose than ordinary table sugar. Some studies suggest that pure fructose fails
to spur production of insulin, which is needed to "process" calories, or leptin, a substance that helps regulate appetite. A single 12-ounce
can of soda provides the equivalent of 10 teaspoons of table sugar, the Harvard review says. Courtesy AP
Bonnie - there is no purpose for soft drinks and other sweetened drinks. They have no nutritional value and contain chemical additives. Hopefully, our
consumption of sodas will begin to decline as they have in India, which for the first time, showed a decline in cocoa Cola sales.
Flavanoids reduce colon cancer risk? -
A diet rich in certain flavonoids, from eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, could reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by over 40 per cent,
says a large observational study from Italy.
“The findings of this large study provide support for an inverse association of selected classes of flavonoids with colorectal cancer risk,” wrote
lead author Marta Rossi in the August issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention (Vol. 15, pp. 1555-1558), a journal of the American
Association for Cancer Research. The new case-control study, led by Rossi from the Università degli Studi di Milano, recruited 1,953 cases of
colorectal cancers (1,225 colon cancers and 728 rectal cancers) and 4,154 hospital controls admitted for acute non-cancerous diseases. Dietary intake
was assessed using validated food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Intake of six classes of flavonoids (isoflavones, anthocyanidins, flavones, flavonols,
flavan-3-ols, and flavanones) was quantified using recently published food and beverage composition data. After adjusting the results for sex, age,
family history of colorectal cancer, BMI, energy intake, education, alcohol consumption, and physical activity, the researchers calculated that the
highest intake of flavonols was associated with a 46 per cent reduction in the risk of colorectal cancer, compared to people in the lowest intake
group. Flavones, commonly found in citrus fruit, have been increasingly linked to health benefits, including protection against cancer, heart disease
and inflammation. Berries, particularly blueberries, are a rich source of anthocyanidins (anthocyanins without the sugar part). A recent in vitro
study reported that blueberry anthocyanidins, mainly delphinidin, cyaniding, petunidin, peonidin and malvidin, could stop the growth of liver cancer
cells (Food Research International, Vol. 39, pp. 628-638). Courtesy of nutraingredients.com
The power of omega-3 eggs
Eating a breakfast of omega-3 enriched eggs could improve blood triglyceride levels and boost heart health, and could be the ideal way of helping
people reach their omega-3 recommended intakes, says a study from Canada.
“Egg products can serve as ideal functional foods for the dietary delivery of the cardioprotective n−3 fatty acids (EPA/DHA) since the US
population consumes relatively high levels of eggs, which are also rich sources of various other important nutrients, including essential amino acids,
vitamins, etc,” wrote lead author Emily Rose in the journal Food Research International (Vol. 39, pp. 910-916).
Previous studies have reported that starting the day with an egg breakfast could increases satiety in overweight and obese people, and could lead to
weight-loss. Eggs are well known to have a 50 per cent higher satiety index than regular breakfast cereals, which is generally believed to be due to
the high protein content of the eggs.
Make veggies more nutritious
Some fat-soluble nutrients that may be better absorbed by the body if consumed with a little healthy fat:
Lutein
Beta Carotene
Lycopene
Zeaxanthin
Vitamin E
Fat soluble means that some fat needs to be present for the body to adequately absorb the nutrients. This is one reasons why avocado is a superfood
(the nutrients are absorbed so well because of the healthy fat in the avoacado).
Courtesy of the Wall Street Journal
Sports drinks are very acidic
Sports drink such as Gatorade are very acidic (pH 2.95 acidic; water 7.0 neutral) and do damage to the teeth and gi tract if used frequently. And that
is the problem; they have been substituted through the day instead of nutritional drinks such as water and milk.
A nice alternative can be made by using 8 oz. orange juice, 8 oz. water, and 1/8 tsp. salt.
Courtesy of Lori Walsh, M.D., Glenbrook Pediatrics which appeared in Pioneer Press
Bonnie - it is nice to see my opinion echoed by an MD. I have been an avid detractor of Gatorade and other sports drinks for a very long time. I like
her suggestion for a homemade electrolyte drink (although it could use more magnesium). I like the product Endura by Metagenics because it is lower
acid, has no preservatives or artificial colors, and has plenty of magnesium.
Sources of sodium -
77% - restaurant cooking
12% - naturally occurring
6% - table salt
5% - home cooking
This stat makes eating at home appealing!
Pomegranate juice may be effective with diabetes -
The findings, although only from a small trial in humans, showed that the sugars contained in pomegranate juice – although similar in content to
those found in other fruit juices – did not worsen diabetes disease parameters (including blood sugar levels) in patients, but in fact cut the risk
of atherosclerosis. “In most juices, sugars are present in free – and harmful – forms,” explained Israeli researchers. “In
pomegranate juice, however, the sugars are attached to unique antioxidants, which actually make these sugars protective against atherosclerosis.” The
new research, published in the August issue of the journal Atherosclerosis (Vol. 187, pp. 363-371), reports that subjects who drank 50 ml of
pomegranate juice (containing 1.5 millimoles of polyphenols) every day for three months experienced a reduced risk for atherosclerosis. In a follow-on
study, to be published in the September issue of Atherosclerosis (Vol. 188, pp. 68-76), researchers report that the antioxidant activity of the
pomegranate juice cannot be attributed solely to the polyphenol content of the fruit, but that some credit must also go to the sugar content.
Lifestyle -
Alzheimer's Association emphasizes diet & lifestyle -
There was encouraging copy on the front page of the Alzheimer's Association newsletter. The headline read, "Risk Factors for Alzheimer's Linked
to Diet, Physical Activity." The newsletter was echoing research that was presented at the 10th International Conference of Alzheimer's Disease
and Related Disorders.
Another front page headline read, "Fat Intake at mid-life associated with changes in cognitive function later on." This study presented by
Finnish researchers showed that high intake of saturated fat from milk products at midlife was associated with poorer cognitive function and memory,
while high intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids and fish consumption correlated with better overall cognitive function.
We know both of these headlines to be true, but the significance is that the Alzheimer's Association acknowledges them. The Minsky family has been
ardent supporters of the Alzheimer's Assocation for years, but what has frustrated us is the lack of attention paid to preventative measures. The
millions of dollars that are poured into Alzheimer's research for a cure we feel is somehwat misguided. A sufficient portion of those funds should go
to the education and implementation of techniques for PREVENTING the onset of the disease, especially in those most susceptible. Of course, prevention
is not as sexy as finding a "cure," but has shown in many other cases to be the most effective method.
With the release of the most recent Alzheimer's Association publication, we are hoping that this is the beginning of a shift in the paradigm in
attacking Alzheimer's.
Steve
Public Health -
Breast-fed handle stress better -
Babies who are breast fed cope better with stress in later life than bottle-fed babies, research shows. Among almost 9,000 children aged 10, those
who had been bottle fed as a baby found it harder to deal with stressful events such as parental divorce. The Swedish researchers believe close
physical contact and mother-baby bonding during the first few days of life may be important factors. Their work appears in Archives of Disease in
Childhood. E SF The children's teachers were to rate the anxiety of their pupils on a scale of zero to 50, while parents were interviewed about major
family disruption, including divorce or separation, which had occurred when their child was aged 5-10. The Karolinska Institute team also looked at
other factors that might influence or be linked with a child's reactions to stress and coping mechanisms, including maternal depression, parental
education levels, their social class, and smoking habits. The children whose parents had divorced or separated were more likely to have high anxiety
than their peers. Specifically, breast-fed children were almost twice as likely to be highly anxious, while children who had been bottle fed were over
nine times as likely to be highly anxious about parental divorce or separation. The authors stress that their findings do not mean breastfeeding
itself makes children cope better with life stress. Rather, breastfeeding might affect the quality of the bonding between mother and child, and the
way in which the two relate to each other. The World Health Organization recommends that mothers should feed their babies on breast milk alone for the
first six months of life.
Allergists offer food safety guidelines -
Parents can help prevent food allergies by waiting to introduce certain foods into a child's diet and by feeding a child breast milk exclusively until
the sixth month of life, a group of allergists advises. Avoiding milk and dairy products at this time can help infants at risk of food allergies, but
there are no evidence-based guidelines on when other foods should be introduced and when children should begin eating solid food, Dr. Alessandro
Fiocchi of the University of Milan Medical School in Italy and colleagues from the Adverse Reactions to Foods Committee of the American College of
Allergy, Asthma and Immunology write. To fill the gap, Fiocchi and his team searched the existing scientific literature and developed a consensus
statement. "Pediatricians and allergists should cautiously individualize the introduction of solids into the infants' diet," they write in
the July issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Other than breast milk, no supplemental foods, including cow's milk-based formulas,
should be given until the child reaches six months of age, the researchers state. Introducing solid foods in a child's first four months of life, they
add, has been associated with an increased risk of allergies up to age 10. Foods should also be introduced one at a time in small amounts, Fiocchi and
his colleagues state, and children should not be given mixed foods unless it is clear they are not allergic to any of the components. Courtesy Reuters
SOURCE: Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, July 2006.Steve - sound familiar? It seems like the allergists read our playbook! Only their
advice comes years too late and way too many children have suffered.
Does BMI really predict cardiac risk?
The widely used body-mass index (BMI) is not an accurate indicator of cardiovascular risk for people with heart disease because it does not
distinguish between muscle and fat, a major review of the data contends.BMI is determined by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by height in
meters squared. Doctors have typically gauged a person's weight-linked risk for heart trouble by using their BMI.However, a new analysis of 40 studies
involving over 250,000 patients showed that those with a BMI under 20 were at higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease than those with
"obese" BMIs of 30 to 35."An explanation for the lack of a positive association with BMI and mortality in older ages is that, in older
persons, BMI is a poor measure of body fat," concluded a team of researchers from the Mayo Clinic, who published their findings in the Aug. 19
issue of The Lancet. "The measurement of weight does not differentiate between fat and fat-free mass, and fat-free mass (especially
muscle) is progressively lost with increasing age."Lead researcher Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, a consultant in the Mayo cardiovascular division,
said his suspicions regarding the fallibility of BMI began a while ago. "One of the studies [included in this review] was ours, which we did
about four years ago," he said. "At that time, we had an idea that the BMI was not the best way to assess cardiovascular problems. We faced
resistance from publishers at that time, but we found other studies confirming it."Next, he said, "We presented a report at an American
Heart Association meeting a few months ago showing that BMI did not correlate with fat. A better way to distinguish between fat and muscle is
to take a cross-sectional view of the abdomen, to focus on the waist-hip ratio."A British study published this month in the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition gave further evidence for that view. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine studied nearly 15,000
patients over age 75 and concluded that it is not appropriate to use BMI to calculate death risk in this age group. They noted that the health risks
associated with a high BMI are known to decline with age.By contrast, the researchers said waist-hip ratio "is a measure of body shape and, to
some extent, of lower trunk adiposity [abdominal fat]."
Health Day News
Bonnie - I have never used BMI in my practice and will not do so in the future.
FDA Approves Viral Adulteration of Our Food Supply -
The FDA recently approved a viral cocktail to be sprayed on foods we eat. This is the first time viruses have been approved for use as food additives.
The FDA believes it will be safe to consume these viruses every day for the rest of your life with no adverse health effects.
The first virally contaminated foods will be luncheon meat and poultry. Live viruses will be sprayed on foods such as cold cuts, sausages, hot dogs,
sliced turkey, and chicken. The stated goal of the new FDA-approved viruses is to kill a rare bacterium known as Listeria monocytogenes. This
bacterium is killed by cooking; however, it poses a problem in meats that are cooked during processing and not cooked again prior to consumption, so
it can readily infect foods such as deli meats.
The FDA assures us the viruses will not attack human cells. However, they cannot possibly be certain the viruses will not attack the friendly bacteria
that make up the lining of your digestive tract. The FDA approval was based on scant human testing, mostly from unrelated medical experiments. Such
safety data is woefully inadequate to determine safe ingestion of a specific product by humans over the course of a lifetime.
The viruses are known as bacteriophages, viruses that kill bacteria, or phages for short. Phages have been around a long time, living as parasites
inside many bacteria. The company that produces these viruses, Intralytix, Inc., uses biotechnology to grow viral phages in a culture with Listeria,
in theory teaching the viruses to recognize the bacteria. The FDA-approved cocktail contains six different viruses intended to attack one strain of
bacteria. This concoction is then sprayed on food. If Listeria is present in the food, the bacteria will ingest the viruses. This results in massive
viral replication inside the bacteria, until such point as the bacteria simply bursts. This battle results in significant production of bacterial
poisons called endotoxins, as the bacteria tries to defend itself. When the bacteria burst, these endotoxins are released.
The human immune system is highly reactive and sensitive to bacterial endotoxins. They provoke allergy, asthma, autoimmune problems, and elevate
cholesterol. They also interfere with the healthy function of cells lining the digestive tract. Researchers have demonstrated that the presence of
bacterial endotoxins can start cancer in the colon. Additionally, the human immune system reacts directly to viral phages. We know the Listeria
bacteria are not going to take the issue lying down. They will develop resistance to the viruses over time, as we have seen with the overuse of
antibiotics. Going down this path, we are likely to have hundreds of viral food additives in the food we eat, all designed to combat some possible
infection coming from poor quality food. We may inadvertently create deadly new super-strains of bacteria and/or parasitically infect the human
digestive tract with an untreatable infection.
Intralytix is also seeking FDA approval for viral sprays to treat foods that could be contaminated with E. coli and Salmonella, which means that
similar viruses could end up in a majority of the protein foods in our food supply. Intralytix sees financial opportunity. They have already licensed
their now FDA-approved viral spray to an undisclosed multi-national company for use around the world.
While the FDA will require the ingredient to be listed on packages as "bacteriophage preparation," most consumers will have no idea that
means they are ingesting live viruses. Foods bought at deli counters or prepared in restaurants will not need to warn consumers. How can any
responsible parent feed virus-tainted food to their children?
Courtesy of Healthy News Service
Bonnie - you heard it hear first. The above article, while biased against the virus spray, is unfortunately, dead-on. This issue, which has until now
flown under the radar (it was approved 10 days ago by the FDA), I predict will open up a "Pandora's Box." The digestive tract of the average
human is under attack every second of its existence. Adding more endotoxins and creating a new menagerie of mutated viruses and bacteria will just
compound the problem for the next generation. The goverment and Big Pharma's "band-aid approach" has struck again. My suggestions?
Read labels: anything mentioning bacteriophage preparation, AVOID! If you get cold cuts and meats at a restaurant, ask them if they use meats prepared
this way. The same rule goes for irradiated foods, and foods that contain hormones and antibiotics.
Eat organic as much as possible.
Supplement with probiotics daily. Nobody knows to what extenet this new virus spray will create mutated bacteria and viruses. We do not know if they
will be contained or will extend into our entire food supply. Thus, you must give your digestive tract every possibility to sustain balanced gut
ecology. It is near impossible to do this without probiotic supplementation. Make sure your probiotic is from a high quality, reputable brand.
Vaccine effectiveness may be compromised by pollutants -
New epidemiological evidence suggests that exposure to environmental pollutants may have an adverse impact on immune responses to childhood
vaccinations. The research appears in the Aug. 22, 2006, online edition of Public Library of Science Medicine.
The study looked at two groups of children in the Faroe Islands, which are located in the North Atlantic and where traditional diets may include whale
blubber contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Blood and milk samples taken during pregnancy from the mothers were analyzed to determine
the children's prenatal PCB exposure. After routine childhood vaccinations against tetanus and diphtheria, the two groups of children were examined at
age 18 months and 7 years, and blood samples were examined for tetanus and diphtheria antibodies.
The findings showed an association between increased PCB contamination and lowered antibody response to the vaccines. At 18 months, the diphtheria
antibody concentration decreased by 24 percent for each doubling of the PCB exposure. At 7 years, the tetanus antibody response showed the strongest
response and decreased by 16 percent for each doubling of the prenatal exposure. The work was supported by the National Institute for Environmental
Health Sciences, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Danish Medical Research Council and the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
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