J Nutrition October, 2008
HEADLINES – Here are headlines based on 9 summaries from the October Journal of Nutrition. Summaries are at http://www.beloit.edu/nutrition/ln/ln08octjnutr where there are links to the full articles published this month.
Review of what you ought to know already: 1. Get plenty of vitamin C – High vitamin C intake prevents bone loss in mature men. 2. Get plenty of fish oil. Fish oil protects heart even during heart attack. 3. Enjoy eating plenty of dark chocolate. Dark Chocolate reduces inflammation.
Stress is putting awful nutrition in your body. 4. Stress blocks building muscles!
A bit of great cooking advice. Over- or under-cooking broccoli reduces its nutritional value. 5. How to cook your broccoli just right.
For future parents – 6. Baby formula may be hazardous to premature infants
Odds and ends 7. Chromium supplementation may benefit prediabetics 8. Some saturated fat may be useful in diet 9. Amino acid workshop shows amino acid supplements safe up to Upper Limits
SYNOPSIS OF ARTICLES THIS MONTH:
1. High vitamin C intake prevents bone loss in mature men – Men of average age 75 had lower bone loss if they were getting the most vitamin C.
2. Fish oil protects heart even during heart attack – Dietary fish oil induces a form of preconditioning, nutritional preconditioning, limiting ischemic cardiac injury, and myocardial infarction and endows cardioprotection as powerful as Ischemic preconditioning, which provides no additional protection in (n-3) PUFA hearts.
3. Dark Chocolate reduces inflammation – Dark chocolate contains high concentrations of flavonoids and may have antiinflammatory properties. ..Our findings suggest that regular consumption of small doses of dark chocolate may reduce inflammation. [Dark chocolate has more beneficial phenolic phytochemicals than green tea, black tea, and red wine!]
4. Stress blocks building muscles – Several stress conditions are characterized by activation of 5′-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and the development of leucine resistance in skeletal muscle. In the present study, we determined whether direct activation of the AMPK by 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-ribonucleoside (AICAR) prevents the characteristic leucine-induced increase in protein synthesis by altering mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signal transduction.
5. Cook your broccoli just right – The health benefits of consuming cruciferous vegetables are widely considered to be due to the biological activity of glucosinolate degradation products. However, it is conceivable that other phytochemicals within crucifers may also have biological activity that may contribute to health benefits… Extracts microwaved for 0, 1, and 4 min contained 9.5, 25.5, and 0 µmol/L sulforaphane and induced changes in expression of 381, 1017, and 101 genes, respectively. [so 1 minute appears optimal]
6. Baby formula may be hazardous to premature infants – Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is the most common gastrointestinal emergency in newborn premature infants…The data provided novel mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of NEC and the insults of a formulated diet to the premature gut.
7. Chromium supplementation may benefit prediabetics – Chromium has gained popularity as a nutritional supplement for diabetic and insulin-resistant subjects…These results indicate that dietary supplementation with [chromium] may have potential beneficial effects in insulin-resistant, prediabetic conditions. [amount cannot be determined as this was an animal study]
8. Some saturated fat may be useful in diet -Postprandial lipemia impairs endothelial function possibly via an oxidative stress mechanism. ..This study demonstrates that a stearic acid-rich fat attenuates the postprandial impairment in endothelial function compared with an oleic acid-rich fat and supports the hypothesis that postprandial lipemia impairs endothelial function via an increase in oxidative stress.
9. Amino acid workshop shows amino acid supplements safe up to Upper Limits– OSL [observed safe level] is new standard for nutrition, similar to UL [upper limit].
I AM SURE GLAD THAT YOU ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR BODY. PLEASE HELP YOUR FRIENDS TO PAY ATTENTION TOO!
