Dieting and J Nutr, Jan 2011 from Nutrition Investigator Roc –

SYNOPSES OF ARTICLES THIS MONTH

  1. From SCIENCE 10 Dec 2010 pg 1467 –Why Diets Fail– “Bad news for dieters: New research shows that dieting makes the brain more sensitive to stress and the rewards of high-fat, high-calorie treats. And that can cause you to regain lost weight. Stress triggers the release of cortisol, a “fight or flight” hormone that, if chronically elevated, can cause increased appetite and weight gain. Tracy Bale, a neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues hypothesized that dieting leaves people more susceptible to the stresses of everyday life, leading them to pack on lost pounds….The team also found that the diet, although short, resulted in long-term changes in gene expression that would undermine any dieter’s efforts…This may help explain why so many diets fail: Dieting increases stress sensitivity, and stress makes us seek relief in high-fat, high-calorie “comfort” foods.

 From J Nutrition Dec, 2011

  1. Symposium—Eating Patterns and Energy Balance: A Look at Eating Frequency, Snacking, and Breakfast Omission
    a. The goal of the symposium was to bring together experts to provide an overview of research on the potential role of eating patterns in the development of overweight and obesity.
    b. The majority of cross-sectional studies in free-living adults show an inverse relationship between eating frequency and adiposity; however, this is likely an artifact produced by the underreporting of eating frequency concurrent with underreporting of energy intake. When implausible energy intake reporting (which is mostly underreporting) is taken into account, the association between eating frequency and adiposity becomes positive.
    c. Taken together, these findings suggest that increased eating frequency (>3 eating occasions/d) has minimal, if any, impact on appetite control and food intake, whereas reduced eating frequency(<3 eating occasions/d) negatively effects appetite control.
    d.The energy content of snacks was never compensated for at the next meal and led consistently to a positive energy balance compared with no-snack conditions.
    e. [A good breakfast is essential to health] Our results suggest that breakfast frequency and quality may be related in causal ways to appetite controls and blood sugar control, supporting the hypothesis that the breakfast meal and its quality may have important causal implications for the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
  2. Rye bread helps weight maintenance– The evidence of the beneficial health effects of dietary fiber and whole grain consumption is strong…The results suggest that 8-wk consumption of high-fiber rye bread increases metabolites that might mediate positive effects of rye bread on satiety and weight maintenance.
  3. Flavonoids (from wine and dark fruit and veggies) increase plasma omega-3 levels– These studies demonstrate that the consumption of flavonoids increases plasma very long-chain (n-3) PUFA levels. These data confirm previous clinical and epidemiological studies and provide new insights into the health benefits of flavonoids.
  4. Pecans are also great nuts to eat– Pecans Acutely Increase Plasma Postprandial Antioxidant Capacity and Catechins and Decrease LDL Oxidation in Humans.
  5. Mushrooms may reduce arthritis severity– Exotic mushrooms have been used in ancient Chinese medicine due to their immunomodulatory properties for the treatment and/or prevention of chronic diseases…Compared with the control diet, white button and Shiitake mushrooms tended to reduce the collagen-induced arthritis index from 5.11 to 3.15 after 31 d post-collagen injection.
  6. Vitamin C reduces ischemic stroke; vitamin E increases hemorrhagic stroke– This study investigates the relation between dietary TAC and risk of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in 41,620 men and women not previously diagnosed with stroke or myocardial infarction…vitamin C is significantly associated with a decreased risk of ischemic stroke [HR = 0.58], whereas vitamin E was associated with increased HR of hemorrhagic stroke in the highest tertile of intake [HR = 2.94] [NUTRITION INVESTIGATOR NOTES THIS WITH CONCERN AND IS CONSIDERING REDUCING VITAMIN E INTAKE FROM 400 TO 200 IU DAILY]
  7. Yellow and purple fleshed potates reduce oxidative stress and inflammatory damage– Pigmented potatoes contain high concentrations of antioxidants, including phenolic acids, anthocyanins, and carotenoids. These bioactive compounds have been implicated in the inhibition or prevention of cellular oxidative damage and chronic disease susceptibility.
  8. $2 billion spent on 6748 supplement studies– Over one-half of U.S. adults use dietary supplements, so federally supported research into the safety and effectiveness of these compounds is important for the health of many Americans. ..Between fiscal years 1999 and 2007, … NIH funded 6748 dietary supplement-related projects at a cost of $1.9 billion and the USDA funded 2258 projects at a cost of $347 million.
  9. Weaning infants not getting enough fat in diet tend to be obese later– These results provide evidence that metabolic programming by altering the dietary fat:CHO ratio can occur during the weaning period and emphasizes the importance of the fat:CHO ratio of the complementary diet and its relation to the susceptibility to develop adiposity later in life.

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“The greatest danger that Western prosperity faces…is posed by the myth of the free market” J. Cassidy, p. 101, The New Yorker, Dec 13, 2010