Oct J Nutrition 2012
FEATURES: 1. Meaning of the RDAs – I think many do not realize what these mean. Here’s a great explanation.
2. A reader pointed me to a study published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, where rats fed on a diet containing Roundup tolerant genetically modified corn or given water containing Roundup, at levels permitted in drinking water and GM crops in the US, suffered breast cancer and severe liver and kidney damage.
THE JOURNAL of NUTRITION ARTICLES THIS MONTH
1. Vitamin B6 necessary to maintain healthy fatty acid balance – The aim of this study was to determine the effects of marginal vitamin B-6 deficiency on fatty acid profiles in plasma, erythrocytes, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of healthy adults. Short-term vitamin B-6 restriction decreases plasma (n-3) and (n-6) PUFA concentrations and tends to increase the plasma (n-6):(n-3) PUFA ratio.
2. Plant lignans are antiinflammatory – Our findings suggest that plant lignans can be absorbed and metabolized in the small intestine and, among the plant lignans tested, PINO exhibited the strongest antiinflammatory properties by acting on the NF-κB signaling pathway, possibly in relation to its furofuran structure and/or its intestinal metabolism.
3. Obese people and those who eat more fat in diet absorb it into body more effectively – Adverse effects on health mediated by increased plasma FFA concentrations are well established and older individuals are particularly susceptible to these effects. Spillover of dietary lipid into plasma is disproportionally increased at higher doses of dietary fat and this response is inversely related to adiposity in healthy men of advanced age.
4. Quercetin from green tea, curcumin, etc. reduces inflammation and fibrosis – Animal studies have demonstrated the protective effects of different polyphenolic compounds such as green tea catechins, genistein, curcumin, total flavonoids from Litsea coreana, or a combination of anthocyanins, flavonols, and derivatives of phenolic acids.
5. Soy found beneficial for anti-estrogenic effects – Soy is common in Asian but not Western diets. Equol is an isoflavone (IF) metabolite produced by intestinal microbiota in a subset of people consuming dietary soy. Our findings indicate that equol diminishes estrogen-dependent tissue responses in apoE-null mice.
6. Socially disadvantaged in Spain eat more Western rather than Mediterranean diet and adopt other unhealthy lifestyles – The first one was called “Westernized” and was rich in red and processed meat, French fries, refined cereals, and sweetened beverages and poor in fresh fruit; the second pattern was named “Mediterranean” and was rich in olive oil and plant-based foods. The Spanish population is drifting away from the MD to adopt a less healthy diet, typical of Western countries. The departure from the MD mostly affects the socially disadvantaged and clusters with other unhealthy lifestyles, which may have synergistic undesirable effects on health.
7. Excess gestational weight gain (GWG) leads to an obese child – GWG is hypothesized to act on child adiposity directly through intrauterine programming and indirectly through birth weight. low GWG is not associated with BMI Z-score among any prepregnancy BMI group. Excess GWG is associated with an increase in child BMI Z-score among normal and overweight mothers only. Prevention of excess GWG may be a strategy to prevent childhood obesity.
8. Whole grain intake related to lower BMI – Alkylresorcinols (AR) are phenolic lipids found in the bran fraction of whole-grain wheat, rye, and barley. Our study shows a dose-dependent relationship between whole-grain intake and plasma AR and confirms the previously observed inverse relationship between whole-grain intake and BMI using an independent biomarker of whole-grain wheat intake.
9. Orange sweet potato introduction to Uganda farmers improved vitamin A status in children – Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) persists in Uganda and the consumption of β-carotene–rich orange sweet potato (OSP) may help to alleviate it.
*To review the disclaimer. *To ask Nutrition Investigator (Roc) a question.
Roc Ordman for appointments or phoning pls email 24hrs ahead
Professor, Biochemistry, Beloit College, fall schedule
Classes 10-12MWF; 1-3TR; 9-12T
http://chemistry.beloit.edu/Ordman/
“We can live a shorter life with more years of disability, or we can live the longest possible life with the fewest bad years. As my centenarian friends showed me, the choice is largely up to us.” Dan Buettner, The Blue Zones, 2008
