Nutrition
05 Jun Some Carotenoids May Have a Protective Effect on Breast Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ying Wang, PHD | Senior Epidemiologist American Cancer Society, Inc. Atlanta, Georgia Dr. Wang: Several epidemiologic studies and a recent large pooled analysis suggest that higher blood levels of carotenoids, a group of lipid-soluble pigments that are rich in colorful fruits and vegetables, are associated with lower breast cancer risk. What remains unclear is whether or not the effect of carotenoids on breast cancer differ by estrogen receptor status, tumor stage, BMI, and smoking status. We examined plasma carotenoids and breast cancer risk overall, and by aforementioned tumor and participant characteristics in a cohort of 992 postmenopausal women. We found that higher pre-diagnosis plasma α-carotene, but not other subtypes or total carotenoids, was significantly associated with lower invasive breast cancer risk. The inverse association of α-carotene with breast cancer risk seems stronger for estrogen receptor positive tumors than for estrogen receptor negative tumors. There is a suggestive inverse association of total plasma carotenoid levels and breast cancer among ever smokers but not among never smokers.04 Jun Fructose Linked To Weight Gain and Reduced Physical Activity
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Catarina Rendeiro Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Research Associate
Rhodes lab University of Illinois
Urbana, Illinois
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Rendeiro: The motivation for this study emerges in the context of understanding the link between sugar intake, particularly fructose, and the rising obesity epidemic that we are currently facing. Overeating and lack of physical activity certainly play major roles in obesity, but the sources of calories are also important. Fructose, a simple monosaccharide found in fruit and vegetables, and composing half of sucrose (i.e., table sugar), has been on the increase in Western diets. In our rodent study, 18% of dietary calories were derived from sugar, either fructose or glucose. This level is similar to typical American diets. However, the fructose diet resulted in increased weight gain and fat deposition and reduced physical activity even though food intake was similar between the two groups. It is also important to note that our animals were consuming their regular amount of calories, not overeating. Only the source of sugar was different between experimental groups, and still calorie-for-calorie, fructose caused greater weight gain and less physical activity than glucose.
02 Jun Dietary Fiber May Reduce Risk Of Diabetes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dagfinn Aune, PhD student
Norwegian University of Science and Technology and
Imperial College London
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: There are more than 360 million people worldwide that are affected by diabetes, and this number is projected to increase to more than 550 million by 2030, with serious consequences for the health and economy of both developed and developing countries. While previous research has found an association between increased dietary fibre intake and a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes, most of these data come from the United States, and amounts and sources of fiber intake differ substantially between countries. In this article the we evaluated the associations between total fiber as well as fiber from cereal, fruit, and vegetable sources, and new-onset type 2 diabetes in a large European cohort across eight countries, in the EPIC-InterAct Study (and included 12403 type 2 diabetes cases and 16835 sub-cohort members). We also conducted a meta-analysis where we combined the data from this study with those from 18 other independent studies from across the globe.
We found that participants with the highest total fiber intake (more than 26 g/day) had an 18% lower risk of developing diabetes compared to those with the lowest total fiber intake (less than 19g/day), after adjusting for the effect of other lifestyle and dietary factors. When the results were adjusted for body mass index (BMI) as a marker of obesity, higher total fiber intake was found to be no longer associated with a lower risk of developing diabetes, suggesting that the beneficial association with fiber intake may be mediated at least in part by BMI. In other words, dietary fiber may help people maintain a healthy weight, which in turn reduces the chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
In a meta-analysis of the EPIC-InterAct study and 18 other independent studies (>41000 type 2 diabetes cases) we found that the risk was reduced by 9% for each 10 g/day increase in total fiber intake and 25% for each 10 g/day increase in cereal fiber intake. There was no statistically significant association between fruit or vegetable fiber intake and diabetes.
01 Jun Health Diet May Lower Risk of Prostate Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Meng Yang, PhD MPH
Research Fellow
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Yang: There are nearly 3 million American men living with prostate cancer. However, there is very little information for patients and clinicians about how to manage patients’ lifestyles, like diet, after prostate cancer diagnosis to decrease the risk of death due to this disease and improve their survivorship.
The most important finding is that men initially diagnosed with prostate cancer without metastases whose diet was more “Westernized”, i.e. higher processed meats, refined grains, potatoes and high-fat dairy, had a significantly higher prostate cancer-related death and all cause mortality. Men whose diet was more “prudent”, i.e. higher intake of vegetables, fruits, fish, whole grains and healthy oils had a lower risk of death.
27 May Soy Supplement Did Not Improve Asthma Symptoms
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Lewis J. Smith, MD
Professor of Medicine and Associate Vice President for Research
Northwestern University and the Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, IL 60611
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Smith: We previously observed in a survey of more than 1,000 patients with asthma that those consuming soy isoflavones in their diet had better lung functioning than their counterparts who consumed little or none. Using a more detailed soy questionnaire, we confirmed the observation in a different group of patients with asthma, and followed that up with laboratory studies. In cell culture studies, we saw that genistein, the major soy isoflavone, at levels that are achieved in individuals consuming a high soy diet, reduces eosinophilic inflammation, a key feature in asthma. In addition, people who consume more soy products, mostly in Japan and parts of China, generally have less asthma than in western countries. Although these data indicate a potential beneficial effect of soy isoflavones in patients with asthma and nutritional supplements are commonly used by people to treat and prevent disease and improve their health, there was little direct data to prove that the supplement is actually effective. As a result, we explored the effects of a soy isoflavone supplement in 386 adults and children aged 12 or older with poorly controlled asthma. All were taking medicine to treat their asthma – either corticosteroids or leukotriene modifiers – but none consumed soy more than once a week. In the randomized, double-blind study, half of the participants took a soy isoflavone supplement twice daily for six months, and the other half took a placebo. We found that the supplement, though able to increase blood levels of genistein, did not improve lung function, symptoms or measures of inflammation in these individuals.
26 May 2-3 Cups of Coffee Daily Linked To Lower Odds Of Erectile Dysfunction
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
David S. Lopez, Dr.P.H., M.P.H.
Assistant professor
University of Texas Health School of Public Health
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Lopez: Coffee, and its most studied component, caffeine, have been implicated in potential health benefits due to the rich sources of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds contained in this beverage.
Caffeine intake reduced the odds of prevalent erectile dysfunction, especially an intake equivalent to approximately 2-3 daily cups of coffee (170-375 mg/day). This reduction was also observed among overweight/obese and hypertensive men, but not among diabetic men. These associations are warranted to be investigated in prospective studies.
Medical Research: What are the main findings?
Dr. Lopez: Caffeine intake reduced the odds of prevalent erectile dysfunction, especially an intake equivalent to approximately 2-3 daily cups of coffee (170-375 mg/day). This reduction was also observed among overweight/obese and hypertensive men, but not among diabetic men. These associations are warranted to be investigated in prospective studies.
26 May Plant-Based Vegan Diet May Improve Diabetic Neuropathy Pain, Lower Body Weight
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Ulka Agarwal, M.D.
California State University, East Bay
Student Health and Counseling Services
Hayward, CA
MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Agarwal: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy affects 60 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes and can come with painful symptoms but limited treatment options. We thought a dietary intervention may help alleviate these symptoms since glycemic control plays a role in diabetes complications.
To get started with the pilot, we put 17 adults on a low-fat vegan diet for 20 weeks and prescribed weekly nutrition classes. We found significant improvements in pain, measured by the Short Form McGill Pain questionnaire, the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument physical assessment, and through electrochemical skin conductance in the foot. The participants also lost an average of 14 pounds.
10 May PREDIMED Study Demonstrates Heart Health Benefits of Mediterranean Diet
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Miguel Á. Martínez-González, MD, MPH, PhD
Department of Preventive Medicine & Public Health
School of Medicine, University of Navarra
Navarra, Spain
Medical Research: What are the main findings?
Response: The diet-heart hypothesis has been researched during decades. A common mistake was to assume that a high intake of all types of fat was detrimental for cardiovascular health and could cause heart attacks and strokes. Therefore a low-fat diet was proposed as the best way to prevent heart attacks and strokes. This was wrong.
Alternatively, the Mediterranean diet, rich in fat from natural vegetable sources (olive oil, tree nuts), was also considered a healthy dietary pattern.
However, most of the evidence to support these benefits of a fat-rich Mediterranean diet came from observational studies and no randomized clinical trial had ever assessed the Mediterranean diet in PRIMARY prevention (i.e. in initially healthy people)
08 May Measures To Reduce Sugary Drinks Gains Public Acceptance
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Dragos Petrescu
Department of Public Health and Primary Care
Cambridge
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is a major contributor to obesity, particularly in children. Recent systematic reviews provide good evidence that reducing portion size reduces consumption. Similarly, evidence suggests that container shapes and product placement in supermarkets can influence consumption. The public acceptability of "nudging" -- altering properties such as the size, the shape, and location of sugar-sweetened beverages -- to improve public health is unknown. Here we compared the acceptability in UK and USA samples of government interventions to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages: three nudge interventions (limiting portion size, changing container shape, and changing shelf location) and two traditional interventions (increased taxation and an education campaign).
We found that for the majority of UK and USA samples, the education campaign and the three nudge interventions were acceptable, with education attracting most support. By contrast, only a minority of participants supported taxation.
02 May Replacing Sugary Drinks With Plain Coffee Or Tea May Reduce Diabetes Risk
Posted at 11:38h
in Artificial Sweeteners, Author Interviews, Diabetes, Diabetologia, Nutrition, Sugar
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr Nita Forouhi, MRCP, PhD, FFPHM
MRC Programme Leader and Consultant Public Health Physician
MRC Epidemiology Unit
University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine
Cambridge Biomedical Campus
Cambridge UK
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Forouhi: Consumption of soft drinks is known to cause obesity and may contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes. We had previously published findings from the EPIC-InterAct study in 8 European countries that habitual consumption of sugar sweetened beverages increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and we now wanted to probe deeper to understand more about this relationship between sweet beverages and diabetes.
We conducted research in the large EPIC-Norfolk study which included more than 25,000 men and women aged 40–79 years living in Norfolk, UK. Study participants recorded everything that they ate and drank for 7 consecutive days covering weekdays and weekend days, with particular attention to type, amount and frequency of consumption, and whether sugar was added by the participants. During approximately 11 years of follow-up, 847 study participants were diagnosed with new-onset type 2 diabetes.
By using this detailed information on diet, we were able to study several different types of sugary beverages, including sugar-sweetened soft drinks, sweetened tea or coffee and sweetened milk drinks as well as artificially sweetened beverages (ASB) - such as diet soft drinks - and fruit juice, and to examine what would happen if plain water, unsweetened tea or coffee or artificially sweetened beverages were substituted for sugary drinks.
Our study provided three main findings:
First, there was an approximately 22% increased relative risk of developing type 2 diabetes per extra serving per day habitually of each of soft drinks, sweetened milk beverages and ASB consumed, even after accounting for a range of important factors including other lifestyle and social factors and for total energy intake. However, after further accounting for body mass index and waist girth as markers of obesity, there remained a higher risk of diabetes associated with consumption of both soft drinks and sweetened milk drinks, but the link with ASB consumption no longer remained, possibly because artificially sweetened beverages was likely to be consumed by those who were already overweight or obese.
Second, when we estimated the likely effects of replacing a habitual serving of soft drinks with a serving of water or unsweetened tea or coffee, we found that the risk of diabetes could have been cut by 14%; and by replacing a habitual serving of sweetened milk beverage with water or unsweetened tea or coffee, that reduction could have been 20%–25%. However, consuming ASB instead of any sugar-sweetened drink was not likely to reduce the risk of diabetes, when accounting for baseline obesity and total energy intake.
Third, we found that each 5% of higher intake of energy (as a proportion of total daily energy intake) from total sweet beverages (soft drinks, sweetened tea or coffee, sweetened milk beverages, fruit juice) was associated with a 18% higher risk of diabetes. We estimated that if study participants had reduced the energy they obtained from sweet beverages to below 10%, 5% or 2% of total daily energy, 3%, 7% or 15% respectively of new-onset type 2 diabetes cases could have been potentially avoided.
01 May Aging: Vegetable Consumption and Exercise May Protect Against Muscle Mass Loss
Posted at 16:51h
in Aging, Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Geriatrics, Lifestyle & Health, Nutrition
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Yunhwan Lee, MD, DrPH
Director, Institute on Aging
Professor of Preventive Medicine & Public Health
Ajou University School of Medicine
Suwon, South Korea
Dr. Lee wishes to acknowledge Jinhee Kim, PhD, the lead author of the study.
Medical Research: What is the background for this study?
Dr. Lee: We have known for some time that there is a progressive loss of muscle mass with aging, where older people lose on average about 1% of their skeletal muscle mass per year. A decline in muscle mass is serious in that it increases the person’s risk of falls, frailty, disability, and death.
Because there is currently no “cure” for muscle mass loss, prevention is the best strategy. Over the years, researchers have studied various lifestyle factors to identify potentially modifiable behaviors that may prevent or slow the loss of muscle mass. The majority of prior research so far have found that diet, in the form of protein supplementation, and exercise, especially resistance exercise, may confer some benefits.
More recently, the scientific community have begun to pay attention to the positive role of vegetables and fruits intake on the muscle. The role of aerobic exercise on muscle mass is, however, less clear. Also, because people tend to adopt various lifestyles, we were interested in finding out whether those engaging in healthier patterns of diet and exercise retained higher muscle mass. This is why bodybuilders pay such close attention to their diet and make sure their muscle mass is at it's peak. They can also take supplements like SARMs (see SARMS.io for more information about that) to improve muscle mass but their diet has a massive effect on it too. This is where some of the inspiration for this research came from as we knew what an effect food had on bodybuilders so we wondered how it could effect the elderly.
Using data from a nationally representative sample of older adults, we investigated whether those who had healthier diet and participated in regular exercise, individually and in combination, maintained higher muscle mass. We looked at five healthy lifestyle factors that included dietary intake of three food groups (meat, fish, eggs, legumes; vegetables; and fruits) and participation in two types of exercise (aerobic and resistance).
29 Apr Potassium May Play Larger Role Than Sodium in Adolescent Blood Pressure
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Lynn L. Moore, DSc, MPH
Department of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Boston, Massachusetts
Medical Research: What is the background for this study?
Dr. Moore: The USDA’s current Dietary Guidelines for sodium intake have become increasingly controversial. Current recommendations include restricting sodium intake after the age of 2 years to no more than 2300 mg per day. For African-American adults and children, intakes should be restricted to no more than 1500 mg per day. Actual intake levels are much higher, with most Americans consuming about 3500 mg per day. Our goal was to estimate the effects of dietary sodium and potassium intakes on the change in blood pressure throughout adolescence.
We used data from the National Growth and Health Study, a prospective study of more than 2000 girls who were 9-10 years of age at the time of enrollment. Lifestyle factors were assessed repeatedly throughout the study, and blood pressure was measured annually. Dietary sodium and potassium were assessed using multiple sets of three-day diet records. We used longitudinal modeling to estimate the effects of dietary sodium and potassium on blood pressure change over 10 years.
Medical Research: What are the main findings?
Dr. Moore: In this study, there was no evidence for a beneficial effect of reduced sodium intake on blood pressure change during adolescence. By 19-20 years of age, girls who consumed more than 4000 mg of sodium per day had systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels that were similar to those seen among girls with lower levels of sodium intake. Specifically, there was no beneficial effect on blood pressure associated with sodium intakes of less than 2500 mg per day. These results were similar for blacks and whites. In contrast, the repeated measures analyses showed that girls who consumed more than 2400 mg of potassium per day had lower blood pressures throughout adolescence compared with girls consuming less than 1800 mg per day of potassium.
27 Apr Yogurt Habit May Not Provide Long Term Health Benefits
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Esther Lopez-Garcia, PhD
Dept. Preventive Medicine and Public Health
School of Medicine
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Madrid,Spain
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Lopez-Garcia: Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is a global indicator of perceived health status, which includes physical and mental domains. Assessing the association between individual foods and HRQL is important because both the food industry and the population as a whole are interested in knowing whether general well-being could be improved by consuming specific foods. Several biological mechanisms might support an association between consumption of yogurt and better Health-related quality of life. However, to our knowledge, the effect of yogurt on HRQL has not yet been studied in epidemiological investigations in the general population. Thus, the objective of this article was to examine the prospective association between habitual yogurt consumption and the physical and mental components of HRQL among the general adult population.
In this study, we found no association between yogurt consumption and the physical and mental components of HRQL after 3.5 years of follow-up of a population-based cohort. The results also held for whole-milk and reduced-fat yogurt.
20 Apr Prolonging Duration Of Nightly Fast May Reduce Breast Cancer Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Catherine Marinac
Doctoral Candidate
UC San Diego/San Diego State University
Joint-Doctoral Program in Public Health
La Jolla, CA 92093
MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The dietary advice for cancer prevention usually focuses on limiting consumption of red meat, alcohol, and refined grains, and increasing consumption of plant foods. However, new evidence suggests that other fundamental aspects of diet, such when and how often people eat, can also play a role in cancer risk. For example, research in mice suggests that decreasing the number of hours we eat during the day, and increasing the length of time we fast overnight can improve metabolic parameters and reduce risk of developing a number of chronic diseases including cancer.
Similar to the data from animal models, we found that women who fasted for longer periods of time overnight had significantly better control over blood glucose concentrations – and these effects were independent of how much women ate. This finding is relevant to cancer research because people who have poor glucose control are significantly more likely to develop certain types of cancer. It is hypothesized that high concentrations of circulating glucose may fuel cancer growth and progression.
17 Apr Relatively Small Drop In Price Leads To More Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Kylie Ball PhD Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University, Australia. Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Most Australians (95% of adults) do not eat enough fruits or vegetables for good health. This is concerning as low fruit and vegetable intakes are linked with increased risk for a range of adverse health outcomes, including hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. One of the commonly cited barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption is the high cost of these foods. At Deakin University's Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research (C-PAN), we undertook a randomised controlled trial study in a supermarket setting to test whether addressing this barrier would help people to consume more fruits and vegetables. We found that a fairly small price reduction (20%) was effective in prompting people to buy more fruits and vegetables – about 2-3 more serves of fruit per week, and about 3 more serves of vegetables per week. These findings are exciting, as even small increases in fruit and vegetable consumption across the population can substantially improve the health of Australians.16 Apr B vitamins and Omega-3 May Protect Against Brain Shrinkage
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Fredrik Jernerén PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Pharmacology
University of Oxford
Oxford, United Kingdom
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Jernerén: Development of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is associated with an accelerated rate of brain shrinkage. Identifying ways to reduce the brain atrophy rate at an early stage may offer new strategies to prevent or delay the onset of dementia. In this study on elderly subjects diagnosed with Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), who are at increased risk of developing dementia, we investigated whether the effect of B vitamin supplementation on reducing the brain atrophy rate was influenced by circulating levels of omega-3 fatty acids. We have found that this indeed was the case. The higher the baseline concentration of the combined omega-3 fatty acids (DHA+EPA), the greater the protective effect of the B vitamin treatment. In subjects with high omega-3 concentrations who at the same time had elevated homocysteine levels (indicating a lack of B vitamins), B vitamin treatment reduced the brain atrophy rate by about 70% compared with the placebo group.
14 Apr Salt Capsules May Not Improve Exercise Performance For Endurance Athletes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Edward "Ted" Weiss, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis MO 63104
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Weiss: Public health recommendations are to keep sodium consumption below 2300 mg/day to avoid adverse health effects. However, most people in the US consume over 4000 mg/day. Furthermore, endurance athletes are often advised to add sodium to their diets to replace the sodium that is lost in sweat and are often lead to believe that the additional sodium is important for exercise performance. Clearly these recommendations are at odds with each other.
In a double-blind placebo-controlled trial, we evaluated the effect of salt capsule consumption (containing a 1800 mg sodium) on exercise performance and on thermoregulation during 2 - 2.5 hours of running or cycling. Exercise performance was not different between the salt and placebo conditions (i.e. it didn't provide benefit or harm for performance) nor did any of the markers of thermoregulation differ, suggesting that the salt didn't help (or hurt) the body's ability to cool itself.
14 Apr Could Probiotics Improve Your Mood?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura Steenbergen Leiden University, Institute for Psychological Research, Cognitive Psychology Leiden, The Netherlands Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Food supplements, among which probiotics, are becoming more and more popular. A lot is known about the effect of probiotics on the physical functioning, but even though there are some rat studies on the effects of probiotics on mental well-being, not much is known about the effect in humans. The few studies on humans that are available show beneficial effects on mood when people experience a bad mood, or psychological distress. Worldwide, millions of people are suffering from mood disorders like for instance depression, but not everyone receives treatment for this. Research on probiotics has shown that they are safe and easily available, and we therefore wanted to investigate if probiotics could perhaps be promising in serving as a preventive or adjuvant therapy for mood disorders of anxiety or depression. We therefore focused on cognitive reactivity to sad mood, which measures the degree to which people activate dysfunctional thought patterns when experiencing a sad mood. This measure is known to be predictive of the onset and development of depression. Compared to subjects who received a 4-week placebo intervention, participants who received a 4-week multispecies probiotics intervention showed significantly reduced aggressive and ruminative thoughts. Even if preliminary, these results provide the first evidence that the intake of probiotics may help reduce negative thoughts associated with sad mood. As such, our findings shed an interesting new light on the potential of probiotics to serve as adjuvant or preventive therapy for depression. So if you are interested in taking probiotics then you could check out something like these probiotics in india.02 Apr Study Links Whole Grains With Longer Life and Improved Health
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lu Qi, MD, PhD, FAHA Assistant Professor of Medicine Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor of Nutrition Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Lu Qi: The previous data from population and animal studies have suggested intakes of whole...
01 Apr β-carotene From Green and Yellow Vegetables May Improve Insulin Sensitivity
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Isao Saito, MD, PhD Department of Basic Nursing and Health Science, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine Toon, Ehime Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Type 2 diabetes is a major lifestyle-related disease with a rapid increasing prevalence in Japan. One meta-analysis of six cohort studies showed that an increase in daily food intake of 1.15 servings of green leafy vegetables was associated with a 14% reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes. Therefore, it is evident to think that green and yellow vegetables have beneficial effects against type 2 diabetes. Nonetheless, the relationship of their nutritive content with insulin resistance is poorly understood. We conducted the Toon Health Study initiated in 2009, which was a prospective cohort study of the Japanese general population. The cohort study was intended to characterize environmental risk factors related to incident diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Participants were recruited from the general population aged 30–79 years who were living in Toon City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. Of them, we investigated 951 Japanese men and women aged 30–79 years who were not undergoing treatment for diabetes and measured their serum β-carotene and retinol concentrations. A 75-g oral glucose tolerance test was performed and the Homeostasis Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and the Matsuda Index were calculated as measures of insulin resistance. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios of the highest quartile of serum β-carotene compared with the lowest quartile for HOMA-IR >1.6 and Matsuda Index <4.9 were 0.56 (95% confidence interval, 0.34–0.94) and 0.62 (0.37–1.02), respectively. When stratified by sex and overweight status, these associations were observed for women and non-overweight individuals. Serum retinol concentration was not associated with either index. Furthermore, according to the nutritional survey, serum β-carotene concentration was associated with green and yellow vegetable intake (p = 0.01).23 Mar Trial of Current Dietary Guidelines Reduced Waistlines and Cardiovascular Risk Markers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tom Sanders, PhD DSc Emeritus Professor of Nutrition & Dietetics, Diabetes and Nutritional Sciences Division, King’s College London London, UK Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Sanders: Controversy surrounds the effectiveness of dietary guideline for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention in healthy middle-aged and older men and women. These dietary guidelines are similar in UK and other Western countries and focus on modifying the overall dietary pattern so that food and nutrient targets are met. However, surprisingly the overall impact of changing the dietary pattern has never been tested in a trial. We conducted a 12-wk controlled dietary trial in 165 healthy non-smoking men and women (aged 40-70 years) to compare a diet conforming to current dietary guidelines with a traditional nutritionally balance British diet on well established (blood pressure measured by 24-h ambulatory monitoring and blood lipids) and newer predictors of cardiovascular disease risk (measures of blood vessel functioning and stiffness, inflammation and the body’s sensitivity to insulin). The dietary guideline targets were to reduce total and saturated fat intake to provide no more than 35% and 10% of the food energy, to cut salt to below 6g/day, to meet the 5-a-day recommendation for fruit and vegetables, to consume at least 1portions of oily fish a week (i.e. mackerel, salmon, sardines), to obtain half of the cereal intake from wholegrains and to restrict intake of non-milk extrinsic sugar to no more than 10% energy. Subjects were counseled by a dietitian and provided with advice tailored to their individual food preferences and were provided with some foods to assist them following the dietary advice. The control diet was a nutritionally balanced traditional British diet without restriction on salt and sugar intake. It was based around refined cereals (white bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, white rice) and potatoes with meat (red meat, meat products or poultry), but with a limited intake of oily fish (less than once a month) and wholegrain cereals. Participants allocated to control were supplied with a butter-based spread and a liquid unhydrogenated vegetable oil (palm olein) that contained 40 % saturated fatty acids. They were advised to consume three servings of full-fat dairy products (milk, yogurt and cheese), and at least one serving of fruit and two servings of vegetables each day. Both groups were given advice to limit consumption of confectionery, snack foods (chips, cake, cookies) and drink alcohol within safe limits. Food intake records showed few differences in micronutrient intakes between diets with the exception of vitamin D where the intake and plasma 25-OH-vitamin D levels were greater on the dietary guidelines diet owing to the higher intake of oily fish. The average body weight in the group who followed the modified diet fell by 1.3 kg whilst that in the control group rose by 0.6 kg after 12 weeks, resulting in an overall difference in weight of 1.9 kg between the two groups; the equivalent difference in Body Mass Index (BMI) was 0.7 kg/m2 between the groups. Waist circumference was 1.7 cm lower in the dietary guidelines group compared to the control group. The drop-out rate was low, with 80 participants completing on the dietary guidelines diet and 82 on the control. Adherence to the dietary advice was confirmed both with dietary records and by measuring specific biomarkers in the participants’ blood and urine. The latter indicated an increase in potassium and fibre intake in the dietary group along with a drop in sodium (salt) and saturated fat and added sugar intake. However, total sugar intake remained unchanged owing to the increase in sugar intake from fruit. The primary outcomes were changes in day-time systolic blood pressure, endothelial function measured using the flow mediated dilation technique and total cholesterol: HDL cholesterol ratio. All other outcomes were secondary or exploratory outcomes. Significant falls in systolic blood pressure/diastolic blood pressure of 4.2/2.5 mm Hg for daytime and 2.9/1.9 mm Hg for night time were measured in the dietary group compared with the control group; the average heart rate was found to have lowered by 1.8 beats per minute. Causal mediated effects analysis based on urinary sodium excretion indicated that sodium reduction explained 2.4 mm Hg (95% CI 1.0, 3.9) of the fall in blood pressure There were no changes in endothelial dependent or endothelial independent vasodilation but arterial stiffness measured as carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity was 0. 29 m/sec lower on the dietary guidelines diet compared with the control diet. Total cholesterol:HDL cholesterol ratio was 4% lower on the dietary guidelines diet compared to the control low density lipoprotein and triglyceride concentrations were 10% and 9% lower respectively. The reduction in LDL-C (0.30 mmol/L) was greater than that achieved in most community based studies of dietary advice where the average reduction is 0.16 mmol/L but still modest compared with what can be achieved with statins (1.0 mmol/L). Compared with the control diet, the dietary guideline diet decreased low-grade inflammation (C-reactive protein). No significant change was recorded in markers for 24-h insulin secretion or insulin sensitivity, which predicts the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.19 Mar Young Children May Acquire A Taste For Salt From Common Foods In Infancy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Joyce Maalouf MS MPH
Nutrition Epidemiologist
CDC, Atlanta
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Although significant research shows U.S. children are eating too much sodium, data on the top dietary sources contributing to that intake is limited – particularly among babies and toddlers. This study identifies the primary sources of dietary sodium consumed by children from birth to 24-months-old, as well as differences in intake and food source broken down by demographic characteristics including age, gender and race/ethnicity.
Overall, our research revealed that after the age of six months, more than 70 percent of sodium intake comes from foods other than breast milk and infant formula. Commercial baby foods, soups and pasta mixed dishes are top sodium contributors for U.S. infants 6 to 11.9 months, while soups, cheese, pasta mixed dishes and frankfurters and sausages are key contributors among toddlers aged 12 up to 24 months. Top sodium sources varied by race/ethnicity within age groups, suggesting that for sodium reduction to be effective, it needs to occur across a wide variety of foods.
In addition, we found that non-Hispanic black toddlers ate more sodium than non-Hispanic white and Mexican-American children. Average sodium intake increased almost 9-fold from children under six months to those between one and two-years-old, while average energy intake only doubled. This suggests that, during the first two years of life, U.S. children increasingly consume sodium-rich foods.
To determine these findings, we examined eight years of data encompassing more than 2,900 participants between birth and two-years-old. The information was pulled from the nationwide NHANES What We Eat in America survey between 2003 and 2010.
17 Mar Dark Chocolate May Improve Exercise Capacity and Metabolic Parameters
Posted at 11:15h
in Author Interviews, Chocolate, Exercise - Fitness, Heart Disease, JACC, UCLA, UCSD
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Pam R. Taub, MD, FACC
Assistant Professor of Medicine
UC San Diego Health System
Division of Cardiology Encinitas, CA 92024
Medical Research: What is the background for this study?
Dr. Taub: Epidemiological studies indicate that the consumption of modest amounts of dark chocolate (DC), which contains the natural cacao flavanol (-)-epicatechin (Epi,) is associated with reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The health benefits of dark chocolate have been attributed to Epi. Clinical studies using cocoa and/or DC in normal volunteers or subjects with CVD have reported improvements in peripheral and coronary vascular endothelial function, blood pressure, lipids, insulin resistance, and inflammatory markers. The mechanism underlying these improvements is thought to be due to increased nitric oxide levels and improved endothelial function. We have also shown that capacity of Epi to favorable impact mitochondria under normal and disease states.
We previously conducted pilot study in five patients with heart failure and type II diabetes, and showed that in skeletal muscle (SkM) biopsies there is a severe reduction in mitochondrial volume and cristae, as well as, in structural/functional proteins. After treatment with Epi rich dark chocolate , there was a significant recovery of SkM mitochondrial cristae, structural/functional proteins (e.g. mitofilin), as well as in regulators of mitochondrial biogenesis. However, no studies have examined the capacity of Epi rich dark chocolate to enhance exercise capacity in normal subjects and assess its impact on mitochondrial and oxidative control systems.
Medical Research: What are the main findings?
Dr. Taub: Seventeen subjects were randomized to placebo (n=8) or DC groups (n=9) and consumed 2 squares of chocolate (20 g, provided by Hershey) for 3 months.
We showed in the chocolate group subjects had improved levels of HDL cholesterol and enhanced exercise capacity that is linked to the stimulation of SkM metabolic control endpoints which enhance mitochondrial function.
16 Mar Sodium Content In Commercial Foods Remains High and Variable
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jaspreet Ahuja, Nutritionist
USDA, Agricultural Research Service
Nutrient Data Laboratory
Beltsville, MD 20705
MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Most sodium in the U.S. diet comes from commercially processed and restaurant foods. Sodium reduction in these foods is key to several recent public health efforts. In this paper, we provide an overview of a program led by Nutrient Data Laboratory, USDA, in partnership with CDC and FDA to monitor sodium contents in commercially processed and restaurant foods in United States.
We track about 125 highly consumed, sodium-contributing foods, termed “Sentinel Foods” annually using information from food manufacturers and periodically by nationwide sampling and laboratory analyses. In addition, we monitor over 1,100 other commercially processed and restaurant food items, termed “Priority-2 Foods,” biennially using information from food manufacturers. These foods serve as indicators for assessing changes in the sodium content of commercially processed and restaurant foods in the U.S. In addition to sodium, we are monitoring related nutrients (potassium, total dietary fiber, total and saturated fat, total sugar) because their levels may change when manufacturers and restaurants reformulate their products to reduce their sodium content.
We sampled all Sentinel Foods nationwide and reviewed all Priority-2 Foods in 2010–2013 to determine baseline sodium concentrations. The results of sodium reduction efforts, based on re-sampling of the Sentinel Foods or re-review of P2Fs, will become available in 2015 on our website. The updated data are also released in USDA food composition databases, National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference and Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies.
14 Mar Some Athletes May Need Salt Supplementation During Endurance Events
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Juan Del Coso Garrigós Profesor CC. de la Act. Física y del Deporte Responsable del Laboratorio de Fisiología del Ejercicio UNIVERSIDAD CAMILO JOSÉ CELA MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: From a scientific point of view, it is well known that salt (either in capsules or included in a drink) can improve physical performance and several other physiological factors such as plasma volume maintenance, thermoregulation, etc in endurance activities. These effects are more evident when the amount of salt ingested during exercise matches the amount of salt lost by sweating. By using only sports drinks, it is impossible to replace all the salt lost by sweating because they only contain a relatively small amount of salt in their compositions (between ½ and 1/3 of the amount of salt lost by sweating). In fact, some of the investigations that determined the effectiveness of ingesting salt in sports have been financed by most popular sport drinks trademarks. However, sports drink companies only include a part of the salt lost by sweating because for them, taste is elemental for their markets! I suppose that, if they include more salt in their commercially available drinks, they would be more effective to prevent dehydration and performance decline, but at the same time, the taste of the drink would diminish the amount of beverage ingested worldwide. In this case, in the sport drinks market there is a well- established balance between taste and physiological effectiveness. As an example, most “salted” sport drinks contain 20-25 mM of sodium while it is well known that sweat sodium concentration ranges from 20 to 60 mM (salty sweater can reach 100 mM!!). This is not a regulatory limitation, because UE considers sports drinks to carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions that contain sodium between 20 and 50 mM. Our main finding is: To ingest salt capsules, in addition to the habitual rehydration routines with sports drinks, improves performance in a triathlon. This ergogenic effect was mediated by better maintenance of body water and electrolytes balances.11 Mar ‘Traffic Light’ Nutrition Labels Help Consumers Make Healthier Choices
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Professor Dr. Bernd Weber
Heisenberg Professor
Department of Epileptology
Head - NeuroCognition | Imaging
Life&Brain Center Board of Directors
Center for Economics and Neuroscience Bonn
09 Mar Healthy Vegetarian Diet May Reduce Risk of Colon Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Michael J. Orlich, MD, PhD
Program Director, Preventive Medicine Residency
Loma Linda University
Co-Investigator, Adventist Health Studies
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Orlich: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. Screening efforts such as colonoscopies have helped save many lives by detecting pre-cancerous polyps and removing them. However, it is even better to prevent cancers from forming in the first place. We call this primary prevention. Diet is a potentially important approach to reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer. In this analysis, we compared those eating different categories of vegetarian dietary patterns to those eating a non-vegetarian diet. About half of our study population was classified as non-vegetarian, which we defined as eating meat at least weekly. The other half of our population we called vegetarian and further divided them into four different vegetarian groups: semi-vegetarians ate meat but less than once per week; pesco-vegetarians ate fish but avoided other meats; lacto-ovo-vegetarians avoided meat but ate eggs and/or dairy products; and vegans avoided all meats, eggs, and dairy. All vegetarians together had on average a 22% relative reduction in the risk of developing colorectal cancer, compared to non-vegetarians, after carefully adjusting for many other factors. Pesco-vegetarians in particular had a much lower risk compared to non-vegetarians.
08 Mar Do Emulsifiers in Food Additives Play A Role In Inflammatory Bowel Diseases?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Benoit Chassaing, Ph.D.
Post-Doctoral Fellow Dr. Gewirtz's lab.
Institute for Biomedical Sciences
Center for Inflammation, Immunity, & Infection
Georgia State University Atlanta GA 30303
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Chassaing: A key feature of inflammatory bowel diseases and metabolic syndrome is alteration of the gut microbiota in a manner that promotes inflammation. Importantly, incidence of IBD and metabolic syndrome has been markedly increasing since about the mid-20th century, and this dramatic increase has occurred amidst constant human genetics, suggesting a pivotal role for an environmental factor. We considered that any modern additions to the food supply might play an important role, and addition of emulsifiers to food seems to fit the time frame of increased incidence in these diseases. We found that emulsifiers, which are added to most processed foods to aid texture and extend shelf life, can alter the gut microbiota composition and localization to induce intestinal inflammation that promotes development of inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic syndrome.
07 Mar More Medical Advice May Help Patients Reduce Salt Intake
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Sandra L. Jackson, Ph.D., M.P.H
Epidemic intelligence service fellow
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chamblee, GA
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Jackson: With more than 90 percent of U.S. adults exceeding recommended sodium intake levels, healthcare providers can play a key role in counseling patients on the importance of limiting salt in the diet.
To assess the impact of medical advice on an individual’s efforts to reduce sodium intake, CDC researchers examined self-reported telephone survey information from nearly 174,000 U.S. adults. Overall, more than half of the respondents reported watching or reducing their sodium intake in 2013 – but less than one quarter (23 percent) said they received advice from a doctor or healthcare professional about sodium reduction. Of those that received the medical advice, 82 percent reported taking action to limit their sodium intake. In comparison, only 44 percent of respondents who reported not receiving medical advice said they took steps to reduce sodium.
The substantial proportion of patients who are not receiving medical advice (77%), according to these findings, reveals a missed opportunity to reduce sodium intake, particularly among groups that have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. This includes African Americans, and those with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.