Diet & Nutrition News and Research

Latest Diet & Nutrition News and Research

Life expectancy in the U.S. - differences

U.S residents in eight groups based on geography, income and race have significant differences in life expectancy, according to a study published on Monday in the journal PloS Medicine, USA Today reports (Sternberg, USA Today, 9/12).

13 Sep 2006

Eating mandarins reduces the risk of liver disease, hardened arteries and insulin resistance

Researchers in Japan say they believe that eating mandarins may cut the risk of developing liver cancer and other diseases.

12 Sep 2006

Vitamin D cuts the risk of pancreatic cancer

Consumption of Vitamin D tablets was found to cut the risk of pancreatic cancer nearly in half, according to a study led by researchers at Northwestern and Harvard universities.

12 Sep 2006

Pregnant women with fatty, high-caloric diets increase fetal risk for liver disease, obesity, diabetes

Infants born to women who have diets high in calories and fat during pregnancy have an increased risk of developing liver disease, which can lead to obesity and diabetes later in life, Kevin Grove, a researcher at Oregon Health and Science University and the Developmental Obesity Research Consortium, said on Friday at the 10th International Congress on Obesity in Sydney.

11 Sep 2006

Coalition drive to eradicate polio from Horn of Africa

Countries in the Horn of Africa are increasing their level of planning, coordination and streamlining their polio eradication strategies to cut the corridor of transmission of the poliovirus.

11 Sep 2006

Claims that the discovery of a gene could help prevent diabetes may raise unrealistic expectations

Earlier this year, scientists discovered that a variant of the TCF7L2 gene was associated with type 2 diabetes. In subsequent media coverage, they claimed this could lead to a diagnostic test to identify people who carry the variant gene and that people who knew of their extra risk would then be motivated to avoid the lifestyle habits that lead to diabetes.

7 Sep 2006

Please go Tshabalala-Msimang!

HIV/AIDS advocates and scientists, including a U.S. Nobel laureate, on Tuesday in a letter to South African President Thabo Mbeki called for Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to step down and protested the government's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Wall Street Journal reports.

7 Sep 2006

Children with lactose intolerance still need dairy's nutrients

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is recommending in a new report that children with lactose intolerance should include dairy foods as part of a healthy diet in order to get enough calcium, vitamin D, protein and other nutrients essential for bone health and overall growth.

6 Sep 2006

Feeding your baby foods made with real fruits and vegetables early in life key to controlling their waistline as they grow older

Already, years of research has shown that breastfeeding does protect against obesity risk later in life. With that in mind, Lumeng encourages new moms to make their best effort at breastfeeding, and to seek help from their pediatrician or a lactation consultant if they experience any difficulty.

5 Sep 2006

Consuming extra virgin olive oil helps to combat degenerative diseases

In the 1960s, Ancer Keys, a US expert on nutrition, studied the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet for the first time. Since then many studies on the benefits of olive oil have been conducted.

5 Sep 2006

Overweight toddlers will be obese 12 year olds

Researchers in the U.S. who conducted a collaborative study involving the National Institute for Health and a number of academic institutions, say they have found that children who are overweight as toddlers or pre-schoolers are more likely to be overweight or obese in early adolescence.

5 Sep 2006

Bird flu flys into Egypt again

Four new cases of bird flu have been detected in poultry in Egypt, after a two month infection free period.

5 Sep 2006

Wild vegetables key to life-prolonging Mediterranean diet

Eating wild food plants, native to countries in Southern Europe, helps people living in the Mediterranean to live longer and to have better health according to new research presented at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester today.

4 Sep 2006

Juice lowers Alzheimer's risk

In a large epidemiological study, researchers found that people who drank three or more servings of fruit and vegetable juices per week had a 76 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than those who drank juice less than once per week.

4 Sep 2006

Study examines relationship between salad consumption and nutrient levels in the bloodstream

A new UCLA/Louisiana State University study of dietary data on more than 17,500 men and women finds consumption of salad and raw vegetables correlates with higher concentrations of folic acid, vitamins C and E, lycopene and alpha and beta carotene in the bloodstream.

4 Sep 2006

Eastern Europe, Middle East has highest rates of cardiovascular disease deaths

Eastern European and Middle Eastern patients with diseased blood vessels have the highest rates of heart attacks and strokes, and the highest rates of death from those conditions, compared with similar patients in other regions of the world.

4 Sep 2006

'Portion distortion' is why we're all getting fatter!

According to U.S. researchers young people are eating bigger meals that they were twenty years ago.

4 Sep 2006

FDA warns of food safety risks during storm-related power outages and flooding

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers to be alert to food safety risks that could result from possible power outages and flooding due to storms that currently threaten both coasts of the United States.

4 Sep 2006

All pregnant women have at least one kind of pesticide in their placenta

Human beings are directly responsible for more than 110,000 chemical substances which have been generated since the Industrial Revolution.

1 Sep 2006

U.S. Sen. Obama to call for more funding for microbicides, HIV/AIDS education, nutrition programs

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) during his visit to Kenya and South Africa as part of a two-week visit to Africa said he wants to increase the proportion of HIV/AIDS funding for nutrition for HIV-positive people, as well as increase support for HIV/AIDS education and outreach campaigns and the development of microbicides.

1 Sep 2006