Navigation:
Reporting on the Middle East, Science, and Education for January 18, 2010 - ג' שבט תש"ע
Pages
Archives
Toward a better future through tolerance and mutualism
Sponsored By:
Recent Comments:
Richard on Hamas Occupies Palestinian Lands.
Comments RSS
By Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN, Food & Nutrition Columnist ,Jan 17, 2010
HealthNewsDigest.com) – Carbohydrates, carbs, complex carbs, simple carbs, good carbs, bad carbs – help! In the last decade carbs have become a misunderstood nutrient. We went from high carb to low carb to being told to choose specific carbs. Before you can shop and eat wisely, you need to understand carbs.
Carbohydrates are the sugars, starches, and fibers found in food. All plant foods — fruits, vegetables, beans and grains — are rich in carbohydrates. Fruits have more sugar. Vegetables, beans and grains have more starch. Both have fiber. Sugars and starches are your body’s main sources of fuel (calories).
Sugar is a very important source of fuel. During digestion sugar molecules enter the bloodstream and travel to your body’s cells and to your brain where they are burned for energy. There are different types of sugar – simple sugars and others that are more complex.
Glucose is a simple sugar found in plants, animals, and in your blood as blood sugar. It is the only source of energy used by your brain. Fructose (fruit sugar) is also a simple sugar. Other sugars, sucrose (table sugar), lactose (milk sugar) and maltose (cereal sugar) are made up of two simple sugars that are broken apart in digestion before they can be burned for energy.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts, Science on January 18, 2010 - ג' שבט תש"ע at 4:50 am
Comments Off
From HealthNewsDigest.com
By ConsumerLab.com, Nov 16, 2009
(HealthNewsDigest.com) – White Plains, New York, – Many probiotic supplements do not contain the number of viable organisms listed on their labels according to a new report from ConsumerLab.com. The testing organization found that at the time a probiotic is purchased it may contain as little as 10% to 58% of the amount listed on its label. In fact, one children’s probiotic was found to provide only 7% of its claimed bacteria. Products were also tested for microbial contaminants and pathogens, but none were found.
Out of thirteen products ConsumerLab.com selected for testing, only two were found to accurately list the number of cells viable at the time of purchase. The actual amount of viable probiotic cells in a daily serving ranged from over ten billion to less than one hundred million — more than a 10,000% difference. Despite providing fewer viable organisms than one might expected, most products yielded at least one billion organisms, an amount that may provide some benefit.
Probiotics help re-populate the gut with live beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus GG, Bifidobacterium infantis and others, as well as specific yeast such as Saccharomyces boulardii. Studies have shown some probiotic strains reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and reduce diarrhea caused by viral infection or antibiotics. They may also help treat H. pylori infection (a causative agent of stomach ulcers) and vaginal bacterial infection, among other uses. Sales of probiotic supplements grew 16.3% in 2008 to reach $425 million in the U.S. according to Nutrition Business Journal.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts on November 17, 2009 - ל' חשון תש"ע at 11:13 am
Comments Off
In Brief: Stunting not as bad as expected in Occupied Palestinian Territories
Arab children in Judea and Samaria are developing much better than in neighboring Arab countires.
DUBAI, 13 November 2009 (IRIN) - An estimated 200 million children aged under five in the developing world suffer from stunted growth due to maternal and childhood undernutrition, according to a new UNICEF report. “Stunting is associated with developmental problems and is often impossible to correct. A child who is stunted is likely to experience a lifetime of poor health and underachievement,” a UNICEF statement on 11 November said. In the Middle East, the Occupied Palestinian Territories have a stunting prevalence of 10 percent, a surprisingly better result than other, far wealthier neighbours, which have the following scores: Lebanon – 11 at/oa/cb
Jordan – 12
Oman – 13
UAE – 17
Saudi Arabia – 20
Kuwait – 24
Iraq – 26
Syria – 28
Egypt – 29
Yemen – 58
Themes: (IRIN) Children, (IRIN) Health & Nutrition, (IRIN) In Brief
[ENDS] Report can be found online at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=87018
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Middle East Report, News Articles, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts on November 13, 2009 - כ"ו חשון תש"ע at 9:10 am
Comments Off
Excess body weight ‘increases health risks’
Trade Arabia News Service, October 14, 2009
|
|
Extra body weight encourages the onset of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart attack and thus increases the risk of premature death, said an endocrinology specialist at a recently held health congress in Abu Dhabi.
One per cent reduction in weight reduces risk of premature death, said Professor Karim Meeran, professor of endocrinology at the Imperial College London.
‘Weight control and the management of obesity levels are crucial lifestyle environmental factors that can help create healthier nations. Indeed, a small drop in weight can lead to a 10 per cent drop in risk of death,” he said.
Professor Meeran cited thrifty genes as a possible culprit to fat storage, adding that such metabolic behaviour can lead to type 2 diabetes.
‘The thrifty genes hypothesis suggests that genes drive human behaviours that in turn encourage the storage of fats. This behaviour then leads to obesity and subsequently type 2 diabetes,” he explained.
He said that although such behaviour can be genetic, it can be modified by change in environment.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts on October 14, 2009 - כ"ו תשרי תש"ע at 8:33 am
Comments Off
Scientific American Mind - July 1, 2009
How can you stay sharp into old age? It is not just a matter of winning the genetic lottery. What you do can make a difference
By Christopher Hertzog, Arthur F. Kramer, Robert S. Wilson and Ulman Lindenberger
As everybody knows, if you do not work out, your muscles get flaccid. What most people don’t realize, however, is that your brain also stays in better shape when you exercise. And not just challenging your noggin by, for example, learning a new language, doing difficult crosswords or taking on other intellectually stimulating tasks. As researchers are finding, physical exercise is critical to vigorous mental health, too.
Surprised? Although the idea of exercising cognitive machinery by performing mentally demanding activities—popularly termed the “use it or lose it” hypothesis—is better known, a review of dozens of studies shows that maintaining a mental edge requires more than that. Other things you do—including participating in activities that make you think, getting regular exercise, staying socially engaged and even having a positive attitude—have a meaningful influence on how effective your cognitive functioning will be in old age.
Further, the older brain is more plastic than is commonly known. At one time, the accepted stereotype was that “old dogs can’t learn new tricks.” Science has proved that this dictum must be discarded. Although older adults generally learn new pursuits more slowly than younger people do and cannot reach the peaks of expertise in a given field that they might have achieved if they had started in their youth, they nonetheless can improve their cognitive performance through effort—forestalling some of the declines in cognition that come with advancing age. As John Adams, one of the founding fathers and the second U.S. president, put it: “Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.”
The news comes at a propitious time. The proportion of older adults in the U.S. and in other industrial nations continues to grow: in 1900, 4.1 percent of U.S. citizens were older than 65, but by 2000 that amount had jumped to 12.6 percent; by 2030, 20 percent of us will be in that category. From a societal point of view, prolonging independent functioning is both a desirable goal in itself and a way of deferring costs of long-term care. For individuals, maintaining optimal cognitive functioning is worthwhile simply because it promises to enhance quality of life through the years.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Men's Health, Mental Health, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts on July 2, 2009 - י' תמוז תשס"ט at 1:57 pm
Comments Off
From HealthNewsDigest.com
Jun 21, 2009 – 12:30:01 AM
Innovative New Wellness and Nutrition Program Leverages Latest
Understanding of Relationship Between Diet and Genes
(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Winston-Salem, NC – The mismatch between today’s typical diets and our genes has been a major contributor to the nation’s health crisis, including obesity and chronic inflammatory disease. Shifting the paradigm to focus on gene-based strategies to nutrition and lifestyle is the goal of Gene Smart Wellness, and its ground-breaking new approach to health and fitness announced today.
The Gene Smart Program officially debuted this week with the publication of The Gene Smart Diet (Rodale Books, June 2009) by Floyd H. “Ski” Chilton, PhD, a pioneer in the study of gene-based nutrition and inflammatory diseases, as well as the launch of a comprehensive new health and wellness web site (www.genesmart.com). Genesmart.com features numerous tools and resources such as diet tips, exercise programs, recipes, nutritional supplements, and motivational success stories to educate consumers and help them get started on the program.
The Gene Smart Program is based on the groundbreaking research of Dr. Chilton, a professor of Physiology and Pharmacology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Director of the NIH-sponsored Wake Forest Center for Botanical Lipids, and Senior Associate Director for Research for the Program for Complementary and Integrative Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Recent findings suggest our diets and lifestyles are working against our genes rather than with them, resulting in a net effect that has been devastating to our waistlines, not to mention our overall health.
“Clearly, the research has pointed to the typical American diet as the cause of numerous health issues, from obesity to chronic inflammatory diseases,” said Dr. Chilton. “But through proven principles that use our bodies’ own survival systems, we can start to reverse that trend and help people to not only lose weight, but prevent a host of diseases and live healthier, more vigorous lives.”
Dr. Chilton’s latest research in nutrient/gene interactions, as published in the June 5, 2009 issue of Journal of Biological Chemistry, has played a role in the development of the Gene Smart Program, which focuses on five key principles:
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education, Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts on June 22, 2009 - ל' סיון תשס"ט at 9:42 am
Comments Off
By Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today
Published: November 26, 2008
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Serotonin in the brain is associated with mood and cognitive functions, but 95% of the body’s supply of the molecule is produced in the gut and its function has not been understood. The compound plays a key role in regulating bone formation, opening the possibility of novel treatments for diseases such as osteoporosis.
NEW YORK, Nov. 26 — That Thanksgiving turkey may be bad for your bones.
That’s one of the implications of a study that — for the first time — links the gut to bone formation, according to Gerard Karsenty, M.D., Ph.D., of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and colleagues.
The research, conducted mainly in mice, links serotonin produced in the duodenum to the proliferation of osteoblasts, the cells that create new bone, Dr. Karsenty and colleagues reported in the Nov. 26 issue of Cell.
"This is totally new," Dr. Karsenty said. "We had no clue that the gut had control over bone, and in such a powerful manner."
The findings open up the possibility of controlling such diseases as osteoporosis either by a diet low in tryptophan — the raw material for serotonin synthesis — or by inhibiting the serotonin-osteoblast interaction with medications.
If diet turns out to be a possible approach, the turkey may have to go –it’s one of the best dietary sources of tryptophan.
Until these experiments, Dr. Karsenty said, the function of gut-associated serotonin was not known.
"The findings demonstrate without a doubt that serotonin from the gut is acting as a hormone to regulate bone mass," he said.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness on November 27, 2008 - כ"ט חשון תשס"ט at 4:04 pm
Comments Off
Exercising 30 to 60 minutes a day may offer needed protection, experts say.
By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay Reporter, November 2, 2008
SUNDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) — Obesity can wreck a person’s health for many reasons. But for women, too much weight tacks on an additional danger: Studies have linked obesity and breast cancer in a variety of ways.
Doctors aren’t sure why this link exists and are trying to figure out what ties weight gain to breast cancer. But they are more and more convinced the link is there, and they are urging women to watch their weight and increase their exercise to help stave off what is the most common cancer among females, nonmelanoma skin cancer aside.
“There are a lot of factors we need to figure out,” said Dr. Jennifer A. Ligibel, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. “There are a lot of things we don’t know.”
An estimated 182,500 women in the United States will be found to have invasive breast cancer in 2008, according to the American Cancer Society, and about 40,480 women will die from the disease this year. Currently, there are about 2.5 million breast cancer survivors in the United States.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts, Women's Health on November 3, 2008 - ה' חשון תשס"ט at 7:19 am
Comments Off
From San Diego State University
Reprinted from Health News Digest, Oct 27, 2008
SDSU professor teaches physical education to help overweight students reach their fitness goals
(HealthNewsDigest.com) – SAN DIEGO, — Bags of Halloween candy are piled high in the grocery stores this week, providing a dangerous temptation for those battling obesity. For the parents of overweight children, getting their children to understand the dangers of overindulging after trick-or-treating can be even more difficult.
San Diego State University Exercise and Nutritional Sciences professor David Kahan, offers ten ways to help parents — and teachers — get overweight kids back on track, not just after Halloween, but for the rest of their life, in his new book "Supersized P.E."
"Being physically active every day is especially crucial for children struggling with weight issues," said Kahan, a physical education teacher and researcher. "Overweight and obese youth carry social, psychological and emotional burdens that often lead to anger, despair and ultimately, a sedentary lifestyle. Our goal is to help youth love physical activity."
Supersized P.E. is designed to help parents, physical educators and leaders of physical activity programs to better understand the physical, emotional and psychological issues that reduce the overweight child’s quality of life and help them learn how to be physically active for a lifetime. The book’s recommendations include:
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education, Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts on October 28, 2008 - כ"ט תשרי תשס"ט at 8:53 pm
Comments Off
By Melinda Wenner, Scientific American Magazine , September 18, 2008
It afflicts every creature on this planet, and everyone dreams of an antidote. But even after decades of research, aging largely remains a mystery. Now new research findings suggest there is a good reason for this impasse: scientists may have been thinking about the causes of aging all wrong. Instead of being the result of an accumulation of genetic and cellular damage, new evidence suggests that aging may occur when genetic programs for development go awry.
The idea that stress and reactive forms of oxygen—“free radicals” that are the normal by-products of metabolism—cause aging has dominated the field for 50 years. Studies on the worm Caenorhabditis elegans have shown that reducing exposure to reactive oxygen species increases life span, and worms that have been bred to live longer are also more resistant to stress. But few studies have definitively linked oxidative damage to altered cellular function.
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Nutrition & Fitness, Recent Posts, Science on September 18, 2008 - י"ח אלול תשס"ח at 11:06 pm
Comments Off
