New Hampshire Health News Digest

'U' Study: Vitamin D May Be Tied To Weight Loss - wcco.com : "A University of Minnesota study has found that higher levels of vitamin D on low-calorie diet may help people lose more weight, especially around the abdomen. Researcher Shalamar Sibley, M.D., headed the study that measured 38 overweight men and women participants who had insufficient vitamin D levels. The participants were monitored for 11 weeks while on diet programs that contained 750 calories fewer than their estimated daily needs. The study found that the subjects lost a quarter to a half pound more fat when their vitamin D level was increased."

Fat Head More On Alzheimer’s First, statins: If you want to delve into the chemistry of how statins affect brain function, you can read this article. In the meantime, here are a few highlights: There is a clear reason why statins would promote Alzheimer’s. They cripple the liver’s ability to synthesize cholesterol, and as a consequence the level of LDL in the blood plummets. Cholesterol plays a crucial role in the brain, both in terms of enabling signal transport across the synapse and in terms of encouraging the growth of neurons through healthy development of the myelin sheath. Nonetheless, the statin industry proudly boasts that statins are effective at interfering with cholesterol production in the brain as well as in the liver. Researchers are only recently discovering that both fat and cholesterol are severely deficient in the Alzheimer’s brain. It turns out that fat and cholesterol are both vital nutrients in the brain. The brain contains only 2% of the body’s mass, but 25% of ...

Choline: an essential nutrient for public health. Steven H Zeisel. 2009; Nutrition Reviews - Wiley InterScience Choline was officially recognized as an essential nutrient by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1998. There is significant variation in the dietary requirement for choline that can be explained by common genetic polymorphisms. Because of its wide-ranging roles in human metabolism, from cell structure to neurotransmitter synthesis, choline-deficiency is now thought to have an impact on diseases such as liver disease, atherosclerosis, and, possibly, neurological disorders. Choline is found in a wide variety of foods. Eggs and meats are rich sources of choline in the North American diet, providing up to 430 milligrams per 100 grams. Mean choline intakes for older children, men, women, and pregnant women are far below the adequate intake level established by the IOM. Given the importance of choline in a wide range of critical functions in the human body, coupled with less-than-o...

New Link Discovered Between Insulin And Core Body Temperature A team led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered a direct link between insulin - a hormone long associated with metabolism and metabolic disorders such as diabetes - and core body temperature. While much research has been conducted on insulin since its discovery in the 1920s, this is the first time the hormone has been connected to the fundamental process of temperature regulation. The paper was published recently in an advance, online issue of the journal Diabetes, a journal of the American Diabetes Association, and will appear in the January print edition of the publication. The scientists found that when insulin was injected directly into a specific area of the brain in rodents, core body temperature rose, metabolism increased, and brown adipose (fat) tissue was activated to release heat. The research team also found that these effects were dose-dependent - up to a point, the more insulin, the mo...

Spoonful Of Sugar Makes The Worms Life Span Go Down If worms are any indication, all the sugar in your diet could spell much more than obesity and type 2 diabetes. Researchers reporting in the November issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, say it might also be taking years off your life. By adding just a small amount of glucose to C. elegans usual fare of straight bacteria, they found the worms lose about 20 percent of their usual life span. They trace the effect to insulin signals, which can block other life-extending molecular players.

Insulin’s Role in the Aging Body - Scienceline Insulin, a hormone well known for its role in diabetes, may also lie at the root of another common but serious medical condition: age-related muscle loss, known as sarcopenia. In fact, sarcopenia is in part due to muscle tissue not responding properly to insulin, according to a new study in the journal Diabetologia. The researchers found that an increased dose of insulin restored the muscle-building processes that tend to deteriorate with old age. Unfortunately, insulin cannot be used as a treatment for sarcopenia due to its toxic effects in high concentrations. Still, the new results help clarify its role in muscle growth and could serve as a basis for future treatments. Sarcopenia affects 24 percent of adults between 45 and 70 years old, and half of people over 80. “The new finding serves as a proof of concept,” said Elena Volpi, a researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. “It confirms our belief that the age-rel...

HealthDay Vitamin D May Improve Melanoma Survival Vitamin D May Improve Melanoma Survival But levels are too low in many Americans, researchers say By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter SATURDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Higher levels of vitamin D are linked to less severe, less deadly melanoma lesions in people with skin cancer, new research suggests. The findings provide more support for the idea that vitamin D is crucial to skin health. Many Americans, however, don't get enough of it, perhaps because they limit sun exposure and drink less milk than in the past. "Although avoiding sunburn is very important in order to prevent melanoma, it is also important to avoid becoming deficient in vitamin D," said Dr. Julia A. Newton-Bishop, a dermatology professor at the University of Leeds in England and a study co-author. "This is especially important for melanoma patients in whom low vitamin D levels appear to be harmful."

SpringerLink - Journal Article Abstract Background A long-term vegetarian diet is generally poor in vitamin B group. The lack of vitamin B12 together with vitamin B6 and folate deficiency is closely related to homocysteine metabolism. Hyperhomocysteinemia was found to be associated with increased bone turnover markers and increased fracture risk. Thus, hyperhomocysteinemia, vitamin B12 and folate deficiency may be regarded as novel risk factors for micronutrient deficiency-related osteoporosis. Aim of the study To assess the possible impact of a vegetarian diet on bone mineral density in cohort of Slovak vegetarian women. Methods Fasting serum glucose, albumin, calcium, phosphorous and creatinine as well as bone markers, serum vitamin B12, folate and plasma levels of total homocysteine were assessed in two nutritional groups (vegetarians vs. nonvegetarians) of apparently healthy women (age range 20–70 years). Bone mineral density of the femoral neck, trochanter, total femur and lum...

Diets bad for the teeth are also bad for the body Diets bad for the teeth are also bad for the body Beyond the immediate distress, dental pain may portend future medical problems Dental disease may be a wake-up call that your diet is harming your body. "The five-alarm fire bell of a tooth ache is difficult to ignore," says Dr. Philippe P. Hujoel, professor of dental public health sciences at the University of Washington (UW) School of Dentistry in Seattle. Beyond the immediate distress, dental pain may portend future medical problems. It may be a warning that the high-glycemic diet that led to dental problems in the short term may, in the long term, lead to potentially serious chronic diseases. Hujoel reviewed the relationships between diet, dental disease, and chronic systemic illness in a report published July 1 in the Journal of Dental Research. He weighed two contradictory viewpoints on the role of dietary carbohydrates in health and disease. The debate surrounds fermenta...

Ketone Bodies, Potential Therapeutic Uses Ketone Bodies, Potential Therapeutic Uses Richard L. Veech, Britton Chance, Yoshihiro Kashiwaya, Henry A. Lardy, George F. Cahill Jr Keywords D-BETA-HYDROXYBUTYRATE • Ketone • Bodies • Ketosis • Metabolic • Control • Analysis • Neurologic • Disease Abstract Ketosis, meaning elevation of D- -hydroxybutyrate ( R -3-hydroxybutyrate) and acetoacetate, has been central to starving man's survival by providing nonglucose substrate to his evolutionarily hypertrophied brain, sparing muscle from destruction for glucose synthesis. Surprisingly, D- -hydroxybutyrate (abbreviated OHB) may also provide a more efficient source of energy for brain per unit oxygen, supported by the same phenomenon noted in the isolated working perfused rat heart and in sperm. It has also been shown to decrease cell death in two human neuronal cultures, one a model of Alzheimer's and the other of Parkinson's disease. These observations raise the possibility that a num...

Sept. 29, 1898: Stalin’s Scientist Sees First Light | This Day In Tech | Wired.com Early Soviet propagandists often relied on “miracles of science” to boost the status of their fledgling state. The young plant breeder Trofim Lysenko seemingly provided them with a whopper in 1927, reporting that he had developed a method of fertilizing fields without actually relying on fertilizers or minerals. The spinmeisters at Pravda had a field day, proclaiming that Lysenko had delivered on the Stalinist dream of using science to conquer nature. Through a process he called “vernalization,” Lysenko reported growing peas in winter on the frozen steppe of Azerbaijan, causing Pravda to report breathlessly that Lysenko had turned … the barren fields of the Trans-Caucasus green in winter, so that cattle will not perish from poor feeding, and the peasant Turk will live through the winter without trembling for tomorrow. In fact, Lysenko’s methods were practically devoid of any science at all, and the “...

Quest for a Long Life Gains Scientific Respect - NYTimes.com Some attendees were so convinced of the virtues of less food that they have begun severe diets of various kinds. Cynthia Kenyon, of the University of California, San Francisco, said she had gone on a low-carb diet in 2002 after finding that food with even 2 percent sugar reduced the lifespan of the laboratory roundworms she studies. “Basically I try to steer clear of desserts and starches, though I do eat chocolate,” she said. Her willowy figure makes her look at least a decade younger than her age. from wikipedia... Personal diet Kenyon's research prompted her to make personal dietary changes. She stopped eating high glycemic index carbohydrates when she discovered that putting sugar on the worms' food shortened their lifespans.[1] Kenyon follows a low glycemic index diet similar to the Atkins diet[1] and the South Beach Diet[2]. No desserts. No sweets. No potatoes. No rice. No bread. No pasta. When I say ‘no,’ I...

Cardiovascular Diabetology | Full text | Beneficial effects of a Paleolithic diet on cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes: a randomized cross-over pilot study Results Study participants had on average a diabetes duration of 9 years, a mean HbA1c of 6,6% units by Mono-S standard and were usually treated with metformin alone (3 subjects) or metformin in combination with a sulfonylurea (3 subjects) or a thiazolidinedione (3 subjects). Mean average dose of metformin was 1031 mg per day. Compared to the diabetes diet, the Paleolithic diet resulted in lower mean values of HbA1c (-0.4% units, p = 0.01), triacylglycerol (-0.4 mmol/L, p = 0.003), diastolic blood pressure (-4 mmHg, p = 0.03), weight (-3 kg, p = 0.01), BMI (-1 kg/m2, p = 0.04) and waist circumference (-4 cm, p = 0.02), and higher mean values of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (+0.08 mmol/L, p = 0.03). The Paleolithic diet was mainly lower in cereals and dairy products, and higher in fruits, vegetables, meat and egg...

Men's Blood Pressure Increased By High-Sugar Diet Study 1 highlights: * Just two weeks on a high-fructose diet raises blood pressure in men. * A drug used to treat gout seems to protect against that blood pressure increase and some aspects of metabolic syndrome.

Consumption of 2 and 4 egg yolks/d for 5 wk increases macular pigment concentrations in older adults with low macular pigment taking cholesterol-lowering statins -- Vishwanathan et al., 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28013 -- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition ABSTRACT Background: Lutein and zeaxanthin may reduce the risk of dry, age-related macular degeneration because of their photo-oxidative role as macular pigment. Objective: The present study evaluated serum lutein, zeaxanthin, and macular pigment optical density (MPOD) responses at 0.25°, 0.5°, and 1° retinal eccentricities to the consumption of 2 and 4 egg yolks/d by older adults taking cholesterol-lowering medications. Design: Subjects consumed foods containing 2 followed by 4 egg yolks/d for 5 wk each with a 4-wk egg-free period at baseline and between the 2 interventions. Results: Changes in MPOD (n = 37) with egg yolk consumption were inversely associated (P Conclusions: Consumption of 4 egg yolks/d, and possibly of 2 egg yolks/d, fo...

SpringerLink - Journal Article Abstract We recently proposed that the biological markers improved by carbohydrate restriction were precisely those that define the metabolic syndrome (MetS), and that the common thread was regulation of insulin as a control element. We specifically tested the idea with a 12-week study comparing two hypocaloric diets (~1,500 kcal): a carbohydrate-restricted diet (CRD) (%carbohydrate:fat:protein = 12:59:28) and a low-fat diet (LFD) (56:24:20) in 40 subjects with atherogenic dyslipidemia. Both interventions led to improvements in several metabolic markers, but subjects following the CRD had consistently reduced glucose (−12%) and insulin (−50%) concentrations, insulin sensitivity (−55%), weight loss (−10%), decreased adiposity (−14%), and more favorable triacylglycerol (TAG) (−51%), HDL-C (13%) and total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio (−14%) responses. In addition to these markers for MetS, the CRD subjects showed more favorable responses to alternative indicator...

Obesity - Abstract of article: Diabetes of the Liver: The Link Between Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and HFCS-55 Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with obesity and insulin resistance. It is also a predisposing factor for type 2 diabetes. Dietary factors are believed to contribute to all three diseases. NAFLD is characterized by increased intrahepatic fat and mitochondrial dysfunction, and its etiology may be attributed to excessive fructose intake. Consumption of high fructose corn syrup-55 (HFCS-55) stands at up to 15% of the average total daily energy intake in the United States, and is linked to weight gain and obesity. The aim of this study was to establish whether HFCS-55 could contribute to the pathogenesis of NAFLD, by examining the effects of HFCS-55 on hepatocyte lipogenesis, insulin signaling, and cellular function, in vitro and in vivo. Exposure of hepatocytes to HFCS-55 caused a significant increase in hepatocellular triglyceride (TG) and lipogenic p...

ScienceDirect - Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases : Carbohydrate restriction favorably alters lipoprotein metabolism in Emirati subjects classified with the metabolic syndrome Background and aims Carbohydrate restriction (CR) has been shown to improve dyslipidemias associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS). We evaluated the effects of CR on lipoprotein subfractions and apolipoproteins in Emirati adults classified with the MetS. Methods and results 39 subjects (15 men/24 women) were randomly allocated to a CR diet [20–25% energy from carbohydrate (CHO)] for 12 wk (CRD group) or a combination treatment consisting of CRD for 6 wk followed by the American Heart Association diet (50–55% CHO, AHA group) for an additional 6 wk. All subjects reduced body weight, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides (P Conclusions These results suggest that weight loss favorably affects lipoprotein metabolism and that the CRD had a better effect on atherogenic VLDL and HDL than the low fat diet rec...

High protein intake reduces intrahepatocellular lipid deposition in humans -- Bortolotti et al., 10.3945/ajcn.2008.27296 -- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Background: High sugar and fat intakes are known to increase intrahepatocellular lipids (IHCLs) and to cause insulin resistance. High protein intake may facilitate weight loss and improve glucose homeostasis in insulin-resistant patients, but its effects on IHCLs remain unknown. Objective: The aim was to assess the effect of high protein intake on high-fat diet–induced IHCL accumulation and insulin sensitivity in healthy young men. Increasing protein in the diet reduces the dangerous buildup of fat in the liver. This fatty liver problem is fond in alcoholics and people consuming large amounts of fructose, i.e. metabolic syndrome.

Access : Connecting obesity, aging and diabetes : Nature : "Obesity accelerates the aging of adipose tissue, a process only now beginning to come to light at the molecular level. Experiments in mice suggest that obesity increases the formation of reactive oxygen species in fat cells, shortens telomeres—and ultimately results in activation of the p53 tumor suppressor, inflammation and the promotion of insulin resistance (pages 1082–1087). Obesity accelerates the aging of adipose tissue, leading to inflammation and insulin resistance. As technology has improved hygiene, the food supply and living standards overall, there has been a rise in such age-related illnesses as cardiovascular disease, cancer, degenerative diseases of the brain and other organs, and metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Age-related disorders have become widespread throughout the world, replacing infectious diseases as the leading cause of death in developed countries."

Prevalence and Associations of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Deficiency in US Children: NHANES 2001-2004 -- Kumar et al. 124 (3): e362 -- Pediatrics : OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) deficiency and associations between 25(OH)D deficiency and cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents. "CONCLUSIONS: 25(OH)D deficiency is common in the general US pediatric population and is associated with adverse cardiovascular risks." Over 70% of American children deficient in vitamin D!

7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat 7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat 108 Comments Written by Tim Ferriss Topics: Physical Performance 7 Reasons to Eat More Saturated Fat In the not-so-distant past, the medical establishment considered all fats equally loathsome: all fats were created equal and they’re all bad for you. Things have changed in that quarter, if only slightly. You have no doubt heard the drumbeat of current medical thinking on fats: some fats are now good for you—olive oil and canola oil*—but others are bad for you—trans fats and all saturated fats. That’s an improvement from the old cry, but far from the truth. It seems that no matter how the story spins from the denizens of the anti-fat camp, one piece of their advice remains staunchly constant: “You should sharply limit your intake of saturated fats.” The next admonition will invariably be, “which have been proven to raise cholesterol and cause heart disease.” Their over-arching belief is that saturated fat is bad, ba...

The Heart Scan Blog: Weight loss and vitamin D Weight loss and vitamin D At the start of her program, Penny's 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood level showed the usual deficiency at 22 ng/ml. She supplemented with 8000 units of vitamin D. Another 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood level several months later showed a level of 67.8 ng/ml, right on target. But Penny also began our diet, including the elimination of wheat, cornstarch, and sugars, and, over 6 months, lost 34 lbs. Now a much trimmer 146 lbs (still more to go!), another vitamin D blood level: 111 ng/ml. Penny's weight loss means that the vitamin D is distributed in a smaller total volume, particularly a lower volume of fat. This is a common phenomenon with substantial weight loss: lose weight and the need for vitamin D is reduced. The reduction in dose is roughly proportion to the weight lost. Vitamin D should therefore be reassessed with any substantial change in weight of, say, 10 lbs or more, either up or down, because of the infl...

Vitamin B12 deficiency is associated with coronary...[Clin Chem Lab Med. 2009] - PubMed Result BACKGROUND: The incidence of coronary artery disease (CAD) is increasing at an alarming rate, especially in developing countries, such as India. It is often advocated that a vegetarian lifestyle could reduce the burden of CAD. However, in spite of a majority of Indians being vegetarians, the incidence of CAD is highest in this population. This may be due to deficiency of vitamin B12, a micronutrient, sourced only from animal products. RESULTS: We found that vitamin B12 levels were significantly lower in coronary artery disease patients than in controls (p vegetarians were found to have significantly lower vitamin B12 concentrations (p=0.0001) and higher incidence of coronary artery disease (p=0.01). Interestingly, elevated homocysteine levels, a hallmark of vitamin B12 deficiency, was not associated with CAD. In contrast, cysteine levels were significantly higher in CAD patients than in con...

SpringerLink - Journal Article Conclusions/interpretation Maternal vitamin B12 deficiency is associated with increased adiposity and, in turn, with insulin resistance and GDM. Vitamin B12 deficiency may be an important factor underlying the high risk of ‘diabesity’ in south Asian Indians.

Slashdot Science Story | Depression May Provide Cognitive Advantages "Paul W. Andrews and J. Anderson Thomson, Jr. argue in Scientific American that although depression is considered a mental disorder, depression may in fact be a mental adaptation which provides real benefits. This is not to say that depression is not a problem. Depressed people often have trouble performing everyday activities, they can't concentrate on their work, they tend to socially isolate themselves, they are lethargic, and they often lose the ability to take pleasure from such activities such as eating and sex. So what could be so useful about depression? "Depressed people often think intensely about their problems," write the authors. "These thoughts are called ruminations; they are persistent and depressed people have difficulty thinking about anything else. Numerous studies have also shown that this thinking style is often highly analytical. They dwell on a complex problem, breaking i...

Half of healthcare workers say no to swine flu jab - Healthcare Republic News Most DR.s may reject swine flu vaccine (HEALTHCARE REPUBLIC) Up to 60% of GPs may choose not to be vaccinated against swine flu, with many concerned about the safety of the vaccine, a GP newspaper survey suggests. Of 216 GPs who responded to the survey, 29% said they would not opt to receive the swine flu vaccine and a further 29% said they were not sure whether they would or not. Of those who would refuse vaccination, 71% said they were concerned that the vaccine had not been through sufficient trials to guarantee its safety. Professor David Salisbury, DoH director of immunisation, toldHealthcare Republic, the website for GP newspaper, that frontline health workers have a duty to themselves regarding vaccination. ‘They have a duty to their patients not to infect their patients and they have a duty to their families,’ he said.

Fructose But Not Glucose-Sweetened Beverages Increased Insulin Resistance And Belly Fat In Overweight And Obese People, Study We all know that too much sugar is not good for us, but researchers from the US have discovered that drinks sweetened with fructose as opposed to glucose were significantly more likely to increase insulin resistance and belly fat in obese and overweight people, leading to medical conditions that increased their risk of heart attack and stroke. The study was the work of Dr Peter Havel, a researcher in the Department of Nutrition at the University of California at Davis, and colleagues, and was published in the April 20 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Over the twelve months of 2005, the average American consumed about 64 kg of extra sugar from drinking sweetened soft drinks: this is approximately the weight of an average height, slim American woman. But although studies in animals have shown that compared with glucose, dietary fructose leads to inc...

Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Diseases -- Lavie et al. 54 (7): 585 -- Journal of the American College of Cardiology : "Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid ({omega}-3 PUFA) therapy continues to show great promise in primary and, particularly in secondary prevention of cardiovascular (CV) diseases. The most compelling evidence for CV benefits of {omega}-3 PUFA comes from 4 controlled trials of nearly 40,000 participants randomized to receive eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) with or without docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in studies of patients in primary prevention, after myocardial infarction, and most recently, with heart failure (HF). We discuss the evidence from retrospective epidemiologic studies and from large randomized controlled trials showing the benefits of {omega}-3 PUFA, specifically EPA and DHA, in primary and secondary CV prevention and provide insight into potential mechanisms of these observed benefits. The target EPA DHA consumption should be at lea...

Low vitamin D levels linked to metabolic syndrome Increasing blood levels of vitamin D are linked to a lower prevalence of the metabolic syndrome, as well as improved ‘good’ cholesterol levels, says a new study. According to findings published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology, the lowest levels of the sunshine vitamin were associated with a 31 per cent prevalence of metabolic syndrome, compared to only 10 per cent for people wit the highest average levels. The researchers noted that the results do not prove that low vitamin D levels contributes or causes metabolic syndrome, and called for more studies to “assess whether increasing vitamin D intake will improve the metabolic cardiovascular risk factor profile”. “Although previous surveys have also reported associations between low 25(OH)D concentration and metabolic syndrome components, to our knowledge, the present investigation is the first to report this finding in a sample with a high prevalence of vitamin D dietary supplement ...

Canada examines vitamin D for swine flu protection : The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has confirmed that it will be investigating the role of vitamin D in protection against swine flu, NutraIngredients-USA.com has learned. The agency started a study last year on the role of vitamin D in severe seasonal influenza, which it said it will now adapt to the H1N1 swine flu virus. Part of the researchers’ goal is to understand if vitamin D levels are in any way responsible for the fact that most people with seasonal influenza develop a mild illness but a small minority go on to develop severe symptoms. According to PHAC, results from its study will indicate the extent and nature of the role of vitamin D in sever seasonal influenza. The agency said it would most likely take at least three influenza seasons to be able to recruit a sufficient sample size of individuals with severe disease and controls before the results can be “meaningfully” analyzed. In addition, PHAC said that epidemio...

Review: Insulin Resistance May Link Metabolic And Cognitive Disorders Insulin resistance, when tissues in the body lose sensitivity to the hormone that regulates glucose, may underlie both dementia and metabolic disorders such as obesity and diabetes. In a review article, Suzanne Craft, Ph.D., of Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System and University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, writes that "considerable progress has been made in establishing relationships among metabolic disorders and late-life dementing illnesses," including through the common foundation of insulin resistance. "A number of challenges must be addressed as we move forward to determine the key mechanisms underlying these associations," Dr. Craft concludes, including establishing clear definitions of both metabolic and neurological conditions. "Future research aimed at identifying mechanisms that underlie comorbid associations will not only provide important insights ...

Fructose Metabolism By The Brain Increases Food Intake And Obesity Elsevier, will publish an important review this week online, by M. Daniel Lane and colleagues at Johns Hopkins, building on the suggested link between the consumption of fructose and increased food intake, which may contribute to a high incidence of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. [...] M. Daniel Lane and co-workers at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore have now pulled together work, largely in their laboratory (many papers beginning in 2000), dealing with the role of malonyl-CoA in the signaling system in the brain (specifically the hypothalamus) that has inputs into the higher brain centers that determine feeding behavior, most notably appetite. Two papers in the journal PNAS in 2007 and 2008 showed that glucose and fructose act quite differently in the brain (hypothalamus) - glucose decreasing food intake and fructose increasing food intake. Both of these sugars signal in the brain through the ...

Omega-3 linked to lower body weight: Study Increased blood levels of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA is linked to lower incidence of obesity, suggesting a role for fish oils in weight management. New findings reported in the British Journal of Nutrition indicate that overweight and obese people have blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids almost 1 per cent lower than people with a healthy weight. “Our findings suggest that n-3 PUFA may play an important role in weight status and abdominal adiposity,” wrote the researchers, led by Professor Monohar Garg from the University of Newcastle, and president elect of the Nutrition Society of Australia. Previous studies have implicated omega-3 in protective benefits against obesity, and the new study adds to this small but growing body of evidence. A considerable number of studies already support the benefits of the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, C20:5 n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, C22:6 n-3) for cardiovascular health, an...

Insulin may be key to fighting Alzheimer's disease - Times Online : "Insulin, the hormone that regulates levels of sugar in the blood, may slow or prevent memory loss caused by Alzheimer’s disease, a study suggests. Researchers examining the effects of diabetes drugs on the brain have found that the medication appears to protect cells responsible for the formation of memory. The work offers further support for the theory that Alzheimer’s could be caused by a form of diabetes linked to the body’s failure to produce and process insulin effectively. [...] Cells in the hippocampus are susceptible to damage caused by amyloid beta-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs), toxic proteins that build up in people with Alzheimer’s. ADDLs attack the synapses – the junctions between nerve cells through which impulses pass – which help form memory. After the proteins have attached, the synapses lose their capacity to respond to incoming information, resulting in memory loss. The researchers disc...

Being overweight does affect your libido. But small changes can jump-start your sex drive. How Too Much Weight Hampers Sex Drive According to a recent study conducted by Binks and his colleagues at Duke, up to 30% of obese people seeking help controlling their weight indicate problems with sex drive, desire, performance, or all three. Often, the latest research shows, these problems can be traced to physical conditions that co-exist with obesity. "Medical conditions such as high cholesterol and insulin resistance [an early indicator of type 2 diabetes] do have the ability to impact sexual performance, which in turn impacts desire, particularly in men," says Andrew McCollough, MD, director of sexual health and male infertility at NYU Medical Center in New York. Because both conditions can cause the tiny arteries in the penis to shut down, particularly when vessel-clogging fatty deposits begin to form, McCollough says impotence or erectile dysfunction is often the result. ...

Evidence that Low Carb Diets are Better for Diabetics - Second Opinions, UK Surender K Arora and Samy I McFarlane. The case for low carbohydrate diets in diabetes management. Nutrition & Metabolism 2005, 2:16 doi:10.1186/1743-7075-2-16 Abstract (provisional) A low fat, high carbohydrate diet in combination with regular exercise is the traditional recommendation for treating diabetes. Compliance with these lifestyle modifications is less than satisfactory, however, and a high carbohydrate diet raises postprandial plasma glucose and insulin secretion, thereby increasing risk of CVD, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity and diabetes. Moreover, the current epidemic of diabetes and obesity has been, over the past three decades, accompanied by a significant decrease in fat consumption and an increase in carbohydrate consumption. This apparent failure of the traditional diet, from a public health point of view, indicates that alternative dietary approaches are needed. Because carbohydrate ...

Nutrigenomics explains omega-3’s immune health benefits Omega-3-rich fish oil beneficially affects gene expression, says a new nutrigenomic study that enhances our understanding of the health benefits of omega-3. The study is said to be the first to show that DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) can affect gene expression to a more anti-atherogenic and anti-inflammatory status. Lead researcher Lydia Afman told NutraIngredients: “The most exciting finding of this study is the demonstration of less pro-inflammatory gene expression profiles in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after a 6 months fish oil intervention in a healthy elderly population.” Because PBMCs are immune cells, and play a vital role in inflammation and the development of cardiovascular diseases, the results may go some way to explaining the cardio-protective effects of omega-3 fatty acids. In addition to a large body of science linking DHA and EPA to improved cardiovascular health, the ome...

Omega-3, -6 levels linked to bowel health Increased intakes of omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid may double the risk of ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease, says a Pan-European study. On the other hand, the highest intakes of omega-3 were associated with 77 per cent reduction in the risk of the disease, according to findings of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) with 203,193 men and women published in Gut. The study adds to a small but growing body of evidence supporting the importance of balance between omega-3 omega-6 fatty acids. [...] Commenting on the mechanism, Dr Hart wrote that omega-6 fatty acids are present in the cell membrane of colon cells in the form of arachidonic acid. This can be metabolised to prostaglandin E2, leukotriene B4 and thromboxane A2, all of which have pro-inflammatory effects. On the other hand, omega-3 fatty acids, and particularly the anti-inflammatory effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which ...

Learning Takes Place When You Get Things Right Brain cells tune in on success, monkey experiment finds: HealthDay It is often stated that people learn from their mistakes, but new research sugests people may figure out more from their successes than from their failures. [...] "If the monkey just got a correct answer, a signal lingered in its brain that said, 'You did the right thing.' Right after a correct answer, neurons processed information more sharply and effectively, and the monkey was more likely to get the next answer correct as well," Miller said in the news release. But after a monkey made an error "there was no improvement. In other words, only after successes, not failures, did brain processing and the monkeys' behavior improve."

Effects of dietary carbohydrate restriction vs low-fat diet on flow-mediated dilation Metabolismjournal.com Abstract We previously reported that a carbohydrate-restricted diet (CRD) ameliorated many of the traditional markers associated with metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk compared with a low-fat diet (LFD). There remains concern how CRD affects vascular function because acute meals high in fat have been shown to impair endothelial function. Here, we extend our work and address these concerns by measuring fasting and postprandial vascular function in 40 overweight men and women with moderate hypertriacylglycerolemia who were randomly assigned to consume hypocaloric diets (∼1500 kcal) restricted in carbohydrate (percentage of carbohydrate-fat-protein = 12:59:28) or LFD (56:24:20). Flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery was assessed before and after ingestion of a high-fat meal (908 kcal, 84% fat) at baseline and after 12 weeks. Compared with the LFD, the CRD resulted i...

Cellular Protein Yields Clues to Diabetes, Alzheimer's Animal tests suggest humanin could have therapeutic benefits : HealthDay WEDNESDAY, July 22 (HealthDay News) -- New information about a cellular protein might help in efforts to develop drug treatments for diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, researchers say. In tests on rats, they found that humanin, which may prevent nerve cells from dying, also helps improve insulin action and lower blood glucose levels. "This new role of humanin in glucose metabolism, in addition to its role in Alzheimer's disease, is very intriguing since scientists have long proposed a link between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Nir Barzilai, a professor and director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, said in a news release from the college. "Humanin could turn out to be a therapeutic option for two common debilitating diseases that affect millions of peo...

StumbleUpon WebToolbar - Page from Esciencenews.com Children on the high-fat ketogenic diet to control epileptic seizures can prevent the excruciatingly painful kidney stones that the diet can sometimes cause if they take a daily supplement of potassium citrate the day they start the diet, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children's Center. A report on the work is published in the August issue of Pediatrics. "We can confidently say this is a safe and powerful way to prevent kidney stones, and it should become part of standard therapy in all ketogenic dieters, not just those who already show elevated urine calcium levels," says senior investigator Eric Kossoff, M.D., a pediatric neurologist at Hopkins Children's. "If you wait, it might be too late." The ketogenic diet, believed to work by initiating biochemical changes that eliminate seizure-triggering short circuits in the brain's signaling system, is given to many children whose seizures do not ...

Vitamin D for Cancer Prevention: Global Perspective Higher serum levels of the main circulating form of vitamin D, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), are associated with substantially lower incidence rates of colon, breast, ovarian, renal, pancreatic, aggressive prostate and other cancers. Methods Epidemiological findings combined with newly discovered mechanisms suggest a new model of cancer etiology that accounts for these actions of 25(OH)D and calcium. Its seven phases are disjunction, initiation, natural selection, overgrowth, metastasis, involution, and transition (abbreviated DINOMIT). Vitamin D metabolites prevent disjunction of cells and are beneficial in other phases. Results/Conclusions It is projected that raising the minimum year-around serum 25(OH)D level to 40 to 60 ng/mL (100–150 nmol/L) would prevent approximately 58,000 new cases of breast cancer and 49,000 new cases of colorectal cancer each year, and three fourths of deaths from these diseases in the United States and C...

StumbleUpon WebToolbar - Page from Newswise.com Newswise — UCLA scientists and colleagues from UC Riverside and the Human BioMolecular Research Institute have found that a form of vitamin D, together with a chemical found in turmeric spice called curcumin, may help stimulate the immune system to clear the brain of amyloid beta, which forms the plaques considered the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. The early research findings, which appear in the July issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, may lead to new approaches in preventing and treating Alzheimer's by utilizing the property of vitamin D3 — a form of vitamin D — both alone and together with natural or synthetic curcumin to boost the immune system in protecting the brain against amyloid beta. Vitamin D3 is an essential nutrient for bone and immune system health; its main source is sunshine, and it is synthesized through the skin. Deficiencies may occur during winter months or in those who spend a lot of time indoo...

Heredity May Be The Reason Some People Feel Lonely : "Heredity helps determine why some adults are persistently lonely, research co-authored by psychologists at the University of Chicago shows. [...] "An interesting implication of this research is that feelings of loneliness may reflect an innate emotional response to stimulus conditions over which an individual may have little or no control," the research team writes in the article, "Genetic and Environmental Contributors to Loneliness in Adults: The Netherlands Twin Register Study" published in the current issue of the journal Behavior Genetics. Psychologists had previously thought loneliness was primarily caused by shyness, poor social skills, or inability to form strong attachments with other people. Scholars are becoming increasingly interested in the role loneliness plays in health. [...] The researchers write that loneliness may have developed early in human evolution as a response by hunter-gathers fac...

Goodbye Agave What many people don’t realize is that concentrated fructose is probably worse for you than high amounts of glucose. People tend to think that fructose is a benign sugar because it is found naturally in fruit. But, despite the name “fructose,” whole fruit actually has a relatively low concentration of fructose compared to agave, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, or cane sugar. (However, eating huge quantities of fruit is just as bad for you as eating a lot of table sugar.) There are a number of health problems associated with eating too much fructose: Fructose interferes with copper metabolism. This prevents collagen and elastin from being able to properly form. Collagen and elastin are components of the connective tissue which essentially holds the body together. 1 A deficiency in copper can also lead to porous bones, anemia, defects of the arteries, infertility, high cholesterol levels, heart attacks, and an inability to control blood sugar levels. 2 When you take in f...

Intelligent men have better quality sperm, research finds | Mail Online They can often be overlooked in favour of their handsome counterparts. But brainboxes should stop despairing because research shows they are more virile than other men. Scientists have shown that bright men have better sperm. They produce more of it and it is of higher quality, suggesting they are better-equipped to start a family than their intellectually inferior friends and colleagues. Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London made the link after comparing archived data on 425 Vietnam War veterans. This dated back to 1985, when the men had given sperm samples as part of an extensive medical and undergone intelligence testing. Comparing the two clearly showed that the brainiest men had the best quality sperm. Total sperm count was higher, as well as sperm concentration and ability to swim, the journal Intelligence reports.

Soy Alert! Confused About Soy?--Soy Dangers Summarized High levels of phytic acid in soy reduce assimilation of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and zinc. Phytic acid in soy is not neutralized by ordinary preparation methods such as soaking, sprouting and long, slow cooking. High phytate diets have caused growth problems in children. Trypsin inhibitors in soy interfere with protein digestion and may cause pancreatic disorders. In test animals soy containing trypsin inhibitors caused stunted growth. Soy phytoestrogens disrupt endocrine function and have the potential to cause infertility and to promote breast cancer in adult women. Soy phytoestrogens are potent antithyroid agents that cause hypothyroidism and may cause thyroid cancer. In infants, consumption of soy formula has been linked to autoimmune thyroid disease. Vitamin B 12 analogs in soy ...

Low Cholesterol and Behavioral Change Among the side effects reported from statin drug use there has been a broad complex of emotional and behavioral symptoms. Reports by anxious patients, concerned family members of caregivers have included aggressiveness, hostility, irritability, paranoia, road rage type outbursts, homicidal ideation, severe depression resistant to most therapies and as a natural follow-on to depression, a number of suicides have been reported where family members assert vehemently that, "It was the statin that did it." Dolichol inhibition is suspected as a major contributor to such behavioral change because of its established role in neuropeptide formation, where it orchestrates the processes of peptide strand formation in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. [...] Additionally, that low cholesterol plays an important role in cognition and behavior independent of glial cell inhibition is now well known to exist via the seleno-protein pathway. Whe...