Tag: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

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Saturated Fat is NOT the Cause of Heart Disease

The saturated fat found mainly in meat and dairy products has been regularly vilified by physicians and the media, but a new analysis of published studies finds no clear link between people’s intake of saturated fat and their risk of developing heart disease.

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In the new analysis, which combined the results of 21 previous studies, researchers found no clear evidence that higher saturated fat intakes led to higher risks of heart disease or stroke.

A number of studies have linked the so-called Western diet to greater heart disease risks; that diet pattern is defined as one high in red meats and saturated fats — but it is also high in sweets and other refined carbohydrates like white bread.

Resources:
Reuters February 4, 2010
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition January 13, 2010 [Epub ahead of print]
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 91: 502-509; January 20, 2010

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Lighter Babies ‘Will Go Through Puberty Earlier’

Children born weighing less than 3kg (6lb 10oz) reach puberty at an earlier age than their heavier peers, potentially increasing their risk of developing some cancers, scientists have found.

Those who gain weight rapidly in their first two years of life are also more likely to reach puberty early, the research found.

The latest study, from scientists at the Research Institute of Child Nutrition in Dortmund, Germany, followed 215 boys and girls from infancy to the age of 13.

They found that those weighing between 2.5kg (5lb 8oz) and 3kg at birth started their puberty growth spurt around seven months earlier than babies who were heavier.

Meanwhile, those who gained weight quickly in the first two years of life started their growth spurt four months earlier than those who had put on weight at a normal rate.

Youngsters who had a combination of low birth weight and rapid weight gain were also at risk.

The experts also confirmed that girls who gained weight quickly as a baby tend to start their periods early.

The study was funded by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and was published in this month’s American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Experts from the WCRF said going into puberty at an early age is linked to an increased risk of some cancers, including breast cancer and testicular cancer.

It has also been linked to other hormonal changes that could play a role in cancer’s development.

Lead researcher, Professor Anja Kroke, said: ”More studies are now needed to identify the physiological mechanisms by which a low birth weight and rapid early weight gain affect the timing of the pubertal growth spurt.

”In addition, by gaining a better understanding of why early puberty increases cancer risk, we can improve our understanding of the causes of cancer, and therefore raises the possibility of preventing future cancer cases.”

Dr Panagiota Mitrou, science programme manager for the WCRF, said: ”This study has identified early life factors that increase a child’s chances of starting puberty early, which shows that what happens to us even in the womb can influence risk factors for diseases much later in life.

”More research is needed before we can better understand the relevance of these findings for public health.

”Only then can start looking at whether we need to take steps to prevent low birth weight or monitor weight gain in infancy.

”Until more research is done, the best advice for parents is to give their children a healthy start in life by encouraging them to get into the habit of eating a healthy plant-based diet, be physically active and maintain a healthy weight.

”We estimate that doing these three things could prevent about a third of the most common cancers in the UK.”

Source: Telegraph.Co.UK 5th.Dec.’09

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Why Large Amounts of Fruit May Not Be Healthy

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The editorial linked below appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It traces the rise in fructose consumption, and the rise in chronic diseases that have come in its wake.Fructose is a simple sugar found in honey, fruit, table sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Because of the increase in the consumption of these sweeteners, fructose intake worldwide has quadrupled since the early 1900s.

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Over the past three decades, there has been an even greater acceleration in consumption, in part because of the introduction of HFCS. The increase in fructose consumption parallels the rise in obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease.

Studies in animals have shown that fructose can induce insulin resistance, elevated triglycerides, abdominal obesity, elevated blood pressure, inflammation, oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, microvascular disease, hyperuricemia, glomerular hypertension and renal injury, and fatty liver. The consumption of large amounts of dietary fructose also can rapidly induce insulin resistance.

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Vitamin D is a Key Player in Your Overall Health

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Vitamin D, once linked to only bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, is now recognized as a major player in overall human health.In a paper published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Anthony Norman, an international expert on vitamin D, identifies vitamin D’s potential for contributions to good health in the adaptive and innate immune systems, the secretion and regulation of insulin by the pancreas, the heart and blood pressure regulation, muscle strength and brain activity.

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Access to adequate amounts of vitamin D is also believed to be beneficial towards reducing the risk of cancer.

Norman also lists 36 organ tissues in the body whose cells respond biologically to vitamin D, including bone marrow, breast, colon, intestine, kidney, lung, prostate, retina, skin, stomach and uterine tissues.

According to Norman, deficiency of vitamin D can impact all 36 organs. Already, vitamin D deficiency is associated with muscle strength decrease, high risk for falls, and increased risk for colorectal, prostate and breast and other major cancers.

An unrelated study also suggests that low vitamin D is associated with Parkinson’s disease. The majority (55 percent) of Parkinson’s disease patients in the study had insufficient levels of vitamin D.

Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics has doubled its recommendation for a daily dose of vitamin D in children, in the hopes of preventing rickets and promoting other health benefits.

The new guidelines now call for children to receive 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day, beginning in the first few days of life.

“ … Evidence has shown this could have life-long health benefits,” said Dr. Frank Greer of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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Pistachio Nuts Keep Heart Healthy

Pistachio nuts in and out of the shell
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Eating pistacho nuts every day can keep your health hale and hearty, says a new study.

According to researchers at Penn State conducted the study to investigate the way pistachios lower cholesterol.

“We investigated mechanisms of action to explain the cholesterol-lowering effects of the pistachio diets,” says Sarah K. Gebauer, recent Penn State Ph.D. recipient, currently a post-doctoral research associate, USDA Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center.

The researchers conducted a randomized, crossover design, controlled feeding experiment to test the effects of pistachios added to a heart healthy moderate-fat diet on cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Controlled feeding experiments provide all the food eaten by study subjects for the duration of the study segment.

The participants began the study by eating a typical American diet consisting of 35 percent total fat and 11 percent saturated fat for two weeks.

They then tested three diets for four weeks each with about a two-week break between each diet. All three diets were variations on the Step I Diet, a cholesterol-lowering diet in general use.

The diets included, as a control, a Step I Diet with no pistachios and about 25 percent total fat and 8 percent saturated fat. The pistachio enhanced diets were Step I Diets with 10 and 20 percent of the energy supplied by pistachio nuts, respectively.

The 10 percent pistachio diet had 30 percent total fat and 8 percent saturated fat and the 20 percent pistachio diet had 34 percent total fat and 8 percent saturated fat.

The participants ate half their pistachios as a snack and the rest incorporated into meals.

The researchers report in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that “Inclusion of pistachios in a healthy diet beneficially affects cardiovascular disease risk factors in a dose-dependent manner, which may reflect effects on Stearoyl CoA Desaturase (SCD).”

The researchers used the ratio of two fatty acids, 16:1 and 16:0 in plasma as a marker for SCD, an enzyme that is involved in the body’s synthesis of fatty acids.

“SCD is an important enzyme involved in cholesterol metabolism,” says Gebauer.

Sources: The Times Of India

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