Chron’s: A staple of Cuban and Puerto Rican diets may be helpful in the treatment of a chronic intestinal inflammatory condition. In a study published in the journal Gut, scientists found that plantain soluble fibers prevented the uptake and transport of E. coli bacteria across M-cells that act as gatekeepers to the lymphatic system, helping to halt the progression of Chron’s disease. “This research shows that different dietary components can have powerful effects on the movement of bacteria through the bowel. We have known for some time the general health benefits of eating plantain and broccoli, which are both high in vitamins and minerals, but until now we have not understood how they can boost the body’s natural defenses against infection common in Chron’s patients,” said Dr. Barry Campbell. Read More…
Consumer: If you’re a woman ovulating, stay away from your favorite store. A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research provides some evidence that consumer behavior is influenced by hormonal factors. Specifically, the researchers found that during the short period when they were ovulating, women chose sexier fashion products than they would normally choose at other times, especially if exposed to images of attractive women in their environment. The study authors say this is probably a subconscious attempt at attracting the best romantic partner available. Better put off deciding on surgery too – the researchers said this five to six days of vulnerability applied to all products and services that enhance physical appearance, such as shoes, cosmetics, and medical procedures. Read More…
Brain: No more excuses – seems our brains can be taught to control cravings. According to researchers at Yale University, standard therapeutic techniques decrease cravings of cigarette smokers by regulating activity in two separate areas of the brain. In the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, smokers who are taught cognitive strategies, such as thinking about the long-term consequences of smoking, show increased activity in the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with cognitive control and rational thought. They also show decreased activity in areas of the striatum, a region associated with drug craving and reward-seeking behavior. “This shows that smokers can indeed control their cravings, they just need to be told how to do it,” said Hedy Kober, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and lead author of the study. More research is being conducted to see if the same goes for other types of drugs and cravings. Read More…
Nutrition: Drinking tart cherry juice daily could help reduce the severity of insomnia and time spent awake after going to sleep, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food. In an experiment, adults who drank eight ounces of tart cherry juice in the morning and evening for two weeks reported significant reductions in insomnia severity and saved about 17 minutes of wake time after going to sleep on average. The researchers suspect tart cherries’ natural benefits could be due in part to their relatively high content of melatonin – a natural antioxidant in cherries with established ability to help moderate the body’s sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin is produced naturally by the body in small amounts and it plays a role in inducing sleepiness at night and wakefulness during the day. Cherries may help boost the body’s own supply of melatonin and increase sleep efficiency. Read More…
Honey: Sweet news for those who need antibiotics – new research published in the FASEB Journal confirms the antimicrobial property of honey and explains for the first time how it kills bacteria. “We’ve known for millennia that honey can be good for what ails us, but we haven’t known how it works,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the journal. The study shows that bees make a protein that they add to the honey, called defensin-1, which could one day be used to treat burns and skin infections, as well as potentially help combat synthetic antibiotic-resistant infections. The protein is part of the honey bee immune system and is added by the bees to the honey in the process of making it. Read More…
Nutrition: In a new study, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that eating five or more servings of white rice per week was associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. In contrast, eating two or more servings of brown rice per week was associated with a lower risk of the disease. The researchers estimate that replacing 50 grams of white rice (just one third of a typical daily serving) with the same amount of brown rice would lover risk of type 2 diabetes by 16%. The same replacement with other whole grains, such as whole wheat and barley, was associated with a 36% reduced risk. The researchers also found that consuming white rice was associated to ethnicity and diabetes risk, while eating brown rice was not associated with ethnicity but with a more health-conscious diet and lifestyle instead. The study is the first to examine the difference between white and brown rice. It was published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. Read More…
Media: Don’t be fooled by that sexy commercial – making food choices based on television advertising results in a very imbalanced diet according to a new study comparing the nutritional content of food choices influenced by television to nutritional guidelines published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Investigators found that a 2,000-calorie diet consisting entirely of advertised foods would contain 25 times the recommended servings of sugars and 20 times the recommended servings of fat, but less than half of the recommended servings of vegetables and fruits. In fact, the excess of servings in sugars and fat is so large that, on average, eating just one of the observed food items would provide more than three times the recommended daily servings for sugars and two and a half times for fat – for the entire day. “The foods advertised on television tend to oversupply nutrients associated with chronic illness, (for example, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium) and undersupply nutrients that help protect against illness (fiber, vitamins A, E and D, and calcium and potassium),” said Michael Mink, PhD, lead investigator in the study. Luckily, we know that’s not how YOU make your food choices. Read More…
Nutrition: For centuries, ginger root has been used as a folk remedy for things like colds and upset tummies. Now, researchers at the University of Georgia have found that daily ginger consumption also reduces muscle pain caused by exercise (sports or recreation). Ginger had been showed to exert anti-inflammatory effects in rodents before, and this study has concluded that the root can reduce muscle pain in humans by as much as 25%; it is also believed that heating ginger, as it happens when it is cooked in a soup or sauté, might increase its pain-relieving benefits. The study will be published in the September issue of the Journal of Pain. Read More…
Children: Researchers at the World Congress on Osteoporosis presented evidence that vigorous physical activity in young children results in stronger hip bones. Using advanced scanning technology, the scientists measured bone mass and analyzed the structure of the femoral neck (hip) and thigh bone of 200 six year olds, while physical activity was assessed for seven continuous days. The results showed that kids who spent more time in vigorous activity (sports like basketball, singles tennis, hockey, soccer, running, fast bicycling, aerobic dance, martial arts, jump rope, swimming, for example) had stronger femoral necks, both in terms of shape and mineral density, independent of other factors such as diet, lifestyle and physical size. This supports the argument that more physical activity in childhood is likely to improve skeletal bone development, making this a potentially important strategy to prevent osteoporosis later in life. Read More…
Psychology: Looks like washing your hands has more than a physical benefit. A recent study concludes that the activity “wipes the slate clean,” affecting us psychologically by removing doubts about recent choices, in addition to the feeling of being clean of germs as well as the already established link to feeling morally restored. “It’s not just that washing your hands contributes to moral cleanliness as well as physical cleanliness, as seen in earlier research” said Spike W. S. Lee, a doctoral candidate in social psychology. “Our studies show that washing also reduces the influence of past behaviors and decisions that have no moral implications whatsoever.” The researchers say that the “clean slate” effect may be relevant to many choices and decisions in life, not just the complex ones where ‘good behavior’ is implicated (for example, cheating) but also with simple choices like whether to buy one car over another (buyer’s remorse). The study was published in the May 7th issue of Science. Read More…
