Studies have shown that high-fructose corn syrup has made millions of Americans fat and sick. New research has found that this industrial sweetener used as a cheap sugar substitute in processed foods and beverages could be making them stupid as well. Fortunately, including foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids can offset the brain damage caused by your sweet tooth.

Scourge of the food supply

The food industry uses high-fructose corn syrup because it’s six times sweeter than cane sugar. The substance is so concentrated a little goes a long way in the manufacture of everything from soft drinks to baby food. High fructose corn syrup is so ubiquitous in the food supply that the average American consumes more than 40 pounds of it a year, and it shows.

More than one third of the U.S. population is overweight or obese and the percentage is growing. The incidence of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease and cancer are rising. Even so, the effects of high-fructose corn syrup could be worse than everyone thought. Not only does it harm the body, it wreaks havoc on the brain.

DHA protection

Researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have found that consumption of high-fructose corn syrup disrupted memory and eroded the ability to learn in rats. In their study, after training rats to navigate a maze they separated them into two different diet groups. Each group had a high-fructose corn syrup solution added to their drinking water. One group was fed additional omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

Stupid rats

After six weeks, the rats were returned to the maze.  The group on DHA, which is known to protect synaptic connections in the brain essential to memory and learning, navigated the maze much faster than the rats exposed to high-fructose corn syrup without omega-3 protection. The unfortunate critters were sluggish, disoriented and synaptic activity in their brains had declined.

The DHA-deprived rats also developed symptoms of insulin resistance, a prediabetic condition. Insulin helps regulate synaptic function as well as blood sugar. A close examination of rat brain tissue revealed that insulin had lost its ability to regulate the sugar neurons need for quick, clear thinking.

Fructose and cognitive decline

The UCLA fructose study could have major implications in the public discussion about an increasing number of Americans who are developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. A scientific link between high-fructose corn syrup and an epidemic of cognitive decline has yet to be established, but the UCLA study strongly suggests looking into it.

Don’t forget your omega-3s

Dr. Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, lead author of the study, advises people to read product labels and switch from processed snacks to foods like fresh fruit and Greek yogurt. The good news is that if you don’t want to give up the sugary treats, you can protect yourself with foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids like salmon and walnuts, or a daily DHA capsule.

Why not increase your odds for a clear-thinking future, and do both.

Source: PsychCentral, Forbes, LiveScience

Research has suggested that a Mediterranean diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids offers protection against Alzheimer’s disease. To learn more about why eating foods such as fatty fish, nuts, fruits and vegetables may preserve brain function, scientists examined the effect of omega-3s on beta amyloid, a protein the forms plaques in the brain that are a telltale sign of Alzheimer’s disease. They found that the more omega-3 foods people ate, the less beta amyloid was present in their bloodstream.

Omega 3 vs. beta amyloid

In the population of people over age 65, higher levels of the beta amyloid protein are strongly related to a high risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center in New York wanted to learn what people eat that affects beta amyloid levels.

For the study, researchers recruited 1,219 people over age 65 who were free of dementia. Participants filled out questionnaires about their eating habits for the previous 14 months. Dietary intake of 10 different nutrients was analyzed, including saturated fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acid, vitamin E, vitamin C, beta-carotene, vitamin B12, folate and vitamin D.

Because beta amyloid is difficult to measure in the brain outside of an autopsy, blood samples were taken and tested for levels of the notorious protein. A cross section of the survey data revealed that of all the nutrients, only omega-3 intake was associated with lower beta amyloid levels. Plus, the more omega-3 in the diet, the lower the beta amyloid levels.

Omega 3 foods, not supplements

Most of the participant’s omega-3 intake came from fish, chicken, margarine, nuts and salad dressing. Eating just 1 gram of omega-3s daily, equivalent to about half a fillet of salmon a week, lowered beta amyloid levels in the blood by 20-to 30 percent. Supplements weren’t a factor. If two people consumed the same amount of omega-3s, one through eating omega-3 foods and the other via supplements, the person eating the real food had less beta amyloid in their blood.

The Mediterranean solution

The researchers are planning more research to figure out exactly why omega-3 consumption lowers beta amyloid levels. Meantime, study author Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas recommends including as much omega-3 in your diet as possible instead of focusing on eating particular quantities of the nutrient. One of the most delicious approaches is the Mediterranean diet: plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fatty fish, very little red meat, butter, and other high-fat dairy products, and absolutely no processed meats.

Source: MedPage Today, U.S. News, Fox News, TIME

It’s no secret there is a serious vitamin and mineral deficiency in the American diet. After years of experimentation, scientists may have come up with the ultimate nutrition bar to solve that problem. Developers of the CHORI Bar claim that it can reduce risk of such common ailments as heart disease, cognitive decline and diabetes.

The root cause of metabolic imbalance

Years of research convinced National Medal of Science winner Dr. Bruce N. Ames that an American diet woefully deficient in vitamins and minerals leads to metabolic imbalances that increase risk of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and other diseases associated with aging.

In 2003, Ames and his colleagues at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute’s (CHORI) Nutrition & Metabolism Center set out to develop a cheap, low calorie food supplement that could restore metabolic balance. This month they unveiled the CHORI Bar, a fruit-based high fiber vitamin and mineral nutrition bar.

Can two bars a day keep the doctor away?

A report published online May 1 in the “Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology” describes the CHORI Bar prototype and presents results of a 2-week trial with 25 healthy adult volunteers.

Ames claims that the CHORI Bar restores optimal nutrition and bolsters antioxidant defenses with a number of ingredients that include soluble fibers and polyphenols lacking from the typical American diet. Participants in the study ate two bars a day for 2-weeks. Several positive metabolic changes were observed in that short period of time.

CHORI Bar beats drugs and supplements

Evidence from the study suggests that ingredients in the CHORI Bar act synergistically to produce benefits that would require much higher doses if taken as individual supplements. For example, it is very difficult to simultaneously raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels and lower levels of homocysteine, a substance related to early development of heart disease.

The CHORI Bar does both by combining nutrients in the Mediterranean diet with 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate, the most biologically active form of folate. For about half the U.S. population dealing with unhealthy homocysteine levels, eating a few CHORI bars a day could eliminate the need for heavy doses of folate supplements.

Another impressive achievement of the CHORI Bar was its ability to raise glutathione levels. Glutathione, which declines with age, is important for preventing oxidative stress. Some drugs and high doses of certain food supplements have raised glutathione levels in some studies, but the CHORI Bar did it in just two weeks.

No replacement for a healthy diet

Over the years, Ames’ creation progressed from almost inedible to what is now called a “tasty bar.” Researchers are working on more improvements that will expand the preventive benefits. Two additional bars have been developed with ingredients that favorably impact insulin resistance, inflammation, and LDL (bad) cholesterol. The CHORI team wants to combine attributes of all 3 bars in a single super nutrition bar.

The CHORI Bar is satiating and at about 110 calories per bar, may be helpful for weight loss programs. But rather than replace a healthy diet, Ames said he developed the CHORI Bar with the intent to help people transition to healthy eating habits by restoring optimal nutritional balance.

Source: Science Daily, Drug Store News, Neutraceuticals World

Food Allergy Awareness Week is May 13-19, a national campaign to raise awareness of a growing public health issue. The number of people with food allergies, particularly children, has been rapidly increasing and cause has yet to be found. Food allergies have no cure, but new research shows promising results for several experimental treatments.

Food allergies on the rise

Recent studies have found that as many as 15 million Americans, including 6 million children, have food allergies. Peanuts trigger the most common food allergy and peanut allergies in U.S. children more than tripled from 1997 to 2008. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of more than 9,500 children a year are hospitalized with food allergy reactions.

Rogue immune systems

Children usually outgrow allergies to milk, egg, wheat and soy, albeit more slowly now than in the recent past. Allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, fish or shellfish are lifelong afflictions. A food allergy occurs when IgE antibodies that are supposed to fight off infections start attacking certain food proteins instead. The IgE antibody triggers the release of histamines and other chemicals that can cause a progressive and sometimes life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis, or anaphylactic shock.

About anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis symptoms include hives or redness of the skin, breathing problems, nausea, dizziness, and often a rapid decrease in blood pressure. Anaphylactic shock can occur quickly without warning and progress rapidly to become life threatening. Epinephrine is the only first-line treatment that exists for anaphylactic shock and people with food allergies should carry an Epi-pen, a prepackaged epinephrine injector, at all times.

The hygiene hypothesis

Scientists have theories about the increase in food allergies, but an explanation for the disturbing trend is yet to be confirmed. One popular theory is the hygiene hypothesis. The hygiene hypothesis contents that modern society has become so proficient at preventing infections that our immune systems are out of whack. The proliferation of anti-bacterial products and overuse of antibiotics have confused our immune systems into attacking harmless food proteins instead of deadly pathogens.

Potential food allergy cures

Food allergies have no cure, but recent research on ways to condition the immune system of food allergy patients has shown promise. Three experimental food allergy treatments are currently being tested in human clinical trials:

Oral Immunotherapy—a process which begins by ingesting a tiny amount of allergy-triggering food and progressively eating larger doses to build immunity.

Sublingual Immunotherapy—a solution containing allergy-triggering food proteins is placed under the tongue, where it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream.

Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2 (FAHF-2)—a regimen based on traditional Chinese medicine involving an herbal formula taken in pills intended to alter the global immune response, rather than a single allergen, such as peanuts.

Source: Web MD, KQED.org, Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network

California banned the sale of junk food and sugary sodas in schools five years ago. A new report says that California students consume fewer calories and less fat and sugar than students in other states. However, a recent study found that junk food in schools had no effect on student weight gain, suggesting that combating childhood obesity requires much more than solely banning junk food in schools.

California led the way

A decade ago California was the first state to address childhood obesity by banning the sale of soda pop in grade schools. A soft drink ban in high schools followed and since 2007 California has enforced nutrition standards limiting the fat, sugar and calories in foods in vending machines that compete with school meal programs.

Fewer calories available at school

Today the California school junk food ban appears to be working, according to the results of a study published in the “Archives of Pediatric Medicine.” Researchers used data on the eating habits of high school students collected by the Centers for Disease Control. They compared data on California students with data on students from 14 states without nutrition standards for snack foods.

An analysis of the data showed that California high school students consumed nearly 160 fewer calories per day than students in other states, the equivalent of a small bag of potato chips. The difference-maker was eating fewer calories at school. California students got about 21.5 percent of their calories at school, compared with 28.4 percent in other states.

What’s the big deal?

Cutting out a bag of chips a day may not seem like a big deal, but the impact grows over time. Many nutrition experts have said that say that most children and adolescents could avoid an obese future by cutting 100 to 200 extra calories a day. A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that if children cut just 64 fewer calories per day, by 2020 the U.S. childhood obesity rate would drop 10 percent lower than where it was in the mid-2000s.

Fewer calories, but less weight gain?

Although the study showed that California students have reduced calorie consumption, the effect of the junk food ban on their weight is not as clear. A study published earlier this year in “Sociology of Education” found that student weight gain has nothing to do with junk food at school.

Researchers analyzed a nationally representative sample of students from the fall of kindergarten through the spring of eighth grade (1998-1999 through 2006-2007).

The percentage of students attending schools selling junk food rose significantly between fifth and eighth grades. Yet percentage of students who were overweight or obese didn’t rise at all. Despite increasing availability of junk food from fifth grade to eighth grade, students who were overweight or obese actually fell from 39.1 percent to 35.4 percent.

School ban not enough

Authors of the Sociology of Education study said that efforts to reduce childhood obesity must concentrate more on the home environment, as well as the food choices available in society as a whole. The California study, which found that students get just 21.5 percent of their calories at school, supports that argument.

Even though junk food may not be available in school, once the bell rings the floodgates are open.

Source: New York Times, Washington Post, Science Daily, Christian Science Monitor

It’s true you can have too much of a good thing, especially when it comes to beta-carotene. Beta-carotene is a form of vitamin A, an essential nutrient. Orange skin from excessive carrot consumption is well known. But a new study has found that too much beta-carotene cancels out the benefits of vitamin A, which may lead to serious health complications.

Too much vitamin A

When the biography of Steve Jobs was released after his death, the world learned that at one time he took on a “sunset-like orange hue” from living solely on carrots. His carrot obsession may have lead to a number of other health problems.

The antioxidant beta-carotene is a plant pigment that gives color to vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes and certain greens. Foods and supplements are the only sources for this essential nutrient that the body converts to vitamin A. Scientists at Ohio State University have found that when beta-carotene is metabolized, other molecules are produced that can actually block vitamin A from doing its thing, like supporting vision, bone and skin health, metabolism and immune function.

Anti-vitamin A

Previous research found that when beta-carotene is metabolized, it is broken in half by an enzyme, which produces two vitamin A molecules. The new study found that the “anti-vitamin A” molecules are produced when beta-carotene is broken in the wrong places. Consequently, too much vitamin A results in a sufficient amount of anti-vitamin A, which interferes with the actions of this essential nutrient.

The new findings may help explain the puzzling outcome of a study conducted many years ago to test the theory that vitamin A would benefit people at high risk for lung cancer. For the study, smokers and asbestos workers were separated into groups receiving either massive doses of vitamin A or no vitamin A. The study was discontinued because the supplemented patients developed cancer at a much higher rate than the controls.

The research also has implications for efforts to bio-engineer crops in developing countries for excess beta-carotene to ensure these populations get healthy levels of vitamin A. Crops engineered for unusually high levels of vitamin A could also deliver a harmful dose of anti vitamin A.

Vitamin A toxicity

Vitamin A toxicity develops when a person takes about 25,000IU or more per day for an extended period. Symptoms include blurred vision, bone pain, headaches, diarrhea, loss of appetite, skin scaling & peeling and muscular weakness. Vitamin A toxicity often occurs when someone takes vitamin A supplements such as retinyl palmitate or retinyl acetate. This preformed vitamin A is absorbed quickly and eliminated slowly. To utilize vitamin A, the body pairs up its molecules with binding proteins. When the binding proteins are at capacity, harmful free retinol is released into the body.

Go easy on the carrots

The most well known, and perhaps least harmful, side affect of vitamin A toxicity is orange skin. People who eat too many carrots get orange skin because the extra beta carotene is stored in fat under the skin. Laying off the carrots for a couple of weeks will solve the problem.

Source: Science Daily, Elements 4 Health, Antioxidants Detective

In a country with a proud tradition of personal responsibility, becoming obese or overweight is viewed as a failure of individual willpower. But a report on the obesity epidemic from the Institute of Medicine says that the overall environment in the U.S. has become so unhealthy that healthy options are severely limited. Instead of simply telling people to cut calories and exercise more, the IOM said changes must take place throughout all aspects of society to keep the obesity epidemic in check.

At the current pace, more than 110 million Americans will suffer from obesity by 2030, putting a half-trillion dollar burden on the health care system. For years, public institutions have been advising Americans to eat less and move more, to no avail. According to the IOM, this is empty advice, given in an “obesogenic” environment that promotes obesity at every turn.

The obesogenic environment

Fat and sugar is added to virtually every product on supermarket shelves. Fast food is available everywhere and society is saturated with promotions for unhealthy choices. Price-support programs for wheat, corn and other commodity crops ban growers from planting fruits and vegetables on land enrolled in those programs.

Suburban sprawl has made it unsafe to walk to work, school or the grocery store in most major population centers. Technology has turned both work and play into sedentary activities pursued in front of a screen.

Food industry cries “big government”

A panel of experts from academia, government, and the private sector compiled the IOM report, which was presented at the Weight of the Nation conference, a three-day meeting hosted in New York by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The panel evaluated about 800 programs and interventions in an attempt to find a solution for reducing the obesity rate by 2020.

The IOM concluded that slowing or reversing the obesity rate will require many strategies to change an obesogenic environment that includes government, schools, the workplace and health care providers. Political resistance to such efforts has been strong in the past and is expected to intensify. In fact, the IOM report said blaming obesity as a personal failure “has been used as the basis for resisting government efforts – legislative and regulatory – to address the problem,”

New U.S. obesity strategies

Potential actions suggested in the report include a tax on soda, which studies have identified as a major contributor to obesity. But intense lobbying by the soda industry has wiped out efforts to impose a soda tax in several states. Other recommendations that will provoke cries of big government include:

• Local, state and federal policies that set mandatory nutritional standards for marketing to children.
• Policies to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, such as  making clean water available in public places, work sites and recreation areas.
• Policies for obesity prevention in school, including more nutrition education, more physical education and healthier school lunch choices.

Success stories

Despite concerted lobbying against change, experience has shown that when businesses offer consumers healthy option, they will choose them. Walt Disney Co. found more than 50 percent of customers accepted a healthier choice of foods introduced at its theme parks. UnitedHealth Group offers a health insurance plan in which a $5,000 yearly deductible can be reduced to $1,000 if a person is not obese and does not smoke.

Source: Reuters, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report

Studies have shown that people who eat a lot of yogurt tend to avoid gaining weight as they age. To learn more about how the probiotics in yogurt can fight obesity in humans, researchers discovered a surprising new benefit. Yogurt-fed mice had a sex life most humans would envy.

Slimming probiotics?

A long-term diet study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health suggested that yogurt is one of the best foods to eat for preventing age-related weight gain. Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers followed up on those findings to learn more about the slimming qualities of yogurt.

The MIT team had an inkling that the probiotics in yogurt had an effect on weight by promoting a beneficial reaction with bacteria in the digestive tract. The began testing the theory by feeding one group of mice a diet mimicking human junk food consumption, another group a regular diet and a third group the same diet with a regular serving of yogurt.

Sexy swagger

The first difference that emerged were much thicker, shinier coats among the yogurt-eating mice. They were also slimmer than the mice in the other groups and the male mice carried themselves like they were “at the top of their game,” researcher Susan Erdman told ABC News.

It’s the gonads

The researchers soon learned where the yogurt-eating mice got their swagger. Their testicles were 5 percent bigger than mice not eating yogurt and 15 percent bigger than the junk food mice. These alpha males also mated faster and produced more offspring. Yogurt also produced reproductive benefits for the females, which developed shinier coats that the males. They had larger litters and weaned their offspring more effectively than the other mice.

Great news for yogurt marketers

If further research by the MIT team links gut bacteria affected by probiotics in yogurt with the reproductive benefits observed in mice, the findings will launch new studies in fields such as human fertility, weight loss and even hair care.

“When I saw those fur coats,” Erdman said, “I thought about adding more yogurt to my diet.”

Right. And I read Playboy for the articles.

Source: ABC News, WCBTV Boston, Medical Daily, Red Orbit

Here’s another great reason to stand out from the crowd: Health researchers have conservatively projected that 42 percent of American’s will be obese by 2030. If that trend could somehow be reversed, the U.S. could save hundreds of billions in health care costs over the next decade.

From bad to worse

From 1960 to 1980 the amount of adults in the U.S. categorized as obese—about 30 pounds overweight—remained stable at about 15 percent of the population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the next 20 years the obesity rate began to skyrocket and by 2000, 32 percent of adult Americans had crossed the obesity threshold.

By 2010, 36 percent of adults in the U.S. were obese and 6 percent were severely obese—about 100 pounds overweight. Researchers from the Duke University Global Health Institute presenting an obesity report at the CDC “Weight of the Nation” conference said the environment that promotes obesity in the U.S. couldn’t get much worse.

Obesity projections

When lead researcher Eric Finkelstein presented his analysis, he said the country is already saturated with fast-food restaurants, cheap junk food and technology that have rendered people sedentary at home and on the job. Because conditions are as bad as they can get, growth in the U.S. obesity rate is slowing down somewhat. But the rate is still expected to increase another 12 percent in the next 20 years. That translates to 32 million more cases.

To predict future obesity rates, Finkelstein and his team analyzed CDC data about body mass index, a score based on height and weight, reported by several hundred thousand people. The disconcerting numbers they came up with have to be considered conservative, given that most people fudge about their height and weight.

Obesity and health care costs

According to CDC data, 78 million adults and 12.5 million children and adolescents are already obese. Complications associated with obesity include type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, many cancers, sleep apnea and other crippling, chronic illnesses. It’s a public health problem that costs $190.2 billion a year, or one in every five dollars spent on health care.

An earlier study by Finkelstein’s team found that if the obesity rate were contained at 2010 levels, the U.S. could save nearly $550 billion in health care costs by 2030. A more realistic goal of cutting the growth rate of obesity by just one percent would save $85 billion in the next 20 years.

A fat future

The nation faces a daunting challenge, given that the childhood obesity epidemic is expected to cause a surge in future adult obesity rates. A third of U.S. children today are overweight or obese. Chances are all those fat kids will become fat adults.

Finkelstein and his team suggest that only a” major public health intervention,” is likely to make a difference. In the current political climate, that could be wishful thinking. Personal responsibility is the only solution.

Refuse to become a statistic.

Source: USA Today, MSNBC, Web MD

Have you ever heard of the watercress workout? Vigorous exercise is important for losing fat and adding muscle, but working out hard can stress your body and even damage your DNA. To keep that from happening, consider new research that has found watercress could be the ultimate natural workout recovery superfood.

Fight free radicals

There’s no question that exercise is good for your body. But increasing your demand for energy without proper recovery can lead to the accumulation of free radicals, a byproduct of oxygen molecules that can lead to the DNA damage associated with aging and diseases such as diabetes and cancer.

There are plenty of powders and solutions marketed for exercise recovery. But a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that eating a little bit of watercress raised levels of key antioxidants that protect against the damage caused by exercise.

The watercress exercise study

Researchers at Edinburgh Napier University and the University of Ulster (who you must know were commissioned by Vitacress Salads, a European watercress grower) recruited ten healthy men averaging 23 years of age to participate in the watercress study. For eight weeks participants ate a small bag of watercress two hours before an intense treadmill workout.

A control group went through the same workouts without eating watercress. After short bursts of intense exercise, the watercress eaters has far less DNA damage than the controls. What’s more, the effect of eating watercress did not require an accumulative build-up. After eight weeks watercress-free, the controls got the same level of DNA protection as the study group after a single serving of watercress.

Hippocrates already knew

Other studies on the protective qualities of watercress have found that eating the leafy greens can limit DNA damage in blood cells, an increased risk factor for cancer throughout the body.

Before being proved by science, the protective qualities of watercress have been known for thousands of years. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, who said “let food be thy medicine and medicine by thy food, cultivated it in his garden.

The leafy green vegetable is a member of the mustard family. It has a peppery flavor that adds flavor to salads, sandwiches and soups. You can even whip it into a green smoothie.

Source: Science Daily, Shape, Medical News Today