Eating lots of protein and cereal grains causes excess acid production in the body, experts say, which could increase calcium excretion and result in weakened bones. However, a new study finds that boosting alkali levels with a pill or by consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables can strengthen bones.
Archive for category Fruits and vegetables
Consumers and f&v producers often share the idea that nationally grown f&v contain less pesticide residues than imported products. This is often backed by research. But every country can’t be right. Here is an example of research showing that national produce contains the most pesticides. This research is from the US.
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Dec 11
The Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children has introduces a new program called 5-4-3-2-1 where 24 high school students teach nutrition classes to elementary age children. The classes are being held at various after-school programs and day care centers. The students are teaching students the 5-4-3-2-1 principle, which advocates five servings of fruits and vegetables, four glasses of water, three servings of low-fat dairy products, two hours or less of screen time and one hour or more of exercise daily.
Policy that restricts the availability of unhealthy snack foods in schools is associated with greater fruit and vegetable consumption in a nationally representative sample of 5th grade children. These findings suggest that a restrictive snack policy should be part of a multi-faceted approach to improve children’s diet quality.
Researchers at Yale identified 15,792 and 35,071 cancer cases in 195,229 women and 288,109 men, respectively from 1995 to 2003. Fruit intake was not associated with the risk of total cancer among women or men. Vegetable intake was not associated with risk of total cancer among women, but was associated with a significant 6% decrease in risk in men. This significant finding among men was no longer evident when we limited the analysis to men who never smoked. Intake of fruit and vegetables was generally unrelated to total cancer incidence in this huge cohort. Confounding by smoking is a likely explanation for the observed association between vegetable intake and cancer in men.
In a German online study (n = 494) on fruit and vegetable intake, social-cognitive variables and stages were assessed at baseline and stage transitions 4 weeks later. Transitions between the preintention, intention and action stage were predicted by social-cognitive variables using binary and multinomial logistic regression analyses. Outcome expectancies predicted progression from the preintention stage, whereas social support predicted progression to the action stage. Low levels of planning were associated with relapse to the preintention and the intention stage. Self-efficacy emerged as a universal predictor of stage transitions.
Distinct and tailored programs are suggested for reinventing social marketing programs focused on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in each psychographic audience segment. The authors also discuss the implications of utilizing a consumer-based psychographic audience segmentation versus a more traditional readiness-to-change social marketing segmentation.
EFSA has recommended lower Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) for several active substances used in pesticides which the European Commission considered could have possible safety concerns for human health.
Enjoy this remarkable video from the BBC series: Truth About Food. Thanks to Guttorm for the tip. Find more amazing videos here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/flashapp/nonflash.shtml
Enjoy this remarkable video from the BBC series: Truth About Food. Find more amazing videos here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/humanbody/truthaboutfood/flashapp/nonflash.shtml