European scientists have developed a type of genetically modified tomato that is particularly high in antioxidants. When the tomatoes were fed to specially-bred ‘cancer-prone’ mice, the mice lived longer. Cancer Research UK, said: “It’s exciting to see new techniques that could potentially make healthy foods even better for us. But it’s too early to say whether anthocyanins obtained through diet could help to reduce the risk of cancer.
The US government is stopping a major study of whether vitamin E and selenium prevent prostate cancer – because the supplements aren’t working. More than 35,000 men age 50 and older have been taking one or both supplements or dummy pills as part of a study called the SELECT trial. But the National Cancer Institute announced Monday that they will be getting letters in the next few days telling them to quit the pills. An early review of the data shows neither supplement, taken alone or together, is preventing prostate cancer. Of more concern, slightly more users of vitamin E alone were getting prostate cancer – and slightly more selenium-only users were getting diabetes.
MyPyramid for Preschoolers
Oct 27
USDA today released their MyPyramid for Preschoolers for children 2 to 5 years of age. It covers not just what they should eat, but also their growth, physical activity, and what to do when they draw battle lines over food.
The UK’s National Institute for Clinical Excellence has issued new guidelines for health professionals on how to encourage older people to engage in more physical activity as a way to boost their mental health; one suggestion is for GPs to encourage their older patients to join local walking schemes and tell them how walking benefits mental wellbeing.
Whole grains are hot, trans fat is not, and more Americans say they’re doing all they can to eat right, according to a new survey from the American Dietetic Association. The survey is based on 783 U.S. adults.
About 5 million people in the US suffer from heart failure (HF). While some reports indicate that changes to diet can reduce HF risk, few large, prospective studies have been conducted. In a new study researchers observed over 14,000 participants for more than 13 years and found that whole grain consumption lowered HF risk. The Pubmed abstract is here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18954578
I prepared an 11 minute screencast explaining how I use pubmed.org, google reader, delicious.com og feedburner.com to produce my RSS feeds. Watch my screencast now. I made the screencast using Camtasia.
Six studies were identified. Results from five of these were consistent with the hypothesis that calorie information may influence food choices. However, results from most of these studies were weak or inconsistent. Each of the studies had at least one major methodological shortcoming, pointing toward the need for better designed studies to more rigorously evaluate the influence of point-of-purchase calorie labeling on food choices.
The purpose of this paper is to (1) provide a rationale for physical activity interventions and programs for cancer survivors, and (2) discuss successful approaches to adopting and maintaining physical activity to meet evidence-based recommendations and ultimately improve cancer survival and overall survival.
Several of the largest U.S. food and beverage makers have agreed to implement a new nutritional labeling system (The Smart Choices symbol) on their packages aimed at helping consumers pick healthier food choices. The new Smart Choices symbol was developed by the companies, scientists, health organizations and others over the past two years that wanted to come up with one standard to identify healthier foods.