Diet and food articles

Food and diet

Caffeine

Caffeine, the Good the Bad & the Ugly!
Depending on who you choose to believe, and depending on if you really enjoy that cup of coffee, you get your choice of reports concerning coffee and caffeine. In a recent French study at the French National Health Medical Institute a researcher found that "moderate amounts" of coffee consumed increased energy while having little chance of addiction. These researchers state that caffeine has no effect on the brain centers that could cause addiction. The only flaw with this study is that it was done with rats! Which leads us to the question of just what is a moderate amount of coffee for a rat?

In a seperate study at Duke University Medical Center, researchers found that people (not rats in this one) who drink four to five cups of coffee in the morning forced their blood pressure higher as well as increasing their stress levels all day into the evening. According to this study, even a moderate amount of coffee makes a person react as if they are having a very stressful day. So the question is, "to drink, or not to drink". Your answer probably depends on whose study you believe and how much you really like coffee.

Fruits and vegetables

Fruit and vegetable intake reduce stroke risk
October 6, 1999 Reuters News reports on a story in the Journal of the American Medical Association on the benefits of fruits and vegetables. The study conducted at Harvard’s School of Public Health studied the relationship between fruit intake and the rate of stroke in over 75,000 women. The results clearly showed a decrease in stroke risk in those who had an increase in intake in the number of servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

Meats and milk

Lean red and lean white meat have same effect on cholesterol, experts say
The July 27th 1999 Archives of InternalMedicine reported on a study by Michael H. Davidson, M.D. from the Chicago Centers for Clinical Research, comparing 191 people with mild to moderate high cholesterol levels. Of the participants one group was asked to eat a specified amount of lean white meats such as chicken and fish. The other group was asked to eat specified amounts of lean red meat such as beef, pork or veal. The effects were checked periodically for a 36 week period. During that time it was noted that both groups had a similar reduction in certain harmful types of cholesterol. The conclusion drawn by researchers was that either type of meat had the same effect on the cholesterol levels, and that lean meat was a more important factor over whether the meat was white or red meat.

Milk, it does a body good, or does it?
Several different reports are taking aim at giving children, especially babies under the age of one year, milk from cows. In a June 28th 1999 CNN report was a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics to wait at least one year before giving a baby milk from cows. Several reasons were cited as to the benefits of not using milk from cows. First cited was a reduction in allergies for children who do not drink milk from cows. The second reason was that milk from cows causes an increased chance of iron deficiency in children. Interesting to note was the fact that many formulas also contain broken down cows milk products. Still another reason was that the milk from cows can cause slight intestinal bleeding which can not be seen but can make a child anemic.

Other opponents of cow milk consumption go even farther than a one-year prohibition. Dr. Walter C. Willett, professor and chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, has a different opinion about consumption of milk by adults. “There is a major campaign being planned to try to get adults to drink three glasses of milk every day. If we do that we increase saturated fat consumption in adults. This inevitably will increase heart attack rates.” Dr. Willett was involved in a study at Harvard that showed no evidence that milk and other calcium rich foods significantly reduce osteoporosis-related bone fractures. His comments appeared in the June 8th 1999 issue of the Boston Globe.

Whole grains

Eating whole grains are healthy
From Mar 13, 2001 Reuters Health comes a story reporting on a study of nearly 34,000 Norwegian adults. In this study those who ate the highest amounts of whole grain had a 23% reduced risk of death from heart disease, and a 21% reduced risk of death from cancer compared with people who ate little or no whole grains. Because of this and because there have been similar findings among Americans, the United States Department of Agriculture is recommending that Americans "eat a variety of grains daily, especially whole grains."

Commenting on the study, lead study author Dr. David Jacobs Jr., of the University of Minnesota said, "This study bolsters the whole idea that the whole grain might be good for you." The study was originally published in the February 2001 issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Jacobs concluded by saying, "The people who eat (whole grains) tend to have healthier lifestyles in general, so their diet is generally higher in fruits and vegetables and lower in red meat. We find then that part of the benefit of the whole grain is the other things that people do with it, but part of it seems to be related to the whole grain itself."

Whole grain diet helps prevent stroke
From the September 27, 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association is the report of a study showing how whole grain bread can drop stroke risk by 43%. Dr. Simin Liu of Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston conducted a study that followed the health and stroke frequency of nurses over a multi year period. The study paid specific attention to dietary concerns and intake of whole grain bread. In the JAMA report Dr. Liu commented, "replacing refined grains with whole grains by even one serving a day may have significant benefits in reducing the risk of ischemic stroke." Her final conclusion of the study was, "higher intake of whole grain foods was associated with a lower risk of ischemic stroke among women."

Water

Fluoride in drinking water does increase risk of hip fracture

From the October 1999 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology comes a study that collaborates several previous studies linking hip fractures and fluoride in drinking water. The study looked at 144,000 elderly Finnish people admitted to hospitals with their first hip fracture.

The results showed that women ages 50 to 64 had significantly more hip fractures when exposed to greater levels of fluoride. Dr. John Lee, an authority on fluoride and bone effects concluded from the study, "The scientific evidence clearly shows that fluoride damages bone even at levels added to public drinking water."

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