1. Barley : Cholestorol Fighter
New research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that eating barley as part of a healthy diet may be effective for reducing total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein in both men and women.
2. Reading Labels : Doesn't Equal Healthy Diet
Researchers are advising parents and educators to teach teenagers how to interpret nutritional facts labels on foods. The move comes after a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health showed that those who read food labels do not necessarily follow a healthy diet.
3. Losing Weight : Just Stick to Diet
A comparison of four popular diet plans found the key to losing weight may not be which diet plan a person picks, but sticking with the plan that is chosen. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, also found popular diets can be effective for modest weight loss and reducing several cardiac risk factors, but overall adherence rates are low.
4. Fibre Intake : Low in Preschoolers
A national study in the US has found preschoolers aged from two to five do not eat enough dietary fibre. The study surveyed 5,437 preschoolers for their diet habits and found that younger children aged two or three eat more fibre than the children aged four and five.
5. Grains in the News:
Acrylamide : Low Levels in UK Diet
Findings from a new survey by the UK Food Standards Agency reveal acrylamide consumption levels are at least 1,000 times lower than the doses reported to cause cancer in laboratory rats.
Fad Diets : World First Campaign
A world-first advertising campaign that warns people about the health impact and ineffectiveness of fad diets has been launched in Australia by the Victorian Health Minister.
Low-Carb : Link with Birth Defects
National Folic Acid Awareness Week in the US has issued a warning that women of childbearing age may be risking the health of their babies by cutting back on sources of the B vitamin when following popular low carb diets.
New research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that eating barley as part of a healthy diet may be effective for reducing total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein in men and women with mildly raised lipid levels.
The authors say that barley is more effective than other sources of soluble fibre for lowering total and LDL cholesterol in both men and women.
The research team set out to investigate whether consumption of barley would reduce cardiovascular disease risk factors comparably with that of other sources of soluble fibre.
Those tested were nine postmenopausal women, nine premenopausal women, and seven men with mild hypercholesterolaemia. Each was given a controlled American Heart Association Step 1 diet for 17 weeks.
After a two week adaptation period, wholegrain foods containing 0, 3, or 6 grams of beta-glucan per day from barley were included in the Step 1 diet menus. These diets were then consumed for five weeks each. Fasting blood samples were collected twice weekly.
At the conclusion of the trial, total cholesterol levels in the test subjects were significantly lower when the diet contained three or six grams of beta glucan per day from barley than when it contained no beta-glucan.
The greatest change observed was in the men and the postmenopausal women.
2. Reading labels: Doesn't equal healthy diet | ( back to contents )
Researchers are advising parents and educators to teach teenagers how to interpret nutritional facts labels on foods.
The move comes after a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health showed that those who read food labels do not necessarily follow a healthy diet.
The survey, funded by the Agricultural Research Service, was carried out among 300 boys and girls aged 10 to 19 years, mostly of Caucasian or African-American ethnicity.
Nearly 22 per cent of participants claimed they 'always' read nutrition labels, while the same percentage said they 'never' read them. More than 56 per cent of participants said they 'sometimes' reading nutritional fact labels.
Assessment of their dietary fat intake showed that adolescent boys who said they read the labels consume more fat than boys who do not, and more fat than girls who said they read the labels.
The researchers suggest that this could be due to the desire boys often have to 'beef up' by consuming more protein, also leading to the consumption of more fat.
African-Americans were also found to consume more calories from fat than their Caucasian counterparts.
The relationship between the label-reading habits and diets of younger Americans is seen by the study authors as key to safeguarding against disease in later life.
A comparison of four popular diet plans finds that the key to losing weight may not be which diet plan a person picks, but sticking with the plan that is chosen, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study also found that popular diets can be effective for modest weight loss and reducing several cardiac risk factors, but overall adherence rates were low.
Popular diets have become increasingly prevalent and controversial, according to the study's authors. Many popular plans depart substantially from mainstream medical advice, and the effectiveness and safety of these diets have been questioned. More importantly, data regarding the relative benefits, risks, effectiveness, and sustainability of popular diets have been limited.
In this one year study, researchers from Tufts-New England Medical Centre in Boston assessed adherence rates and the effectiveness of four popular diets for weight loss and cardiac risk factor reduction.
The diets and their principle weight loss strategies were: Weight Watchers (restriction of portion sizes and calories); Atkins (minimise carbohydrate intake without fat restriction); Zone (modulate macronutrient balance and glycaemic load); and Ornish (restrict fat).
The trial included 160 overweight or obese adults aged 22 to 72 years, with known hypertension, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. Forty participants were assigned to each of the diet plans and then, after two months of maximum effort, participants selected their own levels of dietary adherence.
Assuming no change from baseline for participants who discontinued the study, the researchers found that average weight loss at one year was 2.1 kilograms for Atkins (21 [53 percent] of 40 participants completed), 3.2 kilograms for Zone (26 [65 percent] of 40 completed), 2.9 kilograms for Weight Watchers (26 [65 percent] of 40 completed), and 3.3 kilograms. for Ornish (20 [50 percent] of 40 completed).
Each diet significantly reduced the low-density lipoprotein/high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol ratio by approximately 10 per cent with no significant effects on blood pressure or glucose at one year. The total amount of weight loss was associated with self-reported dietary adherence level, but not with diet type.
For each diet, decreasing levels of total/HDL cholesterol and insulin were significantly associated with weight loss, with no significant difference between diets.
The authors write that: "... all four diets resulted in modest statistically significant weight loss at one year, with no statistically significant differences between diets".
"We found that a variety of popular diets can reduce weight and several cardiac risk factors under realistic clinical conditions, but only for the minority of individuals who can sustain a high dietary adherence level," they said.
"Despite a substantial percentage of participants who could sustain meaningful adherence levels, no single diet produced satisfactory adherence rates and the progressively decreasing mean adherence scores were practically identical among the four diets."
"Our findings challenge the concept that one type of diet is best for everybody and that alternative diets can be disregarded. Likewise, our findings do not support the notion that very low carbohydrate diets are better than standard diets, despite recent evidence to the contrary," the researchers concluded.
A national study in the US has found that preschoolers aged from two to five do not eat enough dietary fibre.
The study surveyed 5,437 preschoolers for their diet habits and found that younger children aged two or three - about a quarter of those surveyed - eat more fibre than the children aged four and five.
The low intake of dietary fibre is believed to be a result of their preference for fibre-poor foods. Some of the main sources of fibre among preschoolers were apple sauce, fruit cocktail, and high fat meals such as pizza.
Other higher fibre items, such as vegetables and fruits, were consumed in quantities too small to contribute much to total average fibre intake. However, the foods that made the top-ten list were all rather low in fibre, but children consumed them in such large amounts they become significant sources of fibre.
Young children with higher levels of fibre intake and also ate more fruits and vegetables. And when fibre intake increased, so did levels of iron, folate, and vitamins A and C.
Children's other main sources of fibre were soy and legumes, ready-to-eat cereals such as shredded wheat, and high-fat salty snacks.
The fear is that children with a low intake of dietary fibre may turn into adults that eat a low fibre diet, which is likely to increase cardiovascular disease and other diseases.
To increase dietary fibre intake, children may eat more fibre rich foods such as vegetables, legumes and cereals, while other low-fibre foods such as pizza, high-fat, grain-based mixed dishes, and high-fat salty snacks such as chips, should be reduced in children's meals.
Findings from a new survey by the UK Food Standards Agency reveal acrylamide 'consumption' levels are at least 1,000 times lower than the doses reported to cause cancer in laboratory rats.
In April 2002, acrylamide came to the attention of the food industry when scientists at the Swedish Food Administration first reported unexpectedly high levels of this harmful chemical in carbohydrate-rich foods. Acrylamide is formed naturally when foods such as chips, roast potatoes and bread are fried, baked, grilled, toasted or microwaved at high temperatures.
Since then, more than 200 research projects have been initiated around the world with their findings co-ordinated by national governments, the European Union and the United Nations.
Contributing to the international program, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) study set out to estimate the amount of acrylamide people are exposed to from the average UK diet, with sampled foods prepared according to normal domestic practice.
Confirming previous findings, the FSA reports: "Acrylamide was quantified in 7 of the 20 food groups tested. The dietary exposure estimates show that cereal-based products and potatoes are the main sources of acrylamide in the UK diet."
Quantifiable amounts of acrylamide were found in bread, miscellaneous cereals - including products such as biscuits and breakfast cereals, poultry, meat and meat products, sugars, preserves and potatoes (a range of cooked fresh and processed potatoes).
"The results of this survey do not affect FSA advice on what people should eat," said the government-funded body this week in a bid to dampen any 'knee-jerk' reactions.
Their findings will be fed into the February 2005 Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives safety evaluation of acrylamide in food.
A world-first advertising campaign that warns people about the health impacts, and ineffectiveness, of fad diets has been launched in Australia by the Victorian Health Minister, Ms Bronwyn Pike.
Ms Pike said the $300,000 campaign would aim to educate people about diets which can be expensive to follow, and may also put their health at risk.
"With obesity at alarming levels in Australia, many people are turning to unhealthy, quick-fix solutions to shed weight," Ms Pike said.
"Through this campaign the Victorian Government is attempting to raise awareness about the dangers of fad diets among Victorians tempted to use them to lose excess Christmas weight," she said.
The Victorian Government said up to 200,000 Victorians are estimated to be on diets such as the Atkins diet that cut down on or exclude carbohydrates.
"Fad diets may provide short-term results but are difficult to sustain - ultimately they deprive the body of essential nutrients only balanced eating can offer. They can cause dehydration, weakness, fatigue, nausea, headaches and constipation. Aside from these immediate effects, many of the long-term health dangers of fad diets are still unknown," Ms Pike said.
The initiative, part of the Government's 'Go for Your Life' health and fitness campaign, uses the tagline, "Over the long term, fad diets won't work".
"Australians spend about $1 million a day on weight-loss programs, drugs and other aids in an often futile bid to lose weight," Ms Pike said.
"Our public health campaign will provide information about how Victorians can enjoy a wide range of healthy foods, be physically active and feel better about themselves. A healthy lifestyle can be more effective than a fad diet and it is easier than most people think."
The campaign, supported by the Australian Medical Association, highlights the negative effects of fad diets, such as energy loss, putting on more weight than you lost and bad moods.
Australian Medical Association (AMA) Victoria weight management and eating behaviour spokesman, Dr Rick Kausman, said the key to healthy weight loss was for people to look at the reasons why they might have gained weight and examine how they can change their behaviour.
"The AMA advises against the use of fad or crash 'diets', which make claims of dramatic weight loss or performance enhancement, are often not nutritionally balanced and do not promote healthy eating habits," Mr Kausman.
Brochures and posters will be distributed to all GPs, community health centres, universities and TAFE colleges. The campaign will also spread the word in shopping centres, pubs and clubs and on public transport. A comprehensive website has also been developed.
National Folic Acid Awareness Week in the US has issued a warning that women of childbearing age may be risking the health of their babies by cutting back on sources of the B vitamin when following popular low carb diets.
"Many women might not understand that by lowering their intake of enriched grains, they could be increasing their risk of having a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect (NTD)," said Anita Boles, chair of the National Council on Folic Acid (NCFA) and executive director of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Institute of Medicine recommend that women of childbearing age take 400 micrograms of folic acid each day to reduce the risk of an NTD-affected pregnancy by 50 to 70 per cent.
Since 1998, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has required that breads, cereals, flours, pastas, rice and other grain products are enriched with at least 20 per cent of the RDA of folic acid per serving. This policy has led to a 26 percent decrease in NTD rates, according to the CDC.
As well as including grains and a variety of other foods in their diet, consumers are advised to take a daily multivitamin containing folic acid. Although it is possible to obtain the RDA from foods such as lentils, chick peas and broccoli, the human body absorbs the synthetic form of folic acid better than the natural form. However 60 percent of women fail to take the recommended daily supplement, according to Ms Boles.
Spina bifida and anencephaly are the most common of the neural tube defects. Both conditions occur in the very early stages of pregnancy, often before women are aware that they are expecting.
The NCFA's message on the importance of including grains in a healthy diet resonates with that of the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
More than just benefiting women, it seems folic acid could give other sectors of the population a health boost, too. Research has indicated that it may also have an important part to play in reducing the risk of colon, cervical and breast cancers. It may also help prevent Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
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