1. Beans:
Cutting Breast Cancer Risk Eating beans or lentils at least twice a week may reduce a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, according to research designed to investigate the benefits of plant flavonols.
2. Cancer: Fruit and Veg Link Not Clear The message from the most thorough examinations to date of the benefits of diets high in fruits and vegetables is that higher consumption of fruits and vegetables decreases the risk of heart disease, but the benefit to cancer risk is less clear.
3. Folate: Linked to Mental Decline People who consume a lot of folate, or take large doses of folic acid in supplement form, may have a faster rate of mental decline when older, according to the results of a large population study in the US .
4. Zinc: Helps Children Think Eleven-year-olds that took zinc supplements for five days each week had better mental performance after three months than their classmates according to US researchers.
5. Grains in the News:
New Diet Pyramid : Grains and Fruit Take Lead
The unveiling of the US Department of Agriculture's new MyPyramid Plan shows the shape of America 's ideal diet and the focus now is on simple changes people can make to eat more healthfully - including those that call for eating more fruits and wholegrains.
Heart Health: 60% Product Growth
Cereal makers have a major hold on the heart health foods market but new ingredients will help other sectors tap into strong consumer demand for these products.
Omega-3 Claim: Approved in the UK
Fish oil supplements and foods fortified with marine-source omega-3 fats on the UK market have gained the scientific go-ahead to promote the heart health benefits of their products.
Functional Foods: Research Grant
Spearing the booming global $50 billion market for functional foods, Australian food scientists will receive government funding to develop and apply new technologies to protect the health-promoting activity of ingredients.
Eating beans or lentils at least twice a week may reduce a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, according to research designed to investigate the benefits of plant flavonols.
The study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, found that women who consumed beans or lentils at least twice a week were found to be 24% less likely to develop breast cancer than women who consumed them less than once a month ? an association the researchers say ?merits further evaluation".
The researchers pointed out, however, that the consumption of other flavonol-rich foods does not seem to affect the risk of breast cancer.
In an effort to add sound epidemiological evidence to animal and in vitro study results that have linked the antioxidant flavonols with a reduced risk of breast cancer, Dr Clement Adebamowo, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston , analysed data from 90,630 women who participated in the Nurses Health Study II. The study focused on women who were aged between 26 and 46 years old when the study began in 1991. During an eight year follow-up, 710 cases of invasive breast cancer were recorded.
Not only was overall flavonol intake not linked with a reduced risk of breast cancer, the intake of individual flavonols (such as kaempferol or quercetin) was not protective either.
In addition to further investigation of the protective effect of beans and lentils, the authors also believe more research is needed to "clarify the flavonoid content of foods and their bioavailability".
The message from the most thorough examinations to date of the benefits of diets high in fruits and vegetables is that higher consumption of fruits and vegetables decreases the risk of heart disease, but the benefit to cancer risk is less clear.
?But that's not to say there's absolutely no benefit for fruits and vegetables," according to Professor Walter Willett who studies diet and cancer at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston .
Professor Willett cited recent studies that have found an association between lycopene from tomatoes and reduced prostate cancer risk. ?So if you get down to much more detail, there may be some things going on. But if you just stand back and look broadly at [eating five servings of fruits and vegetables each day], it's probably not going to have much benefit."
This assessment is shared by a growing number of experts in the field and based recent results from large, prospective studies. In November 2004, Willett's team reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (Vol. 96, No. 21, p. 1577) that total fruit and vegetable intake was unrelated to cancer incidence. The researchers relied on food questionnaires given to 71,910 women in the Nurses' Health Study and 37,735 men in the Health Professionals' Follow-up Study. Baseline data was collected in 1984 and 1986, respectively, with medical follow-up extending through 1998.
?This was a strong dataset because we put large cohort studies together and did repeated measurements," Professor Willett said. The study did find, however, that the risk of chronic heart disease for people who eat five daily servings of fruits and vegetables dropped by about 12% over those who eat fewer fruits and vegetables.
Another report, published in January in the Journal of the American Medical Association , examined the risk of breast cancer among 285,526 women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. After a median follow-up of 5.4 years, the authors found no associations between fruit and vegetable intake and risk of breast cancer. Analysis of produce subgroups, such as citrus fruits or green leafy vegetables, also yielded no significant results.
In 2002, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported null results for cancer incidence among 9,506 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The report was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition .
In contrast to these recent results, early enthusiasm for fruits and vegetables' propensity to reduce cancer risk ran high. In 1989, the National Research Council's report Diet and Health called for consumers to double daily servings of fruits and vegetables from 2.5 to 5. After reviewing available research, the committee wrote that ?green and yellow vegetables and citrus fruits tend to protect against cancer of the lung, stomach, and colon, but the actual mechanisms for this effect have not been documented".
Reviews by the National Cancer Institute in the US have also concluded that fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of cancer, and the NCI has recently upped its recommendation to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day for men and 7 for women.
How to explain the discrepancies between the old studies and the new? Most commentators point to differences in methodology. Whereas the new studies follow volunteers' eating habits over several years, nearly all of the evidence in favour of 5-A-Day relies on weaker retrospective case-control studies.
In direct contrast to NCI's 2000 evaluation, the program is beginning to emphasise heart disease rather than cancer as the main target of fruit and vegetable consumption. But despite the waning scientific support for produce as a cancer risk reducer, few have anything negative to say about fruits and vegetables.
Professor Willett, one of the 5-A-Day program's loudest sceptics, said that the program ?has almost certainly done some good." Then he added this caveat: ?In the long run, if we want to reduce cancer [risk] we're going to have to look at other things and not put too much hope in fruits and vegetables."
People who consume a lot of folate, or take large doses of folic acid in supplement form, may have a faster rate of mental decline when older, according to the results of a large population study in the US .
The findings were unexpected as folate, a B vitamin, helps break down the amino acid homocysteine, high levels of which are linked to Alzheimer's disease.
The study measured cognitive decline in more than 3,700 elderly people living in Chicago , aged at least 65 years at baseline. They were followed up after three years, and again after six years, using the average score of four different cognition tests. Folate intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire.
Those with the highest folate intake, an average 742 mcg per day, had more than twice the rate of cognitive decline as those in the lowest fifth of intake (186 mcg per day), according to the researchers.
?A faster rate of cognitive decline was also associated with high folate intake from food and with folate vitamin supplementation of more than 400 mcg daily compared with non-users," the researchers said in the April edition of the Archives of Neurology.
The findings could add fuel to the European debate over fortifying food with the vitamin to reduce incidence of neural tube defects. In the US , where the research was carried out, flour has been fortified with folic acid since 1998, increasing intake of the vitamin across all segments of the population.
The UK opted not to introduce such a policy, for fear of masking B12 deficiency in the elderly. The new study could offer some signs of this effect.
Eleven-year-olds that took zinc supplements for five days each week had better mental performance after three months than their classmates according to US researchers.
The children taking an extra 20mg of zinc responded more quickly and accurately on memory tasks and with more sustained attention than those who did not take the mineral.
Beneficial effects were seen regardless of the youngsters' previous zinc status, according to lead researcher Dr James Penland from the US Agricultural Research Service's Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Centre in North Dakota .
The findings, presented at the Experimental Biology meeting in the US last month, suggest there could be new demand for fortified foods and supplements for this age group. Although zinc nutrition has been related to motor, cognitive and psychosocial function in very young children and adults, this is the first study of its effect in adolescents.
Zinc deficiency is not uncommon, even in developed nations, and the risk is particularly high in adolescents because they are undergoing rapid growth and often have poor eating habits, according to Dr Penland. They may not consume enough zinc-rich foods like red meat, fish and grains.
In the study, 111 girls and 98 boys consumed four ounces of fruit juice containing either 0, 10 or 20 mg of zinc gluconate each school day for 10 to 12 weeks. Students, their parents and teachers did not know who was receiving which, if any, zinc supplementation.
Compared to the students who received no additional zinc, students who consumed an additional 20 mg zinc each day decreased reaction time on a visual memory task by 12 per cent versus six per cent; increased correct answers on a word recognition task by nine per cent versus three per cent; and increased scores on a task requiring sustained attention and vigilance by six per cent versus one per cent.
However, those who received only 10 mg a day (the US Recommended Dietary Allowance for this age group) did not significantly improve performance.
Previous studies have shown that zinc is needed for growth and immune function and may be important for eye-hand coordination and reasoning in very young children. It also appears to influence memory, muscle strength and endurance in adults.
The unveiling of the US Department of Agriculture's new MyPyramid Plan shows the shape of America 's ideal diet and the focus now is on simple changes people can make to eat more healthfully - including those that call for eating more fruits and wholegrains.
Professor Penny Kris-Etherton, a member of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, has developed a snapshot of a daily meal plan that fits with the new Food Guidance System. Professor Kris-Etherton has put special emphasis on the increased recommendations for fruits (four servings) and wholegrains (three servings) per day.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee Report, eating fruits and vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of certain types of cancer, heart disease, hypertension and stroke.
Fruits and fruit juices are important sources of nutrients of concern in the diet, including potassium and vitamin C. Only about half of U.S. adults consume the recommended amount of vitamin C. No single age group currently gets the recommended amount of potassium. Potassium is important because it may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke.
Wholegrains appear in the Food Guidance System for the first time because the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Committee Report linked diets rich in wholegrains to reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes, as well as helping with weight management. In spite of these important benefits, government surveys have shown that fewer than one in 10 people consume the recommended amount of wholegrains.
Oatmeal is the only wholegrain food recognized by the FDA to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Oatmeal can also aid in maintaining a healthy weight as part of a diet rich in fibre.
Cereal makers have a major hold on the heart health foods market but new ingredients will help other sectors tap into strong consumer demand for these products.
Currently cereal products make up 46 per cent of the functional foods carrying heart health claims in the US, Japan, Australia and five major European markets, reveals Leatherhead Food in a new report out this week.
This is largely down to their high fibre content, with established, global brands successfully repositioning their products to market the benefits of wholegrains and fibre.
However compared to the relatively stable growth in cereals, other sectors like dairy are seeing much more new product development, with phytosterols and phytostanols leading to a number of new cholesterol-lowering foods.
And while foods to lower cholesterol reduction continue to dominate in terms of new launches, increased interest in other areas, such as those that tackle high blood pressure using bioactive peptides, will also significantly increase the dairy sector's share of the heart health market.
Currently the main heart health ingredients being used in this $3.6 billion market tend to be those where scientific evidence of their efficacy is strongest, such as soy, omega-3 fatty acids, phytosterols, fibre, vitamins C and E, folic acid and potassium.
But new ingredients - such as carotenoids, B vitamins, garlic, polyphenols and magnesium - will increasingly be used, especially if they are backed by further research.
Meanwhile less well-proven ingredients that "definitely need additional research" include conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), plant lignans, rice bran oil, co-enzyme Q10 and betaine, according to the report.
But while the need for foods to protect heart health is certainly present, the report also underlines barriers to growth that have resulted in a highly fragmented market.
These include the huge investment in products and marketing, which has often restricted access to the major multinationals, and strict regulations on health claims.
But regulatory changes, under discussion in Europe , and evolving in other markets too, will help speed up new product introductions.
Patents on compounds derived from fruit and vegetables is also currently increasing and likely to escalate, according to the authors, while the use of soluble fibres used for cholesterol-lowering is set to expand too.
Fish oil supplements and foods fortified with marine-source omega-3 fats on the UK market have gained the scientific go-ahead to promote the heart health benefits of their products.
The Joint Health Claims Initiative (JHCI), a group of consumer and industry representatives that issues advice on health claims in the absence of regulation in this area, said today that seven leading scientists have approved a heart health claim for long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.
The news lends further backing to an omega-3 health claim in future European regulation while the US FDA has also approved a health claim for omega-3 fatty acids in foods and supplements.
The new claim states: ?Eating 3g weekly, or 0.45g daily, long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, as part of a healthy lifestyle, helps maintain heart health.'
The UK government has recently recommended consumption of one portion of fish a week for reduced risk of cardiovascular disease but many consumers do not eat fish regularly. ?It is not just promoting fish oil. Hopefully it will increase the number of products fortified with omega-3s that make heart health claims. This will enable us to tackle the estimated two thirds of the population who do not consume fish on a regular basis," according to Dr Ray Rice, the scientist responsible for gathering evidence for the claim for a consortium of companies and groups interested in omega-3s.
However Dr Rice noted that the JHCI's guidelines on quantities required before a claim can be used will restrict the number of products that can carry the claim.
?We asked for 75mg per day as the required amount needed to carry a claim. However we have finished up with 200mg. This does restrict the number of potential vehicles containing fish oil because of the extreme fish taste," explained the scientist.
The only other claims approved by the JHCI are for soya protein, oats and reduced saturated fat (all for their cholesterol-lowering effects) and wholegrain foods' benefits to heart health.
Spearing the booming global $50 billion market for functional foods, Australian food scientists will receive government funding to develop and apply new technologies to protect the health-promoting activity of ingredients.
Researchers at Food Science Australia , the University of Melbourne , Swinburne University of Technology and CSIRO plant industry will each benefit from the $3.5 million health food investment by Australia 's Victorian government.
"These technologies will allow food manufacturers to create exciting new foods and ingredients, with qualities that have until now been difficult to achieve.
Consumers can look forward to new flavours, textures and specific nutritional and health benefits across a range of food products," says the director of the Innovative Foods Centre at CSIRO, Dr Kees Versteeg.
The grant from the government will be used to establish an innovation foods program.
?Scientists at the centre investigate non-thermal food processing technologies like ultra-high pressure and high-power ultrasonics.
This new programme will broaden the research scope to include microwave technology, advanced separation technologies, ingredient functionality and food architecture," adds Dr Versteeg.
The investment will be used to define the ?next generation of foods" that have specific health benefits without compromising eating quality, added Dr Geoffrey at Food Science Australia (a joint venture of CSIRO and the Victorian government).
The scientists are hopeful that new developments gleaned from their research will help to fuel new growth in Australia .
"This collaboration provides the momentum for development of frontier technologies, helping to transform Australia 's agrifood sector and create new industries," commented Dr Bruce Lee, at CSIRO's Food Futures Flagship unit, that will provide ?substantial" additional funding to the project.
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