1. Beans: New weapon agains cancer
New research shows that a compound found in beans, nuts and cereals may inhibit a key enzyme involved in the growth of tumours.
2. Soy: Reduces fractures in older women A new study conducted by researchers in China has found that postmenopausal women who consumed high daily levels of soy protein had a reduced risk of bone fracture.
3. Breakfast: The new craze ?
According to two new studies, eating breakfast may help women and girls to maintain a healthy weight. Researchers hope that this may persuade more people not to skip the first meal of the day.
4. Grains in the News:
Wholegrain: FSANZ definition released
The term ?wholegrain' has been defined by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand in a new amendment to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code released in September.
Bakery: Survived low-carb to produce new trend
The reaction of the bakery industry to the considerable threat posed by low-carb diets last year could prove a lesson for many other sectors.
Scientists have discovered a new and potent anti-cancer compound in a number of everyday food s such as beans, nuts and cereals. The collaborative study led by University College London (UCL) shows that the compound, inositol pentakisphosphate , inhibits a key enzyme (phosphoinositide 3-kinase) involved in tumour growth.
The findings, published in the latest issue of Cancer Research , suggest that a diet enriched in such foods could help prevent cancer, while the inhibitor offers a new tool for anti-cancer therapy.
Phosphoinositide 3-kinase is significant in the development and progression of human cancerous tumours. Scientists have been exploring phosphoinositide 3-kinase as a target for cancer treatment , but inhibitors have been difficult to develop due to chemical instability and toxicity.
However, a team of scientists led by Dr Marco Falasca of the UCL Sackler Institute has now discovered that the natural compound inositol pentakisphosphate inhibits the activity of the enzyme, suggesting it could be used to develop new treatments for cancer.
In the study, the compound was tested in mouse models and on cancer cells. It was found to inhibit the growth of tumours in mice , and the phosphate also enhanced the effect of cytotoxic drugs in ovarian and lung cancer cells. The findings suggest that inositol pentakisphosphate could be used to sensitise cancer cells to the action of commonly used anti-cancer drugs.
Inositol pentakisphosphate is a non-toxic, water-soluble compound found in most legumes ( such as lentils, peas and beans), wheat bran and nuts. These properties make the compound a promising therapeutic agent because the inositol phosphate agent was found to be non-toxic, even at higher concentrations.
Dr Marco Falasca of the UCL Sackler Institute said their research suggests the importance of a diet enriched in food such as beans, nuts and cereals which could help prevent cancer.
?Our work will now focus on establishing whether the phosphate inhibitor can be developed into an anti-cancer agent for human therapy. We believe that inositol pentakisphosphate is a promising anti-cancer tool and we hope to bring it to clinical testing soon ,? Dr Falasca said.
Postmenopausal women who consumed high daily levels of soy protein had reduced risk of bone fracture, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine .
W omen experience accelerated bone loss at a rate of three to five per cent per year for about five to seven years after menopause, putting them at a high risk for bone fracture. However, t he US Food and Drug Administration and new clinical guidelines advise against the use of hormone therapy as a first-line treatment for the prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women . Rather, they emphasise alternatives such as exercise and increasing the intake of calcium and vitamin D.
Now, new evidence suggests a potential role for soy in preventing postmenopausal bone loss.
Xianglan Zhang, from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville , and colleagues examined the relationship between soy food consumption and bone fractures in 24,403 postmenopausal women. The women were part of the Shanghai Women's Health Study which included 75,000 Chinese women aged 40 to 70 years . It was conducted from 1997 to 2000 and p articipants' usual dietary intake was assessed once at the beginning of the study and then during follow-up two to three years later. The average age for participants was 60.
The researchers found that soy consumption may reduce the risk of fracture in postmenopausal women, especially among those in the early years following menopause.
During an average follow-up of four and a half years, 1,770 fractures were reported. The median (middle value) daily intakes of soy protein and soy isoflavones (estrogen-like plant chemicals) were 8.5 grams and 38 micrograms, respectively. Participants were divided into five categories, according to their soy intake, with the lowest intake group consuming less than 4.98 grams of soy per day, and the highest group consuming 13.27 grams or more of soy per day. Those in the highest soy protein intake group had a 37 percent reduced relative risk for fracture compared to the lowest intake group. Women in the highest soy isoflavone group had a 35 percent reduced relative risk for fracture compared to the lowest isoflavone group.
The researchers concluded that: "In this prospective cohort study of postmenopausal women, we found that soy food consumption was associated with a significantly lower risk of fracture, particularly among women in the early years following menopause. The potential impact of timing on the skeletal effects of soy needs to be further addressed in future studies .?
Nutritionists have been heralding the importance of eating breakfast for many years, but many people still go about their morning activities on an empty stomach. One of the problems t his habit can lead to is snacking on unhealthy foods later in the morning to boost blood sugar levels.
In the first of two new studies, both of which are published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association , researchers from Michigan State University analysed dietary data from 4,218 men and women aged 19 and over, gathered as part of the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Researchers wanted to find out whether there was statistical evidence to support the association between breakfast consumption and body mass index (BMI). They found that women who ate breakfast were more likely to have a normal BMI (below 25) than non-breakfast eaters, as were women who ate ready-to-eat cereals (RTEC) compared with non-RTEC eating women.
Breakfast eaters were more likely to be older, female, white, non-smokers and regular exercisers who were also trying to control their weight. Women who ate breakfast were found to have a higher daily energy intake than non-breakfast eaters.
Energy intake from fat was significantly lower in both men and women eating ready-to-eat cereals (RTEC) compared with non-RTEC consumers, but RTEC consumers also consumed more energy from carbohydrate than their non-RTEC counterparts.
These findings prompted the researchers to conclude that meal type is an important factor.
?RTEC breakfast consumption, associated with a desirable macronutrient profile for preventing obesity, predicted weight status in women, but not in men,? said the researchers.
In a second study, researchers from the Maryland Medical Research Institute looked into breakfast and cereal consumption of 2,379 girls between the age of nine and 19, and the association with BMI and intake of dietary fat and the important nutrients fibre, calcium, cholesterol, iron, folic acid, vitamin C, and zinc. They used data from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study, a longitudinal bi - racial observational cohort study with annual three-day food records. Frequency of consumption of breakfast (including cereal vs other foods) and cereal; BMI; and dietary fat, fibre, calcium, cholesterol, iron, folic acid, vitamin C and zinc.
Lead researcher Bruce Barton called the findings ?striking?, since girls were less likely to eat breakfast as they grew older, but the days on which they did eat breakfast they had a higher intake of calcium and fibre.
?From the age of 13 on, you can clearly see the girls who frequently eat cereal splitting from the majority of girls who do not eat cereal and are gaining more weight,? he said. ?For their age, significantly more girls who ate cereal had a normal body weight compared to those who didn't eat cereal.?
In general , and after adjusting for energy intake, cereal consumption was linked to a higher nutrient intake, and decreased fat and cholesterol intake. Cereal eating was predictive of lower BMI.
?Cereal consumption as part of an overall healthful lifestyle may play a role in maintaining a healthful BMI and adequate nutrient intake among adolescent girls,? Barton concluded .
The definition of 'wholegrain' in Australian food regulations has recently been amended. The new definition was gazetted in the FSANZ Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code Amendment No.81, released on September 22, 2005 .
Standard 2.1.1 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code has been amended from ?wholegrain means the unmilled products of a single cereal or mixture of cereals? to "Wholegrain means the intact grain or the dehulled, ground, milled, cracked or flaked grain where the constituents - endosperm, germ and bran - are present in such proportions that represent the typical ratio of those fractions occurring in the whole cereal, and includes wholemeal."
This definition is already widely used and accepted in Australia and overseas, including in scientific research studies that report the health benefits of wholegrain foods. The FSANZ redefinition will enable food manufacturers to label products as 'wholegrain' where these products contain wholegrain ingredients, even though those ingredients may not be in the form of unmilled grains.
It is hoped that this redefinition will benefit consumers by making it easier for them to identify wholegrain products amongst the increasingly complex array of foods available in the supermarket.
Bakery: Survived low-carb to produce new trends | ( back to contents )
According to Datamonitor, new premium products with added functional and health benefits helped the bakery sector to counteract some consumers' reduced consumption.
Both the US and European markets for bakery and cereals saw encouraging growth in 2004, up 3.2 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively, compared to 2003.
This represented an increase in market value of $1.6 billion in the US and $3.56 billion in Europe . Datamonitor predicts similar growth rates for 2005 and beyond, despite fears that keen interest in low-carb diets in 2003/2004 would have an adverse long-term effect.
Nick Beevors, consumer market analyst at Datamonitor , said that the trend away from bakery products during the low-carb diet fad prompted action from manufacturers that boosted new growth . The increasing range of functional and more health-orientated bakery products managed to allay the concerns of diet enthusiasts. By providing consumers with premium products that provide health-focused produce for example wholemeal and granary breads, bakery manufacturers reaction to health and diet concerns has proved successful.
?The surge in sales of functional, organic and fair-trade bakery and cereal products in 2004 demonstrates the modern Western consumer's concern with health and trade issues and their willingness to act on those concerns,? Beevors said.
Food formulators looking to cash in on the growing functional food trend could turn to black lentils as new research reveals the pulse's potential heart health properties locked in its pigment.
Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in the US have determined that the colour-imparting compound in Beluga black lentils is a natural pigment known as an anthocyanin. Anthocyanins are the source of the blue, purple and red colour of berries, grapes and some other fruits and vegetables. These pigments also function as antioxidants, believed to protect the human body from oxidative damage that may lead to heart disease, cancer and ageing.
Foods designed to tackle heart health are set to grow 7.6 per cent in the UK market, according to Datamonitor , to reach sales of £145 million in the UK alone by 2007.
While natural ingredients have been used as colouring agents in foods for some time, Market Researchers estimate that there is significant potential for growth. The colouring foodstuffs market is currently experiencing growth of an estimated 10 per cent to 15 per cent, driven by consumer interest in natural products.
Implying potential barrier to growth, anthocyanins, however, are highly dependent on acidity and lose their colour in conditions of low acidity.
Having identified the healthful compound researchers at ARS led by Gary Takeoka are currently investigating the use of Beluga black lentils and other legumes as ?candidate ingredients for an array of new, healthful and great tasting snacks? .
Health-promoting cereal foods and ingredients aimed at fighting metabolic syndrome are to be developed in a five-year project involving 43 partners from 15 European countries.
The Healthgrain Integrated Project , a European Union initiative coordinated by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland , plans to identify new sources of nutritionally enhanced grain, as well as develop methods to make cereal products more appealing to consumers.
The project will be building on results from recent studies that have revealed how wholegrain foods can have a protective effect against heart disease, stroke and diabetes. It is part of a strategy by the EU to improve food safety and quality, with the aim of increasing the average European's intake of protective wholegrains.
The €16m project will examine the variation, process-induced changes and human metabolism of bioactive compounds in wheat and rye, the two major European bread grains. It aims to reveal the physiological mechanisms underlying the significance of bioactive compounds in the prevention of metabolic syndrome and related diseases.
The target bioactive compounds are vitamins (including folate, tocols and choline), phytochemicals (lignans, sterols, alkylresorcinols and phenolic acids) and indigestible carbohydrates. The study will also establish how cereal foods' glycaemic properties reduce risk factors for diabetes.
The project aims to produce new nutritionally enhanced wheat varieties with optimal bioactive content.
?We will be working on gaining a better understanding of the various compound levels in grains and their localisation. This will allow us to develop milling techniques which remove only certain layers from the grain in order to maintain the parts which carry the most health benefits,? said project coordinator Professor Kaisa Poutanen.
?We will also develop processing technologies using enzymes and starter cultures in order to combat the coarser texture and hardness of wholegrain bread in an attempt to make it more consumer-friendly,? she said.
Penn State University food scientists have shown that the amount of health-linked polyphenols present during roasting or baking influences the toasty aroma developed by oats and might be used to limit the generation of ? off-flavours ' in oat products.
Polyphenols are a family of naturally occurring plant components that have been associated with a wide variety of health benefits. Flavonoids and some anti-oxidants belong to the polyphenol family and have been shown to have heart-healthy and anti-cancer effects.
The polyphenols the Penn State team studied were hydroxycinnamic acids, which have been associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases or for optimal health.
Dr Devin Peterson, Assistant Professor of Food Science and director of the study, said their research has shown that polyphenols are key to aroma and flavour formation in oats during the Maillard reaction, which is the browning process that occurs when foods are roasted or baked.
? Polyphenols have not been identified as major flavour producers before , or associated with the Maillard reaction ,? he said.
Peterson recently presented his results in a paper called ? Effects of Phenolic Content on the Generation of Maillard-type Aroma Compounds in Toasted Oat Groats ' at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington , DC .
The Penn State group's analyses show that the polyphenols inhibit the Maillard reaction by ?tying up' or ?quenching' some of the sugars and other transient reaction products the process needs to proceed.
Peterson explains that the Maillard reaction not only produces desirable changes, such as a golden brown colour and toasty aroma, but also can sometimes cause off-flavors or stale odours. The reaction not only proceeds during roasting or baking but also during storing. The results suggest that controlling the levels of polyphenols, which are found naturally in all food plants, might prevent undesirable results of the Maillard reaction.
In addition, the scientist points out that the Maillard reaction also occurs in the human body as part of the aging process, in tanning, hardening of the arteries, and diabetes as well as other diseases.
"The polyphenols' ability to quench sugars and inhibit the Maillard reaction may have positive implications for health besides improving the quality of food products," he said .
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