1. Recipe for longevity: The Mediterranean Diet The Journal of American Medical Association sings the health-giving praises of a Mediterranean-style diet in two separate studies, which show that following this regime improves healthy longevity and prevents metabolic syndrome.
2. Diets healthier as we age: New research Contrary to popular opinion, nutritionists at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne have found that most people's diets get healthier from childhood to young adulthood. Their research found that adults eat around twice the amount of fruit and vegetables and less fat and sugar than they did as children, according to the results of their research.
3. Low fat diets work: No benefit in Atkins Low fat diets are just as effective as the Atkins diet, and have more scientifically solid evidence to support their long-term weight loss effects, according to a research from a team of Danish doctors published in the Lancet.
4. WHO supports heart-healthy products: Prevention encouraged The UN-backed health body today calls for consumers to use prevention as a tool in the battle against heart disease, a move that underlines opportunities for food and beverage makers formulating products for heart health.
Low-carb confusion: Newspoll survey
A new national survey has found 2.5 million Australians (nearly one in five) have tried or intend to try a low-carbohydrate diet. The research, conducted by Newspoll, also revealed there is some confusion over which foods are carbohydrates.
Fighting obesity: Food labels and advertising
The European Commission is funding a project to find out how food labelling and advertising policies could be used to stem the rapid rise of obesity in many member states. Rapidly rising rates of overweight and obesity in Europe, and around the world, are highlighting the need for action by governments - but there is as yet little implementation of public policy to try to address the issue.
Fibre foods: New trend in the US
Fibre-fever may be the new trend poised to sweep the United States food industry over the next few years as low-carb diets begin to stutter and the US government raises the bar for healthy eating - good news for bakers, pasta makers and cereal producers whose products have been hardest hit by the low-carb phenomenon.
Functional breads in Europe: Germany leads
Functional bakery products are trailing behind beverages and dairy in terms of the global functional food market according to market analysts Euromonitor. All, that is, except Germany where functional bread is showing good growth.
Full stories:
1. Recipe for longevitiy: The Mediterranean diet (back to contents)
The Journal of American Medical Association sings the health-giving praises of a Mediterranean-style diet in two separate studies, which show that following this regime improves healthy longevity and prevents metabolic syndrome.
A Mediterranean diet is generally defined as one rich in plant foods and fish, low in meat and dairy products, and with a high ratio of monounsaturated fatty acids to polyunsaturated fatty acids. Metabolic syndrome is the tendency of several conditions to occur together, including obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes or pre-diabetes, hypertension, and high lipids
The first study concluded that individuals aged 70 to 90 years old who adhered to a Mediterranean-type diet and led a fairly healthy life had a more than 50 per cent lower death rate than those who did not. Researcher Kim Knoops and colleagues, from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, investigated the single and combined effect of a Mediterranean diet, being physically active, moderate alcohol use, and non-smoking on all-cause and cause-specific deaths in elderly individuals.
This study, called HALE (Healthy Ageing: a Longitudinal study in Europe), was conducted between 1988 and 2000 and included 1,507 healthy men and 832 women, in 11 European countries. The researchers found that adhering to a Mediterranean diet was associated with a 23 per cent lower risk of all-cause death; moderate alcohol use, a 22 per cent lower risk; physical activity, a 37 per cent lower risk; and non-smoking, a 35 per cent lower risk.
Similar results were observed for death from coronary heart disease, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Having all four low risk factors lowered the all-cause death rate by 65 per cent.
The second study was led by Katherine Esposito and colleagues from the Second University of Naples, Italy, who demonstrated that a Mediterranean-style diet had beneficial effects the metabolic syndrome.
Recent estimates indicate that the metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent in the United States in particular with an estimated 24 per cent of the adult population affected. This randomised trial was conducted from June 2001 to January 2004 at a university hospital in Italy among 180 patients (99 men and 81 women) suffering from the metabolic syndrome.
Half the patients followed a Mediterranean-style diet, while the remaining 90 followed a "prudent diet", made up of 50-60 per cent carbohydrates, 15-20 per cent proteins, and less than 30 per cent total fat. The researchers found that after two years, patients in the Mediterranean diet group had significant decreases in body weight, blood pressure, levels of glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, and triglycerides and a significant increase in levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Moreover, only forty patients consuming the Mediterranean regime still had features of the metabolic syndrome, compared with 78 patients following the control diet, and the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was almost halved in the Mediterranean group.
The authors concluded that the results of this study: 'represent the first demonstration, to our knowledge, that a Mediterranean-style diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, walnuts, and olive oil might be effective in reducing both the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its associated cardiovascular risk'.
Contrary to popular opinion, nutritionists at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne have found that most people's diets get healthier from childhood to young adulthood. Their research found that adults eat around twice the amount of fruit and vegetables and less fat and sugar than they did as children, according to the results of their research.
However, the research team, who were funded by the Welcome Trust and had their results published in the academic journal, Appetite, also found that many people perceive barriers to healthy eating.
People who took part in the study said parents, partners and children influenced their diet, together with their amount of free time and work patterns. These factors can exert either a positive or a negative effect. For example, people who saw their parents' influence as positive consumed more fruit and vegetables as adolescents. And whereas a third of people, mainly men, felt their partners had a positive influence on their diet, ten per cent, mainly women, indicated their partners' influence was negative.
A third of participants blamed a busy lifestyle as a reason for not being able to prepare 'healthy meals', often because they believed fruit and vegetables needed time for preparation and cooking. These people were more likely to have smaller intakes in fruit and vegetables over the 20 years than those who did not say a lack of time had influenced their diet. However, it was perceived lack of time, rather than actual free time, which influenced people's food choices.
The Newcastle University research team examined the food consumption of 200 schoolchildren aged 11-12 years old and revisited the same people 20 years later in their early thirties. On both occasions, participants kept detailed food diaries and were also questioned about their diets and the perceived influences on food intake. Researchers then analysed the two sets of results.
The lead author of the study, Amelia Lake, a registered dietitian and Newcastle University researcher, said the findings suggested that although general healthy eating messages were getting through to most people, they also needed to be more carefully targeted to reach individuals who believe their lifestyle still prevents them from eating well.
Ms Lake said the results suggest that the diet is really up to the individual and their personality, and that general health messages are not necessarily enough when a variety of factors are working to prevent people from eating healthily.
Low fat diets are just as effective as the Atkins diet, and have more scientifically solid evidence to support their long-term weight loss effects, according to a research from a team of Danish doctors published in the Lancet.
This new review of current research found that people on Atkins-style low carbohydrate diets tend to lose more weight in the first six months. But weight loss for both groups is similar after 12 months. In addition, they said more research on the long-term effects on health of the low-carbohydrate regime promoted by Atkins was lacking.
According to Professor Arne Astrup and colleagues at RVA University in Copenhagen, "there is no clear evidence that Atkins-style diets are better than any others for helping people stay slim, and despite the popularity and apparent success of the Atkins diet, evidence in support of its use lags behind".
The Atkins diet books have sold over 45 million copies over 40 years. Low-carbohydrate diets have been around since the 1860s, but the Atkins books are the most successful to date.
While the diet's most substantial following is in the US, a recent survey of major European and US food companies by Reuters Business Insight found a quarter were formulating new products to meet the criteria of the diet. Ad-libitum consumption of butter, fatty meat, and high-fat dairy products are advocated, while carbohydrate intake is restricted to under 30g a day.
The Danish researchers said, however, that people on Atkins may lose weight because they are bored eating the same foods and not because of the nutritional components of the diet.
The team looked at three studies carried out in the past two years comparing the effects of a low-fat diet with a low-carb one on obese volunteers. All showed the low-carb diet to double the weight loss seen in those with a low-fat intake after six months. But after a year, there was little difference between both groups.
Professor Astrup, who also works as a medical adviser for Weight Watchers, and colleagues conclude that: "weight loss on the low-carbohydrate diet is probably caused by a combination of restriction of food choices and the enhanced satiety produced by the high protein content".
The study did show improvements in some heart disease risk factors such as cholesterol levels in the low-carb diet, but the researchers warned that cutting out fruit, vegetables, whole-grain bread and cereals may actually increase the risk of heart disease and cancer and are to blame for the constipation and headaches reported by Atkins dieters.
"Although there is no solid evidence to support advising against the short-term use of low-carbohydrate diets…future research that assesses a broader spectrum of risk factors of thrombo-atherosclerotic disease might eventually warn against such diets," the researchers said. "Future studies should focus more on the foods making up the diets and report more markers of nutritional status."
4. WHO supports heart-healthy products: Prevention best (back to contents)
With nearly one in three people in the world dying from heart disease each year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has launched an 'Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke', which graphically details this global epidemic.
The UN-backed health body is calling for consumers to use prevention as a tool in the battle against heart disease, a move that underlines opportunities for food and beverage makers formulating products for heart health.
"No matter what advances there are in high-technology medicine, the fundamental message is that any major reduction in deaths and disability from heart disease and stroke will come primarily from prevention, not just cure," said Dr Judith Mackay, co-author of the Atlas.
Foods designed to tackle heart health are set to grow 7.6 per cent in the UK market to reach sales of £145 million in the UK alone by 2007. Ingredients spearing this market cover a wide range.
Tea, for example, the second most consumed beverage in the world, is believed to lower cholesterol levels and protect against heart attacks. A recently published Japanese study found that black tea may be healthy for the heart through its action on blood vessels. The small study suggested that the drink dilates the vessels allowing faster blood flow.
Manufacturers of grape extracts or other polyphenol ingredients are enjoying a lift in sales on the back of growing evidence that supports its heart-health promoting properties, and the red wine compound resveratrol is thought to be responsible for the protective effects of red wine on the heart.
The WHO Atlas was launched to coincide with World Heart Day on Sunday 26 September, the focus of which this year was Children, Adolescents and Heart Disease. Obesity, poor diets, smoking and physical inactivity, the leading causes of heart disease and stroke, are now being seen at an alarmingly early age.
5. Healthy heart diet: Online resources available (back to contents)
The scientific evidence supports claims that wholegrain cereal foods and cereal fibre such as oat meal or oat bran, may reduce the risk of heart disease by as much as 30%.
A new national survey has found 2.5 million Australians (nearly one in five) have tried or intend to try a low-carbohydrate diet. The research, conducted by Newspoll, revealed there is some confusion over which foods are carbohydrates.
It also found 7 in 10 Australians are not aware of the amount of carbohydrate-based foods - such as bread, breakfast cereal, rice and pasta - recommended for a healthy diet.
The findings are of concern to health experts who say celebrity-endorsed slimming schemes and constant new diet crazes are harming the average consumer's judgement when choosing which foods they should eat day to day.
Dr Tim Crowe, from the Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research at Deakin University in Melbourne, said these results should send a warning bell to Australian health authorities.
"If people are confused about the basics of healthy and nutritious food, and if they can't correctly identify which foods are carbohydrates, they're going to have trouble choosing the right foods for themselves and their family," Dr Crowe said. "In low-carb diets fruit, bread, cereal and vegetables are the bad guys because they contain carbohydrate. If you cut them out you're at risk of serious health problems.
"Short term problems with low-carb diets include feeling run down and low on energy, constipation, dehydration and bad breath. But more serious complications such as osteoporosis, kidney damage, cholesterol, cancer, heart rhythm disturbances and sudden death can all be linked to long-term restriction of carbohydrate foods," Dr Crowe said.
Ms Trish Griffiths, Accredited Practising Dietitian and manager of the Go Grains nutrition education program, said many people are confused and may be cutting out the wrong carbohydrate foods.
"People should really be more concerned about balancing the total calories in their diet with regular exercise, rather than trying to exclude carbohydrates," Ms Griffiths said.
Newspoll also found almost 70 percent of Australians believe a person who needs to lose weight should reduce their consumption of breads and breakfast cereals, rice and pasta (including 1 in 5 who believe these foods should be cut back 'a lot').
"This shows that while not everyone will tackle a strict low-carb diet, many are trimming back on carbohydrate foods as a flow-on effect from the publicity over these fad diets. There's a real risk, as a nation, that we will develop unhealthy long-term dieting habits because of these mixed messages. Studies show that wholegrain foods can significantly reduce the risk heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. So we don't want to reduce the healthy, easy to recognise carbohydrate foods while others, such as lollies and soft drink, continue unchecked," she said.
Fighting obesity: Food labels and advertising (back to contents)
The European Commission is funding a project to find out how food labelling and advertising policies could be used to stem the rapid rise of obesity in many member states. Rapidly rising rates of overweight and obesity in Europe, and around the world, are highlighting the need for action by governments - but there is as yet little implementation of public policy to try to address the issue.
In Finland some firms use a 'traffic light' system with food labelling to allow consumers to identify healthy 'green' foods and 'red' bad foods. Other nations are in favour of subsidising healthy food and increasing taxes on unhealthy food, but this has met with significant opposition from the food industry.
The new project, called Porgrow, is being led by Dr Erik Millstone from the University of Sussex in the UK, who has previously influenced UK government policies on food additives and BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis).
Fibre-fever may be the new trend poised to sweep the United States food industry over the next few years as low-carb diets begin to stutter and the US government raises the bar for healthy eating - good news for bakers, pasta makers and cereal producers whose products have been hardest hit by the low-carb phenomenon.
The percentage of new food and drink products in North America being marketed as high in fibre has risen to 4.2 per cent in 2004, having remained at around 2.5 per cent for the last four years, according to the US-based Productscan Online database of new products.
Executive editor of Productscan Online, Tom Vierhile, believes consumers could use more fibre in their diet. "An emphasis on fibre could help consumers forget about the fading low-carb trend while helping the packaged food giants restore the health credentials of some of their core offerings," Mr Vierhile said.
With 125 new, low-carb products hitting supermarket shelves in the US since August 2003, Mr Vierhile believes the market has reached saturation levels in the States. A survey of 2,500 Americans by financial advice company, Morgan Stanley, showed that the number of people on low-carb diets fell from 12 per cent to 10 per cent between January and June this year.
Mr Vierhile said high-fibre products would not necessarily replace their low-carb counterparts, but the high-fibre trend is emerging as a potentially lucrative new market for food producers, after flying under the radar for some time. This change in mood is being driven by growing concerns over healthy eating and obesity, coupled with the more obvious health advantages of fibre-enriched products compared to low-carb diets.
At the end of August this year, a dietary guidelines advisory panel of the US government recommended that people eat at least three servings of whole grains daily. Mr Vierhile said the challenge for all packaged food makers is to make processed food 'better for you' by not processing out natural ingredients, and high-fibre products are one step on the road to accomplishing this.
Functional bakery products are trailing behind beverages and dairy in terms of the global functional food market according to market analysts Euromonitor. All, that is, except Germany where functional bread is showing good growth.
Functional bakery products account for less than three per cent of functional food sales in Western Europe, far behind the booming health beverages (59 per cent of global functional food sales in 2003) and functional dairy products, which accounted for just over 23 per cent of sales.
Unlike the drinks and dairy sectors, there has been less innovation within bakery products and snacks, compounded by lower consumer acceptance, because consumers are struggling to associate products such as confectionery and biscuits with healthy eating, notes the market research group.
In the UK, a major European market for functional foods, bakery products and snacks remain under-developed, with bread poised for decline rather than growth following the de-listing of V-Force from British Bakeries and less than fantastic sales for other brands such as Good Health Loaf and Burgen, claims Euromonitor.
But while UK consumers are not yet ready to purchase staple foods with novel, health ingredients, in Germany, another key market for functional products, functional fresh bread has seen good growth rates since 1998.
While functional bread is expected to remain stagnant at best in the UK, growth prospects are significantly better in Germany, where consumers appear to be less cynical towards products, which make strong claims as to their health properties. Wholemeal bread is very common in Germany and Germans are well aware of the benefits of high fibre for digestion and intestinal health, giving functional bakery products a good start.
Euromonitor expects functional bread in Germany to grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 per cent between 2003 and 2008, compared to a CAGR of minus 1 per cent over the same period for total bread. And while functional bread in theory shows good potential, as it is generally regarded as a healthy product, product failures have proved to be rife, especially where marketing efforts to communicate the health benefits have been only minimal.
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