A Sticky Syrup Story

From The Economist:

Fructose apparently tricks the brain into thinking you are hungrier than you actually are. Unlike carbohydrates made up of glucose, fructose does not stimulate the pancreas into producing insulin. Nor does it promote the production of leptin, a hormone made by fat cells. Under normal conditions, the amount of insulin and leptin in the body signal to the brain that you’ve had enough to eat. Meanwhile, fructose doesn’t seem to suppress the production of ghrelin, the hormone that triggers appetite, which normally declines after eating.

Let's face the facts. this high fructose corn syrup, which is found in many, many products is there for one reason- it's downright cheap. Once we accept that, the rest makes sense.

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BBQ Linked To Cancer

From CNN:

Postmenopausal women who like barbecued and smoked meat would be wise to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables too, a new study suggests.

Dr. Susan E. Steck of the University of South Carolina in Columbia and her colleagues found that postmenopausal women who consumed the most grilled, barbecued or smoked red meat over their lifetime have a 47 percent increased risk of breast cancer. Big meat-eaters who also skimped on fruit and vegetables had a 74 percent increased risk of the disease.

We say: I guess we could just eat all of our meat boiled and live forever according to this research!

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Soup Is Good Food

From Daily Mail:

A bowl of soup a day could keep the pounds at bay.

Health experts have discovered that adding low-calorie vegetable broth to the start of a meal can actually help to lose weight.

Because you tend to feel full sooner, you eat less of your main course.

The soup regime was tested by researchers at Pennsylvania State University, led by Dr Barbara Rolls.

So this is simple advice that just about anyone can follow. Then again, as we head into warmer weather, I don't think that folks are going to be clamoring for a nice hot bowl of soup this summer.

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Hacking For Health

From Wired:

Modern humans are bacteria-killing machines. We assassinate microbes with hand soap, mouthwash and bathroom cleaners. It feels clean and right.

But some scientists say we're overdoing it. All this killing may actually cause diseases like eczema, irritable bowel syndrome and even diabetes. The answer, they say, is counterintuitive: Feed patients bacteria.

"Probiotics (pills containing bacteria) have resulted in complete elimination of eczema in 80 percent of the people we've treated," says Dr. Joseph E. Pizzorno Jr., a practicing physician and former member of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. Pizzorno says he's used probiotics to treat irritable bowel disease, acne and even premenstrual syndrome. "It's unusual for me to see a patient with a chronic disease that doesn't respond to probiotics."

Clinical trial data on probiotics is incomplete, but there are many indications that hacking the body's bacteria is beneficial.

We say: Maybe this explains the recent explosion of probiotic based yogurts that started with Activia. While the public is responding positively with sales, the health benefits so far are somewhat questionable. Then again, the yogurt tastes fine, so why not?

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How About a Hawaiian Punch?

From CNN:

A fruity cocktail may not only be fun to drink but may count as health food, U.S. and Thai researchers say.

Adding ethanol -- the type of alcohol found in rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits -- boosted the antioxidant nutrients in strawberries and blackberries, the researchers found.

Any colored fruit might be made even more healthful with the addition of a splash of alcohol, they report in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.

We say: Drink up, and keep a copy of this study to justify it.

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Coco Pills

CHOCOLATE — that traditional antidote for broken hearts — now has another use. Foods rich in cocoa appear to reduce blood pressure, according to researchers at the University Hospital of Cologne in Germany.

More.

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Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing

From MSNBC.com:

Depending on the particular choice, juice can be a good source of important nutrients, including vitamin C, beta-carotene, the B vitamin folate and the mineral potassium. Juice also contains other antioxidants that protect the body. It’s no surprise that when people who eat low amounts of fruit and vegetables add several servings of juice daily, the antioxidants in their body increase, reducing risk of heart disease, cancer and perhaps even age-related eye disease and dementia.

However, studies show that most fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants in the skins and peels, which do not make it into juice. For example, one study reports that a whole orange contains up to five times more of one major antioxidant than a glass of orange juice. The antioxidant is found in the white pulp and membranes that separate the orange segments from each other.

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We Say: So much for "I could have had a V-8!" I think this goes back to the old adage that it is hard to improve on Mother Nature. According to this research, juice is clearly second best.

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Broccoli Or a Beer With Your Next Cigarette: It's Up To You

From IT Wire:

Fruits, dairy products such as cheese and cold milk, vegetables such as broccoli, and non-caffeinated drinks such as water and juices made cigarettes taste worse while alcohol such as beer, caffeinated beverages such as coffee, and various meats increased the desire for tobacco.

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We Say: I guess that's why cigarettes are so common in bars, and not at health food stores.

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