Diet – Page 20 – News by Nature

STUDY: Can Your Diet Reduce the Effects of Air Pollution?

21May

By CatherineNo Comments

Diet

STUDY: Can Your Diet Reduce the Effects of Air Pollution?

A new study suggests that following a Mediterranean diet — an eating pattern high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, olive oils, fish and poultry — may protect people from some of the health effects of air pollution. Researchers at NYU School of Medicine, which looked at data collected from nearly 550,000 people with an average age of 62 from around the United States for more than 17 years, grouped people based on how closely their eating mirrored the Mediterranean diet and linked them to estimates of their long term exposure to air pollution, including particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrous oxide (NO2) and ozone (O3). “Air pollution is hypothesized to cause bad health effects through oxidative stress and inflammation, and the Mediterranean diet is really rich in foods that a...

How Many Carbohydrates Should I Eat Each Day?

8May

By CatherineNo Comments

Diet

How Many Carbohydrates Should I Eat Each Day?

Along with fats, carbs are often billed as the enemy when trying to lose weight. But the NHS still recommends a balanced diet, even when trying to lose weight, and they stress the importance of continuing to eat carbs. The Government’s healthy eating advice says just over a third of your diet should be made up of carbs, such as pasta, bread, rice or potatoes. Carbohydrates are important for our health and you shouldn’t cut them out of your diet completely. They help boost energy levels, as they are the body’s main source of energy. And they help prevent against diseases, as vegetables such as pulses and varieties of starchy food, such as potatoes, maintain good gut and bowel health. The NHS recommends people aim for an average of 30g per day, but most only eat around 18g. ...

Industry Welcomes GM Food Disclosure Standard Proposed Rule

3May

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals, Diet, Genetically Modified Foods, Wellness

Industry Welcomes GM Food Disclosure Standard Proposed Rule

The publication of a proposed rule that would provide consistency in the disclosure of information regarding bioengineered or genetically modified foods was welcomed by representatives of the food industry. According to Sarasin, FMI’s efforts in this cause include joining with farmers, manufacturers and retailers “to provide accurate, simple and unbiased information to our customers,” with a focus on consumer education through such means as SmartLabel. Food Ingredients News has reported, however, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn’t expect to meet the July deadline to create the new rule, with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue admitting that “we’re not as close as I’d like” to doing so. The holdup appears to be due to the White House Office of Management & Budget...

New Study: High Fruit Diet Could Help Women Conceive

3May

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals, Diet, Wellness

New Study: High Fruit Diet Could Help Women Conceive

Researchers who looked at more than 5,500 women from Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand found those who consumed the least fruit were 50 per cent more likely to be infertile. Similarly, compared to women who never or rarely ate fast food, women who consumed fast food four or more times a week took nearly a month longer to become pregnant. Their risk of infertility also doubled from eight to 16 per cent. Professor Claire Roberts, of the University of Adelaide, Australia, who led the study, said: "These findings show that eating a good quality diet that includes fruit and minimising fast food consumption improves fertility and reduces the time it takes to get pregnant." For the study pregnant women were surveyed by midwives on how long it had taken them to become pregnant, ...

17Apr

By CatherineNo Comments

Diet, Wellness

Is It Really Bad to Drink Blood?

Vampires are real, and they exist in all pockets of society. But is drinking blood safe? What does the science say about sipping on blood? THE SHORT ANSWER IS NO. The slightly less short answer is no because you’ll die in one of a number of unpleasant ways. The threat of death might, to some, seem like a turn-off. And yet, real human vampires still exist. So what is it about this gothic diet that sucks us in? WHAT’S AT STAKE? Blood, as it exists inside you, is about 78% liquid. When dried, it consists of about 93% protein and 1% carbohydrate. As far as protein powders go, those stats are pretty impressive. Unlike other meal supplements, however, blood is terribly low in minerals and vitamins. Malnutrition is just one of the many unpleasant ways you could die from tryin...

16Apr

By CatherineNo Comments

Diet

The Dilemma of the Gluten-Free Diet

A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that eating gluten-free is nearly impossible, underscoring the need for better treatments for patients with celiac disease. Experts say up to 1% of the global population has celiac disease, an autoimmune condition in which people develop an immune reaction to gluten. Gluten is a protein that appears in any food containing wheat, barley, and rye. The immune system reaction results in inflammation and damage in the lining of the small intestine, which can lead to medical complications, such as acute stomach pain and failure to absorb nutrients. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study used data from three prior clinical trials to estimate how much gluten 246 celiac patients were ingesting. The gluten measurements w...

What Diet Best Lowers Phthalate Exposure?

11Apr

By CatherineNo Comments

Diet, Genetically Modified Foods

What Diet Best Lowers Phthalate Exposure?

Phthalates are hormone-disrupting plastics chemicals linked to a number of adverse health effects, such as disturbing infant and child development, and, in adults, may affect reproductive health in men and endometriosis in women, and is associated with increased abdominal fat in both. What is the most major exposure source? Diet. If you have people stop eating for a few days, you get a significant drop in the amount of phthalates spilling out in their urine. One can only fast for so long, though. Thankfully, we can see similar drops just from eating a plant-based diet for a few days, which gives us a clue as to where most phthalates are found. The highest levels are found in meats, fats, and dairy. Poultry consistently comes out as being the most contaminated across the board with so...

Better Diet Data Via Tooth-Mounted Sensors

26Mar

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals, Diet, Genetically Modified Foods, Remedies, Wellness

Better Diet Data Via Tooth-Mounted Sensors

In First World countries, where famine is unheard of, people are instead eating themselves to death. Oftentimes, diet studies rely on self-reported surveys and journals that are hostage to the whims of each participant. People forget. People feel self-conscious about their food choices and may fudge (pun intended) the data. However, a new sensor that fits on a person’s tooth could cut out this unpredictable variable—human nature— altogether. Researchers from Tufts University School of Engineering designed a tiny sensor that, when stuck to a tooth, can wirelessly relay precise information about glucose, alcohol and salt intake. When the device comes in contact with salt, for example, its electrical properties shift, causing its other components to absorb and transmit different radiofr...

Is A Gluten-free Diet Good For You — If There’s NO Medical Reason For It?

20Mar

By CatherineNo Comments

Diet

Is A Gluten-free Diet Good For You — If There’s NO Medical Reason For It?

If a doctor has diagnosed you with Celiac Disease, an allergy or another condition that requires you to avoid wheat or gluten, you should heed their advice on what to eat. A diagnosis like that could mean eating gluten is causing harm. Gluten-free “becomes this synonym for health for people, and that’s actually very wrong. Just because it says ‘gluten-free’ does not mean it’s healthy,” said Dawn Jackson Blatner, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who works with the Chicago Cubs. Simply grabbing the gluten-free versions of the packaged food you normally buy won’t provide you any benefits, Blatner said. Additionally, eating a needlessly restrictive diet can impact the function of your gastrointestinal system, she added. “The diversity of our diet helps the microbiome in the gut,...

Ketogenic Diet: Does It Make You Feel Athlete?

12Mar

By CatherineNo Comments

Diet

Ketogenic Diet: Does It Make You Feel Athlete?

A recent study, published in the journal Sports, poses a different question: Can the ketogenic diet make you a better athlete? A team based at the School of Kinesiology at Auburn University asked 12 participants to partake in a 12-week study to measure body composition, metabolic, and performance parameters in CrossFit practitioners. The researchers wanted to better understand how the ketogenic diet affects resistance training, as a previous study with mice demonstrated that a low-carbohydrate diet reduces muscle mass. The authors addressed this controversy by pointing to their own six-week study with mice, noting that a ketogenic diet does not impair muscle glycogen levels or affect muscle protein synthesis in comparison to an isocaloric Western diet (consuming the same quantity of cal...