Healthy Living Journal

Busy parents may be frustrated by the flood of changing nutrition advice in popular media and magazines as they try to make sensible dietary decisions for their families. Among the top concerns in many families is that children are not eating enough fruits and vegetables, along with picky eaters and eating too much junk food.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Nutrition and Health Promotion Section offers these tips:

- Make mealtime family time. Try to have at least one meal a day together. Eating meals as a family may improve children’s food habits, as they tend to eat more fruits, vegetables and dairy foods at meals shared with their parents.

- Get the entire family involved in meal planning and preparation. A kitchen can be a learning laboratory. Give children simple tasks to help with family food shopping, preparation and cleanup. Children are more likely to eat foods that they have helped to prepare.

- Be a good role model. Parents often tell their children to eat healthy but do not follow the advice for themselves. Make sure parents set a good example for the family. Healthy eating is a lifestyle, and not a fad. It needs to be a family affair that begins at an early age.

- Try something new. Set a goal to include one new food or recipe each week, and thus discover new favorites to incorporate into family menus. Try a new or exotic fruit like mangoes or tangelos. To make fruit easier to eat, serve it in bite-sized pieces with some low-fat yogurt for dipping.

- Freshness and quality is key. Opt for fresh, quality products when choosing foods. Fresher foods provide higher amounts of essential nutrients and taste better when served at their peak. Buy fruits and vegetables in season to stretch your food dollar.

- Stash healthy snacks. Keep healthy, nutritious snacks in key places at all times - your purse, the car, your desk drawer. As you run out the door, grab a few healthy snacks - crackers and peanut butter, small boxes of cereal, fresh fruit, pretzels, or plain popcorn. This prevents temptation to eat unhealthy options and you will have portable nutrition for your children.

- Think creatively to adapt to your family’s schedule. Try changing the time of your meals so you can have at least four family meals per week. Accommodate a busy schedule by working in time for a meal. For example, have a tailgate picnic before or after a sports game or practice.

- Face dining out challenges head-on. Parents may feel restaurants do not have enough variety for their entire family. Choose restaurants that allow you to mix and match food options that give you the control to create a balanced meal for your family.

- Be informed when dining out. Visit restaurant websites or call ahead to find out information about their menu. Some websites provide nutrition breakdowns for menu items. Use this information to help you select a restaurant and to plan meals ahead of time.

- Get help from the Women Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition program. WIC is a free nutrition program for families with pregnant women, new mothers and children up to the age of 5 years old. Income guidelines apply, so call 1-800-WIC-4321 to see if you are eligible, and then ask WIC for recipes and menu ideas for your family.

New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
www.dhhs.state.nh.us

October 27th, 2008 | Tags: Healthy Eating, healthy living, tips | Category: Healthy Eating |  Print This Article | Leave a comment

The combination of eating quickly and eating until full triples the risk of being overweight, according to a study published on the British Medical Journal website.

Until the last decade or so most adults did not have the opportunity to consume enough energy to enable fat to be stored. However, with the increased availability of inexpensive food in larger portions, fast food, and fewer families eating together and eating while distracted (e.g. while watching TV), eating behaviours are changing, and this may be contributing to the obesity epidemic.

Professor Iso and colleagues recruited over three thousand Japanese men (1,122) and women (2,165) aged 30-69 between 2003 and 2006 to examine whether eating until full and speed of eating are associated with being overweight. Participants were sent a diet history questionnaire about their eating habits including questions about eating until full and their speed of eating.

The researchers report that around half (50.9%) of the men and just over half (58.4%) of the women said they ate until they were full. And just under half (45.6%) of men and 36% of women said they ate quickly.

The group of participants who said they ate “until full and ate quickly” had a higher body mass index (BMI) and total energy intake than those who did not “eat until full and did not eat quickly”.

The researchers also found that both men and women in the “eating until full and eating quickly” were three times more likely to be overweight than the participants from the “not eating until full and not eating quickly” group.

The authors conclude that a combination of eating until full and eating quickly has “a supra-additive effect on overweight”.

These findings demonstrate how current eating patterns may contribute to the current epidemic of obesity, say Elizabeth Denney-Wilson from University of NSW and Karen Campbell from Deakin University in Australia, in an accompanying editorial.

They call on doctors to work with parents to encourage healthy eating habits in their children like eating slowly, serving appropriate portion sizes, and eating as a family in a non-distracting environment.

October 26th, 2008 | Tags: Healthy Eating, healthy living, Research | Category: Healthy Eating, Research |  Print This Article | Leave a comment

by Barbara L. Minton

Spices do more than make food taste great. Recent research is showing that spices can promote health and well being through a series of actions that are anti-aging and inhibiting of degenerative disease. The vegetarian diet so often associated with good health and lack of disease relies heavily on the use of spice. But you don’t have to be a vegetarian to gain the amazing health benefits these inexpensive flavor enhancers have to offer.

The addition of spices can turn up the taste of almost any food. Add some chili pepper, cumin or turmeric to mashed potatoes or rice. Sprinkle marjoram or rosemary on your salads, and dress up cottage cheese with whatever spicy flavor appeals to you. Add spice to vegetable dishes and sprinkle it on meats, poultry or fish before cooking. Spice up your veggie juices and smoothies. Any way you do it, adding spice means adding a wealth of health benefits.

Recent research continues to show the power of these natural medicines

Spices have more antioxidant power, measure for measure, than fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants help prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and premature aging. In a study reported in the British Journal of Nutrition, fifteen aromatic herbs and spices consumed in Central Italy as part of the Mediterranean diet were studied to reveal total phenolic, flavonoid and flavanol content as well as their antioxidant potential as measured by oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Comparison was made between salads to which aromatic herbs had been added. The addition of lemon balm and marjoram increased by 150% and 200% respectively the antioxidant capacity of a salad portion, corresponding to an intake of 200 mg. of phenolics and 4000 ORAC units. Among other spices tested, cumin and fresh ginger made the most significant contribution to antioxidant capacity.

Another study reported in the Journal of Medicine and Food examined the effects of a spice mixture on oxidative stress markers and antioxidant potential in tissues of insulin-resistant rats. Addition of the spice mixture reduced the levels of lipid peroxidation (break down of fats resulting in free radical formation) markers in tissues and improved glucose metabolism and antioxidant status of the rats even though they continued to be fed their fructose diet.

A study in Prostaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids reported that spices possess antioxidant activity that can preserve the integrity of lipids and reduce lipid peroxidation. Researchers investigated the antioxidant activities of selected spice extracts on peroxidation. The spices tested were garlic, ginger, onion, mint, cloves, cinnamon and pepper. Cloves exhibited the highest and onion showed the least antioxidant activity. The relative antioxidant activities decreased in the order of cloves, cinnamon, pepper, ginger, garlic, mint and onion. Spices mixes of ginger, onion and garlic; onion and ginger; and ginger and garlic showed cumulative inhibition of lipid peroxidation, exhibiting synergistic antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity of the spice extracts was retained even after boiling for 30 minutes, indicating that the spice constituents were resistant to thermal denaturing.

The Journal of Medicine and Food also reported an investigation in which researchers bought 24 herbs and spices at a local supermarket. After testing them they found that many appeared to have the power to inhibit tissue damage and inflammation brought on by high blood-sugar levels in the body. They inhibited the glycation process which has been linked to inflammation and tissue damage in diabetics. The spices with the greatest effects were cloves, cinnamon, allspice, apple pie spice, and pumpkin pie spice. Top herbs included marjoram, sage and thyme.

Another study from the Journal of Medicine and Food investigated the effects of red chili, cumin, and black pepper on colon cancer induced in rats. They found that cumin and black pepper suppressed the onset of colon cancer.

Aspergillus parasiticus, commonly known as aflatoxin, is a carginogenic mold that is found on improperly stored grains and peanuts. In a study reported in the Journal of Medicine and Food, the inhibitory effects of 16 spice hydrosols (anise, basil, cumin, dill, Aegean sage, fennel, laurel, mint, oregano, pickling herb, rosemary, sage, savory, sea fennel, sumac and thyme) on the aflatoxin strain were investigated in vitro. The hydrosols of anise, cumin, fennel, mint, pickling herb, oregano, savory, and thyme showed a strong inhibitory effect, while sumac, sea fennel, rosemary, sage, Aegean saage, laural, basil and rosemary were unable to totally inhibit the growth.

These researchers also studied the effects essential oils from of black thyme, cumin, fennel, laurel, marjoram, mint, oregano, pickling herb, sage, savory and thyme against Bacillus species of bacteria. All of the tested oils except laurel showed antibacterial activity against one or more of the Bacillus species used in the study. Researchers concluded that essential oils of some spices may be used as antimicrobial agents to prevent the spoilage of food products. Foods that will be left standing out for a period of time without refrigeration can be made safe with the addition of some of these spices and herbs.

Spices that stand out for their health benefits

All spices confer a list of health benefits. The addition of any of them to a prepared dish, drink, or in a supplement form will help to reduce free radical damage and combat the effects of aging. Here are a few spices that offer outstanding benefits.

Cinnamon – Three key proteins are highly important in insulin signaling, glucose transport and inflammatory response, according to Richard Anderson, researcher with the U.S.D.A. Cinnamon has insulin-like qualities that come from the release of these proteins. His and other studies have shown that just 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon a day can help lower the risk of the constellation of factors associated with metabolic syndrome – high blood cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose levels – by as much as 10 to 30 percent.

A study in Hormone Metabolism Research found that cinnamon prevents insulin resistance even in animals eating a high-fructose diet.

Cinnamon is anti-microbial and can stop the growth of bacteria, fungi and yeast. A study in the International Journal of Food Microbiology found that a few drops of cinnamon essential oil added to carrot broth were able to preserve it and fight pathogens.

Cinnamon has anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory properties, which reduce clumping of blood platelets. It is suspected that cinnamon boosts brain function. Of all the spices, cinnamon is one of the richest sources of antioxidants.

Ginger – Gingerol, the active ingredient in ginger, has been shown to significantly help with nausea, vomiting, and morning sickness. It was found to be as twice as effective as Dramamine in preventing motion sickness. It is a powerful antioxidant, and is thought to relax blood vessels, stimulate blood flow and relieve pain. It is a common digestive aid and useful for people suffering the side effects of chemotherapy. Its anti-inflammatory abilities make it useful in fighting heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and arthritis.

Oregano – Thymol and carvacrol are two of oregano’s potent antibacterial properties. A study in Mexico found oregano to be more effective against an amoeba than a common prescription drug called tinidazol. Oregano works in the intestinal tract to kill unfriendly bacteria without damage to the friendly bacteria. It is a effective against candida albicans overgrowth throughout the body, and particularly in the sinus cavities. It has 4 times the antioxidant activity of blueberries.

Rosemary – In winter, a rosemary bush inside the house in acts as a natural air cleaner and freshener, along with being a source for the herb to use in cooking. Rosemary stops gene mutations that could lead to cancer, and may help prevent damage to the blood vessels, thereby reducing heart attack risk.

Turmeric – This bright yellow spice of Indian cuisine is one of nature’s most powerful healers. It is a potent anti-inflammatory that acts as effectively as drugs like hydrocortisone, phenylbutazone and Motrin. It is helpful with inflammatory bowel diseases, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Recent research shows it as positive for cardiovascular and liver protection.

When combined with cruciferous vegetables, turmeric has shown to prevent prostate cancer and stop the growth of existing prostate tumors. It prevented breast cancer from spreading to the lungs in mice. It may prevent melanoma and cause existing melanoma cells to die. Turmeric may also prevent metastasis from occurring in many different forms of cancer.

Turmeric has been shown to reduce the risk of childhood leukemia, and shows promise in slowing the progression of multiple sclerosis. It is a natural liver detoxifier and one of nature’s most effective pain relievers through inhibition of COX-2.

Garlic – This wonder drug of nature destroys cancer cells and may disrupt the metabolism of tumor cells. Studies show that two cloves of garlic weekly provide cancer-protective benefits. A recent study showed that eating garlic boosts the body’s supply of hydrogen sulfide, which acts as an antioxidant and transmits cellular signals that relax blood vessels and increase blood flow.

In another recent study, researchers extracted juice from supermarket garlic and added small amounts to human red blood cells. The cells immediately began emitting hydrogen sulfide. This ability to increase hydrogen sulfide production may explain why a garlic rich diet is so protective against various cancers, including breast, prostate and colon cancer. It may also explain why garlic appears to protect the heart. A recent study found that injecting hydrogen sulfide into mice almost completely prevented the damage to heart muscle cause by a heart attack.

Garlic has a reputation as preventative and treatment for the common cold. It’s used to treat the symptoms of acne and there is evidence that it can assist in managing high cholesterol levels. It even appears to be a natural mosquito repellent.

Sage – This herb contains flavonoids, phenolic acids and oxygen handling enzymes. This results in its ability to prevent oxygen-based damage to cells. Sage may fight rheumatoid arthritis, bronchial asthma and atherosclerosis. It appears to promote better brain function. A study showed that people given sage essential oil had significantly improved recall abilities compared to those given a placebo.

Red chili peppers – These peppers contain capsaicin, a powerful anti-inflammatory compound that helps relieve pain. They ease congestion and clear mucus from the lungs and nose, boost immunity, prevent stomach ulcers by killing bacteria, assist in weight loss, reduce blood cholesterol, manage triglyceride levels, and prevent cancer including stomach cancer.

Coriander – This herb is effective against swelling, high cholesterol levels, diarrhea, mouth ulcers, anemia, digestion, menstrual disorders, conjunctivitis, and skin disorders. It is antioxidant rich and contains vitamins A and C, and minerals. It is protective of the eye by preventing macular degeneration and soothing the eye against stress. It has a stimulating effect on the endocrine system which in turn stimulates the production of insulin, resulting in increased insulin in the blood to aid in proper assimilation and absorption of sugar and lower the sugar level in the blood.

Parsley – Chief among the abilities of parsley is cancer fighting. Animal studies have shown that parsley inhibits tumor formation, particularly in the lungs. It neutralizes carcinogens including those found in cigarette smoke. It is a good source of antioxidants and heart-healthy nutrients such as beta-carotene, folic acid, and vitamins A and C.

Sources:

“Health Benefits of Coriander,” Organic Facts.

“Spice of Life: Health Benefits of Spices and Herbs,” Mind, Body and Spirit Fitness.

Howard Dratch, “Spice Up Your Life: The Health Benefits of Spices,” BC Sci/Tech.

“20 Health Benefits of Turmeric,” Eat This.

Tara Parker-Pope, “Unlocking the Benefits of Garlic,” The New York Times, October 15, 2007.

Source: Spices: A Wealth of Health Benefits that Make Food Taste Great

October 23rd, 2008 | Tags: Healthy Eating, healthy living, spices | Category: Healthy Eating |  Print This Article | Leave a comment

Consuming too many calories may disturb the pathway in the brain that directly affects food intake and body weight, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison report that the too much food or energy consumption leads to a problem called metabolic inflammation, according to findings from the mice studies.

“Metabolic inflammation is a chronic, low-grade condition consisting of inflammatory-like responses at the molecular level. It has many downstream consequences,” said researcher Dongsheng Cai. “It causes cellular dysfunction, which can decrease the regulation of several physiological processes, including metabolism.”

Metabolic inflammation may also be at the core of many chronic, obesity-related metabolic disorders that are so common today, he added.

The new research, published in the journal Cell, highlights the complex nature of obesity and the possible underlying mechanisms.

Study details

The researchers looked at the hypothalamus – the brain structure responsible for maintaining a energy balance in the body – of mice, and focused on a protein complex called NF-kappaB/ IKKbeta.

According to the researchers this pathway is much more abundant in the hypothalamus than in peripheral tissue, but it normally remains inactive in the brain.

However, a high-fat diet that led to over-nutrition was found to activate IKKbeta/NF-kappaB, specifically in neurons in the hypothalamus. This stimulation of the pathway led the animals to increase their energy consumption, while suppressing it helped them maintain normal food intake and body weight.

“When we knocked out the IKKbeta gene to suppress NF-kappaB activity in these neurons, the animals were significantly protected from energy over-consumption and obesity development,” said Cai.

Looking inside the cells in order to understand the mechanism, the researchers found that a cell component called the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) underwent stress under conditions of over-nutrition. This stress was the source of the activation of IKKbeta/NF-kappaB.

Suppression of the ER stress led to a preservation of the normal regulation of food intake and prevented obesity, said the researchers.

While a lot of work still needs to be done, building on these very preliminary findings, Cai said that he is maintaining a view of the bigger picture.

The key questions left to be answered are: “How does the environment connect to the genetics that seem to underlie the obesity epidemic? What are the key steps that have led to the dramatic rise of diabetes in the past three decades? Why can’t the body adjust to changes that have occurred in the way people eat and what they eat?” he said.

Source: Cell
Volume 135, Pages 61-73
“Hypothalamic IKKβ/NF-κB and ER Stress Link Overnutrition to Energy Imbalance and Obesity”

Authors: X. Zhang, G. Zhang, H. Zhang, M. Karin, H. Bai, D. Cai

October 8th, 2008 | Tags: calories, Healthy Eating, healthy living, Nutrition, obesity | Category: Healthy Eating, Research |  Print This Article | Leave a comment

Going green may be heart healthy if the green you choose is pistachio nuts, according to researchers at Penn State who conducted the first study to investigate the way pistachios lower cholesterol.

“We investigated mechanisms of action to explain the cholesterol-lowering effects of the pistachio diets,” says Sarah K. Gebauer, recent Penn State Ph.D. recipient, currently a post-doctoral research associate, USDA Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center.

The researchers conducted a randomized, crossover design, controlled feeding experiment to test the effects of pistachios added to a heart healthy moderate-fat diet on cardiovascular disease risk factors. Controlled feeding experiments provide all the food eaten by study subjects for the duration of the study segment.

The participants began the study by eating a typical American diet consisting of 35 percent total fat and 11 percent saturated fat for two weeks. They then tested three diets for four weeks each with about a two-week break between each diet. All three diets were variations on the Step I Diet, a cholesterol-lowering diet in general use. The diets included, as a control, a Step I Diet with no pistachios and about 25 percent total fat and 8 percent saturated fat. The pistachio enhanced diets were Step I Diets with 10 and 20 percent of the energy supplied by pistachio nuts, respectively. The 10 percent pistachio diet had 30 percent total fat and 8 percent saturated fat and the 20 percent pistachio diet had 34 percent total fat and 8 percent saturated fat.

The participants ate half their pistachios as a snack and the rest incorporated into meals.

The researchers report in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that “Inclusion of pistachios in a healthy diet beneficially affects cardiovascular disease risk factors in a dose-dependent manner, which may reflect effects on Stearoyl CoA Desaturase (SCD). ” The researchers used the ratio of two fatty acids, 16:1 and 16:0 in plasma as a marker for SCD, an enzyme that is involved in the body’s synthesis of fatty acids.

“SCD is an important enzyme involved in cholesterol metabolism,” says Gebauer.

They found the ratio of 16:1/16:0 was significantly lower, suggesting a decrease in SCD activity, after eating the 20 percent energy pistachio diet compared to the control diet which had no pistachios. Also, the change in the 16:1/16:0 ratio was correlated with the change in cholesterol, suggesting that SCD activity may contribute to the lipid-lowering effects of pistachios. That, accompanied by the dose-dependent effects of the pistachios, begins to unravel the way in which pistachios improve cardiovascular health.

Compared to the control diet, the 20 percent pistachio diet lowered LDL cholesterol — bad cholesterol — about 12 percent and the 10 percent energy pistachio diet lowered LDL cholesterol by 9 percent that suggests a 9 to 12 percent decrease in coronary heart disease risk. The relationships of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol may be more powerful predictors of cardiovascular risk. The effects of the 10 and 20 percent energy diets showed a dose dependent effect on these ratios.

However, the researchers note that the reduction in LDL cholesterol observed was seven times greater than would be expected from only the fatty acid profile of pistachios. They suggest that the lipid lowering effects not only reflect the fatty acid profile of the diet, but also are the result of other bioactive substances in pistachios, perhaps phytosterols and fiber.

“Our study has shown that pistachios, eaten with a heart healthy diet, may decrease a person’s CVD risk profile, says Penny Kris-Etherton, distinguished professor of nutrition and primary investigator of the study.”

Researchers conducting the study included Gebauer; Kris-Etherton; Sheila G. West, associate professor of biobehavioral health; and Deborah Bagshaw, clinical coordinator, Penn State; Colin D. Kay, former Penn State post doctoral associate now at the University of East Anglia, UK; and P. Alaupovic, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City.

U.S. pistachio growers supported this study. Partial support also came from the NIH- supported GCRC at Penn State.

Source: “Pistachio Nuts May Improve Heart Health”

October 6th, 2008 | Tags: Healthy Eating, healthy living, Nutrition, pistachio nuts | Category: Healthy Eating, Research |  Print This Article | Leave a comment