News Summary

Supermarket offers alcohol warning

Waitrose is to become the first leading UK supermarket chain to offer a “health warning” on its sales displays for alcoholic drinks. From next month it will warn customers to drink no more than a third of a bottle of wine a day, with markers next to specific bottles explaining how many units of alcohol they contain. Asda has also announced the trial of a scheme at a Manchester outlet, where anyone trying to buy drink and who looks younger than 24 will be asked for identification.
(The Independent)
www.independent.co.uk

Diet in pregnancy “may affect baby?s leukaemia risk”

Women whose diet during pregnancy is rich in vegetables and protein may be able to reduce the risk of leukaemia in their children, according to new research. Dr Christopher Jensen, at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that possible risk factors in the prenatal environment, such as maternal diet, could be implicated in the development of the disease. His team found in a study of 138 babies with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 138 without the condition that carrots, string beans, peas, cantaloupe, beans and beef are foods associated with reduced risk.
(Reuters Health Online)
www.reutershealth.com

Parents and their children?s diet

A survey by Developing Patient Partnerships indicates that many parents struggle to know which foods are good for their children, and that when they are able to identify the right foods, about two-thirds have trouble get children to eat them. However, when more than a thousand children aged seven to 16 were questioned, 70 per cent said they would be more likely to eat healthily if their parents were doing so.
(BBC News Online)
www.bbc.co.uk

Red wine and prostate cancer

The risk of the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer can be reduced substantially by the consumption of red wine, according to US scientists. A team led by Janet Stanford has found that men who drink four or more glasses of red wine a week reduce their general risk by 50 per cent and that of the most aggressive forms of the disease by about 60 per cent. Existing research suggests that resveratrol, an antioxidant found in red wine, as well as in raspberries and peanuts, may also offer some protection against cardiovascular disease.
(HealthScout)
www.healthscout.com

Leaf extract “may help control diabetes”

Researchers at King’s College London say the curry-leaf tree could be of help to diabetics. Team leader Professor Peter Houghton says the curry-leaf is used to control diabetes in traditional Indian medicine, and that it is quite possible that people who take it regularly as part of their diet, for example by eating curry dishes, could control the condition. (The Times Online)
(The Times Online)
www.timesonline.co.uk