News summary

Dairy products and ovarian cancer

Research in Sweden indicates that women drink two or more glasses of milk a day, or who have high amounts of other dairy products in their diet, appear to be at a somewhat increased risk of a type of ovarian cancer. Scientists at the Carolinska Institute in Stockholm followed more than 60,000 women for an average of 13.5 years, and found that those with the higher consumption of dairy products were twice as likely as the others to develop serious epithelial ovarian cancer. They point out, however, that even in the case of those women, the risk of ovarian cancer is very small. The reason for the extra risk is unclear,, but the researchers say it may be associated with galactose, a constituent of lactose which research has shown may increase the risk of ovarian cancer.
(Reuters Health Online)
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Women “can assimilate calorie cuts”

It appears that many women do not notice if some of their meals contain significantly fewer calories than usual. Researchers at Pennsylvania State University say on days when their subjects were given meals designed provide 800 fewer calories than on other day the women felt just as full as on higher-calorie days. Study author Dr Barbara Rolls says intake was reduced by cutting calorie density through the use of more water-based foods and by substituting reduced-fat foods for fatty ones. The women taking part in the study reported feeling equally hungry and full on all days, regardless of how many calories they were served, and gave the same taste ratings to all meals.
(Reuters Health Online)
www.reutershealth.com

Blood selenium and cancer protection

High levels of selenium in the blood may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, according to research in the US. Elizabeth Jacobs, of the Arizona Cancer Center, says it may also offer some protection against prostate and lung cancer. The conclusion is based on data collected from randomised trials in colon cancer patients. Those with the highest selenium levels were at 34 per cent less risk of developing a new colon cancer, than those with the lowest levels.
(HealthScout)
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Government moves against advertising to children

The government is to order television companies to come up with new rules that will to stop children being exposed to advertisements for unhealthy food or drink. Ofcom will be required to negotiate a new agreement affecting all television advertising shown outside school hours and before 9pm. The Health Secretary’s White Paper, expected this week, will warn that if the industry does not police itself, the government will legislate to make it illegal to advertise junk food when children are watching. There is no definition of what constitutes junk food, but the Food Standards Agency has issued guidelines on the levels of fat, sugar and salt that are good for a child’s health, and it is theses t hat will govern which adverts are affected.
(The Independent)
www.independent.co.uk

Group addresses hospital malnutrition

A new healthcare pressure group is to be launched to address the problem of malnutrition in hospitals. Professor Rosemary Richardson, a dietician at South Glasgow University Hospitals says around two million hospital patients in the UK are suffering from malnutrition, and she believes nutritional management must be addressed. Speaking on behalf of Patients 1st for Nutrition, Dr Carl Dunford says meeting the nutritional requirements of patients is crucial. “Packaging of products has been a real issue for patients and the introduction of the new Fortsip Bottle brings a simple yet very important addition to the choice we have in nutritional management. Many elderly people are said to suffer from malnutrition, and among the features of the launch next week of Patients 1st will be the introduction of a new nutritional sip-feed – the Fortsip Bottle – designed to be easy for elderly or infirm patients to use. It is estimated that £226 million could be saved across the UK if malnutrition were identified and dealt with more quickly.
(BBC News Online)
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Sex “is a factor in reaction to diets”

Low carbohydrate diets are more effective for men than women, say US researchers. A study at the University of Connecticut study, partly funded by the Atkins Foundation, also shows that short-term carbohydrate diets outperform low fat diets in terms of weight and fat loss, according to its co-author, Jeff Volek. He says this is the case for both sexes, but that the losses aree greater in men.
(BBC News Online)
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Carbohydrates and sustained weight loss

People who shed large amounts of excess weight maintain their improved weight by limiting fat rather than carbohydrates, irrespective of how they lost it in the first place, according to an analysis of the US National Weight Control Registry. The registry is a record maintained by doctors from the University of Colorado, the University of Pittsburgh and Brown University in Providence, detailing the methods of successful dieters over the last 10 years. Suzanne Phelan, a Brown Medical School psychologist, says, “People who started eating more fat [...] regained the most weight over time.”
(CNN Online)
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