News summary

Low-sugar cereals “still have the calories”

The reduced-sugar versions of sweetened breakfast cereals offer no significant nutritional advantages over their full-sugar counterparts, according to nutrition scientists at five universities in the US. They say while the cereals have less sugar, the calorie, carbohydrate, fat, fibre and other nutrient levels are almost identical to those in the full-sugar cereals. This is explained in part by the fact that the manufacturers make up for the loss of texture arising from sugar reduction by increasing the carbohydrate content.
CNN Online

Dairy foods and dieting

Replacing some foods with yogurt may be a more effective way of losing weight than simply cutting calorie intake, at least for the obese. Dr Michael Zemel, of the University of Tennessee, says evidence is accumulating that dairy products may be particularly good in this respect, containing a wide array of bioactive compounds. Dr Zemel and his colleagues asked study participants to follow one of two diets for 12 weeks: in one they consumed 500 calories a day fewer than their normal daily intake with no more than one serving of dairy products, plus 500mg of calcium daily; in the other there was also the cut of 500 calories, but the diet included three servings of fat-free yogurt a day, which brought participants’ calcium intake to 1,100 mg.
Reuters Health Online

DHA and Alzheimer’s

Diets high in the omega-3 fatty acids may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, according to scientists in the US. Dr Greg Cole, of the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine in California, says the success of a high DHA diet in reducing amyloid levels in mice can probably be extrapolated into human health benefits. Dr Cole says the results justify increasing the intake of omega-3 fatty acids, and points out that that eggs can now be fortified with DHA, as well as its being available in fish oil capsules.
HealthScout

Early experience “influences eating habits”

Children’s ideas about the foods they enjoy are formed very early, according to research at the University of Birmingham, where psychologists say children build up a “visual prototype” of favoured foods. Thus those weaned on rusks are likely to go on to prefer “beige” foods later in life. Children’s image of the food they like can lead them to reject foods without even tasting them, and babies exposed to a range of tastes by the age of one go on to show a greater preference for those tastes. Dr Gillian Harris, a clinical psychologist at the university, says, “There is uncertainty and a lack of education about how children should be fed and this can lead to children’s preferences being set at a very early age. I would recommend that where possible, parents give their children the same food that they are eating provided it is a balanced diet containing fruit and vegetables, to introduce them to new colours, textures and shapes.”
BBC News Online

Fish toxin warning

Some seafoods can harbour natural toxins that can have serious effects on the nervous system, say scientists in Australia. Dr Geoffrey Isbister of Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital, in Waratah, and Matthew Kiernan, of the Prince of Wales Hospital, in Sydney, say several forms of seafood poisoning should be more widely known. They say ciguatera poisoning, caused by eating toxin-bearing fish from certain coral reefs, is the most widespread form of marine poisoning globally. In this case the toxin is produced by algae and accumulates in certain fish through the food chain; it is not destroyed by freezing or cooking.
Reuters Health Online

More chocolate news

Dark chocolate may help reduce blood pressure and improve the body’s ability to metabolise sugar in food, according to the results of a small study in Italy. Researchers at the University of L’Aquila say 15 healthy study subjects had lower blood pressure and increased sensitivity to insulin after eating 100g of dark chocolate every day for 15 days. They say a similar regime of white chocolate has no such effects. Dark chocolate is known to contain high levels flavonoids.
Reuters Health Online