News summary

New turn in dairy foods tale

Eating large amounts of dairy products appears to do little in the short term to help young women lose weight, according to the results of a new study. Research at Purdue University in the US indicates that if dairy products have any effect on body weight, it may take longer than a year to make a noticeable difference. Dr Dorothy Teegarden says, “It is likely that the effect of calcium or dairy products on preventing gain of body fat is relatively small, and therefore it will take a long time to see the changes. However, a small difference, potentially by consuming calcium or dairy, may make a big difference over several years.” She adds, “We can definitely say that adding dairy to your diet does not increase weight or body fat.”
Reuters Health Online

Change in law “will allow boom in functional foods”

A European law may soon allow food manufacturers to make dramatic claims for the health-giving effects of their brands. It is predicted that new powers, which may come into force as early as next year, will lead to rapid growth in the marketing of “functional foods”, which is already the fastest-growing part of the food and drink industry. The new powers are proposed in a regulation going through the European Parliament and Council of Europe, under which firms will have to submit a detailed scientific dossier to the European Food Safety Authority, which will test whether the health claims are proven.
The Independent

Red wine “does raise blood pressure”

Despite its reputation for doing good red wine raises blood pressure nearly as much as beer does, according to scientists in Australia. Renate Zilkens, of the University of Western Australia, says, “A positive relationship between alcohol consumption and blood pressure is well established, but the relative effect of specific alcoholic beverages is controversial. The advice to drinking men ‘at risk’ of hypertension and those with hypertension is to drink less than two drinks per day. At that level they will still benefit from the HDL cholesterol-raising effect and anti-coagulant properties of alcohol which are considered to be protective of the heart.”
Reuters Health Online

New dietary advice reflects lifestyle

The US government has discarded its one-size-fits-all healthy eating pyramid diagramme in favour of 12 separate guides geared to differing lifestyles and nutritional needs. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns says the pyramid, which was first distributed in 1992, had “become quite familiar, but few Americans follow the recommendations.” He says knowledge about nutrition and food consumption patterns has grown significantly in the past dozen years and that this is reflected in the new food guidance symbols.
CNN Online

Cancer-killing properties of common vegetables

It appears that substances found in broccoli and red chilli peppers slow the growth of cancerous tumour cells, which may be particularly helpful in cancers of the pancreatic and ovaries, which can be hard to treat. Sanjay Srivastava, who led a team at the University of Pittsburgh, says, “We discovered that red chilli pepper and broccoli appear to be effective inhibitors of the cancer process.” He and his colleagues tested capsaicin, which makes peppers hot, on pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and found it causes apoptosis in the cancer cells without affecting normal pancreatic cells. His team also found that phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC), a constituent of cruciferous vegetables, interferes with a protein called epidermal growth factor receptor, which is involved in the growth of ovarian and other cancerous tumours.
ABC Online

Meat and cancer

The consumption of large amounts of red meat, and particularly processed meat, increases the risk of pancreatic cancer, say researchers in the US. They believe it may be substances used in meat processing rather than the fat or cholesterol content of the meat, that are responsible for the association. Dr Ute Nothlings, of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii in Honolulu, and colleagues examined the relationship between diet and pancreatic cancer in 190,545 men and women of African- and Japanese-American , Caucasian, Latino and native Hawaiian descent, and found that the intake of red meat and processed meat are “target factors for disease prevention”.
Reuters Health Online

Cholesterol levels in children

Children and teenagers with low cholesterol levels appear to be at a an increased risk of being excluded from school. Scientists at the University of South Carolina suggest that “low total cholesterol may be a risk factor [in] aggression or a risk marker for other [?] variables that predispose to aggression.” Dr Jian Zhang and colleagues note that “dietary guidelines developed for adults have been extended to children, but the role of serum cholesterol in the neurodevelopment of children is poorly understood.” The researchers say that among children with a range of cholesterol levels they saw no variation in the proportion who had been seen by a mental health professional, but that non-black children with cholesterol below 145 mg per decilitre are nearly three times more likely to have been suspended or expelled from school than their peers with cholesterol above this level.
Reuters Health Online