Metabolic syndrome is characterized by increased oxidative stress and inflammation (Van Guilder, Hoetzer, Greiner, Stauffer, and Desouza, 2006) that may underlie the increased risk for cardiovascular disease (Mottillo et al., 2010). Dietary calcium reduced reactive oxygen species, as well as biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation in mouse models (Sun and Zemel, 2006; Zemel and [...]
Archives for 2011
Here are some interesting reads from last week. variants of LCAT which lower HDL don’t increase heart attack risk, but lower HDL is associated with increased heart attack in general population Low good cholesterol doesn’t cause heart attacks| Reuters An excellent post to bookmark on best parental feeding practices determined from research Weighty Matters: Are you Feeding [...]
Here are some interesting reads from a couple weeks ago. Willett in the HuffPo on Congress, pizza sauce,and fries: Walter Willett, M.D., DrPH, MPH: Food Fight: Pizza and Spuds Win, School Kids Lose Letter by Oliver Weingartner et al. in response to the “dietary portfolio” study that used in part plant sterols to lower LDL- but [...]
Yesterday and today I re-posted articles I wrote last year on Thanksgiving and overall holiday period weight gain, but for some reason they didn’t propagate through the RSS feed. Here is a link to both: Thanksgiving and weight gain: trivial or not, and riskier for the overweight? Holidays & weight gain: what the science suggests Thanks for [...]
Originally published on 12.22.2010. Many people have the perception that they are likely to gain 5 or 10 pounds during the holiday season (Thanksgiving to after New Year’s Day). This myth has been propagated by media (4), partially explaining why it exists. But since it is untrue, it does not mean it isn’t important; holiday [...]
Originally published on 11.23.2010. No additional research has been done since. Tomorrow I will post the subsequent article that examined research on the entire holiday period. Is the Thanksgiving holiday a prime time for weight gain? Is it riskier for people already overweight or currently dieting? Unfortunately, I am only able to find 2 studies [...]
Here are some interesting reads from last week. Pizza can still be classified as a vegetable serving in schools. While I think some of the reporting/headlines were over the top, an important example of how the USDA/IOM fights an uphill battle against lobbying and the political process. Marion Nestle has a collection of links: It’s official! [...]
A new Cochrane review on dietary salt interventions was published last week by Graudal et. al (1), an update to a 2003 review. The meta-analyses examined the effects of randomized interventions with high or low dietary salt on blood pressure (BP), hormones and lipids. The trials included consisted of subjects with normal or elevated BP, [...]
Here are some interesting reads from last week. Interesting new paper from Ioannidis (well known for ‘Why most published research findings are false‘ and most recently for showing in biomarker research that highly cited studies overestimate effect size compared to subsequent meta-analyses on the same data): Prognostic effect size of cardiovascular biomarkers in datasets from observational [...]
Here are some interesting reads from the last several weeks. Trying to get this going regularly again. a must read from Willett and Ludwig on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1107075 From Ordovas and Parnell (see his blog in blogroll) A High Intake of Saturated Fatty Acids Strengthens the Association between the Fat Mass and Obesity-Associated Gene and [...]
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by increased oxidative stress, which may result in vascular pathologies (Bekyarova, Ivanova, and Madjova, 2007). Certain dietary phytochemicals may ameliorate oxidative stress and restore a more normal metabolic milieu. As reviewed by Angeloni, Leoncini, Malaguti, Angelini, Hrelia, and Hrelia (2009), one such phytochemical found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli [...]
The increasingly convoluted relationship of appetite and obesity has recently been suggested by Lowe and Butyrn (2007) to be partially mediated by a mechanism referred to as “hedonic hunger,” or the craving for foods in the absence of energy needs. As gastric bypass surgery results in several neurobiological changes that may impact hedonic hunger, data [...]
Right on the heels of the updated Cochrane review on “Reduced dietary salt for the prevention of cardiovascular disease,” (and the terrible reporting on it), another one is updated: “Reduced or modified dietary fat for preventing cardiovascular disease.” One of the authors (Lee Hooper) worked on the salt review as well. Given that this is [...]
After nearly 2 years of blogging and nearly 2 years of planning the blog’s name change, I finally got to it this weekend. Nutritional Blogma (recomp.com/blogma) is now nutsci.org. If you have a moment, please click through and let me know if anything doesn’t work properly. Why? Short and easier to remember, more relevant to my [...]
Melinda Wenner Moyer, a journalist at Scientific American, recently published a new article titled: It’s Time to End the War on Salt. I was anxious to read an article with such a dramatic headline (do I need to adjust my perspective?) as Melinda strikes me as progressive and current with articles such as this one [...]
Weekly links from 2 weeks ago: Scott Gavura takes on bad reporting on the recent Cochrane salt meta-analysis Science-Based Medicine » Salt: More confirmation bias for your preferred narrative PLoS Computational Biology: In Silico Evidence for Gluconeogenesis from Fatty Acids in Humans Too much technological feedback precision may hinder health goal progress. Will be interesting to [...]
Brain cells in this animal study were fine, alcohol just blocked memory formation. Specifically, it activates NMDA receptors and increases neurosteroids that bind GABA receptors and inhibit LTP Study shows how binge drinking harms memory. paper here Yoni asks why a paper in the AJCN with such methodological shortcomings was published (by Michael Zemel who has dedicated [...]
Note: the original title was misleading in that I wrote “on average stated calories are accurate”, but really only 7% were within 10 kcal of what is posted. Averaged together they are accurate, but individually they are not. Restaurants have been estimated to account for about 35% of american energy intake (USDA data), so it [...]
I’ve been following David Ludwig’s commentaries in JAMA with interest lately; some of recent that I especially enjoyed: Extra Calories Cause Weight Gain—But How Much? (with Maritjn Katan) Front-of-Package Food Labels: Public Health or Propaganda? (with Marion Nestle) Dietary Guidelines in the 21st Century-a Time for Food (with Dariush Mozaffarian) – my favorite, which I blogged [...]
I’m posting on schedule this week, a rarity I know. Here are some interesting links from last week: This week’s hot topic was the Cochrane review on salt intake: Reduced dietary salt for the prevention of cardiovascular disease Note that this is only RCTs as well, and not the full body of evidence Published this [...]
From last week: Megan points out some interesting initiatives to increase access to fruits and vegetables: Verdant Nation: Increasing fruit & veggie intake – the why and the how She points out a recent review of the association between fruit and vegetable intake and adiposity – still a lot to be answered there. Yoni highlights [...]
We know by now that an increase in calorie consumption since the 1970s by about 500 Calories per day for Americans is primarily fueling obesity. Physical activity decline at the population level is a lesser contributor (and it is contentious if the ‘decline’ is significant). For references, see those from Yoni’s presentation in this post. [...]
This piece was written by myself and Travis Saunders of the Obesity Panacea blog. As it is cross posted on both blogs, i’ve disabled comments here. Please visit his blog if you would like to comment. Through Twitter this gem of an article: “The Chocolate Milk Diet” got our BS detectors blaring, published last year [...]
Vivid food ads implant false memories of consuming the product Ads Implant False Memories | Wired Science | Wired.com The Harvard epidemiological study that was all over the news this week (potatoes) on some specific foods and lifestyles that associate with weight gain (big names in nutritional epidemiology): http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1014296 Nice post by Caitlin Mason, the first author in [...]
Super busy and a super late (and short) links from 2 weeks ago: More reasons to ban front-of-package labeling- our perceptions seems to effect ghrelin levels You Are What You (Think) You Eat | Miller-McCune More evidence that dehydration and electrolyte imbalances are not the causes of cramps during exercise: Increased running speed and previous cramps rather [...]