Over 40 new studies have come out since the last review was carried out -- studies that dramatically improve our ability to answer a basic question -- are organic foods generally more nutritious than conventional foods?
Health & Wellness
Over 40 new studies have come out since the last review was carried out -- studies that dramatically improve our ability to answer a basic question -- are organic foods generally more nutritious than conventional foods?
Westchester, Illinois - A study in the Aug.1 issue of the journal Sleep found that alcohol consumption during pregnancy and small body size at birth predict poorer sleep and higher risk of sleep disturbances in 8-year-old children born at term.
Findings are clinically significant, as poor sleep and sleep disturbances in children are associated with obesity, depressive symptoms, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and poor neurobehavioral functioning.
Findings are clinically significant, as poor sleep and sleep disturbances in children are associated with obesity, depressive symptoms, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and poor neurobehavioral functioning.
Parents struggling with the problem of their children lacking concentration have an effective remedy at their disposal. The magic relief comes from the field of meditation, especially practised through sudarshan kriya, mudra pranayam and sahaj samadhi which helps in enhancing the process of attention and concentration in human mind.
The study regarding positive application of these yogic practices is being carried out by Prof Narayanan Srinivasan, head, Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (CBCS) of Allahabad University and his student, Shruti Baijal.
Srinivasan while talking to TOI explained that Tibetan Buddhist meditators were found to show large increases in duration of perceptual dominance compared to non-meditators. For the purpose of studying the effects of concentrative meditation on MMN, (mismatch negativity, a paradigm), sudarshan kriya yoga was chosen which is associated with mudra pranayam and sahaj samadhi. These forms of yogic meditation focus on specific body rhythms as well as a mantra that brings the mind to a peaceful centred state, he explained.
The study regarding positive application of these yogic practices is being carried out by Prof Narayanan Srinivasan, head, Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (CBCS) of Allahabad University and his student, Shruti Baijal.
Srinivasan while talking to TOI explained that Tibetan Buddhist meditators were found to show large increases in duration of perceptual dominance compared to non-meditators. For the purpose of studying the effects of concentrative meditation on MMN, (mismatch negativity, a paradigm), sudarshan kriya yoga was chosen which is associated with mudra pranayam and sahaj samadhi. These forms of yogic meditation focus on specific body rhythms as well as a mantra that brings the mind to a peaceful centred state, he explained.
A study by Kansas State University researchers is looking at how children perceive and interact with peers who have various undesirable characteristics, such as being overweight or aggressive.
The researchers' study explored children's perceptions of the ability of the peer to control or change such traits.
The K-State research team included Mark Barnett, professor of psychology; Rachel Witham, graduate student in counseling and student development, Hutchinson; and Jennifer Livengood, Wamego, Natalie (Brown) Barlett, Ames, Iowa, and Tammy Sonnentag, Edgar, Wis., all graduate students in psychology. Their research was presented in May at the Association for Psychological Science annual convention in San Francisco, Calif.
The researchers' study explored children's perceptions of the ability of the peer to control or change such traits.
The K-State research team included Mark Barnett, professor of psychology; Rachel Witham, graduate student in counseling and student development, Hutchinson; and Jennifer Livengood, Wamego, Natalie (Brown) Barlett, Ames, Iowa, and Tammy Sonnentag, Edgar, Wis., all graduate students in psychology. Their research was presented in May at the Association for Psychological Science annual convention in San Francisco, Calif.
One of the 10 inkblot images patients are asked to describe by psychologists who endorse the Rorschach test.
The Rorschach test is designed to give psychologists a window into the unconscious mind, but many now fear their patients will try to outwit them by memorising the "right" answers.
The test, developed in 1921 by the Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach, comprises 10 inkblot images, which patients must look at and describe what they see. In some cases, focusing on tiny details around the edges of the images is seen as evidence of obsessive behaviour.
In June 2000, a group of top government scientists and health officials gathered for a meeting at the isolated Simpsonwood conference center in Norcross, Georgia. Convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the meeting was held at this Methodist retreat center, nestled in wooded farmland next to the Chattahoochee River, to ensure complete secrecy. The agency had issued no public announcement of the session - only private invitations to fifty-two attendees. There were high-level officials from the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration, the top vaccine specialist from the World Health Organization in Geneva and representatives of every major vaccine manufacturer, including GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Wyeth and Aventis Pasteur. All of the scientific data under discussion, CDC officials repeatedly reminded the participants, was strictly "embargoed." There would be no making photocopies of documents, no taking papers with them when they left.
Organic Foods Provide More Vitamin C and Cancer-Fighting Antioxidants Than Conventional, Plus Essential Protections Against Pesticides and Chemical Additives;
WASHINGTON, July 30 -- A report from a group of English researchers who claim to have conducted "the most extensive systematic review of the available published literature on nutrient content of organic food ever conducted," downplayed their own results that favored organic food, and failed to consider the use of toxic pesticides or chemical additives when forming their conclusions.
The study, "Nutritional quality of organic foods: a systematic review," prepared by individuals at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, examined thirteen different nutrients. The authors found a significant difference in three of thirteen that favored organic, none that favored conventionally grown produce, yet they reported that there were no differences between the two types of food.
The London team also included studies from the 1950's, 60's, and 70's that analyzed crop varieties that are no longer grown, and failed to include 15 studies published since 2008 that all found important nutritional advantages for organic food. The study also failed to examine differences in total anti-oxidant content.
WASHINGTON, July 30 -- A report from a group of English researchers who claim to have conducted "the most extensive systematic review of the available published literature on nutrient content of organic food ever conducted," downplayed their own results that favored organic food, and failed to consider the use of toxic pesticides or chemical additives when forming their conclusions.
The study, "Nutritional quality of organic foods: a systematic review," prepared by individuals at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, examined thirteen different nutrients. The authors found a significant difference in three of thirteen that favored organic, none that favored conventionally grown produce, yet they reported that there were no differences between the two types of food.
The London team also included studies from the 1950's, 60's, and 70's that analyzed crop varieties that are no longer grown, and failed to include 15 studies published since 2008 that all found important nutritional advantages for organic food. The study also failed to examine differences in total anti-oxidant content.
Comment: See here for the government-sponsored propaganda article and several reader comments and links.
A report issued yesterday [PDF] by Dr. Alan Dangour of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the UK, claims that there is no substantial difference in nutritional content between organic and conventional food. The report was based on the review of fifty years worth of research papers on the subject. But reading it makes one wonder if influence caused a misreading of the findings, and in addition, if the agency has addressed the wrong questions entirely.
Even with very few studies comparing organic to conventional out there, evidence has proven that certain nutrients, such as Vitamin C and antioxidants, are on average higher in organic food. For example, a US study released in 2008 by The Organic Center focused on the nutrient quality of plant-based organic versus conventional foods, using matched pairs, "crops grown on nearby farms, on the same type of soil, with the same irrigation systems and harvest timing, and grown from the same plant variety." According to their report,
Even with very few studies comparing organic to conventional out there, evidence has proven that certain nutrients, such as Vitamin C and antioxidants, are on average higher in organic food. For example, a US study released in 2008 by The Organic Center focused on the nutrient quality of plant-based organic versus conventional foods, using matched pairs, "crops grown on nearby farms, on the same type of soil, with the same irrigation systems and harvest timing, and grown from the same plant variety." According to their report,
Moreover, outbreaks of E. coli and MRSA are really ecological markers - feedback that our way of producing meat is deeply unsustainable and really quite dangerous. We ignore these news flashes from our ecosystem at our peril. So I scribble on.
Here's the latest: In Colorado, 14 people have fallen ill from hamburger meat tainted with antibiotic-resistant salmonella, the Boulder newspaper Daily Camera reports. (Note that antibiotic-resistant salmonella is distinct from MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staph infection, increasingly associated with industrial meat production, that kills 20,000 Americans each year - more than AIDS.)
Consumers have long been exposed to antibiotics in meat and milk. Now, new research shows that they also may be ingesting them from vegetables, even ones grown on organic farms.
For half a century, meat producers have fed antibiotics to farm animals to increase their growth and stave off infections. Now scientists have discovered that those drugs are sprouting up in unexpected places.
Vegetables such as corn, potatoes and lettuce absorb antibiotics when grown in soil fertilized with livestock manure, according to tests conducted at the University of Minnesota.
For half a century, meat producers have fed antibiotics to farm animals to increase their growth and stave off infections. Now scientists have discovered that those drugs are sprouting up in unexpected places.
Vegetables such as corn, potatoes and lettuce absorb antibiotics when grown in soil fertilized with livestock manure, according to tests conducted at the University of Minnesota.
Comment: One of the most effective breathing techniques to aid in these results can be found here.