Health & WellnessS


Bacon

The Paleo Diet: Should You Eat Like a "Caveman"?

Ari LeVaux
Alternet
Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:00 UTC
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© Alternet
An entire subculture is looking at the very, very distant past for a healthier approach to food.

The advent of agriculture marked the transition from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic age, and shifted the advance of civilization into high gear. In relatively short order, humans enacted drastic lifestyle changes, but our genome didn't have time to adjust accordingly. "We have no evidence that the modal form of human bodies or brains has changed at all in the past 100,000 years," wrote evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould. The resulting disconnect between modern life and outdated bodies can cause problems, say members of the ancestral health movement, also known as "Paleos."

They include researchers, doctors, barefoot runners, and climbers of trees and corporate ladders, all searching for answers to life's bodily questions in an ancestral, evolutionary framework. The culinary aspect of this approach has gone mainstream in recent years, thanks largely to a slew of weight-loss books about the Paleo diet's proficiency at slimming people down, even while accommodating enough bacon-flavored ice cream to make Dr. Atkins drool in his grave.

Comment: For a more in depth look at the Paleo diet and additional research on the connections between nutrition and mental and physical health read the following articles:

Have you heard about the Paleo diet?
Paleo Diet: Smart Eating or Latest Fad?
Should You Eat a Paleo-Diet for Health Like These Californians?
The Paleo Diet Cures PCOS

Primal mind: A talk on nutrition and mental health by Nora Gedgaudas
Mental health issues and cognitive challenges are nearly ubiquitous today. According to the work of respected nutritional pioneers such as Weston Price these same mental and brain health issues were nearly unheard of in many primitive and traditional societies consuming a diet consistent with that of our more distant evolutionary ancestors.

Modern research findings offer added understanding and a new layer to ancestral dietary principles that can lead us toward the promise of optimal brain functioning, emotional liberation and the cultivation of a potentially ageless mind. By applying many of these "Paleo" principles today and modifying them to our more modern circumstances we can re-cultivate and improve upon the healthy Primal Mind that is our birthright and the key to our future as a species.


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Magic Wand

Study linking gut microbe type with diet has implications for fighting GI disorders


University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:44 UTC
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© Unknown
"You are what you eat" is familiar enough, but how deep do the implications go? An interdisciplinary group of investigators from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have found an association between long-term dietary patterns and the bacteria of the human gut. In a study of 98 healthy volunteers, the gut bacteria separated into two distinct groups, called enterotypes, that were associated with long-term consumption of either a typical Western diet rich in meat and fat versus a more agrarian diet rich in plant material. A subsequent controlled-feeding study of 10 subjects showed that gut microbiome composition changed detectably within 24 hours of initiating a high fat/low fiber or low fat/high fiber diet, but that the enterotype identity of the microbe group remained stable during the 10-day study, emphasizing the short-term stability of the enterotypes. The findings were published this week in Science Express, and may have implications for exploring the relationship between diet and therapies for gastriinstesinal dosirders.

"It's well known that diet strongly affects human health, but how diet influences health is not fully understood," says Frederic D. Bushman, PhD, professor of Microbiology , who led the study together with co-principle investigators James Lewis, MD, MSCE, professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and professor of Epidemiology, and Gary Wu, MD, professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology. "We found that diet is linked to the types of microbes in the gut, which provides a potential mechanism connecting diet with health."
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Sherlock

People are Suffering and Corrupt Science has No Answers: Dusty Legacy of 9/11 Still a Medical Mystery

David B. Caruso
The Associated Press
Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:00 UTC
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© AP Photo/Stan HondaIn this Oct. 11, 2001 file photo, firefighters make their way over the ruins of the World Trade Center through clouds of smoke at ground zero in New York.
Like a lot of New Yorkers who spent time near the smoking ruins of the World Trade Center, Lorraine Ashman needs to take a deep breath before listing all the health problems that have afflicted her over the past decade.

First she got bronchiolitis and a constant cough that lasted for months. Then there were sinus infections, nine so far. She had pneumonia. She's developed immune system problems, vitamin deficiencies and a sensitivity to gluten. She had acid reflux so bad it damaged the lining of her esophagus.

"I've just been sick non-stop," she said. "Being on antibiotics 12 months out of the year is an insane way to live ... I take 17 pills in the morning and six at night."

Ashman, 57, blames it all on the sooty air she inhaled in the two months she worked as a volunteer near ground zero.

Science, however, is less sure.
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Health

US: Half of Americans Drink Sugary Drinks Daily


redOrbit
Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:06 UTC
Sugary Drink
© redOrbit

According to a new Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, nearly half of the US population consumes sugar drinks on any given day, with teenagers consuming more sugar drinks than any other age group.

The drinks the CDC considers sugar drinks are fruit drinks, sodas, energy drinks, sports drinks, and sweetened bottled waters. Sugar drinks do not include diet drinks, 100% fruit juice, sweetened teas and flavored milks.

According to the CDC report, males drink on average 175 kcal from sugar drinks on any given day, while females consume 94 Kcal. The report shows that males consume more sweet beverages except in the 2-5 year old category.

Consumption of the beverages peaks in the 12-19 year old demographic and then declines into old age. The group with the highest consumption of sweet beverages is the 12-19 year old males who consume 273 kcal per day, while the group with the lowest consumption rate is the oldest females in the 60 and over category, with a consumption of 42 kcal daily.

The CDC report indicates that there are racial differences in the consumption habits of sugary drinks. The data shows that non-Hispanic black children consume 8.5% of their diet in sweet beverages, while non-Hispanic whites consume 7.7% and Mexican American consume 7.4%.
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Health

Celiac Disease on the Rise in U.S.

Marianne English
Discovery News
Thu, 01 Sep 2011 08:07 UTC
Bread
© surlygirl/Flickr.com

Celiac disease, a condition resulting from an immune reaction to gluten, continues to increase in the United States, scientists say.

Even considering an increased awareness of the condition and more accurate diagnostic methods, doctors are still encountering more people with gluten intolerance.

Recent work showed an increase in celiac disease among participants in a longitudinal study. The results show that the prevalence of the disease is five times greater now than in 1974, when the data were first collected. Also, the findings suggest that people can develop the disease later in life, too.

Another analysis using 50-year-old preserved blood samples from a U.S. database showed that the antibodies associated with celiac disease weren't as common in the 1950s when compared to recent decades, as described in a Mayo Clinic release on the research. When compared the samples from the 1950s to recent ones from donors of the same age, researchers found people to be more than four times more likely to have the disease.

In these patients, the immune system launches an attack on the small intestine, targeting areas of the organ's lining called villi that are known to help the body absorb nutrients from food. If left undiagnosed, a person could continue eating gluten in breads, processed foods and some dairy products and become increasingly malnourished.
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Family

Child obesity swells as Italy forgets eating habits

Michael Day
Independent UK
Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:08 UTC
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© AlamyMore than a third of children are overweight or obese by the age of eight
Italy is famed for its healthy Mediterranean diet, but alarming new figures show that it has a higher proportion of overweight children than anywhere in Europe.

While the rest of the world is encouraged to copy the traditional Italian menu by swapping junk food for fruit and vegetables, it seems Italians are forgetting the lessons they taught everyone else.

Traditional home-made meals and snacks are losing out to low-cost, calorie-packed fast food. Coupled with less physical activity, the results are evident with ever more "ciccioni" - fat children - on every street corner.

Dr Antonello del Vecchio, a practising doctor and spokesman for Slow Food, the international movement born 20 years ago, said: "Italians are eating less and less of the Italian diet and more and more fast food," he said. "For a long while, unlike northern Europe, we resisted, but now it's here and we're seeing the results."
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Magnify

Aging Eyes Linked to Sleepless Nights, New Study Shows


American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:00 UTC
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© All About Colored Contacts
Cataract could be factor in frequent insomnia among elderly

A natural yellowing of the eye lens that absorbs blue light has been linked to sleep disorders in a group of test volunteers, according to a study in the September 1 issue of the journal Sleep. As this type of lens discoloration worsened with age, so did the risk of insomnia.

"The strong link between lens yellowing and age could help explain why sleep disorders become more frequent with increasing age," said Line Kessel, M.D., Ph.D., the study's lead author.

In the Danish study, 970 volunteers had their eyes examined by lens autofluorometry, a non-invasive method for determining how much blue light is transmitted into the retina. Blue light is a portion of the visible-light spectrum that influences the normal sleep cycle by helping initiate the release of melatonin in the brain. Melatonin is a hormone that helps signal to the body when it is time to be sleepy or alert.
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Attention

Monsanto's Genetically Modified Sweet Corn Coming to America's Dinner Plates

Ken Roseboro
The Organic & Non GMO Report
Wed, 31 Aug 2011 19:54 UTC
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© The Organic & Non GMO Report
Americans are eating GM sweet corn and will likely eat more with Monsanto's first GM vegetable. But without GM food labeling no one will know.

It's one of America's summer pleasures: sweet corn dripping with butter. And though most Americans aren't aware, a small percentage of that sweet corn is genetically modified - and more will be coming courtesy of Monsanto.
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Cookie

Can cutting carbohydrates from your diet make you live longer?

Jerome Burne
Mail Onlilne
Tue, 26 Oct 2010 09:37 UTC
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Professor Kenyon has found out why ­drastically reducing calories has such a remarkable effect

It's an extraordinary claim. But scientists say you can extend your life and stay fit throughout old age - just by a change of diet that switches on your youth gene...

For centuries man has dreamed of being immortal, fixated on tales of magic fountains that restore youth, the rejuvenating power of a vampire's bite or asses' milk.

More recently came claims that injections of monkey glands or hormone supplements would make us live longer.
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Heart

Heart Rate May Hold Key in Unexplained Chronic Nausea In Kids

VR Sreeraman
Medindia
Sat, 27 Aug 2011 04:15 UTC
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© Unknown
Heart rate and blood pressure regulation may hold the key to treating unexplained chronic nausea in children.

In a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, a drug commonly used to treat a condition known as orthostatic intolerance (OI), which causes dizziness and occasional fainting when patients stand for long periods, was shown to reduce debilitating chronic nausea in patients.

"There seems to be a connection between heart rate and blood pressure, and chronic nausea," said John Fortunato, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the study.

"When we treated the heart rate issues, the nausea was reduced," added Fortunato.
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