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| Is it time to revisit the current protein recommendations? Many Americans may benefit from eating a higher-protein diet, says a summit of protein... |
| Current protein recommendations were established with the goal of preventing deficiency, but newer research indicates that many adults may benefit from eating more than the minimum requirement. These findings are presented in a supplement in the May issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition1 describing the conclusions of a Protein Summit held last spring, which brought together the world's leading scientists in protein research. |
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| MILK NOT ALWAYS BEST FOR KIDS' BONES |
| Children who drink more milk do not necessarily develop healthier bones, researchers say in a report that stresses exercise and modest consumption of calcium-rich foods like tofu. |
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| WHAT MAKES THE BODY ABSORB TOO MUCH IRON? RESEARCHERS AT EMBL AND HARVARD GAIN NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE MOST COMMON INHERITED DISEASE IN THE WESTERN WORL |
| Like most nutrients, iron is good for people - in the right doses. When the body has enough iron, our cells stop absorbing it from food; if there is too little, they absorb more. This system breaks down in the most common inherited disease in the Western world: hemochromatosis, which affects about one in every 250 people and is often fatal if it is not recognized and treated. Now researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg (EMBL) and Harvard Medical School (U.S.) have linked the response of a gene in the liver to the disease. The study, which appears in the current issue of Nature Genetics, is changing our understanding of how hemochromatosis develops. |
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| METAL IONS MAY PLAY BIG ROLE IN HOW WE SENSE SMELLS |
| Of the five basic senses, the sense of smell is the least understood. Now, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have sniffed out potential clues to how olfactory receptors in the nose detect odors. Those clues may also explain why dietary zinc deficiencies lead to a loss of smell. |
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| TOO MUCH GRAPE JUICE COULD CAUSE IRON DEFICIENCY |
| The same antioxidant compounds in dark grape juice that are noted for their health benefits in fighting heart disease may have a downside, according to new research in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. In cell studies, scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Cornell University found that polyphenols in purple (also called red) grape juice can inhibit the uptake of iron, which could increase the risk of iron-deficiency anemia. |
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| DEPLETION OF BODY CHEMICAL CAN CAUSE MEMORY, MOOD CHANGES |
| The chemical in turkey that may cause people to nod off after Thanksgiving dinner also plays a role in maintaining good mood and memory, especially among people with a family history of depression, says new research published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. |
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| FOLIC ACID CAN HELP PREVENT HEART DISEASE, STROKE - UU RESEARCH. |
| Folic acid is not only a safeguard against spina bifida and other birth defects in babies - it may also prevent heart disease and strokes, two of Northern Ireland’s biggest killers. |
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| NOVEL FORM OF VITAMIN D SHOWN TO GROW BONE |
| A novel form of vitamin D has been shown to grow bone in the lab and in experimental animals, a result that holds promise for the estimated 44 million Americans, mostly post-menopausal women, who suffer from or are at risk for the bone-wasting disease osteoporosis. |
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| VITAMIN C PREVENTS CANCER BY BLOCKING HYDROGEN PEROXIDE, BUT APPLE CHEMICAL WORKS EVEN BETTER, CORNELL AND KOREAN SCIENTISTS REPORT |
| Writing in the medical journal, The Lancet , scientists from Cornell University and Seoul National University offer a more precise explanation for vitamin C's anti-cancer activity. And they suggest that a natural chemical from apples works even better than vitamin C. |
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| EXCESS IRON INTAKE INCREASES RISK OF INTESTINAL INFECTIONS, STUDY SUGGESTS |
| Researchers here believe that an overdose of iron in the nation's diet could be rendering thousands of otherwise healthy people prone to intestinal infection. The scientists found that cells containing high levels of iron were more easily invaded by the bacteria. |
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| VITAMIN C PRODUCES GENE-DAMAGING COMPOUNDS, TEST-TUBE STUDY IN SCIENCE REPORTS |
| Vitamin C, known to be a DNA-protecting "antioxidant," is a switch hitter, also capable of inducing the production of DNA-damaging compounds, suggests a study in the 15 June issue of the international journal, Science. Mutations caused by these compounds have been found in a variety of tumors. |
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| SCARY STUDY: SELENIUM DEFICIENCY CAUSES FLU VIRUS TO MUTATE INTO MORE DANGEROUS FORMS |
| Influenza virus that has been passed through mice deficient in the trace nutrient selenium mutates and emerges from the mice more virulent than before, a new study shows. While the research was limited to rodents, it's likely that something similar happens in humans deficient in selenium and, possibly, in other nutrients, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists say. |
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