Broccoli
Don't
Eat These Fish!
Premenstrual
Syndrome
Turn
Off the TV
Jetlag and
Food
Birth Weight
Obesity
Broccoli
Broccoli contains a compound, glucoraphanin, believed to aid in preventing
some types of cancer. But the Agriculture Department studied 71 types of
broccoli plants and found a 30-fold difference in the amounts of glucoraphanin.
Some had virtually none of it. The varieties of broccoli typically
sold in supermarkets do not vary that much. Other fruits and vegetables,
including tomatoes, garlic and carrots, also contain varying amounts of
cancer-fighting chemicals, a fact many consumers probably do not realize.
Studies suggest that people who eat broccoli have a lower incidence of
colon and rectal cancer. Sulforaphane, a product of the glucoraphanin in
broccoli, induces the production of certain enzymes that can deactivate
free radicals and carcinogens. The enzymes have been shown to inhibit the
growth of tumors in laboratory animals. Johns Hopkins scientists
developed broccoli sprouts that guarantee a consistent level of sulforaphane,
as much as 20 times higher than the levels found in mature heads of broccoli.
The sprouts are available in some stores under the trade name BroccoSprouts.
Don't Eat These Fish!
Pregnant women and those who might become pregnant should not eat four
types of fish - shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish - because
they could contain enough mercury to hurt an unborn baby's developing brain,
the government warned. When ingested in pregnancy, mercury can damage the
central nervous system, leaving babies with slower cognitive development.
Critics say up to 60,000 children a year may be affected.
Premenstrual Syndrome
Dry extract of the agnus castus fruit is an effective treatment of
premenstrual syndrome, and should be considered a therapeutic option, finds
a study in BMJ. Patients who received agnus castus had a significant improvement
in combined symptoms compared with those on placebo. Symptoms like irritability,
mood alteration, anger, headache and breast fullness were significantly
improved. Other symptoms such as bloating were unaffected by treatment.
Overall, more than half the women had a 50% or greater overall improvement
in their symptoms, and side effects were few and mild.
Turn Off the TV
A Stanford University study suggests discouraging television and video
game use makes grade-school children less aggressive. The study published
in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine finds that programs
that discourage kids from television and video game use can reduce aggression.
In the study, researchers looked at third- and fourth graders at two public
schools in San Jose, California. Their findings indicate that
the effects of televised violence in kids are reversible. Dr. Thomas Robinson,
the lead author, said he's testing the program's effects in a longer and
larger study, of about 900 students at 12 schools, that may answer whether
it results in long-term reductions in aggression. That theory is plausible
because children who watch lots of TV or video games may spend less time
interacting with others and may thus have fewer social skills, said Dr.
Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, a professor of pediatrics and preventive
medicine at Northwestern University.
Jetlag and Food
A study conducted on rats, not on travellers, concludes that the timing
of meals may play an important role in resetting body clocks. This
may help scientists find ways to combat long-distance travelers' jet lag.
Birth Weight
The bigger the baby, the smarter it's likely to be. A study,
published this week in the British Medical Journal, found that birth weight
influenced intelligence until about the age of 26. After that, it tended
to even out, as other factors began to play a more important role. Experts
have long known that premature or underweight babies tend to be less intelligent
as children. But in the biggest study to date examining the influence
of birth weight on intelligence, scientists have found that babies born
on the heavy side of normal tend to be brighter as adults. However, size
at birth doesn't necessarily determine intellectual destiny. It is only
one of many factors that influence the intelligence of a person. Marcus
Richards, a psychologist at Britain's Medical Research Council who conducted
the study said, ``Parental interest in education - being in the PTA and
getting involved in your child's homework - has an enormous impact, one
that may even offset the effect of birth weight.''
Cars replace bikes and television replaces outdoor activity. Everyone is forced to become lazy. The number of overfed people on the planet is at its highest level. The trends indicate that fat and flabby people will become the majority. In the last eight years in China, the proportion of overweight men has tripled. Researchers say that half of the world population is overfed and is equal to the starving population. Scientists expect the spread of technology to tip the balance toward sedentary living in coming decades.
Overweight Children
The number of overweight children, adolescents, and adults has risen
over the past four decades. Total costs (medical cost and lost productivity)
attributable to obesity alone amounted to an estimated $99 billion in 1995.
During 1988B94, 11 percent of children and adolescents aged 6 to 19 years
were overweight or obese. During the same years, 23 percent of adults aged
20 years and older were considered obese. The prevalence of overweight
and obesity has nearly doubled among children and adolescents since 1980.
It is also increasing in both genders and among all population groups of
adults. Surgeon General David Satcher on January 8, 2001 announced a year-long
effort to develop a national action plan for reducing the prevalence of
overweight and obesity in the United States. Satcher said the process would
be inclusive and collaborative, and would include open public comment periods,
listening sessions, federal and non-federal dialogue, interactive workshops
and the formation of working groups to implement strategies.
Useless Popular Diets
Most popular diets help people drop pounds initially, but only traditional
moderate-fat, high-carbohydrate regimens seem to keep dieters slim, according
to the first major review of popular diets by the federal government. Those
programs that have put more demands on dieters - like those recommended
by groups such as the American Heart Association and Weight Watchers -
have the best scientific evidence to back up their success rates and health
claims. They recommend consuming no more than 30 percent of calories as
fat, limiting protein to about 20 percent of the diet and consuming more
fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates to help satisfy hunger with
fewer calories. They are the most nutritionally adequate and showed
some of the best improvements in blood levels of the most dangerous cholesterol
and blood fats and in blood sugar control, the study found. "Based on the
scientific knowledge we have, this seems to be the most efficacious way
to go and it is most likely the safest," the Post quoted Xavier Pi-Sunyer,
director of the obesity research center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital
in New York and editor of Obesity Research, which will publish the full
USDA study in the March-April issue.
School meals getting better
School meals are getting leaner and more nutritious. Under pressure
from federal officials, schools have trimmed fat, cholesterol and sodium
from lunches and breakfasts and are offering children more fruits and vegetables,
the government says. A decade ago, barely a third of elementary schools
offered students lowfat lunches. Now, four of every five schools do, according
to an Agriculture Department report. "Kids choose what foods they
know. If they are eating a lot of pizza at home, they're going to choose
pizza at school. It's pretty hard to overcome what they have been learning
at home," said Hurt, supervisor of nutrition programs for the schools in
LaCrosse, Wis.
Indications of cardiovascular problems
Signs in the bloodstream of chronic low-grade inflammation linked in
overweight adults to cardiovascular problems have been found in heavy children
as young as 8 years old, researchers report. Overweight children were between
three and five times more likely than normal-weight youngsters to have
the potentially ominous inflammation, the authors reported in January's
Pediatrics.
Body Mass Index
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
and health departments in 10 countries, waist circumference and body mass
index (BMI)--a measure of a person's weight in relation to their height--can
identify health risks associated with overweight and obesity. The current
recommendations, published in the January issue of the American Journal
of Clinical Nutrition, are based on a review of studies investigating the
link between body measurements and disease. The reviewers found that people
with similar waist circumferences had comparable rates of type 2 diabetes
regardless of age and that in women, the rate of heart disease rose as
both BMI and waist circumference increased.
Sreenivasarao Vepachedu, 01/30/2001