Issue 119

5109 Kali Era, Sarvajit Year, Kartika/Margasira month
2065 Vikramarka Era, Sarvajit Year, Kartika/Margasira month
1929 Salivahana Era, Sarvajit Year, Kartika/Margasira month
2007 AD, November

Contents

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Management
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MS

Vegetarian Links

Disclaimer

Soliciataion

Contact

VPC

More Links

Vedah

Diet and Exercise

Boiled Peanuts
Soy
Western Junk Food
Exercise
Obesity

Miscellaneous

Smoking and Your Hair
Women and Heart Disease
Stem Cell Breakthrough
Cannabis Compound 'Halts Cancer'
Nature India

Recipes

Cheese Balls

Diet and Exercise

Boiled Peanuts (Groundnuts)
A new study by a group of Huntsville researchers found that boiled peanuts bring out up to four times more chemicals that help protect against disease than raw, dry or oil-roasted nuts. The study will appear in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Water and heat penetrate the nuts, releasing beneficial chemicals to a certain point. Overcooking the nuts destroys the useful elements. Alabama is third in the US in the amount of peanuts produced with a crop valued at more than $67 million last year.

Soy
Soy contains phytoestrogens which have the end result of protecting the body from cancer, soy is praised as a cancer preventing food. The phytoestrogens act as partial agonists, mildly activating the estrogen receptors at the same time as stopping the stronger effect of estrogen from animal products. Soy is additionally credited with helping PMS, heart health, healthy bones and menopause. As a result of two studies undertaken to evaluate soy and its effect on breast cancer, the researchers concluded that if a woman has had breast cancer soy may not be good to eat.
Tori Hudson, N.D. said about the historical use of soy: “The use of soy in the diet dates back to the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung in 2838 BC. Tofu (produced from a hot water extract of soybeans making a protein-rich curd) was developed in China and was introduced by Buddhist missionaries to Japan and Korea between the 2nd and 7th centuries. Tofu was even a revered food of the Chinese Emperors in the Ming to Chin dynasties. Soybeans have been a staple in the diet of Southeast Asians for several centuries.” From the nutritional aspect, soy is rich in protein (38%) and polyunsaturated fats (18%) and very low in saturated fats. Additionally the soy bean possesses 13% soluble carbohydrates. There are also several principle vitamins and minerals present in the soy bean.

Western Junk Food Causing Cancer in China
An increasing taste for Western-style junk food and unhealthy lifestyles have caused the rate of breast cancer among urban Chinese women to jump sharply over the past decade, a state-run newspaper said Tuesday. In China's commercial center of Shanghai, 55 out of every 100,000 women have breast cancer, a 31 percent increase since 1997, the China Daily reported.
About 45 out of every 100,000 women in Beijing have the disease, a 23 percent increase over 10 years.

Rising affluence has led to more fat and junk food in Chinese diets, which traditionally consisted mainly of vegetables, tofu and grains such as rice. An estimated 60 million Chinese -- equal to the population of France -- already are obese and rates of high blood pressure and diabetes are climbing.

Breast cancer is the leading form of the disease attacking women in Asia, followed by cervical cancer.

Exercise
A new study presented at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society, a group of weight-loss professionals reports that children who play vigorously for 20 to 40 minutes a day may be better able to organize schoolwork, do class projects and learn mathematics.

Among the findings from the National Institutes of Health-financed study:
*The children in the 40-minute activity group had significant improvement on an executive-function test compared with the control group. They increased about 4 points on a cognitive-performance scale. Those in the 20-minute group showed about half that improvement.
*There was a small improvement in math achievement for both exercise groups but no signs of improvement in reading.
*Those in the exercise groups lost about 1% to 2% of body fat.

Other studies have shown that executive function improves in older adults who become more physically active

Obesity
The long-term effect of the increasing obesity epidemic is one of the most closely watched and actively debated issues in public health today. Because of the diverse consequences of obesity, there is concern that it could reverse many of the public health successes that have occurred in recent decades and could erode the overall health status of people in the United States. The strongest validation of this fear to date is the increase in the prevalence and incidence of diabetes, which have unabatedly paralleled obesity trends.

Overweight people do have a higher chance of dying from diabetes and kidney disease. And people who are obese have a higher risk of death from a variety of ills, including some cancers and heart disease. However, in an attempt to boost gluttony in the America just a few weeks before Thanksgiving, Government released findings that might comfort some who can't seem to lose those last 15 pounds. And they hearten proponents of a theory that it's possible to be "fit and fat." The report points out that overweight people were up to about 40 percent less likely than normal-weight people to die from several non-obesity related causes such as emphysema, pneumonia, injuries, accidents, bad-luck and various infections. The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Use of cholesterol and blood pressure medicines by young adults appears to be rising rapidly -- at a faster pace than among senior citizens, according to an industry report. Experts point to higher rates of obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol problems among young people. Also, doctors are getting more aggressive with preventive treatments.

Miscellaneous

Smoking and Your Hair
While Asian men generally have less trouble than Caucasians with the most common form of hereditary male baldness, smoking cigarettes may erase that edge, researchers said. Smoking may destroy hair follicles, interfere with the way blood and hormones are circulated in the scalp or increase the production of estrogen, said Lin-Hui Su of the Far Eastern Memorial Hospital and Tony Hsiu-Hsi Chen of National Taiwan University in Taipei.

Women and Heart Disease
The number of women under 45 who die from heart disease is rising, according to a new study to be published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In the study, British and America researchers looked at U.S. vital statistics for deaths related to blocked arteries in adults ages 35 and older from 1980 to 2002. When they compared different age groups, the researchers found that the death rate for women ages 35 to 44 had risen from 1997 to 2002, when it reached 8.2 per 100,000 women. For men age 35 to 44, the rate of artery-related deaths remained consistent.

Stem Cell Breakthrough
Researchers in the United States and Japan have managed to produce embryonic stem cells using ordinary skin cells. In reports published in the journals Cell and Science, the researchers detail their "direct reprogramming" technique, which created cells that act like stem cells in laboratory tests. The technique uses viruses to inject four genes that turn other genes on and off into the skin cells. They hope that the stem cells created by this procedure act like embryonic stem cells, but may not be considered embryonic stem cells for ethical reasons only. If skin cells can be converted to embryonic cells, why bother about scarce embryonic cells? So, Ian Wilmut, the Scottish scientist who created Dolly more than a decade ago, said he was pursuing the new technique.

Cannabis Compound 'Halts Cancer'
A compound found in cannabis may stop breast cancer spreading throughout the body, US scientists believe. The California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute team is hopeful that cannabidiol or CBD could be a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy. Unlike cannabis, CBD does not have any psychoactive properties so its use would not violate laws, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics reports. So, that does not mean patients smoke marijuana for cancer treatment.

Nature India
In keeping with the increasing global interest in India, Nature Publishing Group (NPG) will launch its India-specific website Nature India in November 2007. This closely follows the launch of a host of new NPG online products such as Nature China, Nature Network London, Nature Network Boston and the Nature Reports sites (Stem Cells and Climate Change).
Nature India aims to be the one-stop site for information on Indian science. The website, serving the scientific community of the world's largest democracy, will have a potpourri of content such as jobs, events, research highlights and science news from India. In addition, it attempts to capture India's rapidly changing scientific and economic scenario and her urgent efforts to embrace globalization. Through in-depth features and commentaries, leading members of the science community will reflect on contemporary issues affecting Indian science.
Readers will also have free access to some handpicked premium content from various NPG journals on the site. Nature India will host a number of interactive sections — recommended papers, our 'Indigenus' blog, and a forum where peers can network or indulge in a leisurely chat.
In terms of design, Nature India attempts to be just as vibrant, colourful and boisterous as the people of this magical land. Sign up for our regular Nature India e-alert. www.Nature.com

Recipes

Cheese Balls
INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 cups farmer cheese, 1/2 cup 5% soft white cheese, or low-fat ricotta (well-drained), 1 cup low-fat grated yellow cheese (muenster, chedder, etc.), 1/4 cup scallions, minced, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce,
GARNISHES: 1 tablespoon sweet or sharp paprika, 1/3 cup minced dill, 1/3 cup minced parsley, 1/3 cup roasted nuts, coarsely chopped, 1/3 cup roasted sesame seeds.
PREPARATION: Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 2. Form the mixture into small balls and roll in any or all of the garnishes. 3. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Health and Nutrition

Issue 119