Dr. Philippe De Wals of Universit? Laval?s Department of Social and Preventive Medicine publishes a study clearly indicating that the addition of folic acid to flours has led to a 46% drop in the incidence of congenital neural tube deformation (mainly anencephaly and spina bifida) in Canada.
Compared to national statistics for the previous year, there has been an increase in the percentage of children living with at least one working parent and the percentage of children living in households classified as food insecure has declined. High school students were more likely to have taken advanced academic courses and the percentage of young adults who completed high school has increased. The adolescent birth rate has dropped to a record low.
Selenium, an antioxidant included in multivitamin tablets thought to have a possible protective effect against the development of type 2 diabetes, may actually increase the risk of developing the disease, an analysis by researchers at the University at Buffalo has shown.
A new study finds that the more ?western? the diet – marked by red meat, starches and sweets – the greater the risk for breast cancer among postmenopausal Chinese women.
A daily pinta or a helping of dairy foods protect against the clustering of abnormal body chemistry known as the metabolic syndrome, suggests a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health .
Scientists at the University of Bonn, together with colleagues from Romania, have discovered a gene variant that significantly increases the risk of developing gallstones (Hepatology No. 46, July 11, 2007, DOI 10.1002/hep.21847). It is estimated that one in ten Europeans has this variant in their hereditary disposition. For those affected, the likelihood of developing a gallstone in the course of their life is two to three times higher.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and its associated vision loss may be connected to the quality of carbohydrates an individual consumes. In a study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Allen Taylor, PhD, director of the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University, and colleagues confirmed earlier findings linking dietary glycemic index with the risk of developing AMD.
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review has found only limited evidence for an association between eating tomatoes and a decreased risk of certain cancers, according to an article published online July 10 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
A new study challenges conventional thinking that a high carbohydrate, low fat slimming plan should contain little or no added sugar. A team of scientists at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh has found that a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet — containing sucrose — combined with physical activity achieved the greatest health benefits in overweight subjects.
A fat-derived protein known for its effects on the liver and skeletal muscle might also serve as an energy-conserving signal to the brain during periods of starvation, suggests a new study in the July issue of Cell Metabolism, a publication of Cell Press.