An Oprah threat to your health and the health of your children? Have you been misled?

Find out at www.Oprahcide.com or www.DeathByOprah.com

See FTC complaints about Oprah and her diet experts at www.JailForOprah.com

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Importance Of Exercise In Health Plans Upheld By Supreme Court Decision

A lie.
According to scientists and medical experts, even though the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) anticipated much speculation while putting plans into effect, it still does not change one important thing they are sure of. Leaders of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) strongly believe physical activity and exercise to be the most powerful tool in helping aid the sick people in the U.S.There is widespread support in Congress for a plan to help prevent disease instead of helping people pay for treatment after they get sick, including promotion healthy lifestyles and physical activity.
The Supremes said nothing about this.

They also lie about the value of exercise.

Exercise is useless or worse for both weight loss and fitness.

See here, here and here to find out why.

Caloric Restriction Plus Physical Activity For Longevity

But not for humans.
Fruit flies on dietary restriction (DR) need to be physically active in order to get the lifespan extending benefits that come from their Spartan diet. If the same axiom holds true in humans, those practicing caloric restriction in hopes of living longer need to make sure they eat enough to avoid fatigue.
Oh, well.

Honey Bees Reveal Link Between Sugar Sensitivity And Metabolic Disorders

More wisdom from bugs (see post above).
Scientists studying the genetics of honey bees found they reveal some insights into the link between sugar sensitivity, diabetic physiology and carbohydrate metabolism that may also be relevant to humans.

Lead author Ying Wang, a research scientist, in the School of Life Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University (ASU), and colleagues, write about their findings in a paper published on 28 June in the open access journal PLoS Genetics.

Honey bees offer a useful model for studying what influences food-related behavior, such as the role of taste sensitivity in making choices between foods rich in carbohydrate and food rich in protein (for bees this is choosing between nectar and pollen).

A young bee's sensitivity to sugar predicts what she will forage for later in life, as Wang explained to the press:

"A bee's sensitivity to sugar reveals her attitude towards food, how old the bee is when she starts searching for nectar and pollen, and which kind of food she prefers to collect."
Move like a butterfly, sting like a bee.

Do not behave like a human.

Monday, July 30, 2012

BMJ Accused Of Making False And Misleading Statements Regarding "Atkins-Style" Diet

Who ya gonna believe?
The BMJ (British Medical Journal) has been asked by Atkins Nutritionals Inc. to retract what it calls a "false and misleading statement" that a Swedish study found that an "Atkins-style" diet causes increased risk of cardiovascular disease among a specific female population in Sweden. The researchers in the study never used the term "Atkins-style". Atkins Nutritionals Inc. added that the diet used in the study "did not in any way resemble the Atkins Diet".
The diet in the study was not the Atkins Diet"

The Atkins diet starts at 10% carbohydrates, with gradual increments to 20% to 30% over a period of several weeks as the dieter approaches and maintains target weight. The diet used in the study had 51% carbohydrates.

Atkins Nutritionals stressed that its Atkins Diet "emphasizes a healthy balance of proteins and good fats, and includes vegetables, fruits and even whole grains."

In a communiqué, Atkins Nutritionals Inc. wrote:

"It appears that BMJ, to draw public attention to its story, misleadingly inserted the false suggestion that an "Atkins-style" diet was used in the study, and omitted the conclusion of the Swedish researchers that diets similar to the actual Atkins Diet do not necessarily harm cardiovascular health."

The company has demanded that BMJ apologies (sic) and takes corrective action.
Previous studies on low-carb diets

Several studies over the last few years have, in fact, demonstrated that the Atkins Diet reduces the risk of heart and cardiovascular diseases. Atkins Nutritionals quoted a 2010 study published in the journal Circulation which showed that a 24-month weight loss diet can induce a significant regression in heart disease markers and a fall in blood pressure. Study leader, Iris Shai, RD, PhD, and team concluded that weight loss diets, including low-fat, Mediterranean, or low-carbohydrate strategies have considerable cardiovascular and heart benefits for people wishing to lose weight. ("Dietary Intervention to Reverse Carotid Atherosclerosis").

A study published in Annals of Internal Medicine in 2010, entitled "Weight and Metabolic Outcomes After Two Years On a Low-Carbohydrate Versus Low-Fat Diet: A Randomized Trial" showed that those on a low-carbohydrate diet had better outcomes regarding heart disease and hypertension risk factors compared to people on a low-fat diet.

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center and Veterans Affairs Medical Center found that a low-carbohydrate diet is not only as good as a low-fat plus obesity pill regime, but also was much better at helping people lower their blood pressure.
Better not to get fat.

Better not to follow Atkins.

Better to follow this if you want to lose weight.

Muscle Power Boosted By Caffeine In The Elderly



Hey there, bright eyes.
A new study to be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on 30th June has shown that caffeine boosts power in older muscles, suggesting the stimulant could aid elderly people to maintain their strength, reducing the incidence of falls and injuries.

For adults in their prime, caffeine helps muscles to produce more force. But as we age, our muscles naturally change and become weaker.

Sports scientists at Coventry University looked for the first time at whether these age-related changes in muscle would alter the effect of caffeine. They found that caffeine continued to enhance muscle performance in two different muscles from mice, although it was less effective in older muscles.

Jason Tallis, the study's primary author, said: "Despite a reduced effect in the elderly, caffeine may still provide performance-enhancing benefits."

For adults in their prime, caffeine helps muscles to produce more force. But as we age, our muscles naturally change and become weaker. So, sports scientists at Coventry University looked for the first time at whether these age-related changes in muscle would alter the effect of caffeine.

Caffeine's effect was smallest for juvenile muscles, suggesting caffeine may not have an enhancing effect in developing muscles.

The decline in muscle strength that occurs as we age contributes to injuries and reduces quality of life. The process is not well understood, but it is clear that preserving muscle tone is key.
And this is the only way they will be able to keep up the strength:

Consuming Fast Food Increases Risk Of Diabetes And Heart Disease In Singapore

Don't consume fast food in Singapore.
The dangers of fast food are well documented; the portions are often larger and the food is generally high in calories and low in nutrients. Now, University of Minnesota School of Public Health researchers have examined the eating habits of residents in Singapore and found new evidence that a diet heavy in fast food increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.

The latest research, published online by the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, found that people who consume fast food even once a week increase their risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 20 percent in comparison to people who avoid fast food. For people eating fast food two-three times each week, the risk increases by 50 percent, and the risk climbs to nearly 80 percent for people who consume fast food items four or more times each week.

Eating fast food two or more times a week was also found to increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 27 percent.
Problem solved.

Here is how to eat "fast food" healthily.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Keeping Children Active Is More To Do With Parenting Than TV

More proof that bad parenting is to blame for fat kids. This is a form of nutritional child abuse.
Researchers at Oregon State University have confirmed what we knew all along - children in this country are increasingly sedentary, spending too much time sitting and looking at electronic screens.

But it's not necessarily because of the newest gee-whiz gadgets - parents play a major factor in whether young children are on the move.

In two studies released online in a special issue of the journal Early Child Development and Care devoted to "Parental Influences of Childhood Obesity," OSU researchers examined how parenting style - whether a strict but loving parent or a less-involved and more permissive parent - was associated with sedentary behavior.

Overall, they found that children who had "neglectful" parents, or ones who weren't home often and self-reported spending less time with their kids, were getting 30 minutes more screen time on an average each week day.
Stop the nutritional child abuse.

Seeing Fatty Food Pictures Encourages Impulse Eating

The antidote to follow.
A picture can say a thousand words, but according to a study presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston, a picture can also be worth a thousand calories. Researchers have discovered that looking at images of high-calorie foods stimulates the brain's appetite control center, which leads to an elevated desire for food.

Senior study author, Kathleen Page, MD, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, declared:

"This stimulation of the brain's reward areas may contribute to overeating and obesity. We thought this was a striking finding, because the current environment is inundated with advertisements showing images of high-calorie foods."
Seeing fatty people should encourage impulse starvation:



Obesity, Larger Waist Size Associated With Better Outcomes in Heart Failure Patients

Wanna bet?
A slim waist and normal weight are usually associated with better health outcomes, but that's not always the case with heart failure patients, according to a new UCLA study.

Researchers found that in both men and women with advanced heart failure, obesity -- as indicated by a high body mass index (BMI) -- and a higher waist circumference were factors that put them at significantly less risk for adverse outcomes.

The study findings are published in the July 1 online issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.

Heart failure affects 5.8 million people, including 2.5 million women. Approximately one-half to two-thirds of heart failure patients are overweight or obese.

Women and men are known to have differences in body composition and body-fat distribution, and this study is one of the first to specifically assess the impact of BMI and waist circumference on women and compare it with men.

The findings also offer further insight into an observed phenomenon in chronic heart failure known as the "obesity paradox": Obesity is a known risk factor for developing heart disease and heart failure, but once heart failure has manifested, being overweight may provide some protective benefits.

"The study provides us with more insight about how both genders of heart failure patients may be impacted by the obesity paradox," said senior author Dr. Tamara Horwich, an assistant professor of cardiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Heart failure may prove to be one of the few health conditions where extra weight may prove to be protective."
If you ignore the fact that the fat end up in heart failure more than the slim.

Don't ignore the fact.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Reduced Weight And Waist Size With Long-Term Testosterone Treatment For Men

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).
In testosterone-deficient men, major weight loss was an added benefit of testosterone replacement therapy for most of the patients who participated in a new study. The results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

"The substantial weight loss found in our study - an average of 36 pounds - was a surprise," said the study's lead author, Farid Saad, PhD, of Berlin-headquartered Bayer Pharma.

Although prior studies using testosterone therapy in testosterone-deficient men consistently show changes in body composition, such as increased lean mass and decreased fat mass, Saad said the net effect on weight seemed unchanged in those studies. However, Saad said their study, which took place in Germany, had a longer follow-up by at least two years and used long-acting injections of testosterone.
And learn more here, too.

Kidney Stone Risk Associated With Long-Term Vitamin D And Calcium Intake

Another "benefit" to the cure du jour.
A new study presented at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston reveals that calcium and vitamin D supplements are linked to high levels of calcium in the blood and urine, which could raise the risk of developing kidney stones.

Lead investigator, J. Christopher Gallagher, M.D., professor and director of the Bone Metabolism Unit at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, NE said:

"The use of calcium and vitamin D supplementation may not be as benign as previously thought. Pending further information, people should not exceed the guidelines suggested by the Institute of Medicine, which are 800 international units of vitamin D, and 800-1,200 milligrams per day of calcium."
Oops.

Why Current Strategies for Fighting Obesity Are Not Working

The correct answer is here and here, not in this article.
As the United States confronts the growing epidemic of obesity among children and adults, a team of University of Colorado School of Medicine obesity researchers concludes that what the nation needs is a new battle plan -- one that replaces the emphasis on widespread food restriction and weight loss with an emphasis on helping people achieve "energy balance" at a healthy body weight.

In a paper published in the July 3 issue of the journal Circulation, James O. Hill, PhD. and colleagues at the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center take on the debate over whether excessive food intake or insufficient physical activity cause obesity, using the lens of energy balance -- which combines food intake, energy expended through physical activity and energy (fat) storage -- to advance the concept of a "regulated zone," where the mechanisms by which the body establishes energy balance are managed to overcome the body's natural defenses towards preserving existing body weight. This is accomplished by strategies that match food and beverage intake to a higher level of energy expenditure than is typical in America today, enabling the biological system that regulates body weight to work more effectively. Additional support for this concept comes from many studies showing that higher levels of physical activity are associated with low weight gain whereas comparatively low levels of activity are linked to high weight gain over time.

"A healthy body weight is best maintained with a higher level of physical activity than is typical today and with an energy intake that matches," explained Hill, professor of pediatrics and medicine and executive director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the lead author of the paper. "We are not going to reduce obesity by focusing only on reducing food intake. Without increasing physical activity in the population we are simply promoting unsustainable levels of food restriction. This strategy hasn't worked so far and it is not likely to work in the future.

As Dr. Hill explains, "What we are really talking about is changing the message from 'Eat Less, Move More" to 'Move More, Eat Smarter.' "
"Moving" is the least efficient way to control weight.

Hill's approach is not worth a hill of beans.

More expert stupidity.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Diet Alone or With Exercise Improves Metabolic Syndrome

Anything that takes the weight off.
Although diet alone and in combination with exercise improves insulin sensitivity and other cardiometabolic risk factors in older obese adults, exercise alone shows no similar benefits, according to research presented here at ENDO 2012: the Endocrine Society 94th Annual Meeting.
Of course not.

Exercise is virtually useless.

To see a real benefit you have to train.

In Brains of Mice, Cells for Overeating Linked to Those Sparked by Cocaine

Maybe it is the same for the mouse-sized brains of brontosapiens.
In the global fight against obesity, scientists have become particularly interested in the parts of the brain that make us want to eat, and sometimes to eat too much.

Many researchers have noted that hunger and satiety stimulate the brain's reward system. But scientists at Yale University have discovered that the same brain cells behind hunger drive another circuit of reward, the one stimulated by highly addictive drugs like cocaine.

The drive to eat lies in a couple hundred brain cells, called neurons, in the hypothalamus, a tiny structure at the very center of the brain.

"In order for you to feel hungry, these neurons have to be active," said Tamas Horvath, one of the authors of the study published Sunday.

Horvath and his colleagues found that when these brain cells were made to be inactive in the brains of mice, the mice became far less interested in food and became leaner. But at the same time, they became more interested in exploring new environments and they became very interested in cocaine.
And the coke can speed-up the workouts of the fat if they ever got around to doing 'em.

Abuse During Childhood May Contribute to Obesity in Adulthood

No surprise here.
Investigators from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center report research findings that may shed light on influences on obesity during adulthood. Appearing in the journal Pediatrics, the study found an association of severity of sexual and physical abuse during childhood and adolescence with obesity during adulthood.
Seeing as how the most common form of child abuse is nutritional child abuse, which is a form of physical abuse (emotional and mental, too), and fat kids become fat adults, there is no mystery here.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Healthy Eating Hindered By Parents' Work-Life Stress

Bulls**t.
In a tight economy, with fewer jobs, many people end up working harder and sacrificing more to stay employed. A new study finds that one of those sacrifices is sometimes their own and their family's nutrition.
Besides an interesting prioritization of things, eating healthily is less expensive than eating unhealthily and can be done as easily during tough economic times as during better economic times.

Fructose In Moderation Could Be Beneficial For Diabetics

And so many demonize corn sugar.
A new study by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital suggests that fructose may not be as bad for us as previously thought and that it may even provide some benefit.

"Over the last decade, there have been connections made between fructose intake and rates of obesity," said Dr. John Sievenpiper, a senior author of the study. "However, this research suggests that the problem is likely one of overconsumption, not fructose."
Duh.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Exercise Counteracts Compensatory Weight Gain After Liposuction

From bad to worse.
People who undergo abdominal liposuction may experience a compensatory increase in visceral fat, which in turn may raise their risk of developing cardiovascular disease, researchers from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. However, physical activity may prevent this compensatory weight gain, the researchers added.

Visceral fat

Visceral fat, also known as organ fat, abdominal fat or intra-abdominal fat lies deep inside the abdominal cavity, in between the organs, such as the kidneys, intestines, liver, stomach, etc. Visceral fat is different from fat under the skin (subcutaneous fat) or intramuscular fat which is interspersed in skeletal muscles. Fat in the buttocks or thighs is subcutaneous fat, while fat deep inside the abdomen is visceral. Excess visceral fat increases the risk of developing inflammatory diseases, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other obesity-related diseases and conditions.

Liposuction's long-term impact on health - nobody is sure

The authors explained that while liposuction has become one of the most common surgical procedures for improving people's looks, nobody really knows what its long-term impact is on health. Some studies have shown that liposuction can trigger metabolic changes in the patient's body making it regain fat - in other words, it takes fat out from one part of the body, and eventually the body adds fat to another part.

Fabiana Braga Benatti, PhD, and team set out to determine what the effects of liposuction might be on body fat distribution. They also investigated whether regular physical exercise might help prevent fat regain.

Exercising after liposuction important and possibly essential

Dr. Benatti said:

"We found that removing adipose tissue from the body, as liposuction does, may result in a decrease in total energy expenditure and compensatory growth of visceral fat which is associated with heart disease.

The good news is that exercise training was effective in counteracting this compensatory growth. If someone chooses to undergo liposuction, it is very important, if not essential, that this person exercises after the surgery."
Of course, if fat people were so good at exercising, they would not be getting abdominal liposuction.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Eating placenta, an age-old practice in China

More evidence that TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) is superior to Western medicine.
After Wang Lan delivered, she brought home a baby girl and her placenta, which she plans to eat in a soup -- adopting an age-old practice in Chinese traditional medicine.

The health-giving qualities of placenta are currently creating a buzz in Western countries, where some believe it can help ward off postnatal depression, improve breast milk supply and boost energy levels.

But placentophagy -- the practice of eating one's placenta after birth -- is relatively common in China, where it is thought to have anti-ageing properties, and dates back more than 2,000 years.

"It is in the refrigerator now and I am waiting for my mother to come and cook it to eat. After cleaning, it can be stewed for soup, without that fishy smell," Wang said, adding she believed it would help her recover from delivery.
Side of deer penis with that?

More than half of British women's waists 'too big'

Britain Whales.
More than half of British women have waists that are larger than the recommended healthy size, experts say.

Researchers from the charity Nuffield Health say overweight women risk an increased chance of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, infertility and cancer.

The researchers found the average waist measurement for women is 84.9cm (33.43in), compared with the healthy size of 80cm (31.49in).

Nuffield Health's Dr Davina Deniszczyc said it was a "worrying problem."

Dr Deniszczyc, professional head of physicians and diagnostics at Nuffield Health, said: "Fat being stored around the waist can contribute to significant health issues, such as breast cancer and infertility."

Nuffield Health examined data from more than 30,000 women and found 57% had a waist larger than the healthy size.

It said women in the north of England have the largest waists, with an average circumference of 87cm, compared to 81.9cm in London.
Stiff upper lip?

More like flabby muffin top.

Excess Weight Is Second Most Important Risk Factor for Cancer

First most important?

Stupidity.

You know, what makes people get fat in the first place.
More than 4 out of 10 cancers could be prevented by lifestyle changes, concludes a new report from Cancer Research UK, titled "Cancer Prevention: Stacking the Odds in Your Favour."

"Many people believe cancer is down to fate or 'in the genes' and that it is the luck of the draw whether they get it. But there is clear evidence that around 40% of all cancers are caused by things people mostly have the power to change," the report notes. "While leading a healthy life doesn't guarantee that a person won't get cancer, healthy habits can stack the odds in their favor," it concludes.
Kudos, fatsos.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Want to Live to 100? Sleep

Wanna bet?
Your chances of reaching age 100 could be better than you think – especially if you get some additional sleep and improve your diet.

New research from UnitedHealthcare looks at centenarians and baby boomers, asking the former about the “secrets of aging success” and evaluating whether the latter are taking the necessary steps to celebrate a 100th birthday.

The primary findings: Many boomers are embracing lifestyles that could lead to a long and rewarding life – with two exceptions. More than seven in 10 centenarians – 71% – say they get eight hours or more of sleep each night. By contrast, only 38% of boomers say they get the same amount of rest. And when it comes to eating right, more than eight in 10 centenarians say they regularly consume a balanced meal, compared with just over two-thirds (68%) of baby boomers.
So how come narcoleptics do not live longer than the rest of us?

Nutritional Supplements And The Current State Of Scientific Research

Wonder if these folks could possibly be biased.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the dietary supplement industry's leading trade association, has released its comprehensive report, The Benefits of Nutritional Supplements (4th Edition). The updated book, which assesses the current state of the science on the health benefits associated with select nutritional supplements, finds consistent and adequate use of these products contributes to overall health and wellness throughout all age groups, lifestyles, and life stages.
Whaddya think?

Faulty Cancer Science With Misidentified And Contaminated Cell Lines

Better to be fit than increase your risk for cancer.
Modern cancer therapies start in cells - researchers compare cancer samples to healthy cells to discover how cancer is genetically different, and use cell lines to test promising new drugs. However, a University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the journal Gynecologic Oncology shows that due to a high rate of contamination, misidentification and redundancy in widely available cell lines, researchers may be drawing faulty conclusions.

"I've seen faculty and graduate students leave my lab in tears when we discovered the cells on the label weren't the cells they were actually experimenting on," says Christopher Korch, PhD, investigator at the CU Cancer Center and director of the center's DNA Sequencing and Analysis Service, the paper's co-first author. "When you get a cell line, you have to look that gift horse in the mouth - there's up to a 40 percent chance it's a Trojan horse, not what it says it is."
Oops.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Soda Marketing Campaigns Undermine Public Health

Wrong.
The authors state that even though soda companies are not looked upon as having the same social stigma or regulatory pressure as tobacco companies, the concern with regard to soda and the obesity epidemic is nevertheless increasing. The authors argue that soda companies launched comprehensive CSR initiatives in response to health concerns about their products sooner than the tobacco companies. However, their campaigns mirrored those of the tobacco industries as far as using CSR to place responsibility on the consumers instead of on the corporation, and to improve the popularity of their company and product as well as to prevent regulation, with the only difference that soda company CSR campaigns are specifically aimed at young people to increase sales.

The researchers continue:

"It is clear that the soda CSR campaigns reinforce the idea that obesity is caused by customers' "bad" behavior, diverting attention from soda's contribution to rising obesity rates. For example, CSR campaigns that include the construction and upgrading of parks for youth who are at risk for diet-related illnesses keep the focus on physical activity, rather than on unhealthful foods and drinks. Such tactics redirect the responsibility for health outcomes from corporations onto its consumers, and externalize the negative effects of increased obesity to the public."


They argue: "Emerging science on the addictiveness of sugar, especially when combined with the known addictive properties of caffeine found in many sugary beverages, should further heighten awareness of the product's public health threat similar to the understanding about the addictiveness of tobacco products," and conclude, "Public health advocates must continue to monitor the CSR activities of soda companies, and remind the public and policymakers that, similar to Big Tobacco, soda industry CSR aims to position the companies, and their products, as socially acceptable rather than contributing to a social ill."
Calorically irresponsible people undermine public health.

"The first thing we do, let's kill all the public health/diet experts."

No Impact on Lipids With Vitamin-D Supplementation

Of course not.
A large cross-sectional study of laboratory test results confirms previous studies showing an association between serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and lipid levels [1]. Patients deficient in vitamin D had significantly higher total and LDL cholesterol levels, higher triglyceride levels, and lower levels of HDL cholesterol when compared with individuals not deficient in vitamin D.

Despite the association, however, a longitudinal analysis of a subset of individuals who replenished their bodies' stores of vitamin D to optimal levels, nearly all with vitamin-D supplements, failed to demonstrate any significant improvements in these lipid parameters. As a result, the researchers suggest that correcting for vitamin-D deficiency with dietary supplements "might not translate into clinically meaningful changes in lipid concentrations.

"In the absence of clinical trials, this novel, inexpensive [analysis] fills a gap for quickly examining the effect of vitamin-D repletion on the lipid panel, a major predictive biomarker for cardiovascular risk," write Dr Manish Ponda (Rockefeller University, New York) and colleagues in a report published online June 20, 2012 in Circulation. "Moreover, and particularly important for patient-oriented research, the data were obtained from patient encounters in settings reflective of true clinical practice across the United States."

Vitamin D: Causal or a Surrogate for Health

Epidemiologic evidence has shown there is an inverse relationship between circulating levels of 25(OH)D and cardiovascular-risk biomarkers. Although vitamin D can be supplemented, whether supplementation modifies cardiovascular risk has not yet been established. To date, it is still unknown whether low vitamin-D levels cause cardiovascular disease or whether vitamin-D status is simply a marker of health.

As clinicians, researchers, and patients await randomized, controlled trials testing the vitamin-D hypothesis, Ponda and colleagues, including researchers with Quest Diagnostics, a company that has the largest private database of patient laboratory data, performed a cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis to assess the relationship between 25(OH)D and blood lipids. From 4.06 million patient records that included simultaneous 25(OH)D and lipid panel tests between 2009 and 2011, 107 811 records had two or more simultaneous 25(OH)D, lipid panels and glucose tests within four and 26 weeks apart. Patients with 25(OH)D concentrations <20 ng/mL were considered vitamin-D deficient while those with levels >30 ng/mL were considered to have optimal levels.

Patients with optimal levels of vitamin D had total cholesterol levels 1.9 mg/dL lower than patients who were vitamin-D deficient. In addition, LDL-cholesterol levels and triglyceride levels were 4.5 mg/dL and 7.5 mg/dL lower among patients with optimal vitamin-D levels, while HDL-cholesterol levels were 4.8 mg/dL higher. All differences were statistically significant.

However, in the longitudinal analysis, the researchers examined 6260 patients who increased their vitamin-D levels from deficient at the initial visit to optimal levels at the time of study completion. Compared with 2332 patients whose initial and final vitamin-D concentrations remained deficient, those who raised their vitamin-D levels into the optimal range had a mean 0.77-mg/dL increase in total cholesterol and nonsignificant changes in their LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels. HDL cholesterol was increased 0.42 mg/dL in those who replenished their vitamin-D levels.

Clinically Minimal Effect on Total Cholesterol

In their paper, Ponda and colleagues suggest these small and clinically minimal effects on total and HDL cholesterol and lack of benefit on LDL cholesterol and triglycerides might mean that vitamin-D status is a surrogate marker of health and that vitamin D might simply have no effect on lipid metabolism...
More evidence that the cure du jour is manure.

Inflammation Reduced In Overweight Older Adults By Omega-3

BFD.
New research shows that omega-3 fatty acid supplements can lower inflammation in healthy, but overweight, middle-aged and older adults, suggesting that regular use of these supplements could help protect against and treat certain illnesses.

Four months of omega-3 supplementation decreased one protein in the blood that signals the presence of inflammation by an average of more than 10 percent, and led to a modest decrease in one other inflammation marker. In comparison, participants taking placebos as a group saw average increases of 36 percent and 12 percent, respectively, of those same markers.

Chronic inflammation is linked to numerous conditions, including coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, arthritis and Alzheimer's disease, as well as the frailty and functional decline that can accompany aging.

Study participants took either 2.5 grams or 1.25 grams of active omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in their supplements. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are considered"good fats" (sic) that, when consumed in proper quantities, are associated with a variety of health benefits. Study participants taking a placebo consumed pills containing less than 2 teaspoons per day of a mix of oils representing a typical American's daily dietary oil intake.
No probative outcome data.

Just speculation.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Apple Peel Compound Protects Mice From Obesity



Eat hearty.
A new study in mice finds that ursolic acid, a compound naturally present in apple peel, partially protected the animals against obesity and some of its harmful effects such as pre-diabetes and fatty liver disease.

Lead researcher Christopher Adams, of the University of Iowa (UI) in the United States, and colleagues, said although they found ursolic acid increased skeletal muscle and brown fat in the mice, which in turn led to increased calorie burning, they didn't investigate the underlying biology, and so can't say if the same would happen in humans.
It won't.

Care to bet?

Even After Weight Loss, Female Fat Prejudice Persists

Without addressing the alleged "prejudice," this article is still madness.
Overweight women may never escape the painful stigma of obesity - even after they have shed the pounds, new research suggests.
They remain fat, i.e., "overweight."

And here is some real stupidity:
Co-author, Dr Kerry O'Brien, from the University of Manchester's School of Psychological Sciences and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, said: "The message we often hear from society is that weight is highly controllable, but the best science in the obesity field at the moment suggests that one's physiology and genetics, as well as the food environment, are the really big players in one's weight status and weight-loss.

"Weight status actually appears rather uncontrollable, regardless of one's willpower, knowledge, and dedication. Yet many people who are perceived as 'fat' are struggling in vain to lose weight in order to escape this painful social stigma. We need to rethink our approaches to, and views of, weight and obesity."
Let's see if this idiot can demonstrate a single entity that will not lose weight if it consumes fewer Calories than it burns.

Got the willpower to eat fewer Calories than you burn?

If so, you will lose weight.

100% certainty.

You have complete control.

What's likely is that the researchers have no control over how moronic they are.

Vitamin D With Calcium May Reduce Mortality in Elderly

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).
Increasing intake of vitamin D and calcium reduces fracture risk in older patients and may also reduce overall mortality, Lars Rejnmark, PhD, from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues report in an article published online May 17 and in the August print issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. The pooled analysis of 70,528 patients from 8 major vitamin D trials showed that vitamin D with calcium reduced mortality in the elderly, but vitamin D alone did not.

"This is the largest study ever performed on effects of calcium and vitamin D on mortality," Dr. Rejnmark said in a news release. "Our results showed reduced mortality in elderly patients using vitamin D supplements in combination with calcium, but these results were not found in patients on vitamin D alone."
Wanna bet?

Anabolic substances are IMHO much better and do way more.

You can bet with near-certainty that calcium and Vitamin D supplementation will do little for fracture risk in most people since osteoporosis is not a condition of either low calcium or low Vitamin D.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Natural Compound Found In Fruit, Nuts And Wine Led To Improved Strength And Endurance



Fitness in a bottle.
A natural compound found in some fruits, nuts and red wine may enhance exercise training and performance, demonstrates newly published medical research from the University of Alberta.

Principal investigator Jason Dyck and his team found out in experiments that high doses of the natural compound resveratrol improved physical performance, heart function and muscle strength in lab models.

"We were excited when we saw that resveratrol showed results similar to what you would see from extensive endurance exercise training," says Dyck, who works in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry as a researcher in the department of Pediatrics and the department of Pharmacology. "We immediately saw the potential for this and thought that we identified 'improved exercise performance in a pill.' "
Doesn't mean Dyck.

Carcinogens Linked To Cancer Stem Cells, But Spinach Can Help



The picture of colon health.
Researchers at Oregon State University have for the first time traced the actions of a known carcinogen in cooked meat to its complex biological effects on microRNA and cancer stem cells.

The findings are part of a growing awareness of the role of epigenetics in cancer, or the ways in which gene expression and cell behavior can be changed even though DNA sequence information is unaltered.

The scientists also found that consumption of spinach can partially offset the damaging effects of the carcinogen. In tests with laboratory animals, it cut the incidence of colon tumors almost in half, from 58 percent to 32 percent.
Have a spinach enema.



Enjoy.

To Counter The Obesity Epidenmic (sic), Online Weight Loss Programs That Feature Successful Dieters Recommended

More s**t for brains researchers. As you can tell by the misspelled title, they need to go to a website featuring successful spellers.
A Web-based program featuring successful strategies of others who have lost weight may be an effective strategy for weight loss, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

Researchers created a website called AchieveTogether and evaluated the weight-loss success of users. They compared users with a group of people attempting to lose weight on their own, and then allowed that second group access to the site 12 weeks later.

"Internet-based weight loss programs could help address the obesity epidemic, as they can be widely shared and used with low costs," said Jennifer L. Kraschnewski, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of medicine and public health sciences. "Existing Internet-based weight-loss strategies have largely promoted weight-loss strategies designed by health professionals, including goal-setting and features to promote social interaction. These programs have had modest short-term effects, suggesting that exploring alternative approaches may be beneficial."
First, really, how many businesses promoting something use failures as examples?

Second, the researchers may not be aware of this, but the internet has been around for a while and people are still getting fatter.

Just plain stupid.

Friday, July 20, 2012

PR Campaigns By Soda Companies Are Bad For Health

Rest assured, the products themselves are just fine for health. It is the PR campaigns that are bad.
Health advocates need to organize strong public health campaigns to educate the public and policymakers about the dangers of both sugary beverages and the misleading industry corporate social responsibility campaigns that distract from their products' health risks, according to US experts writing in this week's PLoS Medicine.
Whew.

Some experts.

Adolescents Who Have More Than 4 Meals A Day Are Thinner

Than what?
The key to preventing obesity is in keeping up healthy eating habits and this is not a new concept. But, a new study headed by the Institute of Food Science and Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) goes one step further.

The study shows that certain healthy habits, like eating more than four scheduled meals a day or not eating too fast, are associated with lower body fat levels independently of exercise habits during free time.

Data on fat levels were obtained by taking the sum of six skin folds and the waist circumference of 1,978 adolescents (1,017 girls) between the ages of 13 and 18 years from five Spanish cities (Granada, Madrid, Murcia, Santander and Zaragoza). The role that physical activity during free time plays on fat levels was also assessed.

"To clarify the effects of dietary habits on obesity it is vital to study them along with other lifestyle habits such as physical activity," explained to SINC Sonia Gómez Martínez, lead author of the study and researcher at the ICTAN's department of Metabolism and Nutrition.

The young men were taller, weighed more, had a larger waist circumference, and ate faster during meals. However, according to the study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, their accumulated fat rate was lower.
Eat more, eat faster to accumulate less fat.

That passes the smell test.

Not.

Development Of Pancreatic Cancer Accelerated By High-Fat/Calorie Diet

Lucky for fat people that pancreatic cancer is not a bad disease.
Study results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Pancreatic Cancer: Progress and Challenges conference, strongly suggest that a diet high in fat and calories can hasten the development of pancreatic cancer in humans.
Oh, it is?

Bummer.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Eating Disorder Behaviors And Weight Concerns Are Common In Women Over 50

"Weight concerns" are disorders, eh?
Eating disorders are commonly seen as an issue faced by teenagers and young women, but a new study reveals that age is no barrier to disordered eating. In women aged 50 and over, 3.5% report binge eating, nearly 8% report purging, and more than 70% are trying to lose weight. The study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders revealed that 62% of women claimed that their weight or shape negatively impacted on their life.

The researchers, led by Dr Cynthia Bulik, Director of the University of North Carolina Eating Disorders Program, reached 1,849 women from across the USA participating in the Gender and Body Image Study (GABI) with a survey titled, 'Body Image in Women 50 and Over - Tell Us What You Think and Feel.'

"We know very little about how women aged 50 and above feel about their bodies," said Bulik. "An unfortunate assumption is that they 'grow out of' body dissatisfaction and eating disorders, but no one has really bothered to ask. Since most research focuses on younger women, our goal was to capture the concerns of women in this age range to inform future research and service planning."
Another reason why expert diet advice is a cause of diet failure.

The experts are not committed to weight loss success.

'Cause you are disordered for not wanting to be fat.

Lack Of Time, Training Among Top Barriers To Physical Activity Counseling In The Primary Care Setting

No. Lack of smarts is the issue.
Lack of time, knowledge and training in health promotion and lack of success with changing patient behavior were among the top barriers to including effective physical activity counseling in the primary care setting, according to research by The University of Texas School of Public Health, part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
'Cause you have to be grossly stupid to think that you can provide "effective physical activity counseling" to people.

How "effective" something is has almost nothing to do with anyone except the person involved.

An outsider has virtually no control.

Top doctor's chilling claim: The NHS kills off 130,000 elderly patients every year

"I am romantic about the NHS; I love it. All I need to do to rediscover the romance is to look at health care in my own country." Donald Berwick, MD, one-time head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
NHS doctors are prematurely ending the lives of thousands of elderly hospital patients because they are difficult to manage or to free up beds, a senior consultant claimed yesterday.

Professor Patrick Pullicino said doctors had turned the use of a controversial ‘death pathway’ into the equivalent of euthanasia of the elderly.
Oops.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

For Youth Who Play Sports, Healthy Eating Is Challenging According To Parents

An admission of guilt. It is the parents who are responsible for a kid's "bad eating."
The food and beverages available to youth when they participate in organized sports can often be unhealthy, according to a new study released in the July/August 2012 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. The findings were based on interviews with parents of players participating in youth basketball programs. Common food in youth sport settings were sweets (eg, candy, ice cream, doughnuts), pizza, hot dogs, ''taco-in-a-bag,'' salty snacks (eg, chips, cheese puffs, nachos), as well as soda pop and sports drinks. Parents also reported frequent visits to a fast-food restaurant (eg, McDonald's, Dairy Queen) when their children were playing sports. Parents told researchers they considered these to be unhealthy. Parents said their busy schedules getting to practices and games made them rely more on convenient, but less healthy, foods and beverages.
You can bet that parents of kids who do not engage in sports do even worse by their children.

New Studies Highlight Health Benefits Of The Exceptional Cranberry

Most unfortunate.
Recent results reported at Experimental Biology 2012 continue to build on the growing body of research on the cranberry's key role in total body health. For nearly three decades, many studies have confirmed the cranberry's urinary tract health benefits. Now, new research provides additional evidence of these benefits while also examining how the cranberry helps bolster immunity and antioxidant support.
It is only the "exceptional" cranberry that supposedly has "health benefits."

The ones you are likely to consume, apparently do not.

BTW, who generated this article?

Here is the citation:
Ocean Spray. "New Studies Highlight Health Benefits Of The Exceptional Cranberry." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 21 Jun. 2012. Web.
22 Jun. 2012.
Ocean Spray.

Gastric Bypass Surgery Linked To Alcoholism

Oops.
New research released this week from University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health is showing that people who have undergone the increasingly popular gastric bypass surgery appear to be at an increased risk of developing alcohol disorders, abuse and dependence, better known as alcoholism.
Out of the pannus and into the fire.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Exercise Still Needed After Liposuction

Just when you thought you could get off easy...
Liposuction can help get rid of muffin tops, love handles, and other pockets of fat. But new research shows that removing fat from your abdominal area may cause you to gain dangerous visceral or belly fat.

This type of fat is stored around the organs deep within your abdomen, and it increases your risk for heart disease and diabetes.

That's the bad news. The good news is that regular physical activity can help counteract this effect. That news appears in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

"If someone chooses to undergo liposuction, it is very important, if not essential, that this person exercises after the surgery," researcher Fabiana Braga Benatti, PhD, of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, says in a news release.
Oops.

Natural Antioxidant Discovered That Can Protect Against Cardiovascular Disease

Wanna bet?
University of Minnesota Medical School researchers have collaborated with the School of Public Health and discovered an enzyme that, when found at high levels and alongside low levels of HDL (good cholesterol), can dramatically reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The enzyme - glutathione peroxidase, or GPx3 - is a natural antioxidant that helps protect organisms from oxidant injury and helps the body naturally repair itself. Researchers have found that patients with high levels of good cholesterol, the GPx3 enzyme does not make a significant difference. However, those patients with low levels of good cholesterol, the GPx3 enzyme could potentially be a big benefit. The enzyme's link to cardiovascular disease may also help determine cardiovascular risk in patients with low levels of good cholesterol and low levels of the protective GPx3.
While the others kill you.

Fruits and Veggies May Help Patients Quit Smoking

Nutty.
Cigarette smokers who eat more fruits and vegetables are more likely to quit smoking and stay off cigarettes over the long term, new research shows.

Investigators from the University of Buffalo in New York found that smokers who ate fruits and vegetables an average of 4 or more times per day were 3 times more likely to be abstinent from all tobacco products, including cigarettes, at 14-month follow-up.
They do not "help."

If anything, people who think they are doing something for their health by eating fruits and vegetables are more likely to quit to be consistent.

A good example of a stupid conclusion by researchers.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Obesity Spread Likely Due To Environmental Factors

No way.
An international team of researchers' study of the spatial patterns of the spread of obesity suggests America's bulging waistlines may have more to do with collective behavior than genetics or individual choices. The team, led by City College of New York physicist Hernan Makse, found correlations between the epidemic's geography and food marketing and distribution patterns.

"We found there is a relationship between the prevalence of obesity and the growth of the supermarket economy," Professor Makse said. "While we can't claim causality because we don't know whether obesity is driven by market forces or vice versa, the obesity epidemic can't be solved by focus on individual behavior."
It absolutely can "be solved by focus on individual behavior," i.e., holding the fat accountable.

And they are right in that they "can't claim causality" since there is none.

Diabetes Linked to Memory Problems in Older Adults

Type 2 diabetes is fat person diabetes.
A new study adds to growing evidence that the complications of diabetes may extend to the brain, causing declines in memory, attention and other cognitive skills.
More evidence that fat people are stupid.

Alarming Increase in Hypertension in US Children

Clearly not alarming enough for parents to do anything about it.
The first comprehensive look at inpatient treatment for pediatric hypertension in the US over a period of 10 years, from 1997 to 2006, shows that hospitalizations for this indication almost doubled over the course of the study, and associated costs also rocketed. The report was published online June 18, 2012 in Hypertension.

Lead author Dr Cheryl L Tran (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), a pediatric nephrologist, told heartwire the figures were "surprising and alarming. The take-home message is that the frequency of pediatric hypertension hospitalization is rising and the fraction of charges attributed to hypertension is increasing."

The frequency of pediatric hypertension hospitalization is rising, and the fraction of charges attributed to hypertension is increasing; this is surprising and alarming.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr Joshua Samuels (University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School) says Tran et al "have provided the first glimpse of the growing economic impact that hypertension in children is playing. This important study helps dispel some of the remaining myths about pediatric high blood pressure. The biggest myth is that hypertension is an adult disease with no real relevance to children."

Both Tran and colleagues and Samuels believe obesity to be one of the main underlying factors driving this rise in hypertension among children. "These significant increases in blood pressure are likely riding the wave of pediatric obesity that is spreading across America," comments Samuels.
Another consequence of nutritional child abuse.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Soft Drink Consumption Not The Major Contributor To Childhood Obesity

Of course not.
Most children and youth who consume soft drinks and other sweetened beverages, such as fruit punch and lemonade, are not at any higher risk for obesity than their peers who drink healthy beverages, says a new study published in the October issue of Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. The study examined the relationship between beverage intake patterns of Canadian children and their risk for obesity and found sweetened beverage intake to be a risk factor only in boys aged 6-11.

"We found sweetened drinks to be dominant beverages during childhood, but saw no consistent association between beverage intake patterns and overweight and obesity," says lead author Susan J. Whiting. "Food and beverage habits are formed early in life and are often maintained into adulthood. Overconsumption of sweetened beverages may put some children at increased risk for overweight and obesity. Indeed, boys aged 6-11 years who consumed mostly soft drinks were shown to be at increased risk for overweight and obesity as compared with those who drank a more moderate beverage pattern."

The authors determined beverage consumption patterns among Canadian children aged 2 years using cluster analysis where sociodemographics, ethnicity, household income, and food security were significantly different across the clusters. Data were divided into different age and gender groups and beverage preferences were studied. For this study the sweetened, low-nutrient beverages, categorized according to Canada's Food Guide, consisted of fruit-flavoured beverages, beverages with less than 100% fruit juice, lemonades, regular soft drinks, and sweetened coffees or teas.
As to "healthy beverages."

That is a myth.

ADA: Belly Fat Loss Best to Halt Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is fat person diabetes.
Although two bariatric surgery techniques resulted in similar weight loss, the one that shaved more belly fat led to a better rate of diabetes remission, a substudy of the STAMPEDE trial found.

Moderately obese patients with uncontrolled diabetes who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy had similar weight loss as judged by their body mass index (BMI) at 2 years: 27.4 versus 28.2 kg/m2, reported Sangeeta R. Kashyap, MD, from the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues.
As long as the fat pay for the "fix" for their illness of choice, go for it.

NIH study finds HIV-positive young men at risk of low bone mass

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).
Young men being treated for HIV are more likely to experience low bone mass than are other men their age, according to results from a research network supported by the National Institutes of Health. The findings indicate that physicians who care for these patients should monitor them regularly for signs of bone thinning, which could foretell a risk for fractures. The young men in the study did not have HIV at birth and had been diagnosed with HIV an average of two years earlier.

Earlier studies have shown that adults with HIV also have bone loss and increased risk for bone fractures, associated in part with the use of certain anti-HIV medications.
Anabolic substances can help people who are HIV-positive in more ways than one.

For more info - go here.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Randomized Controlled Trials of Vitamin D Lacking

Why the cure du jour works so well for so many conditions.
Observational studies have linked vitamin D to a number of musculoskeletal, neoplastic, metabolic, and cardiovascular disorders, but these findings have not been confirmed to a sufficient degree by large-scale and long-term randomized controlled trials, according to the findings of a recent review.
The studies are crap.

Weight-loss surgery increases alcohol use disorders over time

Going from 4-9 Calories per gram to 7 Calories per gram.
Adults who had a common bariatric surgery to lose weight had a significantly higher risk of alcohol use disorders (AUD) two years after surgery, according to a study by a National Institutes of Health research consortium.
Better to lose weight the right way.

Tiny Vitamin In Milk, In High Doses, Makes Mice Leaner, Faster And Stronger

Even if true, has nothing to do with milk.
A novel form of vitamin B3 found in milk in small quantities produces remarkable health benefits in mice when high doses are administered, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The findings, recently reported in the June 2012 issue of the journal, Cell Metabolism, reveal that high doses of the vitamin precursor, nicotinamide riboside (NR) - a cousin of niacin - prevent obesity in mice that are fed a fatty diet, and also increase muscle performance, improve energy expenditure and prevent diabetes development, all without side effects.

The Swiss researchers, led by Dr. Johan Auwerx, performed the mouse experiments, while the ability to give the animals sufficient doses of NR was made possible by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers, who played key roles in uncovering the biological story of NR.

"This study is very important. It shows that in animals, the use of NR offers the health benefits of a low-calorie diet and exercise - without doing either one," says Dr. Anthony Sauve, associate professor of Pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Wanna bet?

Friday, July 13, 2012

Obesity In Childhood Can Harm Social And Emotional Well-Being And Academic Performance

More early nutritional child abuse.
Obesity among children has increased dramatically over the past 40 years and has been tied to many health problems. Now a new study has found that children's weight is associated with their math performance.

The longitudinal study, published in the journal Child Development, was carried out by researchers at the University of Missouri, Columbia, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Vermont.

"The findings illustrate the complexity of relations among children's weight status, social and emotional well-being, academics, and time." according to Sara Gable, associate professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri, Columbia, who led the study.
It is not complex.

It is a direct effect of poor parenting.

Hold parents accountable and watch the math scores improve.

Growing number of children diagnosed with high blood pressure

More nutritional child abuse.
High blood pressure is a serious problem among adults, but a study out Monday shows an alarming number of children have it too.

Hospital visits for kids with high blood pressure nearly doubled in a 10-year period to more than 24,000.

Fourteen-year-old Kyle Mutschler has been hospitalized four times because of dangerously high blood pressure. He takes four medications and his mother Lynette keeps track of everything he eats.

"It's definitely a much different lifestyle than the average person lives," Kyle said. "You're constantly having to monitor your blood pressure, constantly having to have different foods, constantly having to exercise."

The study released today looked at the number of children like Kyle who had to be hospitalized for high blood pressure.

The increase in cases has also lead to a 50 percent increase in treatment cost -- to more than $3billion.

"We've all seen it. We've seen it associated with the marked increase in obesity, but not to these numbers," said Dr. Rick Kaskel, pediatric kidney specialist at Montefiore Hospital in New York. "And, I think the hospitalization rate is what is astounding here."
Hold parents accountable.

Nectarines, Plums And Peaches May Fight Obesity And Diabetes

Not likely.
Stone fruits, also known as drupes, such as nectarines, plums and peaches, may contain useful compounds that help fight-off metabolic syndrome, which can lead to diabetes, heart attack and stroke, say researchers from Texas AgriLife Research, a member of Texas A & M University System.

Food scientist, Luis Cisneros-Zevallos and team showed that compounds that exist in stone fruits could be useful in the fight against metabolic syndrome, in which inflammation and obesity eventually lead to serious illnesses and health problems.
Calories, Calories, Calories.

The rest is uncertain, irrelevant or impossible.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Compensatory Weight Gain After Liposuction Ameliorated By Physical Activity

Two things: why liposuction sucks (no pun intended) and what is it about burning more Calories than are consumed leading to weight loss that is news?
Abdominal liposuction triggers a compensatory increase in visceral fat, which is correlated with cardiovascular disease, but this effect can be counteracted by physical activity, according to a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, a publication of The Endocrine Society.

Liposuction is one of the most popular aesthetic surgery procedures performed worldwide, but its long-term impact on health remains unclear. Previous studies have shown that the immediate decrease in body fat following liposuction may affect body composition and metabolic profile by triggering feedback mechanisms of body fat regain. The current study investigated the effects of liposuction on body fat distribution and whether physical activity could prevent fat regain.

"We found that removing adipose tissue from the body, as liposuction does, may result in a decrease in total energy expenditure and compensatory growth of visceral fat which is associated with heart disease," said Fabiana Braga Benatti, PhD, of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and lead author of the study. "The good news is that exercise training was effective in counteracting this compensatory growth. If someone chooses to undergo liposuction, it is very important, if not essential, that this person exercises after the surgery."
Visceral fat is believed to be the really bad fat.

Liposuction does not remove visceral fat suggesting that any increase in visceral fat is in addition to what was already there.

Bad news.

If you lose weight properly, the visceral fat comes off, too.

Link Between Sleep Apnea And Increased Risk For Carbohydrate Craving Among Diabetics

OSA is what fat people get. And fat people are already set-ups for diabetes.
Researchers in New Jersey are encouraging primary care physicians to screen for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in patients with Type 2 diabetes. They found that in a small sample of clinic patients, the risk for sleep apnea was high among diabetics compared with non-diabetics, and that sleep apnea appeared to be associated with carbohydrate craving.

Their study, presented at SLEEP 2012, screened 55 patients for diabetes, OSA and carbohydrate cravings. More than half of the patients were diabetic. Among the diabetic patients, the prevalence of OSA was 82 percent, and diabetics had almost double the risk of carbohydrate craving than non-diabetics. In addition, researchers found that patients with OSA were almost twice as likely to have high carbohydrate craving than patients without sleep apnea.

"This study provides an indication of the magnitude of the associated risk between sleep apnea and self-reported carbohydrate craving in the diabetic population," said study co-investigator Mahmood Siddique, DO, clinical associate professor of medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J.
Bummer.

Is Higher Water Intake Advice Driven By Business Interests?

Yes.
The suggestion that our bodies need about two liters of fluids each day is not specifically related to water.

Spero Tsindos from La Trobe University published an editorial in the June edition of Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, examining the reasons for people's high water intake.

According to Mr Tsindos, encouraging people to drink more water is not merely to attain a healthier life style. He believes that it is based on vested interests, saying: "Thirty years ago you didn't see a plastic water bottle anywhere, now they appear as fashion accessories."

He continues: "As tokens of instant gratification and symbolism, the very bottle itself is seen as cool and hip." With regard to drinking water in terms of people's constant desire to loose (sic) weight, he says: " (sic)

Drinking large amounts of water does not alone cause weight loss. A low-calorie diet is also required. Research has also revealed that water in food eaten has a greater benefit in weight reduction than avoiding foods altogether. We should be telling people that beverages like tea and coffee contribute to a person's fluid needs and despite their caffeine content, do not lead to dehydration."
Next.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Unhealthy Diet Increases Risk Of Cardiovascular Disease

You mean that "healthy" diets don't?
According to a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition Journal, low carb, high fat diets could be responsible for an increase in unhealthy cholesterol levels in the blood of Swedes.
Go figger.

Morons.

Low-Dose Vitamin D Won't Prevent Fractures: USPSTF

Of course not. Osteoporosis is not a disease of Vitamin D deficiency.
Postmenopausal women shouldn't take low doses of vitamin D and calcium to prevent osteoporotic fractures, a government-backed expert panel said on Tuesday.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) said the "grade D recommendation" applies to community-dwelling, asymptomatic women without a history of fractures.

It said the supplements do little to prevent fractures at doses lower than 400 IU of vitamin D and 1,000 mg of calcium daily. But they do come with certain possible side effects, including a small risk of kidney stones from calcium carbonate.

The recommendations are still in draft form and will be available for public comment on the USPSTF's website (http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/draftrec3.htm) until July 10.

For higher doses of the supplements, the evidence is still too limited to make recommendations either way, the panel said. The same is true for cancer prevention.
Same for higher doses.

Since it is not a disease of low calcium or low Vitamin D, all the supplementation in the world will make no difference.

See here for more.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: Doubt Cast on Alternative Therapies



Say it ain't so.
The latest systematic review of randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) provides little support for the use of some of the more popular CAM treatments to reduce inflammation or pain from this chronic condition. The analysis by Gary J. Macfarlane, MD, and colleagues on behalf of the Arthritis Research UK Working Group on Complementary and Alternative Therapies for the Management of the Rheumatic Diseases was published online June 1 in Rheumatology.

Coauthor Edzard Ernst, MD, PhD, told Medscape Medical News that the study's key finding was the lack of good evidence of efficacy for any therapy included in the analysis.

Dr. Ernst, who emphasized that he was speaking as a coauthor, not on behalf of the working group, holds the Laing Chair in Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter's Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, United Kingdom.

The researchers identified 11 eligible RCTs that covered 7 therapies: acupuncture (4 trials), meditation (2 studies), autogenic training (1 trial), healing therapy (1 trial), progressive muscle relaxation (1 study), static magnets (1 trial), and tai chi (1 study). These trials met the following eligibility criteria: English-language RCT of human patients with RA that involved a complementary therapy not taken orally or applied topically; comparison with sham therapy or any other established treatment, or with waiting-list control or usual care; and results reported as the difference between the treatment and the comparator group by using a statistical test of significance or a confidence interval. The main outcomes of interest were pain relief and patient global assessment.
What is it about acupuncture, magnets and the rest that might not work?

I wonder.

No I don't.

It is the brains of those who believe in this crap that do not work.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Breakfast Decreases Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Hogwash.
Eating breakfast is associated with a decreased chance of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), according to results of a new study. Andrew Odegaard, PhD, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, presented the research here at a poster session at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) 72nd Scientific Sessions.

Nutritional guidelines have long recommended that people eat breakfast, but there has been little research on the relationship between morning eating habits and development of T2D...
"Overall, our findings show an inverse relation between increasing breakfast frequency and T2D, probably mediated by BMI," the researchers write in the abstract.
It is not breakfast.

It is the BMI.

Omega-3 Fish Oil Supplements Unlikely To Ward Off Cognitive Decline

See post below.
A new review of studies that lasted up to 3.5 years suggests taking omega-3 fish oil supplements probably does not help older people ward off cognitive decline,
Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Amazon Indian Breast Milk Has Higher Omega-3 Content

So what? See post above.
The omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is vital for cognitive and visual development in infants. Now, researchers have discovered that Amerindian women have higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in their breast milk than women in the United States.
Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Monday, July 09, 2012

Studies Highlight Benefits of Testosterone Replacement

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).
The article is here.

Dire Diabetes Outlook Among US Kids and Adolescents: Type 1 and Type 2 on the Rise

More nutritional child abuse.
The prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes is on the rise in children and adolescents in the US, with new data showing that both forms of diabetes mellitus increased across all ethnicities and in boys and girls, although the largest increase in type 2 diabetes occurred in non-Hispanic white and Hispanic children. Over the past decade, the prevalence of type 1 and type 2 diabetes increased 23% and 21%, respectively.
Type 2 diabetes is fat person diabetes.

There is more control over it than Type 1, that we know of.

Fat parents have fat kids.

Fat kids get Type 2 diabetes.

Hold the parents accountable.

Vitamin D - How Much Is Too Much?

The cure du jour - don't be so sure.
Vitamin D is vital for absorbing and maintaining calcium levels in the body, and therefore reducing the risk of fractures from falls and broken hips. Vitamin D is also beneficial for fighting cardiac disease, depression and various types of cancers and although scientists are aware of the fact that a Vitamin D deficiency is unhealthy, new research has now revealed that excessive Vitamin D levels are also unhealthy.
Beware supplementers.

Sunday, July 08, 2012

'Bad' Dieting Increases Cardiovascular Disease Risk

The lesson? Follow the diet approach here.
A 25 year study in Northern Sweden, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition Journal, is the first to show that a regional and national dietary intervention to reduce fat intake, decreased cholesterol levels, but a switch to the popular low carbohydrate diet was paralleled by in an increase in cholesterol levels. Over the entire 25 year period the population BMI continued to increase, regardless of either diet, and both the increase in body mass and increased cholesterol levels are indicators of increased cardiovascular risk.
You have been warned for years.

Is Exercise "Useless" In Treating Depression?

Certainly not if you are depressed 'cause you are a fat slob.

(Except you have to train, not exercise.)
The publication of a new study in the BMJ on 6 June triggered a flurry of headlines suggesting that "exercise doesn't help depression". However, reducing the study's specific, detailed findings to a media-friendly sound bite has run the risk of misleading people, because the researchers did not set out to test the effect of exercise on depression.

This article explains what the researchers did and what they found, while pointing out that some of the older established research in this area is coming under increasing scrutiny, and so perhaps there is a need for a new wave of rigorous, specific studies. In the meantime there are lots of experts who support the idea that exercise can help patients with depression, particularly if they have or are at high risk of developing other conditions such as obesity, cardiovascular disease or diabetes, which can often be the case.
You decide.

Junk Food May Be More Appealing To Tired Brains

Just like junk research may be.
A new study that used brain scans of people who had not had enough sleep suggests junk food may be more appealing to tired brains.

Scientists found that when normal weight volunteers looked at unhealthy food during a period of sleep restriction, the reward centers in their brains were more active than when they looked at the pictures after having slept regularly.
Wanna bet which one is more likely?

Saturday, July 07, 2012

Some Good News About Belly Fat

Well this should clear things up.
A fatty membrane in the belly called the omentum has until recently been considered somewhat like the appendix - it didn't seem to serve much purpose.

But Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researchers have found that the omentum appears to play an important role in regulating the immune system. The finding could lead to new drugs for organ transplant patients and patients with auto-immune diseases such as lupus and Crohn's disease.

"We now have evidence that the omentum is not just fat sitting in the belly," said Makio Iwashima, PhD, corresponding author of a study* published in PLoS ONE. Iwashima is an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

The omentum is a membrane that lines the abdominal cavity and covers most abdominal organs. It is a repository for fat tissue.
Good luck sorting this stuff out.

Sleep Loss May Fuel Poor Food Choices

It certainly leads to excuses.
Sleep deprivation impairs regions of the brain involved in making food choices and may lead to unhealthy food choices, results of 2 separate studies suggest.

"We think this is one potential mechanism related to the overall link between sleep deprivation and obesity," Stephanie M. Greer, PhD, from the Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory, University of California (UC), Berkeley, who presented 1 of the studies, told Medscape Medical News.
And that is probably all it does.

Laws In Brazil That Protect Against "Big Food" And "Big Snack"

Hogwash.
Under pressure from civil society organizations, the Brazilian government has introduced legislation to protect and improve its traditional food system, standing in contrast to the governments of many industrialized countries that have partly surrendered their prime duty to protect public health to transnational food companies, argue nutrition and public health experts writing in this week's PLoS Medicine.

Carlos Monteiro and Geoffrey Cannon, from the Center for Epidemiological Studies in Health and Nutrition of the University of São Paulo, explain that, in Brazil, traditional long-established food systems and dietary patterns are being displaced by ultra-processed products made by transnational food corporations ("Big Food" and "Big Snack") contributing to increases in the incidence of obesity and of major chronic diseases, and adversely affecting public health and public goods by undermining culture, meals, the family, community life, local economies, and national identity.

The authors argue: "The use of law to protect and improve food systems and supplies, and thus public health, may be difficult in parts of the world where governments have already ceded the responsibility of governance to transnational and other corporations. However, in Brazil protection of public health still remains a prime duty of government ."

The authors explain that by law, all Brazilian children attending state schools are entitled to one daily meal at school, at least 70% of the food supplied to schools must be fresh or minimally processed, and a minimum of 30% of this food must be sourced from local family farmers. They say that such measures help to check the penetration of transnational corporations into Brazil.
Note there are no data mentioned to support the contention that the targets of this effort have compromised the health of Brazilians.

There is a reason for this.

Most likely, they cannot prove it.

Friday, July 06, 2012

Industrial And Natural Trans Fats Impact On Health - New Insights

Trans fats are GOOD for you!
Researchers in Canada have gained new insights into the how different types of trans fats impact health. Their findings add to new knowledge on a special 'family' of natural trans fats that are produced by animals, such as sheep, goats, and cattle, and found in the milk and meat from these animals.

According to the researchers, these natural ruminant trans fats are different to industrial trans fats as they are not harmful and may potentially improve health.
So is meat!

Hooray!

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Appetite Controlling Brain Receptor May Be Target For Anti-Obesity Medications

Wrong receptor.
A brain receptor which is involved in regulating appetite has been detected by scientists at Columbia University Medical Center. The researchers reported in the journal Cell that this very druggable target could mean that a new medication for obesity may not be that difficult to find.
Need to target the food intake receptor, i.e., the mouth.


Heart Aging Decreased On Calorie-Restricted Diet

'Cause they die younger?
People who restrict their caloric intake in an effort to live longer have hearts that function more like those in people who are 20 years younger.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a key measure of the heart's ability to adapt to physical activity, stress, sleep and other factors that influence the rate at which the heart pumps blood, doesn't decline nearly as rapidly in people who have significantly restricted their caloric intake for an average of seven years.
Guess not.

If there is a takeaway point it's not to eat too many Calories, i.e., don't be a fatso.

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Fruit Flies That Overeat To The Point Of Obesity Develop Insulin Resistance



Fat people have more in common with fruit flies than just insulin resistance.
With Type 2 human diabetes climbing at alarming rates in the United States, researchers are seeking treatments for the disease, which has been linked to obesity and poor diet.

Now biologists at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, report they have developed a new tool that will help researchers better understand this deadly disease.

By manipulating the diets of healthy adult fruit flies, the researchers developed flies that are insulin-resistant, a hallmark of Type 2 diabetes.
Intelligence.

Major Bleeding With Aspirin in Primary Prevention Underestimated

And how many times have you been told to take aspirin?
Aspirin use in a large population-based cohort of primary-prevention patients is associated with an increased risk of major gastrointestinal bleeding and cerebral bleeding episodes, and this increased rate of bleeding is higher than previously reported in randomized, prospective clinical trials, according to the results of a new study.
Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Fish Oils Do Not Reduce Gestational Diabetes And Preeclampsia Risk

Say it ain't so.
Taking DHA-enriched fish oils during the second half of pregnancy does not lower the risk of developing preeclampsia or gestational diabetes, researchers from Adelaide University, Australia, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The authors explained that experts have long been unsure about what the effect of increasing the intake of fish oils - n-3 long-chain PUFA (LCPUFA) - might be in reducing pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus.
Fat people are more likely to develop gestational diabetes than intended-size humans.

Now what can it possibly be about feeding the fat fat that does not help them avoid diseases caused from being fat?

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Regular, Moderate Exercise Most Beneficial, While Excessive Endurance Training Can Be Too Much Of A Good Thing

Silly.
Micah True, legendary ultra-marathoner, died suddenly while on a routine 12-mile training run March 27, 2012. The mythic Caballo Blanco in the best-selling book, Born to Run, True would run as far as 100 miles in a day. On autopsy his heart was enlarged and scarred; he died of a lethal arrhythmia (irregularity of the heart rhythm). Although speculative, the pathologic changes in the heart of this 58 year-old veteran extreme endurance athlete may have been manifestations of "Phidippides cardiomyopathy," a condition caused by chronic excessive endurance exercise.
Besides the fact that they do not know if too much of a good thing caused True's death, isn't it axiomatic that "too much" is not good?

Otherwise, it would not be "too much," no?

This is the world of foregone conclusions, not meaningful research.

Don't Give Up on HDL, Researchers Plead

More bad biomarker news.
After a series of negative trial results, the concept of raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL) as a therapeutic approach to reducing cardiovascular risk looks to be in a sorry state. But lipid experts at the recent European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) 2012 Congress were adamant that the HDL hypothesis was not yet dead and that it is imperative that research in this direction continue.

At a session on the subject, Dr Alan Tall (Columbia University, New York) summarized the situation: "The HDL hypothesis is certainly under attack. And there have been a lot of setbacks. But we mustn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. I think we need a new, modified HDL hypothesis."
Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Vitamin D - Which Type Is Best?

Easy.
Although vitamin D is essential for healthy bones and muscles, the majority of people do not get enough of it through exposure to sunlight or through diet. Now, researchers have found that vitamin D3 supplements appear to provide more benefit than vitamin D2.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Surrey and funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), is published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Although vitamin D2 is often used in food fortification as it is not derived from animals, the researchers found that vitamin D3 is more effective at increasing the vitamin D levels in our blood when given as a supplement than vitamin D2.
The best type of cure du jour is the one you do not take.

Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Will Large Soda Ban Help New York Obesity Battle? Seems Not

Believe it.
Will Mayor Michael Bloomberg's idea banning of large sugary drinks in New York City have any impact on obesity rates? Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham do not think so. They say that the focus is too narrow - on just one item - and does not address the big picture in the battle against the obesity epidemic.

Kathryn Kaise, Ph.D., and team in 2009 set out to determine what effect consuming sugar-sweetened drinks might have on body weight. They gathered and examined data from five randomized trials and found that as far as weight reduction was concerned, reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption did not make much of a difference to body weight.
The best one can hope to do is fool-proof.

Idiot-proofing is not possible since idiots are so ingenious.

So it goes with the fat.

They are idiots.

The so-called "soda ban" will almost certainly fail as a solution.

Waist Size, Regardless Of BMI, Linked To Diabetes Risk

Type 2 diabetes is fat person diabetes.
Waist circumference is strongly and independently linked to diabetes type two risk, even after accounting for body mass index (BMI), and should be measured more widely for estimating risk, researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, UK, reported in PLoS Medicine. The authors explained that overweight people with a large waist, over 102cm (40.2 inches) for men and over 88cm (34.6 inches) for women, have approximately the same or higher risk of eventually developing diabetes type 2 as obese individuals.
Still, it is tougher to have a big waist with a small BMI.

And it is much harder to cheat in calculating the BMI than it is to cheat in measuring a waist circumference.

Overall Post-Meal Blood Sugar Levels Reduced By Snacking On Raisins

When a PR firm issues an "article" paid for by a trade group, be wary.
New research debuted at the American Diabetes Association's 72nd Annual Scientific Session suggests eating raisins three times a day may significantly lower postprandial (post-meal) glucose levels when compared to common alternative snacks of equal caloric value. The study was conducted at the Louisville Metabolic and Atherosclerosis Center (L-MARC) by lead researcher, Harold Bays, MD, medical director and president of L-MARC.

The study was conducted among 46 men and women who had not previously been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, but who had mild elevations in glucose levels. Participants were randomly assigned to snack on raisins or pre-packaged commercial snacks that did not contain raisins or other fruits or vegetables, three times a day for 12 weeks. Findings included:
Compared to control snacks, raisins significantly decreased mean post-meal glucose levels by 16 percent

Compared to baseline within group paired analysis, raisins significantly reduced mean hemoglobin A1c by 0.12 percent

Consumption of the control snacks in the study did not significantly reduce mean post-meal glucose or hemoglobin A1c
"Compared to the snacking control group, the group consuming raisins had a significant statistical reduction in their after-liquid meal blood sugar levels among study participants who had mean baseline fasting glucose levels between 90 and 100 mg/dl.," said Dr. Bays. "This favorable glucose effect of raisins was further supported by the statistically significant reduction in hemoglobin A1c (a standard test for overall blood sugar control in diabetes mellitus) in the within group comparison to baseline. The within group comparisons from baseline with snacks did not demonstrate a reduction in hemoglobin A1c."

The study was funded by the California Raisin Marketing Board through a grant to the L-MARC Research Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
Who issued it?

These folks.

Monday, July 02, 2012

Genetic Risk Scores And Obesity Later In Life Among Children

There are lies, damned lies and genetics.
People with higher genetic risk scores usually have a greater chance of becoming chronically obese when they are adults, researchers from Duke University, Durham, N.C. report in Archive of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Certain genetic characteristics lead to rapid growth during childhood, and a higher risk of obesity during adulthood, the authors added.

The researchers explain that obesity can be inherited and GWASs (genome-wide association studies) have started to reveal the molecular roots of heritability by identifying SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) which are associated with higher BMIs (body mass indexes).
Bulls**t.

It is impossible to "inherit" obesity.

The only way to get obese is to eat more Calories than are burned.

There are liars, damned liars and researchers.

Type 2 Diabetes Risk Linked to Abdominal Fat

Type 2 diabetes is fat person diabetes.
Waist circumference, a simple, cheap measure of fat distribution, also strongly predicts who is most at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, especially for women, according to the results of a large, case–cohort study.
Fat people have fat bellies.

Duh.

No Overall Cognitive Benefit of Soy in Older Women

Say it ain't so.
Taking daily soy supplements for more than 2 years did not improve global cognitive function for healthy postmenopausal women, a new study shows.
The better question is "Does eating soy make you smart enough to know that eating soy does not make you smarter?"

Sunday, July 01, 2012

New Insights Into The Health Implications Of Different Types Of Trans Fat

Good luck sorting this stuff out.
The latest research builds on ground-breaking new knowledge on a special 'family' of natural trans fats that are produced by ruminant animals such as dairy and beef cattle, goats and sheep, and found in the milk and meat from these animals. The findings strengthen the evidence that, unlike industrial trans fats, these natural ruminant trans fats are not harmful and may in fact have health-enhancing potential.

The key findings were presented at the 10th Congress for the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids & Lipids (ISSFAL).

"We are learning there is a very important public health message to convey about ruminant natural trans fats and how these are different from the industrial trans fats that have been targeted as harmful to health," says Dr. Spencer Proctor, Director of the Metabolic and Cardiovascular Diseases Laboratory at the University of Alberta in Canada. "The research indicates that consuming these natural trans fats as part of a balanced diet is not a health concern. On the contrary, there is increasing evidence these are 'good fats' and could be fundamentally health-enhancing. They should not be an unintended target of the bid to rid the diet of trans fats."
Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Consumers Would Benefit From More Guidance About Fish Consumption Choices

Good luck sorting this stuff out, too. (see post above)
In a first-of-its kind summary of fish consumption choices, a team of researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital has determined that consumers are not getting all the information they need to make informed decisions about fish consumption. Their research is published in Environmental Health Perspectives.

The researchers, led by Susan Korrick, MD and Emily Oken, MD of Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), summarized the issue of fish consumption choice from toxicological, nutritional, ecological, and economic points of view through evaluation of the scientific literature, public health guidelines and fish consumption advisories made in the United Sates. They found that there is no one place that gives consumers a complete view of the advantages and disadvantages of various fish species. "Our research shows that there is no one perfect fish when considering nutritional value, toxicity rates and the environmental and economic impact," said Oken. "Consumers are forced to decide what tradeoffs they are willing to make. But as a consumer standing in a store, it is difficult to understand the pros and cons of a fish purchase, because the amount of readily available information is limited."
Just what consumers need - unlimited information.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Increasing Fiber In Adolescents' Diets Has Many Health Benefits

Fiber helps you poop.
Adolescents who don't eat enough fiber tend to have bigger bellies and higher levels of inflammatory factors in their blood, both major risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, researchers report.
As if the big bellies of kids are due mainly to too much unpooped poop.