A recent animal study has concluded that exposing rats to a perinatal “junk-food” (JF) diet “results in early desensitization of the opioid system which may explain the increased preference for junk food in these offspring.” Jessica Gugusheff, et al., “A maternal ‘junk-food’ diet reduces sensitivity to the opioid antagonist naloxone in offspring postweaning,” The FASEB Journal, March 2013. Relying on previous research, University of Adelaide scientists apparently surmised that the offspring of dams fed a cafeteria diet would exhibit an increased preference for “palatable” foods thanks to “changes in the µ-opioid receptor expression within the mesolimbic reward pathway.” After the offspring of JF dams were weaned, the study analyzed RNA isolated from the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) of their brains, in addition to examining how they responded to injections of the opioid antagonist naloxone, which suppresses fat and sugar intake by blocking opioid signaling. According to…
Category Archives Issue 474
Two groups of researchers have allegedly provided evidence that sodium induces the differentiation of CD4 T cells responsible for immune responses, thereby raising concerns about the role of salt intake in autoimmune disorders. Both published in Nature, the two studies in question suggested that “a high-salt diet can enhance the differentiation of a class of immune cells called TH17 cells, and exacerbate disease in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis called experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE),” according to a concurrent news item. In addition, the authors apparently found that mice lacking serum glucocorticoid kinase 1 (SGK1), which plays a role in EAE, had reduced neuropathy and some protection from a high-salt diet. In particular, the first study examined how increased sodium chloride concentrations in vivo “markedly boost the induction of murine and human TH17 cells,” purportedly showing that the TH17 cells generated under these conditions “display a highly pathogenic and stable phenotype characterized by…
According to Law Professor and former White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Cass Sunstein, a new book addresses the intersection of recent findings on human behavior with the paternalism many Americans equate with “big government” regulations, such as New York City’s restrictions on the size of sugar-sweetened beverages. Sarah Conly’s Against Autonomy: Justifying Coercive Paternalism contends that John Stuart Mill was wrong about the competence of human beings to know what is good for themselves and thus government’s consequent lack of legitimacy to coerce people to prevent harm to themselves. “We are too fat, we are too much in debt, and we save too little for the future,” she states, insisting “that coercion should not be ruled out of bounds.” Sunstein sums up Conly’s approach to paternalism by noting the four criteria she would require to justify government coercion: the activity “must genuinely be opposed to people’s long-term…
During a recent press conference, counsel for Monster Energy reportedly addressed claims made in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the company by the parents of a Maryland teenager who allegedly died after consuming the company’s energy drink. The company’s experts have apparently reviewed the medical records in the case and determined that “there is no medical, scientific or factual evidence to support the Maryland medical examiner’s report of ‘caffeine toxicity’ or that Ms. Fournier’s consumption of two Monster Energy Drinks 24 hours apart contributed to, let alone was the cause of her untimely death.” Apparently, no blood tests were conducted to confirm the examiner’s finding, and the 14-year-old had pre-existing conditions—an enlarged heart, a vascular form of connective tissue disease, mitral valve prolapse, and myocardial fibrosis—that purportedly increased her risk of cardiac arrest and sudden death. The company was apparently motivated to call the press conference after a Chicago…
A research letter published February 25, 2013, in JAMA Internal Medicine claims that less than 10 percent of surveyed packaged food products provided information about potassium content on their nutrition facts panels (NFPs). Noting that under current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy the disclosure of potassium levels is optional, researchers with New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene apparently examined the labels of 6,560 products culled from a database created in 2009 for the National Salt Reduction Initiative. Their findings evidently revealed that “most packaged food products do not include potassium content on the NFP” despite concerns that some consumers may need to monitor their intake of the electrolyte. In particular, the study found that in almost one-half of the 61 food categories identified in the database, “potassium content was available for less than 1% of products.” It also identified the five categories—“vegetable juice; seasoned processed potatoes; instant…
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has announced a March 18, 2013, webinar to discuss how “America’s sweet-laden diet is helping drive obesity and chronic metabolic disease.” Titled “Sickly Sweet: The Science and Policy of Fructose Overconsumption in America,” the webinar will reportedly be led by Robert Lustig, a specialist in neuroendocrinology at the UCSF School of Medicine who has garnered attention in national venues such as The New York Times for comparing sugar to a poison and linking it to metabolic dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, liver cancer, and other non-communicable diseases.
A non-profit focusing on childhood obesity has issued its first annual progress report on private sector commitments to address the issue. According to the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), nearly 3 million children “got moving in 2012,” more than 8,000 “new physical activity opportunities became available for kids in 2012,” dozens of new or renovated grocery stores opened in or near “food deserts” making healthier food available to more than half-a-million “low-access individuals,” and “$18 million has been spent in the last 18 months in financing for new retail channels and innovative food distribution programs.” See PHA Press Release, March 7, 2013.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has issued a pre-publication summary of its workshop “New Challenges and Opportunities for Change in Food Marketing to Children and Youth.” Conducted by IOM’s Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention, the November 5, 2012, workshop featured “presentations and discussion on contemporary trends in marketing of foods and beverages to children and youth and the implications of those trends for obesity prevention.” According to IOM, “[t]he childhood obesity epidemic is an urgent public health problem, and it will continue to take a substantial toll on the health of Americans. The most recent data show that almost a third of U.S. children and adolescents are overweight or obese.”
A recent article published in the Journal of Public Policy has recommended “a national regulatory system prohibiting commercial marketing of foods and beverages to children” as part of an effort to curb rising obesity rates in Canada. Kim Raine, et al., “Restricting marketing to children: Consensus on policy interventions to address obesity,” Journal of Public Policy, February 2013. Building on a consensus conference held in April 2011 by the Alberta Policy Coalition for Chronic Disease Prevention, the article’s authors lay out a policy framework for evaluating “the political environment, evidence, issues, and challenges of placing restrictions on the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages.” In particular, they describe the industry-sponsored Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative as “insufficient,” noting that in addition to TV advertising, marketers have increasingly adopted new media—“the Internet, adver-gaming, mobile messaging, and viral marketing”—that do not fall under current standards. As a result, the article urges…
A scientist who was accused of falsifying data in research on the purported health benefits of red wine has reportedly sued the University of Connecticut, claiming that it wrongfully dismissed him and violated his civil rights in doing so. Das v. Univ. of Conn. Bd. of Trustees, No. 13-6039748 (Conn. Super. Ct., Hartford, filed March 5, 2013). Dipak Das alleges that he was not allowed to introduce exhibits and testimony or to cross-examine witnesses during his five-day dismissal hearing, the culmination of an investigation that apparently found that he had fabricated and falsified data. He also alleges that the university notified 11 scientific journals before the investigative report on which the termination was based had been completed to advise them that he had “committed research misconduct,” and that the university did this “as a means of coercing the plaintiff into settling by harming his reputation and standing in the scientific community.”…
