A recent review has reportedly identified several flaws in the widely cited 1970s study which found that diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids could help fight coronary artery disease (CAD). George J. Fodor et al., “‘Fishing’ for the origins of the ‘Eskimos and heart disease’ story. Facts or wishful thinking? A review,” Canadian Journal of Cardiology, April 2014. In the original study, Danish researchers examined the diet of Greenland Eskimos and linked the high amount of fish oil to the purportedly low incidence of CAD. A team of researchers has reexamined the original study as well as more recent studies on the Eskimo population and found that Eskimos actually suffer CAD at the same rate as Caucasians. The 2014 study identifies several reasons why the original study’s source for CAD rates in the Greenland Eskimos—the annual reports produced by the Chief Medical Officer of Greenland—were likely insufficient, including poor reporting…
Category Archives Scientific/Technical Items
A recent study has claimed that children consume more artificial food colors (AFCs) than previously thought, raising concerns about potential health effects not addressed by federal guidelines. Laura Stevens, et al., “Amounts of Artificial Food Dyes and Added Sugars in Foods and Sweets Commonly Consumed by Children,” Clinical Pediatrics, April 2014. In addition to reporting the AFC content of individual brand-name foods and beverages, Purdue University researchers ultimately calculated that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certified 62 mg of AFCs per capita per day in 2010, up from 12 mg per capita per day in 1950. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), these levels of AFC consumption “are higher than the levels demonstrated in some clinical trials to impair some children’s behavior.” “In the 1970s and 1980s, many studies were conducted giving children 26 mg of a mixture of dyes,” one study author was…
Researchers have apparently found levels of radiation “too small to be of realistic concern” from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown in albacore tuna caught off the coasts of Washington and Oregon. Neville et al., “Trace Levels of Fukushima Disaster Radionuclides in East Pacific Albacore,” Environmental Science & Technology, April 2014. The study examined 26 Pacific albacore caught between 2008 and 2012 to compare radiation levels before and after the power station’s destruction in 2011. The researchers reported that levels of specific radioactive isotopes tripled in some of the fish caught after the disaster, but the levels present were still too small to have any noticeable effect on humans. “A year of eating albacore with these cesium traces is about the same dose of radiation as you get from spending 23 seconds in a stuffy basement from radon gas, or sleeping next to your spouse for 40 nights from the natural potassium-40…
A recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has reportedly found that “[p]eople who increased the amount of coffee they drank each day by more than one cup over a four-year period had an 11% lower risk for type 2 diabetes than those who made no changes to their coffee consumption.” Shilpa Bhupathiraju et al., “Changes in coffee intake and subsequent risk of type 2 diabetes: three large cohorts of US men and women,” Diabetologia, April 2014. Researchers examined data from the Nurses’ Health Study from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which evaluated participants’ diets every four years from 1986 to 2006 with a questionnaire. Their analysis showed that subjects who increased their coffee intake—the median increase was about a cup and a half each day—during the four-year period between questionnaires had an 11 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the next four-year period.…
Research presented at the Experimental Biology 2014 meeting has apparently confirmed the importance of dietary long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), concluding that lower intakes of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanoic acid (DHA) were predictive of cognitive decline. According to an April 27, 2014, press release, scientists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University used food-frequency questionnaires to assess the consumption of omega-3 PUFAs among 895 study participants, who also completed cognitive testing over a two-year follow-up period. The results evidently showed that participants in the lowest four quintiles of EPA and DHA consumption showed more signs of cognitive decline than those in the highest quintile. “While more research is needed to determine whether intake of fatty fish such as salmon, tuna and trout can help prevent against cognitive decline, our preliminary data support previous research showing that intake of these types of…
Researchers have reportedly found that nutrient levels in a pregnant woman’s diet before conception can permanently affect how the child’s genes function. Paula Dominguez-Salas et al., “Maternal nutrition at conception modulates DNA methylation of human metastable epialleles,” Nature Communications, April 2014. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) researchers selected 167 pregnant women from a group of 2,000 in the Gambia based on when their fetuses were conceived—some at the peak of rainy season, when the Gambian diet includes fewer calories but more nutrient-rich vegetables, and some at the peak of dry season, when the diet includes more calories but fewer vitamins. The study evidently found that the infants born from the rainy season conceptions had significantly higher rates of the chemical compounds that activate genes than the infants born from the dry season conceptions. These compounds—methyl groups—can determine whether a gene is activated or silenced in the child…
A recent study has reportedly identified an alternative hormonal receptor that mediates bisphenol A (BPA), raising questions about the purported link between BPA exposure, diabetes and obesity. Marie Tohmé, et al., “Estrogen-related receptor γ is an in vivo receptor of bisphenol A,” The Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, April 2014. Researchers with the Institute of Functional Genomics of Lyon (ENS de Lyon) and Deakin University apparently used a zebrafish model to demonstrate that “the in vivo action of [BPA] was mediated by the orphan nuclear receptor, ERRy (estrogen-related receptor),” which previous studies have implicated in metabolism regulation, insulin secretion, newborn obesity, and inner ear development. “We found that the way the BPA binds to and activates ERRy is 1000 times better than with the estrogen receptor. This means that ERRy is 1000 times more potent; a tiny amount of BPA will result in a huge…
A recent study has found that sleep deprivation can lead to unethical behavior, but caffeine can counteract the effect. David T. Welsh, et al., “Building a Self-Regulatory Model of Sleep Deprivation and Deception: The Role of Caffeine and Social Influence,” Journal of Applied Psychology, March 2014. Researchers kept volunteers awake overnight then gave half of the participants a piece of gum laced with 200 mg of caffeine. The researchers then created situations emulating work environments in which a boss or a peer pressured the participants to “cut ethical corners at work” by lying to earn extra money. The caffeinated subjects consistently refused to lie, while the non-caffeinated subjects were significantly more willing to participate in the deception. “Our results support supplying employees with caffeinated products,” the researchers report, although they warn that caffeine consumption is not a replacement for sleep. Issue 521
University of Pittsburgh and Purdue University researchers have purportedly found that pomegranate juice (PJ) heightened neurodegeneration in an animal model of Parkinson’s disease (PD) by increasing nigrostriatal terminal depletion, dopamine neuron loss, the inflammatory response, and caspase activation. Victor Tapias, et al., “Pomegranate Juice Exacerbates Oxidative Stress and Nigrostriatal Degeneration in Parkinson’s Disease,” Neurobiology of Aging, May 2014. Designed to examine the beverage’s potential neuroprotective effects, the study instead suggested that the polyphenols present in pomegranate juice exacerbated the nigrostriatal degeneration of rats with a rotenone-induced syndrome similar to PD. “Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of different types of polyphenols to attenuate or block neuronal death in animal models of neurodegeneration,” reported the study’s authors. “Although differences between PD models could explain a lack of beneficial efficacy of PJ in the rotenone model, the question remains as to why PJ would exacerbate rotenone toxicity—similarly to melatonin. A possible answer could…
Researchers with Cornell University and the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity have reportedly found that eye contact with cereal box spokes-characters “increased feelings of trust and connection to the brand, as well as choice of the brand over competitors.” Aviva Musicus, et al., “Eyes in the Aisles: Why is Cap’n Crunch Looking Down at My Child?,” Environment and Behavior, 2014. After analyzing 65 cereals in 10 grocery stores, the study’s authors claimed that cereals marketed to children were generally placed on the bottom two shelves and displayed characters featuring “a downward gaze at an angle of 9.67 degrees,” while those marketed to adults were generally placed on the top two shelves and displayed characters featuring a slightly upward gaze at an angle of 0.43 degrees. In addition, the study reported that participants asked to evaluate sample cereal boxes were more likely to choose one brand over another…
