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J Nutrition March, 2009 - SUMMARY - See longer synopses and links after summary.

I. INFLAMMATION IS A LEADING CAUSE OF CHRONIC DISEASE
1. Cinnamon helps your liver health, especially if you drink liquor - Acute and chronic consumption of alcohol can cause increased intestinal permeability and bacterial overgrowth, recent studies have suggested that cinnamon extract may have antiinflammatory effects.
2. DHA [fishoil] reduces unwanted inflammation
3. Obesity and inflammation contribute to osteoporosis
4. Vitamin D and calcium intake reduces unwanted inflammation. 5.Vitamin D supplements help premenopausal women - [800 IU vitamin D3] during winter achieved optimal [blood vitamin D levels]

II. WEIGHT CONTROL
6. Fiber intake reduces fat and weight gain in women
7. Protein diet sustains weight loss
8. SYMPOSIUM [titles free in table of contents]- FOOD ADDICTION IS REAL -
A. Fat and sugar-rich foods can cause addiction
B. How foods are consumed leads to addiction
C. How sugar and fat bingeing causes addiction
D. Details of addiction processes
9. Weight loss diets with different compositions of fat, protein, and carbs are all equally effective. The only significant factor is to control how many calories are in your diet.

III. PREGNANCY/BABY NOTES
10. Vegetable intake while pregnant benefits fetal health - Study of 787 infants
11. Most infants need more fishoil

IV. NUTRIENTS TO REMEMBER
12. Folate reduces your cancer risk- Epidemiological studies suggest that low dietary folate increases risk for intestinal neoplasia.
13. Soy from conception has benefits
14. Zinc deficiency in developing nations

V. FOR HEALTH
15. Friendship as a Health Factor - "In a string of hot articles, two social scientists report that obesity, smoking, and other facets of health "spread" in networks. As the two friends expand their theory, doubters sharpen their questions"
16. Hypertension reduced by DASH diet, but NOT BY DAIRY intake

SYNOPSIS OF ARTICLES THIS MONTH

1. Cinnamon helps your liver health, especially if you drink liquor - Acute and chronic consumption of alcohol can cause increased intestinal permeability and bacterial overgrowth, thereby increasing portal endotoxin levels. This barrier impairment subsequently leads to an activation of hepatic Kupffer cells and increased release of reactive oxygen species as well as of tumor necrosis factor-{alpha} (TNF{alpha}). Recent studies have suggested that cinnamon extract may have antiinflammatory effects.

2. DHA [fishoil] reduces unwanted inflammation - Dietary (n-3) PUFA reduce inflammation, an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. ..In conclusion, DHA may lessen the inflammatory response by altering blood lipids and their fatty acid composition.

3. Obesity and inflammation contribute to osteoporosis - Obesity induces a low-grade systemic chronic inflammatory condition for which macrophages are responsible. We hypothesized that obesity affects osteoclastogenesis by acting on bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMM). Male mice were fed a high-fat diet (45% of energy) or a standard diet (10% of energy) for 13 wk. We found that the density of the femurs of obese mice was significantly lower than that of the femurs of lean mice.

4. Vitamin D and calcium intake reduces unwanted inflammation - The consumption of calcium, vitamin D, and dairy products may be associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, whether this reduction is due to calcium, vitamin D, or other components of dairy products is not clear. ..Concentrations of C-peptide were 20% lower among men who had plasma concentrations of 25(OH)D in the highest quartile compared with those in the lowest quartile (P-trend = 0.08); there was no association in women (P = 0.3). The inverse association between calcium intake and the plasma C-peptide concentration was stronger in hypertensive individuals of both sexes. The difference in the C-peptide concentrations between extreme quartiles of calcium intake was 17% in men and 20% in women. Plasma concentrations of C-peptide for the combination of the highest tertiles of calcium intake and plasma 25(OH)D compared with the opposite extreme were 35% lower (P = 0.03) in men and 12% lower (P = 0.01) in women. The results suggest that calcium intake or systemic vitamin D status, after adjustment for intake of dairy products, is associated with decreased insulin secretion.
5.Vitamin D supplements help premenopausal women - The serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] response to daily supplementation with [800 IU vitamin D3] during winter in predominantly white premenopausal women living in Maine was measured and the effects of body composition and hormonal contraceptive use on baseline serum 25(OH)D concentrations and the response to supplementation were examined. ..Daily supplementation with 20 µg D3 [800 IU vitamin D3] during winter achieved optimal [blood vitamin D levels] in 80% of participants, indicating that this dose is adequate to optimize vitamin D status in most young women in Maine.

11. Fiber intake reduces fat and weight gain in women - In conclusion, increasing dietary fiber significantly reduces the risk of gaining weight and fat in women, independent of several potential confounders, including physical activity, dietary fat intake, and others. Fiber's influence seems to occur primarily through reducing energy intake over time.

6. Protein diet sustains weight loss - Diets with increased protein and reduced carbohydrates (PRO) are effective for weight loss... The PRO diet was more effective for fat mass loss and body composition improvement during initial weight loss and long-term maintenance and produced sustained reductions in serum triacylglycerol and increases in HDL compared with the conventional high-carbohydrate diets.

7. SYMPOSIUM [titles free in table of contents]- FOOD ADDICTION IS REAL -
A. Fat and sugar-rich foods can cause addiction - We propose that specific foods, especially those that are rich in fat and/or sugar, are capable of promoting "addiction"-like behavior and neuronal change under certain conditions. That is, these foods, although highly palatable, are not addictive per se but become so following a restriction/binge pattern of consumption. Such consummatory patterns have been associated with increased risk for comorbid conditions such as obesity, early weight gain, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse as well as with relapse and treatment challenges.
B. How foods are consumed leads to addiction - Palatable foods are not responsible for the obesity problem, because even nonpalatable foods can come to be desired and potentially overconsumed. It may be the way in which foods are consumed (e.g. alternating access and restriction) rather than their sensory properties that leads to an addictive eating pattern.
C. How sugar and fat bingeing causes addiction - Finally, in relation to eating disorders and obesity, we discuss how fat may be the macronutrient that results in excess body weight, and sweet taste in the absence of fat may be largely responsible for producing addictive-like behaviors that include a withdrawal syndrome.
D. Details of addiction processes - Food intake is regulated by 2 complementary drives: the homeostatic and hedonic pathways. The homeostatic pathway controls energy balance by increasing the motivation to eat following depletion of energy stores. In contrast, hedonic or reward-based regulation can override the homeostatic pathway during periods of relative energy abundance by increasing the desire to consume foods that are highly palatable. In contrast to the consumption of food, the motivation to use drugs of abuse is mediated only by the reward pathway. ..Finally, we discuss the clinical implications of these neuronal adaptations in the context of obesity and neuropsychiatric syndromes such as bulimia nervosa and Prader-Willi syndrome.

8. FROM THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE - Weight loss diets with different compositions of fat, protein, and carbs are all equally effective. The only significant factor is to control how many calories are in your diet, not the relative amount of fat, protein, and carbs. In a study of 811 obese people over 2 years, all diets were found equally effective for all participants, an average of about 9 pounds.

9. Vegetable intake while pregnantt benefits fetal health - Study of 787 infants. There was no association between fruit consumption and birth outcomes. Our findings indicate that vegetable consumption throughout pregnancy may have a beneficial effect on fetal growth.

10. Most infants need more fishoil - These results demonstrate a moderate shortfall in [omega-3] intake in Canadian children and a nutrient gap for the [long chain omega-3s - fish oil], including DHA, when comparing intakes for this population to suggested and recommended intakes.

11. Folate reduces your cancer risk- Epidemiological studies suggest that low dietary folate increases risk for intestinal neoplasia.

12. Soy from conception has benefits - We studied the effects of lifetime exposure to dietary soy isoflavones in an azoxymethane (AOM)-induced rat colon cancer model. ..Our results suggest that pre- and postnatal exposure to dietary soy isoflavones suppresses the growth of colon tumors in male rats.

13. Zinc deficiency in developing nations - Zinc deficiency is a major public health problem in many developing countries. Women of reproductive age in developing countries are highly vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies, including that of zinc.

14. FROM SCIENCE - Friendship as a Health Factor - "In a string of hot articles, two social scientists report that obesity, smoking, and other facets of health "spread" in networks. As the two friends expand their theory, doubters sharpen their questions"

15. Hypertension reduced by DASH diet, but NOT BY DAIRY intake- Diet and lifestyle are important for maintaining a healthy blood pressure (BP)...We conclude that variations in BP in a general middle-aged Dutch population cannot be explained by overall dairy intake. .. Hypertension is a major public health burden. In 2025, 29% of the world population is expected to have hypertension. Hypertension is associated with a doubled risk of cardiovascular disease and may account for 30% of all cardiovascular disease events . The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension [DASH diet] trial showed that a diet emphasizing increased fruit, vegetables, and low-fat dairy consumption, in addition to decreased total and saturated fat intake, substantially lowered blood pressure.

I AM SURE GLAD THAT YOU ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR BODY. PLEASE HELP YOUR FRIENDS TO PAY ATTENTION TOO!