AJCN Nov, 2006

[Older women benefit from reasonable weight loss and exercise] Weight loss in older women: influences on body composition Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 957-958 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/84/5/957] "69.1% of women older than 60 y were overweight or obese (2) and 49.8% of this age group reported trying to lose weight (3)… It is well established that, during the latter adult years, skeletal muscle mass decreases and body fat becomes centralized (4, 5). Characterization of the aging process in skeletal muscle mass has identified losses in muscle mass, force, and strength, which collectively are defined as sarcopenia. In the elderly, the loss of skeletal muscle mass is correlated with physical impairment and disability. Persons who are obese and sarcopenic are reported to have worse outcomes, including functional impairment, disabilities, and falls (6). .. These data provide no evidence that age should be considered a risk factor for modest weight loss in obese older persons."

[EVERYONE BENEFITS FROM A VITAMIN E SUPPLEMENT] How much vitamin E? ... Just enough!
Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 959-960 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/959] "Some investigators even advocated that vitamin E supplements should be avoided, despite reports that 93% of men and 96% of women in the United States do not consume the recommended daily amount of dietary vitamin E...The Food and Nutrition Board, in its latest revision of dietary nutrient intakes (5), asked the question, "What is the optimal antioxidant intake for the reduction of chronic disease risk?" This is a very different question from "What is the minimum amount of a nutrient required to prevent a deficiency symptom?" And that difference brings us to the crux of the problem of determining "how much vitamin E is enough?"...Oxidative stress is associated with chronic diseases largely because inflammatory responses have an oxidative stress component. Thus, decreasing oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant intakes ought to decrease the cellular damage caused by reactive oxygen species created during inflammatory reactions, thereby protecting tissues against injury, and thus, hypothetically, reducing the incidence of chronic disease. However, most vitamin E supplementation intervention trials have not shown a reduction in the risk of chronic disease, although two studies did show such a reduction (7, 8)...Wright et al describe a cohort of 29 092 men who were followed prospectively for 19 y, during which time 13 380 of these men died. It is striking that the authors report that the men in the highest quintile of baseline serum concentrations of -tocopherol had significantly lower risks of total and cause-specific mortality, including cardiovascular disease and cancer, than did the men in the lowest quintile of baseline serum concentrations of -tocopherol. Wright et al also noted that those with higher serum concentrations of vitamin E had significant reductions in mortality due to lung or prostate cancer, ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke, and respiratory disease... We now have a critical piece of information—that is, serum -tocopherol concentrations of 13–14 mg/L (30–33 µmol/L) optimally reduce mortality due to chronic disease. .. However, 12 mg vitamin E is an amount that is greater than that estimated to be consumed by 93% of men and 96% of women in the United States,... 15 mg/d may be a vitamin E intake that is achieved only with supplements, given the dietary habits of most Americans (11)..."

[Folic acid supplementation also important] Population reference values for plasma total homocysteine concentrations in US adults after the fortification of cereals with folic acid Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 989-994 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/989] "Folic acid fortification has resulted in a dramatic increase in folate intake in the United States. Folate intake is inversely associated with circulating total homocysteine (tHcy). Elevated tHcy is directly associated with cardiovascular disease risk...Results: Plasma concentrations of tHcy were higher in men than in women and in older persons than in younger persons..."

[Exercise and dieting equally effective in preventing diabetes] Improvements in glucose tolerance and insulin action induced by increasing energy expenditure or decreasing energy intake: a randomized controlled trial Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 1033-1042. [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/1033] "Objective: The objective was to assess the hypothesis that weight loss through exercise-induced energy expenditure improves glucoregulation and circulating factors involved in insulin action to a greater extent than does similar weight loss through calorie restriction...Conclusions: Weight loss induced by exercise training or calorie restriction improves glucose tolerance and insulin action in nonobese, healthy, middle-aged men and women. However, it does not appear that exercise training–induced weight loss results in greater improvements than those that result from calorie restriction alone."

[Breastfeeding reduces risk of infant diabetes] Does breastfeeding influence risk of type 2 diabetes in later life? A quantitative analysis of published evidence Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 1043-1054 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/1043] "Conclusion: Breastfeeding in infancy is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, with marginally lower insulin concentrations in later life, and with lower blood glucose and serum insulin concentrations in infancy."

[Magnesium and fiber very important - easy to get in well-chosen cereal] Dietary magnesium and fiber intakes and inflammatory and metabolic indicators in middle-aged subjects from a population-based cohort Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 1062-1069 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/1062] "Background: Type 2 diabetes (DM), metabolic syndrome (MetS), and inflammation are linked to reduced magnesium and fiber intakes; these associations are attenuated by adjustment for each of these nutrients...Conclusions: Reduced fiber intake was significantly associated with metabolic abnormalities; the magnesium effect might be confounded by fiber being in foods that also provided magnesium. Lower magnesium and fiber intakes were linked to hs-CRP 3 mg/L in both the entire cohort and healthy persons."

[Lutein and zeaxanthin essential to prevent macular degeneration] Predictors of optical density of lutein and zeaxanthin in retinas of older women in the Carotenoids in Age-Related Eye Disease Study, an ancillary study of the Women's Health Initiative Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 1107-1122 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/1107] " Macular pigment optical density is directly related to dietary intake of lutein and zeaxanthin but even more strongly to serum concentrations, which may reflect unmeasured physical and medical factors that influence the uptake, distribution, and utilization of lutein and zeaxanthin. Higher abdominal body fat and diabetes are related to lower MPOD. Unknown predictors of retinal carotenoids remain."

[Enough calcium important to children] Fat mass gain is lower in calcium-supplemented than in unsupplemented preschool children with low dietary calcium intakes Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 1123-1127 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/1123] "Conclusion: These findings support a weak relation between changes in fat mass gain and calcium intake in preschool children, who typically consume below recommended amounts of dietary calcium." In evaluation of people in the US reported previously, calcium intake correlates inversely with body fat. The odds of being fatter in the US drops from 1, to 0.75, to 0.4, to 0.16 for increasing quartiles of calcium intake.

[Women require folic acid earlier in pregnancy] Patterns and predictors of folic acid supplement use among pregnant women: the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 1134-1141 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/1134] "Objective: We examined the patterns and predictors of maternal folic acid supplement use from 2 mo before pregnancy through the eighth month of pregnancy...Conclusions: Most women started folic acid supplementation too late with respect to the prevention of neural tube defects. More effective intervention programs to improve periconceptional intakes of folic acid are needed and should consider both demographic and socioeconomic factors."

[Soft drinks and high fructose corn syrup cause pancreatic cancer] Consumption of sugar and sugar-sweetened foods and the risk of pancreatic cancer in a prospective study Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 1171-1176 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/1171] "Conclusion: High consumption of sugar and high-sugar foods may be associated with a greater risk of pancreatic cancer." Odds are 1.69 for sugar, 1.93 for soft drinks, and 1.51 for sweetened stewed fruit.

[Eating meat increases risk of bladder cancer] Meat intake and bladder cancer risk in 2 prospective cohort studies
Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 1177-1183 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/1177] "Background: Nitrosamines, which are known bladder carcinogens, or their precursors are found in certain meat items...Conclusions: ...frequent consumption of bacon was associated with an elevated risk of bladder cancer"

[Supplemental Vitamin E is important for maintaining good health!] Higher baseline serum concentrations of vitamin E are associated with lower total and cause-specific mortality in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study Am J Clin Nutr 2006 84: 1200-1207 [http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/84/5/1200] "Conclusion: Higher circulating concentrations of -tocopherol within the normal range are associated with significantly lower total and cause-specific mortality in older male smokers." Vitamin E functions include antioxidant activity, inhibition of protein kinase C activity, modulation of gene expression, blocking cell proliferation, helping immune system, blocking sex-stteroid signaling, and blocking blood vessel formation to tumors.