Food Law Prof Blog

Water and Health: Too Much or Not Enough?

According to a new scientific review published by the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have determined that there is no evidence that drinking a lot of water has any beneficial affect to the human body, and in fact may be more harmful than beneficial. From a Yahoo News article:

Drinking a lot of water is claimed to be helpful for everything from clearing toxins and keeping organs in tip-top shape to keeping weight off and improving skin tone.  At best, however, the evidence to back up these claims is weak, according to a new scientific review published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

According to Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, “There is what I call an urban myth that drinking a lot of water is a healthy thing to do and it leads to people toting around plastic water bottles all day drinking water.”

Furthermore, there are a couple of circumstances where drinking a lot of water may be actually unhealthy.

Link to Abstract of the article, entitled “Just Add Water” by Dan Negoiano and Stanley Goldfarb.

Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student Matt Dudas for preparing this post.

Study of Popular New Cholesterol Drug Shows its Effects are Limited

The Schering-Plough developed drug, Vytorin, is marketed in America to not only lower LDL cholesterol levels, but also to limit plaque buildup in arteries.  A recent study has shown, however, that Vytorin may not be any more effective in controlling cholesterol than more established, cheaper generically branded drugs. From the Associated Press:

. . . Leading doctors urged a return to older, tried-and-true treatments for high cholesterol after hearing full results Sunday of a failed trial of Vytorin.

Millions of Americans already take the drug or one of its components, Zetia. But doctors were stunned to learn that Vytorin failed to improve heart disease even though it worked as intended to reduce three key risk factors.

"People need to turn back to statins," said Yale University cardiologist Dr. Harlan Krumholz, referring to Lipitor, Crestor and other widely used brands. "We know that statins are good drugs. We know that they reduce risks."

Doctors have long focused on lowering LDL or bad cholesterol as a way to prevent heart disease. Statins like Merck & Co.'s Zocor, which recently came out in generic form, do this, as do niacin, fibrates and other medicine.

Vytorin, which came out in 2004, combines Zocor with Schering-Plough Corp.'s Zetia, which went on sale in 2002 . . .

The results show the drug had "no result — zilch. In no subgroup, in no segment, was there any added benefit" for reducing plaque, said Dr. John Kastelein, the Dutch scientist who led the study.

That happened even though Vytorin dramatically lowered LDL, fats in the blood called triglycerides and a measure of artery inflammation — CRP.

Link to the abstract of the study on the New England Journal of Medicine website.

Link to more information on Dr. John Kastelein.

Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student Anne Rucker for preparing this post.

Taste is not the reason for consuming sweets

A study in the March 27 issue of the scientific journal Neuron reports that mice prefers sweets, even when they can’t taste. From a CBC News Report:

Researchers at Duke University Center in Durham, N.C., genetically altered the brains of mice, making them unable to taste "sweet,” then gave them either a higher-calorie sugar solution or a non-caloric artificially sweetened one. 

“They found the mice showed a decided preference for the higher-calorie sugar solution — indicating that the calorie content — not the taste — likely governed their decision.”

“The preference for the sugar developed after ten minutes of an hour-long feeding session, they found.”

“The study shows that even in the absence of taste, physiologic changes in the body let the brain know a high-calorie food has been ingested.”

Link to the online study in Neuron: Food Reward in the Absence of Taste Receptor Signaling

Link to Health Day News report on this topic.

Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student Joan Pearson for preparing this post.

Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, and Heart Disease --not connected

This is a video of a presentation to British Medical Association last November.  The presenter is a physician, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick.  He presents data about saturated fat, blood cholesterol, and heart disease and makes a very credible and compelling argument that eating saturated fat does not cause heart disease and that high blood cholesterol does not predict heart disease.There are 5 parts to Dr. Kendrick's presentation. If the embedded video doesn't work, here's the YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPPYaVcXo1I 

Study shows association between Glycemic Index and Disease Risk

Study published in the Amercian Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Glycemic index, glycemic load, and chronic disease risk—a meta-analysis of observational studies

From an article on Medical News Today.com:

The first meta-analysis to evaluate the association between the GI (glycemic index) and GL (glycemic load) of the diet, and the risk of developing common lifestyle-related diseases was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition March 1 [2008; 87 (3)].

The study provides compelling evidence that diets with a high GI or a high GL will increase your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. It also shows there is good evidence for links between high blood glucose and gall stones and some types of cancer.

Conducted by Alan Barclay, Joanna McMillan Price, Prof Jennie Brand-Miller and colleagues, the meta-analysis systematically reviewed the results of 37 prospective cohort studies of nearly two million (1,950,198) healthy men and women worldwide.

Abstract: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition March 1 [2008; 87 (3)].

Study finds natural trans fats not as bad as industrial trans fats

From Food Productiondaily.com (Europe):

Trans fatty acids are not created equal, according to the results of the European-wide TRANSFACT study, with natural sources not sharing the detrimental health effects as their industrially-produced counterparts.

"The TRANSFACT study is the first to directly compare the effects of food products containing trans-fatty acids (TFAs) from industrially produced and those containing TFAs from natural sources on CVD risk markers," wrote lead author Jean-Michel Chardigny in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Though trace amounts of trans fats are found naturally, in dairy and meats, the vast majority are formed during the partial hydrogenation of vegetable oil (PHVO) that converts the oil into semi-solids for a variety of food applications.

Read the article

Study shows diet soda consumption may be associated with metabolic syndrome

A recent study (abstract) found a surprising association between diet soda consumption and metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, obesity, etc.).  The study (abstract published online Jan 22 in Circulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association) was a population study that can only observe overall effects and find correlations, but not show causation.

A Purdue University study on rats released Sunday (Feb 10, 2008) and published in the Journal of Behavioral Neuroscience, however, DOES seem to show a cause and effect relationship. The article summarizes the issue as our brains being confused by something that is sweet tasting yet has no calories, to compensate our brain tells us to keep eating, resulting in the obvious diseases and weight gain.

Here is an ABC News interview with diet doctor, Dr. Marie Savard, discussing both studies.  Dr. Savard explains that something about diet soda changes body chemistry.

ABC News video interview

Here's another video production. I'm pretty sure the dietician here gets the mechanism exactly wrong. Insulin does not give us energy -- it makes us hungrier.

Revised February 14, 2008.  Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student James Horan for finding the rat study and contributing to this post.

JUNK FOOD LEADS TO PRISON?

Oxford University Professor John Stein and a team of scientists plan to study the whether the increase in the consumption of junk food in the last fifty years has lead to more violent behavior in young adults. From a January 29, 2008, article in The Independent:

Professor Stein and “[t]he university will lead the £1.4m study in which
1,000 males aged 16 to 21 from three young offenders' institutions in England and Scotland will be randomly allocated either the vitamin-and-mineral supplements or a placebo, and followed over 12 months.”

In a pilot study of 231 prisoners by the same researchers, published in 2002, violent incidents while in custody were cut by a more than a third among those given the supplements. Overall, offences recorded by the prison authorities fell by a quarter.”

Link to press release from the research charity the Wellcome Trust.

Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student Matthew Dudas for preparing this post.

Study finds Children on Organic Diets have Lower Pesticide Exposure

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer this week reported on a study published by Environmental Health Perspectives, which found that children who ate non-organic produce were found to have measurable amounts of pesticides in their systems while those children who ate organic produce were found to have no pesticides in their systems. 

From the article:

"The transformation is extremely rapid," said Chensheng Lu, the principal author of the study published online in the current issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.

"Once you switch from conventional food to organic, the pesticides (malathion and chlorpyrifos) that we can measure in the urine disappears. The level returns immediately when you go back to the conventional diets," said Lu, a professor at Emory University's School of Public Health and a leading authority on pesticides and children.

Within eight to 36 hours of the children switching to organic food, the pesticides were no longer detected in the testing.

The subjects for his testing were 21 children, ages 3 to 11, from two elementary schools and a Montessori preschool on Mercer Island.

Note:the news article says that the study was published "the current issue" of Environmental Health Perspectives, but the study was actually published in 2005, and as far as we can tell, there has not been a more recent version published.

Link to Abstract on the Environmental Health Perspectives website.
Link to Full Study (pdf) at OrganicConsumers.org
Link to information on Chensheng Lu

Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student Anne Rucker, who prepared this post.

Better Childhood Nutrition Increases Economic Prosperity

A study published this week in The Lancet  showed a link between early childhood nutrition and economic prosperity later in live. From the International Food Policy Research Institute Press Release:

Washington, DC—Feeding very young children a high-energy, high-protein supplement leads to increased economic productivity in adulthood, especially for men, according to a study published in the current issue of The Lancet, a leading medical journal.

Boys who received the supplement, known as atole, in the first two years of life earned on average 46 percent higher wages as adults, while boys who received atole in their first three years earned 37 percent higher wages on average. Those who first received the supplement after age three did not gain any economic benefits as adults.

This study is the first to present direct evidence of the effects of early childhood nutrition programs on adult economic productivity and incomes. The research was conducted in Guatemala by Emory University, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama, the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlebury College.

Article: Effect of a nutrition intervention during early childhood on economic productivity in Guatemalan adults, The Lancet 2008; 371:411-416 (requires login but registration is free).

Reuters: http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL31352837.html

Selective Publication of Antidepressant Studies

While the findings presented in the following article are about antidepressant drugs, a statistician friend told me of similar behavior with respect to studies on the safety of a popular artificial sweetener. The questions are worth asking: what studies are proposed?  What studies are funded? What results are published?

In the January 17, 2008, New England Journal of Medicine: 

Selective Publication of Antidepressant Trials and its Influence on Apparent Efficacy,358 N.E.J.M. 252 (2008), by Erick H. Turner, M.D., Annette M. Matthews, M.D., Eftihia Linardatos, B.S., Robert A. Tell, L.C.S.W., and Robert Rosenthal, Ph.D.

Abstract:

Background Evidence-based medicine is valuable to the extent that the evidence base is complete and unbiased. Selective publication of clinical trials — and the outcomes within those trials — can lead to unrealistic estimates of drug effectiveness and alter the apparent risk–benefit ratio.  

Methods We obtained reviews from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for studies of 12 antidepressant agents involving 12,564 patients. We conducted a systematic literature search to identify matching publications. For trials that were reported in the literature, we compared the published outcomes with the FDA outcomes. We also compared the effect size derived from the published reports with the effect size derived from the entire FDA data set. 

Results Among 74 FDA-registered studies, 31%, accounting for 3449 study participants, were not published. Whether and how the studies were published were associated with the study outcome. A total of 37 studies viewed by the FDA as having positive results were published; 1 study viewed as positive was not published. Studies viewed by the FDA as having negative or questionable results were, with 3 exceptions, either not published (22 studies) or published in a way that, in our opinion, conveyed a positive outcome (11 studies). According to the published literature, it appeared that 94% of the trials conducted were positive. By contrast, the FDA analysis showed that 51% were positive. Separate meta-analyses of the FDA and journal data sets showed that the increase in effect size ranged from 11 to 69% for individual drugs and was 32% overall. 

Conclusions We cannot determine whether the bias observed resulted from a failure to submit manuscripts on the part of authors and sponsors, from decisions by journal editors and reviewers not to publish, or both. Selective reporting of clinical trial results may have adverse consequences for researchers, study participants, health care professionals, and patients.

American Institute for Cancer Research releases Second Expert Report on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer

News release:

WASHINGTON, DC; October 24, 2007 – The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) will hold a news conference on October 31 to issue the findings of its Second Expert Report, Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective, the most comprehensive report of its kind conducted to date. The report is the result of a five-year process involving nine independent teams of scientists from around the world and 21 international experts who reviewed and analyzed over 7,000 large-scale studies. The report finds convincing evidence that specific foods and beverages should be limited and identifies a number of lifestyle factors that are cancer-protective. Based on this comprehensive assessment, the report contains 10 recommendations for cancer prevention drafted by the AICR Expert Panel.

Study says Americans prefer junk food

From Science Daily:

Price And Taste Trump Nutrition When Americans Eat Out

Americans are less willing to pay more for healthy dishes, less knowledgeable about healthy menu items, and more likely to consider healthy items bland-tasting than they were three years ago, finds a Temple University analysis.

Explaining Chocolate Cravings -- Nutrimetabonomics

Metabolism researchers wanted to know what they would find if they compared people who like chocolate to people who don't like chocolate . . .

In fact, the study was delayed because it took a year for the researchers to find 11 men who don't eat chocolate.

Kochhar compared the blood and urine of those 11 men, who he jokingly called "weird" for their indifference to chocolate, to 11 similar men who ate chocolate daily. They were all healthy, not obese, and were fed the same food for five days.

The researchers examined the byproducts of metabolism in their blood and urine and found that a dozen substances were significantly different between the two groups. For example, the amino acid glycine was higher in chocolate lovers, while taurine (an active ingredient in energy drinks) was higher in people who didn't eat chocolate. Also chocolate lovers had lower levels of the bad cholesterol, LDL.

more from AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein

And the blurb from the Journal of Proteome Research:

A molecular picture of chocoholics

With an approach called "nutrimetabonomics", scientists can correlate metabolic phenotypes with a behavioral phenotype. In this JPR research paper, subjects' preferences for rich, creamy chocolate appear to be "imprinted" on their metabonomes. The body (and its associated microflora) seems to become attuned to a particular diet, which can have both positive and negative health consequences, but which also could ultimately open the door to novel dietary regimes. Thus, a person's metabolism could be nudged one way or another. Go to Research Profile

Genome Evolution Influenced by Diet

It seems we humans are evolving to digest the food available.  Maybe someday we will be able to eat junk food and stay healthy!  A New York Times article, Study Finds Evidence of Genetic Response to Diet by Nicholas Wade, describes research showing that people from countries with high starch diets have genetic adaptations to their diet:

Researchers studying the enzyme that converts starch to simple sugars like glucose have found that people living in countries with a high-starch diet produce considerably more of the enzyme than people who eat a low-starch diet.

The reason is an evolutionary one. People in high-starch countries have many extra copies of the amylase gene which makes the starch-converting enzyme, a group led by George H. Perry of Arizona State University and Nathaniel J. Dominy of the University of California, Santa Cruz, reported yesterday in the journal Nature Genetics.

The production of the extra copies seems to have been favored by natural selection, according to a genetic test, the authors say. If so, the selective pressure could have occurred when people first started to grow cereals like wheat and barley at the beginning of the Neolithic revolution some 10,000 years ago, or even much earlier.

Link to the article

Soft Drinks Linked to Heart Disease

An article published in Circulation earlier this week reports an association between soft drink (diet or regular) consumption and risk of heart disease.  Data from the Framingham nurses study showed that even one soft drink per day greatly increased the likelihood of heart disease.  The really interesting aspect of this study is that the researchers found a link between diet soda consumption and heart disease, so it is can't just be the extra sugar calories. 

And since nobody can explain why diet soda would be correlated with heart disease, for once the reports all carefully emphasize that this kind of study can only show an association, not a cause and effect relationship.

AP Article on the International Herald Tribune website

More food chain contamination: Plants uptake antibiotics

From Eurekalert:

MADISON, WI, JULY 09, 2007- Scientists at the University of Minnesota have been evaluating the impact of antibiotic feeding in livestock production on the environment. This particular study, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), evaluated whether food crops accumulate antibiotics from soils spread with manure that contains antibiotics. Results from the study are published in the July-August 2007 issue of the Journal of Environmental Quality. The research was also presented in Indianapolis, IN at the Annual Soil Science Society of America Meeting in November 2006.

Plant uptake was evaluated in a greenhouse study involving three food crops: corn, lettuce, and potato. Plants were grown on soil modified with liquid hog manure containing Sulfamethazine, a commonly used veterinary antibiotic. This antibiotic was taken up by all three crops. Concentrations of antibiotics were found in the plant leaves. Concentrations in plant tissue also increased as the amount of antibiotics present in the manure increased. It also diffused into potato tubers, which suggests that root crops, such as potatoes, carrots, and radishes, that directly come in contact with soil may be particularly vulnerable to antibiotic contamination.

View the Journal of Environmental Quality article abstract

Poor nutrition associated with increased asthma

Scientific American reports on a study published recently in the journal Chest :

A new study shows that diet may be a key culprit in asthma, a chronic swelling of the airways that affects some 20 million Americans, six million of them children.

Researchers report in the journal Chest that adolescents are more likely to experience respiratory problems if their diets are deficient in certain nutrients.

The full study is only available by subscription, but the abstract reports an association, not a clear cause and effect. 

Abstract: Low Dietary Nutrient Intakes and Respiratory Health in Adolescents, Jane S. Burns, ScD; Douglas W. Dockery, ScD; Lucas M. Neas, ScD; Joel Schwartz, PhD; Brent A. Coull, PhD; Mark Raizenne, ScD and Frank E. Speizer, MD

Chemicals in air may accumulate in food chain

From Scientific American.com:

Out of Thin Air:  New Test Reveals Thousands More Potentially Dangerous Chemicals

Studying the interactions of industrial chemicals in air reveals that thousands may accumulate in fat as they travel up the food chain

By David Biello

The insecticide DDT is infamous for traveling up the food chain and, in addition to its other ills, making the shells of bald eagle eggs paper thin. The carcinogen entered the food chain in small concentrations, but because of its ability to hide in fat molecules, it reached larger and larger concentrations (a process called biomagnification) as it traveled from algae to larvae to fish to eagle—leading to its 1972 ban in the U.S. To avoid similar perils in the future, governments and chemists have begun evaluating thousands of everyday chemicals to assess their safety by measuring how easily they dissolve in water versus fat. Those that dissolve easily in water usually do not build up in the food chain.

But this approach entirely overlooks a large portion of Earth's food web: air-breathing animals, from rodents to humans. A new study has measured how easily a chemical moves from the lungs into air versus how easily it dissolves in fats and water. The research, reported in Science, reveals that thousands of chemicals may be capable of building up in air-breathing animals, if not water-breathing ones.

Read the rest of the article (how can you resist?)

Diabetes and Obesity More Likely in Harlem

From ABC News:

A new report says Harlem residents are at a greater risk for obesity and diabetes.

According to the Health Department East and Central Harlem's health food availability is very low.

The report says Harlem has many bodegas and corner stores but they are about half as likely to carry low-fat dairy products and seven times less likely to offer certain common vegetables as their Upper East Side counterparts.

"Bodegas are convenient but offer fewer healthy options," said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden. "And there are three times as many fast-food restaurants per person in Harlem as there are in nearby neighborhoods. Diabetes and heart disease - which are related to an unhealthy diet - cause more than a third of deaths in East and Central Harlem each year. All New Yorkers should have the option to buy healthy foods in their neighborhoods."

"Eating Well in Harlem: How Available Are Healthy Foods?" compares all food establishments in East and Central Harlem to a sample of Upper East Side locations.

Read the story (includes link to the study)

University of Wisconsin Survey says Americans Defer to Scientists

From a UW News Story by Dennis Chaptman:

When it comes to forming opinions on controversial scientific issues, Americans show a strong deference to the views of the scientific community, according to a study co-authored by a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher.

Dominique Brossard, an assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, says a random survey of 1,500 New York state residents shows they lean heavily on scientists as they form opinions on agricultural biotechnology. . . .

Brossard says the American educational system is where citizens learn to lean heavily on the scientific community for answers on science policy.

"Transmitted to citizens by the educational system and popular culture, deference to scientific authority …  means that when science controversies do occur, deference likely generates among Americans an almost natural pro-science or pro-technology view," according to the research, published in the spring 2007 International Journal of Public Opinion Research.

Chemical "obesogens" may play role in obesity

A recent Washington Post article describes recent and ongoing scientific research on "endocrine disruptors" -- chemicals that can trigger fat-cell activity -- a process scientists call adipogenesis.

"[We discovered] that tributyltin disrupted genetic interactions that regulate fat-cell activity in animals. "Exposure to tributyltin is increasing the number of fat cells, so the individual will get fatter faster as these cells produce more of the hormones that say 'feed me,'" Blumberg said. The exposed animals, he added, remain predisposed to obesity for life.

Retha R. Newbold, a developmental biologist at the NIEHS, has seen similar lifetime effects in her work with diethylstilbestrol (DES), a potent synthetic estrogen she has studied for 30 years.

Newbold's research has shown that mice exposed to DES during early development produced more fat cells, larger fat cells, and more abdominal fat than those not exposed. Exposed mice became obese adults and remained obese even on reduced calorie and increased exercise regimes. Like tributyltin, DES appeared to permanently disrupt the hormonal mechanisms regulating body weight.

"Once these genetic changes happen in utero, they are irreversible and with the individual for life," Newbold said.

Washington Post article by Elizabeth Grossman

Funding for E. coli research

Fresh Express, a producer of bagged lettuce, will offer up to 2 million dollars to researchers investigating ways to make bagged produce safe from E. coli.  Although Fresh Express salads have not been implicated in the recent E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks, the company is based in central California near the probable source of contamination.  Parent company Chiquita Brands International reported third-quarter losses of $96 million last year that it attributed to consumer concern about eating leafy greens, according to the Associated Press. (AP article in the Monterey Herald.)  Same story at KSBW  website with links to related news items.

Are trans fats linked to infertility?

Fox News's WebMD reports on a recent study showing that eating trans fats may contribute to infertility.  But leading nutrition expert Marion Nestle is not convinced.

I am still reading exams, so I can't take the time to read the study myself, but I have a great deal of respect for Professor Nestle.  According to an article on Fox News's WebMD, Professor Nestle claims the data had to be manipulated to a great extent to show any correlation.  It would not be the first time, so I am eager to read the study for myself.

The strength of findings in medical studies is important for food and nutrition policy.  FDA findings are "science-based" according to the FDA website, but it is becoming increasingly clear (I my not-so-humble opinion) that there are degress of science-basedness.  DMB

Kids Affect Parents' Food Choices

Adult Fat Intake Associated with the Presence of Children in Households: Findings from NHANES III , an article published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, reports that adults living with children eat about the same calories as adults living without children, but more of the calories come from fat.  Families with children, it seems, eat more junk food and pizza. 

Baltimore Sun article on the report.

Studies may be biased

An article, Relationship Between Funding Source and Conclusion Among Nutrition-Related Scientific Articles, has been published on the Public Library of Science's peer-reviewed online journal: PloS Medicine website.

Researchers studied the conclusions of 111 scientific studies of the health effects of different beverages and found that the outcome of the studies reflects the funding source much of the time.

The analysis -- the first systematic one performed on nutrition studies -- found that beverage studies funded solely by industry were four to eight times more likely to have conclusions favorable to sponsors' financial interest than were studies with no industry funding. Findings are published online in the January 9 issue of the journal PLoS Medicine.The problem result could have various causes, according to senior researcher, David Ludwig:

The bias may take several forms, Ludwig adds. Although false data could be present in some studies, more likely the biases reflect subtle manipulations, such as framing the questions in a way that make the results more favorable to a sponsor. In other cases, papers with unfavorable results may simply go unpublished.

Science Daily press release

Learning When to be Hungry

A recent study published in Nutrition and Metabolism suggests it may be possible for people to learn when to be hungry.  Study subjects were trained to estimate their blood glucose at meal times by associating feelings of hunger with glycemic levels determined by standard blood glucose monitors.  They were told to eat only when blood glucose dropped below a specified level.

And this worked!  Subjects did learn to accurately predict their blood glucose levels.  An untrained control group could not make the same predictions.  Here's the good part -- the trained subjects also experienced less hunger than the untrained.

<p><em>abstract: </em></p><blockquote dir="ltr"><p><span class="subBHead" style="font-size: 1.2em;">Background</span></p> <p class="xfull" xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">The will to eat is a decision associated with conditioned responses and with unconditioned body sensations that reflect changes in metabolic biomarkers. Here, we investigate whether this decision can be delayed until blood glucose is allowed to fall to low levels, when presumably feeding behavior is mostly unconditioned. Following such an eating pattern might avoid some of the metabolic risk factors that are associated with high glycemia.</p> <p><span class="subBHead" style="font-size: 1.2em;">Results</span></p> <p class="xfull" xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">In this 7-week study, patients were trained to estimate their blood glucose at meal times by associating feelings of hunger with glycemic levels determined by standard blood glucose monitors and to eat only when glycemia was &lt; 85 mg/dL. At the end of the 7-week training period, estimated and measured glycemic values were found to be linearly correlated in the trained group (r = 0.82; p = 0.0001) but not in the control (untrained) group (r = 0.10; p = 0.40). Fewer subjects in the trained group were hungry than those in the control group (p = 0.001). The 18 hungry subjects of the trained group had significantly lower glucose levels (80.1 +/- 6.3 mg/dL) than the 42 hungry control subjects (89.2 +/- 10.2 mg/dL; p = 0.01). Moreover, the trained hungry subjects estimated their glycemia (78.1 +/- 6.7 mg/dL; estimation error: 3.2 +/- 2.4% of the measured glycemia) more accurately than the control hungry subjects (75.9 +/- 9.8 mg/dL; estimation error: 16.7 +/- 11.0%; p = 0.0001). Also the estimation error of the entire trained group (4.7 +/- 3.6%) was significantly lower than that of the control group (17.1 +/- 11.5%; p = 0.0001). A value of glycemia at initial feelings of hunger was provisionally identified as 87 mg/dL. Below this level, estimation showed lower error in both trained (p = 0.04) and control subjects (p = 0.001).</p> <p><span class="subBHead" style="font-size: 1.2em;">Conclusion</span></p> <p class="xfull" xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">Subjects could be trained to accurately estimate their blood glucose and to recognize their sensations of initial hunger at low glucose concentrations. These results suggest that it is possible to make a behavioral distinction between unconditioned and conditioned hunger, and to achieve a cognitive will to eat by training. </p></blockquote>

Cutting Salt in Kids' Diets Reduces Blood Pressure

Link: Cutting Salt in Kids' Diets Reduces Blood Pressure

A new study shows that reducing salt intake in children quickly lowers their blood pressure. If their blood pressure remains lower, those kids could experience lower rates of heart attacks and strokes as they age. But according to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), makers of popular packaged and restaurant foods make it virtually impossible for children not to consume unhealthy levels of salt if they eat them.