A news study has found that adults with higher intakes of milk and milk products scored significantly higher on memory and other brain function tests than those who drank little to no milk.Milk drinkers were five times less likely to “fail” the test, compared to non-milk drinkers.

Researchers at the University of Maine put more than 900 men and women ages 23 to 98 through a series of brain tests ” including visual-spatial, verbal and working memory tests ” and tracked the milk consumption habits of the participants.

In the series of eight different measures of mental performance, regardless of age and through all tests, those who drank at least one glass of milk each day had an advantage.The highest scores for all eight outcomes were observed for those with the highest intakes of milk and milk products compared to those with low and infrequent milk intakes.

The benefits persisted even after controlling for other factors that can affect brain health, including cardiovascular health and other lifestyle and diet factors. In fact, milk drinkers tended to have healthier diets overall, but there was something about milk intake specifically that offered the brain health advantage, according to the researchers.

In addition to the many established health benefits of milk from bone health to cardiovascular health, the potential to stave off mental decline may represent a novel benefit with great potential to impact the aging population. While more research is needed, the scientists suggest some of milk’s nutrients may have a direct effect on brain function and that “easily implemented lifestyle changes that individuals can make present an opportunity to slow or prevent neuropsychological dysfunction.”

The study was published in the International Dairy Journal.

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Researchers revealed that a lack of understanding of the significance of iron could be endangering women’s health and hindering children’s performance at school.

“Switching a few meals to foods high in iron, such as steak, liver and watercress could make all the difference”, the Daily Express reported.“The high rate of iron deficiency among women in a developed country like the UK is a real concern,” said TV doctor and health campaigner Christian Jessen.“The side effects are subtle and can creep on up you – you can end up feeling tired, lethargic with no get up and go.”

According to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, conducted by YouGov for industry body MeatMatters, a quarter of British women and teenage girls suffer from a low intake of iron.

Less than a third of the 2,000 women polled were aware of the fact that lack of iron could decrease a child’s attention span and learning ability.

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 Luteolin is a flavonoid commonly found in fruit and vegetables. This compound has been shown in laboratory conditions to have anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and anti-cancer properties but results from epidemiological studies have been less certain.

New research showed that luteolin is able to inhibit the activity of cell signaling pathways (IGF and PI3K) important for the growth of cancer in colon cancer cells.

 Colon cancer cells have elevated levels of IGF-II compared to normal colon tissues. It is believed that this part of mechanism drives uncontrolled cell division and cancer growth.Researchers from Korea showed that luteolin was able to block the secretion of IGF-II by colon cancer cells and within two hours decreased the amount of receptor (IGF-IR) precursor protein. Luteolin also reduced the amount of active receptor (measured by IGF-I dependent phosphorylation).

Luteolin inhibited the growth stimulatory effect of IGF-I and the team led by Prof Jung Han Yoon Park found that luteolin affected cell signaling pathways which are activated by IGF-I in cancer.“Luteolin reduced IGF-I-dependent activation of the cell signaling pathways PI3K, Akt, and ERK1/2 and CDC25c. Blocking these pathways stops cancer cells from dividing and leads to cell death,” Prof Jung Han Yoon Park said.“Our study, showing that luteolin interferes with cell signaling in colon cancer cells, is a step forward in understanding how this flavonoid works.“A fuller understanding of the in vivo results is essential to determine how it might be developed into an effective chemopreventive agent,” Prof Park added.

The study has been published in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Gastroenterology.

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“Over a three-year period, we have studied the effect of taking different alginate doses. We are able to demonstrate that the healthy subjects who took alginates and were also allowed to eat as much as they wanted felt less hungry and ate less than the subjects not drinking fibre drinks with alginates,” Morten Georg Jensen, a PhD student, said.

Dietary fibres in seaweeds helps to lose weight

The 12-week study conducted by the researchers included 96 overweight men and women. 48 subjects drank a specially designed drink with alginates three times daily before each main course as a supplement to an energy-reduced diet. The other 48 subjects drank a placebo drink without alginates.

The 80 subjects who completed the study achieved a far larger weight loss with alginate treatment than those drinking a similar drink without alginates.On an average, the subjects in the seaweed fibre drink group lost 1.7 kg more than those in the placebo group. According to the researchers, this weight loss is primarily due to a decrease in body fat percentage.

‘A probable explanation of the weight loss is that the alginates form a gel in the stomach which strengthens the gastrointestinal satiety signals to the brain because the gel takes up space in the stomach. The overweight subjects thus ate less than usual,’ Jensen added.

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Eat eggs at breakfast to lose weight

London: Want to shed the flab? Go to work on an egg — it`s the best way to start the day, a new study has claimed.For decades, it was feared eggs caused high blood pressure and raised cholesterol. Now, researchers at Surrey University have found that eating eggs for breakfast can help slash the calories eaten at lunch and dinner.

Eggs keep one fuller for longer compared with other common breakfast foods, and are also better for people who want to resist afternoon snacks on biscuits, cake or chocolate, according to the researchers.

Prof Bruce Griffin, who led the study, said: “This study provides yet more evidence that eating eggs at breakfast can help keep us feeling fuller for longer and may help people to eat less at subsequent meals, thus helping with weight loss.”The study tested three typical breakfasts with the same level of calories — eggs on toast, cornflakes with milk and toast, or a croissant and orange juice.

Adding to the growing body of evidence to support eggs as a key ingredient of weight-loss diets, the researchers found volunteers felt fuller for longer and had a lower desire to eat after the egg breakfast compared with the other ones.The egg breakfast also led to a significantly lower intake of energy at lunch and evening meals compared with the other common breakfasts, the `Daily Express` reported.

Previous US research found that when women were given either an egg or bagel-based breakfast of equal calories, the egg-eating volunteers felt fuller and had less desire to eat other foods for the next 24 hours.

Another study published last year compared a three-egg breakfast and a low-fat bagel one in a group of men. It found their response to ghrelin, the only hormone known to stimulate hunger, was suppressed.

Research has found that sensitivity to bitterness could be one of the reasonswhy kids do not eat their vegetable and the reason is fairly common among children – about 70 percent have it.A new study led by Jennifer Orlet Fisher, director of the Family Eating Laboratory at Temple’s Center for Obesity Research and Education, took into consideration 152 pre-school aged children in the Head Start program who were served broccoli at snack time over a 7-week period.

 The study found that offering 2.5 ounces of ranch dressing as a dip increased broccoli consumption by 80 percent among bitter-sensitive children. Low-fat and regular versions were tested, and both were equally effective.“We know that children can learn to like vegetables if they are offered frequently, without prodding and prompting,” said Fisher.

 “Children with a sensitivity to bitterness may avoid certain vegetables, but offering a low-fat dip could make it easier for those foods to become an accepted part of children’s diet.”She added that parents do not necessarily need to stick to dressings high in fat and salt to see a positive effect.“Try applesauce, hummus, or a low-fat yogurt-based dip for more calcium,” she said.

 Dislike of the bitterness in some foods may stem from the ‘TAS2R38’ gene, which influences how we perceive bitter tastes.To determine which children in the study had this sensitivity, researchers offered each child a cup with increasing amounts of a bitter-tasting compound common in green vegetables.

After each cup, the child was asked whether the fluid tasted like water, or was ‘bitter or yucky’. About 70 percent of the children responded in the latter.“Parents and caregivers do not make laboratory measurements of children”s bitter sensitivity, but most will know if their child is wary of vegetables.”“Our research shows that offering dip is another tool that parents can use to help children learn to eat their vegetables,” Fisher added.

The study has been recently published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

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“Younger cooks appear to be more interested in experimentation, with those in their 20s and 30s more likely to agree that cooking gourmet meals makes them feel sophisticated and smart, suggesting that learning to cook and cooking for friends is viewed as a way to establish credibility among their peers,” explained Mintel spokesperson Fiona O’Donnell in a release.

The survey, which polled 2,000 adults over the age of 18, found that while a quarter of Millennials — a group that spans the ages of 17 to 34 — said they “love cooking,” only 17 percent of seniors and Baby Boomers said the same.

Apparently, better knife skills also come with age: while 15 percent of those aged 55 and older claimed to have advanced kitchen know-how, that fell to six percent among Millennials — a fact that does little, however, to dampen their enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that for 51 percent of respondents, the primary motivation to cook at home was for their diet, as homemade meals tend to be healthier than restaurant fare and prepared grocery foods.

Among those who cook occasionally, other reasons given for cooking included the opportunity to try new things and experiment, teaching children how to cook, showing affection to friends and family, and perhaps most simply, to enjoy a nice C.

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London

In fact, this is for the the first time that they have been able to unlock the precious new extract from seeds, skin and pith of the fruit. It contains concentrated punicalagins,a plant nutrient that is virtually unique to pomegranates.

Punicalagins are mostly found in the fruit`s inedible husk, rind, seeds and inner yellow membranes, which until now we tended to throw away.Dr Sergio Streitenberger, head of research at ProbelteBio which made the breakthrough, said: “We`ve been throwing away the seeds, skin and the pith of pomegranates for thousands of years because they are inedible and we haven`t had the science to enable us to release the benefits.”

Dr Emad Al-Dujaili at Queen Margaret University in the UK claims to have been examining the results of trials. He added: “The pomegranate continues to offer remarkable health benefits.”This new extract and the research that supports it suggests the fruit may prove to be a very beneficial natural supplement for the prevention of risk factors associated withserious diseases.”

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In their seventh edition of the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce, the Washington DC-based Environmental Working Group ranked 53 fruits and vegetables — sold in the US and grown either domestically or abroad — according to their pesticide load, highlighting the most pesticide-laden foods in a list dubbed “The Dirty Dozen” and those that are lowest the “Clean15.”

After coming up with a composite score based on information gleaned from the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, analysts ranked the apple as the most contaminated produce. Most of the samples were washes and peeled prior to being tested, in order to represent food as it’s eaten.
The apple jumped three spots from last year to knock celery out of the top spot.

Also notable in this year’s ranking was cilantro, which made the guide for the first time as it had never been tested by the USDA until now, the group says.

Data showed 33 unapproved pesticides on 44 percent of samples tested — the highest percentage of unapproved pesticides recorded since the group started tracking data in 1995.

The top five most contaminated items on the list included apples, celery, strawberries, peaches and spinach.

On the Clean15 list — foods with the lowest pesticides — were onions, corn, pineapple, avocado and asparagus.

The Dirty Dozen, in most offending order:

Apples

Celery

Strawberries

Peaches

Spinach

Nectarines (imported)

Grapes (imported)

Sweet bell peppers

Potatoes

Blueberries

Lettuce

Kale/collard greens

Clean15 (lowest in pesticides)

Onions

Corn

Pineapples

Avocado

Asparagus

Sweet peas

Mangoes

Eggplant

Cantaloupe (domestic)

Kiwi

Cabbage

Watermelon

Sweet Potatoes

Grapefruit

Mushrooms

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Drinking coffee in moderation may be okay, but downing too much — say five or more cups of the beverage daily — can cause hallucinations, says a study.

Researchers at La Trobe University have found that drinking five cups of coffees or more a day may be enough to increase one’s tendency to hallucinate because of caffeine in it, which is the most commonly used psychoactive drug.

Coffee and other caffeinated beverages such as tea, soft-drinks and energy drinks access the stimulant and when taken in large quantities increase tendencies to hallucinate according to lead researcher Professor Simon Crowe.

In their study, the researchers measured the effect of stress and caffeine with 92 non-clinical participants. Five coffees a day or more was found to be enough to increase the participant’s tendency to hallucinate, said Prof Crowe.

“High caffeine levels in association with high levels of stressful life events interacted to produce higher levels of ‘hallucination’ in non-clinical participants, indication that further caution needs to be exercised with the use of this overtly ‘safe’ drug,” he said.

The participants were assigned to either a high or a low stress condition and a high or a low caffeine condition on the basis of self-report. They were then asked to listen to white noise and to report each time they heard Bing Crosby’s rendition of “White Christmas” during the white noise.

The song was never played. The results indicated that the interaction of stress and caffeine had a significant effect on the reported frequency of hearing “White Christmas”.

The participants with high levels of stress or consumed high levels of caffeine were more likely to hear the song. “There is a link between high levels of stress and psychosis, and caffeine was found to correlate with hallucination proneness. The combination of caffeine and stress affect the likelihood of an individual experiencing a psychosis-like symptom,” said Prof Crowe.

According to the researchers, their study also helped to explain the mechanism by which stress may facilitate the symptoms of schizophrenia in non-clinical samples. “The results also support both the diathesis-stress model and the continuum theory of schizophrenia in that stress plays a role in the symptoms of schizophrenia and that everyone, to some degree, can experience these symptoms.

“This was demonstrated by a significant effect of stress on the occurrence of hallucinatory experiences,” added Prof Crowe.

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