American Journal of Clinical Nutrition Highlights

Once again, here are tidbits from our favorite nutrition journal. As this is the April issue, we lament our tardiness.

• The negative effect of excess homocysteine and neural tube defects may be lessed by supplements of preformed methyl folate groups (5-formyl tetrahydrofolate, L-5 methyl tetrahydrofolate, folic acid) more effectively than folic acid alone.
  
  
• Promoting higher intakes of omega-3 fatty acids in the diet of hypertensive and dyslipidemic persons may have substantial benefits in reducing their risk of cognitive decline. In another study, researchers propose that moderate intake of EPA/DHA may postpone cognitive decline in elderly men.
  
  
• A study on subjects' outcomes on a three meal-a-day diet showed lower blood pressure, lower liver enzymes, lower cholesterol, and less hunger versus subjects' on a one meal-a-day diet.
  
  
• In an elderly Dutch population, higher dairy consumption was not associated with lower weight or more favorable levels of components of metabolic syndrome.
  
  
• Magnesium intake is favorably associated with some markers of systemic inflammation in healthy women, including C-Reactive Protein (CRP), which was 24% lower in those with the highest quintile of magnesium intake.
  
  
• Omega-3 fatty acids exhibit a protective effect on breast cancer risk and provides additional importance in evaluating the ratio of dietary fatty acids.
  
  
• A more acidic dietary intake was significantly associated with lower bone ultrasound measures in women, thus expressing a negative effect on bone density.