PR Firm Tapped to Market New Food Pyramid

The United States Department of Agriculture is paying public relations and marketing firm Porter Collins $2.5 million to remodel the food pyramid icon and put together a campaign.

Porter Collins has received $59 million worth of federal contracts since 1997.

Porter Collins also represents or has represented in the past, some of the largest food corporations in the world, such as McDonald's, The Campbell Soup Company, The Dole Food Company, and The Snack Food Association.

The new Food Pyramid will be unveiled sometime in April.

Courtesy of Kim Severson of the New York Times 4/10/2005

Steve - Shocked? No. Angry? Maybe. Disillusioned? Definitely. There is good reason why 80% of Americans know what the Food Pyramid is, but few follow it. We are skeptical that the government does not have our best interests in mind. This is another of the ever-growing list of reasons why we are correct in thinking this way. The government has such an opportunity to grasp the moment when our country needs it the most (obesity rates at an all-time high), but from what we've seen with the 2005 Dietary Guidelines and the anticipated revised Food Pyramid, at least in the Nutritional Concepts' camp, momentum has coming to a screeching halt. Business as usual!

Glaceau Fruit Waters No Longer

Bonnie - One of my staple drink recommendations, Glaceau Fruit Water with electrolytes, has gone to the dark side! They have added sugar to all of their flavors. I can no longer recommend them. Smart Water is still available without sugar, but it is not flavored. Alternative suggestions will be forthcoming...

"Trader Diet" General Tips

Due to the overwhelming response to Bonnie Minsky's appearance on "First Business," we have summarized some general tips for Traders on how to maximize performance and focus.

1) Have a solid breakfast. This is most important. Make sure that you have lean protein in the morning with your breakfast. Think of breakfast as any other meal, not just bacon, eggs, or a bagel. Eat leftovers from dinner the night before. If you often eat family dinners at home, make sure you double what the recipe allows so you can take some in the morning. And instead of a bagel with your protein, have a banana, or some carrots. Vegetables and fruits are carbohydrates!

2) Drink water, especially with electrolytes. Thes stress and physicality of working in pits warrant lots of fluid. There are several electrolye waters on the market. I like Smart Water by Glaceau. Also, Water Joe is a caffeinated alternative to coffee.

3) Force yourself to snack during the workday. Very important for stamina. Nuts and seeds with dried fruit are my favorite because it's a perfect mixture of carb, healthy fat, and protein.

4) Do not eat carbohydrates without lean protein or healthy fats. Whether it's breakfast, snack, lunch or dinner, eating a carb with healthy fat or lean protein will prevent the ebb and flow of blood sugar, the main reason we get the "afternoon swoon."

5) Supplement with Magnesium and Co-Enzyme Q10 (CoQ10). 100-200mg magnesium and 60-100mg CoQ10 will help greatly with focus and stress-management. They dont' call magnesium "Nature's Valium" for nothing! Brands vary so make sure you are getting high quality.

For more details, go to nutritionalconcepts.com. Our Circle of Health Food Chart is a great resource for the good and bad foods. Or for an individualized diet, contact our office at 847-498-3422.

Have a happy, healthy day.

Bonnie and Steve

Vitamin E 'relieves period pain'

Taking vitamin E can significantly reduce the severity and duration of period pain, research suggests.

The condition, also known as dysmenorrhoea, usually affects teenage girls, and can significantly disrupt their education.

The research is published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

UK experts said the "breakthrough" could help thousands of young girls.

Period pain affects around 40% of adult menstruating women, and over 10% report it severely limits what they can do for up to three days during each cycle.

Just under 280 girls aged 15 to 17 who had reported suffering from period pain took part in the study.

Half were given 200 "international units" (IU) twice a day (a total equivalent to about 270mg), while the rest took dummy pills (placebos), over four consecutive menstrual periods.

They were asked to rate the pain they experienced during each period, and how many painkillers they took.

The amount of blood lost was also monitored.

At the end of the study, researchers found girls who took vitamin E reported the greatest decrease in the intensity of pain which they felt, which was reflected in a significant reduction in the number of painkillers they took.

Those who took the vitamin also experienced less blood loss than the placebo group.

Courtesy of BBC News 4/11/2005

Probiotics Help with Eczema in Infants

Mixing a type of beneficial or "probiotic" bacteria, Lactobacillus GG (LGG), into food helps reduce symptoms in allergic infants with the skin condition eczema, according to a report in the medical journal Allergy.

Researchers assessed symptoms in 230 infants with eczema and suspected allergy to cow's milk.

The children's food was mixed with capsules containing LGG alone, LGG plus three other probiotics, or inactive "placebo" for 4 weeks.

Following the treatment phase, milk exposure testing was performed and cow's milk allergy was diagnosed in 120 infants, the authors report.

In the overall analysis, allergy symptoms dropped by 65 percent during the study, but no differences were observed between the treatment groups.

However, when the analysis was confined to subjects sensitized by a type of antibody called IgE, LGG alone, but not with the other probiotics, seemed to reduce symptoms compared with placebo.

Influencing the natural microbes in the intestinal tract "by administration of probiotic bacteria to treat allergy is a new alternative," the authors state. The findings suggest that this may be a successful approach for some children with food allergy.

Steve - This is a puzzling study because the symptoms also dropped in the placebo group. It is a good reminder of the results we've seen from our own clients, which is that probiotics do assist in reducing allergy symptoms in infants and young children.

High Carb Diets May Raise Breast Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women

Diets that have a high "glycemic index" -- that is, they produce high blood sugar levels -- may increase the risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women who've used hormone replacement therapy (HRT), study results suggest.

Typically, high glycemic index diets include a lot of sugars and refined starches and carbohydrates, which produce a rapid rise in blood glucose levels.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers used data from a large group of 49,613 Canadian women to examine breast cancer risk in association with overall glycemic index and dietary carbohydrate and sugar intake.

During a follow-up period of 16 years, 1,461 women developed breast cancer.

In the overall study population, the risk of breast cancer was not related to glycemic index or sugar and total carbohydrate intake, the team reports in the International Journal of Cancer.

However, in postmenopausal women, diets with a high glycemic index raised the risk of breast cancer by 87 percent.

Courtesy of Reuters 4/12/2005

Mediterranean Diet Linked with Longer Life

In a study of nearly 75,000 Europeans aged 60 and above, the diet based on plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, fish and olive oil was linked to a longer life expectancy.

"Adherence to the Mediterranean diet reduces mortality," Professor Dimitrios Trichopoulos, of the University of Athens said in an interview.

"There is a particular type of diet in Mediterranean countries that seems to prolong life."

The benefits of the diet in warding off heart disease, some cancers and other illnesses are well documented but the findings reported in the British Medical Journal are among the first to show it may prolong life.

How the Mediterranean diet may reduce mortality is unknown but Trichopoulos said the diet is rich in antioxidants such as vitamins A and C which neutralize cell damage from charged particles called free radicals. Antioxidants are thought to help fight cancer and heart disease.

The diet includes a reduced intake of saturated fats, meats and dairy products which Trichopoulos said may modulate blood lipid levels. Saturated fats can clog the arteries.

The researchers compared the diet of people in nine European countries -- Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Britain.

The link between diet and mortality was most pronounced in Greece and Spain, two nations which the researchers said follow a true Mediterranean diet.

"We are closer to the genuine Mediterranean diet. The others are approximations," according to Trichopoulos.

Milk linked to Parkinson's risk

Drinking a glass or two of milk a day may raise the risk of Parkinson's disease in middle-aged men, research suggests.

Researchers say the apparent link is unlikely to be anything to with calcium - milk's key nutritional ingredient.

But they say it is unclear whether another ingredient, or a contaminant may raise the risk of Parkinson's - which overall still remains low.

The study, led by Korea University, is published in the journal Neurology.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disease of the nervous system associated with trembling of the arms and legs, stiffness and rigidity of the muscles and slowness of movement.

Previous research has also suggested a link between high consumption of dairy products and a raised risk of Parkinson's in men - but not women.

The latest study focused on 7,504 men aged 45 to 68, who were enrolled in a heart study in Hawaii.

During the course of the 30-year study, 128 developed Parkinson's.

The researchers found those men who consumed more than 16oz (454g) of milk a day were 2.3 times more likely to develop Parkinson's than those who drank no milk at all.

Overall, the risk of Parkinson's - even among men who drank a lot of milk - was low.

The researchers calculated that in each 12 month period 6.9 cases of Parkinson's could be expected per 10,000 people who drank no milk.

Among those who drank more than 16ozs a day the figure was 14.9 per 10,000.

However, they found no evidence of a link between calcium consumption and Parkinson's.

Courtesy of BBC News 4/7/05

FDA Asks Pfizer to Pull Bextra Off Market

The government said Thursday it has asked Pfizer Inc. to withdraw the painkiller Bextra from the market because it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Regulators also want all other anti-inflammatory drugs in the same class to carry the strongest safety warning possible.

In February, advisers to the FDA had recommended that people who depend on Celebrex, Bextra and Vioxx be allowed to continue to use them despite the health risks.

The panel said Vioxx posed the greatest risk and that Celebrex had the fewest side effects. It recommended that the prescription drugs carry strong warnings and that more study be done to get a better understanding about the drugs.

Steve - Why were the makers of Vioxx not asked to withdraw first? Bextra was the least popular fo teh three COX-2's.

Too Much Dietary Iron a Cancer Risk for Some

The combination of high iron stores in the body and a high iron intake from food could raise a person's risk of cancer, a new study suggests.

Researchers estimate that up to 10 percent of Americans have iron stores high enough that, when coupled with excessive iron intake, could increase their likelihood of developing cancer.

The study, involving a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, looked at a measure called transferrin saturation. Transferrin is a protein that transports iron through the body, and transferrin saturation levels in the blood are an indicator of the body's iron stores.

Research has linked excessively high transferrin saturation to an elevated risk of death from any cause, and possibly to an increased cancer risk. In general, the evidence has suggested that transferrin saturation levels of 60 percent or higher -- found in about 1 percent of the U.S. population -- may present a cancer risk.

However, the new findings implicate lower levels of transferrin saturation -- 41 percent or higher -- that are seen in about 10 percent of Americans.

The findings are published in the current issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.

Low Iron May Impede Mom-Baby Bonding

New mothers who don't get enough iron are more likely to have a difficult time bonding with their babies than women who take their vitamins, according to a landmark Penn State study that is the first to look at how iron deficiency affects new mothers' ability to tune in to their children emotionally.

"Our new results suggest that the effects of mild iron deficiency ... can disrupt the solid foundation that is established by healthy mother-infant interactions," said the study's lead author, Dr. Laura Murray-Kolb.

Women who forgo vitamin supplements commonly experience iron deficiency after childbirth, the researchers said.

"New mothers should be aware of their iron status, which we now know affects the child as well as the mother," Murray-Kolb said in a statement. "Iron deficiency is easy to correct and could be a big part of postpartum problems with mother-child interactions."

Courtesy of Reuters 4/5/05

UK Calls For Overhaul of Pharmaceutical Marketing

About 650 million prescriptions are written each year by General Practitioners, which means the pharmaceutical industry is now the third most profitable in the UK, behind tourism and finance.

But the government officials warned it has come with a cost, with adverse drug reactions responsible for 5% of all hospital admissions.Drug firms have become increasingly focused on marketing and some GPs have been too easily influenced by promotions. The promotions to doctors and patients lead to the over-prescription of drugs, citing painkillers such as Cox-2 inhibitors, which have been linked to heart problems. Negative clinical trial results were being suppressed and there was a risk trials which produced positive results were not adequately designed.

A special health select committee recommends an overhaul of the regulatory system in a bid to keep the pharmaceutical industry in check.

Courtesy BBC News 4/5/2005

Zinc may be good for teenagers' brains

According to a paper presented yesterday at a meeting of the American Society of Nutritional Sciences, 209 seventh graders were randomly assigned to one of three groups.

The first group received 4 ounces of fruit juice a day containing 20 milligrams of zinc, the second drank the same juice with 10 milligrams of zinc, and the third drank the juice alone with no zinc added.

At the beginning and end of the 12-week study, students were examined with a series of tests of attention, memory, problem solving and hand-eye coordination. "As far as I know," Dr. Penland said, "this is the first study of its kind undertaken with teenagers."

Students who had taken 20 milligrams of zinc increased their scores significantly on visual memory, word recognition, and attention and vigilance tasks compared with the plain-juice drinkers.

Dr. Penland said that if further studies confirmed those results, it might follow that the current recommended dietary allowance for zinc of 10 milligrams should be increased for adolescents.

Although supplements of zinc are not particularly toxic, very large doses can cause diarrhea and vomiting, and Dr. Penland does not recommend usage in excess of the recommended daily allowance. He suggests lean red meat, fish and some grains as good sources of zinc.

Courtesy of the New York Times 4/5/2005

Advocate general finds food supplements directive invalid under EU law

There was tremendous news today for the millions of people in Europe who choose to use food supplements. Following a landmark challenge in the European Courts of Justice (ECJ) brought by the Alliance for Natural Health and Nutri-Link Ltd to the contentious Food Supplements Directive, which effectively proposed to ban 75% of vitamin and mineral forms, Advocate General Geelhoed, the senior adviser to the ECJ, gave his Opinion in favour of the Alliance’s case.

What does this mean? That the chances of consumers being able to continue using the natural food supplements they believe are beneficial to their health are now greatly increased.

The Advocate General concluded that:

The Food Supplements Directive infringes the principle of proportionality because basic principles of Community law, such as the requirements of legal protection, of legal certainty and of sound administration have not properly been taken into account.

It is therefore invalid under EU law.
It should be stressed that the Advocate General’s pronouncement is not a ruling.

That will come from the ECJ judges, later - probably around June. But typically, in the vast majority of cases, the Court Judgment follows the recommendations of the Advocate General.

Steve: This is very good news for Americans who value their right to consume dietary supplements. If the EU directive had passed, most experts felt that the United States would follow suit.

Ginger Seems Safe for Easing Nausea in Pregnancy

Ginger appears to help pregnant women who suffer from morning sickness, without side effects to the unborn child, according to a review of the medical literature.

In six studies that examined the effects of ginger in reducing nausea and vomiting in expecting mothers, ginger worked better than a placebo, or inactive drug, and as well as vitamin B6, which has been shown to improve nausea and vomiting in some pregnant women.

None of the women who took ginger had problems with their pregnancies, the authors report in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

To review what has been studied about ginger, Borrelli and colleagues scanned the medical literature, and found six trials that tested ginger in 675 women with nausea in pregnancy.

In four studies that involved a combined total of 246 women, ginger consistently beat out placebo in quelling nausea and vomiting, even in women with a severe form of morning sickness called hyperemesis gravidarum.

In the most recent studies, participants were randomly assigned to take a capsule containing 350 milligrams (mg) of ginger or one containing 25 mg of vitamin B6 three times a day for three weeks.

Ginger was equally effective as vitamin B6 at relieving nausea, vomiting and dry retching. Symptoms of morning sickness improved in a little more than half of the women in each group.

SOURCE: Obstetrics & Gynecology, April 2005. Courtesy of Reuters Health 4/4/05

Health Benefits Help Peanuts Shed Stigma

Peanuts, a dietary outcast during the fat-phobic 1990s, have made a comeback, with consumption soaring to its highest level in nearly two decades and more doctors recommending nuts as part of a heart-healthy diet.

Total consumption of peanuts jumped last year to nearly 1.7 billion pounds, compared to 1.5 billion pounds the year before. The amount of snack peanuts eaten climbed to 415 million pounds in the 2003-2004 crop year, the highest since the mid-1990s. And peanut butter consumption soared to 900 million pounds, from a low of about 700 million in the '90s.

The federal government's latest dietary guidelines say peanuts, which contain unsaturated fats, can be eaten in moderation. There are 14 grams of fat in one serving of peanuts, which is only one ounce. A handful can have up to 200 calories.

``The problem is that the portions need to be low so you don't overconsume the calories - that's where the public has a disconnect,'' said Madelyn Fernstrom, director of the Weight Management Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. ``It's a well-spent 200 calories if you can limit it to that. The problem is volume. It's very hard to have a small serving of peanuts, meaning a small handful.''

The Peanut Institute: http://www.peanut-institute.org/

Steve - The peanut lobby has spoken! Peanuts, if tolerated from a digestive and allergenic standpoint, are fine. Let us not forget that peanuts are one of the top seven most allergenic substances. We do not suggest eating them on a daily basis because an allergen can be developed over time. We still prefer consuming other nuts more frequently, such as almonds, walnuts, pecans, and cashews. Make sure that you look at the labels of any peanut product you intend to consume. There are often unhealthy added oils and trans fats such as partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated oils. If you are pregnant or nursing, exclude peanuts from your diet to prevent allergy with your baby. Do not eat the shells because most of the aflatoxin, the very dangerous allergenic trigger in peanuts, resides here. Also, if you have a mold or fungus sensitivity or allergy, peanuts are not recommended.

Cranberries may reduce heart attacks by improving artery health

A daily dose of cranberry powder restored blood vessel health to animals with atherosclerosis, said researchers yesterday.

The findings suggest that the fruit may have additional benefits to heart health than those previously demonstrated in human trials.

Small studies have found higher levels of HDL cholesterol after people drank cranberry juice. The new study however examines blood vessel health in pigs that are bred to develop high blood cholesterol and then atherosclerosis, the thickening and hardening of arteries, by eight months of age.

"Since the abnormal functioning of blood vessels is an important component of heart disease, finding ways to improve vascular function in patients with high cholesterol and atherosclerosis is critical to helping protect these patients from consequences such as heart attack or stroke," said lead researcher Kris Kruse-Elliott from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine.

Speaking at the annual congress of the International Union of Physiological Sciences, she described the effects of feeding familial hypercholesterolemic (FH) pigs with a daily supplement of 150g cranberry juice powder per kg weight. The blood vessels in these pigs do not function normally.

By the end of six months, these pigs' blood vessels acted more like normal pigs, said Kruse-Elliott. Another group that did not get cranberry juice powder had "significantly less vascular relaxation" than either normal or cranberry-fed pigs.

Cranberries are increasingly consumed for health reasons as they have been shown to prevent urinary tract infections. They are also thought to play a role in gum disease, ulcers and even cancer.

Steve - We usually do not post animal studies, but based on fact that the cranberry has shown heart benefits in very small human trials, we thought this study was significant.

Fruit, Veggies Tied to Lower Pancreatic Cancer Risk

New research from Canada suggests that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may help prevent pancreatic cancer, a particularly deadly type of tumor.

The findings, based on a comparison of 585 pancreatic cancer patients and about 4,779 adults without the disease, suggest that the risk of the cancer declines as fruit and vegetable intake increases.

Among cancers, pancreatic tumors have one of the most dismal survival rates, with less than 5 percent of patients still alive 5 years after diagnosis. The poor prognosis is in large part due to the fact that the disease is rarely caught early.

Using data from a large study of Canadians diagnosed with cancer between 1994 and 1997, Ghadirian and his colleagues found that higher intakes of fresh fruit and cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower, were associated with a lower risk of pancreatic cancer.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, May 1, 2005

CLA keeps body fat off over two years

Supplements of conguated linoleic acid (CLA) taken for two years helped overweight adults keep their body fat mass down, without having to restrict calories or change exercise habits, shows a study published today.

The findings, published in the Journal of Nutrition, come from the extension of a 12-month study on 157 adults. It found that a daily intake of 3.4g of CLA, produced an average 9 per cent reduction in body fat mass.

While the second year of study was not carried out in double-blind conditions, and therefore cannot provide such strong evidence of efficacy, it does reflect high compliance levels for the product and its long-term safety.

“The high compliance and low drop-out rates indicate that long-term CLA supplementation was well-tolerated by subjects,” write the authors.

After the initial 12 month trial, published last spring in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 134 of the participants volunteered to continue for another 12 months. Ethical reasons stopped the researchers from continuing the double-blind procedure.

CLA supplementation also appeared to lower levels of leptin, a hormone associated with increased weight. Over the course of 24 months, leptin levels dropped 20-35 per cent as study subjects lost body fat.

The researchers say that risk of side effects from CLA is no greater than in those taking the placebo.

Heat Remedies Arthritis Better Than Drugs

A study presented at the the 24th annual scientific meeting of the American Pain Society in Boston found that heat wraps gave more relief to people with arthritic knee pain than over-the-counter drugs .

The findings come in the wake of revelations about the dangers of popular anti-inflammatory arthritis drugs, including Vioxx and Celebrex.

"This is not a product you are going to get a stroke from," said Dr. Bill McCarberg, the study's lead author and a nationally recognized pain expert.

"People are worried about taking drugs. They want alternatives that are safe," McCarberg added.

The three-day study included 110 men and women with osteoarthritis of the knee.

"All had about the same amount of pain," McCarberg said.

The participants were divided into four groups.

They were either given Tylenol, which contains acetaminophen, or ibuprofen, or they wore a wrap with no heat or a ThermaCare Heat Wrap for eight hours a day.

Those who wore the heat wrap had significant benefits in pain reduction and more flexibility compared to the others, the researchers found.

The findings were published in this month's Journal of Pain.