It takes a lot of energy to move the body—which is why vigorous exercise burns so many calories. However, both exercise and our body's conversion of food to usable energy can take a physical toll on muscle. Boston researchers now find that supplementing diets with extra vitamin E can reduce not only muscle damage but also biochemically induced stress that ordinarily accompanies heavy exercise.These findings, from a study of 32 healthy men, are preliminary, notes Jennifer M. Sacheck, a physiologist and nutritionist at the Harvard School of Medicine in Boston. However, she and her colleagues at ...

Prolonged breastfeeding appears to offer some babies major intestinal benefits, a new Swedish study finds. The practice prevented or at least delayed the onset of celiac disease in children.This intestinal disorder tends to run in families, especially those with a northern-European background. In the United States, roughly one in every 250 Americans develops the condition, which is an autoimmune reaction triggered by the consumption of the protein gluten from wheat, barley, rye, or oats.When symptoms are mild and restricted to upset stomach, weight loss, diarrhea, fatigue, and gassiness, the c...

Many honeys may contain potentially toxic traces of potent liver-damaging compounds produced naturally by a broad range of flowering plants. (p. 317)

Show this story to your boss, and she might just offer you a glass or two of wine. After all, downing this beverage—especially the red varieties—appears to help ward off the common cold, according to a new study.Though colds usually aren’t dire, they remain one of the leading causes of missed days at work. In the United States alone, some 30 million days of sick leave trace to workers suffering from these viral infections—and the sneezing, stuffy heads, runny noses, hacking coughs, sore throats, and malaise that typically accompany them.The new study was conducted in Spain, where for 1 year re...

An oral tuberculosis vaccine, designed to help curtail the spread of the disease in wildlife populations, may also find use in people. (p. 302)

To most people, the scent of hot buttered popcorn brings to mind excursions to the local movie theater for big-screen viewings or recalls quiet winter respites before a crackling fire. To those who toil in the plants that package microwave popcorn, the same smell can not only be overpowering but also signal lung dangers, according to a new study. Researchers with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services initially investigated a report of eight cases of serious lung disease among former employees of a microwave-popcorn factory. Half of these were mixers â€” workers who add sa...

Roughly half of all U.S. drugs are synthetic versions of plant-derived chemicals or modifications of those natural compounds. It should come as little surprise, therefore, that many botanical preparations—either fresh from the garden or boxed from your local supermarket—prove biologically active. Indeed, it’s with this expectation that many people grow or buy what have come to be known as medicinal plants.However, toxicologists are quick to point out, dose makes the poison.While a cup of herbal tea may soothe an upset tummy, regularly downing a quart of the brew might actually provoke disease....

An all-natural, organic food, honey has a benign—if not wholesome—image. Many people consider it a superior alternative to table sugar and corn syrup—two primary sweeteners in the U.S diet.However, honey has the potential to carry some very disturbing plant poisons to the dinner table, an international trio of scientists reports. The World Health Organization has already identified these toxins—pyrrolizidine alkaloids—as a serious human health threat. In Europe, the toxins are coming under regulation, but only where they occur in herbal medicines.Honeys can be more potent sources of these chem...

Ah, raspberries. So sweet, so delicate on the tongue, so ephemeral.Every year, I unsuccessfully defend my raspberries against squirrels, birds, and beetles. As I watch the fruit begin to ripen, so do the neighborhood creatures. Two or three days before the first of those berries are ready to pick, in swarms an armada of marauders, carefully targeting my bounty.Most years, I’m forced to purchase fresh, store-bought substitutes and jam.A new study now suggests that sating my raspberry cravings may have more than a hedonistic payoff: These fragile fruits contain compounds that retard biochemical ...

A new Web site reviews the accuracy of commonly used middle school physical science books and offers tips and assistance for teachers working from those texts. (p. 237)

Cattle ranchers are facing some puzzling—and, at times, economically devastating—problems with pregnant cows and calves.At some facilities, high numbers of fetuses are aborting for no apparent reason. Other farmers successfully raise what look to be normal young cattle, only to learn when the animals are butchered that their carcasses appear old and, therefore, less valuable. The bottom line: Farmers pocket only a fraction of the anticipated profit for their livestock.At present, no one knows what’s behind either syndrome, notes Michael J. Fields, an animal scientist at the University of Flori...