Nutrition
- Health & Medicine
Folate enrichment pays baby dividends
The federally mandated fortification of grain-based foods with folic acid has led to a 25 percent drop in the rate of potentially life-threatening neural tube birth defects.
- Health & Medicine
Exercise boosts sugar’s taste
Studies in runners and in animals indicate that exercise increases an individual's sensitivity to sweetness.
- Health & Medicine
Gene transfer puts good fats in mammals
Scientists have used a worm gene to genetically engineer mice whose tissues are unusually rich in the heart-healthy fats found mainly in fish.
- Health & Medicine
Wine Surprise: Heart-protective effect is independent of antioxidants
Two studies in mice suggest that, if wine protects against heart disease, it's probably not because of the antioxidants that the drink contains.
- Health & Medicine
Vitamin D and multiple sclerosis
Women who consume little vitamin D develop multiple sclerosis at a rate about 50 percent higher than those who get lots of the nutrient.
- Health & Medicine
Greek diet reduces inflammatory proteins
People on a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil and fresh fruits have lower blood concentrations of several inflammatory proteins linked to atherosclerosis.
- Health & Medicine
Cocoa puffs up insulin in blood
Eating foods flavored with cocoa powder as opposed to other flavorings stimulates surplus production of the sugar-processing hormone insulin, but the metabolic implications of the finding aren’t yet known.
- Health & Medicine
Do Arctic diets protect prostates?
Marine diets appear to explain why the incidence of prostate cancer among Inuit men is lower than that of males anywhere else in the world.
- Health & Medicine
Sweet Relief: Comfort food calms, with weighty effect
Chronic stress might drive people to consume comfort foods that can soothe the brain.
- Health & Medicine
Fighting cancer from the cabbage patch
Extracts of foods belonging to the cabbage family can block the action of estrogen, a hormone that fuels many cancers.
- Health & Medicine
Guggul extract fails its cholesterol test
Guggul extract, long used in parts of Asia and gaining popularity in Western countries as a weapon against high cholesterol, does not appear to work.
- Health & Medicine
Herbal Lottery
Many herbal-product makers aren't maintaining adequate quality control, prompting the Food and Drug Administration to propose rules that mandate good manufacturing practices.
