Today's NewsBites

The Agricul - tural Research Service (ARS), a scientific research agency of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), has updated its nutrient database, the standard reference for calculating nutrition values of foods. The update, labeled SR22, includes a new food group, “Restaurant Foods.”…

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The US Food and Drug Administra - tion (FDA) is going after misleading nutrition claims on the front of food packages—an effort that may ultimately lead to a single official symbol giving consumers an at-a-glance guide to healthy choices. As the agency sent a warning letter to food companies, Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the FDA will investigate whether any packaging claims violate its labeling rules and “will take enforcement action against any egregious examples.”…

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Darker-roasted peanuts pack a greater antioxidant punch, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in North Carolina. The researchers measured antioxidant levels in peanuts roasted at 362 degrees from zero to 77 minutes. Longer, darker roasting was consistently associated with higher levels of both water- and oil-soluble antioxidants, which scientists attributed to greater concentrations of phenolic compounds and/or “browning” reaction products.…

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Survey Results


Due to the economy, have you canceled a membership to a health club or other type of fitness center?


Yes
 24%
60%
No
 74%
60%
I'm planning to
 4%
60%

Current Articles

New proof that you’re never too old to exercise comes from an Israeli study that finds people over age 70 live longer and better if they’re physically active at least four hours a week. Physically active seniors were 31% to 58% less likely to die during the study than their sedentary peers, and 72% to 92% more likely to remain independent while performing the activities of daily living.…

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Could your hip bones use a little tofu? Scientists report that moderate intake of soy—at least the amount found in about 1.75 ounces of tofu—was associated with reduced risk of hip fractures among women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study. That’s an amount of soy “higher than the low levels of consumption in the West,” noted lead researcher Woon-Puay Koh, MD, of the National University of Singapore.…

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Along-term followup to the Diabetes Prevention Program trial has good news for the estimated 57 million Americans with high blood-sugar levels that put them in danger of developing diabetes: Intensive lifestyle changes aimed at modest weight loss reduced the rate of developing type 2 diabetes by 34% compared with a control group in people at high risk for the disease. Reducing dietary fat and calories, exercising such as walking about 150 minutes weekly and losing weight also proved more effective in diabetes prevention than metformin, an oral diabetes drug.…

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Ask Tufts Experts

 

Since calcium and vitamin D strengthen bones and vitamin A weakens bones, why is all reducedfat milk fortified with both vitamin A and vitamin D? And why is whole milk not?

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I have read that pomegranate juice interferes with the availability and absorption of hypertension medication, in much the manner that grapefruit juice does. Is this true? If so, is the effect diminished by taking the juice hours before or after the medication?

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I enjoyed your Special Report on “Food and Your Mood” (January 2010), but wanted to know more about serotonin. Is it true that eating foods high in tryptophan boosts serotonin levels? What about supplements sold as “mood enhancers” that are related to tryptophan?

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Did you know?

High-protein diets make kidneys work harder—an issue for the more than 20 million Americans who have chronic kidney disease but don’t know it.

Survey

Due to the economy, have you canceled a membership to a health club or other type of fitness center?



Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter

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