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Archive for the ‘University of Nutrition’ Category

Researchers at the University of Rochester have published information showing that the cranberry may be effective at preventing tooth decay. The research focuses on the inhibiting effect of some compounds found inside the cranberry against a key bacterium blamed in the formation of cavities.

“Scientists believe that one of the main ways that cranberries prevent urinary tract infections is by inhibiting the adherence of pathogens on the surface of the bladder. Perhaps the same is true in the mouth, where bacteria use adhesion molecules to hold onto teeth,” says Dr. Michel Koo, an oral biologist and food scientist at the university’s medical center.

While this may sound like good news for those who are looking for natural ways to support their body, it’s very important to understand what’s in cranberry juice before making a purchase. Always remember to read the labels. Most cranberry juice is cranberry flavored apple juice. Sometimes it is also mixed with grape juice. Other ingredients may even include high-Fructose corn syrup. Towards the end of the ingredient list is found cranberry concentrate.

While, drinking apple juice and grape juice is probably a dietary improvement for most people, juices that are made with so much processed sugar are clearly little more than cranberry flavored juices. They’re unlikely to contain significant amounts of the compounds that make cranberries useful in the prevention of tooth decay and tend to contain large amounts of the compounds that are blamed on tooth decay.

Purer forms of cranberry juice have a very strong flavor. Some people can develop a taste for unsweetened cranberries, while other people can only handle cranberries when blended with some other juice. If choosing a cranberry blend, be sure to read the ingredient label and avoid juices that are sweetened with processed sugars and diluted with juices that are mostly the sugars that lead to cavities.

Further research will be necessary before cranberries can actually be promoted as a preventative for tooth decay. However others sugars such as Xylose, are already used in “sugarless gums” because of their proven ability to inhibit bacterial development on the surface of teeth. Such gums are of course called sugarless because they do not have sucrose and glucose which are the sugars associated with cavities.

Cranberries have also been shown to have beneficial effects for people with chronic urinary tract infections. The compound believed to be responsible for this is a simple monosaccharide sugar called Mannose. Identified in Harpers Biochemistry as one of eight sugars necessary for normal cellular function, Mannose has also been shown to prevent bacterial infection and development.

These necessary monosaccharide sugars can all be found in a single dietary supplement. It also contains the other sugars identified in Harpers Biochemistry, based of their importance in biological functions. This can provide a more convenient choice for people wishing to improve their diets by increasing their nutrient intake while limiting the intake of food compounds which are not beneficial to good health.

Dave Saunders is a certified nutrition and health educator and the host of a weekly telephone presentation on nutrition. You can receive free nutrition tips by registering for his newsletter, announcements list and current health articles at http://www.glycoboy.com

Diets concern especially Americans as they do have a “national weight problem”. So it would only be natural that dieting issues be so over proportioned in the US. Also, “miracle diet recipes” are very popular and make way rapidly into people’s minds. This also happened with the South Beach Diet – the diet that will not only allow you get rid of a lot of weight rapidly without starving but will also help you improve your health condition.

Being so popular, diets have even gained the power of influencing the food commerce and industry. If you wonder how, well, food producers that have been educated for a while to flexibly follow the demands of the market in order to be competitive, came out with their offer of diet-friendly product versions, attracting customers in their yard.

It seems that in countries outside the US, although people have heard of the diet, generally they are not very anxious to give up their eating habits in favor of a not so very well studied diet. Yet, Dr. Agatston’s “South Beach Diet” book is said to have been sold to more than 20 countries.

In Canada, low-carbs diets have gained some popularity but not to the extent they have in the US. And this happens only at mass level. The federal department Health Canada will issue new labeling rules and regulations to prevent manufacturers from making low-carb claims for their products, as the official opinion is that popular low-carbohydrate diets are nutritionally unsound.

Well, the question is whether the European and Asian countries, that have a food history and tradition will be influenced by the this low carb craze. And it seems that they have no reason to be as they are doing very well on their traditional eating.

Most likely to “enroll” are the British that have begun to face the same obesity problem. Popularization of the diet is being made in India, as well.

The low-carbs matter is hardly known in countries as France, Italy or Germany where French baguettes, Italian pasta and potatoes are almost sacred. From the European countries the healthiest diet that is being practiced is the Mediterranean diet that basically resembles the South Beach diet, only it is much older.

Lara Cioc writes for http://www.south-beach-diet-101.com where you can find more information about the South Beach Diet