Environmental Nutrition

View or print a copy of the entire January 2009 issue of Environmental

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Research Roundup: January 2009

Subscribers Only Eating broccoli raw, rather than cooked, results in higher blood levels of broccoli’s anticancer compounds, such as sulforaphane. Researchers from the Netherlands conducted a small study of eight men, aged 18 to 60, feeding them about two cups of crushed broccoli a day, raw or cooked. They found that cooking the broccoli prevented the formation of the anticancer compounds, making less of them available to be absorbed. In fact, while 37% of the sulforaphane in raw broccoli was available for absorption, less than 4% was available from the cooked broccoli.

Green or Gold, Kiwifruit Deliver Taste, Nutrition

Subscribers Only The Folklore. A kiwi is a type of flightless bird found only in New Zealand and a common nickname for New Zealanders. But to most Americans, a kiwi is a brown, fuzzy fruit. In the 1950s, enterprising New Zealanders dubbed what was once called the Chinese gooseberry with the more marketable name of kiwifruit. The Facts. Kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) is actually a berry. Like all berries, kiwi pack a big nutrition punch. A serving of green kiwifruit (two medium) is just 92 calories, yet it provides almost double the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin C, 16% of the DV for fiber and 13% of the DV for potassium. That’s as much C as in two oranges, the same potassium as in a banana and as much fiber as in many whole-grain cereals.

Erythritol Sweeteners Stand Out from the Pack, With Benefits to Boot

Subscribers Only Polyols are a type of carbohydrate, so they provide calories, but they aren’t sugars, so products using them can be called "sugar-free." While all polyols are lower in calories than table sugar, erythritol is much lower. It is virtually calorie-free (0.2 calories per gram; sugar provides 4 calories, sorbitol 2.6 and xylitol 2.4). The Food and Drug Administration declared erythritol safe more than a decade ago. However, it’s only now being used extensively in products like chewing gum, candy, ice cream, baked goods and fruit spreads, as well as in some oral care and cold products.

Melamine: A Concern?

Subscribers Only The FDA recently cracked down on the entry of all food products from China containing milk, after finding evidence of melamine contamination. The contaminated products are found mostly in ethnic stores, but any milk-containing product from China is suspect. The only serious problem in the U.S. occurred last year, when a few pet foods were contaminated with the chemical, causing some pet deaths.

Too Much or Too Little Sodium Is Unhealthy

Subscribers Only What about sodium intakes that fall in between the minimum of 500 and the 2,400 maximum? That’s where the waters get a bit murky. While the prevailing philosophy is the lower the better, not everyone agrees with this sodium party line. A few researchers, including Hillel Cohen, Dr.P.H., of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, have compared sodium intakes with death rates from cardiovascular disease using government survey data and have uncovered a provocative link.

Frozen Pizzas: Hot Out of the Oven, But How Healthful?

Subscribers Only Why wait 30 minutes or more for pizza delivery to your door when you can pick up a pie at the supermarket, pay one-third to one-half the price and serve it piping hot from your own oven? As shoppers spend less on restaurant and carry-out food, it comes as no surprise that store-bought frozen pizzas are a booming business a half-century after the Celentano brothers introduced them to supermarkets. Today, it’s easier than ever to find a good-tasting pie with nutrition numbers you can swallow. One of the fastest growing categories is gourmet pies with thinner crusts, better quality cheeses and a variety of vegetable toppings. You can also find organic options and those with whole-wheat crusts.

New Study Finds Fault With Some Bottled Waters; Tap Water a Better Bet

Subscribers Only "Tap or bottled?" just might be the new environmental phrase to take over from "paper or plastic?" And just as the paper-or-plastic debate has its arguments on both sides, so too does the tap water versus bottled water dispute. But more and more, it seems tap water is gaining the upper hand. The bottled water industry has taken a few hits of late for the huge landfill problem plastic bottles generate, while tap water gets rave reviews for how well it stacks up to bottled water, both in safety and taste. Now, a new report throws more cold water on the notion that bottled is safer. And none too soon, since Americans drink twice as much bottled water today as they did 10 years ago, guzzling a grand total of nine billion gallons a year. Bottled Waters a Bust in Test. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit public health advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., commissioned the latest study that tested 10 brands of bottled water. The disturbing results? EWG found an alarming 38 pollutants in total, which ran the chemical gamut from disinfection byproducts, arsenic, fertilizer residue, plasticizers and pharmaceuticals.

B Vitamins May Help Protect Older Women Against Breast Cancer and More

Subscribers Only The B vitamins folic acid, B6 and B12 are increasingly being looked at for their potential health benefits. Now, new findings from a large study of women have killed the buzz with overall disappointing results, but the news was actually encouraging for older women. These latest findings come from the Women’s Antioxidant and Folic Acid Cardiovascular Study. In the study, more than 5,000 women over the age of 42 took supplemental B vitamins (2,500 micrograms of folic acid, 50 milligrams of vitamin B6 and 1 milligram of vitamin B12) in hopes of reducing cancer risk. But after seven years, those taking the supplements were no less likely to develop cancer than those who took placebos.

Inflammation Link to Heart Attack Is Solid

Subscribers Only C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of inflammation, is a strong predictor of heart attacks, even among people not considered at risk by current standards. That’s the recent finding from the JUPITER Project, an international study of almost 18,000 adults with near-optimal levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, the "bad" cholesterol), but high levels of hsCRP (the more accurate high-sensitivity form of the test).

Test Your Portion I.Q.; Tips to Control How Much You Eat

Subscribers Only Fighting that thickening of the middle that seems to come with age requires one thing above all else—firm control of how much we eat. A number of studies indicate that portion size is more closely correlated with the number of calories you take in than is the quality or type of food you eat. And the reverse also seems to be true—portion control yields more weight loss than changing the foods you eat or exercising more (though doing those plus paying attention to portions is best of all). Keeping portions reasonable is not always easy, but it’s certainly doable whether you eat out or eat in. Order an appetizer as an entrée plus a salad or soup. At home, choose single-serve packages, but only if you can stick to just one. And remember, it’s an expensive option and environmentally unfriendly because of all that extra packaging. Here’s EN’s quick pop quiz to determine your portion control prowess.

New Physical Activity Guidelines: Do You Measure Up? Here’s How You Can

Subscribers Only Whether you love it or hate it, chances are you know that physical activity is a critical part of a healthy lifestyle. But despite being fully aware of its benefits, Americans have shown little increase in activity levels in the past decade, according to surveys. This, plus mounting concern over the growing obesity epidemic and its associated health risks (and costs), has triggered the U.S. government to rethink how it conveys the importance of physical activity to overall health. As a result, this past October, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) issued the government’s first-ever Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, outlining exactly how much and what kinds of activity are needed to help Americans control their weight and reduce their risk of major health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and some cancers.

What You Worry About…But Shouldn’t Vs Things That Are Worth Your Worry

Subscribers Only If you pay attention to every ominous nutrition headline, it may seem like everything you eat is risky. But not every nutrition "warning" warrants your undivided attention. While it’s human nature to be on alert for trouble, excessive worrying is bad for your health. Here, EN sorts through common topics of nutrition headlines to help allay some common fears, but also to highlight other topics that deserve your attention.