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May 2002
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From Starring Role To Bit Part: Has The Curtain Come Down On Vitamin E?
By Densie Webb, Ph.D., R.D.
Vitamin E, once the star of the heart disease stage, has increasingly endured bad reviews from critics calling for a stop to E supplements. Why? More and more studies have failed to find a link between high-dose vitamin E supplementation and prevention of heart disease—or cancer. So, is it all over for E? EN takes yet another look at what has brought this vitamin to the brink and offers some perspective on supplementation.
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How Soy Fares In Fight Against Cancer, Heart Disease, Osteoporosis
By Julie Walsh, M.S., R.D.
(See Page 2 for related piece on soy.) In the past, most Americans found tofu about as appetizing as, say, cardboard. Although traditional soy foods like tofu and miso are still not popular in the U.S., many new soy-based products are selling well, largely because of the perceived health benefits of soybeans. In fact, one-third of Americans now eat soy foods, spending more than $2.6 billion a year, mostly on soymilk, soy burgers, soy dogs and other highly processed
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EN Presents a Buyers Guide to Selected Soy Foods
By Julie Walsh, M.S., R.D.
(See 2nd Feature Story for a related story on soy.) Experts may be calling for people to eat more soy, but that doesn’t mean everyone knows the difference between edamamé and natto. EN sorts it all out. Whole Soy Foods Edamamé (Green Soybeans)—Natural soybeans in the pod or shelled, often sold frozen. To eat, boil in slightly salted water for 5 minutes. Contains isoflavones + 8 grams protein per ½ cup.
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Side Benefit for Alcohol Imbibers
Drinking wine, beer or other alcoholic beverages may help prevent foodborne illness, according to an investigation in Spain that looked at who got sick and who didn’t in a group of 51 people exposed to contaminated food at a banquet. Partyers who drank more than 40 grams of alcohol (about three beers, three glasses of wine or three cocktails) during or immediately after eating were only half as likely to suffer food poisoning from Salmonella-tainted food as teetotalers. Imbibers drinking
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Latest Food Safety Advice for Travelers
Not only is diarrheal illness a too-common side effect of travel, now there’s the threat of something more serious—meningitis. That’s what happened to 12 Americans who visited Jamaica together, nine of whom ended up in the hospital with meningitis. The culprit? Angiostrongylus cantonensis, a roundworm more typical of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Basin, but also found in rats and land snails in the Caribbean islands. Investigators tracked the probable source of infection to Romaine lettuce in a Caesar salad
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Research Roundup
F Losing weight may protect the heart by reducing blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation that is a proven risk factor for heart disease. At the University of Vermont in Burlington, researchers found that high CRP levels were linked to greater abdominal fat and total body fat in 61 postmenopausal, obese, middle-aged women. When 25 of the women then lost an average of 32 pounds over 14 months, CRP
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Designer Foods for Women: Noteworthy Niche or Not?
The Buzz: "A unique combination of nutrients designed specially for women," because "You know your needs are different." At least, that’s what marketers have decided in formulating foods just for females, including Luna and Oasis nutrition bars, Harmony cereal and Nutrition For Women oatmeal, with soups, salty snacks, bottled water and sports drinks on the horizon.
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To Pick the Perfect Pasta, Check for Fiber First
By Hillary M. Wright, M.Ed., R.D.
Few can deny the appeal of pasta, save perhaps those still on the low-carb bandwagon. Why is pasta so popular? It’s quick to prepare and amazingly versatile. And despite some increasingly legitimate concerns about its "glycemic load" (the effect it has on blood sugar), it can be a healthful addition to your diet. Especially if you choose your pasta carefully. Nutritionally, pastas are not created equal. The pasta with which most of us are familiar is the Italian standard,
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"A Touch of Sugar" Now Called Pre-Diabetes
Diabetes is on the rise. To stem the tide, public health experts want people to take prevention seriously. Those most at risk are people with higher-than-normal blood glucose levels that aren’t high enough to signal diabetes. Until now, this was referred to as "impaired glucose tolerance." To drive home the point that this condition eventually leads to diabetes if not kept in check, the term "pre-diabetes" has been adopted by the American Diabetes Association in conjunction with the National Institutes
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Dried Plums (ne Prunes) Boast Hefty Health Benefits
The Folklore: You can thank the California Gold Rush for domestic dried plums (formerly prunes). Though plum trees have been cultivated since ancient times, they weren’t introduced to North America till 1856, by a Frenchman. When he failed miserably at mining gold, he planted plum trees, covering California with more than 90,000 acres of orchards over the next 35 years.
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Allergic? Check Partners Plate Before Puckering Up
If you’re allergic to nuts, your kissing partner may inadvertently expose you to enough of the offending substance to cause a reaction that warrants medical treatment, say University of California at Davis researchers. On a standard questionnaire given to 442 people with nut allergies, 15 (3.4%) voluntarily noted that they had experienced an allergic reaction after a kiss, sometimes only a friendly one, from someone who had eaten the allergenic food. Most of the kisses were within 30 minutes of
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Myriad Uses for Vinegar....Weight Loss Isnt One of Them
Q. I’ve heard that apple cider vinegar can help me lose weight. Is that true? A. Don’t count on it. Despite that, the Apple Cider Vinegar Diet seems to be gaining popularity. This version of the diet even has its own website, which declares the diet is intended for "normal people with normal busy lifestyles and a normal income, who wish to lose weight, cellulite and detoxify successfully without being on a fad diet." Ha! This is one of those gimmick
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Go for Natural Laxative Relief, But Best If Not From Senna or Cascara
Q. My natural laxative contains the herbs senna and cascara sagrada. Are they effective and safe? A. Effective, yes, as anyone who has ever taken them can attest. They are safe, however, only for occasional, limited use. Long-term use of either of these two potent laxative herbs is not recommended for anyone. Natural, But Not Gentle. Senna (Cassia senna or Cassia augustifolia) and cascara sagrada (Rhamnus purshiana) are found in many laxative, digestive and "colon cleanser" products, such as Senokot, Ex-Lax, Naturalax, Natural Swiss
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