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Here we propose that the beneficial effect of (n-3) PUFA diet is related to down-regulation of the mutually positive interactions of platelet activation and coagulation. In addition, we consider the possibility that the dietary effect on hemostatic and lipid factors involves transcription regulation of multiple genes, perhaps in a subject-dependent manner. Fish oil consumption and reduction of arterial disease. Vanschoonbeek K, de Maat MP, Heemskerk JW. J Nutr. 2003 Mar;133(3):657-60. Review. PMID: 12612132

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research suggests that low vitamin D levels in the body are associated with thinking or "cognitive" impairments in older men, but whether vitamin D supplements can help is not yet known. In the study, an investigation of European men, subjects with low levels of vitamin D scored worse on a standard test of cognitive ability than did their peers with normal levels, Dr. David M. Lee, from the University of Manchester, UK, and co-researchers found. Although, the authors emphasize, the difference in scores was not that great.

ScienceDaily (June 9, 2009) - Overweight individuals who ate a low-calorie, low-carbohydrate diet high in plant-based proteins for four weeks lost weight and experienced improvements in blood cholesterol levels and other heart disease risk factors, according to a report in the June 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. A high-carbohydrate, low-fat vegetarian diet also resulted in weight loss but without the additional cardiovascular benefits.

Conclusion A low-carbohydrate plant-based diet has lipid-lowering advantages over a high-carbohydrate, low-fat weight-loss diet in improving heart disease risk factors not seen with conventional low-fat diets with animal products. The Effect of a Plant-Based Low-Carbohydrate ("Eco-Atkins") Diet on Body Weight and Blood Lipid Concentrations in Hyperlipidemic Subjects David J. A. Jenkins; Julia M. W. Wong; Cyril W. C. Kendall; Amin Esfahani; Vivian W. Y. Ng; Tracy C. K. Leong; Dorothea A. Faulkner; Ed Vidgen; Kathryn A. Greaves; Gregory Paul; William Singer Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(11):1046-1054.

Conclusion: The associations suggest that replacing SFAs with PUFAs rather than MUFAs or carbohydrates prevents CHD over a wide range of intakes. Major types of dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease: a pooled analysis of 11 cohort studies. Jakobsen MU, O'Reilly EJ, Heitmann BL, Pereira MA, Bälter K, Fraser GE, Goldbourt U, Hallmans G, Knekt P, Liu S, Pietinen P, Spiegelman D, Stevens J, Virtamo J, Willett WC, Ascherio A. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 May;89(5):1425-32. Epub 2009 Feb 11. PMID: 19211817 doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.27124

The same annual dose of 292 000 IU of vitamin D(3) (cholecalciferol) on either daily or four monthly basis for elderly women: 1-year comparative study of the effects on serum 25(OH)D(3) concentrations and renal function. Pekkarinen T, Välimäki VV, Aarum S, Turpeinen U, Hämäläinen E, Löyttyniemi E, Välimäki MJ. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2009 May 25. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19486025 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2009.03637.x

A recently published study in Nutrition and Cancer (60(5), 643-651) by researchers at Kansai Medical University in Osaka, Japan has shown that AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound) enhances immune function by increasing the number of dendritic cells (DCs). DCs are a key part of the immune system responsible for presenting foreign substances to other immune system cells. The study was conducted in a double-blind randomized fashion where twenty-one healthy subjects received a placebo or AHCC at 3.0 g/day for 4 weeks. Blood samples were obtained and measured at baseline and at 4 weeks. The number of circulating types of DCs was measured which included CD 11c+ DCs (myeloid DC population; DC1) and CD11c- DCs (lymphoid DC population; DC2). Other parameters measured included mixed-leukocyte reaction (MLR), natural killer (NK) cell activity, the proliferative response of T lymphocytes toward mitogen (phytohemagglutinin [PHA]) and cytokine production of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, interferon gamma-gamma, and (alpha)-tumor necrosis factor.

Dietary magnesium intake is related to metabolic syndrome in older Americans. McKeown NM, Jacques PF, Zhang XL, Juan W, Sahyoun NR. Eur J Nutr. 2008 Jun;47(4):210-6. Epub 2008 Jun 16. PMID: 18560789 DOI: 10.1007/s00394-008-0715-x

Watercress supplementation in diet reduces lymphocyte DNA damage and alters blood antioxidant status in healthy adults. Gill CI, Haldar S, Boyd LA, Bennett R, Whiteford J, Butler M, Pearson JR, Bradbury I, Rowland IR. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Feb;85(2):504-10. PMID: 17284750

Egg consumption and coronary heart disease: an epidemiologic overview. Kritchevsky SB, Kritchevsky D. J Am Coll Nutr. 2000 Oct;19(5 Suppl):549S-555S. Review. PMID: 11023006 When dietary confounders were considered, no association was seen between egg consumption at levels up to 1 + egg per day and the risk of coronary heart disease in non-diabetic men and women.

Egg consumption, serum cholesterol, and cause-specific and all-cause mortality: the National Integrated Project for Prospective Observation of Non-communicable Disease and Its Trends in the Aged, 1980 (NIPPON DATA80). Nakamura Y, Okamura T, Tamaki S, Kadowaki T, Hayakawa T, Kita Y, Okayama A, Ueshima H; NIPPON DATA80 Research Group. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Jul;80(1):58-63. PMID: 15213028 In men, egg consumption was not related to age-adjusted total cholesterol. Cox analysis found that, in women, all-cause mortality in the 1-2-eggs/wk group was significantly lower than that in the 1-egg/d group, whereas no such relations were noted in men. CONCLUSION: Limiting egg consumption may have some health benefits, at least in women in geographic areas where egg consumption makes a relatively large contribution to total dietary cholesterol intake.

Consumption of one egg per day increases serum lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations in older adults without altering serum lipid and lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. Goodrow EF, Wilson TA, Houde SC, Vishwanathan R, Scollin PA, Handelman G, Nicolosi RJ. J Nutr. 2006 Oct;136(10):2519-24. PMID: 16988120 These findings indicate that in older adults, 5 wk of consuming 1 egg/d significantly increases serum lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations without elevating serum lipids and lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations.

Dietary cholesterol from eggs increases plasma HDL cholesterol in overweight men consuming a carbohydrate-restricted diet. Mutungi G, Ratliff J, Puglisi M, Torres-Gonzalez M, Vaishnav U, Leite JO, Quann E, Volek JS, Fernandez ML. J Nutr. 2008 Feb;138(2):272-6. PMID: 18203890 Carbohydrate-restricted diets (CRD) significantly decrease body weight and independently improve plasma triglycerides (TG) and HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) . [..] Eighteen subjects were classified as having the metabolic syndrome (MetS) at the beginning of the study, whereas 3 subjects had that classification at the end. These results suggest that including eggs in a CRD results in increased HDL-C while decreasing the risk factors associated with MetS.

Egg consumption and risk of heart failure in the Physicians' Health Study. Djoussé L, Gaziano JM. Circulation. 2008 Jan 29;117(4):512-6. Epub 2008 Jan 14. PMID: 18195171 doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.107.734210 CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that infrequent egg consumption is not associated with the risk of HF. However, egg consumption of > or = 1 per day is related to an increased risk of HF among US male physicians.

Foods rich in cocoa may improve performance on challenging mental tasks like arithmetic. This is the finding of a study presented as part of a symposium highlighting the potential of plant-based treatments presented at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference 2009 in Brighton. Crystal Haskell from the Brain, Performance and Nutrition Research Centre at Northumbria University said: "Foods containing high levels of cocoa flavanols, found in chocolate, have been shown to increase cerebral blood flow, and it has also been proven that consumption of plants that have these properties improves performance on mentally demanding tasks. We wanted to discover whether cocoa flavanols produced the same effect.

Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a randomized trial. Lappe JM, Travers-Gustafson D, Davies KM, Recker RR, Heaney RP. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jun;85(6):1586-91. Erratum in: Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Mar;87(3):794. PMID: 17556697 Conclusions: Improving calcium and vitamin D nutritional status substantially reduces all-cancer risk in postmenopausal women.

Nut consumption and risk of hypertension in US male physicians. Djoussé L, Rudich T, Gaziano JM. Clin Nutr. 2009 Feb;28(1):10-4. Epub 2008 Oct 2. PMID: 18834651 doi:10.1016/j.clnu.2008.08.005 CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that nut consumption is associated with a lower risk of hypertension in US male physicians and that such relation may be influenced by adiposity.

Egg consumption in relation to cardiovascular disease and mortality: the Physicians' Health Study. Djoussé L, Gaziano JM. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Apr;87(4):964-9. PMID: 18400720 Conclusions: Infrequent egg consumption does not seem to influence the risk of CVD in male physicians. In addition, egg consumption was positively related to mortality, more strongly so in diabetic subjects, in the study population.