Group items tagged

July 16, 2008 | Shelley Wood Beer-Sheva, Israel - Both a low-carbohydrate diet or a Mediterranean-style diet may be "effective alternatives" to a low-fat diet, with more favorable effects on lipids and/or glycemic control, new research suggests [1]. The two-year study, which managed to keep almost 85% of the 322 study participants on one of the three diets for the entire period, offers the hope that weight-loss diets can be tailored to personal preferences, without sacrificing efficacy, researchers say. "Several recent one-year dietary studies have led the American Diabetes Association to state in January 2008 that low-carb diets should be considered for a maximum of one year," lead author on the study, Dr Iris Shai (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel), told heartwire. "The current two-year study suggests that one low-fat diet doesn't fit all, meaning that the old paradigm should be reconsidered." Shai and colleagues publish the results of the Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial (DIRECT) in the July 17, 2008 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine

Pomegranate juice is remarkably rich in antioxidants, such as soluble polyphenols, tannins, and anthocyanins, which scavenge free radicals and help prevent DNA damage that can lead to a number of serious health conditions. It is also believed to have antiatherosclerotic properties, as studies in Israel have shown that the fruit juice, taken daily, prevented the thickening of arteries and slowed down cholesterol oxidation by almost half (Clin Nutr. 2004 Jun;23(3):423-33).

Calorie-restricted diets are thought to protect against cancer and slow tumor growth, and a new study published in this week's Nature begins to tease out why the measure works for some tumors, and not for others. For almost a century, researchers have known that fasting helps animals live longer and avoid some cancers, "but which type of cancers would be amenable to this approach, from a therapeutic standpoint, is still an open question," said Pier Paolo Pandolfi, a cancer geneticist at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center in Boston, Mass., who was not involved in the study. The study is exciting because it is one of the first to start answering that question at the genetic level, he said.

July 16, 2008 - Both a low-carbohydrate diet or a Mediterranean-style diet may be "effective alternatives" to a low-fat diet, with more favorable effects on lipids and/or glycemic control, new research suggests [1]. The two-year study, which managed to keep almost 85% of the 322 study participants on one of the three diets for the entire period, offers the hope that weight-loss diets can be tailored to personal preferences, without sacrificing efficacy, researchers say. "Several recent one-year dietary studies have led the American Diabetes Association to state in January 2008 that low-carb diets should be considered for a maximum of one year," lead author on the study, Dr Iris Shai (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel), told heartwire . "The current two-year study suggests that one low-fat diet doesn't fit all, meaning that the old paradigm should be reconsidered." Shai and colleagues publish the results of the Dietary Intervention Randomized Controlled Trial (DIRECT) in the July 17, 2008 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine

Long term nutritional intake and the risk for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): a population based study. Zelber-Sagi S, Nitzan-Kaluski D, Goldsmith R, Webb M, Blendis L, Halpern Z, Oren R. J Hepatol. 2007 Nov;47(5):711-7. Epub 2007 Aug 14. PMID: 17850914 doi:10.1016/j.jhep.2007.06.020    

Stress fractures in the Israeli defense forces from 1995 to 1996. Givon U, Friedman E, Reiner A, Vered I, Finestone A, Shemer J. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2000 Apr;(373):227-32. PMID: 10810481 Serum levels of bone specific alkaline phosphatase and osteocalcin were elevated in patients with high grade stress fractures compared with control subjects with no symptoms: 37.6 versus 26.2 units/L, and 10.8 versus 8.8 ng/mL, respectively. Levels of 25-hydroxy vitamin D were lower in patients with high grade stress fractures (25.3 ng/mL) than in control subjects (29.8 ng/mL). This study revealed that several parameters can distinguish soldiers with high grade stress fractures, but their predictive value and precise pathogenetic role remain unclear.

Israeli 'cancer shift' over heart disease mortality may be led by greater risk in women with high intake of n-6 fatty acids. Shapira N. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2007 Oct;16(5):486-94. PMID: 17923822 doi: 10.1097/CEJ.0b013e3280145b6d Population studies of Israeli Jews, Arabs, and women support the association of high n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake with increased cancer risk and higher female sensitivity. Research findings suggest that gender and sex hormones may influence n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid metabolism and carcinogenesis. This appears to be the first time gender has been proposed to modulate national cancer epidemiology, suggesting implications for differential nutritional prevention, warranting further research.