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The high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency across Australian populations is only partly explained by season and latitude. van der Mei IA, Ponsonby AL, Engelsen O, Pasco JA, McGrath JJ, Eyles DW, Blizzard L, Dwyer T, Lucas R, Jones G. Environ Health Perspect. 2007 Aug;115(8):1132-9. PMID: 17687438 doi: 10.1289/ehp.9937. Conclusion Vitamin D insufficiency is common over a wide latitude range in Australia. Season appears to be more important than latitude, but both accounted for less than one-fifth of the variation in serum 25(OH)D levels, highlighting the importance of behavioral factors. Current sun exposure guidelines do not seem to fully prevent vitamin D insufficiency, and consideration should be given to their modification or to pursuing other means to achieve vitamin D adequacy.

Consuming fructose-sweetened, not glucose-sweetened, beverages increases visceral adiposity and lipids and decreases insulin sensitivity in overweight/obese humans. Stanhope KL, Schwarz JM, Keim NL, Griffen SC, Bremer AA, Graham JL, Hatcher B, Cox CL, Dyachenko A, Zhang W, McGahan JP, Seibert A, Krauss RM, Chiu S, Schaefer EJ, Ai M, Otokozawa S, Nakajima K, Nakano T, Beysen C, Hellerstein MK, Berglund L, Havel PJ. J Clin Invest. 2009 May;119(5):1322-34. Epub 2009 Apr 20. PMID: 19381015 doi: 10.1172/JCI37385. Studies in animals have documented that, compared with glucose, dietary fructose induces dyslipidemia and insulin resistance. To assess the relative effects of these dietary sugars during sustained consumption in humans, overweight and obese subjects consumed glucose- or fructose-sweetened beverages providing 25% of energy requirements for 10 weeks. Although both groups exhibited similar weight gain during the intervention, visceral adipose volume was significantly increased only in subjects consuming fructose. Fasting plasma triglyceride concentrations increased by approximately 10% during 10 weeks of glucose consumption but not after fructose consumption. In contrast, hepatic de novo lipogenesis (DNL) and the 23-hour postprandial triglyceride AUC were increased specifically during fructose consumption. Similarly, markers of altered lipid metabolism and lipoprotein remodeling, including fasting apoB, LDL, small dense LDL, oxidized LDL, and postprandial concentrations of remnant-like particle-triglyceride and -cholesterol significantly increased during fructose but not glucose consumption. In addition, fasting plasma glucose and insulin levels increased and insulin sensitivity decreased in subjects consuming fructose but not in those consuming glucose. These data suggest that dietary fructose specifically increases DNL, promotes dyslipidemia, decreases insulin sensitivity, and increases visceral adiposity in overweight/obese adults.

Efficacy of berberine in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Yin J, Xing H, Ye J. Metabolism. 2008 May;57(5):712-7. PMID: 18442638 doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2008.01.013. Fasting plasma insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index were reduced by 28.1% and 44.7% (P<.001), respectively. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased significantly as well. During the trial, 20 (34.5%) patients experienced transient gastrointestinal adverse effects. Functional liver or kidney damages were not observed for all patients. In conclusion, this pilot study indicates that berberine is a potent oral hypoglycemic agent with beneficial effects on lipid metabolism In summary, that berberine is a potent oral hypoglycemic agent with modest effect on lipid metabolism. It is safe and the cost of treatment by berberine is very low. It may serve as a new drug candidate in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. However, this is a pilot study. The efficacy of berberine needs to be tested in a much larger population and characterized as a function of the known duration of the diabetes. Further studies are needed to evaluate the action of berberine on type 2 diabetes in other ethnic groups.

Calcium and vitamin D intakes may be positively associated with brain lesions in depressed and nondepressed elders. Payne ME, Anderson JJ, Steffens DC. Nutr Res. 2008 May;28(5):285-92. PMID: 19083421 doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2008.02.013 In conclusion, calcium and vitamin D consumption were associated with brain lesions in elderly subjects even after controlling for potentially explanatory variables. These associations may be due to vascular calcification or other mechanism. The possibility of adverse effects of high intakes of calcium and vitamin D needs to be further explored in longitudinal studies of elderly subjects.

"The gluten/schizophrenia connection has been tossed around since the 1970's. It is still controversial. Yet, some with schizophrenia (statistics say around 10-20%) may be miraculously helped by a simple dietary change. It is important to realize that many people have problems with gluten who do not test positive for Celiac Disease. Gluten can cause different types of problems. Casein sensitivity may be involved as well, for some."

Phytase activity in the human and rat small intestine. Iqbal TH, Lewis KO, Cooper BT. Gut. 1994 Sep;35(9):1233-6. PMID: 7959229

n-3 Fatty acids and cardiovascular disease: actions and molecular mechanisms. Torrejon C, Jung UJ, Deckelbaum RJ. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2007 Nov-Dec;77(5-6):319-26. Epub 2007 Dec 3. Review. Erratum in: Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2008 Feb;78(2):157. PMID: 18060753 In conclusion, a growing body of evidence, encompassing human to cellular and molecular studies are defining the roles for n-3 FA as bioactive agents for reducing the risks of and treating CVD.

Fatty acid intake and the risk of community-acquired pneumonia in U.S. women. Alperovich M, Neuman MI, Willett WC, Curhan GC. Nutrition. 2007 Mar;23(3):196-202. Epub 2007 Jan 22. PMID: 17236748 doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2006.11.007. Conclusions Fatty acid intake may affect the risk of community-acquired pneumonia in young and middle-aged women. Higher dietary intake of palmitic acid and possibly DHA and EPA may increase the risk of community-acquired pneumonia in women while higher oleic acid intake may decrease the risk.

Marine-derived n-3 fatty acids and atherosclerosis in Japanese, Japanese-American, and white men: a cross-sectional study. Sekikawa A, Curb JD, Ueshima H, El-Saed A, Kadowaki T, Abbott RD, Evans RW, Rodriguez BL, Okamura T, Sutton-Tyrrell K, Nakamura Y, Masaki K, Edmundowicz D, Kashiwagi A, Willcox BJ, Takamiya T, Mitsunami K, Seto TB, Murata K, White RL, Kuller LH; ERA JUMP (Electron-Beam Tomography, Risk Factor Assessment Among Japanese and U.S. Men in the Post-World War II Birth Cohort) Study Group. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Aug 5;52(6):417-24. PMID: 18672160 Conclusions Very high levels of marine-derived n-3 FAs have anti-atherogenic properties independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and may contribute to lower burden of atherosclerosis in Japanese in Japan, which is unlikely due to genetic factors.

Intima-media thickness of the carotid artery and the distribution of lipoprotein subclasses in men aged 40 to 49 years between whites in the United States and the Japanese in Japan for the ERA JUMP study. Sekikawa A, Ueshima H, Sutton-Tyrrell K, Kadowaki T, El-Saed A, Okamura T, Takamiya T, Ueno Y, Evans RW, Nakamura Y, Edmundowicz D, Kashiwagi A, Maegawa H, Kuller LH. Metabolism. 2008 Feb;57(2):177-82. PMID: 18191046 doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2007.08.022. In men in the post World War II birth cohort, i.e., men aged 40-49, whites in the United States (U.S.) had significantly higher levels of intima-media thickness of the carotid arteries (IMT) than the Japanese in Japan. The whites had significantly higher levels of large very-low-density-lipoprotein particles and significantly lower levels of large high-density-lipoprotein particles than the Japanese, whereas the two populations had similar levels of small low-density-lipoprotein particles. The two populations had similar associations of IMT with NMR lipoproteins. Adjusting for NMR lipoproteins did not attenuate the significant difference in IMT between the two populations (0.671 ± 0.006 for the whites and 0.618 ± 0.006 mm for the Japanese, P=0.01, mean (standard error)). Differences in the distributions of NMR lipoproteins between the two populations did not explain the higher IMT in the whites.

Conjugated linoleic acid improves insulin sensitivity in young, sedentary humans. Eyjolfson V, Spriet LL, Dyck DJ. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 May;36(5):814-20. PMID: 15126715 CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that a common dosage of a commercially available CLA supplement can improve ISI in young, sedentary individuals. However, there is considerable individual variability in the response. Additional studies are required to identify underlying metabolic changes in human skeletal muscle.

Egg breakfast enhances weight loss. Vander Wal JS, Gupta A, Khosla P, Dhurandhar NV. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Oct;32(10):1545-51. Epub 2008 Aug 5. PMID: 18679412 doi: 10.1038/ijo.2008.130 Conclusions The egg breakfast enhances weight loss, when combined with an energy-deficit diet, but does not induce weight loss in a free-living condition. The inclusion of eggs in a weight management program may offer a nutritious supplement to enhance weight loss.

Fatty fish and fish omega-3 fatty acid intakes decrease the breast cancer risk: a case-control study. Kim J, Lim SY, Shin A, Sung MK, Ro J, Kang HS, Lee KS, Kim SW, Lee ES. BMC Cancer. 2009 Jun 30;9:216. PMID: 19566923 doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-9-216 Conclusion These results suggest that high consumption of fatty fish is associated with a reduced risk for breast cancer, and that the intake of omega-3 fatty acids from fish is inversely associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk

Vitamin D replacement in Asians with diabetes may increase insulin resistance. Taylor AV, Wise PH. Postgrad Med J. 1998 Jun;74(872):365-6. PMID: 9799895 We report three cases of vitamin D replacement in British Asians with vitamin D deficiency and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. In all cases, replacement resulted in an increase in insulin resistance and a deterioration of glycaemic control