Peanuts, herbs, spices and the gut microbiome

A December 2022 study by Penn State said, 

“Research has shown that people who have a lot of different microbes have better health, and a better diet, than those who don’t have much bacterial diversity,”

“It’s such a simple thing that people can do,” 

“The average American diet is far from ideal, so I think everyone could benefit by adding herbs and spices. It’s also a way of decreasing sodium in your diet but flavoring foods in a way that makes them palatable and, in fact, delicious! Taste is really a top criterion for why people choose the foods they do.”

“We need a lot more research on the microbiome to see what its proper place is in terms of overall health.”

Potatoes

A December 2022 study by Edith Cowan University said, 

• “In previous studies, potatoes have been positively linked to incidence of diabetes, regardless of how they’re prepared — but we found that’s not true,” 

• “In Denmark, people consume potatoes prepared in many different ways; in our study, we could distinguish between the different preparation methods.

•  “When we separated boiled potatoes from mashed potatoes, fries or crisps, boiled potatoes were no longer associated with a higher risk of diabetes: they had a null effect.”

•   “In our study, people who ate the most potatoes also consumed more butter, red meat and soft drink — foods known to increase your risk of Type 2 diabetes,”

• “When you account for that, boiled potatoes are no longer associated with diabetes. It’s only fries and mashed potatoes, the latter likely because it is usually made with butter, cream and the like.”

•  “The finding that vegetables lower diabetes risk is crucial for public health recommendations, and we shouldn’t ignore it,”

•  “Regarding potatoes, we can’t say they have a benefit in terms of type 2 diabetes, but they also aren’t bad if prepared in a healthy way.”

• “We should separate potatoes and other vegetables in regard to messaging about disease prevention but replacing refined grains such as white rice and pasta with potatoes can improve your diet quality because of fibre and other nutrients found in potatoes.”

•  “Potatoes have fibre and nutrients, which are good for you,”

•  “People talk about carbs being bad, but it’s more about the type of carbs you’re having; compared to something like white rice, boiled potatoes are a good quality of carbohydrate.

•  “But just take care how you prepare them: don’t eat fries, or mash with extras in it all the time.”

•  “Just boil them and eat them like other greens or other foods — and you don’t need to have it with red meat all the time.”

Walnuts

A September 2022 study by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health said,

• “Walnut eaters seem to have a unique body phenotype that carries with it other positive impacts on health like better diet quality, especially when they start eating walnuts from young into middle adulthood – as risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes elevates.”

• “There was a good degree of diversity in terms of the research field locations geographically speaking and the population studied,”

• “Following these black and white women and men for 30 years provides an unparalleled window of study into how lifestyle decisions made in free-living environments in young adulthood can affect health in middle-age,”

• “Nut consumers showed an advantage in relation to diet quality, but walnut consumers appear to have a better heart disease risk factor profile than the other groups, even after accounting for overall diet quality,” 

• “The surprising, healthy shifts in overall dietary pattern of walnut consumers suggests walnuts may act as a bridge or ‘carrier food’ for helping people form healthy nutrition and lifestyle habits throughout life.”

Choice of grains, heart disease

An October 2022 study by the Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center and Cardiovascular Research Institute at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Isfahan, Iran, said,

• “There are many factors involved in why people may be consuming more refined grains as opposed to whole grains and these cases differ between people, but some of the most important factors to consider include the economy and income, job, education, culture, age and other similar factors,” 

• “A diet that includes consuming a high amount of unhealthy and refined grains can be considered similar to consuming a diet containing a lot of unhealthy sugars and oils.”

• “As more studies demonstrate an increase in refined grains consumption globally, as well as the impact on overall health, it is important that we find ways to encourage and educate people on the benefits of whole grain consumption,” 

• “Tactics to consider include teaching improved dietary choices in schools and other public places in simple language the general population can understand, as well as on television programs and by continuing to do high level research that is presented at medical conferences and published in medical journals. Clinicians must also be having these conversations with each other and their patients.”

Egg powder

A September 2022 study by Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich (LSB) said, 

• "Studies show that adding one egg a day to complementary food can help reduce the incidence of underweight in older infants by 74 percent, as well as counteract the so-called 'stunting' effect,"

• "As our analyses showed, the drying process did not lead to an accumulation of the heavy metals cadmium, lead, arsenic and mercury," 

• "Despite the small loss of retinol, egg powder is a valuable source of vitamin A. Sub-Saharan African regions in particular could benefit from this. This is because vitamin A deficiency is widespread there and leads to a high prevalence of vision problems," 

Avocado and leukemia treatments

An April 2021 study University of Guelph looked at an avocado compound that may indicate better ways to treat leukaemia said, 

"This is the first time VLCAD [an enzyme] has been identified as a target in any cancer."

Looking for a compound that would inhibit the enzyme they found, "the best one was derived from avocado,"

Probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus and inflammatory bowel disease

An April 2021 study by Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey Medical Center said,

"Our data indicate that [Lactobacillus acidophilus] is able to prevent colonic inflammation formation and promote colitis healing,”

"The implications of the present findings are that this bacterial strain can be used in a wide variety of intestinal permeability disorders, including IBD [inflammatory bowel disease], coeliac disease, alcoholic liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and necrotizing enterocolitis, to treat inflammation associated with the leaky gut.”

Omega-3 supplementation and Stress

An April 2021 study by The Ohio State University said,

"The findings suggest that omega-3 supplementation is one relatively simple change people could make that could have a positive effect at breaking the chain between stress and negative health effects,”

"You could consider an increase in cortisol and inflammation potential factors that would erode telomere length," 

"The assumption based on past work is that telomerase can help rebuild telomere length, and you want to have enough telomerase present to compensate for any stress-related damage.”

"The fact that our results were dose-dependent, and we're seeing more impact with the higher omega-3 dose, would suggest that this supports a causal relationship."

"Not everyone who is depressed has heightened inflammation - about a third do. This helps explain why omega-3 supplementation doesn't always result in reduced depressive symptoms," 

"If you don't have heightened inflammation, then omega-3s may not be particularly helpful. But for people with depression who do, our results suggest omega-3s would be more useful."

Some dietary sources of Omega-3

Fish, especially salmon, tuna, herring, sardines and mackerel

Seeds especially walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseed

Nuts

Cocoa and Weight Control

An April 2021 study by Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences said,

"While it is typically considered an indulgence food because of its high sugar and fat content, epidemiological and human-intervention studies have suggested that chocolate consumption is associated with reduced risk of cardio-metabolic diseases including stroke, coronary heart disease and Type 2 diabetes,”

"So, it made sense to investigate whether cocoa consumption had an effect on non-alcohol-related fatty liver disease, which is commonly associated with human obesity.”

"Given the high proportion of people in the United States and other parts of the world with obesity, there is a need to develop potentially effective dietary interventions rather than just preventive agents,”

“This exchange is potentially beneficial, especially in combination with a healthy overall diet and increased physical activity,”

"If you go to the gym and work out, and your reward is you go home and have a cup of cocoa, that may be something that helps get you off the couch and moving around."

Beetroot Juice and Healthy Ageing

A March 2021 study by the University of Exeter said, 

"We are really excited about these findings, which have important implications for healthy ageing,”

"Previous studies have compared the oral bacteria of young and older people, and healthy people compared to those with diseases, but ours is the first to test nitrate-rich diet in this way.

"Our findings suggest that adding nitrate-rich foods to the diet - in this case via beetroot juice - for just ten days can substantially alter the oral microbiome (mix of bacteria) for the better.”

"Maintaining this healthy oral microbiome in the long term might slow down the negative vascular and cognitive changes associated with ageing."

"Our participants were healthy, active older people with generally good blood pressure,”

"Dietary nitrate reduced their blood pressure on average, and we are keen to find out whether the same would happen in other age groups and among people in poorer health.

"We are working with colleagues in the University of Exeter Medical School to investigate interactions between the oral bacteria and cognition to better understand the how diet could be used to delay cognitive decline in older age."

Some Nitrate Rich Foods

• Betroot

• Garlic

• Meat

• Dark Chocolate

• Leafy Greens

• Citrus Fruit

• Pomegranate

• Nuts & Seeds

• Watermelon

Sugar and Brain Development

A March 2021 study by University of Georgia said, 

"Early life sugar increased Parabacteroides [a bacteria] levels, and the higher the levels of Parabacteroides, the worse the animals did in the task," 

"We found that the bacteria alone was sufficient to impair memory in the same way as sugar, but it also impaired other types of memory functions as well."

"We found that rats that consumed sugar in early life had an impaired capacity to discriminate that an object was novel to a specific context, a task the rats that were not given sugar were able to do," 

"Early life sugar consumption seems to selectively impair their hippocampal learning and memory,"

Eat and Train for Better Senior Year Health

A March 2021 study using data from the Framingham Heart Study said,

"Health care professionals could use these findings to further promote and emphasize to their patients the benefits of a healthy diet and a regular exercise schedule to avoid the development of numerous chronic health conditions in the present and in later life," 

"The earlier people make these lifestyle changes, the more likely they will be to lower their risk of cardiovascular-associated diseases later in life."

"It is noteworthy that we observed a dose-response association of adherence to diet and physical activity guidelines with risk of cardiometabolic disease later in life,”

"Participants who met the physical activity guidelines had progressively lower risk of cardiometabolic disease as they increased adherence to the dietary guidelines."

Cocoa, heart health, stress

A March 2021 study by University of Birmingham said, 

"We found that drinking flavanol-rich cocoa can be an effective dietary strategy to reduce temporary impairments in endothelial function following mental stress and also improve blood flow during stressful episodes”.

"Flavanols are extremely common in a wide range of fruit and vegetables. By utilizing the known cardiovascular benefits of these compounds during periods of acute vascular vulnerability (such as stress) we can offer improved guidance to people about how to make the most of their dietary choices during stressful periods."

"Our findings are significant for everyday diet, given that the daily dosage administered could be achieved by consuming a variety of foods rich in flavanols - particularly apples, black grapes, blackberries, cherries, raspberries, pears, pulses, green tea and unprocessed cocoa. This has important implications for measures to protect the blood vessels of those individuals who are more vulnerable to the effects of mental stress,"

Nutrition Security

An April 2021 ‘viewpoint’ by Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University, Georgetown Law School, and World Central Kitchen, said, 

"Food is essential both for life and human dignity. Every day, I see hunger, but the hunger I see is not only for calories but for nourishing meals. With a new focus on nutrition security, we embrace a solution that nourishes people, instead of filling them with food but leaving them hungry," 

"It's the right time for this evolution," 

"By prioritizing nutrition security, we bring together historically siloed areas - hunger and nutrition - which must be tackled together to effectively address our modern challenges of diet-related diseases and disparities in clinical care, government food and food assistance policies, public health investments, and national research."

"The current approach is not sufficient … traditionally marginalized minority groups as well as people living in rural and lower-income counties are most likely to experience disparities in nutrition quality, food insecurity, and corresponding diet-related diseases."

Shared Meals to Reduce Adolescent Obesity

An April 2021 study by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona said,

"At a time when lockdown due to the pandemic has revived family meals, this study indicates one of the possible positive aspects of the situation that we have had to confront", 

"A healthy diet is not just what we eat but also how we eat it”

"The Mediterranean diet is much more than a list of foods. It is a cultural model which includes how these foods are selected, produced, processed and consumed.”

"It is easier when children are small, but in adolescence there is a disconnect between you and them and, thanks to these conversations, you can gain a little insight into their world", 

"Just as we recommend 5 fruit and veg a day, we could also propose at least one family meal a day".

Muscle Repair and Glucose

An April 2021 study by Tokyo Metropolitan University found that skeletal muscle satellite cells perform better in environments that are low in glucose. 

The researchers noticed also that high glucose had an adverse effect.

Organic meat and multidrug-resistant bacteria

A May 2021 study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said,

"The presence of pathogenic bacteria is worrisome in and of itself, considering the possible increased risk of contracting foodborne illness," 

"If infections turn out to be multidrug resistant, they can be more deadly and more costly to treat."

"The required disinfection of equipment between processing batches of organic and conventional meats may explain our findings of reduced bacterial contamination on products from facilities that process both types of meats,”

"How we raise animals matters,”

"As a veterinarian, I recognize that we sometimes need to use antibiotics to treat sick animals, but taking advantage of opportunities to reduce antibiotics use could benefit everyone. Consumer choice and regulatory oversight are two strategies to do this."

Vitamin C and muscle-mass in the over-50s

A March 2021 study by the University of East Anglia said,

• "People over 50 lose up to one per cent of their skeletal muscle mass each year, and this loss is thought to affect more than 50 million people worldwide."

• "It's a big problem, because it can lead to frailty and other poor outcomes such as sarcopenia, physical disability, type-2 diabetes, reduced quality of life and death."

• "We know that Vitamin C consumption is linked with skeletal muscle mass. It helps defend the cells and tissues that make up the body from potentially harmful free radical substances. Unopposed these free radicals can contribute to the destruction of muscle, thus speeding up age-related decline."

• "But until now, few studies have investigated the importance of Vitamin C intake for older people. We wanted to find out whether people eating more Vitamin C had more muscle mass than other people."

• "We studied a large sample of older Norfolk residents and found that people with the highest amounts of vitamin C in their diet or blood had the greatest estimated skeletal muscle mass, compared to those with the lowest amounts.

• "We are very excited by our findings as they suggest that dietary vitamin C is important for muscle health in older men and women and may be useful for preventing age-related muscle loss.

• "This is particularly significant as Vitamin C is readily available in fruits and vegetables, or supplements, so improving intake of this vitamin is relatively straightforward.

• "We found that nearly 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women participants were not consuming as much Vitamin C as they should, according to the European Food Safety Agency recommendations.

• "We're not talking about people needing mega-doses. Eating a citrus fruit, such as an orange, each day and having a vegetable side to a meal will be sufficient for most people."

Sardines and Diabetes

A May 2021 study the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya's (UOC) Faculty of Health Sciences and the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) said,

"Not only are sardines reasonably priced and easy to find, but they are safe and help to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. This is a huge scientific discovery. It is easy to recommend this food during medical check-ups, and it is widely accepted by the population”

"As we get older, restrictive diets (in terms of calories or food groups) can help to prevent the onset of diabetes. However, the cost-benefit ratio is not always positive, as we found in other studies" 

"However, the results lead us to believe that we could obtain an equally significant preventive effect in the younger population."

"Nutrients can play an essential role in the prevention and treatment of many different pathologies, but their effect is usually caused by the synergy that exists between them and the food that they are contained in. Sardines will therefore have a protective element because they are rich in the aforementioned nutrients, whereas nutrients taken in isolation in the form of supplements won't work to the same extent”

Testosterone and Inflammatory Foods

An April 2021 study found that,

“… a pro-inflammatory diet can contribute to testosterone deficiency, among other potentially debilitating health issues," 

"Our results suggest men who eat a pro-inflammatory diet [a refined diet** that scores high on the dietary inflammatory index (DII)], particularly those who are obese, are more likely to have testosterone deficiency," 

**A refined diet includes foods that contain refined carbohydrates and sugar as well as polyunsaturated fats.

The study also said,

"Since men with obesity likely already experience chronic inflammation, physicians should be aware of contributing factors, like diet, that could likely worsen this inflammation and contribute to the risk of other health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease.”

A more anti-inflammatory diet "could be a feasible method to reduce the accumulated inflammatory burden, [potentially] leading to an increased testosterone level.”