By Howard Wolinsky

Under medical supervision, a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet is a safe and effective way for severely obese teenagers to lose weight, according to a new study.
Effective treatment options for young people who are obese are limited, “particularly for those who are severely obese,” Dr. Nancy F. Krebs, professor of pediatrics and head of the division of pediatric nutrition at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and colleagues note in a report in The Journal of Pediatrics.

Doctors have been concerned about the safety of the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet in children. “There have been fears that the diet could adversely impact growth and could increase cholesterol levels because it is a high-fat diet,” Krebs explained in a telephone interview with Reuters Health. “This has been a barrier to it being used.”

To investigate, the researchers randomly assigned 24 severely obese teenagers to eat a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet and 22 matched teens to eat a low-fat diet for 13 weeks. The study subjects were 14 years old on average and were at least 175 percent above ideal weight, but were free of type 2 diabetes or other serious medical problems. They were closely supervised throughout the study.

On average, those on the high-protein, low-carb diet lost 29 pounds over 13 weeks, while those on the low-fat diet lost 16 pounds. Both groups kept the weight off nine months after the study. “We had expected the high-protein, low-carbohydrate group to quickly regain all the weight lost, but this did not occur,” Krebs said. “At the end of the day, this suggests that with ongoing support, these patients could perhaps have achieved even more weight loss.”

The high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet also appeared to be safe, with no serious harmful effects on growth, bone mineral density, and various “metabolic” parameters, such as cholesterol levels. Both groups showed declines in levels of harmful LDL cholesterol and increases in levels of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol.

Clinical psychologist Angela Celio Doyle of the University of Chicago’s eating and weight disorders program, who was not involved in the study, said the study helps “fill the hole” in the scientific literature on adolescent obesity.

Doyle said the Colorado study supports the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet as another option for severely obese teens to lose weight. “There really isn’t any gold standard now for how to help these adolescents lose weight,” she said.

SOURCE: The Journal of Pediatrics, published online March 22, 2010.

“The results need to be confirmed by further research, but this study gives us a strong indication that we’re on the right track in identifying food rich in omega-3 oils as protective for endometriosis and trans fats as detrimental,” she said.

Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to reduced heart disease risk, are found mostly in oily fish. Trans fats, which increase heart disease risk, are used in thousands of processed foods.Women who consume high levels of trans fats have a 48 percent increased risk of endometriosis, while those who eat diets rich in omega-3 oils are 22 percent less likely to develop the condition, a new study finds.

In endometriosis, pieces of the womb lining (endometrium) are found outside of the womb. Some women experience no symptoms, but many suffer severe pain. The condition, which can lead to infertility, affects about 10 percent of women. Treatments include pain medication, hormone drugs or surgery.

In this study, researchers analyzed dietary and other data from almost 71,000 women enrolled in the U.S. Nurses Health Study. Over 12 years of follow-up, 1,199 participants were diagnosed with endometriosis. The researchers said their results suggest that diet may be an important factor in the development of the condition.

More than half (54 percent) of consumers said they read a product’s label the first time they buy the product. That’s a 10 percent increase from 2002.
Among those who in 2008 reported they read the nutrition label the first time they buy a product
two-thirds use the label “often” to check how high or low a food is in calories and in substances such as salt, vitamins, and fat
55 percent “often” use the label to get a general idea of the food’s nutritional content
46 percent “often” use the calorie information on the label. Thirty-four percent rarely or never use the calorie information
Thirty-eight percent of consumers said they use nutrient content claims (such as “low fat,” “high fiber,” and “cholesterol-free”) “often”; 34 percent answered “sometimes.”
When asked if they refer to the label claim of “0 grams of trans fat,” 31 percent said “often” and 36 percent said “sometimes.”
The survey found differing degrees of trust about claims found on food labels. For example, 41 percent of consumers believe that all or most of claims such as “low fat,” “high fiber,” or “cholesterol free” are accurate, while 56 percent believe that some or none of them are accurate.

Also, 64 percent of consumers reported seeing nutrition labeling on menus, napkins, or place mats in restaurants. About half of these consumers use this information often or sometimes.

The study was led by epidemiologist Katherine Tucker with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University in Boston, Mass. Tucker directs the HNRCA’s Dietary Assessment and Epidemiology Research Program.

Other studies have consistently shown that fruit and vegetable intake is good for bones. Biological antioxidants in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, protect cells and tissues from damage caused by naturally occurring oxygen free radicals in the body. Such plant nutrients may help protect the skeleton by reducing oxidative stress and thereby inhibiting bone breakdown or resorption.

The researchers examined potential effects on bone mineral density of overall and individual intake of several carotenoid compounds, including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and lutein+zeaxanthin.

For the observational study, the researchers tracked changes in bone mineral density at two areas of the hip and lumbar spine of male and female volunteers, aged 75 years on average, participating in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study. Among these volunteers, 213 men and 390 women were measured at the beginning of the study and four years later.

Over the course of the four years of the study, carotenoids were associated with some level of protection against losses in bone mineral density at the hip in men and at the lumbar spine in women. No significant associations were observed at the other bone sites.

The results suggest there is a protective effect of carotenoids, particularly of lycopene, against bone loss in older adults. The researchers concluded that carotenoids may explain, in part, the previously observed protective effects of fruit and vegetable consumption on bone mineral density.

To look up the levels of individual carotenoids in selected foods, go to “Reports By Single Nutrients,” provided by the ARS Nutrient Data Laboratory at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=15869

ARS is a scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

High levels of vitamin D in the blood appear to be linked to lower risks of colorectal cancer, although it’s not clear if higher intake of the vitamin actually prevents the disease, researchers say.

Still, the findings are food for thought: Scientists found that those with the highest levels of vitamin D in their blood had as much as a 40 percent lower risk for developing colorectal cancer than those with the lowest levels.

The research, published online Jan. 21 in BMJ, is based on a study of more than 520,000 people from 10 countries in Western Europe. The study participants gave blood samples and filled out diet and lifestyle questionnaires between 1992 and 1998. They were then tracked for several more years to see what happened to them.

During the follow-up period, 1,248 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. These participants were compared with a similar group of 1,248 people who were not diagnosed with the disease.

The researchers cautioned that it’s not clear if there are risks from consuming high levels of vitamin D, which is available in supplements. It’s also not known whether supplements are necessary if people reach certain levels through a healthy diet, exercise and moderate exposure to sunlight.

The study authors noted that current recommendations for preventing colorectal cancer include exercising, not smoking, reducing obesity and abdominal fat, and limiting consumption of alcohol and red and processed meats.
SOURCE: BMJ, news release, Jan. 21, 2010

HealthDay

There are plenty of good reasons to eat fish, but preventing abnormal heart rhythms doesn’t seem to be one of them, according to a new study.
Dr. Jarrett D. Berry of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas and his colleagues found no relationship between how much non-fried fish postmenopausal women ate and their risk of developing atrial fibrillation, the most common heart rhythm abnormality.
About a quarter of people will develop atrial fibrillation in their lifetimes, Berry and his team note in the American Journal of Cardiology. The condition occurs when the heart’s two upper chambers, or atria, quiver rather than contracting rhythmically. This causes blood to pool in the atria rather than being pumped through the body efficiently, increasing the risk of blood clots and strokes.
There is evidence that omega-3 fatty acids, in fish or as supplements, could help reduce atrial fibrillation risk, Berry and his team write, but other studies have found no relationship.
To investigate, they looked at 44,720 participants in the Women’s Health Initiative study, postmenopausal women 50 to 79 years old. During follow-up, which lasted around six years, 378 women, or less than 1 percent of the study participants, developed atrial fibrillation.
Fewer than 5 percent of the women ate five or more servings of fish a week; average fish consumption was 1.5 servings weekly. But the researchers found no relationship between how much fish women ate, or how much omega-3 fatty acid they consumed, and their atrial fibrillation risk.
Berry and his team conclude that their findings offer “no evidence” that omega-3 fatty acid or fish consumption affects the risk that a healthy postmenopausal woman will develop atrial fibrillation.

SOURCE: American Journal of Cardiology, online February 8, 2010

The study included 60 people in Australia and the United States who experienced the recurrent severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis with no known cause. Allergy tests revealed that 25 of the 60 patients had positive responses to alpha-gal. A positive response was considered a level of greater than 1.0 international units per milliliter of immunoglobulin E (IgE).

The tests did not identify any other allergens that would explain the cause of anaphylaxis in the 25 patients who were positive for alpha-gal or in the other 35 patients, the study authors noted.

The findings were scheduled to be presented Sunday at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology annual meeting, in New Orleans.

“These studies continue to suggest not only that IgE to a carbohydrate has important clinical implications in food allergy and anaphylaxis, but that the presence of this antibody may well have been under-appreciated in terms of the number of patients affected and the geographical scope,” study author Dr. Scott P. Commins, of the University of Virginia, said in an academy news release.

A person who suffers an anaphylactic reaction to something unknown is at increased risk for recurring anaphylaxis if the trigger isn’t identified.
SOURCE: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, news release, Feb. 28, 2010
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