A new study claims that having sugary drinks every day could put people at a greater risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

American researchers found that the excessive consumption of sugary drinks, which can contain up to 200 calories each, contributed to 130,000 cases of Type 2 diabetes and 14,000 cases of heart disease between 1990 and 2000 in the USA.

The researchers also concluded that sugary drinks are fuelling the obesity epidemic. The findings of the research were presented at the American Heart Association Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

Increased risk

“This study adds to the wealth of research around the health risks associated with long-term consumption of high calorie, high sugar drinks,” said Florence Brown, Care Advisor at Diabetes UK. “These drinks can lead to easy weight gain which can increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, a serious life-long condition that can lead to complications such as blindness, heart disease and amputation.

“Sugary drinks should be avoided wherever possible and cutting them out is an easy, instant way to improve your health. As well as cutting out sugary drinks, you can reduce your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by combining regular physical activity with a healthy balanced diet rich in fruit and vegetables and low in fat, sugar and salt.”

A new study from the US found that normal weight women in their 40s and older who drank a light to moderate amount of alcohol gained less weight and had a lower risk of becoming obese and overweight compared to their non-drinking counterparts.

The researchers, from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, have written about their study in a paper published online in the 8 March issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

At 7 calories per gram (equivalent to 199 calories per ounce), alcohol is potentially a significant source of dietary calories, and more than half of adult Americans are alcohol drinkers. Meanwhile obesity is approaching epidemic proportions in the US, yet evidence on the extent to which alcohol consumption contributes to this public health crisis is patchy, suggested the authors.

For their prospective cohort study, which was sponsored by grants from the National Institutes of Health, lead author Dr Lu Wang, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and colleagues examined data from 19,220 women living in the US who were aged 39 and over, had no traces of cardiovascular disease, cancer, or diabetes, and whose body mass index (BMI) was in the range classified as normal (18.5 to less than 25). BMI is calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared.

At the start of the study the women filled in a questionnaire that asked them about their daily alcohol consumption. After that they filled in questionnaires about their weight every year for an average of 13 years.

The results showed that:

* At the start of the study, 38.2 per cent reported drinking no alcohol, 32.8 per cent reported drinking less than 5 grams a day, 20.1 per cent reported drinking 5 to less than 15 grams, 5.9 per cent reported drinking 15 to less than 30 grams, and 3 per cent reported drinking 30 or more grams of alcohol a day.

* Over the 13 years of follow up, the women’s average weight went up steadily.

* 41.3 per cent of the women became overweight (BMI of 25 or more), and 3.8 per cent became obese (BMI of 30 or more).

* After adjusting for potential confounders like baseline BMI, smoking, other calorie sources, exercise, and other lifestyle and dietary factors, there was an inverse association between the amount of daily alcohol the women said they drank in their initial questionnaires and the weight gained over the follow up.

* Compared with women who did not drink at all, those who consumed some but less than 40 grams of alcohol a day had a lower risk of becoming overweight or obese.

* Women who drank 15 to less than 30 grams of alcohol per day had the lowest risk, which was nearly 30 percent lower than that of their non-drinking counterparts.

The authors also looked at four types of alcoholic beverages and found the links to be the same for all, with perhaps the strongest being for red wine.

They concluded that:

“Compared with nondrinkers, initially normal-weight women who consumed a light to moderate amount of alcohol gained less weight and had a lower risk of becoming overweight and/or obese during 12.9 years of follow-up.”

However, the authors stressed that given the potential medical and psychosocial problems of alcohol consumption, recommendations about its use should be made on an individual by individual basis.

They also suggested more studies are needed to find out the biological mechanisms of the role played by alcohol in energy metabolism, and whether any physiological and genetic factors are involved.

“Alcohol Consumption, Weight Gain, and Risk of Becoming Overweight in Middle-aged and Older Women.”

A new study led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital investigators disproves reports that well-fed children are more vulnerable to the dengue virus. Mosquitoes spread the virus, which can cause severe flu-like symptoms and sometimes lethal complications.

Malnourished children are just as likely as their well-fed counterparts to develop life-threatening complications following repeated infections with the dengue virus, according to work from researchers at St. Jude and Hospital Nacional de Niños Benjamin Bloom in El Salvador.

Although infectious diseases often pose the greatest threat to children with an inadequate diet, study lead author Gabriela Maron, M.D., a St. Jude Infectious Diseases clinical fellow, said earlier reports from health providers in regions of the world where dengue is common suggested that the infection hit well-nourished children the hardest. Researchers have noted that one possible explanation is that even mild malnutrition blocks the immune system from launching the strong inflammatory response linked to severe dengue infection.

“There must be subtle differences between patients, possibly related to their immune response,” Maron said. St. Jude investigators are now collaborating with colleagues in El Salvador to see if differences in gene expression might identify those at high risk for severe infection.

The study was published in a recent issue of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Health officials estimate about one-third of the world’s population is at risk for infection with one of the four dengue viruses, including a high percentage of children living in the Caribbean, Central and South America. “Even in the U.S., cases are reported along the southern border with Mexico,” Maron said. “Without a vaccine to prevent infection, international flights and the overall shrinking of the planet mean it could become an even more important problem for U.S. health officials.”

An individual’s first dengue infection typically produces mild symptoms. But later infections can lead to life-threatening dengue hemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, which are associated with internal bleeding and a dangerous reduction in the platelets that help blood clot. The challenge for health providers, especially those in countries where resources are scarce, is to rapidly identify patients at higher risk for complications.

In this study, researchers compared the height, weight and body-mass index (BMI) of three groups of children, ages 5 through 12. The groups were youngsters hospitalized for dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever who were compared with healthy classmates living in the same neighborhoods. BMI is a measurement of body mass based on a person’s weight and height.

Those results were compared with an international sample of children of the same age compiled in the World Health Organization’s standardized database. Roughly the same proportion of children in each of the study’s groups qualified as either underweight, overweight or stunted, a possible sign of chronic malnutrition. There was also no difference in the average BMI of study participants, whether healthy or ill.

Personal health recommendations and diets tailored to better prevent diseases may be in our future, just by focusing on genetics.

Researchers at Kansas State University recently published an academic journal article discussing the potential for nutrigenomics, a field that studies the effects of food on gene expression. The researchers discussed the possibility of using food to prevent an individual’s genes from expressing disease. The researchers said nutrigenomics could completely change the future of public health and the food and culinary industries.

“Nutrigenomics involves tailoring diets to someone’s genetic makeup,” said Koushik Adhikari, K-State assistant professor of sensory analysis. “I speculate that in five to 10 years, you would go to a genetic counselor or a physician who could help you understand your genetic makeup, and then a nutritional professional could customize your diet accordingly.”

Adhikari collaborated with Denis Medeiros, professor and department head of human nutrition, and Jean Getz, former K-State graduate student in human nutrition, for an article on nutrigenomics that was published in the January issue of Food Technology. Getz, now a student at the School of Osteopathic Medicine at Michigan State University, wrote the article while at K-State.

Nutrigenomics is a fast-moving field of research that combines molecular biology, genetics and nutrition to regulate gene expression through specific nutrients. Nutrients have been shown to affect gene expression through transcription factors, which are biochemical entities that bind to DNA and either promote or inhibit transcription of genes. By understanding the roles of specific nutrients and how they might cause diseases, scientists could recommend specific foods for an individual based on his or her genetics.

“Scientists are looking at the molecular mechanisms in the body,” Adhikari said. “At the molecular level, you can look at what specific nutrients can do to your body that would trigger genes to act properly, in a healthy way.”

Medeiros said K-State researchers in human nutrition are doing these kinds of studies. Some are studying the impact plant chemicals have on different types of cancers in terms of their potential prevention effects. Other researchers are looking at how wolfberry, a Chinese fruit, could be used to improve vision.

“These studies not only answer whether the concerned nutrients prevent a disease, but also how they exert their health benefits,” Medeiros said.

Current health recommendations for people in the United States are general for the overall population. However, with nutrigenomics research, health recommendations could be better modified to individuals.

“That is where I think the main focus of nutrigenomics is going to be in the future,” Adhikari said. “It could tell you that you have the propensity for certain chronic diseases so that you could modify your diet accordingly. With a better understanding of how nutrients alter gene expression, there is a potential that food could be used instead of medication to combat problems like high cholesterol.”

Adhikari said this kind of personalized health care is in the near future since the human genome has been mapped. Now scientists are focusing on identifying single-nucleotide polymorphisms, which are a small change in a person’s DNA sequence like sensitivity to bitterness. Polymorphisms could determine if a person has a propensity for different chronic diseases. At K-State, Adhikari and Mark Haub, associate professor of human nutrition, are leading a study of the genotypes of diabetic and non-diabetic individuals to determine if there is a link between the risk for type-2 diabetes and bitter-taste sensitivity.

Nutrigenomics would require a collaborative effort from people in genetics and the industries of public health, food science and culinary. Adhikari said more options should be available so that consumers can make the healthiest choice. He said the food industry should collaborate with the culinary industry to create more healthful and appealing foods.

“This is one of the major issues with the food industry,” he said. “It’s very easy to make good-tasting food. Put some lard or butter in it, and it’s going to taste good. The challenge is how to take the fat out and create healthful but also good-tasting food.”

Consumer education also will be an important factor for the future of nutrigenomics and public health. Adhikari said consumers are often skeptical of genetically modified foods, where scientists modify a food’s DNA by splicing and adding genes. However, this practice is different from nutrigenomics, which focuses on using foods’ natural components to promote better health.

The researchers said a shift in public health is greatly needed, and with an increasing incidence of obesity and chronic diseases such as types 2 diabetes, nutrigenomics might prove to be the panacea in the future.

A Henry Ford Hospital study has shown a link between Vitamin D levels and basal cell carcinoma, a finding that could lead researchers to better understand the development of the most common form of skin cancer.

In a small study, researchers at Henry Ford and Wayne State University found elevated levels of Vitamin D enzymes and proteins in cancerous tissue taken from 10 patients compared to normal skin tissue taken from them.

Previous studies have linked Vitamin D deficiency with certain cancers but this is believed to be the first time researchers looked at Vitamin D and basal cell carcinoma.

“This finding may help us in future research to determine whether vitamin D plays a causative or reactive role in the development and progression of skin cancer,” says Iltefat Hamzavi, M.D., senior staff physician in Henry Ford’s Department of Dermatology and the study’s lead author.

The study will be presented at the Photomedicine Society’s annual meeting in Miami, one day before the American Academy of Dermatology’s annual meeting.

Basal cell carcinoma, which affects about 1 million Americans a year, is the most common form of skin cancer. This cancer forms in the basal cells of the deepest layer of the skin. Mohs micrographic surgery is one of the most effective treatments for removing skin cancer.

The 10 patients enrolled in the study were diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma and ranged in age from 43 to 83. All had biopsies taken of cancerous tissue and surrounding normal skin tissue. Researchers found a 10-fold increase in Vitamin D enzyme levels and a two-fold increase in Vitamin D protein levels. The enzymes and proteins help regulate levels of Vitamin D in the skin. Two genes that play a role in DNA and tumor repair also had elevated levels of Vitamin D in cancerous tissue compared to normal tissue.

A research project in the Academy of Finland’s Research Programme on Nutrition, Food and Health (ELVIRA) has brought new knowledge on the hereditary nature of gluten intolerance and identified genes that carry a higher risk of developing the condition. Research has shown that the genes in question are closely linked with the human immune system and the occurrence of inflammations, rather than being connected with the actual breakdown of gluten in the digestive tract.

“Some of the genes we have identified are linked with human immune defence against viruses. This may indicate that virus infections may be connected in some way with the onset of gluten intolerance,” says Academy Research Fellow Päivi Saavalainen, who has conducted research into the hereditary risk factors for gluten intolerance.

Saavalainen explains that the genes that predispose people to gluten intolerance are very widespread in the population and, as a result, they are only a minor part of the explanation for the way in which gluten intolerance is inherited. However, the knowledge of the genes behind gluten intolerance is valuable in itself, as it helps researchers explore the reasons behind gluten intolerance, which in turn builds potential for developing new treatments and preventive methods. This is essential, because the condition is often relatively symptom-free, yet it can have serious complications unless treated.

Researchers have localised the risk genes by using data on patients and on entire families. The material in the Finnish study is part of a very extensive study of thousands of people with gluten intolerance and control groups in nine different populations. The research will be published in a coming issue of Nature Genetics.

Research into hereditary conditions has made great progress over the past few years. Gene researchers now face their next challenge, as a closer analysis is now needed of the risk factors in the genes that predispose people to gluten intolerance. It is important to discover how they impact on gene function and what part they play in the onset of gluten intolerance.

Gluten intolerance is an autoimmune reaction in the small intestine. Roughly one in a hundred Finns suffer from this condition. The gluten that occurs naturally in grains such as wheat, barley and rye causes damage to the intestinal villi, problems with nutrient absorption and potentially other problems too. Gluten intolerance is an inherited predisposition, and nearly all sufferers carry the genes that play a key part in the onset of the condition. The only known effective treatment is a lifelong gluten-free diet.

New research published in the March/April issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion shows that teens drinking 100 percent fruit juice have more nutritious diets overall compared to non-consumers.

According to the findings, adolescents ages 12-18 that drank any amount of 100 percent juice had lower intakes of total dietary fat and saturated fat and higher intakes of key nutrients, including Vitamins C and B6, folate, potassium and iron. Those who drank greater than six ounces of 100 percent juice a day also consumed more whole fruit and fewer added fats and sugars. Milk consumption was not affected by juice intake.

In addition, the study found no association between 100 percent fruit juice consumption and weight status in the nearly 4,000 adolescents examined – even among those who consumed the most juice.

According to the study’s lead researcher, Dr. Theresa Nicklas of the USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine, encouraging consumption of nutrient-rich foods and beverages such as 100 percent juice is particularly critical during adolescence – a unique period of higher nutrient demands.

“One hundred percent juice is a smart choice,” Nicklas said. “It provides important nutrients that growing teens need and the research consistently shows that drinking fruit juice is not linked to being overweight.”

In newborn mice, at least, mother’s milk appears to have some rather immediate and potentially far-reaching metabolic consequences. The milk intake kick-starts the liver to produce a molecule that then turns on heat-generating brown fat.

“A key phenomenon required after birth is to adapt the body to a lower environmental temperature with respect to that experienced when the fetus is inside the mother’s womb,” said Francesc Villarroya of the University of Barcelona. “We find that a key inducer of heat production in neonates is FGF21, released by the liver in response to the initiation of suckling.”

FGF21 (short for fibroblast growth factor 21) has recently emerged as a novel regulator of metabolism, Villarroya explained. Scientists knew that FGF21 is produced primarily in the liver, where it is induced after fasting in adult rodents and humans. FGF21 can also correct metabolic disorders of obese and diabetic mice.

In the new study, the researchers wanted to know whether FGF21 also has a role in metabolic shifts as newborn animals transition to life in the world. It appears that it does.

Plasma FGF21 levels and FGF21 gene expression in the liver rise dramatically after birth in mice, the researchers report. That increase is initiated by suckling and depends on the intake of lipid-rich milk. When the researchers mimicked the FGF21 postnatal rise by injecting FGF21 into fasting neonates, they found that the treatment enhanced the expression of genes involved in heat generation, or thermogenesis, within brown fat, to increase body temperature. Brown fat cells treated with FGF21 showed increased expression of thermogenesis genes. The cells also expended more energy and burned more glucose.

Villarroya’s team thinks what happens in those first hours of life may have consequences for the individual that carry over into adulthood, noting that FGF21 is a powerful antidiabetic agent.

“There are many evidences that alterations of dietary, genetic, environmental, or other origin in the metabolic performance during the fetal and early neonatal life can make an individual prone to develop diabetes and obesity in adulthood,” he said. “The precise mechanisms by which this happens are not fully understood. We observe that a ‘natural’ event in the postnatal life is a burst in FGF21 levels in response to suckling. It will be important to know whether any disturbance in the intensity of this naturally occurring event may have negative consequences in adulthood.”

Villarroya said that there has been something of a revolution in thinking about brown fat in recent years. That’s because scientists have found active brown fat in adult humans and have reported evidence that greater activity within brown fat can lend an individual greater resistance to obesity.

He says he suspects the pathways observed in neonatal mice do play similar roles in newborn humans, and maybe in adults, too. “It remains to be demonstrated if FGF21 is also an activator of brown fat in adult humans, but this would be of utmost importance for studies on complex metabolic diseases in adult humans,” he says.

High humidity present in bathrooms and kitchens could be degrading the vitamins and health supplements stored in those rooms, even if the lids are on tight, a Purdue University study shows.

Lisa Mauer, an associate professor of food science, said that crystalline substances – including vitamin C, some vitamin B forms and other dietary supplements – are prone to a process called deliquescence, in which humidity causes a water-soluble solid to dissolve. Keeping those supplements away from warm, humid environments can help ensure their effectiveness.

“You might see salt or sugar start to cake in the summer, start to form clumps, and that’s a sign of deliquescence,” said Mauer, whose findings were published in the early online version of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. “You can also get chemical instabilities, which are a little more problematic if you’re consuming a dietary supplement with vitamin C for that vitamin C content.”

Kitchen salt, sugar and powdered drink mixes commonly cake, Mauer said, making their measurement more difficult but not rendering them useless. Chemical changes become more than a nuisance in vitamins and dietary supplements, however.

“If you get some moisture present or ingredients dissolve, they’ll decrease the quality and shelf life of the product and decrease the nutrient delivery,” Mauer said. “You can get complete loss of the ingredients. It depends on the conditions. It depends on the formulations. Within a very short time – in a week – you can get complete loss of vitamin C in some products that have deliquesced.”

Bathrooms and kitchens can increase the detrimental effects because of spikes in humidity in those rooms. And Mauer said storing vitamins or supplements in containers with lids doesn’t always help.

“Opening and closing a package will change the atmosphere in it. If you open and close a package in a bathroom, you add a little bit of humidity and moisture each time,” Mauer said. “The humidity in your kitchen or bathroom can cycle up quite high, depending on how long of a shower you take, for example, and can get higher than 98 percent.”

Mauer used a gravimetric moisture sorption balance to determine the humidities at which substances would deliquesce. The samples spiked in weight at the deliquescence point because moisture was being adsorbed, meaning humidity was condensing on the solid and then the solid dissolved.

Different crystalline substances deliquesce at different humidities, Mauer said. For example, at room temperature, sodium ascorbate would deliquesce at 86 percent humidity, ascorbic acid at 98 percent humidity and fructose at 62 percent. Some ingredient blends deliquesce in as low as 30 percent humidity. Different forms of ingredients, such as the two forms of vitamin C studied (ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate), have different deliquescence points, different sensitivity to moisture and different degradation rates. At high enough humidities, samples dissolved completely.

Once humidity or temperature is brought back down, the product will solidify, Mauer said, but the damage has been done.

“Any chemical changes or degradation that have occurred before resolidification don’t reverse. You don’t regain a vitamin C content after the product resolidifies or is moved to a lower humidity,” she said. “The chemical changes we’ve observed are not reversible.”

This information could be important to anyone using vitamin-containing products, ranging from the consumer to the food and dietary supplement industry and ingredient suppliers. Storing products in dry conditions, below their deliquescence relative humidities, can avoid unwanted ingredient loss.

Consumers could notice liquid in vitamin containers, but Mauer said another sign of nutrient degradation is brown spots, especially on children’s vitamins. Mauer suggested discarding any dietary supplement that is showing signs of moisture uptake or browning.

“They’re not necessarily unsafe, but why give a vitamin to a kid if it doesn’t have the vitamin content you’re hoping to give them?” Mauer said. “You’re just giving them candy at that point with a high sugar content.”

A daily dose of vitamin D may just be what Chicagoans need to get through the long winter, according to researchers at Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing (MNSON). This nutrient lifts mood during cold weather months when days are short and more time is spent indoors.

“Vitamin D deficiency continues to be a problem despite the nutrient’s widely reported health benefits,” said Sue Penckofer, PhD, RN, professor, MNSON. “Chicago winters compound this issue when more people spend time away from sunlight, which is a natural source of vitamin D.”

Diet alone may not be sufficient to manage vitamin D levels. A combination of adequate dietary intake of vitamin D, exposure to sunlight, and treatment with vitamin D2 or D3 supplements can decrease the risk of certain health concerns. The preferred range in the body is 30 – 60 ng/mL of 25(OH) vitamin D.

Loyola faculty members plan to take vitamin D research a step further by evaluating whether weekly vitamin D supplements improve blood sugar control and mood in women with diabetes. Depression is associated with increased insulin resistance, so people with diabetes have a greater risk for the disease than those without depression. Women also tend to have greater rates of depression and poorer blood sugar control than men with diabetes.

“There is evidence to suggest that vitamin D supplementation may decrease insulin resistance,” said Dr. Penckofer. “If we can stabilize insulin levels, we may be able to simply and cost effectively improve blood sugar control and reduce symptoms of depression for these women.”

Loyola is currently enrolling women in this clinical trial. In order to enter the study, they must be 18 to 70 years of age, have stable type 2 diabetes, signs of depression and no other major medical illness. Eighty women with type 2 diabetes and signs of depression will be given a weekly dose of vitamin D (50,000 IU) for a period of six months. Study participants will be evaluated at three points during this time.

“Vitamin D has widespread benefits for our health and certain chronic diseases in particular,” Dr. Penckofer said. “Our research may shed greater light on the role this nutrient plays in managing two conditions that impact millions of Americans. If proven to be successful, vitamin D may an important addition to care for diabetes and depression.”