View the new issue of the Food and Nutrition Research Briefs.

ARS Food and Nutrition Research Briefs Issued

By Kim Kaplan
January 8, 2009

Evidence that drinking three cups of hibiscus tea a day can lower your blood pressure is among the new nutrition and health findings noted in the most recent issue of the Agricultural Research Service's Food and Nutrition Research Briefs and its Spanish-language edition (Informe de investigaciones de alimentos y nutrición).

View the English edition at:

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/fnrb/fnrb0109.htm

The popular online newsletter reports discoveries from researchers at ARS laboratories nationwide.

Among other findings, the current issue reports:

• Eating almonds significantly decreased levels of two biomarkers for oxidative stress.
• A database of the analytical values for three isoflavone compounds—genistein, daidzein and glycitein—in nearly 550 foods has been updated and is available on the Internet.
• UV-B light can work well for boosting vitamin D content of mushrooms.

The ARS Food and Nutrition Research Briefs is offered with color photos and illustrations on the Web. And by clicking the "subscribe" link on the newsletter's home page, readers can sign up for two e-mail options: They can receive the full text of the newsletter by e-mail, or simply an advisory that a new issue has been posted to the Web.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.