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Food & Nutrition Research Briefs, April 2008
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have reported study findings
that suggest calcium's current recommended amount, called "adequate
intake" or AI, for American adults aged 19 or older may be greater than
necessary. The data collected in this study suggest that the average amount of
dietary calcium needed to maintain a neutral calcium balance is about 741 mg
per day.
Details
Scientific contact:
Curtiss
Hunt, (701) 795-8423, ARS
Grand
Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, Grand Forks, N.D.
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For adults as well as children, milk and fortified
cereals are good sources of dietary calcium.
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Children's calorie intake depends on how much they
eatand the density of each food's calorie content.
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A study at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Childrens Nutrition
Research Center in Houston, Texas, has shown that serving large portions of
energy-dense foods at meals can result in substantial extra calories consumed
by U.S. preschoolers. Results showed that children ate one-third more entree
calories when either an energy-dense or large-portion meal was served. However,
combining the larger portions with the higher energy density added the most
calories to the meal. When children were served a large portion of the
energy-dense entree, they ate 75 percent more entree calories and 35 percent
more total calories at the meal.
Details
Scientific contact:
Jennifer
Fisher, (713) 798-6766, ARS
Childrens
Nutrition Research Center, Houston, Texas.
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A study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) nutrition scientists has
shown, for the first time, that high levels of vitamin A can suppress
development of type 1 diabetes in laboratory mice prone to that disease. Blood
sugar levels of 45 mice in the experiment were taken regularly to determine
onset of diabetes. At about seven months, only 25 percent of those mice eating
a high-vitamin-A feed, and 33 percent of those eating grape-powder-enriched
feed, had developed type 1 diabetes, while 71 percent of those on non-enriched
feed had became diabetic.
Details
Scientific contact:
Charles
B. Stephensen, (530) 754-9266, ARS
Western
Human Nutrition Research Center, Davis , Calif.
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Pumpkin pie is rich in vitamin Aa nutrient
shown in an animal study to help prevent progression of type 1 diabetes.
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Some fruits and vegetables like these strawberries
have natural chemicals that can destroy leukemia cells in laboratory tests.
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Strawberries, grapes, blueberries and some familiar seasonings like rosemary
contain compounds that canin test tubeskill cells of a childhood
cancer. Nutrition-focused research by molecular biologist Susan J. Zunino of
the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Western Human Nutrition Research Center
in Davis, Calif., may reveal exactly how the powerful plant chemicals fight the
disease known as acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Her investigations provide some
new clues about how phytochemicals attack cancer cells. For example, she found
that the phytochemicals interfere with the orderly operations of mitochondria,
the miniature energy-producing power plants inside cells. Without energy, cells
die. Mitochondria exposed to resveratrol and the other phytochemicals that
Zunino tested couldn't function properly. But more work is needed to fully
understand how the phytochemicals achieved that.
Details
Scientific contact:
Susan
J. Zunino, (530) 752-5156, ARS
Western
Human Nutrition Research Center, Davis, Calif.
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One approach frequently suggested as an effective way to increase children's
consumption of healthy foods is to encourage them to participate in food
preparation activities. Now a study conducted by scientists with the
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Children's Nutrition Research Center in
Houston, Texas, has demonstrated that this may be an effective approach. The
researchers observed an average increase in consumption of one serving per day
of fruit, 100-percent fruit juice, or vegetables, compared to the beginning of
the study. Girls and Hispanic students achieved the most recipe-preparation
goals.
Details
Scientific contact:
Karen
Cullen, (713) 798-6764, ARS
Children's
Nutrition Research Center, Houston, Texas.
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Fresh fruit is one of the best and easiest
"recipes" for healthy eating.
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Ellen Harris, assistant center director (left),
and Alvin Nowverl, mathematical statistician, have launched Version 2 of the
Community Nutrition Map.
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An updated web resource that provides a snapshot of state and national
health and nutrition indicators has been launched by Agricultural Research
Service (ARS) scientists. The resource, called the
Community
Nutrition Map (CNMap)Version 2, was developed at the ARS Beltsville Human
Nutrition Research Center at Beltsville, Md. Easy-to-read customized tables and
color-coded maps can be accessed by anyone on the Internet. Indicators include
data on estimated nutrient intakes, eating patterns, physical activity, body
weight, demographics and food security. Policy makers and public health workers
can use these profiles to investigate diet and health issues that may be of
concern both at the local and state level.
Details
Scientific contact:
Ellen
W. Harris, (301) 504-7365, ARS
Beltsville
Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, Md.
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Swine research funded in part by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
indicates that inulin, a complex carbohydrate found in many plants worldwide,
may help people absorb more iron from fruits, vegetables and grains. This
finding by ARS plant physiologist Ross Welch and his colleagues could provide
key support in the worldwide fight against iron deficiency. Pigs that ate
grains supplemented with 4 percent inulin showed a 28 percent improvement in
absorbable iron and a 15 percent improvement in blood hemoglobin concentration
over those consuming inulin-free feed. They also had higher soluble iron
concentrations in the proximal, mid and distal colon.
Details
Scientific contact:
Ross
Welch, (607) 255-5434,
U.S.
Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research Laboratory, Ithaca, N.Y.
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Young pigs fed diets supplemented with inulin
absorbed more iron from their feed than pigs fed the same diet without inulin.
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ARS and National Institute on Aging studies looked
into health consequences of eating one meal a day, which some people do,
compared to the standard recommendation of eating three meals a day.
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The health consequences of eating one large meal a day compared with eating
three meals a day has not been established. Now two recently published journal
articles are among the first to report the effects of meal skipping on key
health outcomes, based on a study involving a group of normal-weight,
middle-aged adults. The first study analysis showed that consuming a
one-meal-per-day diet, rather than a traditional three-meal-per-day diet, is
feasible for a short duration. It showed that when the volunteers were
"one-mealers," they had significant increases in total cholesterol,
LDL "bad" cholesterol and in blood pressure, compared to when they
were "three-mealers." The changes in cardiovascular disease risk
factors occurred despite the fact that the "one-mealers" saw slight
decreases in their weight and fat mass in comparison to when they were
"three-mealers." Further analysis of the study group showed that when
the volunteers were "one-mealers," they had higher morning fasting
blood sugar levels, higher and more sustained elevations in blood sugar
concentrations, and a delayed response to the body's insulin, compared to when
they were "three-mealers."
Details
Scientific contact:
David J.
Baer, (301) 504-8719, ARS
Beltsville
Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, Md
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Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and colleagues are using
traditional breeding methods to suit up a wholesome new cranberry line with a
readily absorbable dose of healthful antioxidants. The team found an attractive
cranberry species from Alaska that is genetically similar enough to the
American cranberry to produce fertile progeny. The Alaskan species is also
attractive because some of the fruit's many healthful chemical compounds,
called anthocyanins, are glucose-linked. In nature, most anthocyanins are bound
to sugars. Those that are bound to glucose sugar are relatively high in
antioxidant capacity and are well absorbed in the human gut. In contrast, the
anthocyanins found in the American cranberry are mainly bound to other kinds of
sugars, so they are less easily absorbed. The researchers found that, compared
to the typical American cranberry's anthocyanins, which are 3 to 5 percent
glucose-linked, the anthocyanins in hybrids from the first breeding cross were
50 percent glucose-linked.
Details
Scientific contact:
James
J. Polashock, (609) 726-1590, ARS
Genetic
Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables Laboratory, Chatsworth, N.J.
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The American cranberry has changed little in 400
years, but ARS researchers have bred an experimental line with a healthy dose
of readily absorbable antioxidants.
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ARS researchers identified 36 healthful compounds
in red cabbage.
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Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have identified 36
anthocyanins in red cabbage, including eight that had never before been
detected in the cabbage. Now the ARS scientists are learning more about these
compounds and their absorption into the human blood stream. Twelve volunteers
consumed three different amounts of cooked red cabbage along with a full diet
of carefully controlled foods. Each volunteer completed three two-day meal
regimens, which included 2/3 cup, 1-1/3 cups, or 2 cups of red cabbage. The
volunteers were capable of absorbing the most anthocyanins when given the
largest serving of cooked cabbage. Interestingly, the anthocyanins that the
researchers identified were not equally absorbed, as measured by the portion of
the ingested compound that reached the blood stream. Nearly 80 percent of
cabbage anthocyanins tested were "acylated," meaning attached to acyl
groups, which made them more stable and less absorbable. The non-acylated
anthocyanins present were at least four times more bioavailable, or absorbed,
than the acylated anthocyanins.
Details
Scientific contact:
Janet
Novotny, (301) 504-8263, ARS
Beltsville
Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, Md.
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