Grape News! Compared to people who don’t eat grapes, consumers of fresh grapes (including raisins and 100% grape juice) eat more whole fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, dietary fiber, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. They also had lower intakes of added sugars, total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. Journal…

Antioxidents and Conception. Women undergoing fertility treatment often take dietary supplements, including antioxidents, to improve their chances of becoming pregnant. However, a study of over 3,500 women who attended fertility clinics found that antioxidents had no effect on conception, either in improving pregnancy rates of hindering them. The Cochran Library, August 2013

Western Diet? Children of women with a “Western dietary pattern” (characterized by high intakes of organ meat, red meat, processed meat, pizza, potatoes, french fries, condiments, and mayonnaise, but low intakes of fruits) had a higher risk of giving birth to a child with a cleft palate. Women who consumed the greatest amount of these…

Don’t Skip Breakfast! A 16-year study of nearly 27,000 male health care professionals found that those who skipped breakfast were 27% more likely to suffer from coronary heart disease. Circulation, May 2013

The Gut and Autism? Autism rates have risen over recent years. Heightened awareness and more diligent efforts at diagnosis account for some of the increase, yet researchers believe an epidemic is occurring. One possible factor is the overuse of antibiotics at an early age. This lowers the diversity of the gut microflora and lower diversity…

Fish Oil DHA. Chronic inflammation is a major factor in a wide range of health issues from arthritis to cardiovascular disease, and DHA (found in fish oil) is known to temper this problem. Researchers found that macrophages (a type of white blood cell) use DHA to produce “maresins”, which serve as the “switch” that turns…

Soda, Illegal Drugs, and Teeth. Drinking large quantities of soda can be as damaging to your teeth (tooth erosion) as methamphetamine and crack cocaine use. Tooth erosion occurs when acid wears away tooth enamel. Without enamel, teeth are more susceptible to developing cavities, as well as becoming sensitive, cracked, and discolored. The citric acid present…

Cholesterol-Lowering Diet. People who ate a Nordic diet had lower levels of harmful LDL cholesterol, higher levels of “good” HDL cholesterol, fewer fat particles in the blood, and therefore, had a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. The healthy ‘Nordic diet’ contains berries, root vegetables, legumes, cabbage, nuts, game, poultry, fish, whole grains, rapeseed oil, and…

TV Exposure? More time in front of the TV set and higher exposure to TV ads leads to increased consumption of sweetened beverages among children. Each additional hour in front of the TV increased the likelihood of regular sweetened beverage consumption by 50%. Only one parent in seven indicated that they tried to reduce their…

Benefit From Probiotics. Patients who are on antibiotics showed a decrease in antibiotic associated symptoms after taking probiotics. This study looked at the effectiveness of probiotics (live bacteria that can take up residence in digestive tracts) in treating common side effects of antibiotics such as antibiotic-associated diarrhea and life-threatening side effects such as Clostridium difficile…