Food and Nutrition: January 2014

'The path of the peanut from a snack staple to the object of bans at schools, day care centers and beyond offers important insights into how and why a rare, life-threatening food allergy can prompt far-reaching societal change, according to a Princeton University researcher.

Before 1980, peanut allergies were rarely mentioned in medical literature or the media, said Miranda Waggoner, a postdoctoral researcher at the Office of Population Research in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Her article on the subject, "Parsing the peanut panic: The social life of a contested food allergy epidemic," was published recently in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

Starting around 1990, articles in medical journals began discussing the seriousness of peanut allergies, Waggoner said. At the same time, advocacy groups were emerging to raise awareness of the issue. By the mid-1990s, newspapers were printing articles with headlines such as "Nut Allergy Girl's Terror; Girl Almost Dies from Peanut Allergy."

And the 21st century brought descriptions of peanut allergies — in medical journals and the media — as an epidemic.

For those with a peanut allergy, ingesting the legume can lead to anaphylactic shock and, if untreated, death. But the allergy is quite rare and it isn't clear whether it is becoming more common, Waggoner said.'

http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S37/46/79G28/index.xml?section=topstories

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Heavy drinking in middle age speeds cognitive decline, study finds

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-alcohol-cognitive-decline-20140115,0,233411.story?track=rss#axzz2qt7MCuT3

This is your brain on sugar: UCLA study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/this-is-your-brain-on-sugar-ucla-233992.aspx

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Fwd: 3D Printer

From: <larry.r.trout

'Hershey's to make 3-D chocolate printer'

http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/16/technology/3d-printer-chocolate/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Sounds like the Star Trek food generator may be available in a decade or two J

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Fwd: Sugar/Liver

From: <larry.r.trout

'Nov. 1, 2013 — Despite current beliefs, sugar intake is not directly associated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Rather, high-calorie diets promote the progression of this serious form of liver disease.

Researchers conducted a double-blind study of healthy, but centrally overweight men to compare the effects of high intakes of two types of sugar, glucose and fructose, in two conditions -- weight-maintaining (moderate-calorie diet) and weight-gaining (high-calorie diet). In the weight-maintaining period, men on neither diet developed any significant changes to the liver. However, in the weight-gaining period, both diets produced equivalent features of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, including steatosis (fatty liver) and elevated serum transaminase and triglycerides. These findings indicate that fructose and glucose have comparable effects on one's liver, and calorie intake is the factor responsible for the progression of liver disease.

"Based on the results of our study, recommending a low-fructose or low-glycemic diet to prevent nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is unjustified," said Professor Ian A. Macdonald, study author and faculty of medicine and health sciences, University of Nottingham, UK. "The best advice to give a patient is to maintain a healthy lifestyle with diet and exercise. Our study serves as a warning that even short changes in lifestyle can have profound impacts on your liver."'

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131101112406.htm

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Ketchup

In recent years I didn’t like the little ketchup packages very much because I wanted to be able to dip my fries into the ketchup. Over the last few months I have noticed that a couple of restaurants, like Chick Fil-A, have .99 oz Heinz packages designed for dipping. I also really like the waffle fries at Chick Fil-A.