You've seen them before. Those fliers tacked onto telephone poles (wait, do such things still exist?!), duct taped to street light posts, or even stapled onto the bulletin board in your doctor's office: "Wanted: women for a [insert health condition here] study."

You've never thought about actually volunteering for one of those studies.

Until now.

Researchers in the UK want 150 women who are willing to eat one bar of chocolate every day for a year. The study's purpose is to determine whether a natural compound found in cocoa, the main ingredient of chocolate, could cut the risk of heart disease among women with diabetes.

Unfortunately, you don't get to pick which chocolate you get to eat. A Belgian chocolatier has created a chocolate especially for this study.

Do you and your children live in the "fat belt?"

According to a new report by the nonprofit Trust for America's Health, "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America," the fat belt stretches through the South and into the Southwest, but the heaviest children are found in Washington D.C.

Is it surprising? Not really, since we are well aware of nutrition and physical activity levels of children. Nonetheless, it's still pretty disturbing. According to the Washington Post, which reports the story, "today's children are likely to be the first generation to live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents" if the obesity rate doesn't turn around.

Ever working to improve their image and put their best foot forward with the public, McDonald's has introduced nine meals to its Australian menus that have all been given the seal of approval by the National Heart Foundation. It's an historic event, to be sure, since the company has never had their approval before and fast food is not known for being heart-healthy - or healthy in general, for that matter. The meals include salads, Chicken McNuggets and some hamburgers, but no french fries.

Critics say that the "the Heart Foundation should feel 'duped'" for going along with McDonald's "marketing ploy." While it is true that McDonald's is paying to get the NHF's approval - fees that go towards testing the food, according to the NHF - the organization is still placing their reputation on the line and has no reason not to support the fast food company if their meals meet the NHF's standards. And if some regular McDonald's eaters switch to healthier fare, that's a positive change whether it came from a "marketing ploy" or not.

Want to look back on some of the top news, trends and other food related goings-on of the last year? After a jam-packed year of posting, there are some topics that keep coming up again and again. From A to Z, here are our top picks from 2006:

Ad mascots made a comeback and even got spinoff merchandise of their own.

Bacon was just about everywhere

Premium and gourmet coffee is everywhere, and there is an increased appreciation for it.

Dark chocolate is more popular than ever

Energy drinks are a big hit with teens. Caffeinated vodkas are taking the trend even further.

Fois gras is banned in Chicago, although you wouldn't know it to eat there.

Gelato is nearing the top spot on the list of cold, sweet treats that people love to indulge in.

High fructose corn syrup is being looked on with a more critical eye by consumers and removed from some drinks.

Scientists and researchers have no definitive answer about what causes anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by a strong, sometimes life-threatening, desire to avoid food. Many theories attribute its development to body image issues, while other studies have linked it to depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other preexisting psychological conditions. A boy in Britain with an unusual eating disorder may provide some insight both into the cause of the disorder and the treatment.

The boy, who is only two years old, has refused all solid foods and almost all liquids since his birth, though he was physically capable of ingesting food without problems. As a result, his growth and development were stunted and a feeding tube had to be implanted to provide him with sufficient nutrition. Convinced that the problem was psychological, doctors at an Austrian hospital, working with the parents, tried a controversial technique of starving the child into eating. The tube was removed and the boy was surrounded with food, as well as by people who helped encourage him to eat. The theory is that the psychological problem cannot be resolved unless the affected person actively wants to eat.

At first, the boy ate nothing, but during the course of the three-week treatment he made progress. He began with water and progressed to milk, yogurt and finally to solid foods. His delighted parents say that he is now eating progressively more every day.

Is this a treatment that will work for everyone afflicted by anorexia? Probably not, but this case does provide support for the notion that, for at least some people, the problem has a psychological root and that it is not something untreatable.

At Duke University, researchers have been engaged in an experiment that could change the lives of those with severe food allergies. Those allergies trigger approximately 30,000 emergency-room visits each year and are sometimes the result of an exposure to a very tiny amount of allergen. This new study suggests that gradually increasing exposure to even smaller amounts of the allergen can build up a resistance - especially in children - and prevent one mouthful of the wrong food from becoming deadly.

In the study, children were given amounts of defatted peanut flour or an egg powder - very common, but serious, allergens - as small as 1/3,000th of a peanut or about 1/1,000th of an egg (under supervision at the Duke Hospital). Taken in pill form daily, the dosage was increased bi-weekly until the children were consuming the equivalent of 1/10th of an egg or 1 peanut, which became a maintenance dose that they took daily throughout the study, which lasted about 2 years. At that point, 4 of the 7 egg-allergic children could eat two scrambled eggs without any type of reaction (2 more could eat that much before reacting) and many of the peanut-allergic children could eat up to 15 peanuts before starting to experience a reaction.

At this time, researchers strongly recommend that you do not try this type of treatment at home, because it can be dangerous without careful monitoring. To the parents who joined in, however, the success could prove to be a lifesaver for their children and, as a result, researchers are optimistic that there could be a highly effective treatment available to parents and children within five years.

Health officials in Los Angeles and Philadelphia are considering enacting legislation that would restrict or ban the use of trans-fats in restaurant foods. These announcements come after Washington State announced a similar plan earlier this week.

In Los Angeles, a committee has been formed to investigate the feasibility of such a ban. That committee has 45 days to make their recommendation. If enacted, a ban would affect all of Los Angeles County. An additional piece of legislation, modeled directly from the New York rule, would require "fast food restaurants" to post nutritional data on their menus.

Philadelphia is not planning to venture in to the calorie-counting aspect of this trend, but lawmakers are seriously considering instituting a ban that will take effect in 2008. Their proposal, like the New York law, would inclue all food service venues but would exempt manufacturers and processed food that is served, at restaurants, in its original packaging

Soon, New York City might not be the only place in the country with a ban on trans-fats in restaurants. The Washington State Board of Health and Public Health commended the NY Board of Health and said that the ban "is a step in the right direction and is boosting awareness of the ingredient's link to heart disease and stroke." They will spend the next several months conducting their own studies to see whether or not to follow suit and ban the use of trans fats in the state.

The biggest issue holding them back from making the decision at this point is whether or not a change could drive small companies out of business. The National Restaurant Association has raised concerns in the past over whether the demand for trans-fat free oils will meet the growing demand, saying that the deadlines imposed by the NY Board of Health could cause restaurant owners, especially small ones, to pay a premium for the oils just to meet them, while larger restaurants will have the clout to work out more equitable deals with suppliers.

Many Seattle restaurants and smaller chains have already shifted to trans-fat free products, or are in the process of doing so. They say that it is an important issue to their customer base and they want to make them happy. The fact that these changes are already taking place could encourage the Board of Health to move forward with the issue.

According to reports published last week by the Mental Health Foundation and Sustain, and organization that campaigns for better food in the UK, junk food and the absence of essential fats, vitamins and minerals appear to have contributed to increasing mental illness: attention deficit disorder (ADD), depression, Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.

Nutritionist Caroline Stokes said that mental health patients had the poorest diets, "eating lots of convenience foods, snacks, takeaways, chocolate bars, crisps." Additionally, they are "drinking a litre or two of cola a day."

So if you feel like you're going crazy, cut out the junk food. It'll do your body and your mind good.

Anthocyanins, which contribute to the color of red grapes, are a great source of antioxidants and their existence is one of the reasons that red wine is considered to be so heart-healthy. Since red wines use the skin of the grapes in their production, creating a red color, most or all of the antioxidants from the grapes are also found in the wine. For this reason, red wine is thought to be a healthier choice than white wine.

It turns out that the flesh of the grapes is just as heart-healthy as the skin is, as a new study by American and Italian scientists has shown. The results demonstrated that both parts of the grapes reduced the chance of a heart attack and heart attack size when compared to the control group - even though the flesh contains no anthocyanins, but instead has other kinds of polyphenols and organic acids that have antioxidants.

Further study will be needed to isolate the exact chemicals that give these properties to the grapes, but white wine fans can enjoy their favorite drink without having to worry that they're missing out on the heath benefits of red wine.

In Washington DC, a group of 10 consumers have filed a lawsuit on behalf of all the citizens in the district who are lactose intolerant and don't know it. They are demanding that the defendants in the case, which include supermarkets like Safeway, put warning labels on milk cartons, stating that milk could cause health problems in people who are lactose intolerant.

This seems fairly obvious, but the plaintiffs insist that most people don't know that they are lactose intolerant - the onset is gradual and can occur any time in life - and continue to experience negative side effects from the ingestion of dairy.

Fortunately for dairy producers, sellers and even milk drinkers, their case brought an unfavorable ruling by the US District Court that heard it, though the group plans to appeal. Dairy producers seem to think that labels would hurt sales, but if people are not put off by experiencing negative side effects such as abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal disturbances, it doesn't seem all that likely that most consumers would alter their buying habits when it comes to milk.

A family of cousins went under the knife to have their stomachs removed. The procedure wasn't done to cause them to lose weight, as it is in gastric bypass surgery, but to prevent them from developing what would most likely have been fatal stomach cancer. The particular cancer that runs in their family is very rare and, due to a genetic mutation that they all inherited from a common grandmother, there was a 70% chance that they would develop it. After seeing parents, aunts and uncles die at young ages from the cancer, the decision was one that all the cousins wanted to make.

The surgery involved the removal of not only the stomach, but the surrounding lymph nodes. The esophagus was attached to the intestine directly. Because digestion and nutrient absorption occurs in the intestine, the cousins can still eat and live healthy lives, but they must eat very small amounts, very frequently and often have difficulty putting weight on. There are some foods that no longer agree with them, like ice cream, while other foods are easier to digest, such as small pieces of meat. Even with eating challenges to face, they have all been much happier since their surgeries at the end of 2004, which gave them piece of mind even as it took their stomachs.

As one of the family members, Bill Bradfield, put it: "We're all going to die of something, but I know I won't die of stomach cancer."

A representative for the Food Products Association asked the American Medical association why they were singling out salt as a health risk to the American public. Predictably, they cited evidence that salt may cause an increased risk of elevated blood pressure and heart disease. But is an increased risk enough to label salt as a danger?

There is no denying that there is a lot of salt in the foods we eat. The recommended daily amount of salt is about 2,400 mg, which is roughly a teaspoonful. Many people consume double that in a day. But the salt that we add to our homemade chicken dinners is not the problem; the greatest source of sodium in our diets is processed food. For example, a Big Mac contains over 1000mg of salt - half the recommended allowance. Unfortunately, because this salt isn't readily apparent to the eater, people don't know its there - and if they are told by their doctor to watch their salt intake, or take to heart the advice from the AMA, they end up watching the wrong places.

The American Medical Association is pushing to get warning labels on high-salt foods and, over the next 10 years, get those salt levels reduced by 50%. The group says that Americans eat twice as much salt as they should and that high levels of salt consumption can lead to an increased risk "for high blood pressure and may be an independent risk factor for other cardiovascular problems."

The Food Products Association, which is a food and beverage trade organization, says that the AMA's desire for this policy is misguided. Not only is salt naturally occurring in some foods, and an important flavor enhancer and natural preservative in others, but the link between salt and health problems is not crystal clear. It is a "risk factor for" and not "a cause of" the various health concerns that it has been linked to. Food groups say that current labels, which list the amount of sodium in foods, should be sufficient for consumers to make informed decisions on their foods.

The debate between the two parties is strong enough that the FDA may hold a hearing in the near future to determine the status of salt as a "safe food."

 

Related Links:
Singling out salt 
Round salt?

It is a sad day, indeed, when venues like nursing homes start prohibiting homemade cakes on the grounds that it is more "responsible" to allow only store-bought cakes. Today, unfortunately, is that day.

A former nurse and award winning baker, Elaine Richards, was told that her homemade cakes were not permitted to be served to any residents of the Age Concern center in Barnstaple, UK. A director said that "they have many disabilities and some of them are diabetic and our policy is to keep them as well and safe as possible." Richards thought this was ridiculous, given that her cakes are made with natural ingredients and free-range eggs, without the artificial colors, flavors and other components of the store cakes.

Granted, homemade cakes don't have nutritional facts printed on them, or warnings about allergens. But is it necessary to have a complete ban? Given that Richards is a nurse, it seems likely that she would be in a good position to prepare appropriate cakes. How many people are baking cakes for the elderly?

Not nearly enough.

[Image BBC]