"researchers" news and stories

The obesity epidemic in the US has been well documented, but could it be caused, at least in part, by thinking? There's a new study out that indicates thinking could contribute to an expanding waistline.

Researchers split participants into three groups: one group just rested, one had to read, the last one had to complete mental tests on a computer. Then all the participants were allowed to eat whatever they wanted to. Even though they only used about three more calories, the groups who were using their brains ate 200 (the readers) and 250 (the computer test takers) more calories. Through extensive blood sample-taking (before, during, and after the experiment), the researchers found wide variations in blood glucose levels from different phases of the experiment.

They concluded that "the body reacts to these fluctuations by demanding food to restore glucose, a sugar that is the brain's fuel. Glucose is converted by the body from carbohydrates and is supplied to the brain via the bloodstream. The brain cannot make glucose and so needs a constant supply. Brain cells need twice as much energy as other cells in the body. "

They cautioned that people who have intellectually demanding jobs should keep this in mind when they're choosing what and how much to eat. I think we all need to keep this in mind, as well as get out of the office to go for a walk.

Sensitive to peanuts or eggs? Scientists may have found a new antidote.

People who are allergic to, say, pollen or animal dander can receive allergy shots, in which they are injected with small amounts of the substances that make them itch and sniffle.

Similarly, researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center are feeding small amounts of the proteins from peanuts and eggs to the allergic patients, to see if their immune systems can tolerate the food. They will consume increasing amounts of the proteins until they get to a "maintenance" level (much like how allergy shots work).

The researchers' hope is to eventually find an actual preventative treatment for people with peanut and egg allergies, instead of just telling them to try their best to avoid the foods that might make them react. And for people with serious allergies like these, this will hopefully be encouraging news.

Source

According to a Swedish study that was just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, it may be better for you to drink whole milk and eat full-fat cheese than to avoid them if you want to avoid excess weight gain. It also found that there was no benefit, in terms of the size of the waistline, to drinking low fat milk instead. This appears to be especially true if you are a woman, because the study looked at the eating habits of over 19,000 middle-aged Swedish women over the course of 9 years.

The problems with the study, although it is certainly encouraging for those who don't like to get their lattes with skim milk, is that it doesn't seem to take everything into account. For example, the women in the study were of average weight (meaning that they were not overweight) when the study began, suggesting that they might already have some healthy-eating strategies in place to compensate for intake of milk.

Source

The Food and Drug Administration has concluded that "meat and milk from clones and their progeny is as safe to eat as corresponding products derived from animals produced using contemporary agricultural practices," meaning that not only is the meat likely to be approved for human consumption and sold at stores, but that there will be no label to distinguish it from natural meat. Consumer groups want to see a label on the meat because most (64%) people are uncomfortable with the idea of eating cloned food, but the FDA's decision is based on the fact that there is no food safety issue in question, and no need to "warn" people about what they're eating in this case. "The bottom line is, we don't want to misinform consumers with some sort of implied message of difference," said one researcher, although this does seem to be at odds with existence of labels that indicate the difference between organic/nonorganic produce and grass fed beef, where there is not necessarily a health risk or benefit in question.

The Consumer Federation of America said that they, along with other groups, will ask food companies and supermarkets not to carry food from clones. "Meat and milk from cloned animals have no benefit for consumers, and consumers don't want them in their foods."

Source

When a phone call or e-mail isn't as intimate as you would like, there is a new technology that will allow you to share a drink with a loved one - no matter how great the physical distance between you two: glowing wine glasses. The glasses were designed by researchers at MIT. When one glass of a pair is picked up, its matching glass gives off a red glow. When lips are pressed to one glass, presumably while drinking, the partner glass glows brightly. The glasses contain liquid sensors and wireless links that trigger the light-emitting diodes.

Source