January 29, 2012, Reuters
People trying to lose weight may swear by specific diet plans calling for strict proportions of fat, carbs and protein, but where the calories come from may not matter as much as simply cutting back on them, according to a U.S. study.
Researchers whose results were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found there were no differences in weight loss or the reduction of fat between four diets with different proportions of fat, carbohydrates and protein.
“The major predictor for weight loss was ‘adherence’. Those participants who …

 January 25, 2012, by Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, Chicago Tribune

Confused about which carbohydrates you should be eating?
Welcome to the club.
“It’s the biggest lack-of-consensus issue in the U.S. diet today,” said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health. “We don’t have a standard method for assessing their quality.”
Carbohydrates, the most common of the three energy sources we get from food (the others are fat and protein), reside in the vast majority of our food, prominently in grains, vegetables, legumes and fruits. They are essential to good health — …

January 17, 2012, Los Angeles Times, Shari Roan
After a 30-year, record-shattering rise, U.S. obesity rates appear to be stabilizing.New statistics cited in two papers report only a slight uptick since 2005 — leaving public health experts tentatively optimistic that they may be gaining some ground in their efforts to slim down the nation.Many obesity specialists say the new data, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are a sign that efforts to address the obesity problem — such as placing nutritional information on food packaging and revising school lunch menus — are …

January 16, 2012, Sean Poultier, DailyMail Online
Nutrition therapists have been condemned as quacks and accused of putting the health of the sick – including those suffering from breast cancer – at risk.
An industry has grown up based on the concept that ‘food doctor’ nutritionists can cure patients’ ills and allergies through diet.
However at least some of the practitioners, who charge up to £80 for a consultation, are providing advice that could harm health, a study by the consumer watchdog Which? found.
Healthy: But nutrition therapists’ recommendations could be harming patients, an …

January 12, 2012, Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, MA — Dozens of studies, many from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers, have shown that low-fat diets are no better for health than moderate- or high-fat diets—and for many people, may be worse.
To combat this “low fat is best” myth, nutrition experts at HSPH and chefs and registered dietitians at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) have developed five new muffin recipes that incorporate healthy fats and whole grains, and use a lighter hand on the salt and sugar. Their …

January 9, 2012, Blisstree.com, Deborah Dunham
As the battle to point the finger at someone for our nation’s childhood obesity epidemic continues, one top New York City Department of Health official now says that the free breakfast program in city schools is to blame. It’s what she says is causing poor kids to get fat, but in reality, she couldn’t be more wrong–or more insensitive.
Director of Community Epidemiology, Gretchen Van Wye said the in-class meals that these students receive each morning at certain urban schools is resulting in over 21% of …

New Zealand, January 10, 2012, Voxy.co.nz
The national nutrition policy formulated by Labour and National-led Governments favours the food industry over public health according to new research from the University of Otago, Wellington.
The new findings result from a study of the 313 submissions to the Health Select Committee Inquiry into Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes held in 2006. This study compared the positions taken by submitters from the food industry and public health groups, such as the National Heart Foundation.
These positions were then compared with the 2007 Labour Government’s response to …

NYC.gov, January 9, 2012
Health Department Launches New Ad Campaign Spotlighting Increasing Portion Sizes and Their Devastating Consequences
New York City subway posters encourage New Yorkers to cut their portions to reduce their risk of health problems
The Health Department today launched a new hard-hitting ad campaign urging New Yorkers to be more aware of portion sizes – and how they have increased – when choosing what to eat or drink. The quantity of food served in a “medium” or “large” order is significantly greater today than in previous years.
In the last 50 …

January 4, 2012, Fox News, Chris Kilham
Americans are living longer than ever before. As a result of greatly improved sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, life-saving drugs and medical care, lifespan has increased significantly.
At the time of the American Revolution in 1776, the average life expectancy in the United States was a paltry 30 years of age. Back then, you had to make your mark early, because your stay in this world was likely to be brief.
Today, the average American life expectancy is close to 80, and the fastest growing segment of the …

December 29, 2011, Reuters
Older Icelandic men who remember chugging a lot of milk in their teens are three times as likely to be diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer as more-moderate milk drinkers, researchers have found.
That makes them wonder whether the years around puberty, during which the prostate matures, could be a time of heightened vulnerability for the gland.
“We believe that our data are indeed solid and provide important evidence for the role of adolescence as a ‘sensitive period’ for prostate cancer development,” Johanna Torfadottir, a nutrition scientist and a graduate …