FOOD AND NUTRITION RESEARCH BRIEFS - January 2008

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FOOD AND NUTRITION RESEARCH BRIEFS - January 2008

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Research Service

Kim Kaplan, , Kim.Kaplan@...

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ContentsFast-Acting Carbs May Hasten Vision Loss over Time

Mineral Nutrition's Impact on Neo-Natal Development

Diet for Brain Development, From the Beginning

Data on Food Antioxidants Released

When It Comes to Vitamins, More Is Not Always Better

Eating Beans Helps Lower Cholesterol

Scientist Developing Bread Rich in Beta-Glucan

New Campylobacter-Detecting Medium Licensed

Secrets of Fish Oil Compound Probed

U.S.-Thai Scientific Efforts Peg Guava's Nutritional Value

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Fast-Acting Carbs May Hasten Vision Loss over Time

Consuming higher-than-average amounts of so-called " fast carbohydrates "

that cause blood sugar levels to spike and fall rapidly could be a risk

factor for central vision loss with aging. Scientists supported by the

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and grants reported these findings

this year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Consuming a

diet high in fast carbs is also suspected of being involved in the

vision loss that sometimes occurs in people with diabetes.

Details: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/071029.htm

Scientific contact: , , ARS Mayer USDA

Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Boston, Mass. Email:

allen.taylor@...

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Mineral Nutrition's Impact on Neo-Natal Development

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists now have described how

adequate amounts of copper are important to brain function. Their

animal model studies suggest that levels of copper intake are critical

to the fetus during pregnancy--a concept called " nutritional

programming. " Study rats were fed low-copper diets during gestation,

lactation, or both. Those rats' pups, when compared to pups born to

mothers fed copper-sufficient diets, exhibited slowed development of the

dentate gyrus and hippocampal areas of their brains.

Details: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/070925.htm

Scientific contact: W. , , USDA-ARS Grand

Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, Grand Forks, N.D. Email:

.@...

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Diet for Brain Development, From the Beginning

Studies looking into how diet and nutrition affect central nervous

system development from birth are being conducted by Agricultural

Research Service (ARS)-funded scientists. The scientists are using

noninvasive tools to assess infant, toddler and school-aged children's

psychological, neurological and physiological development, as well as

other brain-related functions.

Details: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/071121.htm

Scientific contact: M. Badger, , USDA-ARS Arkansas

Children's Nutrition Center, Little Rock, Ark. Email: badgerthomasm@...

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Data on Food Antioxidants Released

Measures of the antioxidant capacities of 277 selected foods were

released recently by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.

The new database provides easy access to antioxidant values for a wide

variety of foods, many of which may be excellent sources of healthful

compounds. Many of the fruits, nuts, vegetables and spices listed were

analyzed for their Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, known as ORAC.

ORAC is one of a number of methods available to evaluate the antioxidant

capacities of foods. The new release expands upon the 2004 data released

by ARS on estimates of the antioxidant capacity of 171 foods.

Details: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/071106.htm

Scientific contact: Haytowitz, , USDA-ARS Nutrient

Data Laboratory, Beltsville, Md. Email: .Haytowitz@...

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When It Comes to Vitamins, More Is Not Always Better

Scientists funded by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) found an

interesting association among seniors aged 60 and older whose vitamin

B12 blood levels were low. Aging and taking stomach-acid blockers can

contribute to a gradual lessening of B12 absorption in the body. People

with high folate and low B12 status were found to be at a disadvantage

when compared to those with normal folate and low B12 status; the former

group was more likely to exhibit both anemia and cognitive impairment.

Details: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/071116.htm

Scientific contact: Martha S. , , ARS Mayer

USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Boston, Mass. Email:

martha.morris@...

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Eating Beans Helps Lower Cholesterol

Consuming as little as one-half cup of cooked dry beans every day helped

volunteers lower their total cholesterol levels in an Agricultural

Research Service (ARS) study in North Dakota. These results, published

in the November issue of the Journal of Nutrition by the ARS scientists

and their colleagues, add to a growing--and convincing--body of evidence

that beans are a heart-healthy food choice.

Details: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/071128.htm

Scientific contact: Philip Reeves, , USDA-ARS Grand Forks

Human Nutrition Research Center, Grand Forks, N.D. Email:

Philip.Reeves@...

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Scientist Developing Bread Rich in Beta-Glucan

An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) chemist is baking soft white

bread that resembles any store-bought loaf, except for a key difference:

its beta-glucan content. Research suggests that, when ingested, this

soluble fiber helps the body regulate blood glucose and lower " bad "

cholesterol, diminishing the risk of coronary heart disease. The bread

owes its 0.75 grams of beta-glucan per serving to C-TRIM, a barley- and

oat-bran-based powder developed at the ARS National Center for

Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Ill.

Details: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/071130.htm

Scientific contact: Abdellatif Mohamed, , Cereal Products

and Food Science Research Unit, Peoria, Ill. Email:

Abdellatif.Mohamed@...

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New Campylobacter-Detecting Medium Licensed

A quicker, simpler way to distinguish between Campylobacter species has

now been licensed for manufacture by two U.S. companies: Becton

Dickinson and Co. of lin Lakes, N.J., and Neogen Corp. of Lansing,

Mich. An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist began working

with Polish scientists in 1987 to develop the new medium, which was

patented in 1999. The new culture medium, called Campy-Cefex, is

specifically designed to detect and differentiate C. jejuni and C. coli

mixtures of food-contaminating microbes. These two bacteria are

important causes of foodborne illness. Campy-Cefex selects for

Campylobacter among competing flora in a sample, cultivating colonies

that resemble tiny water droplets. From these, microbiologists can

estimate the level of Campylobacter contamination in the sample.

Details: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/071016.htm

Scientific contact: Norman J. Stern, , Poultry

Microbiological Safety Research Unit, Athens, Ga. Email:

nstern@...

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Secrets of Fish Oil Compound Probed

A compound found in oil-rich fish such as salmon reshaped the blood

lipid profiles of volunteers in an Agricultural Research Service

(ARS)-led study. Blood samples taken after fasting, and within eight

hours after meals, showed that DHA reduced the number of small LDL

(low-density lipoprotein) particles by 22 percent. LDL's small

particles are the size most harmful to the cardiovascular system. The

research, reported earlier this year in the American Journal of Clinical

Nutrition, is likely the first to analyze--in high-triglyceride

males--DHA's effects on both fasting and post-meal triglycerides, and on

quantities and sizes of different types of cholesterol particles.

Details: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/071203.htm

Scientific contact: Darshan Kelley, , ARS Western Human

Nutrition Research Center, , Calif. Email: darshan.kelley@...

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U.S.-Thai Scientific Efforts Peg Guava's Nutritional Value

A cooperative study by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Thai

scientists has shown that guava fruit is high in antioxidants, adding it

to the list of other antioxidant-rich foods such as blueberries, black

beans and broccoli. In the study, guava's antioxidant content ranked

just below that of blueberries, which is No. 1 in antioxidant activity.

Other fruits ranking surprisingly high were carambola, lychee, mango and

papaya.

Details: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/071001.htm

Scientific contact: A. Baldwin, ext. 120,

Citrus and Subtropical Products Research Laboratory, Winter Haven, Fla.

Email: Liz.Baldwin@...

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____________________________________________________

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