Cut THE FAT BACK IN THE ’90S the vogue diet-of-the-moment involved zealously counting fat grams to stay slim. The craze resulted in a plethora of low-fat and fatfree foods we now see on supermarket shelves. Eventually, though, dieters were drawn to new crazes, including cutting carbohydrates and binging on lean protein. Fat became less of a dirty ... consuming lowdiet word. fat dairy products, Now, researchers in trimming fat from Britain have taken a second look at cutting meat and avoiding dietary fat and conprocessed, junky cluded, once again, it’s baked goods could a relatively simple way to lose weight, cut choall play a role in lesterol and improve a helping maintain a person’s overall health profile. Indeed, when healthy weight. researchers looked at a large sampling of men, women and children who were asked to cut back on their fat intake (but not otherwise diet or restrict calories) the group lost weight, lowered BMI and also slightly reduced waist circumference. The researchers, who reported their findings recently in the journal BMJ, suggest that consuming low-fat dairy products, trimming fat from meat and avoiding processed, junky baked goods could all play a role in helping maintain a healthy weight. And consider how beneficial these cut-the-fat changes might be if you just have a few stubborn pounds to lose. source: tinyurl.com/march13fat
The Carotenoid Cure BREAST CANCER PREVENTION may begin at the farm stand and in the produce department. Researchers say they believe there’s proof that women with high levels of micronutrients that are plentiful in certain fruits and vegetables seem to have a reduced risk of breast cancer. High levels of carotenoids, micronutrients found in tomatoes, spinach, kale, carrots, bell peppers and other fruits and vegetables, are associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer, according to the study conducted by researchers at Boston’s Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The researchers analyzed the data in 12 other studies related to carotenoids and breast cancer to come to their conclusion, which was reported recently in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. These micronutrients appear to be particularly helpful in preventing breast cancers that are not estrogen dependent, the researchers note. And besides this good news for anyone interested in lowering their breast cancer risk, researchers note there are plenty of other good-for-you reasons to pile your plate with fruits and veggies. source: tinyurl.com/march13veggies
Why It’s Smart To Quit YET ANOTHER CHAPTER in the mammoth and irrefutable body of evidence on the harms of smoking comes from new research on the relationship between expectant mothers’ cigarette habits and the academic success of their offspring. Yale University researchers have found a demonstrative gap between the reading abilities in the children of women who smoked during their pregnancies and the children of women who refrained from the unhealthy habit. The Yale researchers found that the children of a large sampling of British women who smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day during pregnancy struggled with reading comprehension on as-
sessment tests that evaluated their skills as they read aloud. The researchers say the study suggests a strong relationship between the environmental impacts of smoking on the genetic trait of phonological ability. “It’s not a little difference — it’s a big difference in accuracy and comprehension at a critical time when children are being assessed and are getting a sense of what it means to be successful,” Dr. Jeffrey Gruen, a professor of genetics and pediatrics at Yale says in a university news release. The findings were published recently in the journal Pediatrics. source: tinyurl.com/march13smokes
timesunion.com/HealthyLife
15