Caffeine and headaches. (Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2008) “Chronic repetitive exposures to caffeine increase the risks for development of analgesic-overuse headache, chronic daily headache, and physical dependency. Cessation of caffeine use after chronic exposures leads to a withdrawal syndrome with headache as a dominant symptom. At dosages achieved by common dietary intake, caffeine acts as a potent antagonist of central and peripheral nervous system adenosine receptors. The complex effects of caffeine on headache disorders suggest important roles for adenosine in these disorders and in the induction of caffeine dependency.”

"Caffeine Intoxication" Cases On Rise “"The vast majority of people who experienced some sort of intoxication from caffeine, it's the mild, mild systems," Church observed. "We're talking about some nausea, headache, heart palpitations. People experience insomnia and anxiety. Also, people can experience some daily headaches. "But it's sort of further down the line where we get concerned as emergency room physicians and as toxicologists. The nausea can lead to intractable vomiting -- vomiting that just isn't necessarily very well-controlled with routine medications we give in the emergency department. People who have predisposed seizure conditions can be at risk for having seizures. People with predisposed heart conditions can have potentially life-threatening abnormal rhythms in their heart." “

Coffee 'worsens poor fertility' “Drinking too much coffee can lower the odds of a woman with fertility problems getting pregnant, a study suggests. Dutch researchers followed 9,000 women who had received IVF to see if they fell pregnant naturally. Around one in seven did, but drinking more than four cups of coffee a day cut chances of conceiving by around 26%. Experts said the findings, presented to a European conference, only applied to women with poor fertility who wanted to maximise their chances of pregnancy. “

Fructose Intake Has Increased to More Than 10% of Daily Energy in US Diet “"Sadly, less than 20% of the fructose in the American diet is consumed in natural form from fruits and vegetables," Dr. Dansinger told Medscape. "In fruits and vegetables, fructose is not highly concentrated and is accompanied by fiber and other healthy nutrients. These foods are low in calories and they decrease hunger and appetite, and they help maintain a healthy body weight." "In contrast, the fructose added to soft drinks and processed foods typically lead to increased calorie intake and possible weight gain because the fructose is not accompanied by comparable amounts of fiber or other nutrients that promote healthy weight," Dr. Dansinger said. "Instead, the fructose acts as an unhindered appetite stimulant. In this regard, fruit juice is much like a soft drink because the fiber is lacking and the fructose is much more highly concentrated that in the original fruit." “

Post-exercise Caffeine Helps Muscles Refuel

Acute dark chocolate and cocoa ingestion and endothelial function: a randomized controlled crossover trial (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2008) “Conclusions: The acute ingestion of both solid dark chocolate and liquid cocoa improved endothelial function and lowered blood pressure in overweight adults. Sugar content may attenuate these effects, and sugar-free preparations may augment them.”

Dairy products, dietary calcium and vitamin d intake as risk factors for prostate cancer: a meta-analysis of 26,769 cases from 45 observational studies. (Nutr Cancer. 2008) “The data from observational studies do not support an association between dairy product use and an increased risk of prostate cancer.”

Pasteurization of milk proteins promotes allergic sensitization by enhancing uptake through Peyer's patches. (Allergy. 2008)

Fatty fish not equal in "good" fats: study “In particular, farm-raised trout and Alaskan salmon both had high levels of omega-3 fats and a relatively healthy balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fats, the researchers report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. On the other hand, farm-raised catfish and tilapia had low levels of omega-3 and a much higher proportion of omega-6. Omega-6 fats, found in sources like soybean and corn oils, are necessary and beneficial. But the typical American diet contains many times more omega-6 fat than omega-3, and such imbalances are thought to promote inflammation in the blood vessels -- a key contributor to heart disease. … The problem, Chilton and his colleagues say, may be related to the commercial feed given to farmed fish. Tilapia, they note, is the fastest growing fish in terms of popularity in the U.S., and it is also the most intensively farmed species. They are often given high levels of omega-6 from the vegetable oils used in their feed. "The message here isn't that farm fishing in general is bad," Chilton said. However, he added, there needs to be more awareness of the ways in which farming practices can affect the nutritional content, and potential health effects, of fish. “

Mortality in a cohort with high fish consumption. (Int J Epidemiol. 2008) “CONCLUSIONS: The fishermen and their wives had lower mortality from many natural causes. The high intakes of environmental contaminants in fish were not seen as excess mortality.”

Popular Fish, Tilapia, Contains Potentially Dangerous Fatty Acid Combination “Farm-raised tilapia, one of the most highly consumed fish in America, has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and, perhaps worse, very high levels of omega-6 fatty acids, according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. The researchers say the combination could be a potentially dangerous food source for some patients with heart disease, arthritis, asthma and other allergic and auto-immune diseases that are particularly vulnerable to an "exaggerated inflammatory response." Inflammation is known to cause damage to blood vessels, the heart, lung and joint tissues, skin, and the digestive tract. … They say their research revealed that farm-raised tilapia, as well as farmed catfish, "have several fatty acid characteristics that would generally be considered by the scientific community as detrimental." Tilapia has higher levels of potentially detrimental long-chain omega-6 fatty acids than 80-percent-lean hamburger, doughnuts and even pork bacon, the article says.”

California Is First State to Ban Trans Fats “Trans fat has been found in scientific studies to increase bad cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease, contribute to other diseases, such as diabetes and coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is California’s leading cause of death. California, which supplies a great deal of the nation’s specialty crops and other goods, already has some of the toughest food restrictions in the nation, including a ban on junk food, and on trans-fats in school meals. A ban in the nation’s largest state is likely to push many national restaurant chains to alter their menus. Already, Wendy’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, the Cheesecake Factory and McDonalds have begun to move away from trans fats because of consumer concerns. “

Consumption of trans-Fatty Acid and Its Association with Colorectal Adenomas (American Journal of Epidemiology 2008) “These results suggest that consumption of high amounts of trans-fatty acid may increase the risk of colorectal neoplasia, and they provide additional support to recommendations to limit trans-fatty acid consumption.”

General Food Safety Guidelines

Protect Yourself From Food-Borne Illness

Should We Fear Our Food? “Industrial farming techniques may make it easier to find out-of-season fruit, but what are we giving up in exchange? ... Take bagged salads. Fifteen years ago, they didn't exist. Today, thanks to new breathable wrapping, some 70 percent of head lettuce is bagged, and prepackaged greens are top-selling food items. Convenience is part of the appeal, plus pre-washed greens sound safer. Yet almost all U.S. lettuce comes from just a handful of large processors, which creates new problems if you have even a few contaminated heads. "Those heads are chopped up and distributed in many packages throughout the country within days," says Labuza. Which is how contaminated spinach from just one mega-producer in California sickened hundreds of people in 26 states last fall, causing nationwide panic and profoundly impacting the spinach industry.”

US outbreak of salmonella spreads“More than 1,000 people in more than 40 US states are now confirmed to have become ill with salmonella since April, officials say. The US health authorities suspect the bacteria to be present in some raw tomatoes, chilli peppers and the coriander used in salsa. The outbreak is deemed to be the worst one of a food-borne illness in the US for more than a decade. Two people are said to have died, and 200 people have been taken to hospital. There have also been several cases in Canada.“

Almonds good for digestion “Eating almonds could help improve digestive health by increasing levels of beneficial gut bacteria. As well as being high in vitamin E and other minerals, almonds are now believed to increase good bacteria in the gut.”

Canola Oil for Popcorn?

Free-range eggs fail the freshness test (Australia)

Fruit juice tied to modest rise in diabetes risk “They found that an increase of three servings a day of whole fruit was associated with an 18 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes, while a single additional serving of leafy green vegetables cut the risk by 9 percent. However, an additional daily serving of fruit juice increased the likelihood of developing diabetes by 18 percent. While the findings must be replicated, Bazzano said, there are plausible mechanisms by which fruit juice could increase risk. "It's a big sugar load and it comes in a liquid form which is absorbed rapidly," she noted. The findings, the study team concludes, suggest that "caution should be observed in replacing some beverages with fruit juices in an effort to provide healthier options. The same caution applies to the recommendation that 100 percent fruit juice be considered a serving of fruit as it is in the present national dietary guidelines." “

Good Fats - What Are Healthy Fats?

Mediterranean diet: Choose this heart-healthy diet option “Key components of the Mediterranean diet include: Eating a generous amount of fruits and vegetables. Consuming healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil. Eating small portions of nuts. Drinking red wine, in moderation, for some. Consuming very little red meat. Eating fish on a regular basis. “

Your Health: Mushrooms offer more than good taste “Mushrooms appear to fight cancer in several ways. For starters, they're rich in disease-fighting antioxidants. Researchers at Penn State University concluded that in terms of dietary antioxidant content, several mushroom varieties are comparable to green beans, red peppers and broccoli. Some scientists believe that compounds in mushroom extracts, including lentinan, prevent tumor growth by increasing the disease-fighting activity of the immune system, rather than by killing cancer cells directly. Lentinan stimulates the production of tumor necrosis factor and interleukins, substances that play critical roles in the destruction of tumor cells. Other ingredients in the Shiitake appear to inhibit the proliferation of new blood vessels that are necessary to support the growth of cancerous tumors. In Japan, extracts of the mushroom are routinely administered to cancer patients to bolster immunity and to reduce the unwelcome side effects of cancer treatment. The results of several clinical trials revealed that Shiitake extracts can shrink tumor size and prolong life in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.”

Antioxidant activity and polyphenol content of green tea flavan-3-ols and oligomeric proanthocyanidins. (Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2008)

Green Tea Lowers Risk of Heart Disease: Drinking Green Tea Boosts the Health of Blood Vessels Within Minutes “Drinking green tea rapidly improves the health of the delicate cells lining the blood vessels and helps lower one's risk of heart disease. Researchers writing in the latest issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation have found that people who drink green tea have better blood vessel function just 30 minutes later. Specifically, green tea improves the function of endothelial cells. Endothelial cell dysfunction plays a key role in the development of clogged arteries, a process called atherosclerosis. The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests that powerful antioxidants in green tea called flavonoids may protect the heart. Other flavonoid-rich foods include red grapes, red wine, and dark chocolate. The study authors say their results are the first to show that green tea offers a short-term improvement in the health of arteries. Black tea has previously been linked to short- and long-term improvements in endothelial function.“

Iced Teas Pose High Risk of Kidney Stones

Tea consumption and cognitive impairment and decline in older Chinese adults (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2008) “Conclusion: Regular tea consumption was associated with lower risks of cognitive impairment and decline. “