Forums: Nutrition

A huge quantity of olive stones on an ancient shipwreck more than 2,000 years old has provided valuable insight into the diet of sailors in the ancient world, researchers in Cyprus said Thursday. The shipwreck, dating from around 400 B.C. and laden mainly with wine amphorae from the Aegean island of Chios and other north Aegean islands, was discovered deep under the sea off Cyprus's southern coast. Excavation on the site, which started in November 2007, has determined that the ship was a merchant vessel of the late classical period. "An interesting piece of evidence that gives us information on...

Bob Krause hates Thanksgiving, and not because of that all forced family time. Krause, 63, calls himself a picky eater -- one who won't eat anything that's served at a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, or any other dinner, for that matter. Krause survives on little more than grilled cheese sandwiches, French fries and waffles. And, like other picky eaters, Krause hopes that a registry of adult picky eaters, recently begun by Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh, will bring attention to a problem he believes should be considered a medical condition. The registry, dubbed the Food F.A.D. Study, or the...

Popeye cartoons, tasting parties and junior cooking classes can help increase vegetable intake in kindergarten children, according to new research published in the journal Nutrition & Dietetics. Researchers at Mahidol University in Bangkok found the type and amount of vegetables children ate improved after they took part in a program using multimedia and role models to promote healthy food. Twenty six kindergarten children aged four to five participated in the eight week study. The researchers recorded the kinds and amounts of fruit and vegetables eaten by the children before and after the program. Lead researcher Professor Chutima Sirikulchayanonta said: "We...

Hundreds of children and parents gathered at an Orlando church early Saturday to raise awareness about health and obesity. The Walk A Mile With A Child event at Grace Bible Church, sponsored by the National Medical Association, was designed to reach black and Hispanic Orlandoans with a message about the benefits of a commitment to physical fitness. (snip) U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin is lecturing at the NMA opening ceremony today. (snip) "The number of black physicians has been eroding," said Dr. Nelson Adams, of Miami. Adams is former state and national president of the National Medical Association.

An array of studies from scientists at the Agricultural Research Service’s Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, California, is yielding new clues about the roles that compounds from plants may play in preventing cancer and other diseases. For example, molecular biologist Susan J. Zunino has investigated the role that certain compounds in strawberries may have in combating cancer. Her tests with lab-cultured cells of a cancer known as “acute lymphoblastic leukemia” have provided additional evidence that three compounds occurring naturally in strawberries—ellagic acid, kaempferol, and quercetin—can cause death, or significant damage, to certain lines of these leukemia cells. The...