The Folic Acid Dilemma
Folate (a B vitamin) makes history.
In 1996, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made it mandatory to add folic acid (FA) to grain products used to make cereal, bread, pasta and other foods. The ruling, which was intended to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs) has been very successful: The incidence of NTDs fell 36 percent over the following decade.
The FDA’s ruling was unique because the target population (women of child-bearing age) is much smaller than the population affected (anyone eating fortified foods), especially now that so many countries around the world add FA to wheat, corn and rice. Luckily, studies around the globe prove that FA benefits the general population by lowering the incidence of heart disease, stroke, and even mood disorders, which is why FA is also present in multivitamin supplements.
Is it possible to over supplement with FA? Read more.
Free Public Presentation
Limited Seating Still Available
The NRI’s popular public event series, Appetite for Life, continues on Tuesday, April 21 with a free presentation by Natalia Krupenko, Ph.D., on Vitamins and Healthy Diet: Balance is Key. The program is at 7:00 PM in the D.H. Murdock Research Institute at 150 Research Campus Drive, Annapolis and will be simultaneously webcast.
Acclaimed nutrition scientist Bruce Ames, Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkley will join us on May 20 sharing his life’s work in his presentation, The Longevity Diet.
Liver Cancer Report Reveals New Links: Coffee is Protective, Obesity Increases Risk
The following has been reprinted from the American Institute for Cancer Research.
For the first time, a report from an ongoing systematic review of global research finds that drinking coffee lowers risk for liver cancer, a disease that is increasing in the U.S. and the second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.
…”This is the first time there’s been such a clear signal from a rigorous systematic review on the links between obesity increasing risk of liver cancer and coffee decreasing risk,” said Stephen Hursting, Ph.D., M.P.H., researcher at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and NRI, and one of the CUP expert panelists. Read more.
Training Your Doctor in Nutrition
We rely on our physicians to heal us when we are ill, but more and more, we are needing a trained reliable source of sound nutritional advice when it comes to preventing illness or getting healthy after disease strikes. Until recently most medical doctors in this country were barely trained in the science of human nutrition. But now, medical students and physicians already in practice are receiving much-needed current education in nutrition to better serve their patients. This training is through two online programs developed by NRI director Steven H. Zeisel, M.D., Ph.D., and NRI principal investigator Martin Kohlmeier, M.D., Ph.D. The two online courses, offered free to healthcare providers, contain topics ranging from cancer nutrition and nutrition for children to the links between nutrients and diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
To help ensure an ongoing source of scientifically proven nutrition education for your physicians, please consider a tax-deductible gift. Your donation will directly benefit the Nutrition in Medicine project and the Nutrition Education for Practicing Physicians initiative, bringing needed nutrition education to medical students, residents, and other healthcare providers.
2015 ISNN Congress
The International Society of Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics (ISNN) will hold is 9th Congress May 17-19 on the campus of UNC Chapel Hill. This event convenes several hundred nutrition researchers, clinicians, dietitians and other healthcare providers who are leaders in the development and practice of advanced nutrition solutions. Keynote speakers are 2007 Nobel laureate Dr. Oliver Smithies (UNC Chapel Hill) and Dr. Bruce Ames (Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute and UC Berkeley), who will deliver an Appetite for Life Lecture in Kannapolis May 20, 2015.
NRI faculty member Martin Kohlmeier, M.D., Ph.D., Research Professor of Nutrition, is this year’s ISNN Congress President. He is assisted by an organizing committee that includes NRI faculty Dr. Brian Bennett, Dr. Folami Ideraabdullah, Dr. Mihai Niculescu and Dr. Saroja Voruganti. Read more about the ISNN Congress. Registration is still open.
The International Society of Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics (ISNN) was established in 2005. Its purpose is to increase understanding of how genes affect individual dietary response and how nutrients affect gene expression.
