April 6, 2015 • 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.
April 1, 2015 • 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.
Today’s report also finds strong evidence linking body fatness to increased risk for liver cancer. This means that liver cancer now officially joins the growing list of cancers caused by overweight and obesity. Sixty-nine percent of U.S. adults are currently overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
April 1, 2015 • 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) – see Sidebar – has been very successful: The incidence of NTDs fell 36% 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.
March 31, 2015 • The following has been reprinted from NC Research Campus, transforming-science.com
Eat a healthy and balanced diet. That is the first advice that people who need to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) receive. But what if some nutrients in “healthy” foods interact with an individual’s genetic make-up in a way that actually increases their risk for CVD.
That is the question that Brian Bennett, PhD, is trying to answer. Bennett is an assistant professor of genetics, nutrition and heart disease with the UNC Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) at the NC Research Campus in Kannapolis. He is pushing the boundaries of nutrigenomics, which is the study of how genes and diet interact, to reveal new clues about individual susceptibility for atherosclerosis and other forms of CVD.
April 22 • April 2015’s edition of SoundBites features: The Folic Acid Dilemma, Appetite for Life Lecture, Liver Cancer Report Reveals New Links, Training Your Doctor in Nutrition, and 2015 ISNN Congress.
March 30, 2015 • The International Society of Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics (ISNN) will hold its 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.