October 27, 2015 • A recent, global study published in The Lancet (2015; 386, p.743-800) clearly emphasizes the importance of the latter referring to our quality of life. According to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, worldwide life expectancy at birth rose by 6.2 years between 1990 and 2013. However, these additional years come at a price as healthy life expectancy at birth increased by only 5.4 years over the same 13 year time span.
October 1, 2015 • Antioxidants have been in the popular press for more than 20 years and, while many people may not understand what exactly antioxidants do, they have the right idea that consuming foods known to contain high levels of the compounds is better than not consuming them. In its simplest form, an antioxidant is a compound that can be consumed or that the body makes to defend against damaging effects of free radicals, highly reactive molecules that can damage cells and tissues. We are exposed to free radicals through everyday living.
September 21, 2015 • A new study from scientists at the NC Research Campus (NCRC) in Kannapolis, NC, found that certain phytochemicals build natural, cellular defenses against damaging free radicals and reactive oxygen species dispelling other popular theories of how some antioxidants work.
August 24, 2015 • It took Dr. Summer Goodson nearly a year to find six men genetically qualified to participate in a sperm function study at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) in Kannapolis. Male fertility is still a sensitive subject, said Goodson, a post-doctoral research associate at the NRI, making it tough to rely on traditional recruitment methods like fliers and advertisements. But after the NRI partnered with Duke University’s MURDOCK Study in Kannapolis, which has nearly 12,000 participants, Goodson needed only one day to identify 13 men who have the genetic variant she studies.
July 22, 2015 • Speakers at the recent Institute of Food Technologists meeting in Chicago in July discussed an essential nutrient that plays a vital role in human health. Unfortunately, few people have heard of it and fewer still are eating enough of it.
“Choline is an essential but widely under-consumed nutrient,” says Catherine Adams Hutt, registered dietician and science and nutrition advisor to The Choline Information Council®. “Only children typically get enough choline and most adults, including pregnant and lactating women, don’t get as much choline as they need. Just as choline is essential in the development of the brain, it is also critical for the development of the mechanics of our eyes,” she adds.