News
Adequate folate intakes may support eye health
25 April 2014
A new US study reports that adults with increased intakes of folate may reduce their risk of developing an age-related eye disease which can lead to glaucoma.
04 February 2013
According to a new US study regular intakes of lycopene can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease.
The study analyzed lycopene intakes and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke in participants of the epidemiological Framingham Offspring Study (1). Repeated measures of intake were obtained over 10 years. The study results showed that the highest average lyco-pene intakes were associated with a 17% reduction in CVD incidence and a 26% decrease in CHD incidence. No association was observed for lycopene intake and stroke incidence. The average lycopene intake was
7.9 milligrams per day.
The researchers concluded that the new study results add to the accumulating evidence that lycopene is related to CVD risk. As tomatoes and tomato-based products are by far the most important dietary sources of lycopene in observational studies, it isdifficult to separate lycopene’s potential contribution to cardiovascu-lar health from the overall contribution made by tomato products and their other phytochemical components.
The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) was started in 1948 as a prospective investigation of cardiovascular di-sease in a cohort of 5,209 adult men and women. In 1971, examinations were begun on the children of the FHS cohort. This study, called the Framingham Offspring Study (FOS), was undertaken to expand upon knowledge of cardiovascular disease, particularly in the area of familial clustering of the disease and its risk factors (2).
25 April 2014
A new US study reports that adults with increased intakes of folate may reduce their risk of developing an age-related eye disease which can lead to glaucoma.
15 January 2012
In addition to its function as a component of thyroid hormones, elemental iodine plays an important role in the regulation of thyroid activity and protects against microbes in the secretions of mucous membranes.
1 August 2014
Excessive intake of high-energy macronutrients and their potential consequences for people’s health are a problem in many industrial nations. In the case of micronutrients, however, epidemiological data suggests that over-supply is the exception rather than the rule across the globe. Many people are therefore concerned that their dietary habits are failing to provide them with a sufficient supply of essential nutrients such as vitamins and carotenoids. Given that intakes of some nutrients are below officially recommended levels, it might at first sight appear unnecessary to set upper intake levels for micronutrients. However excessive intake of food supplements and fortified foods in addition to normal diets could conceivably lead to intake levels which could potentially be considered harmful. It may be sensible to define an upper daily intake level at which the risk of adverse effects on health is unlikely, particularly in the case of fat-soluble vitamins which are stored in small quantities in the body.