A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience
Studies show that growing up in a home without adequate food can damage children in many ways. Even if they are not hungry themselves, babies and toddlers in households with slight food shortages are more likely to be hospitalized, at risk for developmental delays and to be raised by mothers who are depressed. While not all children develop these problems, here are some of the other effects researchers have found can be associated with food shortages:
Before you download the next pop hit from iTunes, check whether it is hazardous to your health. A teen panel working with the Boston Public Health Commission has set up a “nutrition facts label” rating (like that seen on food items) for songs:
“Music, like food, can feed our brains and give us energy,” said Casey Corcoran, director of the Commission’s Start Strong Initiative. “But songs can affect our health and the health of our relationships.”
The tool, patterned after common food nutritional labels, invites consumers to become song lyric nutritionists by helping them identify relationship ingredients that make up a song. Using printed song lyrics as a guide, users can tally the number of healthy relationship themes, such as respect, equality, and trust, which are present in the song. And, like fattening calories, unhealthy relationship themes – possession, disrespect, and manipulation – are also counted. The number of times these themes are mentioned also factor into to the song’s total nutritional value. Corcoran recommends consuming lots of ‘healthy relationship’ ingredients for a balanced media diet.
Dutch researcher Saskia Lindhoud has discovered a new way to package enzymes by causing charged polymers to form a ‘ball of hair’ around them. Her approach significantly increases the utility of the enzymes. For example, healthy enzymes with a foul taste can be packaged in such a way that they are released in the stomach without being tasted.’
Continue reading… “Small Hairy Balls Hide Foul-Tasting Healthful Enzymes”
According to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), eating a meal quickly, as compared to slowly, curtails the release of hormones in the gut that induce feelings of being full. The decreased release of these hormones, can often lead to overeating.
Continue reading… “Eating Quickly Is Associated With Overeating, Study Indicates”
Home farming
Philips Design recently completed a design probe looking at the future of food. The project investigated how we might eat and source our food 15-20 years from now. the probe looks at social trends occurring today and extrapolates them to project possible futures. The research led the designers to create three projects which solidified their ideas. (Pics and video)
Continue reading… “Food Probe – Philips Design Looks At The Future Of Food”
The cheeseburger and French fries might look tempting, but eating a serving of broccoli or leafy greens first could help people battle metabolic processes that lead to obesity and heart disease, a new University of Florida study shows.
Continue reading… “Phytochemicals In Plant-based Foods Could Help Battle Obesity, Disease”
People often eat food to feel better, but researchers have found that eating chocolate or drinking water can blunt pain, reducing a rat’s response to a hot stimulus. This natural form of pain relief may help animals in the wild avoid distraction while eating scarce food, but in modern humans with readily available food, the effect may contribute to overeating and obesity.
Continue reading… “Comfort Food: Chocolate, Water Reduce Pain Response To Heat”
Researchers have established the conditions that foster formation of potentially dangerous levels of a toxic substance in the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that is often fed to honey bees. Their study, which appears in the current issue of ACS’ bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, may also have implications for soft drinks and dozens of other human foods that contain HFCS. The substance, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), forms mainly from heating fructose.
Exciting research into Brown adipose tissue (BAT) — brown fat, which is found in abundance in hibernating animals and newborn babies — could lead to new ways of preventing obesity.
Continue reading… “Daylight Could Help Control Our Weight”
Researchers in Japan are reporting new evidence that the ordinary vinegar — a staple in oil-and-vinegar salad dressings, pickles, and other foods — may live up to its age-old reputation in folk medicine as a health promoter. They are reporting new evidence that vinegar can help prevent accumulation of body fat and weight gain.
Continue reading… “New Evidence That Vinegar May Be Natural Fat-fighter”
Between the 1932 and 2008 Olympic Games, world record times of the men’s 100m sprint improved by 0.6 seconds due to improved training techniques and technological advances. Imagine if this improvement could be achieved by a simple change in diet. Scientists at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology in Austria have managed to achieve an equivalent feat in mice fed on a diet high in polyunsaturated fatty acids.
Continue reading… “Mice Run Faster On High-grade Oil”
Experiment after experiment confirms that a diet on the brink of starvation expands lifespan in mice and many other species. But the molecular mechanism that links nutrition and survival is still poorly understood. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified a pivotal role for two enzymes that work together to determine the health benefits of diet restriction.
Continue reading… “Why A Low-Calorie Diet Extends Lifespans: Critical Enzyme Pair Identified”
