In a trial of 85 adults, drinks supplying 10%, 17.5% or 25% of energy as high fructose corn syrup raised postprandial triglycerides, fasting LDL cholesterol and 24-hour uric acid in a dose-dependent way. Aspartame-sweetened drinks raised none of the three.
Food Consumer
Politics
Worst GMO Labeling Bill Money Can Buy?
An Organic Consumers Association appeal against the Roberts-Stabenow Senate bill to override Vermont's GMO labeling law. The writer says it would let companies disclose by barcode instead of plain words, take two years to start, and carry no penalties for non-compliance.
Politics
[BREAKING] GMO labeling deal struck…and it's bad
Sens. Stabenow and Roberts' compromise bill would override state GMO labeling laws in Vermont, Connecticut and Maine, require no labeling for two years, and allow QR codes, websites or 800 numbers, leaving out the third of Americans who own no smartphone, the group argues.
Vitamins
Beta-carotene may protect against ER- breast cancer
Among 1,502 breast cancer cases and matched controls, women with high serum alpha-carotene were 39% and those with high beta-carotene 51% less likely to have estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer. High retinol ran the other way, with 137% higher risk of ER-negative, PR-negative tumours.
Politics
DARK Act “Compromise" Greatly Undermines Consumer Choice, Rolls Back Democracy Statement of Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter
Food & Water Watch's Wenonah Hauter calls the Senate agriculture leaders' GMO labeling deal a rollback of democracy, saying it blocks states from requiring on-package labels and would leave consumers needing a smartphone and a signal to learn how their food was produced.
Politics
BREAKING: Senate Moves to Preempt Vermont GMO Labeling Law - newsletter 062316 from Organic Consumers Association
The Organic Consumers Association says the Senate's GMO labeling deal would overturn Vermont's law and let companies disclose GMOs through QR codes and toll-free numbers, with two years before compliance. Vermont's law still takes effect July 1 because Congress ran out of time.
Vitamins
Vitamin D prevents breast cancer?
An Iranian case-control study of 135 breast cancer patients and 135 matched controls found women in the highest quartile of serum vitamin D were 70 percent less likely to have the disease, a link significant only among premenopausal women. Higher dietary intake tracked with lower risk too.
Supplements
DHA, EPA protect against NAFLD
Mice on an atherogenic high-fat diet developed less severe fatty liver disease when fed EPA or DHA. EPA cut liver triacylglycerol more effectively, while DHA better prevented inflammation and oxidative stress. The authors conclude both could treat NAFLD and NASH.
Food
Is Food Causing Early Puberty in Girls?
Scientists agree U.S. girls are reaching puberty earlier but disagree on the cause, weighing obesity, soft drinks, endocrine disrupters and livestock hormones. Frank Biro writes in Pediatrics that early maturation carries higher risks of depression and of breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer.
Disease
Epstein-Barr virus may cause breast cancer
A study of Syrian women found breast tissue carrying both Epstein-Barr virus and high-risk HPV was associated with high-grade invasive ductal carcinoma and lymph node involvement, while either virus alone tracked with lower-grade tumors. Earlier work found EBV in 52% of 108 samples.
Drug
Even A Small Meal Can Influence A Doctor's Prescribing Behavior
A JAMA Internal Medicine study indicates that even a small meal paid for by a drug company may sway what a doctor prescribes. The piece adds that researchers, politicians and journalists can be influenced by money too, and points to NPR's coverage and a database of payments to doctors.
Healthy Recipes from AICR
Healthy Recipes: Whole-Wheat Pasta with Ricotta, Roasted Garlic and Walnuts
Dana Jacobi creams reduced-fat ricotta with roasted garlic and Parmigiano-Reggiano, spoons it over whole-wheat pasta tossed with olive oil, and tops each bowl with toasted walnuts, parsley and black pepper. Four servings at 430 calories and 6 g of fiber.
Politics
'This all feels a bit like the movie Groundhog Day, right?' - Newsletter 062216 from Organic Consumers Association
The Organic Consumers Association counts down the four days Congress has left to preempt Vermont's GMO labeling law before it takes effect July 1, reporting senators still deadlocked over mandatory labels versus QR codes and 1-800 numbers.
Politics
Tell Congress to label GMOs
With the Senate days from acting before Vermont's law takes effect July 1, this alert argues QR-code labeling would shut out the third of Americans without smartphones, disproportionately low-income, rural and older people, and asks readers to demand on-package GMO labels.
Legal Actions
Tell EPA: Take action to protect bees!
A petition drive asks the EPA to restrict neonicotinoid pesticides, citing USDA figures that beekeepers lost 44% of their colonies last year and research showing native bees declining too. Organizers plan a Keep the Hives Alive Tour ending in a June 22 rally at EPA.
Comments
6 of the Most Dangerous Ways to Try and Lose Weight
LabDoor lists diet trends it says carry real harm: unverified weight-loss pills tied to stroke and liver injury, the grapefruit diet's drug interactions, the cotton ball diet's obstruction risk, caffeine-based plans, and the Master Cleanse.
Chemical
Could chicken nuggets get you too much fluoride?
A short note pointing readers to an Oregon State University repository paper on the fluoride content of foods made with mechanically separated chicken as a potential risk factor for dental fluorosis in infants and children.
Politics
'Inches away'? - Newsletter from Organic Consumers Association
An Organic Consumers Association newsletter says senators backing Monsanto claimed to be inches away from the 60 votes needed to block Vermont's labeling law before it takes effect July 1, and asks readers to help raise $200,000 by June 30.
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