Temporary end?

As you can see I haven’t been posting much these lasts months, today I decided that I should give it a rest. My mind is somewhere else now, not in updating a blog with relevant information, plus I need to focus in my master’s degree. I just have the master’s thesis left and I’m gonna need a lot of time for this, so the time I have left I want to spend it in things not related to nutrition/science.
For now this means the end for Metablogism. If my personal projects leave me some time in the future maybe I’ll be back to the blogging world. In the mean time thank you to the more than 1000 readers!!! And remember, eat a balanced diet and don’t be fooled by all the quacks out there… science is the answer.

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Good science for everyone

Nature, one of the most importants scientific journals, has decided to open part of its archives to everyone. Yes, for free. You just need to register and access will be granted from its first issue in 1869 until 1950.

Enjoy your science in the Nature archives.

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Science nominates breakthrough of 2007

Science magazine has made public what they consider the science breakthorough of 2007. Check it out in their website.

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More proof: Tailored herbal medicine treatments do not work

As stated by the authors of a recent systematic review “There is no convincing evidence that individualised herbal medicine is effective in any indication.”. What’s more, there’s a high risk of side effects and the potential for herbs to react badly with other herbs and prescription medicines.

Studies promoting the effectiveness of herbal medicines have been steadily increasing over the past 20 years, say the authors. But most clinical research has involved standard preparations or single herbal extracts rather than the individually tailored treatments favoured by herbal medicine practitioners. This suggests that they have been sponsored by manufacturers, eager to cash in on the growing market for over the counter remedies.

The current findings are based on an analysis of the available comparative clinical research (randomised controlled trials) on individually tailored herbal medicine treatments. But only three studies out of more than 1300 were randomised controlled trials of sufficient quality to draw meaningful conclusions.

Results showed that there were no statistical differences between tailored herbal medicine and placebo in either the knee osteoarthritis study or the cancer treatment study.

Authors advise that herbal medicine, which currently have no basis in science, and others over the counter remedies shouldn’t be confused with phytotherapy, which represents the scientific face of herbalism. Phytotherapy has considerable potential to benefit patients. But over the counter remedies and traditional herbal medicine can harm those who use them. Researches conclude saying that “without these distinctions, we will fail to advance our knowledge of the potential benefits of herbal treatments. More importantly, we will also fail in our foremost duty – to protect the public from treatments that cause them harm”.

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European day of healthy food and cooking with children

I’m a bit late to report this, but better late than never… Last 8th of november was the European day of healthy food and cooking with children, co-organised by the European Commission and the European Chefs’ Association.

This day aims to encourage healthy eating among children, with a view to tackling the rising childhood obesity levels in Europe. EU officials, top chefs and school children came together for demonstrations on how to cook healthy, tasty food and workshops to promote a balanced lifestyle.

With around 22 million overweight or obese children in the EU today, the aim is to instil an interest in children in the food that they eat and to make them aware of the basic principles of good nutrition. Childhood obesity is an extremely worrying problem, with the number of overweight or obese children growing at the rate of 400 000 a year in Europe. Obese children not only suffer from health problems such as diabetes and liver disorders when they are young, but are also likely to be at high risk of heart disease, cancer, hypertension, stroke and depression as they get older.

This website for children demonstrates that eating healthily can be fun. It also provides a European forum for healthy food and cooking with first class healthy recipes and cooking advice. The website is available in 12 languages and includes an interactive cooking game so that children can learn by playing. What a shame catalan is not included among them, it would be a great way to approach 9 million potential viewers.

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Hungry people crave more variety

A study from the Journal of Consumer Research found that when we long for something intensely – like a much-needed vacation – a wider array of options will sound appealing, potentially leading to some out-of-character choices. Similarly, when we are especially hungry and presented with an range of menu choices, we are more likely to deviate from our favorite meal. The research investigated whether desire-induced perception changes can reduce loyalty to our favorite stuff. The findings point to the power of desires to affect choice making.

In the study, the researchers had participants who were hungry and participants who were satiated quickly decide whether they liked or disliked twenty-eight different snacks by pressing either a red or green button. Hungry participants were asked not to eat within four hours of the experiment. Satiated participants were presented with a large piece of cake upon arrival and told they had to finish the entire thing. On average, the participants who were hungry liked two more snacks than the participants who had cake.

So, an active desire increases the perceived value of the desired object class. This increase in perceived value can influence variety-seeking tendencies. The results support the notion that an active desire increases the value of any item that may satisfy the desire. Due to a particular desire, a larger number of items may be considered satisfactory than in the absence of that particular desire.

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Whole grain breakfast seems to lower heart failure risk in men

It was already known, from previous studies, that high grain consumption is linked to a lower risk of high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and high blood cholesterol, and lower mortality in general.

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine has shown that the consumption of whole grain cereals for breakfast lower the risk of heart failure in man, compared to those who never or rarely eat whole grains for breakfast.

The authors explain that the lifetime risk for heart failure is about 20% for both men and women at 40 years of age. Researchers looked at the link between breakfast cereal consumption and new cases of heart failure among 21,376 males whose average age was 53.7 years. The analysis of data demonstrated that a higher intake of whole grain breakfast cereals is associated with a lower risk of heart failure. They believe this link may be because of the beneficial effects of whole grains on heart failure risk factors, such as heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

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The importance of eating together as a family

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association has found that eating together as a family during adolescence is associated with lasting positive effects on dietary quality in young adulthood.

The study, conducted in 1,500 students, consisted in a survey to determine the long-term effects of family meals on diet quality, social eating, meal structure and meal frequency.

The researchers found that eating family meals together during adolescence resulted in adults who ate more fruit, dark-green and orange vegetables and key nutrients, and drank less soft drinks. An elevated frequency of family meals as adolescents predicted eating dinner more frequently as adults, placing a higher priority on structured meals and a higher priority on social eating.

This study proves once again the importance of food and nutrition education and the role that professionals in this field, like dietitians, can play encouraging families to share meals as often as practically possible.

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OpenCourseWare

In my last post I talked about the initiative of the University of California Berkeley and their uploaded classes to YouTube. Today I’ll talk about an older initiative called OpenCourseware.

It was started by the MIT as a way to provide a new model for the dissemination of knowledge. This initiative was then followed by other universities, starting a new movement to spread scientific knowledge without the need to go to classes.

All this open educational resources finally formed the OpenCourseWare Consortium, which aims to extend the reach of this materials.

Following an OpenCourseWare doesn’t get you any diploma, you just do it because you have an interest in some field and this is a perfect way to get good information about it.

So, where to get any of this courses? Have a look at the list of participant universities, browse through the materials offered by any university… and start learning!

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Berkeley at home

Great idea from the guys of the University of California Berkeley, uploading some of their classes to YouTube. They have opened a new channel on this video service where you can find classes in diferents disciplines like chemistry, physics or biology.

Check out, for instance, this first class on Integrative Biology:

Enjoy it!

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