Do you want fries with that?

Some interesting research is afoot. A yet to be published paper examines how healthy choices on a menu actually increase our likelihood of choosing unhealthy items.

University of Chicago researchers have released the following teaser:

In a series of four studies, the researchers examined how consumers’ food choices differed when a healthy item was included in a set compared to when it was not available. The study results showed that the mere presence of a healthy item vicariously fulfills health-related eating goals, drives attention to the least-healthy choice, and provides people with license to indulge in tempting foods. They also high levels of self-control.

Journal of Consumer Research press release

The take home message from the studies is that is you offer ‘healthy’ options such as a salad on a menu with unhealthy choices like fries, more people are likely to order the fries than when the menu doesn’t have salad as an option. And no, they aren’t necessarily ordering the salad as well in an attempt to counteract the negative effects.

With the full analysis not available until October it is hard to tell the statistical significance of the reported 23% increase in those who opted for a side order of fries with a meal, when there was also a salad choice present on the menu. However the marketing community is have a field day, making the most of exploiting the perceived psychological weakness illuminated by the press release alone.

It may explain why fast food chains are smiling all the way to the bank with their “healthy options” meals.


Similar articles

Junk food and professional endorsements

rosemary for remembrance - now with evidence based medicine!

I've secretly dubbed rosemary "poor woman's ginkgo" since I was a herbal medicine lecturer. When comparing the two herbs, one from the West and the other from the East - it has been clear that rosemary has as much going for it as it's more glamorous Oriental counterpart. Both are rich in antioxidants (which fight free radical damage, that ultimately causes cells to mutate) and encourage circulation especially to the brain. Now finally, the research is starting to catch up with the wonders of this affordable and easy to grow plant.

Despite the inference from the introduction to the article below, it is unlikely you will get a medicinal dose by strewing a few leaves on your lamb roast. Rosemary is a resinous, strong tasting herb and moderately palatable as a tea. Try 2 tsp of fresh leaves per cup, 3 times a day for a more effective dosage.

Herb rosemary fights free radical damage in the brain

Published: Wednesday, 31-Oct-2007

Rosemary not only tastes good in culinary dishes such as Rosemary chicken and lamb, but scientists have now found it is also good for your brain.

A collaborative group from the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham Institute) in La Jolla, CA and in Japan, report that the herb rosemary contains an ingredient that fights off free radical damage in the brain. The active ingredient in rosemary, known as carnosic acid (CA), can protect the brain from stroke and neurodegeneration that is due to injurious chemical free radicals. These radicals are thought to contribute not only to stroke and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's, but also to the ill effects of normal aging on the brain.

In two expedited publications by The Journal of Neurochemistry and Nature Reviews Neuroscience, the scientists report for the first time that CA activates a novel signaling pathway that protects brain cells from the ravages of free radicals. In animal models, the scientific group, led by Drs. Takumi Satoh (Iwate University, Japan) and Stuart Lipton (Burnham Institute), found that CA becomes activated by the free radical damage itself, remaining innocuous unless needed, exactly what is wanted in a drug. The scientists call this type of action a "pathological-activated therapeutic" or PAT drug. A "pat" represents a gentle tap and not the heavy sledge hammer that some drugs produce, including significant side effects in areas of the body where their effects are not needed and not wanted.

"This new type of drug works through a mechanism known as redox chemistry in which electrons are transferred from one molecule to another in order to activate the body's own defense system," said Stuart A. Lipton, MD, PhD, the senior author on the paper and Director, Professor, and Senior Vice President at the Burnham's Del E. Webb Neuroscience, Aging, and Stem Cell Research Center. "Moreover, unlike most new drugs, this type of compound may well be safe and clinically tolerated because it is present in a naturally-occurring herb that is known to get into the brain and has been consumed by people for over a thousand years." Dr. Lipton is also a practicing neurologist at the University of California, San Diego, and therefore knows first-hand that such drugs are critically needed for care of the aging and neurologically-ill patients.

Rosemary is a shrubby evergreen bush and, according to folklore, takes its name from the Virgin Mary, who draped her cloak on the bush, placing a white flower on top of the cloak. By the following morning, the flower had turned blue, and thereafter the plant was known as the "Rose of Mary." Rosemary, grown in the Alps since the Middle Ages, has became part of European folk medicine, and was thought to help the nervous system and ward off sickness. Until now, however, the exact chemical pathways involved in its beneficial effects have remained unknown. Additionally, the new scientific work, identifying the compound in rosemary that is beneficial, should allow even better and more effective drugs in this class to be developed in the near future. Along these lines, Satoh and Lipton have filed a United States patent application for a whole series of novel compounds that show increased benefits over rosemary itself. "This is not to say that Rosemary chicken is not good for you," said Dr. Satoh, "but it means that we can do even better in protecting the brain from terrible disorders such as Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig's disease, perhaps even slowing down the effects of normal aging, by developing new and improved cousins to the active ingredient in rosemary." The authors hope that such drugs can be developed for people over the next few years.

Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D. is the senior author of the published papers. His pioneering work developing drugs to protect the brain was recognized with Germany's Ernst Jung Prize in Medicine in 2004.

Takumi Satoh, M.D., Ph.D. is a Visiting Professor from Japan working on this project at the Burnham.

Along with Lipton and Satoh, co-authors on the paper reporting the mechanism of action of carnosic acid include Kunio Kosaka, Yosuke Shimojo, and Chieko Kitajima (Nagase Company, Kobe, Japan), Ken Itoh (Hirosaki University School of Medicine, Japan), Akira Kobayashi and Masayuki Yamamoto (Tohoku University Medical School, Japan), Jiankun Cui, Joshua Kamins, Shu-ichi Okamoto (Burnham Institute for Medical Research), Masanori Izumi, (Iwate University, Japan), and Takuji Shirasawa (Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Japan).

This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

A link to The Journal of Neurochemistry article can be found at: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1471-4159.2007.05039.x.

A link to the Nature Reviews Neuroscience article can be found here: http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v8/n10/full/nrn2229.html.

a grain of truth

Below is an abstract of a recently published study showing, once more, that good food keeps you well. Or more specifically, whole grains stop your arteries clogging up (a major cause of heart disease) and also protect you from type 2 diabetes.

Whole grains, the plant foods that still look like they do when they are on the plant, husk and all (or as close to it as we are able to digest), make great winter foods. They also taste good, fill us up with slow release energy, keep our bowels regular and are packed full of nutrients.

Here's a little culinary motivation:

Quinoa is one of my favourite grains, some of the best recipes I've found for this gem is at 101 Cookbooks, also keep an eye out for it's author, Heidi Swanson's, new cookbook.

While you are there, check out what she does with brown rice as well.

Don't forget the joys of porridge on these cold mornings, a generous handful of barley in soups and stews and a millet pilaf for something different.


Study Reconfirms Importance of Whole Grains of Heart Health
By Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS, June 25, 2007,
abstracted from "Whole-grain intake and carotid artery atherosclerosis
in a multiethnic cohort: the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study"
in the 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Along with the meteoric rise of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the U.S.,
with currently more than 18 million Americans affected,1 is the rise
of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which took over 871,000 Americans in
2004.2 With the crucial role that diet plays in health, America's
shift from whole grains to refined grains3 has been thought to be
associated with accelerating the onsets of both CVD and T2D.4

Although the current recommendation for whole grain intake is at least
3 servings per day to promote health,5 Americans "fall far short" of
this.6 Now a new study7 has reconfirmed the importance of whole grain
consumption to help promote health.

In the study, nearly 1600 participants aged 40-69 years who
participated in the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS)8
completed a 114-item food questionnaire. They also had blood tests
done and had an ultrasound of the carotid artery to measure its
thickness. The participants then returned 5 years later to have the
same measurements taken.

The researchers found "a strong, inverse association between
whole-grain intake" and artery thickness as well as insulin
sensitivity. They then compared these results to previous
research(9-11) that found as much as a 25% reduced risk for CVD with
higher whole grain intakes.

For the researchers, "These findings provide further support for the
potential beneficial role of whole grains in reducing atherosclerotic
cardiovascular disease."


Reference:
1 Diabetes Statistics posted on
www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statistics/prevalence.jsp

2 Cardiovascular Disease statistics posted on
www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4478

3 Gross LS, Li L, Ford ES, Liu S. Increased consumption of refined
carbohydrates and the epidemic of type 2 diabetes in the United
States: an ecologic assessment. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;79:774 –9

4 Stumvoll M, Goldstein BJ, van Haeften TW. Type 2 diabetes:
principles of pathogenesis and therapy. Lancet 2005;365:1333– 46

5 US Department of Agriculture. Dietary guidelines for Americans
2005.Internet: www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/
document/html/chapter5.htm 2005 (accessed 29 July 2005)

6 Cleveland LE, Moshfegh AJ, Albertson AM, Goldman JD. Dietary intake
of whole grains. J Am Coll Nutr 2000;19(suppl):331S– 8

7 Mellen PB. Whole-grain intake and carotid artery atherosclerosis
in a multiethnic cohort: the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study.
Am J Clin Nutr 2007; 85(6): 1495-1502

8 Wagenknecht LE, Mayer EJ, Rewers M, et al. The Insulin Resistance
Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS): objectives, design, and recruitment
results. Ann Epidemiol 1995;5:464 –72

9 Jacobs DR Jr, Meyer KA, Kushi LH, Folsom AR. Whole-grain intake may
reduce the risk of ischemic heart disease death in postmenopausal
women: the Iowa Women's Health Study. AmJ Clin Nutr 1998;68:248–57

10 Steffen LM, JacobsDRJr, Stevens J, Shahar E, Carithers T, Folsom
AR. Associations of whole-grain, refined-grain, and fruit and
vegetable consumption with risks of all-cause mortality and incident
coronary artery disease and ischemic stroke: the Atherosclerosis Risk
in Communities (ARIC) Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2003;78:383–90

11 Jensen MK, Koh-Banerjee P, Hu FB et al. Intakes of whole grains,
bran, and germ and the risk of coronary heart disease in men. Am J
Clin Nutr 2004;80:1492–9

Restless legs

A recent study has found a connection between low iron (in the brain) and Restless Legs Syndrome. RSL is an annoying and at times debilitating condition, where there is an overwhelming desire to move your legs. It's a bit like having an itch that you must scratch, but in the muscles - the more you wriggle the legs the better the temporary relief. Though often the person has no control over whether they move their legs or not. This neurological condition can cause serious sleep deprivation, as well as lifestyle consequences.

A recent report on NPR gives a good overview of the condition and orthodox treatment options.

Comment

I find the iron connection fascinating, as in clinical practice I find other minerals such as magnesium, calcium and zinc can sometimes be a factor. Wider mineral testing may hold the key to controlling this condition. I’d suggest anyone with RSL seeks appropriate nutritional advice and along with dietary changes takes a strong multivitamin (including at least 20 mg elemental zinc).

I have also observed that regular exercise and herbal nervines may play a role in easing this condition.