To Your Health

AP WASHINGTON — Two federal agencies said Saturday a continuing
 investigation  affirms that the risk to humans from hogs that may have
eaten contaminated pet food  is very low and that no recall is warranted.

The government said last week that 345 of 6,000 hogs that may have
 the food are believed to have been placed on the path to slaughter,
but that almost all are still on farms in California, New York and South
 Carolina.

Those states were told that no meat from any of those hogs can enter
the food supply.

"At this time, we have no evidence of harm to humans associated with the
 processed  pork product, and therefore no recall of meat products
processed from these animals is being issued," the Food and Drug
Administration and Agriculture Department said  in a joint statement.

"Testing and the joint investigation continue. If any evidence surfaces to
 indicate there is harm to humans, the appropriate action will be taken,"
the agencies said.

Salvaged pet food from companies known or suspected of using a
 tainted ingredient was shipped to hog farms in several states for use
 as feed.

The pet food sent to the farms later was discovered to have an ingredient,
rice protein concentrate, imported from China that was tainted by an
industrial  chemical, melamine. Testing also revealed other related and
similarly  banned compounds, including cyanuric acid. Melamine is not
considered a  human health concern, but there is no scientific data on the
health effects of  melamine combined with the other compounds.
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© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2007 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
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The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 recommends that most
Americans get six ounces of grains daily, and that half of that — at least three
one-ounce servings (one slice of bread equals about one ounce)– should be
 from whole-grain sources. Of course, eating only whole grains to meet the
quota is even better.

Breads can be a source of whole grains, but knowing which ones are most
healthful is difficult. Bottom Line/Health spoke to nutritionist Evelyn Tribole, RD,
for advice…

Whole versus refined

Grain products, including pasta, oatmeal, hot and cold breakfast cereals and bread, are
divided into two subgroups — whole and refined. Whole grains, by definition,  contain
the entire grain — the bran (outer coating), germ (seed embryo) and endosperm
(also called the kernel, it makes up most of the seed). Examples include whole-wheat flour,
cracked wheat (bulgur) and brown rice.

Whole grains are rich in fiber, which has been shown to reduce risk for heart disease, diabetes
 and some cancers. They provide large amounts of vitamins and minerals that are sometimes
 lacking in our diet, including magnesium, selenium, potassium, zinc, vitamin E and chromium.

Refined grains are milled to remove the bran and germ, which gives them a finer texture and
 lengthens their shelf life. This process is also nutritionally devastating — it removes the healthful
fiber, iron and many B vitamins and other vitamins and minerals found in whole grains.

Since refined grains are digested more quickly than whole grains, they can cause spikes in blood
sugar and insulin secretion, which can increase hunger and diabetes risk. Refined grains include
white flour, white rice and white bread.
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(Part #2 to follow)

FEEDING babies a special infant formula containing hunger-suppressing
hormones  could stop them getting fat later in life, researchers believe.

Scientists are currently studying the prospect of adding leptin to baby and
children’s  foods as part of the solution to obesity.

They admitted that their work was still in the very early stages, and larger
 studies were needed.

Concerns have also been raised over the repercussions of tampering with
babies’ brains – essentially programming them not to overeat.

Animal trials at the Clore Laboratory, University of Buckingham, have found
that  exposure to leptin early in life can programme the brain to stop over-eating.

Professor Mike Cawthorne, director of metabolic research, found that giving leptin
supplements to baby rats provided protection against obesity and diabetes. Even
adult rats remained slim after taking the leptin-laced supplements.

The body naturally produces leptin throughout life, but the amount produced in
infancy is thought to "hard-wire" the body’s energy-balance settings.

It may also determine whether someone is fat or thin even before they are born.
Giving an extra leptin boost early in life may therefore stop later weight gain.

The latest study, published in the American Journal of Physiology and reported in

Chemis-try & Industry magazine, also revealed that feeding the hormone to
pregnant rats could have a lifelong impact on their offspring.

Rats born to leptin-fed mothers stayed lean even when fed a high-fat diet, while the
offspring of those mothers who were untreated gained weight and developed
diabetes. Prof Cawthorne said supplementing infant feed with leptin would only be
giving babies what they would normally get from mothers’ milk.

Some research suggests that breast-fed babies are protected against obesity, while
bottle-fed babies are more likely to be overweight as adults.

Prof Cawthorne said: "The supplemented milks are simply adding back something
that was originally present. Breast milk contains leptin and formula feeds don’t."

Other studies using leptin in adults to help reduce hunger have been less  successful.

Prof Cawthorne said this may be due to the fact that the subjects’ brains, in
adulthood, were already "hard-wired". He said that leptin was likely only to have
an effect on the more malleable brains of babies.
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http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=622112007
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ATLANTA - Fewer than a third of American adults eat the amount of fruits
 and vegetables the government recommends, a trend that’s remained steady
for more than a decade, health officials said Thursday.

That’s “well below” the government’s goal of getting 75 percent of Americans
 to eat two servings of fruits and three of vegetables each day by 2010, said
Dr. Larry Cohen of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Click Link Below to Read Full Story
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URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17631389/
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