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In the 1940s, Walter Kempner, a researcher at Duke University, North Carolina, became famous for using salt restriction to treat people with high blood pressure. Later, studies confirmed that reducing salt could help reduce hypertension. But you don't have to avoid salt entirely, says Sara Stanner, of the Nutrition Society. "Adults need a small amount of sodium in their diet to maintain the body's fluid balance."

Average salt intakes have come down in recent years, mainly due to product reformulation. But it's still the case that many of us consume too much salt around 9g a day instead of the maximum recommended dose of 6g per day around 75 per cent of which is in processed foods such as soups, sauces, sandwiches and processed meat.

"People often think it's really bad to add salt into cooking or on to your plate, but that forms no more than 10 per cent of your total intake," says Stanner. "So you can get people who never have salt at their table, but have a very high salt intake, while others put salt on most meals, but have a lower intake."

Myth: Carbohydrates are bad for you

"Carbohydrate-rich foods are an ideal source of energy. They can also provide a lot of fibre and nutrients," says Sara Stanner. "Potatoes, for instance, are one of the best sources of vitamin C, yet potato consumption in the UK has fallen considerably."

One of the main reasons carbohydrates have fallen out of favour is that they are perceived to be fattening. "Foods high in carbohydrates have had a rough time in the past few years, thanks to the success of low-carb diets, such as the Atkins diet," explains Juliette Kellow.

"But there's no proof that carb-rich foods are more likely to make us gain weight than any other food. Ultimately, it's an excess of calories that makes us pile on the pounds and it really doesn't matter where those extra calories come from. More often than not, it's the fat we add to carbs that boosts the calorie content, such as butter on toast, creamy sauces with pasta and frying potatoes to make chips."

Myth: Dairy products are fattening and unhealthy

In a study by the Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia, slimmers on low- calorie diets which included cheese, yoghurt and milk lost more weight than those on low-dairy diets. Those on the diet including dairy also had the least stomach fat, lower blood pressure and a significantly better chance of avoiding heart disease and diabetes.

Dairy products are packed with essential nutrients that help keep us healthy, says Juliette Kellow. "As well as being good sources of protein, zinc and some B vitamins, dairy products are packed with calcium, a mineral that helps to build strong, healthy bones and the stronger the bones are, the less likely you'll be to suffer from osteoporosis in later life."

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Diet myths: How not to eat yourself healthy

Public release date: 23-Apr-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: David Eve celltransplantation@gmail.com Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair

Tampa, Fla. (April. 23, 2012) Researchers interested in determining the direct effects of a high saturated fat and high cholesterol (HFHC) diet on implanted fetal hippocampal tissues have found that in middle-aged laboratory rats the HFHC diet elevated microglial activation and reduced neuronal development. While the resulting damage was due to an inflammatory response in the central nervous system, they found that the effects of the HFHC diet were alleviated by the interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist IL-1Ra, leading them to conclude that IL-Ra has potential use in neurological disorders involving neuroinflammation.

They published their results in a recent issue of Cell Transplantation (20:10), now freely available on-line at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/.

To carry out the study, the researchers transplanted hippocampal grafts from embryonic 18 day-old rats into the anterior eye chambers of 16-month old host animals that were subsequently fed either a normal rat chow diet or a HFHC diet for eight weeks.

"We hypothesized that damage from the HFHC diet is due, at least in part, to an inflammatory response in the periphery that leads to an inflammatory response in the central nervous system," said study corresponding author Dr. Linnea Freeman of the Medical University of South Carolina's Department of Neuroscience. "We also hypothesized that the drug Kineret , a common treatment for rheumatoid arthritis based on the IL-1Ra, an IL-1 receptor antagonist, might block the inflammatory cascade."

The researchers noted that the intracranial transplantation of fetal neurons, or engineered cell lines, has been proposed as a potential treatment for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. However, the quality of graft survival in the aged brain has been questioned.

"It is well known that the aged brain poses special challenges for successfully grafting cells," said Dr. Freeman. "The causes for this are unclear, but factors such as the inflammatory response, reduced growth factor production and reduced cellular support systems have been explored."

The researchers grafted developing hippocampal tissue to middle-aged recipient rats knowing that the grafts may be compromised by increased systemic cytokines and that the HFHC diet would be further detrimental.

After six weeks, the researchers found stunted growth in fetal hippocampal tissues among the animals fed the HFHC diet as opposed to normal development in controls receiving a normal diet. However, when treated topically with IL-1Ra, the HFHC fed animals grew grafts three times the size of HFHC-fed, saline-treated controls.

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Study finds 'Western diet' detrimental to fetal hippocampal tissue transplants

Extreme Dieting: The Feeding Tube Diet is Catching On

Some brides-to-be are prepping to say 'I do' by inserting a feeding tube in their nose. Also known as the K-E method, it's the latest wedding crash diet, and it's raising eyebrows among health experts. The 10-day plan requires brides-to-be to live with a nasogastric tube inserted through their nose and threaded into their stomach. A protein pack dispenses a liquid mix of nutrients, but no carbs, supplying about 800 calories a day. (Most experts recommend healthy adult women get about 2,000 to 2,400 calories a day.) The feeding tube diet throws the body into starvation, and is touted as helping followers drop 20 pounds in 10 days. "People are taking an unnecessary medical risk by putting in a [feeding] tube," David Heber, director of the UCLA Risk Factor Obesity Program, told Time. "To do it for no reason seems to me overly risky. Without medical supervision it's not safe."

Is a Gluten-Free Diet Smart for Weight Loss?

Miley Cyrus is looking leaner than ever these days, fueling mass speculation of an eating disorder. Earlier this month, she took to Twitter to defend her slim physique: "For everyone calling me anorexic, I have a gluten and lactose allergy. It's not about weight, it's about health. Gluten is crapppp anyway!"

While Cyrus' weight loss may be due to a legitimate food allergy, scads of other celebrities and non-famous folks alike are adopting a gluten-free dietfor weight reasons, not health. "It's definitely trendy now. Everyone is talking about it," says Elisabetta Politi, nutrition director at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center in Durham, N.C. And the food industry is apparently cashing in on the trend, too: By 2015, sales of gluten-free foods and beverages are expected to hit $5 billion, according to Packaged Facts, a market research firm. "I see the positive side of being more aware of gluten and trying not to overdo it," says Politi, "but I don't think it's a good way to lose weight."

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, as well as many common food additives. It gives dough elasticity and baked goods their chewiness. (It's found in pizza, beer, burgers, and pancakes, for example.) Those who have celiac diseasecaused by an overactive immune response to gluten in the small intestineare encouraged to go gluten-free to avoid digestive symptoms like pain and diarrhea, and even permanent intestinal damage or malnutrition. There's no cure or medication other than a gluten-free diet. About 1 percent of the population suffers from celiac and about 10 percent have a less specific sensitivity, according to the Mayo Clinic. [Read more: Is a Gluten-Free Diet Smart for Weight Loss?]

Surprisingly Unhealthy Restaurant Meals

Everyone knows that trademark fast food like Whoppers and Big Macs doesn't fit comfortably under a "diet" label. But sit-down family chains have eye-opening menu entries, too, that can supply as much or more fat or salt as anything dished out at a drive-thru window. Here's a look at some of America's favorite family restaurantsand one juice jointand their surprisingly unhealthy offerings.

Boston Market. You may think grabbing a Boston Market salad in lieu of rotisserie chicken is the healthier choice. Think again. Its chicken Caesar salad has 660 calories and 43 grams of fatslightly more than what's in the half-chicken la carte. The salad also has 1,590 mg of salt, approaching the 2,300 mg per day the government recommends you stay below, and exceeding the 1,500-mg limit for anyone who is 51 or older, African-American, or has hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease.

Olive Garden. "When you're here, you're family," goes the Olive Garden pitch, but you might think twice about feeding your family this much fat. The government urges adults to ingest no more than 20 to 35 percent of daily calories from fat. That equates to a max of 44 to 78 grams of total fat per day if you're on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet. Olive Garden's fettuccini Alfredo has a whopping 1,220 calories, 75 grams of fat, and 1,350 mg of saltthe caloric equivalent of two Big Macs and an order of small friesand that's before the all-you-can-eat breadsticks, which have 150 calories each. Even without the creamy Alfredo sauce, the restaurant's dishes can be packed with calories, salt, and fat. The chicken and shrimp carbonara has 1,440 calories, 88 grams of fat, and 3,000 mg of salt, while the chicken parmigiana has 1,090 calories, 49 grams of fat, and 3,380 mg of salt, for example. [Read more: Surprisingly Unhealthy Restaurant Meals]

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Health Buzz: Brides Try Feeding Tube Diet

Earlier this year, my mom pledged to adopt the nothing white diet, as in no white food. I also swore off white flour, sugar, and dairy to see if this shift in diet might help with my feelings of fatigue and generally blah-ness. While I was no means perfect in adhering to it, I did notice an improvement.

Dairy. I cut out milk, half n half, and cheese, and anything made with those ingredients such as ice cream or hot chocolate. My exceptions were butter (because really, life is too short to go without) and dark chocolate (because it is good for you). Immediately, I felt less sluggish and lost five pounds. Also, I spent less money and less time at Starbucks by ordering a small black coffee instead of my triple-shot latte with whole milk.

White flour. This one is tough. Whether its bread at a restaurant (almost never whole wheat) or choosing between GMO corn tacos or white-flour tortillas, white flour is everywhere. I was doing pretty well so long as I was cooking all my own mealsbut extensive traveling put an end to that. Heres what Ive noticed, though: After eating white-bread-based food, my stomach hurts, as if theres this giant dough ball in it. I feel much better without.

Sugar. Did you know that sugar is in everything?! It was even in the organic whole wheat bread we had been buying! Its in even good snacks like the dried fruit or granola bars (though I found Kind Bars, which are made with honey). Cutting out sugar also means cutting out almost all beverages other than water, tea, and coffee.

Tips for trying this at home:

Keep a food diary or food checklist. If you have to write it down, you will be less likely to eat it. I organized mine by categories (fruit, protein, dairy, baddies) so I could see at a glance how I was doing.

Try This Easy Way to Create a Food Journal

Cut one vice a day. Perhaps Wednesday is no-sugar day, Thursday is dairy free, Friday is white flour free. Its a mental trick that will help you cut down consumption without feeling too deprived. Also, the end result is largely the same since all these baddies tend to hang out together. (Hello, baked goods!)

Stock up on good stuff. Make sure you have fresh fruit and vegetables on hand. Heck, wash it and put it in a pretty bowl to facilitate snacking. Sip green tea with ginger and lemon.

Give yourself a chance to succeed. Weaning yourself off this stuff is hard. But a funny thing happenedafter a few weeks my palate changed and I didnt want to eat a ton of crap. Its no longer a rule to not eat something, its simply a preference.

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The 'Nothing White Diet'

Every other week, it seems as if theres a new study cautioning people against the health risks of diet soda.

But just how dangerous is soda especially for a person who drinks it every day? Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor of FoxNews.com, answers one viewers concern.

Hi Dr. Manny, I drink a few cans of diet soda every day. Could this be bad for my health? Thanks, Beth

According to recent studies, diet soda may be linked with an increased risk of stroke. Prior research has already linked soda with obesity, kidney damage and certain cancers.

Just because it says diet, doesnt mean its healthy or the key to losing weight, Alvarez warned.

While making the switch from regular soda to diet may save on calories, drinking more than one per day may actually increase a persons risk of type 2 diabetes.

Patricia Bannan, a registered dietician, offered a second opinion:

While I think having a regular diet soda once in a while is OK, I recommend people limit them as much as possible, she said. The reason for that is twofold number one, both regular and diet soda is very sweet and it can trigger your sweet tooth and get you accustomed to eating very sweet foods and craving more sugary foods. The second reason is that both regular and diet soda have undesirable ingredients. Regular soda is packed with sugar, packed with empty calories, and diet soda has a lot of artificial ingredients.

Bannan recommended drinking flat or sparkling water with a splash of fruit juice, or making infused water using cucumbers, berries, limes or mint.

For more health questions and concerns, email drmanny@foxnews.com or join Dr. Mannys weekly health live chat Wednesdays from 2-3pm.

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Diet soda too dangerous to drink every day?

A reader writes: I struggle with reoccurring yeast infections. The doctor gave me an oral medication for them about five years ago and I didnt have them for a year. Then my body started to be allergic to that medicine.

Ive always known I can change my diet, but you know how hard that is! I know I need to cut out refined sugar and starches. Again not so easy!

Can you give me some ideas as to what to eat for breakfast? Its hard to go to the store with four kids and actually read the labels.

Dear Reader,

Fascinating information out there about this condition ... and much of it is not very reliable. Suffice it to say, some diet changes can help prevent yeast infections. But it may not be as drastic as you have been led to believe. Heres why:

Yeasts are everywhere. They live in soil. They reside on the skins of fruit and berries. And they live in the body. Some yeasts are good and others are not.

The yeast most often responsible for infections in the body is Candida albicans (a.k.a. Candida). Although a normal resident of the body, Candida is considered an opportunistic pathogen which means it is only harmful if it is allowed to grow out of control.

The most common cause of yeast infections? Antibiotic use, say experts. Antibiotics kill good bacteria (which protect the body from yeast overgrowth) as well as bad bacteria. Other conditions that may promote the abnormal growth of yeast in the body include pregnancy, hormone replacement therapy, diabetes and HIV infections.

Yeasts in food, however, are entirely different species from the pathogen Candida albicans. Nutritional yeasts are friendly fungi much like mushrooms and other organisms we add to food for one reason or other. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (abbreviated S. cerevisiae) is a common yeast that has been used to make bread for thousands of years. Other strains of Saccharomyces are used to ferment grape juice into wine. Kombucha is a fermented sweetened tea made with a nutritional yeast. Some yeasts are even used to turn corn into ethanol fuel.

Although the Internet is full of diet advice on how to prevent yeast infections (one site says you must eliminate everything but garlic, spices, herbs and vegetables), here are some reliable remedies:

Excerpt from:
Diet changes can help ward off yeast infections

For the last couple of days Ive been talking about weight issues. For once, however, it isnt my weight Im talking about, but the weight issue of a 7-year-old girl named Bea, who is at the center of a multi-faceted controversy, the likes of which hasnt been seen since Suri Cruise wore high heels.

In case youve been in spin class for the last five days, let me recap:

New York City mother Dara-Lynn Weiss put her daughter Bea on a diet and wrote about it for Vogue magazine. The child lost 16 pounds over the course of a year, and went from obese to normal. At first, during discussions with friends, it was hard to tell what outraged people, the fact that she put a child on a diet or that she wrote about it.

What people didnt talk about, outside of the accompanying and de riguer tsk tsk, was the fact that what Weiss was doing, was being a parent. Its always a crappy, under-appreciated job, its hard to do well, and even when near-perfection in child-rearing has been achieved, youll get blamed for everything bad.

There are 70-year-old men out there who are still blaming their mothers for their relationship problems. Trust me, I know.

Weiss, who cruelly, evilly, gave her child the best possible start in life, was playing the hardest card in the Mom deck: the No card.

(Well, you just go ahead stick your tongue out at me, but your face will freeze like that).

But she has the rest of her life to be on a diet, one of my friends said. Shes just a little kid.

All that was missing from the conversation was a well-seasoned, They grow up so fast. Yes. Yes they do. Sometimes you have to.

One of the secret, half-whispered concerns were that Weiss didnt make her daughter lose weight for health reasons, that she didnt put her overweight daughter on a diet because 80 percent of overweight adolescents are obese at 25, and that 25-year-olds are at great risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, not to mention a lifetime of joint problems and high cholesterol. What people were worried about was that she did it so her daughter would be pretty.

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In Defense of 'Diet Mom'

This week, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that drinking just one sugar-sweetened beverage a day was associated with a 20 percent bump in a man's risk of having a heart attack over a 22-year period. What's more, that risk increased along with the amount of sugary drinks consumed -- even after researchers controlled for other factors like family history, tobacco use and BMI. Reported NBC: And while link doesn't absolutely prove that sugary drinks increase the risk of heart disease, there is evidence from other studies showing that these beverages have an impact on risk factors, [lead author Lawrence] de Koning said. In one study, for example, volunteers who decreased sugary soda consumption experienced a reduction in blood pressure levels, he added. The researchers used data from the longitudinal Health Professionals Follow-up study -- a long-term research project that tracked the health behaviors of 42,883 men over 22 years. Of the entire cohort, a total 3,683 had either fatal or non-fatal heart attacks. Previous analysis of long-term research, such as data from the Nurses' Health Study, show that sugary soda consumption has been individually linked to overall heart disease rates for women as well. But before you consider switching to diet soda, research has shown that it, too, has a negative effect on heart attack and stroke: a separate study of 2,600 adults found that those who drank diet soda regularly were 40 percent more likely to have a heart attack or stroke.

Continued here:
Why The Whole Diet (And Not Just Diet Soda Intake) Matters For Good Health

AMY NORTON Reuters Published Thursday, Mar. 29, 2012 12:54PM EDT Last updated Thursday, Mar. 29, 2012 12:57PM EDT

Some studies have suggested that diet-soda lovers could face higher risks of diabetes and heart disease, but one recent U.S. study of several diet-drink consumers found that overall eating habits may be what matters most in the end.

Researchers, whose findings were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, used data on more than 4,000 people taking part in a long-term study of heart health and followed them for the next 20 years.

Of the study participants between the ages of 18 and 30 when it began in the mid-1980s, 827 subsequently developed metabolic syndrome a cluster of risk factors for heart problems and diabetes including extra weight around the waist, unhealthy cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar.

The researchers, lead by Kiyah Duffey of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found that young adults who drank diet beverages were more likely than those who didnt to develop metabolic syndrome over the next 20 years. But the picture became more complex when Dr. Duffeys team considered the role of diet as well.

Our results suggest that both overall dietary pattern and diet beverage consumption are important, to various degrees, for different metabolic outcomes, they wrote.

The lowest risk of metabolic syndrome was seen in people who drank no diet beverages and stuck to a prudent diet, one rich in foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish.

Meanwhile, people who also ate a prudent diet but did drink diet beverages had a somewhat higher rate of metabolic syndrome but not by much. Over 20 years, 20 per cent of those men and women developed metabolic syndrome compared to 18 per cent of prudent eaters who didnt regularly have diet drinks.

Participants with the highest rate of metabolic syndrome, at 32 per cent, were those who drank diet soda and downed the typical Western diet including lots of meat, processed foods and sugar.

Healthy eaters who steered clear of diet drinks had the lowest risk of developing metabolic syndrome even after things such as peoples weight and exercise habits at the start of the study were considered more than one-third lower than Western-style eaters who did drink diet beverages.

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Link between diet soda and health not clear-cut, study says

Brookline, MA (PRWEB) March 29, 2012

Diet.com, one of the web's leading resources for diet, fitness and nutrition content and tools, has announced that the site will host an 8-week Spring Fitness Challenge for its members starting this April. The Challenge, which will begin on Monday, April 2 and run through May 27, aims to motivate members to get into shape for summer.

Diet.com's new Spring Fitness Challenge comes on the heels of the website's annual New Year's Weight Loss Challenge, which earlier this year drew over 500 participants from all over the world. The Spring Fitness Challenge will be hosted on Diet.com's Blogs pages, where each week they'll feature a new printable, trainer-designed workout routine. The workouts will increase in difficulty each week, progressing participants through a wide range of exercises to help them push themselves and set new goals.

According to Diet.com, participants will have the option to print their workout each week or to follow along with the workout in real-time using Diet.com's Workout Builder tool, which allows users to combine video clips of different exercises into a custom-designed, full-length workout video.

Challenge participants will check in with their own Diet.com member blogs each week, reporting on how the week's workout is going, noting any weight loss and sharing their own successes and struggles with the Challenge.

At the conclusions of the 8-week Challenge, a winner will be chosen randomly from those who complete the Challenge and submit a short narrative about their own Challenge experience. The final prize package will include a 1-year Diet.com Premium Membership, which grants access to the site's brand new Diet Plan, including meal plans, exercise plans and access to personal consultations with a registered dietitian.

The Spring Fitness Challenge is open to all Diet.com site members. Create a free account here to participate in the Spring Fitness Challenge as well as gain access to Diet.com's fitness and diet tools, including expert blogs, instructional fitness videos, healthy recipes and more.

Read the full rules about the Challenge here.

About Diet.com: Diet.com is a multifaceted health and wellness organization that provides quality information and cutting edge tools and services to consumers and businesses alike. Since its founding, Diet.com has been a valuable online resource for dieters and those seeking information on living a healthy lifestyle. As one of the web's leading resources for diet, nutrition, and fitness content and tools, Diet.com has created a platform where consumers are able to set and track diet and fitness goals, browse over 1,000 healthy recipes, learn new exercises, and interact with others in the thriving Diet.com online community. The diethealth YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/diethealth) has a library of over 500 videos, over 116,000 subscribers, and has received upwards of 94 million views. For any inquiries, please contact Lauren Alford, Director of Business Development, at LaurenA@diet.com or 919-616-7532.

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Diet.com to Host Spring Fitness Challenge, Prepare Dieters for Summer Months Ahead

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