The surest way to know that there is no truly effective treatment for a condition is to count the number of treatment recommendations. The more recommendations, the less likely it is that any of them have a significant effect. I’m not sure if there is a tipping point. Whether 6 or 12 or 20 recommended treatments guarantee that you will have less than complete cure.

Here are some of the recommendations from just one article.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its preliminary determination that partially hydrogenated oils — the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods — are not “generally recognized as safe” for use in food.

It wasn’t always so.

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“Long John Silver’s Big Catch meal deserves to be buried 20,000 leagues under the sea,” said Michael F. Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). (more…)

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examined the relationship between 4 low-risk behaviors and mortality among a group of people in the United States. (more…)

Researchers from the Population Health Research Institute, in Ontario, Canada evaluated the effects of dietary options on the risk of heart disease.

It’s a good article for those of us who like neat lists. (more…)

That’s the conclusion by Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of Harvard Medical School, in Boston. (more…)

Maryland’s largest city has handed out its first citation for repeat violations of its trans fat ban.

An eatery called Healthy Choice, on Lexington Street was hit with the $100 fine. “It was the second time they were found using a high trans fat level in their ingredients.” (more…)

Dr. Robert Kelly (photo) is associate director and curriculum coordinator for the Fairview Hospital /Cleveland Clinic Family Medicine Residency Program.

He lists aspects of diet and exercise that are most and less effective in controlling cholesterol. (more…)

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, in Boston studied dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors.

Toping the list were smoking and high blood pressure. (more…)

The World Health Organization has predicted a 39% rise in the worldwide prevalence of diabetes by 2030. And an article in The Lancet indicates this might be an underestimation.

Since November is Diabetes Month, here’s a round-up of CAM options for people with diabetes from 2006 through March 2007.
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Dr. Cathi Dennehy from the Department of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of California San Francisco has reviewed the evidence.

I was surprised by her assessment of black cohosh for menopausal symptoms.

Here’s a summary of her findings.

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Ms. Marci Landsmann, who is managing editor of Healthy Aging, has written a plain-language review.

Here are the highlights. (more…)

It’s the first state to outlaw a vegetable oil. (more…)

The latest news is that Dunkin’ Donuts is going trans fat free.

More importantly, I view it as the dipping (err, tipping) point, and an opportunity to see how we got into the trans fat mess, thanks to an article on the Harvard School of Public Health website. (more…)

Federal regulations allow food labels to say there are zero grams of trans fat as long as there’s less than a half-gram per serving, according to this AP story.

“The problem is that often people eat a lot more than one serving,” says Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of Harvard School of Public Health. (more…)

Boston on Thursday became the latest city to ban artificial trans fats from food served in restaurants and grocery stores.

It’s no longer news, except for this quote. (more…)

Ten years ago, the late Dr. William Fair, a surgeon at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and CAM advocate wrote, “epidemiologic and laboratory evidence increasingly demonstrate that nutritional factors, especially reduced fat intake, soy proteins, vitamin E derivatives, and selenium, may have a protective effect against prostate cancer.”

Now, Steffen Theobald, a nutritional consultant and manager at the Scientific Association for the Improvement of Patient Competence in Germany updates the role of nutrition in the development, prevention, and treatment of prostate cancer.

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That’s the recommendation likely to come from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Board to UK Ministers next week. (more…)

Hardee’s has added the new Country Breakfast Burrito to its menu.

There’s nothing complementary about it, except to warn everyone its here. (more…)

And compliance with the law is encouraging.

According to an article in MedicalNewsToday.com,

• 83% of restaurants in New York City were not using trans fats for frying on June 1, a month before the July 1st deadline.
• 57% of restaurants are complying with Phase II — no trans fats used for baked foods or prepared foods, and oils used to deep-fry dough or cake batter — which doesn’t take effect until next year.

Sounds like it’s not that hard to change.

7/1/07 10:24 JR