The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point

Archive for the 'Diet-Nutrition' Category

Is there a diet-acne connection?

Monday, July 11th, 2016

Drs. Jonette Keri and Rajiv Nijhawan from the University of Miami in Florida have reviewed the evidence.

Here are the highlights. (more…)

Acne treatments

Saturday, July 11th, 2015

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.

(more…)

Does it matter if your tuna is packed in water or oil?

Sunday, February 19th, 2012

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia, compared the fatty acid profiles of different commercially available US tuna products. (more…)

Fruit, veggies, and the risk of death from ischemic heart disease

Thursday, February 16th, 2012

A higher intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of ischemic heart disease (reduced blood supply to the heart muscle).

Researchers at the University of Oxford, in the UK, assessed the relation between fruit and vegetable intake and risk of death from ischemic heart disease in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Heart study. (more…)

Does losing weight reduce your risk of early death?

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

Despite the reported benefits, weight loss isn’t always advised for older adults because some studies have associated weight loss with increased mortality.

Researchers from North Carolina and Maryland, put this belief to the test. (more…)

Effect of low-risk lifestyle behaviors on the risk of dying

Monday, February 6th, 2012

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…)

Benefits of prunes for postmenopausal women

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

Among nutritional factors, dried plum (prunes; Prunus domestica L.) is most effective for preventing and reversing bone loss.

Researchers in Oklahoma and Florida examined the extent to which dried plum reverses bone loss in osteopenic postmenopausal women. (more…)

Benefits in type 2 diabetes of eating fatty fish

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Dietary advice is the basis of treatment of diabetes, but there’s uncertainty about the effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Researchers at Uppsala University, in Sweden, compared the effects of diets rich in omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids on glucose and lipoprotein metabolism in these patients. (more…)

Do fruit and veggies lower colorectal cancer risk?

Thursday, January 19th, 2012

It’s controversial.

Now, researchers at Imperial College, in London, UK, have reviewed the evidence. (more…)

Effects of palm oil on cholesterol

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen, in Frederiksberg, Denmark, compared the effects of a diet rich in palm olein (the liquid portion of a fat) to fractionated palm oil, olive oil, and lard. (more…)

Balancing the heart benefits vs mercury risks in fish

Sunday, January 15th, 2012

The benefits of eating fish on heart attack risk is mostly due to the effects of omega-3 fatty acids. But, fish also contains methylmercury, which may increase the risk of heart attack.

Researchers at Umea University, in Sweden, determined how eating fish and red blood cell concentrations of mercury and selenium are related to the risk of a heart attack and whether omega-3 fatty acids are protective. (more…)

Finally, sanity in the salt wars

Monday, January 9th, 2012

For decades, politicians like Mayor Michael Bloomberg of NYC have tried to get Americans to eat less salt.

Now Scientific American asks, “But if the US does conquer salt, what will we gain?”

Answer: bland french fries. (more…)

Antioxidants and the risk of stroke in women

Monday, January 2nd, 2012

Eating antioxidant-rich foods may reduce the risk of stroke.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, in Stockholm, Sweden, examined the association between dietary total antioxidant capacity and stroke incidence in 2 groups of women. (more…)

Dieting to improve heart function in diabetes

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

Fat around the heart may be detrimental for cardiac function, especially in patients with metabolic disease such as diabtes.

During the Radiological Society of North America meeting, researchers from Leiden University Medical Center, in Netherlands, assessed the long-term effects of initial weight loss using caloric restriction on pericardial fat content and cardiac function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. (more…)

Do diet soft drinks predispose to obesity?

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

During the American Diabetes Association 71st Scientific Sessions, researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio reported on (abstract 0062-OR) the relationship between drinking diet soft drinks and long-term changes in waist circumference. (more…)

New view of the risks of sodium intake on health and disease

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

After more than 2 decades of warning us about the evils of too much salt in the diet, an international group of researchers looked for an association between estimated urinary sodium and potassium excretion (surrogates for intake) and cardiovascular events in patients with established cardiovascular disease or diabetes mellitus. (more…)

CAM Archive: Effect of exercise intensity and belly fat

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

If you exercise enough, is it possible to selectively lose abdominal fat?

No, say researchers at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and the State University of New York at Buffalo. (more…)

Hybrid broccoli

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

The Financial Times reports, “A new hybrid variety richer in chemicals linked to a reduced risk of cancer and cardiovascular problems goes on sale on Tuesday” in the UK.

Here’s what we know. (more…)

Portion size is the answer for losing weight

Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

Researchers at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York, tested the hypothesis that the mechanism responsible for reduced intake was not the dietary composition of the meal replacement, but the controlled portion sized meals. (more…)

Mercury exposure and the risk of cardiovascular disease

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

Exposure to methylmercury from eating fish is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Researchers in the US looked for a relationship between mercury exposure and coronary heart disease, stroke, or total cardiovascular disease. (more…)