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Tag: nutrition

  • Why You Should Never, Ever Take Too Much Vitamin C

    Why You Should Never, Ever Take Too Much Vitamin C

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    If you take vitamin C supplements, you may want to take a closer look at your dosage. Some people are overdoing it thanks to sketchy advice they’re seeing online, and developing uncomfortable side effects like nausea, headaches or heartburn — and, in extreme cases, painful kidney stones.

    Last week, a TikTok influencer battling colon cancer shared that she developed kidney stones after she’d been taking very high doses of vitamin C in an effort to boost her immunity and combat the cancer. She said she had been ingesting 50 g of vitamin C every day, she said, which equals a whopping 50,000 mg. The recommended daily intake for women is 75 mg.

    After seeing the video on TikTok, Dr. Ashley Winter, a board-certified urologist and chief medical officer at Odela Health, posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, to break down why taking too much vitamin C isn’t only unhelpful — it can also be dangerous.

    “Excess vitamin C in your diet doesn’t DO anything for your immune system because you just pee it out. And in your pee, the vitamin C becomes Oxalate, which is one of the major causes of KIDNEY STONES! YOU ARE LITERALLY FOLLOWING A DAMN KIDNEY STONE RECIPE,” Winter wrote.

    Supplement needs can vary, so it’s best to talk with a doctor to figure out what is best for you instead of going off the assumption that you need more of a vitamin for your health. And in the case of vitamin C, there can be such a thing as overdoing it.

    Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that’s found in citrus fruits (think: oranges and grapefruit), cruciferous vegetables (such as cauliflower and kale) and potatoes. It plays an important role in the growth of our skin, bones and connective tissue. It’s also a powerful antioxidant, meaning it protects our cells from free radical damage. At a normal dose, which is 75 mg a day for women and 90 mg a day for men, vitamin C supports healthy immune function.

    You don’t want to have low levels of vitamin C, but the vast majority of people don’t. Too little vitamin C can cause issues like easy bruising and dry, splitting hair. Serious vitamin C deficiencies cause scurvy, a disease that can lead to fatigue, anemia and joint pain along with bleeding gums and loosened teeth. However, it’s not common — in the United States, about 7.1% of the population may develop any kind of vitamin C deficiency according to the Cleveland Clinic, and the incidence of extreme deficiency that leads to scurvy is rare.

    On the flip side, boosting vitamin C levels too high also brings issues. Because it’s water-soluble, vitamin C is not stored in your body. Your kidney processes it and you pee it out, Winter said. This means two things. One: High amounts of vitamin C won’t do anything for your health because it’ll just get excreted in your urine. Two: It can be risky. As your kidneys process an overflow of vitamin C, oxalate, one of the main causes of kidney stones, forms and accumulates. Over time, that oxalate can crystallize and turn into kidney stones, said Winter. Your kidneys will essentially have to work overtime and there are going to be health consequences, she added.

    Some of the milder signs you may be ingesting too much vitamin C include gastrointestinal problems like nausea, diarrhea, heartburn and vomiting. Plus, the higher your dose, the greater your risk of kidney stones. Kidney stones can block urine flow out of your kidneys and be incredibly painful. While some people can pass kidney stones naturally, others will need surgery to recover. In severe cases, too much vitamin C can even lead to kidney failure.

    “High doses of vitamin C don’t really ‘help’ that much,” said Dana Ellis Hunnes, a clinical dietitian, assistant professor at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and author of “Recipe for Survival.”

    Vitamin C supplements probably don’t boost your immune system, anyway.

    Hunnes said people are often looking to be healthy or healthier in general, and supplements are typically marketed as a relatively cheap way to achieve that. While vitamins and minerals are essential for several body functions, it’s important not to get carried away.

    “Just because a little bit of something is good doesn’t mean a lot of something is better,” she said.

    Winter said she started to see an uptick in patients taking extreme quantities of supplements like vitamin C during the pandemic, when many people were looking for natural ways to boost their immune system. (Data shows vitamin C sales soared during 2020.) It doesn’t help that you can find vitamin C products everywhere, with many claiming to enhance your health or boost your immune system.

    Despite the widespread popularity and accessibility of such products, there’s really no convincing evidence to support the belief that high doses of vitamin C do anything for your immune system, said Winter. “There’s this conflation between taking normal vitamin C, correcting scurvy, and using excess quantities of vitamin C for this quote-unquote immune boost,” she said.

    So, how much vitamin C should you take?

    As mentioned above, the recommended daily intake of vitamin C in adults is 75 mg for women and 90 mg for men. Most people get more than enough vitamin C by consuming fruits and vegetables or by taking a multivitamin and don’t need to take any vitamin C supplements, Winter said. Eating fruits and vegetables like oranges, strawberries, Brussels sprouts and broccoli, is the best way to get your daily dose of vitamin C. Not only are these foods a good source of the vitamin, but the calcium in them helps to inhibit the production of kidney stones, according to Harvard Health.

    That said, vitamin C supplements are recommended for certain health conditions that cause intestinal malabsorption problems or to counteract the side effects from some medications, like methenamine. Even in these situations, which should be closely monitored by a health care provider, a person probably wouldn’t need more than a 500 mg supplement, Winters said.

    If you do have a concern about the right amount of vitamin C for your needs, reach out to your physician. The upper limit for adults is 2,000 mg a day, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth getting close to the limit. Anything more than the recommended daily allowance or perhaps even up to two or three times that amount doesn’t really do you any good anyway, said Hunnes. “You’re best to get the daily requirement, maybe slightly more, and call it a day,” she said.

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  • Consuming added sugars may increase risk of kidney stones

    Consuming added sugars may increase risk of kidney stones

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    Newswise — Between 7% and 15% of people in North America, between 5% and 9% of people in Europe, and between 1% and 5% of people in Asia suffer from kidney stones. Common symptoms are severe pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, and bloody urine. But kidney stones don’t just reduce the quality of life: in the long run, they may lead to infections, swollen kidneys (hydronephrosis), renal insufficiency, and end-stage renal disease. Known risk factors for developing kidney stones include being an adult male, obesity, chronic diarrhea, dehydration, and having inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, or gout.

    Now, a study in Frontiers in Nutrition has shown for the first time that an elevated consumption of added sugars should probably be added to the list of risk factors for kidney stones. Added sugars occur in many processed foods, but are especially abundant in sugar-sweetened sodas, fruit drinks, candy, ice cream, cakes, and cookies.

    “Ours is the first study to report an association between added sugar consumption and kidney stones,” said lead author Dr Shan Yin, a researcher at the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China. “It suggests that limiting added sugar intake may help to prevent the formation of kidney stones.”

    National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

    Yin et al. analyzed epidemiological data on 28,303 adult women and men, collected between 2007 to 2018 within the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Participants self-reported if they had a history of kidney stones. Each participant’s daily intake of added sugars was estimated from their recall of their most recent consumption of food and drinks, given twice: once in a face-to-face interview, and once in a telephone interview between three and 10 days later. For example, participants were asked if they had eaten syrups, honey, dextrose, fructose, or pure sugar during the past 24 hours. 

    Each participants also received a healthy eating index score (HEI-2015), which summarizes their diet in terms of the adequacy of beneficial diet components such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and moderation of potentially harmful foods, for example refined grains, sodium, and saturated fats.

    The researchers adjusted the odds of developing kidney stones per year during the trial for a range of explanatory factors. These included gender, age, race or ethnicity, relative income, BMI, HEI-2015 score, smoking status, and whether the participants had a history of diabetes.

    At the start of the study, participants with a higher intake of added sugar tended to have a higher current prevalence of kidney stones, a lower HEI score, and a lower education level. The overall mean intake of added sugars was 272.1 calories per day, which corresponds to 13.2% of the total daily energy intake. 

    Positive association between added sugars and kidney stones

    The researchers showed that after adjusting for these factors, the percentage of energy intake from added sugars was positively and consistently correlated with kidney stones. For example, participants whose intake of added sugars was among the 25% highest in the population had 39% greater odds of developing kidney stones over the course of the study.

    Similarly, participants who derived more than 25% of their total energy from added sugars had a 88% greater odds than those who derived less than 5% of their total energy from added sugars.

    The results also indicated that participants from ‘Other’ ethnicities – for example Native American or Asian people – had higher odds of developing kidney stones when exposed to greater-than-average amounts of added sugars than Mexican American, other Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, and non-Hispanic Black people. People with a greater Poverty-Income Ratio (PIR; ie, the ratio between their income and the federal poverty level) had greater odds of developing kidney stones when exposed to more added sugars than people at or slightly above poverty level.

    Possibility of confounders 

    The mechanisms of the relation between consuming more added sugars and a greater risk of developing kidney stones is not yet known. Because this was an uncontrolled observational trial, it can’t yet be ruled out that unknown confounding factors might drive this association. 

    “Further studies are needed to explore the association between added sugar and various diseases or pathological conditions in detail,” cautioned Yin. “For example, what types of kidney stones are most associated with added sugar intake? How much should we reduce our consumption of added sugars to lower the risk of kidney stone formation? Nevertheless, our findings already offer valuable insights for decision-makers.”

    ###                                                                                                 

    For editors / news media: 

    Please link to the open access original research article “Association between added sugars and kidney stones in US adults: data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2018” in Frontiers in Nutrition in your reporting:

    https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2023.1226082/full

     Expert contact 1’s affiliation: Department of Urology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China 

    Frontiers is an award-winning open science platform and leading open access scholarly publisher. Our mission is to make research results openly available to the world, thereby accelerating scientific and technological innovation, societal progress and economic growth.

    We empower scientists with innovative open science solutions that radically improve how science is published, evaluated, and disseminated to researchers, innovators, and the public. Access to research results and data is open, free and customized online, thereby enabling rapid solutions to the critical challenges we face as humanity.

    For more information, visit http://www.frontiersin.org and follow @Frontiersin on Twitter 

    Please note the Frontiers press office business hours of Monday-Friday, 8:30 am-5.30 pm Central European Time, excluding Swiss and UK holidays. Queries received outside of these business hours will be answered the next business day.

    The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest 

    This work was supported by the Doctoral Fund Project of North Sichuan Medical College (grant number: CBY22-QDA26)

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  • Olive oil and fresh, sun-ripened plant-based foods: the Mediterranean Diet as a winning combination for health

    Olive oil and fresh, sun-ripened plant-based foods: the Mediterranean Diet as a winning combination for health

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    Newswise — A researcher from the University of Warwick says that to promote better health within Western societies, it’s essential to reshape our food culture. This means moving away from unhealthy, ultra-processed, sugar-laden, and fibre-depleted foods and gravitating towards wholesome, fibre-rich, plant-based foods reminiscent of the Mediterranean diet.

    Dr Thomas Barber is an Associate Clinical Professor and lead of Obesity Services at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire. He has been exploring the secrets to a healthier life and the transformative potential of the ‘Mediterranean Diet. The key to its success lies within ‘healthy fats’, particularly olive oil. With overwhelming evidence supporting the health-promoting effects of the Mediterranean Diet (MD), researchers say it’s time to embrace this approach to food for a better and healthier future.

    The Mediterranean diet has long been revered for its ability to reduce the risk of heart disease, enhance cognitive function, and maintain a healthy weight. So, why isn’t everyone adopting this path to well-being? As its name suggests, the MD thrives in Mediterranean countries, where olive oil, fresh fruits, and vegetables abound throughout the year. Yet, this very abundance points to a significant hurdle faced by the rest of the world.

    You might want to try vegetable-heavy dishes, like griddled chicken with quinoa Greek salad, salmon with hummus & and roasted tomatoes, or stuffed peppers, finished with an olive oil-based dressing and fresh fruits for dessert.

    “Availability of the MD’s essential components, particularly during winter months, might explain the lack of its widespread adoption outside the Mediterranean regions,” explains Dr. Thomas Barber. “But, it’s not just about availability. Millennia of cultural integration and alignment with the Mediterranean lifestyle and climate make it harder for non-Mediterranean populations to fully embrace the MD.”

    Over generations, the MD has become ingrained in Mediterranean cultures, seamlessly blending into the fabric of their daily lives. The joy of eating alfresco and the reduced reliance on hot food naturally complement the dietary principles of the MD. For those from non-Mediterranean backgrounds, cultural hurdles present challenges in adopting this healthy lifestyle. Moreover, the palatability of ingesting substantial amounts of fruit, vegetables, and olive oil daily can be an obstacle for many.

    In addition, researchers celebrate the environmental impact of the MD, as it’s very environmentally friendly as well, particularly regarding water usage and CO2 emissions. The EAT-Lancet Commission, tasked with developing healthy and environmentally sustainable diets by 2050, produced targets that are very similar to traditional MD.

    “This calls for a collective ‘to-do’ list to encourage and inspire each other to cook from raw ingredients and rediscover the joy and fulfilment of healthy eating as our ancestors have done for aeons,” adds Dr Thomas Barber.

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    University of Warwick

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  • States step in to pay for school meals for all kids | CNN Politics

    States step in to pay for school meals for all kids | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    As soon as Tracy Area Schools in Minnesota resumed charging for breakfast and lunch last year, students started dropping out of the program. Many of their families simply couldn’t shell out up to $2.65 for a meal each day.

    “We have some kids who didn’t eat because Mom and Dad can’t afford it,” said Michele Hawkinson, food service director for the rural district of 700 students. “These kids are hungry. This is maybe the only nutritious, healthy meal they’re getting a day.”

    But Hawkinson no longer needs to worry about children in her district skipping meals. Starting this year, Minnesota students at schools that participate in the federal school meals program can eat breakfast and lunch for free, thanks to a law that state legislators passed in March. The initiative will cost about $200 million a year.

    Minnesota is one of nine states that are picking up the tab for students’ breakfast and lunch in many of their schools. California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico and Vermont have also approved permanent universal free meals programs, while Nevada launched a two-year effort last year.

    Other states have extended free meals to more students. For instance, Connecticut and Pennsylvania are providing free breakfasts this school year. And lawmakers in other states have introduced legislation to establish universal free meal programs.

    “There’s been a tremendous momentum for states to move forward on offering free school meals for all,” said Crystal FitzSimons, director of school programs at the Food Research & Action Center. “Offering free meals to all students just changes the culture of the cafeteria. (It) increases participation and makes the cafeteria a really positive environment for all students.”

    States are paying for the initiatives in different ways. Massachusetts is using revenue from its new millionaires’ tax to help cover the cost of the $172 million program, while Colorado is raising around $100 million a year by limiting state tax deductions for affluent residents. Other states are drawing from their general budgets.

    The states’ actions build upon a federal Covid-19 pandemic relief program that provided free meals to all students, regardless of income, for more than two years.

    During that time, around 30 million students were receiving free meals at school, according to the US Department of Agriculture, up from about 20 million children who qualified based on their household income prior to the pandemic.

    Allowing all students to eat in the cafeteria at no charge minimized the stigma felt by some kids who received free meals, increasing the likelihood that they would actually partake in breakfast and lunch, school nutrition officials said.

    But the pandemic program expired at the start of the last academic year. Lower-income families once again had to fill out applications for free or reduced-price meals, while parents who were struggling but earned too much to qualify had to find a way to pay for their children’s breakfast and lunch.

    School nutrition staffers, meanwhile, had to once again distribute the forms and convince eligible parents to complete them, while also contending with mounting school meal debt.

    Meanwhile, the number of kids getting meals at school dropped. Some 28.3 million students, on average, participated in the lunch program daily in May, down from 30.2 million the same time a year earlier. And 14.6 million kids partook in the breakfast program, down from 16.1 million.

    Many schools are taking a more holistic approach to children’s education, focusing on more than just reading, writing and arithmetic, said Chris Derico, president of the School Nutrition Association.

    “Research has shown if kids are hungry, they’re not going to be ready to learn,” said Derico, who is also the child nutrition director at Barbour County Schools in West Virginia.

    States are also realizing that improving children’s ability to learn could better prepare them to enter the workforce, said Annette Nielsen, executive director of the Hunter College New York City Food Policy Center, which has been tracking the implementation of universal free meals programs nationwide.

    “There may be a financial cost, but there’s probably a larger financial benefit to keeping it long term,” she said.

    Benefits and challenges for schools

    In addition to the benefits for children, free school breakfast and lunch for all means districts don’t have to hound families with meal debt.

    The end of the federal free meals program caused debt levels to soar. The median reported debt was $5,164 per district, as of November, compared with $3,400 at the end of the 2017-18 school year, according to the School Nutrition Association.

    In Colorado’s Littleton Public Schools, the debt level skyrocketed to $32,000 at the end of last year, said Jessica Gould, director of nutrition services in the affluent suburban Denver district of just over 13,000 students. Prior to the pandemic, it was typically between $4,000 and $6,000 a year.

    “Now we don’t have to worry about that. We’re not the debt collectors anymore,” Gould said, noting that last year’s tab was paid by donors. “We’re just able to focus on providing good quality meals to our students.”

    However, the universal free meals programs also pose challenges to school districts. They no longer have the ability to increase breakfast and lunch rates when their costs of food, equipment and labor rise. Instead, they must make due with the state reimbursement.

    But the even bigger problem is that the state programs rely on districts still getting federal funding to cover the cost of feeding children who are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. And certain state funds for general education also depend on the share of lower-income students in a school district.

    That requires getting parents to complete the applications, which can be challenging especially when schools are telling families that everyone can eat for free.

    So far, Gould has received forms from about 1,500 eligible families, but she is expecting more than 2,300.

    “Our community is confused,” she said, noting that the district created a flyer to explain the new universal free meals program. “It’s been challenging at best to just figure out how to communicate to our families.”

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  • Help Improve Athletic Performance With Watercress

    Help Improve Athletic Performance With Watercress

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    FELLSMERE, Fla., July 31, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    The optimal diet for an athlete includes watercress, says B&W Quality Growers. This healthy, flavorful, leafy green is loaded with essential nutrients and can protect athletes from damage caused by vigorous exercise.

    Watercress is the most nutrient-dense food on the planet and is the only food to get a perfect score from ANDI and the CDC index rankings. Watercress contains antioxidants and amino acids. Antioxidants are the body’s defense against damage caused by free radicals. Amino acids are the essential elements of protein, assisting in digestion, tissue growth, and hormone and neurotransmitter production, creating an energy source, promoting healthy skin, hair, and nails, bolstering our immune system, and helping to maintain regular digestion. These incredible benefits make amino acids an essential part of an athletic routine.

    Free radicals are decidedly unstable compounds that the body naturally produces during rest, exercise, predominantly strenuous activity, and when the body converts food into energy. Individuals can also be exposed to free radicals through sunlight, x-rays, car exhaust, cigarette smoke, air pollution, and industrial chemicals. Free radicals are necessary for life and muscle functioning and are thought to promote adaptations to exercise.

    However, an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants can cause oxidative stress, contributing to cell damage. Oxidative stress delays muscle recovery, contributes to muscle damage, and is linked to numerous diseases. Eating an antioxidant-rich leafy green diet packed with watercress can promote recovery from exercise, decrease the likelihood of muscle damage, and lower the risk of several chronic diseases.

    Watercress may be remarkably beneficial as it’s packed with abundant nutrients. Studies have shown that athletes who consume watercress two hours before exhaustive exercise develop lower levels of DNA damage and lipid peroxidation, which can lead to cell damage, compared to those who did not eat watercress before a workout. Researchers also found that eating a serving of watercress daily for two months decreased DNA damage and lipid peroxidation. This means athletes benefit from strenuous exercise with less potential for tissue damage.

    Get juiced up on that leafy green goodness daily by adding watercress to salads, smoothies, sandwiches, wraps, omelets, pizza, and more.

    For more on the most nutrient-dense food, visit B&W Quality Growers.

    B&W Quality Growers has been farming responsibly since 1870. We’re among the largest growers of distinctive leafy greens, including watercress, arugula, spinach, and ong choy. We sustainably grow, pack, and ship the highest quality distinctive leafy greens, providing well-being for our consumers and value for our customers. We’ve done this with zero product recalls and aim to provide a healthier, more flavorful world using premium leaves in everyday recipes. Follow B&W on our social media pages: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

    Source: B&W Quality Growers

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  • How Breast Milk Boosts the Brain

    How Breast Milk Boosts the Brain

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    Newswise — A new study by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University suggests that a micronutrient in human breast milk provides significant benefit to the developing brains of newborns, a finding that further illuminates the link between nutrition and brain health and could help improve infant formulas used in circumstances when breastfeeding isn’t possible.

    The study, published July 11 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS),  also paves the way to study what role this micronutrient might play in the brain as we age.

    Researchers found that the micronutrient, a sugar molecule called myo-inositol, was most prominent in human breast milk during the first months of lactation, when neuronal connections termed synapses are forming rapidly in the infant brain. This was true regardless of the mother’s ethnicity or background; the researchers profiled and compared human milk samples collected across sites in Mexico City, Shanghai, and Cincinnati by the Global Exploration of Human Milk study, which included healthy mothers of term singleton infants.

    Further testing using rodent models as well as human neurons showed that myo-inositol increased both the size and number of synaptic connections between neurons in the developing brain, indicating stronger connectivity.

    “Forming and refining brain connectivity from birth is guided by genetic and environmental forces as well as by human experiences,” says Thomas Biederer, senior scientist on the Neuroscience and Aging Team at the HNRCA, senior author on the study, and faculty member at the Yale School of Medicine, where he leads a research group in the Department of Neurology.

    Diet is one of the environmental forces that offers many opportunities for study. In early infancy, the brain may be particularly sensitive to dietary factors because the blood-brain barrier is more permeable, and small molecules taken in as food can more easily pass from the blood to the brain.

    “As a neuroscientist, it’s intriguing to me how profound the effects of micronutrients are on the brain,” says Biederer. “It’s also amazing how complex and rich human breast milk is, and I now think it is conceivable that its composition is dynamically changing to support different stages of infant brain development.”

    Similar levels of myo-inositol across women in very different geographic locations point to its generally important role in human brain development, he observes.

    Research by others has shown that brain inositol levels decline over time as infants develop. In adults, lower than normal brain inositol levels have been found in patients with major depressive disorders and bipolar disease. Genetic alterations in myo-inositol transporters have been linked to schizophrenia. In contrast, in people with Down’s syndrome and patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Down’s syndrome, higher than normal accumulations of myo-inositol have been identified.

    “The current research does indicate that for circumstances where breastfeeding is not possible, it may be beneficial to increase the levels of myo-inositol in infant formula,” Biederer says.

    However, Biederer says it is too soon to recommend that adults consume more myo-inositol, which can be found in significant quantities in certain grains, beans, bran, citrus fruits, and cantaloupe (but which is not present in great quantities in cow’s milk). “We don’t know why inositol levels are lower in adults with certain psychiatric conditions, or higher in those with certain other diseases,” he says.

    A host of research questions remain: Are lower inositol levels in people with depression or bipolar disease a cause of those diseases, or a side effect of drugs used to treat them? Do higher than normal levels in people with Down’s syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease suggest that too much myo-inositol is problematic? What is the “right” level of myo-inositol to have in one’s brain for optimal brain health at various stages of life?

    “My colleagues at the HNRCA and I are now pursuing research to test how micronutrients like myo-inositol may impact cells and connectivity in the aging brain,” says Biederer. “We hope this work leads to a better understanding of how dietary factors interplay with age-related brain aberrations.”

    This work was supported by Reckitt Benckiser / Mead Johnson Nutrition and a gift from the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation. Complete information on authors, funders, methodology, and conflicts of interest is available in the published paper.

    The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of Reckitt Benckiser / Mead Johnson Nutrition or the Robert and Margaret Patricelli Family Foundation.

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    Tufts University

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  • With Support from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, East Hollywood Community Garden Kicks Off the Summer

    With Support from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, East Hollywood Community Garden Kicks Off the Summer

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    Newswise — East Hollywood (July 24, 2023) – Expanding its commitment to the health and well-being of the people in its community, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles sponsored the Summer Kickoff of the East Hollywood Community Garden, and was joined by more than 100 area residents and CHLA team members at the garden’s recent celebration.

    The event showcased the fertile, green space located right in the middle of East Hollywood, and the opportunity it offers to grow fresh fruits and vegetables while connecting neighbor with neighbor.

    “Thank you to the Los Angeles Community Garden Council for welcoming us to this beautiful space,” says Ellen Zaman, Executive Director for External Affairs at CHLA. “In addition to providing medical care to many children in the community, CHLA strives to create hope and build healthier futures for children, and this mission includes supporting community health, wellness, happiness and good nutrition. This garden is an oasis and sanctuary for the East Hollywood community, and we are looking forward to a long partnership.”   

    CHLA’s participation as a garden sponsor represented another step in the hospital’s efforts as a food access hub, reducing food insecurity by increasing the availability of high-quality, nutritious food, says David Valdez, Project Manager in the hospital’s Office of Community Affairs. “Community gardens are a gift to the neighborhood,” he says. “We are widening access to sources of fresh produce, promoting food harvesting, encouraging healthy eating, and improving nutrition education throughout the areas in which we work and live.”

    CHLA’s involvement in the East Hollywood Community Garden is part of a collaboration with the Los Angeles Community Garden Council (LACGC), which governs 42 community gardens across the city. Independently, CHLA partnered with Los Angeles City College in 2021 to build “The City’s Garden” on the school’s campus. “We’re supporting the creation of a network of gardens,” Valdez says. “That’s the goal.”

    The Summer Kickoff served as a kind of post-pandemic grand reopening for the East Hollywood Community Garden, which had been unable to host any large gatherings for the past three years. Since July 2019, the garden has been a place where individuals can lease a plot of soil and grow their own fruits and vegetables while sharing gardening tips and enjoying the company of their fellow community members. Visitors who don’t have their own plots can harvest produce in areas designated for communal gardening.

    One of the event’s objectives was simply to bring the garden to the community’s attention. “It was surprising to hear the number of individuals not aware of the garden” Valdez says.

    The garden is adjacent to Madison Avenue Public Park and is surrounded by apartment buildings, sitting right behind the Hollywood Hotel. It’s a short distance from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, a walk Valdez has made many times himself.

    Visitors mill around the East Hollywood Community Garden, a place to grow one’s own fruits and vegetables while mingling with neighbors. He explains that another benefit of these produce gardens is the food education they provide. He gives an example of a young boy who had never seen such dark-green lettuce—which wasn’t lettuce at all, he learned. It was kale.

    “Exposing individuals to new foods, new fruits and vegetables that they might not be aware of or that they might not be used to eating, is important,” Valdez says. “It creates opportunities for new tastes and flavors while also educating individuals about health advantages associated with food choices.”

    He says the ultimate goal of the East Hollywood Community Garden is to relieve food insecurity by making fresh and nutritious foods more available to those who typically don’t have enough access to them. “Helping reduce food insecurity is a great way to effect change for the good of our local neighborhoods and communities.”

    About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles 

    Founded in 1901, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is the largest provider of hospital care for children in California. Renowned pediatric experts work together across disciplines to deliver inclusive and compassionate health care to one of the world’s most diverse populations, driving advances that set child health standards across the nation and around the globe. With a mission to create hope and build healthier futures for children, the hospital consistently ranks in the top 10 in the nation, No. 1 in California and No. 1 in the Pacific U.S. region on U.S. News & World Report’s Honor Roll of Best Children’s Hospitals. The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles supports the full continuum of child health research and is among the top 10 pediatric academic medical centers for National Institutes of Health funding, meaning physicians and scientists translate discoveries into treatments and bring answers to families faster. Home to one of the largest pediatric training programs in the United States, Children’s Hospital graduates a new class of physicians each year who have learned world-class children’s health care at the forefront of medicine. And as an anchor institution, the hospital strengthens the economic health of surrounding communities by fighting food insecurity, enhancing health education and literacy, and introducing early careerists to health care. To learn more, follow CHLA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and visit CHLA.org/blog. 

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    Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

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  • These Foods Can Help You Live Longer and Protect the Planet

    These Foods Can Help You Live Longer and Protect the Planet

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    Newswise — Eating more planet-friendly foods could help you live a longer, healthier life, according to new research. Researchers found that people who followed a more environmentally sustainable diet were 25% less likely to die during a follow-up period of over 30 years compared to those with a less sustainable diet. 

    The study builds upon prior research that identified foods that are a win-win for both health and the environment—such as whole grains, fruit, non-starchy vegetables, nuts, and unsaturated oils—as well as foods that could be harmful to the environment and human health, like eggs and red and processed meats. The new findings suggest eating more planet-friendly foods can help reduce a person’s risk of death from causes such as cancer, heart disease, respiratory diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases.

    “We proposed a new diet score that incorporates the best current scientific evidence of food effects on both health and the environment,” said Linh Bui, MD, a PhD candidate in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “The results confirmed our hypothesis that a higher Planetary Health Diet score was associated with a lower risk of mortality.” 

    Bui will present the findings at NUTRITION 2023, the flagship annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held July 22–25 in Boston. 

    According to existing evidence, plant-based foods are associated with both a lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, colorectal cancer, diabetes, and stroke, and reduced impacts to the environment in terms of factors like water use, land use, nutrient pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions.

    With the new study, the researchers aimed to create a simple tool that policymakers and public health practitioners could use to develop strategies to improve public health and address the climate crisis.

    “As a millennial, I have always been concerned about mitigating human impacts on the environment,” said Bui. “A sustainable dietary pattern should not only be healthy but also consistent within planetary boundaries for greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental parameters.”

    To create their Planetary Health Diet Index (PHDI), researchers reviewed existing research on the relationships between various food groups and health outcomes based on the EAT-Lancet reference diet that accounts for the environmental impacts of food production practices. They then applied the index to analyze outcomes among over 100,000 participants in two large cohort studies conducted in the United States. The data set included over 47,000 deaths during a follow-up period spanning over three decades from 1986-2018. 

    Overall, they found that people in the highest quintile (the top one-fifth of participants) for PHDI had a 25% lower risk of death from any cause compared to those in the lowest quintile. Higher PHDI scores were associated with a 15% lower risk of death from cancer or cardiovascular diseases, a 20% lower risk of death from neurodegenerative disease, and a 50% lower risk of death from respiratory diseases. 

    Bui cautioned that the PHDI does not necessarily reflect all food items and their relationships with all major diseases in all countries. People with specific health conditions, religious restrictions, or different food accessibility due to socioeconomic status or food availability may face challenges with adhering to a more sustainable diet pattern. Further research could help to elucidate and address such barriers. 

    “We hope that researchers can adapt this index to specific food cultures and validate how it is associated with chronic diseases and environmental impacts such as carbon footprint, water footprint, and land use in other populations,” said Bui. 

    Bui will present this research at 11:45 a.m. EDT on Sunday, July 23, during the Dietary Patterns Poster Session in the Hynes Convention Center Hall C (abstract; presentation details).

    NUTRITION 2023 will feature several studies using the Planetary Health Diet Index for which Bui is a co-author. Andrea Romanos-Nanclares, PhD, will present “Planetary Health Diet Index and Risk of Total and Subtypes of Breast Cancer in the Nurses’ Health Studies” at 11:45 a.m. EDT on Sunday, July 23, during the Nutritional Epidemiology (I) Poster Session (abstract; presentation details). Caleigh Sawicki, PhD, will present “Planetary Health Diet and Risk of Incident Cardiovascular Disease: Findings From Two Cohorts of US Women” at 2 p.m. EDT on Monday, July 24, during the Dietary Patterns and Health Outcomes Oral Session (abstract; presentation details).  

    Please note that abstracts presented at NUTRITION 2023 were evaluated and selected by a committee of experts but have not generally undergone the same peer review process required for publication in a scientific journal. As such, the findings presented should be considered preliminary until a peer-reviewed publication is available.

     

    About NUTRITION 2023

    NUTRITION 2023 is the flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition and the premier educational event for nutritional professionals around the globe. NUTRITION brings together lab scientists, practicing clinicians, population health researchers, and community intervention investigators to identify solutions to today’s greatest nutrition challenges. Our audience also includes rising leaders in the field – undergraduate, graduate, and medical students. NUTRITION 2023 will be held July 22-25, 2023 in Boston. https://nutrition.org/N23 #Nutrition2023

     

    About the American Society for Nutrition (ASN)

    ASN is the preeminent professional organization for nutrition research scientists and clinicians around the world. Founded in 1928, the society brings together the top nutrition researchers, medical practitioners, policy makers and industry leaders to advance our knowledge and application of nutrition. ASN publishes four peer-reviewed journals and provides education and professional development opportunities to advance nutrition research, practice, and education. Since 2018, the American Society of Nutrition has presented NUTRITION, the leading global annual meeting for nutrition professionals. http://www.nutrition.org

     

    Find more news briefs from NUTRITION 2023 at: https://www.eurekalert.org/newsroom/nutrition2023.

     

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  • Researchers Identify Genes that Directly Influence What We Eat

    Researchers Identify Genes that Directly Influence What We Eat

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    Newswise — In one of the first large-scale studies of genes related to diet, researchers have uncovered almost 500 genes that appear to directly influence the foods we eat. The findings represent an important step toward using a person’s genetics to develop precision nutrition strategies that help improve health or prevent disease.

    “Some genes we identified are related to sensory pathways — including those for taste, smell, and texture — and may also increase the reward response in the brain,” said research team leader Joanne Cole, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “Because some of these genes may have clear paths toward influencing whether someone likes a food or not, they could potentially be used to create sensory genetic profiles for fine-tuning a person’s dietary recommendations based on foods they like to eat.”

    For the study, the researchers used the UK Biobank, which contains data from 500,000 people, to perform a phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) that identified genes more strongly associated with diet than with any health or lifestyle factor. PheWAS studies are used to find associations between gene variants of interest and a spectrum of human traits and behaviors, including dietary intake.

    “The foods we choose to eat are largely influenced by environmental factors such as our culture, socioeconomic status, and food accessibility,” said Cole. “Because genetics plays a much smaller role in influencing dietary intake than all the environmental factors, we need to study hundreds of thousands of individuals to detect genetic influences amid the environmental factors. The data necessary to do this hasn’t been available until recently.”

    Cole will present the findings at NUTRITION 2023, the annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held July 22-25 in Boston.

    One challenge in identifying diet-related genes is that what people eat correlates with many other factors, including health factors such as high cholesterol or body weight and even socioeconomic status. In the new work, the researchers applied computational methods to tease out direct effects of genetic variants impacting diet and separate those from indirect effects such as ones where a gene impacts diabetes and having diabetes requires a person to eat less sugar.

    This study design was possible because the UK Biobank not only contains in-depth genetic information but also detailed health and socioeconomic data. This allowed the researchers to test individual genetic variants for associations with thousands of traits and then eliminate indirect gene variants that were more strongly associated with other factors, such as diabetes.

    The analysis revealed around 300 genes directly associated with eating specific foods and almost 200 genes linked to dietary patterns which group various foods together — for example, overall fish intake or fruit consumption.

    “The study showed that dietary patterns tend to have more indirect genetic effects, meaning they were correlated with a lot of other factors,” said Cole. “This shows how important it is to not study dietary patterns in a vacuum, because the eating pattern’s impact on human health may be completely mediated or confounded by other factors.”

    In the short term, Cole is studying the newly identified diet-related genes to better understand their function while also working to identify even more genes that directly influence food preferences. She would like to pursue several lines of translational research based on these findings. For example, she is interested in studying whether using a person’s genetics to adapt the flavor profile of a diet designed for weight loss could improve adherence.

    It might also be possible to use these new insights to tailor foods to a person’s genetic predisposition. “If we know that a gene encoding an olfactory receptor in the nose increases a person’s liking of fruit and boosts the reward response in the brain, then molecular studies of this receptor could be used to identify natural or synthetic compounds that bind to it,” Cole said. “Then, we could see if adding one of those compounds to healthy foods makes those foods more appealing to that person.”

    Cole will present this research at 2:55 p.m. on Saturday, July 22, during the Personalizing Nutrition – Genetics and Dietary Pattern Interactions Poster Theater Flash Session in the Sheraton Boston, Fairfax (abstract; presentation details).

    Please note that abstracts presented at NUTRITION 2023 were evaluated and selected by a committee of experts but have not generally undergone the same peer review process required for publication in a scientific journal. As such, the findings presented should be considered preliminary until a peer-reviewed publication is available.

     

    About NUTRITION 2023

    NUTRITION 2023 is the flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition and the premier educational event for nutritional professionals around the globe. NUTRITION brings together lab scientists, practicing clinicians, population health researchers, and community intervention investigators to identify solutions to today’s greatest nutrition challenges. Our audience also includes rising leaders in the field – undergraduate, graduate, and medical students. NUTRITION 2023 will be held July 22-25, 2023 in Boston. https://nutrition.org/N23 #Nutrition2023

     

    About the American Society for Nutrition (ASN)

    ASN is the preeminent professional organization for nutrition scientists and clinicians around the world. Founded in 1928, the society brings together the top nutrition researchers, medical practitioners, policy makers and industry leaders to advance our knowledge and application of nutrition. ASN publishes four peer-reviewed journals and provides education and professional development opportunities to advance nutrition research, practice, and education. Since 2018, the American Society of Nutrition has presented NUTRITION, the leading global annual meeting for nutrition professionals.

     

    Find more news briefs and tipsheets at: https://www.eurekalert.org/newsroom/nutrition2023.

     

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  • Scientists Name Top Five Foods Rich in Prebiotics

    Scientists Name Top Five Foods Rich in Prebiotics

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    Newswise — There is growing evidence that consuming prebiotics — certain types of fiber often found in plants that stimulate beneficial bacteria in your gut — can help to maintain a healthy gut microbiome. In a new study, scientists estimated the prebiotic content of thousands of food types by using preexisting literature to find out which foods offer the highest prebiotic content.

    According to the study, foods that pack the greatest prebiotic punch are dandelion greens, Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, leeks, and onions. In addition to supporting gut microbes, prebiotic rich foods contain high amounts of fiber — something most Americans do not get enough of.

    “Eating prebiotic dense foods has been indicated by previous research to benefit health,” said Cassandra Boyd, a master’s student at San José State University who conducted the research with Assistant Professor John Gieng, PhD. “Eating in a way to promote microbiome wellness while eating more fiber may be more attainable and accessible than you think.”

    Boyd will present the findings at NUTRITION 2023, the flagship annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held July 22–25 in Boston.

    Prebiotics, which can be thought of as food for the microbiome, are different from probiotics, which contain live microorganisms. Both can potentially benefit microbiome health, but they work in different ways.

    Studies have linked higher prebiotic intake with improved blood glucose regulation, better absorption of minerals like calcium, and markers of improved digestive and immune function. Although most dietary guidelines do not currently specify a recommended daily allowance for prebiotics, the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics — a non-profit scientific organization that established the currently held definition of prebiotics — recommends an intake of 5 grams per day.

    For the study, researchers used previously published scientific findings to analyze the prebiotic content of 8,690 foods contained in the Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies, a resource many scientists use to study nutrition and health.

    About 37% of the foods in the database were found to contain prebiotics. Dandelion greens, Jerusalem artichoke, garlic, leeks, and onions had the greatest amounts, ranging from about 100-240 milligrams of prebiotics per gram of food (mg/g). Other prebiotic rich foods included onion rings, creamed onions, cowpeas, asparagus, and Kellogg’s All-Bran cereal, each containing around 50-60 mg/g.

    “The findings from our preliminary literature review suggest that onions and related foods contain multiple forms of prebiotics, leading to a larger total prebiotic content,” said Boyd. “Multiple forms of onions and related foods appear in a variety of dishes as both flavoring and main ingredients. These foods are commonly consumed by Americans and thus would be a feasible target for people to increase their prebiotic consumption.”

    Based on the team’s findings, Boyd said a person would need to consume approximately half of a small (4-ounce) onion to get 5 grams of prebiotics.

    Wheat-containing items rank lower on the list. Foods with little or no prebiotic content include dairy products, eggs, oils, and meats.

    The researchers hope the study will provide a basis to help other scientists assess the health impacts of prebiotics and inform future dietary guidelines. They noted that more research is needed to understand how cooking impacts prebiotic content and to better assess foods that contain multiple ingredients.

    Boyd will present this research at noon EDT on Saturday, July 22, during the Food Science and Nutrition Poster Session in the Hynes Convention Center Hall C (abstract; presentation details).

    Please note that abstracts presented at NUTRITION 2023 were evaluated and selected by a committee of experts but have not generally undergone the same peer review process required for publication in a scientific journal. As such, the findings presented should be considered preliminary until a peer-reviewed publication is available.

     

    About NUTRITION 2023

    NUTRITION 2023 is the flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition and the premier educational event for nutritional professionals around the globe. NUTRITION brings together lab scientists, practicing clinicians, population health researchers, and community intervention investigators to identify solutions to today’s greatest nutrition challenges. Our audience also includes rising leaders in the field – undergraduate, graduate, and medical students. NUTRITION 2023 will be held July 22-25, 2023 in Boston. https://nutrition.org/N23 #Nutrition2023

     

    About the American Society for Nutrition (ASN)

    ASN is the preeminent professional organization for nutrition research scientists and clinicians around the world. Founded in 1928, the society brings together the top nutrition researchers, medical practitioners, policy makers and industry leaders to advance our knowledge and application of nutrition. ASN publishes four peer-reviewed journals and provides education and professional development opportunities to advance nutrition research, practice, and education. Since 2018, the American Society of Nutrition has presented NUTRITION, the leading global annual meeting for nutrition professionals. http://www.nutrition.org

     

    Find more news briefs from NUTRITION 2023 at: https://www.eurekalert.org/newsroom/nutrition2023.

     

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  • Here’s how many Diet Cokes you’d have to drink daily to get too much aspartame

    Here’s how many Diet Cokes you’d have to drink daily to get too much aspartame

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    A leading global health body has declared that the artificial sweetener aspartame, commonly used as an ingredient in diet soda, chewing gum and vitamins, may cause cancer.

    But the World Health Organization’s report late Thursday also noted that people would have to be exposed to extreme amounts of aspartame — whether through diet, occupational exposure or other means — to be at risk.

    So how much aspartame is too much?

    It’s safe to consume up to 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of body weight per day, a WHO and Food and Agriculture Organizations joint committee of experts on food additives said. So, a person who weighs 154 pounds would need to drink nine to 14 cans of, say, Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke per day to exceed that level, assuming there are 200 to 300 milligrams of aspartame in each can.

    “We’re not advising consumers to stop consuming [aspartame] altogether,” said WHO’s nutrition director, Dr. Francesco Branca. “We’re just advising a bit of moderation.”

    The Food and Drug Administration has an even higher daily aspartame-exposure limit: 50 milligrams per kilo of body weight.

    Even heavy aspartame users — Donald Trump, the former U.S. president, for example, drank a reported 12 cans of Diet Coke a day in his White House years — would struggle to consume that much of the sweetener in an average day.

    But consumers should also note that a food being labeled “safe” is not equivalent to its being healthy. There has been plenty of research to suggest that sipping too many sweetened beverages, including diet drinks with artificial sweeteners, may be linked to health problems and elevated risk of death.

    Aspartame is used in products that millions of people use every day, including Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, the Mars Wrigley chewing gum Extra and some Snapple drinks, as well as some protein drinks, among thousands of others, by the Calorie Control Council’s count.

    Aspartame was developed beginning in the mid-1960s by Skokie, Ill.–based G.D. Searle & Co., now a Pfizer
    PFE,
    +0.72%
    subsidiary, which branded the sweetener NutraSweet. It secured ultimate FDA approval, after initial hiccups, for use in dry goods and then in carbonated soft drinks in 1981 and 1983, according to the Calorie Control Council.

    The organization that this week labeled aspartame possibly carcinogenic was the World Health Organization’s cancer-research arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The IARC said its aspartame declaration is based on “limited evidence” of cancer in humans, specifically a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma.

    What should consumers do with this aspartame news? “At least when it comes to beverages, our message is your best choice is to drink water or an unsweetened beverage,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which previously nominated aspartame for IARC review.

    More aspartame news on MarketWatch:

    What is aspartame, and is it bad for you? Here’s what health experts say

    Aspartame is possibly carcinogenic, according to WHO’s cancer-research agency

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  • Here’s how many Diet Cokes you’d have to drink daily to get too much aspartame

    Here’s how many Diet Cokes you’d have to drink daily to get too much aspartame

    [ad_1]

    A leading global health body has declared that the artificial sweetener aspartame, commonly used as an ingredient in diet soda, chewing gum and vitamins, may cause cancer.

    But the World Health Organization’s report late Thursday also noted that people would have to be exposed to extreme amounts of aspartame — whether through diet, occupational exposure or other means — to be at risk.

    So how much aspartame is too much?

    It’s safe to consume up to 40 milligrams of aspartame per kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of body weight per day, a WHO and Food and Agriculture Organizations joint committee of experts on food additives said. So, a person who weighs 154 pounds would need to drink nine to 14 cans of, say, Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke per day to exceed that level, assuming there are 200 to 300 milligrams of aspartame in each can.

    “We’re not advising consumers to stop consuming [aspartame] altogether,” said WHO’s nutrition director, Dr. Francesco Branca. “We’re just advising a bit of moderation.”

    The Food and Drug Administration has an even higher daily aspartame-exposure limit: 50 milligrams per kilo of body weight.

    Even heavy aspartame users — Donald Trump, the former U.S. president, for example, drank a reported 12 cans of Diet Coke a day in his White House years — would struggle to consume that much of the sweetener in an average day.

    But consumers should also note that a food being labeled “safe” is not equivalent to its being healthy. There has been plenty of research to suggest that sipping too many sweetened beverages, including diet drinks with artificial sweeteners, may be linked to health problems and elevated risk of death.

    Aspartame is used in products that millions of people use every day, including Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Zero Sugar and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, the Mars Wrigley chewing gum Extra and some Snapple drinks, as well as some protein drinks, among thousands of others, by the Calorie Control Council’s count.

    Aspartame was developed beginning in the mid-1960s by Skokie, Ill.–based G.D. Searle & Co., now a Pfizer
    PFE,
    +0.72%
    subsidiary, which branded the sweetener NutraSweet. It secured ultimate FDA approval, after initial hiccups, for use in dry goods and then in carbonated soft drinks in 1981 and 1983, according to the Calorie Control Council.

    The organization that this week labeled aspartame possibly carcinogenic was the World Health Organization’s cancer-research arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The IARC said its aspartame declaration is based on “limited evidence” of cancer in humans, specifically a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma.

    What should consumers do with this aspartame news? “At least when it comes to beverages, our message is your best choice is to drink water or an unsweetened beverage,” said Dr. Peter Lurie, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which previously nominated aspartame for IARC review.

    More aspartame news on MarketWatch:

    What is aspartame, and is it bad for you? Here’s what health experts say

    Aspartame is possibly carcinogenic, according to WHO’s cancer-research agency

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  • B&W Quality Growers Shares the Nutritional Benefits of Watercress

    B&W Quality Growers Shares the Nutritional Benefits of Watercress

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    FELLSMERE, Fla., July 11, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Watercress continues to top the charts, packed with over 50 essential nutrients and recognized as the only food to receive a perfect score from ANDI and the CDC. This healthy, flavorful leafy green delivers a potent portion of health benefits. Watercress is a superfood with a distinctive taste that stands out from the muted flavors of other leafy greens. With so many nutrients being recognized in this one leafy green, we want to focus our attention on some of the critical nutrients.

    Vitamin A supports the immune system, eye health reproduction, and growth and development. Vitamin A helps your heart, lungs, and other organs work properly. In addition, studies show that people whose diet is high in Vitamin A or beta-carotene can have a lower risk of certain kinds of cancer.

    Vitamin C shields the body against free radicals and supports the normal function of blood vessels. Vitamin C has also been shown to aid in the healing of wounds and assist in iron absorption and neurological function. 

    B Vitamins are a family of vitamins that uniquely keep our bodies healthy and energized. B Vitamins help convert energy from carbohydrates to fuel, assist fat cells in breaking down amino acids, and aid in transporting oxygen and energy-containing nutrients around the body.

    Vitamin K supports blood clotting and is necessary for calcium absorption to strengthen bones. Vitamin K is also shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and could be a key component in preventing Alzheimer’s disease.

    Vitamin E is a nutrient critical to vision, reproduction, and your blood, brain, and skin health. Vitamin E also has antioxidant properties. Antioxidants may protect your cells from free radicals and can play a role in heart disease, cancer, and other diseases.

    Zinc is an essential micronutrient for total health and a robust immune system, and it supports keeping infections at bay. Research shows that zinc aids every step of the immune process, from the growth and development of immune cells to their fight against upsetting agents, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites.

    Watercress’s highly absorbable iron is one of the best ways to incorporate iron and help your body carry oxygen to cells, playing a significant part in the immune system process. The iron in Watercrcress helps maintain your energy levels, impacting how your body feels. In addition, iron builds up your immune cells, allowing them to reach full maturity and optimally perform.

    Magnesium is crucial in muscle function, your nervous system, and energy production. Magnesium is also a critical stabilizing nutrient for blood sugar and blood pressure and helps your body rest and recover.

    Your body needs calcium to build and maintain strong bones and muscles. Additionally, calcium supports your heart and nervous system.

    Potassium helps maintain normal fluid levels inside our cells. Potassium also helps muscles to contract and supports normal blood pressure.

    PEITC (Phenethyl isothiocyanate) is a naturally occurring isothiocyanate whose precursor, is gluconasturtiin. PEITC has been shown to have chemo-preventive effects in cell and animal studies of cancer.

    Protein is a critical part of the processes to fuel your energy and carry oxygen throughout your body in your blood. In addition, protein helps make antibodies that fight off infections and illnesses, keep cells healthy, and creates new ones.

    Amino Acids are the building blocks of protein. Break down food, grow and repair tissue, make hormone and brain chemicals, create an energy source, maintain healthy skin, hair, and nails, build muscle, boost your immune system, and sustain a regular digestive system.

    For more on the most nutrient-dense food, visit B&W Quality Growers. B&W Quality Growers has been farming responsibly since 1870. We’re among the largest growers of distinctive leafy greens, including watercress, arugula, spinach, and ong choy. We sustainably grow, pack, and ship the highest quality distinctive leafy greens, providing well-being for our consumers and value for our customers. We’ve done this with zero product recalls and aim to provide a healthier, more flavorful world using premium leaves in everyday recipes. Follow B&W on our social media pages: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

    Source: B&W Quality Growers

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  • Study challenges advice to limit high-fat dairy in global diet

    Study challenges advice to limit high-fat dairy in global diet

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    Newswise — Sophia Antipolis, 7 July 2023:  Unprocessed red meat and whole grains can be included or left out of a healthy diet, according to a study conducted in 80 countries across all inhabited continents and published today in European Heart Journal, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1 Diets emphasising fruit, vegetables, dairy (mainly whole-fat), nuts, legumes and fish were linked with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and premature death in all world regions. The addition of unprocessed red meat or whole grains had little impact on outcomes.

    “Low-fat foods have taken centre stage with the public, food industry and policymakers, with nutrition labels focused on reducing fat and saturated fat,” said study author Dr. Andrew Mente of the Population Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. “Our findings suggest that the priority should be increasing protective foods such as nuts (often avoided as too energy dense), fish and dairy, rather than restricting dairy (especially whole-fat) to very low amounts. Our results show that up to two servings a day of dairy, mainly whole-fat, can be included in a healthy diet. This is in keeping with modern nutrition science showing that dairy, particularly whole-fat, may protect against high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome.”

    The study examined the relationships between a new diet score and health outcomes in a global population. A healthy diet score was created based on six foods that have each been linked with longevity. The PURE diet included 2-3 servings of fruit per day, 2-3 servings of vegetables per day, 3-4 servings of legumes per week, 7 servings of nuts per week, 2-3 servings of fish per week, and 14 servings of dairy products (mainly whole fat but not including butter or whipped cream) per week. A score of 1 (healthy) was assigned for intake above the median in the group and a score of 0 (unhealthy) for intake at or below the median, for a total of 0 to 6. Dr. Mente explained: “Participants in the top 50% of the population – an achievable level – on each of the six food components attained the maximum diet score of six.”

    Associations of the score with mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke and total CVD (including fatal CVD and non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke and heart failure) were tested in the PURE study which included 147,642 people from the general population in 21 countries. The analyses were adjusted for factors that could influence the relationships such as age, sex, waist-to-hip ratio, education level, income, urban or rural location, physical activity, smoking status, diabetes, use of statins or high blood pressure medications, and total energy intake.

    The average diet score was 2.95. During a median follow-up of 9.3 years, there were 15,707 deaths and 40,764 cardiovascular events. Compared with the least healthy diet (score of 1 or less), the healthiest diet (score of 5 or more) was linked with a 30% lower risk of death, 18% lower likelihood of CVD, 14% lower risk of myocardial infarction and 19% lower risk of stroke. Associations between the healthy diet score and outcomes were confirmed in five independent studies including a total of 96,955 patients with CVD in 70 countries.

    Dr. Mente said: “This was by far the most diverse study of nutrition and health outcomes in the world and the only one with sufficient representation from high-, middle- and low-income countries. The connection between the PURE diet and health outcomes was found in generally healthy people, patients with CVD, patients with diabetes, and across economies.”

    “The associations were strongest in areas with the poorest quality diet, including South Asia, China and Africa, where calorie intake was low and dominated by refined carbohydrates. This suggests that a large proportion of deaths and CVD in adults around the world may be due to undernutrition, that is, low intakes of energy and protective foods, rather than overnutrition. This challenges current beliefs,” said Professor Salim Yusuf, senior author and principal investigator of PURE.

    In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, US stated: “The new results in PURE, in combination with prior reports, call for a re-evaluation of unrelenting guidelines to avoid whole-fat dairy products. Investigations such as the one by Mente and colleagues remind us of the continuing and devastating rise in diet-related chronic diseases globally, and of the power of protective foods to help address these burdens. It is time for national nutrition guidelines, private sector innovations, government tax policy and agricultural incentives, food procurement policies, labelling and other regulatory priorities, and food-based healthcare interventions to catch up to the science. Millions of lives depend on it.”

     

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  • Not eating enough of these six healthy foods is associated with higher cardiovascular disease and deaths globally

    Not eating enough of these six healthy foods is associated with higher cardiovascular disease and deaths globally

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    Embargoed by the European Heart Journal until Thursday, July 6 at 7:05 (EDT)

    Newswise — HAMILTON, ON (July 6, 2023) – A study led by McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences researchers at the Population Research Health Institute (PHRI) has found that not eating enough of six key foods in combination is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adults.

    Consuming fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, fish and whole-fat dairy products is key to lowering the risk of CVD, including heart attacks and strokes. The study also found that a healthy diet can be achieved in various ways, such as including moderate amounts of whole grains or unprocessed meats.

    Previous and similar research has focused on Western countries and diets that combined harmful, ultra-processed foods with nutrient-dense foods. This research was global in scope and focused on foods commonly considered to be healthy.

    The World Health Organization estimates nearly 18 million people died from CVD in 2019, representing 32 per cent of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85 per cent were due to heart attacks and strokes. PHRI researchers and their global collaborators analyzed data from 245,000 people in 80 countries from multiple studies. The results were published in the European Heart Journal on July 6.

    Researchers derived a diet score from PHRI’s ongoing, large-scale global Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study, then replicated that in five independent studies to measure health outcomes in different world regions and in people with and without prior CVD.

    “Previous diet scores – including the EAT-Lancet Planetary Diet and the Mediterranean Diet tested the relationship of diet to CVD and death mainly in Western countries. The PURE Healthy Diet Score included a good representation of high, middle, and low-income countries,” said Salim Yusuf, senior author and principal investigator of PURE.

    As well as being truly global, the PURE Healthy Diet Score focused on exclusively protective, or natural, foods.

    “We were unique in that focus. The other diet scores combined foods considered to be harmful – such as processed and ultra-processed foods – with foods and nutrients believed to be protective of one’s health,” said first author Andrew Mente, PHRI scientist and assistant professor at McMaster’s Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact.

    “There is a recent increased focus on higher consumption of protective foods for disease prevention. Outside of larger amounts of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, the researchers showed that moderation is key in the consumption of natural foods,” he said.

    “Moderate amounts of fish and whole-fat dairy are associated with a lower risk of CVD and mortality. The same health outcomes can be achieved with moderate consumption of grains and meats – as long as they are unrefined whole grains and unprocessed meats.”

    The PURE Healthy Diet Score recommends an average daily intake of: Fruits at two to three servings; vegetables at two to three servings; nuts at one serving; and dairy at two servings. The score also includes three to four weekly servings of legumes and two to three weekly servings of fish. Possible substitutes included whole grains at one serving daily, and unprocessed red meat or poultry at one serving daily.

    There was no specific funding for this analysis, although each study that contributed data was funded separately and conducted over a 25-year period.

                                                                         -30-

    A photo of Andrew Mente can be found at: https://macdrive.mcmaster.ca/d/d7cfaeb9c6ac4cfb80f0/

     

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    McMaster University

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  • WHO poised to declare aspartame ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans,’ Reuters reports

    WHO poised to declare aspartame ‘possibly carcinogenic to humans,’ Reuters reports

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    The World Health Organization’s cancer research arm is poised to declare the artificial sweetener aspartame as “possibly carcinogenic to humans” as early as next month, Reuters reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter.

    Aspartame is used in products ranging from diet Coca-Cola
    KO,
    -0.93%
    to Mars’ Extra chewing gum and certain Snapple drinks. The move will be the first by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, or IARC, the news agency reported.

    The IARC ruling was finalized earlier this month after a meeting of its external experts. The meeting considered whether something is a potential hazard or not, based on all the published evidence. It did not consider, however, how much of a product can be safely consumed; that advice is made by a separate WHO expert committee on food additives, called JECFA — the Joint WHO and Food and Agriculture Organization’s Expert Committee on Food Additives) — as well as by national regulators.

    Industry groups immediately pushed back on Thursday.

    “Consumers deserve facts, and the fact is aspartame is one of the most widely studied food ingredients and has repeatedly been determined to be safe by global scientific and regulatory authorities, which is why the Calorie Control Council is gravely concerned about any unsubstantiated assertions that contradict this conclusion,” said Robert Rankin, president of the Calorie Control Council in emailed comments.

    The IARC is not a regulatory agency, an ingredient expert or a food safety authority, Ranking added.

    “Their sole focus is to find substances that could cause cancer, and they have classified things like aloe vera, low-frequency magnetic fields, and pickled vegetables as possibly causing cancer. Consumers want context and that is what’s missing from these misleading claims,” he said.

    Kate Loatman, executive director of the International Council of Beverages Associations (ICBA), agreed.

    “While it appears IARC is now prepared to concede that aspartame presents no more of a hazard to consumers than using aloe vera, public health authorities should be deeply concerned that this leaked opinion contradicts decades of high-quality scientific evidence and could needlessly mislead consumers into consuming more sugar rather than choosing safe no- and low-sugar options – all on the basis of low-quality studies,” Loatman said in a statement.

    In May, the WHO advised people not to use nonsugar sweeteners for weight control, warning that they may increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and mortality in adults.

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  • The expanded Child Tax Credit led to improved health and nutrition among adults

    The expanded Child Tax Credit led to improved health and nutrition among adults

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    EMBARGOED FOR USE UNTIL:

    1:30 p.m. (EDT) on June 24, 2023

    Newswise — Monthly cash payments to eligible families under the temporary pandemic-era expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit led to better adult health and food security, new UCLA-led research suggests.

    The policy, which expired at the end of 2021, has not been renewed due to concerns among legislators over the credit being overly generous, particularly to lower-income families with limited tax liability, and the lack of an associated work requirement. The findings, to be published June 24 in JAMA Health Forum, could inform the debate over the policy’s future, said Dr. Jordan Rook, a fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at UCLA and the study’s lead author.

    “Cash transfer programs like the 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion may be powerful tools in improving the health, wellbeing, and nutrition of families,” said Rook, who is also a general surgery resident at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.  “Evidence like this can help guide the public, the media, and politicians as they advocate for and debate the policy’s future.

    Currently about one in six U.S. families with children lives in poverty, leading to poorer health and shorter life expectancy, according to the research team.

    Prior to the pandemic, the Child Tax Credit provided up to $2,000 per child ages 16 or younger for families with eligible incomes. Under the pandemic-era American Rescue Plan signed into law on March 11, 2021, the credit increased to $3,600 per child ages five or younger, and $3,000 per child ages 6 to 17. Families were eligible to receive half of this amount in the form of monthly checks, which each month were worth between $250 to $300 per child. The credit was fully refundable, meaning that all low-income families with children were eligible to receive the entire credit, regardless of their work status or income.

    These monthly payments reduced poverty by 40% in households with children, according to the researchers. But the policy, a temporary measure to assist families during the pandemic, expired on December 31, 2021.

    The researchers used data taken from about 39,500 respondents to the National Health Interview Survey from January 2019 to December 2021. They found that prior to initiation of the monthly payments, 60% of credit-eligible adults reported excellent or very good health and 88% reported having food security– that is, access to sufficient food to meet normal dietary needs. Among ineligible adults, 55% said they had excellent or very good health and 89% reported food security.

    They then used a study design known as a “difference-in-differences” technique to compare changes in health and food security between credit-eligible families and credit-ineligible families to estimate the impact of the Child Tax Credit monthly payments. Based on this technique, they estimate that following the start of the payments, eligible adults were 3 percentage points more likely to report excellent or very good health and 1.9 percentage points more likely to report food security than ineligible adults.

    “Assuming the conservative estimate of one adult per household, this represents improved health for 1.08 million adults, and newfound food security for 684,000 households,” Rook said. “These changes potentially represent important gains in health and nutrition for hundreds of thousands of US families because of this pandemic-era policy.”

    The study has some limitations, among them the possibility that job losses and expansions to other social programs such as unemployment and SNAP during the pandemic might have affected the findings.

    Additional study authors are Dr. Cecile Yama, Dr. Adam Schickedanz, Dr. Steven Lee, and Lauren Wisk of UCLA; and Dr. Alec Feuerbach of SUNY Downstate /Kings County.

    The study was funded by the VA Office of Academic Affiliations and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, both through the National Clinician Scholars Program Fellowship; the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (K01 DK116932 and R03 DK132439); the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K23HD099308); and the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (UA6MC32492, the Life Course Intervention Research Network). The contents do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States Government.

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    University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

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  • Agricultural producers and food businesses throught nation getting $320M boost from USDA

    Agricultural producers and food businesses throught nation getting $320M boost from USDA

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    The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeding agricultural producers and food businesses with millions of dollars in investments designed to improve markets, create and strengthen jobs, control food prices and improve nutrition

    Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, holds up a large, locally grown sweet potato at Fresh Start Food Hub & Market, Thursday, June 15, 2023, in Manchester, N.H. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeding agricultural producers and food businesses with millions of dollars in investments designed to improve markets, create and strengthen jobs, control rising food prices and improve nutrition, Vilsack said Thursday. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

    The Associated Press

    MANCHESTER, N.H. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is seeding agricultural producers and food businesses with millions of dollars in investment funds to improve markets, create and strengthen jobs, control food prices and improve nutrition, Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday.

    “We’re here to underscore the important role that local and regional food systems play for American agriculture and farmers, and to announce $320 million of variety of loans and grants which are designed to strengthen the supply chain, to make the food system more resilient and to create a number of opportunities for mid- and small-size operators,” he said.

    He spoke during a visit to the Fresh Start Market in Manchester, New Hampshire. The market sells fresh fruits, vegetables and other products grown by immigrant farmers, some of which are distributed via a community-supported agriculture program.

    “Thanks to our partnership with federal officials, including Secretary Vilsack’s Department of Agriculture, we’re making significant progress in tackling food insecurity and leading the way in developing new approaches to create more healthy food options in our city,” Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig said.

    North Country Growers in New Hampshire is getting a $19.9 million guaranteed loan to build and operate a 20-acre hydroponic greenhouse to grow lettuce and other leafy greens year round, he said. The project hopes to grow 30 million heads of lettuce a year for sale to local grocery stores and restaurants and distribution throught the Northeast.

    It will also support 84 jobs.

    Other businesses that will benefit from the investments include a meat market and a bison processing facility that will expand production capabilities; a berry processor that will purchase equipment to expand production capacity; and a plant-based yogurt manufacturer and a cold storage facility that will expand sustainable options for consumers.

    Strengthening market opportunities has an economic benefit for small- and mid-sized producers, he said.

    More market opportunities means more competitive prices.

    “And when you create a local and regional food system you are reducing some costs associated with getting that food to consumers,” Vilsack said.

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  • Shoppers prioritize price over health for food choices

    Shoppers prioritize price over health for food choices

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    Key Takeaways:

    • When food consumers are properly incentivized, they will choose healthier options.
    • When financial incentives are removed, consumers are more likely to choose less healthy options by comparison.

    Newswise — BALTIMORE, MD, June 9, 2023 – A new study of food consumer shopping behaviors has found that when faced with a choice – lower prices or healthier foods – they will likely choose lower prices.

    The study found that when you give food consumers temporary incentives to buy healthier foods, they will likely to choose those healthier foods. But when you take away the discounts, consumers are more likely to return to old behaviors of buying the less healthy/less expensive options.

    The study, “The Persistence of Healthy Behaviors in Food Purchasing,” was conducted by Marit Hinnosaar of the University of Nottingham and Centre for Economic Policy Research in London.

    Hinnosaar conducted in-depth research into the U.S. Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). WIC gives vouchers for specific foods to mothers and their children age 5 and younger. In 2009, WIC policy reform changed the composition of food vouchers, introducing vouchers to encourage purchase of healthier products. To conduct her research, Hinnosaar used NielsenIQ household-level scanner data of grocery purchases.

    “I conducted what you might call ‘difference-in-differences’ analysis to assess the immediate and long-term impacts of the healthier choice incentive program,” says Hinnosaar. “The product categories most targeted by the program were bread and milk.”

    Hinnosaar says that the evidence points to a decrease in purchases of healthier options after participants left the program.

    “During the incentive program, vouchers were restricted to whole wheat bread and low-fat milk,” she says. “Since some of these options tend to be more expensive, once the vouchers were no longer available for these products, consumers tended to choose items based on price.”

    Still, there was no measurable difference in the total quantities of products in the WIC vouchers during or after the program. These products included bread, milk, fruits and vegetables, juice, eggs and cereal.

    “Based on these findings, it is possible to conclude that a modest post-program subsidy once program participants leave the program – to incentivize healthier food choices – may be a more sustainable way to lengthen the program’s impact and lead to long-term healthier food purchases.”

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    Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)

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  • Building positive peace goes beyond conflict resolution

    Building positive peace goes beyond conflict resolution

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    Newswise — AMES, IA – When we think about people who have cultivated a more peaceful world, where do our minds wander? Do we see a montage of people linking arms during the Selma-to-Montgomery March or Indian peace activist Mahatma Gandhi? Is it a clip of world leaders shaking hands before a high-stakes negotiation?

    Or maybe it hits closer to home, in our own communities, the places where we work, worship or connect with others.

    “Building Positive Peace,” a collection of essays from a dozen Iowa State University faculty, underscores how all of us can play a role. The authors demonstrate this by drawing from their own disciplines – agriculture, architecture, business, education, engineering, history, music, nutrition and food systems and philosophy.

    “Peace is really about relationships. It’s a dynamic process, not a fixed state. One of our goals with this book is to spark conversations and offer a reframing of what we do and how we do it,” says Christina Campbell, the Sandra S. and Roy W. Uelner Professor and an associate professor of food science and human nutrition.

    Campbell co-edited the book with Simon Cordery, professor and chair of the history department. In their introduction, they emphasize the need to engage people from a diverse array of disciplines, not just those traditionally associated with peace studies, such as theology, international affairs and philosophy. Cordery adds that the authors often use the term “positive peace” to distinguish it from other forms and go beyond conflict resolution.

    “Peace has long been framed as the absence of war, but it’s just a starting point,” says Cordery. “How do we build a society that allows people to thrive?”

    From his perspective as a historian, Cordery says one way to get there is to acknowledge that human history is frequently presented as a series of turning points based on wars and other conflicts.

    “As a consequence, historians often ignore what people do on an everyday basis and the actual ways humanity has survived, because we have, despite our proclivity towards conflict. We could have wiped ourselves out several times throughout the millennia, but we’re still here.”

    Cordery offers an alternative approach in his essay. He points to Freemasons, friendly societies and other voluntary organizations as examples of historical research centered on positive peace, rather than conflict.

    In another essay, Campbell and her co-authors, graduate student Gretchen Feldpausch and clinical professor Erin Bergquist, explore the multifaceted benefits of home and community gardening.

    “Classical approaches to peace study may look at how hunger contributes to conflict or how conflict contributes to hunger,” says Campbell. “How can we come at it from a different angle and create the infrastructure so that people have access to healthy, culturally appropriate food in the first place?”

    Other essays explore how:

    • The arts provide multiple paths to peace (Jonathan Sturm, professor of music, emeritus.)
    • A peace spheres/framework fosters individual fulfillment and peace (J. Bahng, associate professor of education.)
    • Drinking water security to bring peace to vulnerable populations (Rameshwar S. Kanwar, Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering.)
    • A new framework can boost food supply chain sustainability (Kurt A. Rosentrater, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering.)
    • Ecotourism can contribute to peace and intergroup cooperation (Jose Antonio Rosa, professor of marketing, emeritus; Nichole Hugo and David J. Boggs, faculty at Eastern Illinois University.)
    • Supply chain management can positively influence the production and distribution of goods and services (Frank Montabon, Dean’s Professor of Supply Chain Management.)
    • Homes can be re-imagined to be more sustainable and transcend the current climate crisis (Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture.)
    • Transparency in policy making and engaging the public builds trust and moves a community toward sustainable, positive peace (Kenneth “Mark” Bryden, professor of mechanical engineering.)

    Roy Tamashiro, peace activist and professor emeritus from Webster University, also contributed an essay on envisioning a world conducive to human flourishing.

    Building momentum

    Campbell and Cordery say the book builds on conversations that started several years ago. In 2019, Campbell launched a Sustainable Peace Faculty Learning Community, which was funded by the ISU Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities. Researchers from different pockets of campus gathered bi-weekly to discuss definitions of peace and share how it related to their own disciplines. This evolved into ten of the faculty co-leading an honors seminar, now three years running.

    This fall, the cohort will host the Peace and Justice Studies Association’s annual conference at Iowa State from Sept. 15-17. They expect 400-500 attendees, including staff and faculty, students and professionals from across North America. Registration will be free for ISU students.

    The conference schedule will be updated this summer on the Peace and Justice Studies Association’s website.

    Cordery and Campbell say they hope the conference will spark a wider conversation on ISU’s campus about “what we do and how we do it.”

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    Iowa State University

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