synaesthesia all of us can may have had the memory of, and taste a favourite food conjured up by the mentioning of the food.Synaethesia is a rare condition involving the crossing of the senses , some people will have synaesthetic tastes produced by words the names of a food, lexical- gustatory synaesthesia. They taste the…
Read moreFolic acid, homocysteine and cardiovascular diseaseBMJ 2006, 333, 114-7 Wald and his colleagues have published a meta analysis of Folic acid, homocysteine and cardiovascular disease, judging causality in the face of inconclusive trial evidence.Meta ananysis of cohort studies show significant positive associations betwen serum homocysteine concentrations and ischaemic heart events and stroke. A 3 umol…
Read moreUnderstanding the human genome is essential for nutritionists.1. Because the genome is biologically important2. The genome is the basis for an individual person’s metabolism3. The exciting innovations in nutrition will be throughan undersanding of the interplay betweendietary intake and genome constitutionOf importance are two articles in Nature 23rd November 2006.Pages 428-429 ; 444-454The human genome…
Read moreThe threat to Public Health the widespread prevalance of obestiy was recognised in a meeting of WHO in Istanbul of the 53 states in the WHO region. One fifth of the population is obese in this area.A Charter, the European Charter on Counteracting Obesity was written which calls for preventitive measures to be initiated including…
Read moreThe recently published book The Queen of fats:why omega 3s were removed from the western diet and what we can do to replace them. Susan AllportUniversity of Californai Press 2006is a very interesting account of these important fats. The nutritional qualities of these fats are well outlined. The only misgivings are1. The rapid depletion of…
Read moreA good general book on practical nutrition What to eat: an Aisle to Aisle guide to savvy food choices and good eating.North Point Press 2006 624 pp $30
Read moreThomas Malthus ( 1766-1835 ) argued that population growth was increasing faster than the means of providing food. Improved agriculture and means of providing food have proved that his argument was not correct.However Akio Shibata of the Marubeni Research Institute in Japan suggests that Japan faces a potential food crisis that could lead to austere…
Read moreIndustrial pollution has an important effect on children’s development. Pollutants may lower the IQ of growing and developing children. Over a thousand chemicals are neurotoxic, various uses, few of which are tested for neurotoxicity. Quite reasonably if the use is far removed from the nursery.Important chemicals are lead, methyl mercury, arsenic, polychlorinated biphenyls, solvents including…
Read morePesticides are widely used in agriculture and hence have an impact on our diet and nutrtion. One and half million tonnes of pesticide are produced a year at a cost of 30 billion US dollars. The use of pesticides has resulted in increased crop yields, opening up of new agricultural grounds and reducion in vecto-transmitted…
Read moreThe BMJ of 18th November 2006 has a leader and an article devoted to this very real problem. Local programmes and changes in policy have not had a substantial influence on reducing the number of obese children.In a large study in Glasgow nurseries, Reilly and his colleagues (BMJ 2006, vol 333, pp 1041-3) studied in…
Read more