Epidemiological evidence suggests that a high intake of plant foods is associated with lower risk of chronic diseases.The mechanism of action and the components involved in this effect have not been clearly identified . A class of secondary metabolites present in a wide range of plant foods: the flavonoids, have different biological roles. The anti-inflammatory…
Read moreThis review is a comprehensive overview of the benefits of whole grain cereals. Epidemiological studies have shown that whole-grain cereals can protect against obesity, diabetes, cardio vascular disease and cancers. The specific effects of food structure (increased satiety, reduced transit time and glycaemic response), fibre (improved faecal bulking and satiety, viscosity and SCFA production, and/or…
Read moreVitamin D insufficiency has been implicated in many musculoskeletal and extra skeletal diseases, which has led to substantial interest in the determinants of vitamin D status. This paper by Wang et al Our findings establish a role for common genetic variants in regulation of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations. The presence of harmful alleles at the…
Read moreThe public health message is : avoid the sun to prevent melanoma and other forms of skin cancer. But exposure to sunlight is important for vitamin D synthesis, and vitamin D deficiency causes rickets and osteomalacia, contributes to osteoporosis.Ultraviolet B radiation produces 90% of vitamin D in human beings, only a very small proportion can…
Read morePredicting the magnitude and rate of weight gain for a given increase of energy intake requires a model of whole-body energy expenditure that includes the energy cost of tissue deposition. Hall in this paper introduces a mathematical framework for modelling energy expenditure that elucidates conceptual problems with the classical Kielanowski method for estimating the efficiencies…
Read moreThe variety of Viruses and their life cycles are poorly understood in the human gut and other body habitats. Phages and their encoded functions may provide information of a human microbiota and of microbial community responses to various disturbances.This paper reports sequencing of the viromes (metagenomes) of virus-like particles isolated from faecal samples collected from…
Read moreObesity and sex are subjects that doctors find especially difficult to discuss with patients, despite evidence that such discussions help. Although short conversations (three to five minutes) during routine Visits can contribute to changes in behaviour, such as increasing physical activ¬ity, eating less fat, and losing weight, most primary care professionals do not talk to…
Read moreThe process of ageing and longevity may be controlled biologically by specific alterations in chromatin state. The link between chromatin and ageing has mostly focused on histone deacetylation by the Sir2 family, but less is known about the role of other histone modifications in longevity. Histone methylation has a crucial role in development and in…
Read moreA crisis is developing beneath China’s farms and cities. With about 20% of the world’s popula-tion but only about 5-7% of global freshwater resources, China draws heavily on ground¬water. Those reserves are being depleted at an alarming rate in some regions and are badly polluted in many others.The water crisis is not unique to China,…
Read morePost-translational modification of histones provides an important regulatory platform for processes such as gene transcription and DNA damage repair. It has become increasingly apparent that the misregulation of histone modification, which is caused by the deregulation of factors that mediate the modification installation, removal and/or interpretation, actively contributes to human cancer. In this Review, the…
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