Eats « Weekly Gravy

Did you know that sodium is the bad guy in salt, raising your risks for high blood pressure and other heart ills? Luckily for Americans, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is working to make it easier for you and your family to eat food with less sodium. Because more than 70% of the sodium you eat comes from processed foods and restaurant fare, the FDA is working closely with the food industry to slowly lower sodium levels across a wide range of foods. In the meantime, you and your family can also find ways to lower the amount of sodium you eat. The recommended limit for sodium is 2,300 milligrams (mg) per day for people aged 14 and older. Unfortunately, Americans consume about 3,400 mg of sodium each day, on average. That’s more than 50% above than the recommended limit, the FDA noted in a news release. Consuming too much salt can trigger high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart disease and stroke, and 90% of Americans are eating more sodium than is recommended. While almost 5 in 10 Americans have high blood pressure, almost 6 in 10 Black adults have the condition. Even children and adolescents eat too much sodium. Evidence shows that children who eat foods higher in sodium can carry those poor eating habits into adulthood, the FDA added. What can… read on > read on >

Folks who struggle to reduce their carb intake might be able to blame ancient DNA still lurking in humans, a new study suggests. Humans carry multiple copies of the salivary amylase gene (AMY1), which helps begin breaking down starch in the mouth — the first step in digesting carb-laden foods like bread and pasta, researchers said. The duplication of this gene might have occurred as far back as more than 800,000 years ago, long before the advent of farming, and it helped shape human adaptation to starchy foods, researchers argue. Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starch into glucose, and it also gives bread its distinctive taste, researchers said. “The idea is that the more amylase genes you have, the more amylase you can produce and the more starch you can digest effectively,” said researcher Omer Gokcumen, a professor of biological sciences with the University of Buffalo. For the study, researchers analyzed the genetics of 68 ancient human bodies, including a person who lived 45,000 years ago in Siberia. They found that pre-agricultural hunter-gatherers carried an average of four to eight AMY1 copies in their genetic makeup, suggesting that people already had adapted to eating starchy foods long before they began growing foods like wheat and potatoes. AMY1 gene duplications also were found in ancient human ancestors like Neanderthals and Denisovans, the researchers added.… read on > read on >

Pharmacists may continue making compounded versions of the weight-loss medication tirzepatide while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revisits its Oct. 2 decision to remove the medicine from a national drug shortage list. What prompted the FDA to reconsider its decision? On Oct. 7, a compounding trade group filed a lawsuit challenging the agency’s action, saying there was still a shortage of the wildly popular drug. On Friday, the FDA responded in a court filing that compounding pharmacies could continue making the drug while the agency re-evaluates its finding, NBC News reported. Shortages of tirzepatide, sold as a diabetes drug (Mounjaro) and a weight-loss medication (Zepbound), have fueled demand for compounding pharmacies to make their own versions of the medicine, which patients say are cheaper and easier to get. During FDA-declared drug shortages, compounding pharmacies can make versions that are copies of the brand-name drugs in shortage. But the agency’s Oct. 2 announcement said pharmacies that produce large batches of medications would no longer be able to accept new orders of tirzepatide and had 60 days to fill their existing orders. The agency’s Friday filing said its latest move was “effectively the relief that Plaintiffs sought in their motion.” In the filing, the agency said it wouldn’t “take action” against the plaintiffs and their members making compounded versions of the drugs as it re-evaluates its decision, NBC News reported. … read on > read on >

“Black Box” warnings added to antidepressants might have contributed to an increase in suicide attempts and deaths among young people, a new evidence review claims. The warnings say that antidepressants might be associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children and teens, and were intended to prompt doctors to more closely monitor young people prescribed the drugs, researchers said. Instead, the warnings caused doctors to think twice before prescribing antidepressants to youth, possibly prompting a decline in mental health among kids and teens, results show. “The sudden, simultaneous and sweeping effects of these warnings — the reduction in depression treatment and increase in suicide — are documented across 14 years of strong research,” said lead researcher Stephen Soumerai, a professor of population medicine at Harvard Medical School’s Pilgrim Health Care Institute. Since 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has advised that antidepressants could be linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviors in young people. The FDA required that a Black Box warning be placed on antidepressants in 2005, notifying doctors of this possible effect in kids younger than 18. In 2007, the FDA expanded the warning to include young adults up to age 24. To see how the warning might have affected treatment of depression, researchers analyzed the pooled data from 11 studies between 2003 and 2022. The data show that fewer than 5% of… read on > read on >

Checking your blood pressure at home? Pay attention to arm position. A new study by Johns Hopkins researchers confirms that it makes a “huge difference” when it comes to getting an accurate measurement. And, the authors add, health care providers need to be more careful about it, too. “[Patients] must advocate for themselves in the clinical setting and when measuring their BP at home,” said senior study author Dr. Tammy Brady, vice chair for clinical research in the department of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Nearly half of U.S. adults have elevated blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). The diagnosis is made when the force of blood flowing through blood vessels is higher than normal (120/80, on average). Left untreated, hypertension puts a person at increased risk of stroke, heart attack and other serious heart conditions. The new study looked at the effects of three arm positions during a blood pressure test: supported on a desk; supported on a lap; and hanging at the patient’s side. The study found that lap support overestimated systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) by nearly 4 mmHg, while an arm hanging at the patients side overestimated it by nearly 7 mmHg. Systolic pressure is the pressure against artery walls when the heart beats. AHA guidelines for measuring blood… read on > read on >

The large majority of people with food allergy, and the caregivers of kids with such allergies, say the condition has led to psychological distress, a new study finds. However, only about 1 in every 5 such people have ever been assessed and counseled on their anxieties, the same report also found. “Our research highlights a major unmet need for psychological support for food allergy,” said Rebecca Knibb, a professor of psychology at Aston University in Birmingham, England. The main source of worry: The danger of anaphylaxis, a severe reaction to even small amounts of the food the person or their child is allergic to. The new study centered on an online survey of more than 1,300 adults with food allergy, as well as more than 1,900 caregivers of children with food allergy. Respondents to the survey came from more than 20 countries. In total, almost 68% of the adults with food allergy surveyed said that they’d had “direct experience” of psychological distress linked to their condition, as did nearly 78% of those caring for a child with such allergies. Most of those people said their main source of anxiety was the possibility of anaphylaxis, but “over half felt sadness about the impact of food allergy on their lives [54.1%],” Knibb’s team reported. Among caregivers of kids with food allergy, about 35% worried that the condition… read on > read on >

THURSDAY, Oct. 3, 2024 (HeathDay News) — Moms-to-be have long known about breast milk’s multiple benefits. Now, a global study confirms that antibodies passed from to baby in breast milk can indeed shield against disease. Immune system antibodies against one common infection, rotavirus, were especially protective, said a team from the University of Rochester in New York. “It was encouraging to see such a clear link between higher antibody levels and a delay to rotavirus infection,” said study lead author Dr. Kirsi Jarvinen-Seppo, a professor of allergy and immunology at the university’s Golisano Children’s Hospital. The new study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and published recently in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The research involved analysis of breast milk samples from 695 women in Finland, the United States, Pakistan, Peru and Bangladesh. Jarvinen-Seppo and her colleagues measured levels of certain IgA and IgG immune system antibodies produced in breast milk, and pitted them against 1,607 proteins from 30 disease-linked germs. The participants’ global diversity was key to the research. “We would expect to find differences in antibody levels in different countries, due to different diseases circulating among areas of the world, but this is one of the first times that there’s been a head-to-head comparison for dozens of pathogens across several continents,” Jarvinen-Seppo explained in a university news release. The study… read on > read on >

A new law just passed in California makes it the first state to tell public schools they may no longer serve foods that contain six artificial dyes linked to health and behavior problems among children. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the California School Food Safety Act into law on Saturday. It bans Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, Blue 2 and Green 3 in meals, drinks and snacks served in school cafeterias across the state, although the law won’t take effect until Dec. 31, 2027. “Our health is inextricably tied to the food we eat — but fresh, healthy foods aren’t always available or affordable for families,” Newsom said in a news release after signing the bill into law. “Today, we are refusing to accept the status quo, and making it possible for everyone, including school kids, to access nutritious, delicious food without harmful, and often addictive, additives. By giving every child a healthy start, we can set them on the path to a future with less risk of obesity and chronic illness.” The bill was first proposed in March by Democratic Assembly member Jesse Gabriel, three years after a state report linked consuming synthetic food dyes to hyperactivity and neurobehavioral problems in some children. “Overall, our review of human studies suggests that synthetic food dyes are associated with adverse neurobehavioral effects, such as inattentiveness,… read on > read on >

If you think it isn’t important to start breastfeeding your newborn while still in the hospital, think again. New research shows that infants who were exclusively fed breast milk during their hospitalization right after birth were 22% less likely to develop asthma in early childhood. The findings, to be presented Sunday at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., held even after adjusting for maternal race, insurance, infant sex and length of hospital stay. “Although the birth hospitalization lasts only a few days, it sets a critical foundation for establishing breastfeeding, which can influence health outcomes like childhood asthma,” said study author Dr. Laura Placke Ward, co-director for the Center for Breastfeeding Medicine at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. “Our study underscores the importance of hospital practices in supporting exclusive breastfeeding, as these early experiences may impact long-term health,” she added in a meeting news release. While longer periods of exclusive breastfeeding are known to reduce asthma risk, the benefits of breastfeeding right after birth and before mom and baby leave the hospital is less well understood, the study authors noted. “Breast milk is the optimal nutrition for newborns, and breastfed infants have a decreased risk of developing many childhood illnesses, including asthma,” the researchers said. “Studies have shown that longer periods of exclusive breastfeeding confer greater protection against asthma, but few… read on > read on >

Four out of five pregnant women will become deficient in an essential nutrient, iron, by their third trimester, a new study finds. The researchers and other experts are now advocating that iron levels be routinely checked during a pregnancy for the safety of a mother and her baby. Right now, guidelines from the United States Preventive Services Taskforce (USPSTF), an influential independent panel of medical experts, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) do not advocate for regular iron checks. However, the new findings suggest that both groups should “change their approach to diagnosis to screen all pregnant women for iron deficiency, irrespective of the presence or absence of anemia, and recommend supplementation when present for the most frequent nutrient deficiency disorder that we encounter,” wrote the authors of an editorial accompanying the new study. The findings were published Sept. 26 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The new research was led by Dr. Elaine McCarthy, a lecturer in nutrition at the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences at University College Cork, in Ireland. Her team noted that pregnancy brings on a 10-fold surge in uptake of dietary iron to supply the needs of both the fetus and the mom-to-be. A woman’s bodily “iron stores” at the beginning of her pregnancy can help supply much of this needed iron, but McCarthy’s team… read on > read on >