Diet and nutrition tips for Parkinson's patients

A person suffering from Parkinson’s disease almost always needs a caregiver and due to the very nature of this disease, eating becomes a task apart from performing other bodily functions. This is because in Parkinson’s disease, the nerves function abnormally due to lack of a brain chemical called dopamine. 

This causes loss in controlling body movements. The caregiver needs to make sure that the food given to the ill person is nutritious yet easy for them to eat and digest. Well-known nutritionist Naini Setalvad gives some pointers as to what diet patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease should follow. 

‘Such people need to be given a soft and moist diet but there should be a lot of fibre or else constipation sets in. The soft texture makes it easy for them to sallow and they often have chewing difficulties. Keep the portions small but frequent for better digestion,’ says Naini. Following are foods they can eat. 

Fruits such as mango, banana, chickoo can be mashed or made into smoothies.

Coconut water can also be given. 

Vegetables can be given in the form of soups, veg juices and soft vegetables like bottle gourd (doodhi) pumpkin, spinach, etc can be made into a purée.

In grains, khichdi with vegetables, upma with veg, idlis, dhoklas, dalias, oats with vegetables are a few options. Mashing them to make them very soft and gulp will be easier for the patients to eat them. 

Thin dals is one option. Well-cooked, moist beans is another. 

Dairy products such as curd (vegetables  can be puréed in as raita), buttermilk,  milk, and paneer in the form of bhurji can be given.

Nuts can be powdered, added to dips like pesto, and also be given as nut milk such as almond milk, coconut milk, etc. 

Include a good amount of liquids to maintain hydration. 

Limit non-veg food to – scrambled eggs, poached eggs, chicken broth. 

Avoid fried foods, anything spicy, high caloric foods and also limit sugar.

Demystifying six food myths

Nutrition advice comes so fast and furious, sometimes it’s hard to keep track of what’s good and what’s bad for you. And oftentimes when that advice is boiled down to a hard and fast rule, that rule becomes, well, slightly untrue. So we asked some nutrition experts to identify the more common food myths we hear, and the truth behind them.

MYTH: Microwaving foods kills nutrients

Microwaving is actually among the more preferable ways of keeping all the good things in foods like vegetables intact. Boiling can leech out valuable vitamins and minerals, but because microwaving heats up food without using a lot of water, it helps foods to stay nutrient-packed.

MYTH: The more grains, the better

While grains are certainly preferable to refined white flour because they contain more fiber and vitamin B, don’t fall into the multigrain trap. Just because a product has multiple different grains doesn’t mean those grains aren’t processed and stripped of many of the good things you want from them. 

"In processing grains for convenience, you’re potentially losing the nutrients and changing the 
degree to which they are absorbed,” says Nicolette Pace, spokesperson for the New York State 
Dietetic Association.

Check the label and look for the word “whole” before any grains listed. And make sure the whole grains are the first thing among the ingredients, which confirms that they make up the most important part of the food.

Another clue is the fiber content. “If you’re seeing than an 11-cracker serving contains 1g of fiber, there’s probably not a lot of whole grain in there,” says Pace.

MYTH: Fat-free salad dressings are healthier

Fruits and vegetables have fat-soluble nutrients that need fat in order to work–like the lycopene in tomatoes, which has been linked to lower cancer and stroke risk. Opting for a fat-free dressing may deprive you of those benefits. Try olive oil-based options instead, or add avocados and nuts, both of which contain healthy fats, to your salad instead.

MYTH: Avoid white vegetables

Nutrition experts advocate for colorful foods – the brighter, and more diverse the rainbow on your

plate, the better. And that’s still true; carrots and strawberries are high in beta carotene, an important antioxidant that fights damaging inflammation in cells, and dark green produce is a rich source of antioxidants, fiber, calcium, and vitamins like C and K.

But that doesn’t mean that their white cousins are nutritional failures. In fact, cauliflower, garlic, 
onions, mushrooms, and, yes, even potatoes are good sources of fiber, antioxidants, and potassium. And while the white potato has become tuber non grata for dieters, adding a moderate amount of potato to your diet won’t derail weight entirely. 

In fact, because it’s so full of fiber, a little goes a long way toward making you feel full and eating less overall. “It’s something you can use as a vehicle to build a meal,” says McDaniel. “If you add broccoli and little bit of cheese, it can be a satisfying meal for someone trying to lose weight.”

MYTH: Juice cleanses are cleansing

People think juice cleanses are a good way to detox the body,” says Jennifer McDaniel, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “But I remind my clients that you have a built-in detox organ, the liver, and it’s very good at what it does.” It probably won’t harm you if you go on a juice cleanse for a day or so, but as a way to lose weight, it’s not such a good idea, since it deprives you of proteins and fats, and may lead to losing muscle.

MYTH: Coffee will only make you thirstier

While the caffeine in coffee is a diuretic, meaning it draws water out of your body, the amount of water in coffee means that overall, it can be a thirst quencher. Water is still your best option to stay hydrated, but don’t avoid coffee if you’re a regular java drinker because you think it dehydrate you.

Good nutrition can be a matter of taste

With 10,000 taste buds governing our palate, it's no wonder that taste dictates most of our food choices.

That's the word from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND). While sight and smell also play a part in our selection process, the sense of taste trumps them both. And just as we know what we like, we also can have too much of a good thing.

When the foods we consume each day begin to lose their luster, boredom often sets in. And that's when we tend to go for those that are less healthy for us.

 Constance Brown-Riggs, registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the Academy, notes that once we find nutritious foods we like, it's easy to fall into a rut of eating those same foods over and over. 
Jumping out of that rut is as easy as exploring the myriad of new foods and flavors just waiting to be discovered. Expanding the menu helps us stay on an eating program that is nutritious as well as tasty.
From shopping to dining out, satisfying our taste buds is as easy as being a little adventurous. Smart changes can be taken in baby steps — trying just one new fruit, vegetable or whole grain every week.


"You can start small by picking a different type of apple, a different color potato or a new flavor of whole-grain rice until you are comfortable picking entirely new things that you've never tried or heard of before," Brown-Riggs says.

In addition, the Academy suggests building a healthier diet by substituting nutrient-rich foods and beverages for those that may not be good for you. Limiting foods high in added sugars or solid fats is as easy as drinking fewer fruit drinks and sodas and cutting back on cookies, cakes and ice cream as well as fatty meats such as hot dogs, sausages and bacon. That's not to say you can never indulge in these foods, but they should be eaten only occasionally in small amounts.

Another part of the campaign looks at ways to bring the family together more often for meals that are tasty, nutritious and enjoyable. Even if it's only several times a week, family dining offers a lot of perks in addition to what's on the plate.

Academy spokeswoman Angela Ginn, a registered dietitian, says research shows family meals include more fruits, vegetables and fiber, and often fewer calories. In addition to nutritious eating aspects, family meals do much more than putting food on the table.


"Beyond preparing the meal itself, we sometimes forget that mealtimes offer time to talk, listen and build family relationships. And it's a chance for parents to be good role models for healthful eating," she says.

The Academy urges families to bump up those family meals and to try new foods and dishes that involve each family member, from choosing a dish to helping set the table and prepare the food. If school nights are unmanageable, Ginn suggests the family "dinner" might instead be a leisurely weekend breakfast or lunch.

 To expand the rainbow of unique fruits, vegetables and dishes from around the world, the Academy offers exciting recipes ranging from Peach Chutney with Chinese Five Spice (typically made of star anise, cinnamon, cloves, Sichuan peppercorns and fennel seeds) to West African jollof — a spicy one-pot dish made of rice, tomatoes, red pepper and spices — served up with fried plantains on the side. In addition, a dried fruit soup that's as at home served over your breakfast oatmeal as it is for dinner can tempt the taste buds.

These dishes feature the vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats, beans, nuts and seeds — as well as low-fat dairy — recommended for a nutritious diet, all presented in a new, exciting way.


Brown-Riggs says it's also an opportunity to get to know your spice cabinet. "A pinch of this and a dash of that can add a fresh zest to an old favorite," she says.

 "There's truly a world of flavors to explore." For those not quite as adventurous in the kitchen, Brown-Riggs suggests taking advantage of ethnic restaurants that offer dishes from Asia, Europe and Africa. From exotic spices to fresh, seasonal ingredients, the exotic fare add an exciting twist of flavor to healthy eating.

Avoid nutrition nasties at breatfast

Breakfast, it's often said, is the most important meal of the day. It's also the one we tend to give the least thought.

Most of us eat the same thing for breakfast most days, myself included. But it's worth giving breakfast a bit of thought, and making sure what you're eating at the start of the day isn't hiding nutritional nasties.

Breakfast literally "breaks the fast" from the nine or more hours since your last meal, providing your body with an energy boost and much needed nutrients to start the day. Research shows that people who eat breakfast have higher intakes of fibre, vitamins and minerals, while those who skip it are less likely to meet their daily dietary requirements.

Eating breakfast has also been shown to help with weight maintenance - those who eat it regularly have healthier body weights. Eating breakfast also improves alertness, mood, mental performance, concentration and memory.

Cereal is a popular and easy choice for many of us, and it can be a nutritious option. With milk, cereal can provide carbohydrate, protein, fibre, calcium and some vitamins. But the choice in the cereal aisle can be overwhelming, and cereals can vary from healthy options to dessert-in-disguise.

Some cereals can pack an unnecessary wallop of sugar. Good old Weet-Bix has just 2.8 per cent sugar, which equates to about teaspoon of sugar per two-biscuit serve. But some cereals - especially, sadly, ones aimed at kids - can have 30 per cent or 40 per cent sugar.

Kellogg's Frosties, for example, has 41.3 per cent sugar - or just over three teaspoons of sugar in a ¼ cup serve. Considering many growing kids would eat a lot more than ¼ cup, that's not an ideal way to start the day.

You may not think of cereal as salty, but salt is commonly used in food manufacturing for taste, texture and preservation. Cornflakes and rice bubble-type cereals can contain around 200mg sodium per serve, or a 10th of the salt we should have in a whole day.

Sugar and salt are not the whole picture. It's important to look for high fibre and whole grains. Muesli can be a good choice, especially if it contains wholegrain oats, as these are minimally processed, full of nutrients and have their useful fibre intact. Oats are also moderate-GI and contain cholesterol-lowering beta-glucan.

So how to choose? If you're buying cereal, check and compare the "per 100g" column. Look for 400mg or less sodium per 100g; 3g or less saturated fat per 100g; 15g or less sugar per 100g (25g or less for cereals with dried fruit) and 5g or more fibre per 100g.

A great option to avoid all the label detective work is to make your own muesli. I do this so I can avoid added sugar and salt and get a combination of healthy grains, nuts and seeds that I like. With some plain yoghurt and berries or banana, I have a low-sugar, high-fibre brekkie that keeps me going all morning.

Bananageddon: Millions face hunger as deadly fungus Panama disease decimates global banana crop

Scientists have warned that the world's banana crop, worth £26 billion and a crucial part of the diet of more than 400 million people, is facing "disaster" from virulent diseases immune to pesticides or other forms of control.

Alarm at the most potent threat - a fungus known as Panama disease tropical race 4 (TR4) - has risen dramatically after it was announced in recent weeks that it has jumped from South-east Asia, where it has already devastated export crops, to Mozambique and Jordan.

A United Nations agency told The Independent that the spread of TR4 represents an "expanded threat to global banana production". Experts said there is a risk that the fungus, for which there is currently no effective treatment, has also already made the leap to the world's most important banana growing areas in Latin America, where the disease threatens to destroy vast plantations of the Cavendish variety. 

The variety accounts for 95 per cent of the bananas shipped to export markets including the United Kingdom, in a trade worth £5.4bn.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will warn in the coming days that the presence of TR4 in the Middle East and Africa means "virtually all export banana plantations" are vulnerable unless its spread can be stopped and new resistant strains developed.

In a briefing document obtained by The Independent, the FAO warns: "In view of the challenges associated with control of the disease and the risk posed to the global banana supply, it is evident that a concerted effort is required from industry, research institutions, government and international organisations to prevent spread of the disease."

Scientists are particularly concerned about the impact of TR4 across the developing world, where an estimated 410 million people rely on the fruit for up to a third of their daily calories.

According to one estimate, TR4 could destroy up to 85 per cent of the world's banana crop by volume.

Since it emerged in the 1950s as the replacement for another banana variety ravaged by an earlier form of Panama disease, Cavendish has helped make bananas the most valuable fruit crop in the world, dominated by large multinational growing companies such as Fyffes, Chiquita and Dole.

But the crop - and many other banana varieties - have no defence against TR4, which can live for 30 years or more in the soil and reduces the core of the banana plant to a blackened mush.

It can wipe out plantations within two or three years and despite measures to try to prevent its spread from the original outbreak in Indonesia, it is now on the move. Such is the virulence of soil-based fungus, it can be spread in water droplets or tiny amounts of earth on machinery or shoes.

Professor Rony Swennen, a leading banana expert based at Leuven University in Belgium, said: "If (TR4) is in Latin America, it is going to be a disaster, whatever the multinationals do. Teams of workers move across different countries. The risk is it is going to spread like a bush fire."

Another senior scientist, who asked not to be named because of his links with the banana industry, said: "There are good grounds for believing that TR4 is already in Latin America."

The Panama fungus is just one of several diseases which also threaten banana production, in particular among smallholders and subsistence farmers.

Black sigatoka, another fungus to have spread from Asia, has decimated production in parts of the Caribbean since it arrived in the 1990s, reducing exports by 90 to 100 per cent in five countries.

Researchers say they are struggling to secure funding to discover new banana varieties or develop disease-resistant GM strains.

Professor Randy Ploetz, of the University of Florida, said: "The Jordan and Mozambique TR4 outbreaks are alarming but have helped increase awareness about this problem."

But the large producers insist the problem can be controlled. Dublin-based Fyffes, which last month announced a merger with America's Chiquita to form the world's largest banana company, said: "While we continue to monitor the situation, as of yet we do not foresee any serious impact for UK banana supplies."

The Cavendish: A top banana under threat

When the world banana industry found itself in crisis in the 1950s, it was saved by a fruit cultivated in Derbyshire and named after a duke.

The Cavendish banana was grown by the gardener and architect Joseph Paxton while he was working for the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth House.

Paxton managed to acquire one of two banana plants sent to England in around 1830 and began growing the fruit in the stately home's glasshouses. He named his banana Musa cavendishii after the 6th Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish.

The Chatsworth bananas were later sent to Samoa and the Canary Islands, providing forerunners for the variety which emerged in the 1950s to succeed the Gros Michel or Big Mike - the banana sub-species wiped out by an early version of Panama disease between 1903 and 1960.

Cavendish is now the world's single most successful - and valuable - banana, accounting for 47 per cent of all cultivated bananas and nearly the entire export trade, worth £5.3 billion.

Curing doctors' dangerous lack of nutrition education

Sue LaFortune was in excruciating pain. For more than 20 years, Sue had battled severe migraines. Often, the pain dragged on for days on end. She saw dozens of doctors, tried seemingly endless prescription pills, and had even undergone surgery. But nothing provided relief.

Then, in a clinical study at the Physicians Committee, Sue tried something new: a plant-based diet of fruits, veggies, legumes, and grains. Out with the meat, dairy products, and eggs. She saw an almost immediate difference. Decades of painful migraines came to a stop, and she has been almost completely migraine-free since then.

Everyone who suffers from a chronic disease—from migraines to type 2 diabetes to heart disease—deserves the relief that lifestyle changes can bring. But most doctors feel ill-equipped to provide it. Doctors learn about prescription drugs and about surgery. But the role of food is underemphasized in medical education.

Currently, most patients who seek doctors’ help for these problems only find a cocktail of drugs or a scalpel—approaches that continually fail to treat or heal. The vast majority of American doctors never learn that dietary approaches exist—so neither do their patients.

In 1985, the National Academies of Science recommended that every aspiring doctor in the United States receive at least 25 hours of nutrition instruction. But the most recent survey of U.S. medical schools offers a harrowing diagnosis: Very few schools meet that recommendation, and only one in four requires even a single course on nutrition.

Despite the prevalence of diet-related disease, the number of schools offering the minimum nutrition instruction is declining.

Faculty, medical students, and doctors are conscious of their deficiency. More than three-quarters of medical school instructors admit that students need more nutrition education, and more than half of graduating medical students rate their nutrition knowledge as “inadequate.”

A study in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that although 94 percent of physicians feel that nutrition counseling should be part of primary care visits, a mere 14 percent feel qualified to offer it.

The only stakeholders not-so-blissfully unaware of this problem, it seems, are the patients: Surveys show that consumers consider physicians credible sources of nutrition information.

Of course, they’re the ones paying the price. Four years ago, diet surpassed smoking as the largest risk factor for disease and death in the U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7 out of every 10 deaths are caused by chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes that can be prevented and treated through lifestyle changes. Chronic diseases account for a whopping 75 percent of the $2 trillion annual U.S. health care spending.

The evidence to support using diet to prevent, treat, and reverse disease is overwhelming. Plant-based diets have been shown to surpass even the strongest drugs as an effective prevention and treatment strategy for conditions ranging from high cholesterol to even some cancers.

Last spring, Kaiser Permanente, the largest HMO in the U.S., urged physicians to “consider recommending a plant-based diet to all their patients, especially those with high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or obesity.”

Some might argue that dietitians—not doctors—should be responsible for offering advice about diet. But doctors don’t even know enough about nutrition to understand when to refer a patient to these specialists.

Instead, they push conventional treatments like drugs and surgery, even when dietary changes could be more effective—and much less dangerous. All the side effects of eating more healthfully are good: weight loss, improved energy, and prevention of other problems from stroke to Alzheimer’s disease.

But two new bills expected to be introduced this week could help doctors learn more about the crucial link between diet and disease. The Education and Training (EAT) for Health Act and the Expanding Nutrition’s Role in Curriculums and Healthcare (ENRICH) Act would boost nutrition education for current and future physicians, respectively.

The EAT for Health Act ensures federally employed physicians and nurse practitioners receive continuing medical education in nutrition annually, while the ENRICH Act establishes a grant program to help medical schools incorporate nutrition into school curricula.

Sue’s story is awe-inspiring, but it doesn’t have to be unique. We can win the battle against the epidemic of chronic illnesses if those on the front lines are armed with a strong education in nutrition. The EAT for Health and ENRICH Acts would give doctors the knowledge—and patients the care—they deserve.

Fight against poverty and hunger strengthen as new peanut genome released

The International Peanut Genome Initiative (IPGI), a multi-national group of crop geneticists working in cooperation for several years, has successfully sequenced the genome of the peanut.
The new peanut genome sequence will be available to researchers and plant breeders across the globe to aid in the breeding of more productive, more resilient peanut varieties.

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea), also called groundnut, is an important crop both commercially and nutritionally. Globally, farmers tend about 24 million hectares of peanut each year, producing about 40 million metric tons. While the oil and protein rich legume is seen as a cash crop in the developed world, it remains an important sustenance crop in developing nations.

Dr Scott Jackson, Director of the University of Georgia (UGA) Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, serves as chair of the International Peanut Genome Initiative.

“The peanut crop is important in the United States, but it’s very important for developing nations as well,” Dr Jackson said. “In many areas, it is a primary calorie source for families and a cash crop for farmers.” 

“Rich in protein and edible oil, peanut is central to the financial and nutritional well-being of hundreds of millions of farmers and consumers across the semi-arid tropics of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dr William Dar, Director General of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) with its global headquarters based in Hyderabad, India.

“Improving peanut varieties to be more drought, insect and disease resistant, using the genome sequence, can help farmers in developed nations produce more peanuts with fewer pesticides and other chemicals and help farmers in developing nations feed their families and build more-secure livelihoods,” said Dr Rajeev Varshney, Research Program Director – Grain Legumes and Director, Center of Excellence in Genomics, ICRISAT.

Peanut is one of ICRISAT’s mandate crops, along with chickpea, pigeonpea, sorghum and pearl millet. In the fight against poverty and hunger amid the threat of climate change, these highly nutritious, drought-tolerant crops are the best bets for resource-poor, smallholder farmers in the drylands to survive and improve their livelihoods.

The effort to sequence the genome of the peanut has been underway for several years. According to plant geneticist, Dr Peggy Ozias-Akins, UGA-Tifton, GA, while peanuts have been successfully bred for intensive cultivation, relatively little was known about the legume’s genetic structure because of its complexity. 

Plant geneticists, Drs David and Soraya Bertioli of Brazil expressed their enthusiasm for the new possibilities offered by the genome sequence, “Until now, we've bred peanuts relatively blindly compared to other crops. These new advances are allowing us to understand breeding in ways that could only be dreamt of before.”

The peanut grown in fields today is the result of a natural cross between two wild species, Arachis duranensis andArachis ipaensis that occurred in the north of Argentina between 4,000 and 6,000 years ago. Because its ancestors were two different species, today’s peanut is a tetraploid, meaning the species carries two separate genomes which are designated A and B sub-genomes.

To map the peanut’s genome structure, IPGI researchers sequenced the two ancestral parents, because together they represent the cultivated peanut. The sequences provide researchers access to 96 percent of all peanut genes in their genomic context, providing the molecular map needed to more quickly breed drought-resistant, disease-resistant, lower-input and higher-yielding varieties.

The two ancestor wild species were collected from nature decades ago. One of the ancestral species, A. duranensis,is widespread but the other, A. ipaensis, has only ever been collected from one location, and indeed may now be extinct in the wild. 

When grappling with the thorny problem of how to understand peanut’s complex genome, it was clear that the genomes of the two ancestor species would provide excellent models for the genome of the cultivated peanut: A. duranenis serving as a model for the A sub-genome of the cultivated peanut and A. ipaensis serving as a model for the B sub-genome. Fortunately because of the long-sighted efforts of germplasm collection and conservation, both species were available for study and use by the IPGI.

Knowing the genome sequences of the two parent species will allow researchers to recognize the cultivated peanut’s genomic structure by differentiating between the two subgenomes present in this crop. 

Being able to see the two separate structural elements will also aid future gene marker development — the determination of links between a gene’s presence and a physical characteristic of the plant. Understanding the structure of the peanut’s genome will lay the groundwork for new varieties with traits like added disease resistance and drought tolerance.

University of California, Davis genome researchers, Drs Lutz Froenicke and Richard Michelmore are optimistic that these genome sequences will serve as a guide for the assembly of the cultivated peanut genome that will help to decipher genomic changes that led to peanut domestication, which was marked by increases in seed size and plant growth habit. 

ICRISAT is a member of the Peanut Genome Consortium, a coalition of international scientists and stakeholders engaged in the peanut genome sequencing project. ICRISAT led a global research partnership in decoding the genome sequence of pigeonpea in 2011, and of chickpea in 2013; it is currently leading the genome sequencing of pearl millet.

Why eating like a cavewoman is the best way to lose weight

The best way for a woman to lose weight may be to eat like her Stone Age ancestors. New research shows a cavewoman diet is potentially one of the most effective ways to slim.

Scientists came up with the findings after tracking female dieters for up to two years and comparing weight loss among those on the cavewoman - or paleolithic - diet with those complying with modern nutritional guidelines.

Results show women who ate like their predecessors lost twice as much body fat in the first six months as those on the modern-day diet. They also saw their waistlines shrink by a greater amount and levels of harmful blood fats called triglycerides decline more sharply.

Interest in paleolithic eating habits first arose a few years ago when scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden discovered eating like a caveman for just three weeks slashed the risk of heart attacks and strokes in men.

A paleolithic diet usually centres around berries, vegetables and lean meat but forbids foods such as cereals, beans, dairy products and pasta.

In the latest study, scientists from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at Cambridge University teamed up with colleagues at Umea University in Sweden to track obese women over a two-year period. They recruited 70 heavily overweight women and split them into two groups.

One was assigned to a diet based around paleolithic foods and the other to a Scandinavian-type diet based on something called Nordic Nutrition Recommendations.

These recommendations are updated every few years and revolve around a diet based mainly on whole-grain cereals, low-fat dairy goods, fruit, pulses, fish and vegetable oils. After six months, those on the cavewoman diet had lost an average of 6.2 kilogrammes of fat and saw an 11-centimetre reduction in waist circumference.

Women on the Nordic diet lost only 2.6kg of fat and their waist circumference decreased by just 5.8cm. Levels of triglyceride, a type of fat in the blood associated with increased heart disease risk, also dropped significantly in the Stone Age diet women but not those on the Scandinavian regime.

Blood pressure and cholesterol level were similar between the two groups.

By the end of the two-year study, there was much less of a difference between the two groups, suggesting weight loss slowed in those on the Stone Age diet. Although the research focused on postmenopausal women, it's expected that younger women and men of all ages would benefit in the same way.

In a report on their findings, published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the researchers said: 'A paleolithic diet has greater beneficial effects than a Nordic diet regarding fat mass, abdominal obesity and triglyceride levels in obese postmenopausal women.'

Catherine Collins, chief dietician at St Georges Hospital in London said the Stone Age diet appeared to accelerate weight loss in the first six months. But she stressed women appeared to lose less fat as the study progressed.

'This may be because the paleolithic diet is very low in protein, lacking in meat, eggs, cheese and milk. One of the effects of that is to slow the body's metabolic rate (the rate at which it burns calories). 

'As the metabolic rate declines, at some point that will stop you losing weight.'

Vegetarians are 'less healthy' and have a poorer quality of life than meat-eaters

Vegetarians are usually confident about the health benefits of their meat-free diets. But new research suggests vegetarian diets are associated with poorer health and quality of life. The  also showed that vegetarians visit their doctors more than meat eaters and that they are more prone to allergies, cancer and mental health problems.

It showed that non-meat eaters have double the risk of allergies and a 50 per cent increased risk of heart attacks and cancer, CBS Atlanta reports. They are also significantly more likely to experience depression and anxiety. However, the research from the Medical University of Graz, Austria, did reveal that vegetarians tend to be healthier in some ways.

It showed that they are usually more active and that they consume less alcohol. They are also less likely to smoke and tend to have lower BMIs. The research also revealed that people of high socioeconomic status are more likely to be vegetarian.

As a result, the researchers say more studies are needed to confirm their findings.

The researchers say: ‘Our study has shown that Austrian adults who consume a vegetarian diet are less healthy (in terms of cancer, allergies, and mental health disorders), have a lower quality of life, and also require more medical treatment.

‘Therefore, a continued strong public health programme for Austria is required in order to reduce the health risk due to nutritional factors.’

Source: Daily Mail

Concern as liver disease cases rise

GASTROLOGICAL and digestion medical practitioners in the country are increasingly worried following the rising cases of people suffering from liver cancer brought about by Hepatitis B, C and Cirrhosis or liver shrinking.

Speaking exclusively to the 'Daily News on Saturday,' the Muhimbili National Hospital -based East Africa Gastroenterology and Digestive Oncology Training Centre Head, Dr John Rwegasha said that prolonged alcohol use and to some extent the wrong nutrition were other causes of liver complications.

Dr Rwegasha said that when the centre started operating in 2011/2012, it dawned on them of the magnitude of the problems in the country in that they received an average of 50 patients daily and now they have 300 operations on a monthly basis.

He said that all signs were showing that when the centre expand and have all the required equipment and human resources, there was no doubt in his mind that this figure would not only double but even triple.

"This centre is expected to be opened officially in May, this year. It is both a treatment and training centre. Before, we had a smaller centre that was ill equipped and manned and so by the time we started seeing patients, many came with diseases that were already at terminal stages," he explained.

The state of the art facility is a joint project by the Muhimbili National Hospital, the Muhimbili University for Health and Allied Sciences, the Ocean Road Cancer Institute and the German Foundation which has injected modern equipment of over 1bn/-.

According to the World Health Organisation website, Hepatitis B is a potentially life-threatening liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus. It is a major global health problem. It can cause chronic liver disease and chronic infection and puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer.

Hepatitis B virus can cause an acute illness with symptoms that last several weeks, including yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice), dark urine, extreme fatigue, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Yellow eyes are a common symptom of jaundice

 "Our biggest challenge at the moment is that many of our patients have come very late. We need to create awareness and let people know that we have a state of the art facility and there is hope as long as one comes to be checked early," he said.

Dr Rwegasha said in the increased cases they were getting, they had started seeing a new phenomenon where diseases that were traditionally known to be for the older generation were now being seen among the youth and that interested them very much.

Ulcers and the shrinking of the liver that cause one to vomit blood, according to the specialist, were other causes that are common.

"Thanks to advanced technology that is available in some countries, liver transplants can be conducted using a relative with the same blood type. The one liver that has been removed easily grows back after some time and within weeks, both members are back on their feet, the only problem is that these procedures are very expensive," he said.

Foods good for liver cirrhosis

Many ailing Tanzanians fail to be referred to countries like India where this technology is available because of the high costs. Bringing this technology into the country would greatly improve the quality of life for many people.

Dr Rwegasha recalls an episode where he shed tears after attending to a woman with a shrunk liver for over two weeks, but later died because she wasn't able to raise 60,000 US Dollars (approximately 96m/-) for the operation alone excluding transport and other costs.

"The shrinking of the liver causes the backing up of blood flow in the veins of the stomach and esophagus eventually leading to the enlargement of veins which cause them to tear and bleed, something that is not only life threatening but also shows up as vomiting blood," he explained.

While there are many saddening stories from the centre, Dr Rwegasha was exceptionally thrilled to reveal that they had recently acquired an Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), that enables them to diagnose and treat conditions of the bile ducts and main pancreatic duct.

For the case of esophagus cancers, another disease that is common among Tanzanians, the physician said that they had acquired 10 self expandable plastic stents each worth 2m/- that helps patients to swallow food with better ease.

Dr Rwegasha advocated for the need for a national health insurance scheme that isn't only limited to the working class but also those of the informal sector.

"What we need is to have some form of health tax for everyone and the funds go into a pool and this will help sustain some of the services. Take the stents, for example, we currently have ten, each is 2m/-, once they have been used, we will have to sit and wait," he said with a frown.

Health financing in any country is paramount for the assurance of having sustainable services, this is something that the government through a number of ways is striving to achieve.

SOURCE: DAILY NEWS

Malnutrition to affect additional 11.7 million children by 2025

The future of Africa seems hazy as two in five children are currently affected by stunting, the under-development of the physical and mental well-being of a child.

This was made known by a Non-Government Organisation, NGO, Save the Children, in a statement.
An estimated 11.7 million more will be affected by 2025 if nothing is done to check the situation, Jasmine Whitbread, the Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children International, said.

“In Africa, two in five children are affected by stunting, the permanent effect of malnutrition, on the mental and physical development of a child. An estimated 11.7 million more will be affected by 2025 at current rates. That is millions of children whose physical, emotional, and intellectual development is at risk,” the statement said.

Mr Whitbread said stunting could lead to fatal health complications that burdens national healthcare systems as it reduces productivity and stops many children from finishing their education annually.
The statement noted that adults, who were malnourished as children, typically earned at least 20 per cent less on average than those who were not.

"This is also a global economic disaster, addressing stunting is not only crucial for each of these children but makes firm economic sense,” Ms. Whitbread said in the statement.

Globally, an estimated two to three per cent of national income in a country is lost every year due to malnutrition. Stunting not only affects health and education but also undermines economic growth, Save the Children International said.

The statement explained that if leaders should scale up nutritional interventions by $10 billion to $12 billion a year, it would save two million lives globally.

“The sustained development of Africa’s economies is dependent on the potential of Africa’s citizens.
“A whole generation of leaders, teachers and business owners is at risk without a commitment to addressing child stunting and malnutrition quickly and effectively.”


Save the Children International said there are cost-effective ways to reduce malnutrition that leads to child stunting. It listed the cost effective measures as direct interventions to nutrition, protecting vulnerable families from poverty and ensuring that the right food were available.

“Currently, the direct cost of child malnutrition is estimated to be between 20 and 30 billion Dollars a year. With the cooperation of national governments and international partners this is not only possible but must be done,” it said.

Policy makers meet in Kigali over access to nutritious foods

More than 275 stakeholders from government, business and the civil society converged on Kigali, Rwanda, since Monday, March 31,  for a three-day consultation on ‘Getting nutritious foods to people.’

Nearly one in three people globally is said to suffer from a lack of essential vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, zinc and iron in the diet. This condition – known as hidden hunger – increases the risk of stunting, anaemia, blindness, infectious diseases and even death. Women and children are especially vulnerable.

HarvestPlus, a global programme to improve nutrition and public health, has worked with partners to develop new varieties of nutritious food crops that provide more vitamin A, zinc, or iron.

These crops – already being grown by more than a million farmers – have been conventionally bred. They include cassava, maize and orange-flesh sweet potato for vitamin A; beans and pearl millet for iron and rice and wheat for zinc.

Studies have shown that these new varieties do provide nutritional benefits to consumers. “We’re just beginning to scratch the surface…we want to increase access to these nutritious crops as quickly as possible. Now is the time to bring partners together to figure out how we do this together,” said Howarth Bouis, the Director of HarvestPlus.

The conference was being hosted by the Government of Rwanda. More than 500,000 Rwandan farmers have already planted new varieties of beans that are rich in iron. These new iron beans also yield many more tonnes per hectare than the local varieties, and the surplus can be shared or sold.

Keynote speakers include M.S. Swaminathan, the renowned father of India’s Green Revolution; Chris Elias, President of the Global Development Programme at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and, Akinwumi Adesina, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2013.

Adesina serves on the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, a newly formed expert group that advises on nutrition-enhancing agricultural and food policies and investments. The panel will convene a special session to explore how bio-fortification could help decision makers in developing nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food policies.

“The evidence is promising, and we now need to explore the potential for bio-fortification to enhance agriculture and food policies for nutrition,” said Jeff Waage, Technical Advisor to the Global Panel and Director of the London International Development Centre.

The invitation-only consultation will be livestreamed and moderated by Jeff Koinange, an award-winning Kenyan journalist and past Chief Anchor for Africa for Arise Television and CNN Senior Africa correspondent.