Stay in Shape With a Bit of Exercise

New research suggests that even four minutes of vigorous activity three times a week may help keep you fit and healthy, shooing away the belief that staying in shape requires hours of training.Regular training improves maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), which is a well-established measure of physical fitness. However, just how much exercise, and how intense that exercise should be to deliver the biggest benefit remains unclear. 
Now, researchers from the KG Jebsen - Centre of Exercise in Medicine at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim have found that just three short high-intensity sessions (AIT) per week can make for substantial differences in the fitness of inactive men. 
"Our data suggest that a single bout of AIT performed three times per week may be a time-efficient strategy to improve VO2max", says Arnt Erik Tjonna, a postdoctoral fellow at the center and lead author of the study. Tjonna says one of the advantages of this approach is that it is easy for people to incorporate into their daily lives. 
The researchers measured changes in VO2max and traditional cardiovascular risk factors in 24 inactive but otherwise healthy overweight men after they completed a 10-week training session that involved three weekly high-intensity interval sessions. One group of 13 followed a protocol that has previously shown to be effective, consisting of four intervals of 4 minutes of high intensity exercise at 90 percent of maximal heart rate (HRmax) interspersed with 3 minutes of active recovery at 70 percent HRmax (4-AIT), commonly known as 4x4 training. 
The other group followed a protocol that consisted of one 4-minute interval at 90 percent HRmax (1-AIT). 
After training, VO2max increased by 10 percent in the group that had just one high-intensity session three times a week (1-AIT), while the group that followed the 4x4 regime increased its VO2max by 13 percent. Both groups saw decreases in their blood pressure, but the 1-AIT the group's blood pressures showed greater decreases than their 4-AIT counterparts for both systolic and diastolic readings. 
Tjonna says while the results look promising, the number of study participants was small, which limits the scientists' ability to extrapolate their findings. He also noted that people who are active probably won't benefit as much as the inactive participants did from the 1-AIT training regime.

Source-ANI

 

 

Mussel Oil: New Hope for Asthma Patients

Green-lipped mussel oil was found to improve lung function and reduce airway inflammation in asthmatics who experience exercise-induced bronchoconstriction, finds study.Timothy Mickleborough, professor in the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington, said his findings are similar to his studies involving fish oil but required a much smaller dosage of the supplement. 
His new study found a 59 percent improvement in lung function after an airway challenge, and a reduction in airway inflammation, asthma symptoms and use of emergency medication. 
"Not only does it reduce symptoms, which will make you feel better, but it potentially could improve athletic performance," Mickleborough said. 
In exercise-induced asthma, vigorous exercise triggers an acute narrowing of the airway afterward, making breathing difficult. Other symptoms include coughing, tightening of the chest and excessive fatigue. About 90 percent of people with asthma have this condition, which also is found in an estimated 10 percent or more of elite athletes and as much as 10 percent of the general population without asthma.
Mickleborough's study used Lyprinol/Omega XL, which contains PCSO-524, a patented extract of stabilized lipids from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel, combined with olive oil and vitamin E. PCSO-524 includes the five main lipid classes: sterol esters, sterols, polar lipids, triglycerides and free fatty acids, including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). 
Previous studies involving PCSO-524 have found it to be effective in treating osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. 
Mickleborough's study is the first to show that it is effective in reducing the airway inflammation experienced by asthmatic study participants diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma. 
The study involved 12 men and eight women ages 20 to 24 and was conducted in the Human Performance and Exercise Biochemistry Laboratory in the Department of Kinesiology at IU. All study participants had physician-diagnosed asthma and documented exercise-induced asthma. 
The results will be appearing online in the journal Respiratory Medicine.
Source-ANI
 

 

University of Strathclyde researchers tackles nanomedicines’ impact on patients

Researchers at the University of Strathclyde, a leading international technological university, has tackled pioneering imaging technique to track the effects of next-generation nanomedicines on patients.Professor Dr M N V Ravi Kumar and Dr Dimitrios Lamprou, of the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, believe an advanced form of atomic force microscopy, known as PeakForce QNM, could boost developments in the field of nanomedicines, the encapsulation of potent drugs in tiny particles measuring billionths of a meter in diameter. They described how this detailed imaging approach may also help scientists address growing concerns in the medical world around “nanotoxicology”, the build-up of microscopic particles in people’s tissues.
Professor Kumar, whose team's research article has been published in the journal PLOS ONE, said, “Nanotechnology’s role in drug delivery has the power to transform the way patients are given medicines over the next decade or so.
Kumar informed that in the case of traditional medicines, such as tablets and capsules, only a limited amount of drug – thought to be around five to 15 per cent for the majority of compounds – makes it through the gut into patients’ blood. The good thing about nanomedicines is that – unlike as is the case with traditional tablets and capsules – the drugs are not released in the gut. Instead, nanomedicines are absorbed intact and release the encapsulated drugs directly into bodily tissues, including the blood, offering the possibility to reduce the required dose without compromising the therapeutic effects.
He stressed, “All medicines are combined with what are known as ‘excipients’ – inactive substances which give them the desired bulk and consistency and their role is restricted to the gut. However, the excipients such as polymers, used to formulate the nanoparticle-encapsulating drugs may exhibit undesired effects when they are absorbed through the gut wall. Scientists want to know if nanoparticle-based drugs can have any adverse effects on patients – and, in particular, if they cause more harm than good in some cases.”
“Up until now, little has been known about what happens after nanoparticles circulate throughout the body and if they raise any safety issues for the patient. Previously, it was necessary for nanoparticles to be given a fluorescent or radioactive label, in order to allow scientists to be able to identify and track them. However, by using PeakForce QNM atomic force microscopy we can, for the first time, track where these nanoparticles are going throughout the body after oral administration – without attaching any fluorescent or radioactive labels and by using the real drug loaded nanoparticles. In particular, we can identify if they are accumulating in specific areas, causing what is known as ‘tissue stiffness’ – a condition linked to a variety of diseases, including cancer.”
Professor Kumar said that it is known that tumours are more rigid – or stiff – when compared with surrounding healthy tissues. In addition, recent studies using atomic force microscopy have also shown it is possible to distinguish between non-malignant and malignant tumours cells, on the basis of their relative stiffness. “The ability of atomic force microscopy to study biomechanical profiles will be an asset in efforts to better understand the difference in tissue stiffness between tissues treated with nanoparticles and those not treated with nanoparticles, how long any associated tissue stiffness persists, and if it disappears quickly. Importantly, it will also help to establish whether or not there is a correlation between the number of nanoparticles present in blood and their accumulation in other tissues. By understanding more about blood stiffness, we will be able to learn more about nanotoxicology generally, and how that affects patients.”
By using atomic force microscopy in this way, we may in future be able to analyse patients’ blood and tell if, for example, nanomaterials are accumulating in their livers or arterial walls, causing stiffness which – if it persists long enough – may increase their chances of developing diseases.
Another benefit of nanoparticles is that – if used at an early stage of the research – they could save pharmaceutical firms money by reducing the number of drugs that fail at the development stage. These cost savings could then be reinvested into the research and development of new drugs to treat patients.
The University of Strathclyde is recognised for strong research links with business and industry, commitment to enterprise and skills development, and knowledge sharing with the private and public sectors.
Source:Pharmabiz

Action Against Obesity Urged by WHO

The UN's health agency has urged action against growing obesity crisis, proposing an action plan that includes taxing unhealthy snacks and rules against marketing junk food to children.Once considered only a problem in high-income countries like the United States, where nearly 70 percent of the adult population is overweight, obesity is now growing fastest in developing nations in Africa and Latin America, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). 
As the urgency to tackle the crisis grows, member countries of the UN body late on Monday adopted a 2013-2020 action plan to fight against diseases like cardiovascular illness, cancer, and chronic diabetes. "The cost of inaction far outweighs the cost of taking action," the body said. 
The plan, which targets risky lifestyle choices such as smoking, alcohol consumption and an unhealthy diet, includes a goal to halt the rise in global obesity levels by 2020. 
"The fight against obesity is... one of the most important factors in fighting noncommunicable diseases," Francesco Branca, WHO's head of nutrition for health and development, told reporters in Geneva. 
Obesity levels nearly doubled between 1980 and 2008, when at least one in three adults worldwide was overweight and around one in 10 was considered obese, according to the WHO. 
At least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight or obese, not counting the large percentages of diabetes, heart disease and cancer cases attributable to being overweight, according to the UN agency's numbers. 
The world's fattest country is the tiny South Pacific island nation of Nauru, where 71 percent of the population is considered obese, WHO figures show. 
The newly adopted plan "is extremely important in addressing one of the most devastating health crises of our time," said John Stewart of the watchdog Corporate Accountability International, describing obesity as "an epidemic". 
Since foods high in fat, sugar and salt are often cheaper than healthier alternatives, the battle against the bulge is increasingly spreading to poorer nations, observers say. 
"In many high-income countries the problem is levelling off, but the worst problems we see are in low- and middle-income countries where the rate of obesity... is increasing at a very fast pace," Godfrey Xuereb, a WHO expert on the issue, told AFP. 
The new WHO plan calls for a range of measures to stymy obesity's upward trend, including urging food and beverage companies to cut levels of salt and sugar in their products, replace saturated and trans-fats with unsaturated fats, and reduce portion sizes. 
And in a world where more than 40 million children under the age of five are overweight, it also calls on countries to strictly control the marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks to children. 
Taking on marketing aimed at youngsters was "incredibly important," Stewart told AFP, insisting that food and beverage corporations for too long have been "taking advantage of children's inherent vulnerabilities by marketing them unhealthy food that makes them sick." 
The industry itself has welcomed most of the WHO proposals, claiming it had already made strides both in "reformulating" existing products to make them healthier and in voluntarily reining in the advertising of unhealthy foods and drinks to youngsters. 
The recommended actions "are ones we support and have been implementing on a voluntary basis since 2004," said Jane Reid of the International Food an Beverage Alliance, which represents the world's largest food and drink corporations, including Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Nestle.

Source:AFP 

 

 

Lybrido - A Version of Viagra for Females

A new medication called Lybrido that stimulates female libido may be in the market in a few years.After the successful entry of Viagra into the market for males, scientists started developing something in similar lines for females. Among the more successful attempts is a Viagra-like drug called Lybrido that is coated with testosterone and mint. The effects of the combination have been found to be particularly effective in producing a response that could not be achieved by an individual drug. 
The new pill acts both on the body as well as the mind to bring about its effect. This is especially necessary since low libido is often due to both, physical as well as psychological factors. It increases the level of a hormone called dopamine in the brain, which plays an important role in lust. 
The pill increases a woman's desire for sex. It will be especially useful in women who suffer from low libido, which has been observed in women in long-term relationships. Sex following the pill tends to be more satisfying. The women are also more likely to make love more often. The pill, however, has to be taken three and a half hours before sex. 
During clinical trials, some women suffered from side effects like headaches and flushing of the face or neck. Taking the pill may also put the women under pressure to perform. 
Though initial studies on the pill appear to be promising, further large-scale studies are necessary to establish the usefulness and safety of the pill. Thus, it may take at least another three years before the pill is out in the market. 

 

 

How patient centered are medical decisions?

A national survey sample of adults who had discussions with their physicians in the preceding two years about common medical tests, medications and procedures often did not reflect a high level of shared decision making, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
Floyd J. Fowler, Jr., Ph.D., from the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation and the University of Massachusetts, Boston, conducted a 2011 survey of a cross section of U.S. adults 40 years or older and asked them to indicate whether they reported making one of 10 medical decisions and to describe their interactions with their physicians concerning those decisions. The decisions included: medication for hypertension, elevated cholesterol, or depression; screening for breast, prostate or colon cancer; knee or hip replacement for osteoarthritis, or surgery for cataract or low back pain.
"…we saw great variation in the extent to which patients reported efforts to inform them about and involve them in 10 common decisions," the authors write in their conclusion. "Although there was variation within decision types, decisions concerning four surgical procedures were much more shared than decisions about cancer screening and two very common long-term medications for cardiac risk reduction. If share decision making is to be one defining characteristic of primary care as delivered in medical homes, primary care physicians and other health care providers will need to balance their discussions of pros and cons to a greater degree and ask patients for their input more consistently."
Source:The JAMA Network Journals 

Menopausal 'Foggy Brain' Confirmed in Tests

Memory problems are a common complaint of women going through menopause, and now a new study provides more evidence linking mood and hot flashes to loss of memory abilities during menopause.Researchers found that women who felt their memory wasn't functioning well scored lower in a series of psychological tests of attention and memory. The women's cognitive performance was still within the normal range, but their ratings of their own memory abilities lined up with how well they performed in the tests.The study also revealed links between memory abilities and mood, and the severity of menopause symptoms. Women who reported more negative emotions did worse on the tests than women who had felt less negative. Similarly, women who experienced severe hot flashes did worse on the tests, compared to women who had fewer hot flashes."The good news for women is that there's proof that their perception about their performance is real," said Dr. Margery Gass, the executive director for The North American Menopause Society and a gynecologist at Cleveland Clinic, who was not involved in the study.In the study, researchers gave eight tests of attention and memory to 68 women, ages 44 to 62, who experienced moderate to severe hot flashes. The women also completed questionnaires about their menopause symptoms, mood and memory.It's most likely that memory abilities will return to the norm after the menopause transition. But in the meantime, there are ways to ease the problem, Gass said. For example, it might help to address problems such as anxiety and depression and pay attention to sleep quality.

"Women should become proactive, make notes and lists, and make use of the little tricks that helps us perform better," she said.

The study was published online in the journal Menopause.

Source: journal Menopause.

Novel Compound Offers Hope Against Cocaine Addiction

Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a compound that blocks cravings for the drug in cocaine-addicted mice. 
The compound, already proven safe for humans, is undergoing further animal testing in preparation for possible clinical trials in cocaine addicts, the researchers said.
"It was remarkably serendipitous that when we learned which brain pathway cocaine acts on, we already knew of a compound, CGP3466B, that blocks that specific pathway," Solomon Snyder, M.D., a professor of neuroscience in the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said. 
"Not only did CGP3466B help confirm the details of cocaine's action, but it also may become the first drug approved to treat cocaine addiction," he said. 
In the most recent study, M.D./Ph.D. student Risheng Xu worked with other members of Snyder's team to investigate whether cocaine works through the NO signaling network, and if so, how. 
Using mice, they found that cocaine induces NO to react with GAPDH so that GAPDH moves into the nucleus. 
At low doses of cocaine, the GAPDH in the nucleus will stimulate the neuron, but at higher doses it activates the cell's self-destruct pathway. 
"This explains why cocaine can have very different effects depending on the dosage," Xu said. 
The team then did experiments to see whether CGP3466B, which blocks the reaction between NO and GAPDH, would also block the effects of cocaine. 
In one experiment, they placed mice in a cage with two rooms, and trained them to expect occasional doses of cocaine in one of the rooms. 
When the mice began spending most of their time in that room, it showed they had become addicted to cocaine. 
But when treated with CGP3466B, the mice went back to spending roughly equal amounts of time in both rooms: Their cravings had abated, Xu said. 
The research is published online in the journal Neuron.
Source-ANI 

 

Monkey Teeth Enables an Idea of the Time When Neanderthal Baby was Weaned

Researchers from the US and Australia have claimed that they can now use fossil teeth to calculate when a Neanderthal baby was weaned.The new technique is based in part on knowledge gained from studies of teeth from human infants and from monkeys at the California National Primate Research Center at the University of California, Davis. 
Using the new technique, the researchers concluded that at least one Neanderthal baby was weaned at much the same age as most modern humans. 
Just as tree rings record the environment in which a tree grew, traces of barium in the layers of a primate tooth can tell the story of when an infant was exclusively milk-fed, when supplemental food started, and at what age it was weaned, Katie Hinde, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and an affiliate scientist at the UC Davis Primate Center, said. 
Hinde directs the Comparative Lactation Laboratory at Harvard and has conducted a three-year study of lactation, weaning and behavior among rhesus macaques at UC Davis. 
The team was able to determine exact timing of birth, when the infant was fed exclusively on mother's milk, and the weaning process, from mineral traces in teeth. 
By studying monkey teeth and comparing them to center records, they could show that the technique was accurate almost to the day. 
After validating the technique with monkeys, the scientists applied it to human teeth and a Neanderthal tooth. 
They found that the Neanderthal baby was fed exclusively on mother's milk for seven months, followed by seven months of supplementation - a similar pattern to present-day humans. 
The technique opens up extensive opportunities to further investigate lactation in fossils and museum collections of primate teeth. 
Although there is some variation among human cultures, the accelerated transition to foods other than mother's milk is thought to have emerged in our ancestral history due, in part, to more cooperative infant care and access to a more nutritious diet, Hinde said. 
Shorter lactation periods could mean shorter gaps between pregnancies and a higher rate of reproduction. 
However, there has been much debate about when our ancestors evolved accelerated weaning. 
For the past few decades researchers have relied on tooth eruption age as a direct proxy for weaning age. 
Yet recent investigations of wild chimpanzees have shown that the first molar eruption occurs toward the end of weaning. 
"By applying these new techniques to primate teeth in museum collections, we can more precisely assess maternal investment across individuals within species, as well as life history evolution among species," Hinde said. 
The study is published in the journal Nature.
Source-ANI

 

Modulating the immune system to combat metastatic cancer

Cancer cells spread and grow by avoiding detection and destruction by the immune system. Stimulation of the immune system can help to eliminate cancer cells; however, there are many factors that cause the immune system to ignore cancer cells. Regulatory T cells are immune cells that function to suppress the immune system response. In this issue of theJournal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Ronald Levy at Stanford University found that regulatory T cells that infiltrate tumors express proteins that can be targeted with therapeutic antibodies. Mice injected with antibodies targeting the proteins CTLA-4 and OX-40 had smaller tumors and improved survival. Moreover, treatment with these antibodies cleared both tumors at the primary site and distant metastases, including brain metastases that are usually difficult to treat. These findings suggest that therapies targeting regulatory T cells could be a promising approach in cancer treatment. In an accompanying commentary, Cristina Ghirelli and Thorsten Hagemann emphasize that in order for this approach to be clinically relevant, it will be important to show that targeting regulatory T cells in metastatic tumors also blocks growth.
Source:Journal of Clinical Investigation

Schools Should Provide Opportunities for 60 Minutes of Daily Physical Activity to All Students

Given the implications for the overall health, development, and academic success of children, schools should play a primary role in ensuring that all students have opportunities to engage in at least 60 minutes per day of vigorous or moderate-intensity physical activity, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.  Recent estimates suggest that only about half of school-age children meet this evidence-based guideline for promoting better health and development.  The report recommends that most daily physical activity occur during regular school hours in physical education classes, recess or breaks, and classroom exercises, with additional opportunities available through active commutes to and from school, before- and after-school programs, and participation in intramural or varsity sports.

 "Schools are critical for the education and health of our children," said Harold W. Kohl III, professor of epidemiology and kinesiology at the University of Texas School of Public Health and chair of the committee that wrote the report.  "They already provide key services such as health screenings, immunizations, and nutritious meals.  Daily physical activity is as important to children's health and development as these other health-related services, and providing opportunities for physical activity should be a priority for all schools, both through physical education and other options."

 The report calls on the U.S. Department of Education to designate physical education as a core academic subject to draw attention and attract the resources necessary to enhance content, instruction, and accountability.  Although most states currently have laws addressing physical education requirements in schools, there are no consistent nationwide policies.  The committee recommends that 30 minutes per day in elementary school and 45 minutes per day in middle and high schools be devoted to physical education, and students should spend at least half that time engaged in vigorous or moderate-intensity physical activity.  But it emphasizes that physical education cannot be the sole source of physical activity; additional opportunities should exist throughout the school environment.

 Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, 44 percent of school administrators have reported cutting significant time from physical education and recess to devote more time to reading and mathematics in the classroom.  But a growing body of evidence suggests that increasing physical activity and fitness may improve academic performance -- especially in mathematics and reading -- and that the benefits of engaging in physical activity during the school day outweigh the benefits of exclusive use of classroom time for academic learning. 

 A variety of physical activities that include aerobic and resistance exercises, structured and unstructured activities, and both short and longer sessions will likely confer the greatest benefits, the report says.  For example, aerobic fitness is linked to brain structure and function related to working memory and problem solving, and single bursts of activity have been shown to increase time on task and improve focus.  Recess provides students the chance to refine social skills and use their imaginations. 

 Along with a minimum number of minutes spent in physical education classes, students should also receive frequent classroom breaks, and recess should not be taken away as punishment or replaced with additional academic instruction, the report adds.  The report illustrates how scheduling physical education and recess on a daily and weekly basis can still allow for ample classroom time devoted to core subjects.

 Ensuring equity in access to physical activity and physical education will require support from federal and state governments as well as state, district, and local education administrators, the report says.  School systems at every level, together with city planners and parent-teacher organizations, should consider physical activity in all policy decisions related to the school environment. 

 The study was sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies.  They are private, independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter granted to NAS in 1863.  A committee roster follows.

Source:National Academy of Sciences

Scientists discover the origin of a giant synapse

How do we locate the spatial position of sounds? Scientists have revealed a mechanism responsible for the creation of giant synapses in the brain that allow us to efficiently process auditory information

Humans and most mammals can determine the spatial origin of sounds with remarkable acuity. We use this ability all the time -- crossing the street; locating an invisible ringing cell phone in a cluttered bedroom. To accomplish this small daily miracle, the brain has developed a circuit that's rapid enough to detect the tiny lag that occurs between the moment the auditory information reaches one of our ears, and the moment it reaches the other. The mastermind of this circuit is the "Calyx of Held," the largest known synapse in the brain. EPFL scientists have revealed the role that a certain protein plays in initiating the growth of these giant synapses. The discovery, published in Nature Neuroscience, could also help shed light on a number of neuropsychiatric disorders.
Enormous synapses enable faster communication
Ordinarily, neurons have thousands of contact points – known as synapses - with neighboring neurons. Within a given time frame, a neuron has to receive several signals from its neighbors in order to be able to fire its own signal in response. Because of this, information passes from neuron to neuron in a relatively random manner.
In the auditory part of the brain, this is not the case. Synapses often grow to extremely large sizes, and these behemoths are known as "Calyx of Held" synapses. Because they have hundreds of contact points, they are capable of transmitting a signal singlehandedly to a neighboring neuron. "It's almost like peer-to-peer communication between neurons," explains EPFL professor Ralf Schneggenburger, who led the study. The result is that information is processed extremely quickly, in a few fractions of a millisecond, instead of the slower pace of more than 10 milliseconds that occurs in most other neuronal circuits.
Identifying the protein
To isolate the protein responsible for controlling the growth of this gigantic synapse, the scientists had to perform painstaking research. Using methods for analyzing gene expression in mice, they identified several members of the "BMP" family of proteins from among more than 20,000 possible candidates.
To verify that they had truly identified the right protein, the researchers disabled BMP protein receptors in the auditory part of a mouse brain. "The resulting electrophysiological signal of the Calyx of Held was significantly altered," explains Le Xiao, first author on the study. "This would suggest a large anatomical difference."
The scientists then reconstructed the synapses in three dimensions from slices that were observed under an electron microscope. Instead of a single, massive Calyx of Held, which would encompass nearly half the neuron, the 3D image of the neuron clearly shows several, smaller synapses. "This shows that the process involving the BMP protein not only causes that one synapse to grow, but also performs a selection, by eliminating the others," says Schneggenburger.
Synaptic connectivity, the key to many psychiatric puzzles

The impact of this study will go well beyond increasing our understanding of the auditory system. The results suggest that the BMP protein plays an important role in developing connectivity in the brain. Schneggenburger and his colleagues are currently investigating its role elsewhere in the brain. "Some neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism, are characterized by the abnormal development of synaptic connectivity in certain key parts of the brain," explains Schneggenburger. By identifying and explaining the role of various proteins in this process, the scientists hope to be able to shed more light on these poorly understood disorders.
Source:Nature Neuroscience

Potatoes may be One of the Best Superfoods, Says Study

Potatoes deliver one of the most affordable source of potassium of the more frequently consumed vegetables and are one of the best nutritional values in the produce aisle, says study.Dr. Adam Drewnowski and colleagues from the University of Washington used a combination of nutrient profiling methods and national food prices data to create an "affordability index," which was then used to examine the nutrients per unit cost of 98 individual vegetables as well as five vegetable subgroups including dark green, orange/red, starchy, legumes (beans and peas) and "other" vegetables. 
The results indicated while dark green vegetables had the highest nutrient density scores, after accounting for cost, starchy vegetables (including potatoes) and beans provided better nutritional value for the money. 
Potatoes, in particular, provide one of the lowest cost options for four key nutrients including potassium, fiber, vitamin C and magnesium. 
Among the most frequently consumed vegetables, potatoes and beans were the lowest-cost sources of potassium and fiber-nutrients of concern, as identified by the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines. 
"The ability to identify affordable, nutrient dense vegetables is important to families focused on stretching their food dollar as well as government policy makers looking to balance nutrition and economics for food programs such as the school lunch program and WIC," lead researcher Adam Drewnowski, PhD said. 
"And, when it comes to affordable nutrition, it's hard to beat potatoes," he said. 
The study was funded by the United States Potato Board and adds to the growing database of nutrition science that supports potatoes in a healthful diet. 
In addition, one medium-size (5.3 ounce) skin-on potato contains just 110 calories per serving, boasts more potassium (620g) than a banana (450g), provides almost half the daily value of vitamin C (45 percent), and contains no fat, sodium or cholesterol. 
The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE.
Source-ANI