Food – Page 2 – David Bradley

Anti-inflammatory food

Education regarding lifestyle, diet and exercise might be the key to avoiding chronic inflammation. “A comprehensive food-based strategy for reducing inflammation and thus reducing the incidence and severity of a large array of chronic illnesses and declining health is supported by a large and growing volume of scientific investigations,” US researchers suggest.

They outline the wide range of compounds present in a huge number of foods and nutrients all of which might, if taken as part of a balanced approach to diet that avoids the conventional exercise-free junk food lifestyle, might just help society side step the growing epidemic of chronic inflammation and the diseases it brings.

Anti-inflammatory Response to Certain Foods.

More red meat risk analysis

NHS Choices finally published its critique of the Harvard red meat research that had the tabloids screaming that meat kills earlier this week. I provided some commentary on Sciencebase soon after. Anyway, this is what NHS Choices concludes:

“This study had several strengths including its size, long follow-up period and detailed and repeated assessments of people’s meat intake. It also adjusted the results for other factors that might affect risk of mortality.”

However, the site also points out that the study was based on questionnaires. “…relying on participants to self-report factors, such as their meat intake through questionnaires, introduces the possibility of error, although the questionnaires were validated,” it adds.

One major concern, however, is that the participants in the study were mainly white health professionals, so the results may not be relatable to other populations.

NHS Choices adds that: “This study cannot prove that regular consumption of red meat ‘kills’.” The site points out that despite what vegans and others often claim, “Red meat is a good source of protein and certain nutrients such as iron, some vitamins and zinc.”

On the basis of a suspected increase in bowel cancer risk, the UK’s Department of Health advises adults who eat high levels of red and processed meat to reduce their intake to no more than 70 grams a day. I’d add to that the same kind of guideline they offer for alcohol consumption – moderation and not every day. Steak and ale every day is not going to be good for you…you can just tell, really, can’t you?

Mineral deficiency in nightblindness

Chemical analysis of urine samples and tissues reveals that children who suffer night blindness are commonly deficient in several minerals but also have elevated sodium levels. Almost 14 million children worldwide have some degree of blindness because of a dietary deficiency of vitamin A, but the mineral profile of their tissues and urine samples reveals a marker that could be used to improve nutrition and help aid workers, particularly in the undeveloped world, reduce the risk of blindness.

via Nutritional deficiency and nightblindness.

Securely nutritious

Food security. We commonly think of the term as referring to whether someone has access to food and that enough food is available. However, there’s food and then there’s safe and nutritious food. Karyn Havas and Mo Salman of Colorado State University argue that we should also think of food security in terms of nutritional quality and health as well as food that is free from harmful disease agents and adulterants, so that policies, humanitarian efforts and scientific research surrounding food security should focus on ‘wholesome food security’.

It’s a modern tragedy of population growth and the disparity between the haves and the have-nots that at least one billion people lack safe and sufficient food to meet their nutritional needs and are malnourished. They simply do not get enough calories, protein, vitamins or minerals, all of which lowers quality of life and leads to premature death by way of poor immune response, stunted physical and mental growth and development, anaemia, blindness, lethargy, pain, emaciation and any number of diseases. Twenty countries in Africa, Asia, the Western Pacific and the Middle East account for the majority of the chronically malnourished, Havas and Salman write in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health.

It is money, of course, that is to blame. Money and its socioeconomic cousin, power, and within the context of those two issues are entwined overpopulation, climate change, urbanisation, desertification, water shortages, natural disasters, disease, civil war, and terrorism. Local access to food thus differs dramatically across those twenty nations and between those parts of the world that, on the whole, do not see such vast numbers of malnourished people. ‘It must be stated though, that in every country there is hunger, and this often falls along economic and social lines,’ the team says. ‘The underprivileged — be they individuals or countries — often have less.’

Food security is a multi-dimensional topic, the team says, the greater issues lie in global population growth, industrial-based change such as globalisation, and environmental stewardship that will address sustainability and climate change. But any attempt to somehow address those issues to provide food at the local level for hungry people will fail if the concept of finding ways to feed those people with food that is safe and wholesome, that is balanced in protein, fat, carbohydrate and micro-nutrient content. This will continue to be a problem between the have and the have-nots, but none are exempt from foodborne illness,” Havas told Sciencebase.

Karyn Havas, & Mo Salman (2011). Food security: its components and challenges Int. J. Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health, 4 (1), 4-11

Food Chemistry News

On the menu today, why red wine is a no-no when it comes to fishy cuisine, how chemists can help you improve your gravy, and a whole platter of food chemistry to tempt your taste buds:

“Red wine with red meat, white wine with fish.” But, have you ever wondered why? Japanese chemists have discovered that the iron in red wine simply makes fish taste too…well…fishy…giving your mouth an unpleasant, fishy aftertaste, according to a report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Gravy training – The British probably have as many different recipes for making gravy as they have gravy boats from which to pour it over their roast beef. But, a spot of chemistry can improve not only the flavor, texture, and color, but give gravy a healthy boost. Here’s the definitive chemical guide to making gravy.

Pink pepper is actually the dried berry of the Brazilian weed Schinus terebinthifolius and contains an irritating phenol-type compound known as cardanol. Pink pepper causes a range of toxic reactions including rashes, oral and respiratory irritation, chest pains and tightness, headaches, swollen eyelids, stomach upset, diarrhoea and haemorrhoids. Nice… But, despite that it’s a trendy ingredient among trendy chefs. The Guardian provides the skinny on pink pepper.

Apparently, American gourmets are latching on to the Japanese concept of umami, or “deliciousness”, which is considered the fifth taste after salt, sweet, sour, and bitter. The word roughly translates as “tasty”, although “brothy”, “meaty”, or “savory” could do just as well. It’s difficult to translate a whole concept literally. Recently, scientists homed in on a specific tongue receptor linked to natural “glutamate”; as in the amino acid part of monosodium glutamate, the sodium there to make it soluble in water. Glutamate, of course, is the archetypal umami ingredient, so the link grows stronger.

Now, a couple of stories for those parts of the world now entering the barbecue season. Chemists have figured out how to make meats more succulent and tasty on the grill, while others have figured out that it’s the sour receptors on your tongue that respond to the bubbles in soda pop.

Finally, although British scientists came up with an explanation a decade ago, apparently the French have turned their attention to that Great British passtime – tea drinking – and have found a possible way to solve the perennial problem of the dribbling teapot. They report details in a physics preprint just uploaded to the arXiv servers.

Well, after all this talk of food, I’m now feeling a little peckish, so off to do a little cordon blue in the kitchen…or maybe I’ll just break into the snack cupboard instead…

A Chilli Gut Feeling

Sufferers of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) apparently have more protein receptors for the active compounds in chilli peppers, according to a study to be published June 11 in the journal Gut (PDF). The findings might one day lead to new treatments for IBS.

IBS is a painful, often chronic, condition which can cause cramping abdominal pains, bloating, and bowel problems such as constipation or diarrhea. The new work, carried out at Imperial College London, UK, shows that people with IBS have higher than usual levels of nerve fibres expressing the pain receptor TRPV1, responsible for the experience of the burning sensation when one eats chilli peppers. Finding compounds that block this receptor might lead to novel pharmaceuticals for IBS.

Beating Heart Disease with Vitamin B Drugs

Niacin is involved in the metabolism or carbohydrates, fats and proteins, but at high dosage it can increase HDL more than a third and reduce levels of “artery-clogging” triglycerides by half.

Graeme Semple of Arena Pharmaceuticals, San Diego, reports how new drugs that raise high-density lipoproteins, so-called good cholesterol might be developed by following the lead of familiar B vitamin, niacin.

Researchers at Arena and elsewhere are trying to develop new drugs that are even more effective than niacin and so could have greater potential to protect at-risk people against heart attacks and stroke. Semple discusses the latest developments at the ACS annual meeting today.

You can read more about the biochemistry of niacin and LDL cholesterol in Sciencebase.

InChI=1/C6H5NO2/c8-6(9)5-2-1-3-7-4-5/h1-4H,(H,8,9)/f/h8H

Keeping chicken under wraps

A ton of chicken salad was recalled for destruction by the US Department of Agriculture at the beginning of August, because batches were found to be contaminated with the potentially fatal microbe Listeria monocytogenes. The latest development in food science could keep such ready meals on the menu by blocking and killing the bacterium before it can contaminate the food.

Cling film (clingwrap) made from protein rather than plastic could help make outdoor parties and buffet lunches a much safer mealtime. A thin layer of this engineered protein protects those marinated chicken wings and other ready-to-eat meats by stopping those tummy bug microbes in their tracks, according to US researchers.

Food scientists Marlene Janes of Louisiana State University and Mike Johnson of the University of Arkansas have designed and synthesised an entirely edible film from two protein-based substances, which they say can prevent the food poisoning microbe Listeria monocytogenes on ready-to-eat chicken. The team has tested the protein film and reckon they can keep bacterial counts below detectable levels for almost a month.

“Food production occurs in several stages, each of which provides potential opportunities for bacterial contamination,” explains Johnson. He points out that generally chickens grown for commercial food production live in crowded conditions that are ideal for the spread of bacteria. While thorough cooking will kill most pathogenic bacteria that worm their way around food industry safety measures pre-cooked foods can easily be contaminated between cooking and final packaging steps.

Stick that ready-to-eat meal in the fridge and leave well alone and you provide a breeding ground for listeria, which can then cross-contaminate other foods in the chiller, such as deli meats and hot dogs. The perfect recipe for a disastrous barbecue, in other words. Listeria poses a particular risk to children, the elderly, and pregnant women, and can cause serious illness and even be life threatening.

Johnson and Janes (now at Louisiana State University) have explored the protective ability of a protein substance called zein, blended with nisin, a natural preservative protein that kills bacteria. They tested the effects of the protein film on chicken breasts from their local supermarket. First, they trimmed off the skin and cut them into five-gram pieces. They froze the pieces and then blasted them with radiation to eliminate any spoilage bacteria found on the chicken.

They then cooked the chicken pieces (without sauce or condiment) and cooled them. They then marinated the cooked chicken in a listeria brew and coated it with the zein-nisin film and put into sterile sample bags in the fridge.

Usually chilling food in the fridge will be enough to prevent bacteria from multiplying too rapidly. But, that is not the case with listeria, which positively thrives in the cold. Leave that cooked chicken at room temperature or uncovered in the fridge overnight and it could be seriously contaminated by the time you’re lighting the barbecue the next day. Just one mouthful could make someone ill.

The Arkansas team carried out a bacterial headcount on their chicken pieces after 4, 8, 16 and 24 days. They found that even after 24 days in the fridge the treated chunks of chicken were free from live listeria. The blended protein film, which Johnson says is perfectly harmless to humans, kills listeria stone dead.

For Johnson and other food scientists, food safety is a matter of minimizing risks as much as possible, risks that will never completely go away. Pathogenic bacteria, he says, are tiny but formidable adversaries. There were some 65,209 food-poisoning cases in the UK not picked up while abroad in 2000. The Food Standards Agency wants to take Salmonella, E. coli O157, and Listeria monocytogenes off the menu wherever possible. Johnson told us that, “The zein-nisin coating will only work when cold refrigeration temperatures of 4 Celsius are used and only low numbers of the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes are encountered, say about 1,000 per gram. This strategy will not work for temperature-abused foods left out at room temperature.” Now, where’s that tarragon and lemon dressing?

SOURCE: Journal of Food Science.