New York City health officials have battled trans fat and high-calorie fast food. Now, they’re taking on salt.
The health department planned to release on Monday draft guidelines suggesting the maximum amount of salt that should be in a wide variety of manufactured and packaged foods.
New York City’s program is modeled in part after a similar initiative in the United Kingdom that has been underway since 2003.
The recommendations call for sizable reductions in the sodium content of many products, from a 20% drop in peanut butter to a 40% decline in …

Testing of vascular risk can be simplified, researchers say
(HealthDay News) — Methods to gauge blood cholesterol to determine vascular disease risk can be simplified, researchers in England say.
Their method measures levels of either total or high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or “good” cholesterol) in the blood or apolipoproteins (proteins that help transport cholesterol), without the need to have patients fast and without regard to another form of blood fat called triglycerides.
“Expert opinion is divided” on which combination of measurements is ideal in gauging cardiovascular risk, explained John Danesh, of the Emerging Risk …

Study found eating dark version lowered levels of stress hormones
(HealthDay News) — Feeling stressed? A dose of dark chocolate could cheer you right up by lowering your stress hormone levels, a new study suggests.
Swiss researchers, who report their findings in the online issue of the Journal of Proteome Research, tracked volunteers who said they were highly stressed.
“The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 grams [1.4 ounces] during a period of two weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of healthy human volunteers,” wrote the researchers, from …

Study finds fewer deaths among higher-functioning seniors who eat lots of fruits, vegetables
(HealthDay News) — Seniors who eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and who have good cognitive function are much less likely to die from heart disease than those who have poorer cognitive function and eat fewer fruits and vegetables, a new study has found.
Cognitive function refers to the ability to think, remember, plan and organize information.
Researchers at the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia analyzed diet and cognitive data on 4,879 people (3,101 women and 1,778 …

Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Heart Disease
But further trials are needed to prove this conclusively, researchers say
(HealthDay News) — If your levels of vitamin D are too low, you may be at significantly increased risk for stroke, heart disease and death, a new study suggests.
Researchers followed 27,686 people, aged 50 and older, with no history of cardiovascular disease. The participants were divided into three groups based on their vitamin D levels: normal (more than 30 nanograms per milliliter), low (15 to 30 nanograms per milliliter), or very low (less …

Fast-Food Nutrition Better Than What We Serve Our Children? How Sad!

In the past three years, the government has provided the nation’s schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn’t meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants, from Jack in the Box and other burger places to chicken chains such as KFC, a USA TODAY investigation found.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the meat it buys for the National School Lunch Program “meets or exceeds standards in commercial products.”
That isn’t always the case. McDonald’s, Burger …

Biotech Soybeans Good Source of Omega-3
Oil from engineered beans might help reduce heart attacks, researchers say
(HealthDay News) — Oil from genetically modified soybeans boosts levels of an important omega-3 fatty acid in the body, which may reduce the risk of heart attacks, U.S. researchers say.
They created soybeans that produce oils rich in stearidonic acid (SDA), which is converted by the body into an omega-3 fatty acid called eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).
“We know that giving pure EPA to people reduces their risk for heart disease. Presumably, if you gave this special soybean …

CDC county-by-county analysis finds some areas with 1 in 10 adults already diabetic
(HealthDay News) — While rates of obesity are climbing across America, they are especially high in sections of Appalachia and the Southeast, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports in its first county-by-county survey.
Obesity and diabetes “are basically the two conditions of greatest concern for U.S. adults right now,” said study lead author Edward Gregg, chief of epidemiology and statistics in the CDC’s division of diabetes translation.
“They have been increasing for the last 10 to 15 …

ALHAMBRA, Calif. (AP) — The fight against fat is going high-tech. To get an inside look at eating and exercise habits, scientists are developing wearable wireless sensors to monitor overweight and obese people as they go about their daily lives.
The experimental devices are designed to keep track of how many minutes they work out, how much food they consume and even whether they are at a fast-food joint when they should be in the park. The goal is to cut down on self-reported answers that often cover up what’s really …

The usual January diet drill has an unusual proponent in 2010: the fast-food industry. Many of the nation’s largest fast-food chains — better-known for their often fatty, high-calorie foods — are loudly touting diet and low-calorie offerings.
Familiar brands from Taco Bell (YUM) to Starbucks (SBUX) to Dunkin’ Donuts are rolling out new products and ad campaigns in an attempt to lure calorie-conscious consumers during the month when the $170 billion fast-food industry typically sees sales slide.
Consumers feel fat in January. Some 61% would like to lose 20 pounds, …

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY
Dieters who exercise lose 3 to 5 pounds more over several months than those who only diet. To help you lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks with the USA TODAY Weight-Loss Challenge, reporter Nanci Hellmich worked with fitness expert Mark Fenton to adapt a quiz and program from his book, The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss, and Fitness. He says walking “should be at the core of everyone’s active lifestyle.”
Take the quiz
To begin a walking program that’s right for you, take the …

Long-term exposure to dirty air doubled likelihood of respiratory infection, study found
(HealthDay News) — Seniors who are exposed to significant levels of air pollution for more than a year face double the risk of pneumonia, Canadian researchers report.
“We postulate that long-term exposure to air pollution may have increased individuals’ susceptibility to pneumonia by interfering with innate immune defenses designed to protect the lung from pathogens,” lead investigator Dr. Mark Loeb, of McMaster University in Ontario, said in a news release from the American Thoracic Society.
The study included 365 adults aged …