Nutrition

A higher intake of whole grain foods is associated with reduced risk of major chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as lower risk of death from a range of diseases, show findings published by The BMJ.

Worldwide, there has been a startling increase in rates of obesity and overweight in both adults (28 per cent increase) and children (up by 47 per cent) in the past 33 years, with the number of overweight and obese people rising from 857 million in 1980 to 2.

The synthetic chemicals used in the packaging, storage, and processing of foodstuffs might be harmful to human health over the long term, warned environmental scientists in a commentary in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Taking iron daily during pregnancy is associated with a significant increase in birth weight and a reduction in risk of low birth weight, finds a study published recently on bmj.

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have made novel discoveries around the protective influence of vitamin A against the damaging immune responses that lead to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Vegetarian diets are associated with reduced death rates in a study of more than 70,000 Seventh-day Adventists, with more favourable results for men than women, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine.

Cutting down on salt and, at the same time, increasing levels of potassium in our diet would have major health and cost benefits across the world, according to studies published on bmj.

A Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts reduced the incidence of major cardiovascular events among persons at high cardiovascular risk, new research in the New England Journal of Medicine has found.

A link exists between vitamin D insufficiency and adverse health outcomes, such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia in mothers-to-be and low birth weight in newborns, suggests a paper published on bmj.

The time has come for doctors to stop prescribing gluten-free foods to patients with coeliac disease and for the NHS to find a better way to support patients, says an editorial in the independent review of medical treatment, the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB).