The DSIB Blog

September Healthnotes

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:00:18 -0400

September is here, and so is the new DSIB Healthnotes Newsletter!

Our latest newsletter was posted today, and the articles include a great feature detailing age-related memory tips, as well as great monthly features such as the Cooking...

Forbidden Rice and Antioxidants

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 11:59:40 -0400

New research suggests that black rice may be an excellent and inexpensive source of antioxidants.

At National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Zhimin Xu, professor at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge, presented recent research, saying:

"Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants. If berries are used...

Omega-3 and Gender

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:37:47 -0400

New research from Australia suggests that omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA have different roles to play in the health of men and women.

In one study, it was observed that EPA presented a stronger effect in male subjects, while DHA appears to have a greater effect on females. From the study's concluding remarks:

For healthy individuals, males may benefit more from EPA supplementation while females are more responsive to DHA.

The study,...

August Healthnotes

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:38:48 -0400

Start August off right with the DSIB Healthnotes Newsletter!

The newest newsletter was posted today, and the articles include an extensive piece addressing healthy weight and well-being tips for kids, as well as great monthly features such as the Cooking...

Vitamin Levels Tied to Cognitive Wellness

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:21:32 -0400

A number of recent studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine and Archives of Neurology have found that vitamin D and vitamin E appear to play an important role as we age.

Two independent long-term studies which have recently come to completion have found that higher vitamin D levels seem to lead to a reduced risk for Parkinson's disease, while low levels of vitamin D spell trouble for our ability to think clearly, learn, and memorize.

Additionally, another long-course experiment has found that...

Supplements Reduce Health Care Costs

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:29:44 -0400

Over the weekend, the Huffington Post featured an article by Dr. Mark Hyman that focused on the findings of the Health Impact Studies, which were commissioned the Dietary Supplement Information Bureau.

Dr. Hyman praises the study's strictness and rigor, and there is an interesting conversation developing in the comments section. Check out the video below, in which Hyman discusses the studies at length:

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Summer Exercise Spotlight

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:03:12 -0400

Jump into July with the DSIB Healthnotes Newsletter!

The newest newsletter was posted today, and the features include a Summer Exercise Spotlight, as well as great monthly features such as the Cooking Corner and Everyday...

Sunny Days Ahead

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:33:39 -0400

With the shifting of the seasons, Vitamin D supplementation sometimes gets a little lost in all the sunshine. Sunlight is key to natural vitamin D synthesis in the body, and so with the onset of summer, we tend to hear less and less about vitamin D.

With this in mind, we would like to direct your attention a recent study regarding vitamin D, lest it fly under the radar and go unnoticed in the fine weather.

Researchers at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the Norwegian Institute for Air Research...

The return of rickets through the Internet

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 12:28:27 -0500

According to British doctors, children who are spending excessive amounts of time using the internet may be at risk for developing rickets due to vitamin D deficiency.

In a review in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal, Newcastle University researchers stated that as a younger generation spends more...

Micronutrients and the Developing World

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:31:24 -0500

In a dispatch from Honduras, Nicholas Kristof has written a very interesting op-ed about micronutrients. By turns enlightening and horrific, Kristof's account focuses to readers' attention on the simple preventative measures which can be taken to eliminate a host of birth defects which plague developing nations. This very issue has been mentioned on the DSIB blog before, but this particular article is one of the more powerful examples we have encountered in coming from a major news source. From the NYTimes article:

Reading Labels

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:23:11 -0500

The FDA is set to begin research into an area of critical importance for the health-awareness of the general population: Why is it that food labels are roundly ignored by so many people?

Since the early 1990

Good Morning America Weighs in on Vitamin D

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:40:30 -0400

On Monday morning, ABC's Good Morning America ran a feature about vitamin D.

The segment kicks off by highlighting "Five Ways Vitamin D Can Save Your Life" and goes on to itemize the most efficient ways one can go about ensuring that vitamin D levels are optimal.

The video is nice and simple, so if interested in a bare bones explanation regarding the vitamin, have a look: GMA has a look...

Omega-3 Deficiency

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:23:22 -0400

Harvard researchers, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ), have determined that Omega-3 deficiency is responsible for 72,000 to 96,000 preventable deaths each year in the United States. This startling finding would mean that Omega-3 deficiency is the sixth largest cause of death for Americans.

According to the data, collected in a 2005 study, tobacco smoking and high...

AAD: Vitamin D and UV Exposure Levels

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:03:03 -0400

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) has just updated their position regarding vitamin D as related to UV light. A few brief highlights here, and then check out the entire statement at the link below.

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends that an adequate amount of vitamin D should be obtained from a healthy diet that includes foods naturally rich in vitamin D, foods/beverages fortified with vitamin D, and/or vitamin D supplements. Vitamin D should not be obtained from unprotected exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

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Vitamin C PSA

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:35:20 -0400

DSIB has a new radio public service announcement on the air that we'd like to share:

Click here to listen

Transcript:

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Vitamin Strange

Thu, 28 May 2009 19:42:56 -0400
The story we'd like to draw your attention to with this post comes across a bit as mad science gone good -- Philadelphia researchers are altering E. coli in order to create vitamin A. Here are some cool bits from the Philly Inquirer:
The goal is to provide a low-cost supply of the vitamin to the developing world, where deficiencies of that nutrient cause widespread blindness and even death. The early-stage project, in which Anthony's lab has made one strain of the bug with an eye-catching shade...

We are all a-tweet

Thu, 28 May 2009 19:13:29 -0400

If you are an avid tweeter, we would love to follow and be followed by you: http://twitter.com/NaturalProdFdn. ( :

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News on Folic Acid and Vitamin D

Tue, 26 May 2009 18:31:20 -0400

Some news round-ups here, on two of the most buzzed about vitamins, folic acid and vitamin D.

First up, folic acid. It has long been known that folic acid supplementation is an essential precaution for pregnancies, which is the main reason why it is now added to the mass-produced bread you buy in the supermarket. New research has found even more compelling evidence supporting folic acid's benefit's for expectant mothers. A study from the University of Texas has found that taking folic acid supplements a year prior to conception reduces the likelihood of premature birth by 70%,...

The Junk Foods of Canada

Thu, 14 May 2009 15:59:13 -0400

According to an article in Tuesday's Canadian Medical Association Journal, our neighbors to the north may soon be reversing a policy which initially sounded like an entirely positive step: Back in 2005 Health Canada had proposed broadening the field of foods that might be fortified with nutrients such as ...

FDA 101

Thu, 14 May 2009 15:58:31 -0400
The Food and Drug Administration has just released a pamphlet and info which we would like to direct everyone's attention to: FDA 101: Health Fraud Awareness. There is also a printer friendly pdf right here: FDA Health Fraud Pamphlet.