China on Saturday approved a long-awaited food safety law, state media reported, in a bid to end repeated scandals involving dangerous food products in the country.
The law has been in the works since October last year after a huge scandal erupted over contaminated milk which killed at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000 others in China.
“The law will see the establishment of a monitoring and supervision system, a set of national standards on food safety, a recall system, and severe punishment for offenders,” the official Xinhua news agency said.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Eating fish at least twice a week seems to reduce the incidence of kidney disease in patients with diabetes, according to findings from a large British study.
Although diabetics are advised to limit dietary protein to delay the progression of kidney disease, recent observations suggest that the benefit to the kidneys may have to do with “the protein source rather than quantity,” the investigators note in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.
Despite research linking fish to improved outcomes in diabetics, they add, epidemiological evidence of this benefit is scarce.
Is it just me, or does it seem like, these days, almost everyone has cancer somewhere in their family tree? Terrifying? Totally. But the good, absolutely fantastic, news is that regardless of your family history, you can very easily lower your cancer risk. The best way to start: Pile some delicious food on your fork, chew, swallow and repeat.
It turns out that a healthy diet can help to override any cancer-prone genes you might have at work in your body. “Nutrition has a bigger influence on cancer than inherited genes, which means you could significantly reduce your odds of the disease through diet alone,” explains Joel Fuhrman, M.D., author of Eat for Health (Gift of Health Press).
A substance found in broccoli may limit the damage which leads to serious lung disease, research suggests.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is often caused by smoking and kills about 30,000 UK residents a year.
US scientists found that sulforapane increases the activity of the NRF2 gene in human lung cells which protects cells from damage caused by toxins.
The same broccoli compound was recently found to be protective against damage to blood vessels caused by diabetes.
Brassica vegetables such as broccoli have also been linked to a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.
It seems like every other day we hear about another health benefit to adding omega-3 fatty acids to our diet. This group of fats, the kind found in fish oil, have been proven to reduce the risk of some forms of cancer, relieve joint pain and other rheumatoid problems, and lessen the effects of depression and other mental disorders. Omega-3 fats can also help with some forms of skin problems and has been reported to ward off Alzheimer’s disease. And most recently, daily fish oil supplements were shown to benefit the heart of people with chronic heart failure-slightly better than a popular cholesterol-reducing drug!
For the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) study, Italian researchers enlisted more than 7,000 people who had been diagnosed with heart failure, a condition in which the heart becomes enlarged and loses its ability to effectively pump blood around the body. Half of the participants were given a daily capsule of omega-3, in addition to their other daily medications, while the other half took a placebo. They were followed for an average of four years, during which 1,981 (27 percent) of the group taking omega-3 died of heart failure or were admitted to the hospital with cardiovascular problems, compared to 2,053 (29 percent) of the placebo group.
According to researchers, multiple rounds of heating – plus a little extra oil – enhance the health benefits of processed tomatoes.
The technique alters the structure of the tomato molecule lycopene so that it is more easily transported into the bloodstream.
Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, has been shown to prevent cancers and may also combat heart disease and diabetes.
Earlier studies have indicated that processing raw tomatoes into purees or sauces increased the benefits.
