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A spoonful of oil: Fats and oils help to unlock full nutritional benefits of veggies, study suggests
Date: October 9, 2017
Source: Iowa State University
Summary: Some dressing with your greens may help you absorb more nutrients, according to a new study. The research found enhanced absorption of multiple fat-soluble vitamins in addition to beta-carotene and three other carotenoids. The results may ease the guilt of countless dieters who fret about adding dressing to their salads.
The song says a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but an Iowa State University scientist has published new research suggesting a spoonful of oil makes vegetables more nutritious.
A new study led by Wendy White, an associate professor of food science and human nutrition, shows that eating salad with added fat in the form of soybean oil promotes the absorption of eight different micronutrients that promote human health. Conversely, eating the same salad without the added oil lessens the likelihood that the body will absorb the nutrients.
The study appeared recently in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and the results may ease the guilt of countless dieters who fret about adding dressing to their salads.
White's study found added oil aided in the absorption of seven different micronutrients in salad vegetables. Those nutrients include four carotenoids -- alpha and beta carotene, lutein and lycopene -- two forms of vitamin E and vitamin K. The oil also promoted the absorption of vitamin A, the eighth micronutrient tracked in the study, which formed in the intestine from the alpha and beta carotene. The new study builds on previous research from White's group that focused on alpha and beta carotene and lycopene.
White said better absorption of the nutrients promotes a range of health benefits, including cancer prevention and eyesight preservation.
The study also found that the amount of oil added to the vegetables had a proportional relationship with the amount of nutrient absorption. That is, more oil means more absorption.
"The best way to explain it would be to say that adding twice the amount of salad dressing leads to twice the nutrient absorption," White said.
That doesn't give salad eaters license to drench their greens in dressing, she cautioned. But she said consumers should be perfectly comfortable with the U.S. dietary recommendation of about two tablespoons of oil per day.
The study included 12 college-age women who consumed salads with various levels of soybean oil, a common ingredient in commercial salad dressings. The subjects then had their blood tested to measure the absorption of nutrients. Women were chosen for the trial due to differences in the speed with which men and women metabolize the nutrients in question.
The results showed maximal nutrient absorption occurred at around 32 grams of oil, which was the highest amount studied, or a little more than two tablespoons. However, White said she found some variability among the subjects.
"For most people, the oil is going to benefit nutrient absorption," she said. "The average trend, which was statistically significant, was for increased absorption."
Research collaborators include Yang Zhou, a former ISU postdoctoral researcher; Agatha Agustiana Crane, a former graduate research assistant in food science and human nutrition; Philip Dixon, a University Professor of Statistics, and Frits Quadt of Quadt Consultancy, among others.
Unilever, a global food company, provided funding for the research. The company had no input in the publication of the study.
So a spoonful or two of salad dressing may indeed help you derive the optimal nutritional benefit from your veggies. The relationship between a spoonful of sugar and the medicine going down, however, remains outside the scope of White's research.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Iowa State University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Wendy S White, Yang Zhou, Agatha Crane, Philip Dixon, Frits Quadt, Leonard M Flendrig. Modeling the dose effects of soybean oil in salad dressing on carotenoid and fat-soluble vitamin bioavailability in salad vegetables. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2017; 106 (4): 1041 DOI: 10.3945/%u200Bajcn.117.153635
Cite This Page:
Iowa State University. "A spoonful of oil: Fats and oils help to unlock full nutritional benefits of veggies, study suggests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 9 October 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171009124026.htm>.
The song says a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but an Iowa State University scientist has published new research suggesting a spoonful of oil makes vegetables more nutritious.
A new study led by Wendy White, an associate professor of food science and human nutrition, shows that eating salad with added fat in the form of soybean oil promotes the absorption of eight different micronutrients that promote human health. Conversely, eating the same salad without the added oil lessens the likelihood that the body will absorb the nutrients.
The study appeared recently in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and the results may ease the guilt of countless dieters who fret about adding dressing to their salads.
White's study found added oil aided in the absorption of seven different micronutrients in salad vegetables. Those nutrients include four carotenoids -- alpha and beta carotene, lutein and lycopene -- two forms of vitamin E and vitamin K. The oil also promoted the absorption of vitamin A, the eighth micronutrient tracked in the study, which formed in the intestine from the alpha and beta carotene. The new study builds on previous research from White's group that focused on alpha and beta carotene and lycopene.
White said better absorption of the nutrients promotes a range of health benefits, including cancer prevention and eyesight preservation.
The study also found that the amount of oil added to the vegetables had a proportional relationship with the amount of nutrient absorption. That is, more oil means more absorption.
"The best way to explain it would be to say that adding twice the amount of salad dressing leads to twice the nutrient absorption," White said.
That doesn't give salad eaters license to drench their greens in dressing, she cautioned. But she said consumers should be perfectly comfortable with the U.S. dietary recommendation of about two tablespoons of oil per day.
The study included 12 college-age women who consumed salads with various levels of soybean oil, a common ingredient in commercial salad dressings. The subjects then had their blood tested to measure the absorption of nutrients. Women were chosen for the trial due to differences in the speed with which men and women metabolize the nutrients in question.
The results showed maximal nutrient absorption occurred at around 32 grams of oil, which was the highest amount studied, or a little more than two tablespoons. However, White said she found some variability among the subjects.
"For most people, the oil is going to benefit nutrient absorption," she said. "The average trend, which was statistically significant, was for increased absorption."
Research collaborators include Yang Zhou, a former ISU postdoctoral researcher; Agatha Agustiana Crane, a former graduate research assistant in food science and human nutrition; Philip Dixon, a University Professor of Statistics, and Frits Quadt of Quadt Consultancy, among others.
Unilever, a global food company, provided funding for the research. The company had no input in the publication of the study.
So a spoonful or two of salad dressing may indeed help you derive the optimal nutritional benefit from your veggies. The relationship between a spoonful of sugar and the medicine going down, however, remains outside the scope of White's research.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Iowa State University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Wendy S White, Yang Zhou, Agatha Crane, Philip Dixon, Frits Quadt, Leonard M Flendrig. Modeling the dose effects of soybean oil in salad dressing on carotenoid and fat-soluble vitamin bioavailability in salad vegetables. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2017; 106 (4): 1041 DOI: 10.3945/%u200Bajcn.117.153635
Cite This Page:
Iowa State University. "A spoonful of oil: Fats and oils help to unlock full nutritional benefits of veggies, study suggests." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 9 October 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171009124026.htm>.
Cannabidiol benefits and mechanisms shown in mouse study of Dravet syndrome
Cannabidiol treatment reduces seizures and autism-like behaviors in mice with this genetic condition
Date: October 10, 2017
Source: University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine
Summary: Cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating derivative from cannabis, has been shown to reduce seizures and autism-like behaviors in a mouse model of a genetic disorder, Dravet syndrome. Children with this devastating condition have difficult-to-treat epilepsy, cognitive impairments, and problems with social interactions. The researchers also studied how therapeutic effects of cannabidiol relate to changes in signaling between certain brain neurons.
Treatment with cannabidiol reduces some major symptoms in mice with a genetic condition recapitulating Dravet syndrome, a devastating childhood brain disorder.
Cannabidiol is a non-intoxicating substance among the several active compounds derived from Cannabis plants. This molecule can also be produced synthetically.
The results of its use to treat Dravet syndrome are reported in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS.
Children with this syndrome have severe, difficult-to-control epilepsy. Their seizures, which can be frequent and prolonged, first appear in infancy. As the affected individual grows, intellectual impairments, autism-like behaviors and other debilitating problems can emerge.
Many patients need nearly constant care. Some are at risk for early death. Few therapeutic options exist for this life-long condition.
UW Medicine researcher William Catterall, one of the authors of the PNAS paper, noted, "There has been increasing interest in the lay press about parents who have used cannabidiol to successfully treat their children." Catterall is a professor of pharmacology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
Medicinal cannabis use is booming for many disorders, the authors of the paper said, even without enough preclinical evidence or sufficient insights into its mechanism of action.
The success of small-scale clinical trials for Dravet syndrome patients in reducing the frequency of their seizures, they explained, encourages additional research to determine if cannabidiol might help with other aspects of their condition.
"We have developed a mouse genetic model of Dravet syndrome, which is allowing us to probe more deeply into the possible beneficial effects of cannabidiol," Catterall said. The researchers also wanted to see how the beneficial effects of cannabidiol may depend on changes in the molecular signaling processes that certain brain neurons use to communicate with each other.
The researchers found that, in mice, cannabidiol treatment effectively reduced the severity and duration of seizures, as well as their frequency. The Dravet mice on low-dose cannabidiol treatment spent more time interacting with mice that were strangers to them, and were less likely to try to escape these social interactions.
These results predict that Dravet syndrome patients may have better social interactions and fewer autism-like symptoms when treated with low doses of cannabidiol.
This improvement in social interactions, however, was lost at the higher doses necessary to protect against seizures.
"These findings present a conundrum for designing Dravet syndrome treatments that both control seizures and improve social behavior," noted Nephi Stella, another researcher on the study from the UW departments of pharmacology and psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
The discrepancy is similar to that seen in an earlier study of clonazepam by Catterall and colleagues. They found that higher doses of clonazepam were required to control Dravet syndrome seizures, but lower doses to treat its autistic and cognitive aspects.
In looking at how cannabidiol affects brain neurons in the Dravet syndrome mouse model, the researchers observed that it rebalances the ratio of excitation to inhibition in the hippocampus. This is a part of the brain involved in learning and memory.
These experimental findings suggest that cannabidiol reverses Dravet syndrome's core deficit, which is failure of the brain's inhibitory neurons to fire electrical signals and control the activity of nearby excitatory neurons. The researchers also found that cannabidiol may act by antagonizing GPR55, a brain receptor that remains poorly understood.
Determining the detailed molecular mechanism that mediates the therapeutic actions of cannabidiol may suggest development strategies for new drugs aimed at GPR55, according to the researchers. Such potential new class of medicines would ideally be more effective against seizures and cognitive deficit and would enter the brain more efficiently than the currently available therapeutics.
Compared to many existing medications for epilepsy, cannabidiol shows fewer and milder side effects. The researchers concluded that this study contributes to the emerging data that supports the efficacy of cannabidiol in otherwise treatment-resistant epilepsy and may lead to improved therapies for these debilitating diseases.
Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Joshua S. Kaplan, Nephi Stella, William A. Catterall, Ruth E. Westenbroek. Cannabidiol attenuates seizures and social deficits in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017; 201711351 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1711351114
Cite This Page:
University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine. "Cannabidiol benefits and mechanisms shown in mouse study of Dravet syndrome: Cannabidiol treatment reduces seizures and autism-like behaviors in mice with this genetic condition." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 October 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171010105651.htm>.
Treatment with cannabidiol reduces some major symptoms in mice with a genetic condition recapitulating Dravet syndrome, a devastating childhood brain disorder.
Cannabidiol is a non-intoxicating substance among the several active compounds derived from Cannabis plants. This molecule can also be produced synthetically.
The results of its use to treat Dravet syndrome are reported in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS.
Children with this syndrome have severe, difficult-to-control epilepsy. Their seizures, which can be frequent and prolonged, first appear in infancy. As the affected individual grows, intellectual impairments, autism-like behaviors and other debilitating problems can emerge.
Many patients need nearly constant care. Some are at risk for early death. Few therapeutic options exist for this life-long condition.
UW Medicine researcher William Catterall, one of the authors of the PNAS paper, noted, "There has been increasing interest in the lay press about parents who have used cannabidiol to successfully treat their children." Catterall is a professor of pharmacology at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.
Medicinal cannabis use is booming for many disorders, the authors of the paper said, even without enough preclinical evidence or sufficient insights into its mechanism of action.
The success of small-scale clinical trials for Dravet syndrome patients in reducing the frequency of their seizures, they explained, encourages additional research to determine if cannabidiol might help with other aspects of their condition.
"We have developed a mouse genetic model of Dravet syndrome, which is allowing us to probe more deeply into the possible beneficial effects of cannabidiol," Catterall said. The researchers also wanted to see how the beneficial effects of cannabidiol may depend on changes in the molecular signaling processes that certain brain neurons use to communicate with each other.
The researchers found that, in mice, cannabidiol treatment effectively reduced the severity and duration of seizures, as well as their frequency. The Dravet mice on low-dose cannabidiol treatment spent more time interacting with mice that were strangers to them, and were less likely to try to escape these social interactions.
These results predict that Dravet syndrome patients may have better social interactions and fewer autism-like symptoms when treated with low doses of cannabidiol.
This improvement in social interactions, however, was lost at the higher doses necessary to protect against seizures.
"These findings present a conundrum for designing Dravet syndrome treatments that both control seizures and improve social behavior," noted Nephi Stella, another researcher on the study from the UW departments of pharmacology and psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
The discrepancy is similar to that seen in an earlier study of clonazepam by Catterall and colleagues. They found that higher doses of clonazepam were required to control Dravet syndrome seizures, but lower doses to treat its autistic and cognitive aspects.
In looking at how cannabidiol affects brain neurons in the Dravet syndrome mouse model, the researchers observed that it rebalances the ratio of excitation to inhibition in the hippocampus. This is a part of the brain involved in learning and memory.
These experimental findings suggest that cannabidiol reverses Dravet syndrome's core deficit, which is failure of the brain's inhibitory neurons to fire electrical signals and control the activity of nearby excitatory neurons. The researchers also found that cannabidiol may act by antagonizing GPR55, a brain receptor that remains poorly understood.
Determining the detailed molecular mechanism that mediates the therapeutic actions of cannabidiol may suggest development strategies for new drugs aimed at GPR55, according to the researchers. Such potential new class of medicines would ideally be more effective against seizures and cognitive deficit and would enter the brain more efficiently than the currently available therapeutics.
Compared to many existing medications for epilepsy, cannabidiol shows fewer and milder side effects. The researchers concluded that this study contributes to the emerging data that supports the efficacy of cannabidiol in otherwise treatment-resistant epilepsy and may lead to improved therapies for these debilitating diseases.
Story Source:
Materials provided by University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Joshua S. Kaplan, Nephi Stella, William A. Catterall, Ruth E. Westenbroek. Cannabidiol attenuates seizures and social deficits in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2017; 201711351 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1711351114
Cite This Page:
University of Washington Health Sciences/UW Medicine. "Cannabidiol benefits and mechanisms shown in mouse study of Dravet syndrome: Cannabidiol treatment reduces seizures and autism-like behaviors in mice with this genetic condition." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 October 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171010105651.htm>.
Home-brewed poppy seed tea can be lethal
Date: October 10, 2017
Source: Sam Houston State University
Summary: A home-brewing technique used to extract morphine from unwashed poppy seeds can produce lethal doses of the drug, according to new research.
A home-brewing technique used to extract morphine from unwashed poppy seeds can produce lethal doses of the drug, according to research at Sam Houston State University.
Madeleine Swortwood, an assistant professor in the Department of Forensic Science, began investigating the issue after being contacted by the father of a 21-year-old man who died after ingesting home-brewed poppy seed tea. It is one of many deaths and overdoses in morgues and emergency rooms that have been suspected from the home-brewed drug.
Swortwood and her student tested 22 samples of bulk poppy seeds purchased legally on the internet using four home-brewing methods found on drug users' forums. The study traced three main components of the drug -- including morphine, codeine, and thebaine -- and found these techniques could produce lethal levels of morphine based on moderate use. While thebaine is not an addictive component, it was included in testing because it is valuable in identifying the poppy seeds as the source of morphine in order to rule out heroin use. The results were published in The Journal of Forensic Science.
"Although some bulk poppy seeds can be more lethal than others due to the variation in morphine concentrations both between vendors and between harvest dates, it should be noted that regardless of sample, it is possible to obtain lethal doses of morphine from poppy seed tea if moderate volumes of tea are consumed," Swortwood said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid abuse is a serious public health issue, with drug overdoses identified as the leading cause of injury death in the United States. The number of opioid overdose deaths has quadrupled since 1999, and six out of every ten overdose deaths involve an opioid. Ninety-one Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.
Although opioid poppy and poppy straws are listed as controlled substances in the United States, poppy seeds are not prohibited. Processed poppy seeds are generally used in baking, such as in a poppy seed bun, which poses no threat to consumers. However, the high concentration of morphine contained in unwashed poppy seeds and extracted through home-brew methods may pose a danger of overdose or death.
"This study will bring knowledge to law enforcement and the federal community," said Swortwood. "Unwashed poppy seeds are easily accessible. This is a new illicit way of obtaining high levels of morphine."
Story Source:
Materials provided by Sam Houston State University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Deborah Powers, Stephen Erickson, Madeleine J. Swortwood. Quantification of Morphine, Codeine, and Thebaine in Home-Brewed Poppy Seed Tea by LC-MS/MS. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2017; DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13664
Cite This Page:
Sam Houston State University. "Home-brewed poppy seed tea can be lethal." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 October 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171010105645.htm>.
A home-brewing technique used to extract morphine from unwashed poppy seeds can produce lethal doses of the drug, according to research at Sam Houston State University.
Madeleine Swortwood, an assistant professor in the Department of Forensic Science, began investigating the issue after being contacted by the father of a 21-year-old man who died after ingesting home-brewed poppy seed tea. It is one of many deaths and overdoses in morgues and emergency rooms that have been suspected from the home-brewed drug.
Swortwood and her student tested 22 samples of bulk poppy seeds purchased legally on the internet using four home-brewing methods found on drug users' forums. The study traced three main components of the drug -- including morphine, codeine, and thebaine -- and found these techniques could produce lethal levels of morphine based on moderate use. While thebaine is not an addictive component, it was included in testing because it is valuable in identifying the poppy seeds as the source of morphine in order to rule out heroin use. The results were published in The Journal of Forensic Science.
"Although some bulk poppy seeds can be more lethal than others due to the variation in morphine concentrations both between vendors and between harvest dates, it should be noted that regardless of sample, it is possible to obtain lethal doses of morphine from poppy seed tea if moderate volumes of tea are consumed," Swortwood said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioid abuse is a serious public health issue, with drug overdoses identified as the leading cause of injury death in the United States. The number of opioid overdose deaths has quadrupled since 1999, and six out of every ten overdose deaths involve an opioid. Ninety-one Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.
Although opioid poppy and poppy straws are listed as controlled substances in the United States, poppy seeds are not prohibited. Processed poppy seeds are generally used in baking, such as in a poppy seed bun, which poses no threat to consumers. However, the high concentration of morphine contained in unwashed poppy seeds and extracted through home-brew methods may pose a danger of overdose or death.
"This study will bring knowledge to law enforcement and the federal community," said Swortwood. "Unwashed poppy seeds are easily accessible. This is a new illicit way of obtaining high levels of morphine."
Story Source:
Materials provided by Sam Houston State University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
Deborah Powers, Stephen Erickson, Madeleine J. Swortwood. Quantification of Morphine, Codeine, and Thebaine in Home-Brewed Poppy Seed Tea by LC-MS/MS. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2017; DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13664
Cite This Page:
Sam Houston State University. "Home-brewed poppy seed tea can be lethal." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 October 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/10/171010105645.htm>.