General Nutrition

New Years brings a brief boost in popularity for black-eyed peas, the key ingredient in the traditional Southern celebratory dish of Hoppin John. But if youre looking for a nutritional bargain, black-eyed peas (aka cowpeas) should be a year-round staple in your pantry.

Q. I read in your newsletter that older people may need more protein than the recommended 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight to maintain muscle mass as they age. How much more, at age 75, might I need? Is 1.0 gram per kilogram of body weight too much?

Q. What are the pros and cons of eating raw fish, as in sushi?

A small pilot study at Tufts Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) raises the intriguing possibility that following a new behavioral weight-loss program for six months can in turn reprogram your brains food cravings. The first-of-its-kind study used MRI scans of the brains addiction center to see changes in the response to healthy and unhealthy food. The scans showed that it is possible to train the brain to reverse cravings and temptation for unhealthy food, replacing former cravings with temptation for healthy food.

After youve reached a certain age, does eating right really matter? As a reader of this newsletter, you might take it for granted that the answer is, Yes, of course!-after all, you subscribe to a publication whose tagline is Living healthier longer. But exactly how does nutrition affect the health of older individuals?

A recent headline-grabbing study seemed to settle the issue of low-carb versus low-fat diets definitively, reporting that a low-carb diet was not only more effective for weight loss, but also better for cardiovascular risk factors. In the yearlong study of 148 obese volunteers, those assigned to a low-carbohydrate regimen lost nearly eight pounds more and showed greater improvements in triglycerides, HDL cholesterol and a standard risk score for heart disease than a low-fat group. Both groups saw similar decreases in unhealthy LDL cholesterol. Researchers said the cardiovascular findings were notable because of concerns that low-carb diets might boost unhealthy cholesterol levels as dieters substitute fats for carbohydrates.

The ancient Egyptians were onto something when they paid their pyramid-building crews with onions, and placed onions in the tombs of their pharaohs. In the Biblical account of the Exodus, onions are among the Egyptian foods the children of Israel miss. In ancient Greece, Olympians prepared for the games by drinking onion juice and rubbing their bodies with onions.

Q. For years Ive daily eaten blueberries and a few walnuts with 1% milk. But recently I was told that milk neutralizes the antioxidant benefit of the blueberries. Is this true, and if so does milk similarly affect other berries and antioxidant-rich foods? Would yogurt do the same thing?

Q. I was wondering if a gluten-free diet results in any deficiencies in vitamins/minerals or other essential parts of ones diet? My diet is a medical not personal choice.

Q. When the advice says, Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, does that mean five fruits plus five vegetables (10 total servings) or five total?