Healthy Eating

For the first time since 1994, the rate of cigarette smoking among US adults actually rose a little. Health officials hope the increase-from 19.8% to almost 21%-is just a blip, but expressed disappointment that weve hit a wall in reducing adult smoking, as one anti-smoking activist put it. The news was released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which conducted in-person interviews of nearly 22,000 US adults in 2008. In a separate state-by-state survey, the CDC said West Virginia and Indiana have the highest smoking rates, about 26%, while Utah is home to by far the fewest smokers, only 9%.

On the bright side, another CDC report has found that the prevalence of US adults with high levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol dropped by about one-third from 1999-2000 to 2005-2006. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) on a sampling of 7,044 participants age 20 or older, CDC scientists calculated that the percentage of those with high LDL levels declined from 31.5% to 21.2%. The prevalence varied substantially by risk category, with those at highest risk due to cardiovascular conditions or diabetes declining from 69.4% with high LDL to 58.9%.

People on certain medications that interact with grapefruit juice may someday be able to enjoy the tart beverage again-thanks to a fungus. Studies by USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have shown that the fungus- Aspergillus niger-can either bind or break down the compounds in grapefruit, called furanocomarins (FCs), that affect medications. FCs inhibit the enzymatic activity responsible for metabolizing certain prescribed medications, allowing more of the medication to enter the bloodstream.

Slowing down your eating not only gives you a chance to actually taste your food, it may give your body time to signal, Enough! Greek researchers report that gobbling food appears to short-circuit the release of appetite-regulating hormones, promoting overeating. They conducted a crossover study with 17 healthy men,

Changes may be coming to the familiar Nutrition Facts panel on food packages. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just completed a public-comment period on a proposed study to test labeling changes with a randomly selected group of 3,600 consumers.

Turning off the TV might help you lose weight-but only a little, reports the first study to measure the effects of a TV reduction intervention in adults. Researchers spent three weeks observing the viewing habits of 36 volunteers, all overweight or obese. Then 20 randomly selected participants had their TVs fitted with a device that shut off the screen after theyd reached a weekly limit of half their previous viewing time. The other 16 served as a control group, watching all the TV they wanted.

Sugar producers may be celebrating and corn growers grumbling as softdrink companies turn to sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to sweeten their beverages-at least temporarily. Pepsi-Cola and Mountain Dew recently introduced Throwback soft drinks sweetened with sugar for a limited time only (the nostalgic promotion was scheduled to end Feb. 22). Some soft-drink fans swear the sugarsweetened sodas taste better, but are they also better for you? Chemically, both sugar and HFCS contain similar amounts of glucose and fructose.

New York City officials are leading the charge in a nationwide effort to reduce the amounts of salt in packaged and restaurant foods. The National Salt Reduction Initiative aims to cut such hidden salt-a major source of dietary sodium-by 25% over the next five years. New York is the first to enact the initiatives targets, with final approval expected this spring.

With Americans vegetable con- sumption dropping over the past decade, drinking your vegetables could help reach dietary goals. Thats the conclusion of a randomized trial funded in part, not surprisingly, by the makers of V8 vegetable juice. Scientists at the University of California-Davis assigned 90 volunteers to follow the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hyperten- sion (DASH) diet regimen while also consuming 0, 8 or 16 fuid ounces of vegetable juice daily. Despite being told to follow the DASH plan and receiving nutrition education, participants fell short of the goal of four daily servings of vegetables if not counting the juice. Across all groups, non-juice vegetable intake averaged 2.6 servings daily after 6 weeks and 2.3 servings after 12 weeks. But the groups also getting juice were able to close the gap. Researchers also looked at heart-health measures, which generally didnt change; pre- hypertensive participants, however, showed a signifcant decrease in blood pressure with higher vegetable and veg- etable juice intake. While eating whole vegetables remains preferable, research- ers concluded that juice is an effective and acceptable way for healthy adults to close the dietary vegetable gap.

P eople who eat more healthful diets really do spend more money on food. A new study compared the eating and grocery-spending habits of 78,191 women in the Nurses Health Study. Participants were divided into fve groups based on their scores on the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), a system similar to the governments food pyramid. Compared to those with the lowest AHEI scores, the healthiest eaters spent 24% more on groceries-and had lower rates of angina, high blood pressure and type-2 diabetes. But researchers emphasized that your nutritional bang doesnt have to depend on the buck: Although spending more money was associated with a healthier diet, they wrote, large improvements in diet may be achieved without increased spending. The purchase of plant-based foods may offer the best investment for dietary health. (See our August 2010 Special Report for more on afford- able healthy eating.)