Todays Newsbites

Dont count on extra vitamin D to get you through cold and flu season sniffle-free. Results from a large new clinical trial show no significant difference in upper respiratory tract infections between people randomly assigned to vitamin D supplements and those getting a placebo. The study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, also found no benefit from calcium supplements, either in duration of infection or severity of symptoms. The 759 generally healthy participants, ages 45-75, received either 1,000 IU of vitamin D, 1,200 milligrams of calcium, vitamin D plus calcium, or a placebo daily. Their days of illness and symptom severity were tracked over four winters.

By their own report, Americans ate less healthfully last year than any time since 2008. A daily poll by Gallup and Healthways, totaling more than 150,000 adults over a years polling, asks whether respondents ate healthfully the previous day.

Heres a new reason for watching your waistline and keeping active thats worth listening to: Extra weight and greater waist circumference are linked to a higher risk of hearing loss with aging, while moderate physical activity is associated with reduced risk.

Frozen produce is just as nutritious as fresh-and superior in vitamin and mineral content to fresh produce stored in the refrigerator for a few days.

After one of the most comprehensive risk assessments of aspartame ever undertaken, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded the artificial sweetener is safe at recommended levels of consumption.

Is your household throwing away hundreds of dollars worth of usable food every year? Thats the conclusion of a new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, which warns that $165 billion of edible food is tossed in the trash annually and 40% of US food production never gets eaten. The leading culprit? Confusing food date labels, according to the report.

Rooting for the home team could be hard on your arteries when your football favorites lose, especially if its a nail-biter. French researchers report that fans whose NFL team lost consumed as much as 28% more saturated fat the next day.

In the latest evidence that day-long snacking is overtaking traditional mealtimes, a new report says more than one in five Americans-21%-now graze on snacks all day long, skipping meals completely

Green tea is touted for its health-promoting properties in large part because of its high levels of antioxidants called catechins, especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG).

Most Americans arent doing nearly as well in getting key nutrients as we think we are, according to the International Food Information Council. The new study of more than 1,000 US adults identified wide disparities between consumer perception and actual consumption.