By: Madeline Ellis
Published: Monday, 11 May 2009

The debate over whether the chicken or the egg came first has steep competition in recent years, which is behind the epidemic of obesity in the United States? Some experts say it is genetics, some say that the chemicals in the environment are to blame, others say it's lazy life of hours of television and video games. But the Australian researchers say that the increase in obesity is almost entirely due to excess and have the numbers to prove it.

In his study, Professor Boyd Swinburn from Deakin University in Victoria, Australia, and his colleagues estimate that adults need to eat to maintain a stable weight and how much children should eat to maintain a normal growth curve under normal conditions. Then, using data from the national food supply since the 1970s and early 2000s, apparently, the number of Americans eat. From this information, researchers can predict how much weight Americans was expected to earn more than 30 years of food intake was the only influence. According to the NHANES population data used in weight during this period to determine how much weight was gained.

According to the researchers, the weight and the expected increase of the children corresponds exactly, indicating that the increased calorie intake alone may explain the excess weight. Adults earning less than the expected 18.9 to 23.8 kilos of books, which suggests that excessive consumption of food is always a gain, but in May there have been increases in physical activity during the 30 years that have mitigated what would otherwise have been a greater weight gain, "said Swinburn.

"There have been many assumptions that the decline in physical activity and increased intake of energy were the main drivers of the obesity epidemic. So far, nobody has suggested ways to quantify their relative contribution to the increase of obesity from 1970, "Swinburn said." This study shows that weight gain in the U.S. population seems to be explained almost entirely by eating more calories. It seems that changes in physical activity plays a minimal role. " He added that the results are probably similar to other developed countries.

Swinburn said the population of the United States back to the light levels of the 1970s, children would have to reduce their daily calorie intake of about 350 calories, the equivalent of a can of soda and a small portion of potatoes chips, and adults, about 500 calories more or less the same as a Big Mac hamburger If children have to walk two hours extra a day, adults and nearly two hours. "For everyone to walk two hours more per day is not really a viable option to combat the epidemic," said Swinburn. "We must limit our expectations of what the increased physical activity can do." In short, Americans should eat less, "he says.

However, Swinburn said that the results in any way seek to deny the value of physical activity. "We absolutely need to continue to promote increased physical activity and healthy eating, and are clearly beneficial in terms of factors of obesity," he said. "But when it comes to priorities, I think we should be reducing energy intake. It is particularly important for policy makers to focus on energy intake of the equation."

Other experts agree with the conclusions of the study. "It has long been suspected that the decline in physical activity seen in the last 30 years, plays a minor role in the change of weight," said Dr. Robert Lustig, an obesity researcher at the University of California San Francisco. "This is because virtually all studies of obesity has increased in the exercise did not result in weight loss." He added that exercise plays a key role in the obesity epidemic, not because it reduces excess weight, but because it improves health. For example, twenty minutes of jogging burns the equivalent of a chocolate chip cookies, he said. Therefore, Americans "need a complete overhaul of our food if we are to solve the obesity epidemic," says Dr. Lustig.

By: Lara Endreszl
Published: Saturday, 9 May 2009

With spring sneaking in us is pollen in the air and allergy sufferers in the world are breathing a sigh of contempt of overcrowding. Despite the outdoor barbecue, marathons, business trips, picnics, markets and festivals are planned throughout the summer, people who sneeze, cough and generally feel miserable when the wind n 's are not welcome this change. New research shows that the B9, also called folic acid, which preserves the component of red blood cells healthy and has been shown to reduce birth defects associated with the spine can also help reduce symptoms such miserable heat. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 25 million Americans living with allergies because of their environment and asthma is the chronic disease that affects 7 percent of children of all age groups in the States USA.

The study was conducted at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, hoping to keep the symptoms of allergy (including asthma) in the bay. Looking through the records of more than 8,000 patients aged between 2 and 85, the researchers monitored levels of folic acid against people with lung problems and symptoms of allergy to find a pattern. Patients with higher blood levels of folic acid have fewer antibodies that activate the immune response in the body.

The results were recently in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in a press release issued by Johns Hopkins and principal investigator pediatric allergist Dr. Elizabeth Matsui said it was a step in the allergic reaction, "Our results are a clear indication that the Folic acid can regulate the immune response to allergens, and can reduce symptoms of allergies and asthma, "adds that folic acid on its own is not a treatment study elsewhere may be" But we have yet to determine the mechanism exactly behind him, and that we need to study people who are treated with folic acid before considering supplementation with folic acid to prevent or treat allergies and asthma. "

Even if B9 supplements can help prevent this year's allergy season, it's good to know there is hope for the future. Typically, green vegetables (rich in vitamin K), nuts, beans, grains, cereals and products, the health of men and women are expected to consume 400 micrograms per day.

Believed to be the first study of its kind between folic acid, allergy symptoms, these results are new and exciting. More details on the results include documents such as patients with low levels of folic acid in the blood (also known as levels of folate) incur a 40 percent increased risk of wheezing that people with higher levels. Other risks associated with low levels of folate were 30 percent more likely to develop allergies, 31 percent higher risk of allergy symptoms, and 16 percent increased risk of asthma.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the next phase of the study is the use of a placebo-controlled experience with a group of patients with allergies and asthma.

Scientists decree that folic acid is not a cure for all and not be ready for use as prevention of allergy, at least a couple of years. Although most allergies are based on the type of landscape they live around, but are subject to sensitivity to allergens are more likely to find something to activate the effects. Asthma is more difficult, but because it is an increasingly in children, it deserves an investigation and believe that this discovery will help shed light in May. If folic acid is no longer aware of his hand on the list may be useful to take in foods rich in nutrients and ... just in case.. 

By HealthNews.com