Jan. 3 - The Health Risk Of High-Fat Foods Could Be Reduced
By New Discovery
Just as additives help gasoline burn cleaner,
a research report published in the January 2008 print issue
of The FASEB Journal shows that the
food industry could take a similar approach toward reducing
health risks associated with fatty foods. These "meal additives"
would be based on work of Israeli researchers who discovered
that consuming polyphenols (natural compounds in red wine, fruits,
and vegetables) simultaneously with high-fat foods may reduce
health risks associated with these foods.
"We suggest a new hypothesis to explain
polyphenols," said Joseph Kanner, senior author of the
report. "For the first time, these compounds were demonstrated
to prevent significantly the appearance of toxic food derivative
compounds in human plasma."
For the study, six men and four women were fed
three different meals consisting of dark meat turkey cutlets.
One meal, the control, consisted of turkey meat and water. The
second meal consisted of turkey meat with polyphenols added
after cooking (one tablespoon of concentrated wine) followed
with a glass of red wine (about 7 ounces). The third meal consisted
of turkey meat with polyphenols added before cooking and then
followed by a glass of wine.
At various points during the study, researchers
took blood and urine samples to measure levels of malondialdehyde
(MDA), a natural byproduct of fat digestion known to increase
the risk for heart disease and other chronic conditions. The
researchers found that MDA levels nearly quintupled after the
control meal, while MDA was nearly eliminated after subjects
consumed the meals with polyphenols.
"As long as deep fried candy bars are on
menus, scientists will need to keep serving up new ways to prevent
the cellular damage caused by these very tasty treats,"
said Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The
FASEB Journal. "This study suggests that
the time will come where people can eat french fries without
plugging their arteries."
Source: Federation of American Societies
for Experimental Biology
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