Nutrition Wonderland » Posts Authored by John Serrao

Book Review: Safe Food by Marion Nestle

John Serrao — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:19:06 +0000

In our continuing report on the state of food safety in 2009 America, we review Marion Nestle's authoritative work on the subject entitled, Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism. While the book debuted back in the early 2000's, we felt that, with the recent peanut butter scare, it was time to revisit this work – so let's start with a little hypothetical posturing in regards to peanut butter.

Mailbag: Smart Balance versus Butter

John Serrao — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:36:07 +0000

Is Smart Balance is better than using butter?

Food Safety – The Recent History

John Serrao — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 13:01:12 +0000

The early part of 2009 has witnessed one of the largest food contamination cases in US history. The Peanut Corporation of America had a salmonella outbreak in one of their factories, contaminating the majority of peanut-butter containing products in the United States. Here, we review the recent history of food borne illnesses and how they relate to the consolidation of the food industry.

Has Cuba Cured Heart Disease? The Policosanol Story

John Serrao — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:00:09 +0000

Immediately after Castro came to power in 1959, the Cuban Institute for Research on Sugar Cane Derivatives (ICIDCA) was formed and began studying - as you might imagine from the name - products that could be derived from sugar cane. They found one compound - called policosanol - that showed promise. This is that compound's story.

Fructose, Insulin Resistance – Together At Last

John Serrao — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:00:07 +0000

Today, researchers from Yale announced new findings that demonstrate the mechanism by which the fructose sugars found in both refined table sugar and high fructose corn syrup cause a reduction in insulin sensitivity, a key stage in the development of both obesity and diabetes.

Integrative Medicine on Capitol Hill

John Serrao — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:37:15 +0000

On Thursday, the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing called, Integrative Care: A Pathway to a Healthier Nation to assess how complementary medicine will be incorporated into President Obama's challenge for Congress to pass health care reform in 2009.

Truvia and PureVia: The Controversy of Stevia

John Serrao — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:25:30 +0000

In our first two pieces about the new sweeteners Truvia and PureVia, we covered the history of saccharin (another artificial sweetener) and the science behind rebiana, the latest sweetener in both Truvia and PureVia. Now, in our final view of Truvia and PureVia we take a look at the political history of stevia - the base of rebiana, opinions of some of the major players in this debate and offer our final views on the subject.

The Science Behind Truvia and PureVia Sweeteners (Rebiana)

John Serrao — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:01:18 +0000

The idea of a real, zero calorie sweetener has been a goal of many agribusiness giants for some time but have Truvia and PureVia been adequately tested? Nutrition Wonderland has gone through the science surrounding these new sweeteners and spoken with some major industry players to get the scoop. We have found some positives and some serious negatives, which we will review here.

Mailbag: Clare Island Organic Salmon Omega-3s

John Serrao — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:55:21 +0000

My local grocery store carries the Clare Island Organic Salmon from Ireland brand. I've learned from you and others that the level of omega 3 in wild vs farm raised salmon is largely based on the diet fed the fish. I'd like to know if the organic fish raised by this company are fed a diet that results in a higher level of omega 3s? Specifically, how does the level of omega 3s in this fish compare to that of wild caught Alaskan salmon?

Truvia and PureVia – A Window to the Past or the Future?

John Serrao — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:42:54 +0000

In the coming weeks, we will be examining two new sweeteners called Truvia and PureVia that are being released into the American food supply in the first half of 2009. They are derivative of a naturally sweet plant called Stevia, which has been used around the world for quite some time now to sweeten drinks and native dishes. But before we dig deeply into the science around the new Stevia-based sweeteners, we think it would instructive to learn the history of synthetic sweeteners in America - as the past is usually the best predictor of the future.

The Sialic Quirk of Humanity

John Serrao — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:04:35 +0000

Why are people susceptible to so much disease? How is it that the most sophisticated creatures on planet earth succumb, sometimes completely, to some of the most simplistic viruses, like the flu? We would expect that our bodies have seen every intruder possible in our evolutionary trek to becoming human - and should have developed a solution. But we haven't. So, what then is this evolutionary step that has made us so susceptible to microscopic pathogens? A fascinating physician-scientist may have uncovered the answer.

Beer and Barbecue Really Do Belong Together: A Lesson in Cancer Prevention

John Serrao — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 06:27:28 +0000

Whether it be the braai of our meat-loving South African friends, the asado of Argentina or the barbie of the Kiwis and Aussies, grilled meat is sacred to many cultures the world over. But cancer is never on the menu. At least explicitly. In fact, if you asked most people, barbecues are probably the last thing they would think of when they hear cancer. For our friends with a family history of cancer, however, it may be one of the first places to look.

Book Review: The Cholesterol Myths by Uffe Ravnskov, MD

John Serrao — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:09:00 +0000

Dr. Ravnskov, a founding member of the International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics, takes many positions against cholesterol and goes even further in his book, "The Cholesterol Myths" published by NewTrends Publishing. One part detective mystery, one part conspiracy theory, Ravnskov tears through piles of medical studies digging towards the "truth." His thesis is rather simple: cholesterol does not cause heart disease. We put emphasis on the word cause for good reason: Ravnskov's entire argument hangs on tearing apart the correlation-versus-causation dichotomy. For the most part, he succeeds but at a cost to his text.

Piven Sickened by Sushi’s Mercury

John Serrao — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:32:18 +0000

Actor Jeremy Piven announced yesterday that he will leave the David Mamet play Speed-the-Plow because he has a mercury level running almost six times that of a normal person.

Organic Fish Standards Announced by the USDA

John Serrao — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 06:49:14 +0000

Last week, the USDA announced their first organic guidelines for fish. The new guidelines uphold some of the traditional mainstays of organic agriculture, like banning the use of antibiotics, hormones, pesticides and GMO feed in some instances while weakening other provisions at the same time.

Most notable in the new guidelines is the inclusion of a loophole that allows aquaculture farms to obtain up to 25% of their feed from unregulated wild seafood stock (see the NOSB draft literature). The loophole does specify that organic producers use 'sustainable' wild seafood as the feed for their fish stocks but does not go so far as to require 100% organic feed. This is the first time ANY livestock producer (NOTE: the USDA classifies fisheries as 'livestock') has been allowed to include any non-organic feed into their own animal's feed.

Purple Tomatoes Go GMO to Cure Cancer

John Serrao — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:26:15 +0000

Researchers at John Innes Centre in the UK have used successfully created a purple tomato by using genes from the common snapdragon flowering plant. Tomatoes natively possess the genes required to make themselves purple but normally these genes lie dormant. By inserting borrowed genes from the snapdragon plant, the researchers engineered the tomato to activate the usually dormant genes. The tomato plant was designed intelligently with promoter sections of DNA inserted in front of the snapdragon genes, so that the tomato plant would only turn its ripening fruits purple and not its leaves.