and analysed over 1000 cooking pots. The team led by Professor Richard Evershed of the University of Bristol's School of Chemistry developed new techniques in an effort to identify fish oils in the pots.
Remarkably they showed that more than 99 per cent of the earliest farmer's cooking pots lacked sea food residues.
Other clues to ancient diets lie within human bones themselves explored by the Cardiff group led by Dr Jacqui Mulville The sea passes on a unique chemical signature to the skeletons of those eating seafood;
The absence of lipid residues of marine foods in hundreds of cooking pots is really significant.
It certainly stacks up with the skeletal isotope evidence to provide a clear picture that seafood was of little importance in the diets of the Neolithic farmers of the region.
Returning to the pots the Bristol team used a compound-specific carbon isotope technique they have developed to identify the actual fats preserved in the cooking pots showing that dairy products dominated the menu right across Britain
The ability to milk animals was a revolution in food production as for the first time humans did not have to kill animals to obtain food.
Viewed together the findings show that Early British hunters feasted on venison and wild boar and ate large quantities of sea food including seals and shellfish.
With the introduction of domestic animals some 6000 years ago they quickly gave up wild foods
and fishing was abandoned largely and people adopted a new diet based around dairying. Dr Cramp continued:
Amazingly it was another 4000 years before sea food remains appeared in pots again during the Iron age
and it was only with the arrival of the Vikings that fish became a significant part of our diet.
Dr Mulville said: Whilst we like to think of ourselves as a nation of fish eaters with fish and chips as our national dish it seems that early British farmers preferred beef mutton and milk.
Why people changed so abruptly from a seafood to farming diet remains a mystery. Professor Evershed said:
Since such a clear transition is seen not in the Baltic region perhaps the hazardous North Atlantic waters were simply too difficult to fish effectively until new technologies arrived making dairying the only sustainable option.
#Algae research gives hope for renewable carbon-negative source of food, medicinesthe University of Greenwich has won funding for three pieces of research related to algae.
Algae have huge potential as a next generation renewable resource to manufacture a whole range of essential products including food medicines and fuel.
Algae research gives hope for renewable carbon-negative source of food and medicinesbright pink-orange microalgae found in salt lakes
and coastal waters could become a renewable source of food plastics health products and fuel as a result of new research announced today.
which can be turned into high-value products including food and medicines. If we can make algae biorefineries commercially viable we will have developed a new industry founded on an environmentally-kind raw material
The pink-orange of many salt lakes containing Dunaliella is intensified by the presence of archaea fellow single-celled organisms.**
Ensilage--a method traditionally used by farmers to turn grass into hay for winter animal feed--has potential to stop the seaweed rotting.
and corn or biodiesel from rapeseed and palm oil are in direct competition with food for arable land and water.
They have an adverse effect on food prices and supply. Saltwater algae are therefore a very attractive proposition as an alternative biofuel if we can overcome the challenges.
Researchers at The Roslin Institute worked on the study with colleagues from the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and Queen's university Belfast.
#Black raspberry candies find the sweet spot for cancer prevention studywhether it's a plate or pyramid healthy eating guidelines always give fruits
and vegetables center stage--and for good reason: they contain critical nutrients that the human body needs
and that experts think may help prevent illnesses like cancer diabetes and heart disease. The research around these superfoods make headlines almost daily
but scientists say using foods-as-medicine in large-scale clinical trials --which demand an intense level of accuracy
Variations in storage seasonal availability absorption--these things can all change disease-fighting substances in fresh produce says Yael Vodovotz Phd a food scientist with The Ohio State university Department of Food Science
and Technology who started her career creating a viable Mars colony food system for NASA.
and Food Innovation Center (FIC) Vodovotz has developed now novel black raspberry-based functional foods that can withstand the rigors of a large-scale cancer prevention trial.
and retained high levels of chemopreventive bioactives said Vodovotz who is also with Ohio State's College of Food Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The result was two different formulations--gummy candies and a concentrated fruit juice (nectar)--each roughly equal to a cup of fresh berries.
which helped preserve the essential nutrients and then grinding the whole berry--fiber seeds and fuzz--into a fine powder.
if the black raspberry preparations coupled with different types of diets can improve post-surgery outcomes versus a control group of men with diet interventions only.
Kristen Roberts a nutrition Phd candidate in the College of Education and Human ecology who was awarded a CCTS-trainee grant to work with James researchers
and Vodovotz on the cancer study says that she is amazed that the food scientist team was able to engineer such a potent concoction that patients also seemed to enjoy.
In a study that is looking specifically at these food-based interventions compliance is critical. The black raspberry gummy confections were packed with phytonutrients that the men truly enjoyed.
Most of the participants inquired about ordering the gummies after they had completed their prescribed dose. said Roberts whose interest in gastrointestinal health absorption
along with logistics of implementing a food-based product into a trial setting. A description of Vodvotz's work was published recently in the Journal of Agriculture
and Food Chemistrydetailing the production and manufacturing process as well as testing that showed both formulations maintained nearly 75%of key cancer-fighting chemicals for approximately 5 weeks in a controlled temperature setting.
and body fluids--a key measure that that the disease prevention powers of the berry food had made successfully it past the digestive system to reach organs throughout the body.
At one point she enlisted a local chocolatier to place a candy coating on the gummy
Vodovotz is currently working with researchers at Ohio State to test the ability of other functional foods including soy-enriched breads
#Dark chocolate, red wine will keep your honey heart-healthy this Valentines day, expert saysforget the oysters and the champagne this Valentine's day.
If you want to keep your true love's heart beating strong the real foods of love are dark chocolate
and red wine said Loyola University Health System preventive heart specialist Sara Sirna MD. Red wine and dark chocolate taste great
and have heart-healthy components said Dr. Sirna who also is a professor of medicine at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of medicine.
and aging and perhaps even boost our romance for the evening by choosing our foods wisely.
Red wine contains resveratrol which has been found to lower blood sugar and LDL or bad cholesterol. It also is a source of catechins
Dark chocolate with a cocoa content of 70 percent or higher is rich in flavonoids which help prevent the buildup of plaque in the arteries.
Other items that top the list of heart-healthy foods include: Nuts--The heart-health benefits of nuts have been documented in several large studies including the Nurses'Health Study and the Iowa Women's Health Study.
The FDA reports that eating a diet that includes one ounce of nuts daily can reduce your risk of heart disease.
Fish--Consider a Valentine's meal with fish that is high in omega-3 fatty acids which reduce your risk of dying from a heart attack.
Oatmeal--Cooked for a breakfast porridge or used in breads or desserts oatmeal is a good source of soluble fiber niacin folate and potassium.
Black or kidney beans--These beans are a good source of niacin folate magnesium omega-3 fatty acids calcium and soluble fiber.
Walnuts and almonds--Both walnuts and almonds contain omega-3 fatty acids Vitamin e magnesium fiber and heart-favorable mono-and polyunsaturated fats.
Berries--Blueberries cranberries raspberries and strawberries are a good source of beta carotene and lutein polyphenols Vitamin c folate potassium and fiber.
which uses plant resins to build its nestsscott thought it might be chewing gum originally Moore said.
The researchers also discovered another kind of bee Megachile rotundata an alfalfa leafcutter was using pieces of polyethylene-based plastic bags to construct its brood cells.
and spit out like gum--to form something new that they could use Moore said. In both cases larvae successfully developed from the plastic-lined nests.
The management regimes were compared from the point of view of six forest species such as the capercaillie hazel grouse flying squirrel
#Eat spinach or eggs for faster reflexes: Tyrosine helps you stop fastera child suddenly runs out into the road.
or eggs will stop faster thanks to the amino acid tyrosine found in these and other food products.
Substances that we ingest through our food can determine our behaviour and the way we experience our environment.
and on the other occasion the orange juice contained a placebo. The tests showed that the candidates performed better on the stopping task
if they had drunk the juice with tyrosine. Benefitsthe positive effect of tyrosine on our reaction speed can have benefits for road safety.
'Tyrosine food supplements and tyrosine-rich food are a healthy and inexpensive way of improving our intellectual capabilities.
Tyrosine is found in such foods as spinach eggs cottage cheese and soya. Anyone who doesn't eat enough of these foodstuffs produces too little dopamine
which can lead to depression and apathy. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Leiden Universiteit.
or an energy-dense snack (cookies potato chips nacho chips and cheese-filled crackers). Sixty-one percent of children in the comic group chose a healthy snack after reading opposed to just 35%of the control group.
Therefore the results of this study could be useful in promoting healthy decision-making among youth as it relates to food consumption.
Usually the idea is to get it from the farm to at least the distributor (grocery store) within two to three days.
The use of these treatments could make a great impact on important global dilemmas such as food security issues
As for its impact on impending global food security concerns Juvik said any mechanisms that will improve people's health especially later in life will benefit food security.
We need to look at what mechanisms we can use to improve not only food security but the functioning of people later in their life spans.
It basically takes away resources that could be used to improve food security Juvik said. Also promoting and prolonging food stability with quality after harvest means less waste
which is a big issue in terms of food security. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Illinois College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental sciences (ACES.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e
#Drifting herbicides produce uncertain effectsfarmers should take extra precautions so drifting herbicides do not create unintended consequences on neighboring fields and farms according to agricultural researchers.
Herbicide drift was associated also with the declines of three species of herbivores including pea aphids spotted alfalfa aphids
One field edge site was located near a forest and alfalfa field. The old field was an acre plot near Penn State's Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research farm.
In addition to liquid bovine whole milk the method can now be applied to bovine milk with reduced fat content goat whole milk sheep whole milk cheese dried milk
Given the increasing global demand for milk and milk products standardization is ever more important to ensure food safety food quality and fairness in international trade.
and bats still could find a suitable habitat with nesting places and from there spread into the plantations.
They found that six honey samples from nine hives in the Campeche region contained soy pollen
The regional agricultural authorities furthermore seemed unaware that bees visited flowering soybeans to collect nectar and pollen.
We cautiously interpret these results as significant for elsewhere in Mexico where some five times the GMO soy grown in Campeche is found
Bees from a single colony may gather nectar and pollen resources from flowers in a 200-square-kilometer area.
and sheep where they facilitate the digestion of feed consumed in the diet. Efforts to control methanogens in specific ways may improve feed utilization
and enhance the production of meat and milk researchers say. Methanogens are additionally a factor in human nutrition.
The organisms live in the large intestine where they enhance the breakdown of food. Some have proposed that restricting this activity of methanogens could help alleviate obesity.
The team investigated an ancient type of methanogen Methanocaldococcus jannaschii which lives in deep-sea hydrothermal vents
or volcanoes where environmental conditions mimic those that existed on the early Earth. They found that the protein thioredoxin which plays a major role in contemporary photosynthesis could repair many of the organism's proteins damaged by oxygen.
In hindgut fermenters food is digested in the posterior part of the gut--in the appendix and large intestine.
'In hindgut fermenters transmission occurs via coprophagy (eating excrement) and that happens almost exclusively in extremely young offspring.
Lead author Zachary Crannell a graduate student based at Rice's Bioscience Research Collaborative said the disease usually transmitted through drinking water accounts for 20 percent of childhood diarrheal deaths in developing countries.
and revealing how intense farming at the time of the Crusades contributed to its spread.
It is important to know as much as we can about virus evolution as emerging infectious plant diseases are a growing threat to global food security
In more recent history the virus appears to have spread to the US from Europe around 120-150 years ago.
These afflictions cause significant economic losses to the poultry industry due to the costs of treatment for infected birds lowered rates of egg production and mortality.
With the aid of PCR methods the group tested 167 APEC strains derived from chickens
#Whole diet approach to lower cardiovascular risk has more evidence than low-fat dietsa study published in The American Journal of Medicine reveals that a whole diet approach which focuses on increased intake of fruits vegetables nuts
while strictly low-fat diets have the ability to lower cholesterol they are not as conclusive in reducing cardiac deaths.
By analyzing major diet and heart disease studies conducted over the last several decades investigators found that participants directed to adopt a whole diet approach instead of limiting fat intake had a greater reduction in cardiovascular death and nonfatal myocardial infarction.
Early investigations of the relationship between food and heart disease linked high levels of serum cholesterol to increased intake of saturated fat and subsequently an increased rate of coronary heart disease.
This led to the American Heart Association's recommendation to limit fat intake to less than 30%of daily calories saturated fat to 10%and cholesterol to less than 300 mg per day.
Nearly all clinical trials in the 1960s 70s and 80s compared usual diets to those characterized by low total fat low saturated fat low dietary cholesterol
These diets did reduce cholesterol levels. However they did not reduce the incidence of myocardial infarction or coronary heart disease deaths.
and trials from 1957 to the present investigators found that the whole diet approach and specifically Mediterranean-style diets are effective in preventing heart disease
even though they may not lower total serum or LDL cholesterol. The Mediterranean-style diet is low in animal products
and saturated fat and encourages intake of monounsaturated fats found in nuts and olive oil. In particular the diet emphasizes consumption of vegetables fruit legumes whole grains and fish.
The potency of combining individual cardioprotective foods is substantial --and perhaps even stronger than many of the medications and procedures that have been the focus of modern cardiology explains co-author Stephen Devries MD FACC Gaples Institute for Integrative Cardiology (Deerfield IL) and Division of Cardiology
Northwestern University (Chicago IL). Results from trials emphasizing dietary fat reduction were a disappointment prompting subsequent studies incorporating a whole diet approach with a more nuanced recommendation for fat intake.
Based on the data from several influential studies which are reviewed in the article Dalen and Devries concluded that emphasizing certain food groups
while encouraging people to decrease others is more cardioprotective and overall better at preventing heart disease than a blanket low-fat diet.
Encouraging the consumption of olive oil over butter and cream while increasing the amount of vegetables fruits whole grains nuts
Nutritional interventions have proven that a'whole diet'approach with equal attention to what is consumed as well as what is excluded is more effective in preventing cardiovascular disease than low fat low cholesterol diets.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Elsevier. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and some low-fat cheeses also reduced the relative risk of diabetes by 24%overall.
Lead scientist Dr Nita Forouhi from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge commented this research highlights that specific foods may have an important role in the prevention of type 2 diabetes
It compared a detailed daily record of all the food and drink consumed over a week at the time of study entry among 753 people who developed new-onset type 2 diabetes over 11 years of follow-up with 3502 randomly selected study participants.
This allowed the researchers to examine the risk of diabetes in relation to the consumption of total dairy products and also types of individual dairy products.
or total low-fat dairy was associated not with new-onset diabetes once important factors like healthier lifestyles education obesity levels other eating habits
and low-fat cottage cheese) were 24%less likely to develop type 2 diabetes over the 11 years compared with non-consumers.
The same applies to other low-fat fermented dairy products such as low-fat unripened cheeses including fromage frais and low-fat cottage cheese.
While this type of study cannot prove that eating dairy products causes the reduced diabetes risk dairy products do contain beneficial constituents such as Vitamin d calcium and magnesium.
and not accounting for change in diets over time but their study was large with long follow-up
and had detailed assessment of people's diets that was collected in real-time as people consumed the foods rather than relying on past memory.
when we have a lot of other evidence that consuming high amounts of certain foods such as added sugars
and sugary drinks is bad for our health it is very reassuring to have messages about other foods like yoghurt
Although they pose a major threat grasshopper populations play a positive role in cycling nutrients from decomposing plant matter back into the soil.
This PLANT DNA offers valuable information about grasshopper diets because it holds more data than what can be observed by the naked eye.
According to Avanesyan With this protocol a researcher can focus on a variety of research questions such as detecting plant-insect interactions determining how long the food has been digested estimating the prevalence of different plants in insect guts exploring the sequence of multiple plant species consumed
We can follow plant food movement during its consumption record the sequence of food digested
or the time needed for food digestion in each compartment and ultimately better understand the insect food digestion process Avanesyan explains.
It opens doors to a completely different research area--insect physiology. To demonstrate the utility of the protocol Avanesyan successfully amplified the DNA of a noncoding region of a plant chloroplast gene
whether there is a difference in digestibility between native and exotic plants which are morphologically and physiologically similar says Avanesyan who plans to continue to use the protocol to investigate plant defenses against insect herbivores.
the toll of agricultural intensification on this semi-free ranging managed species and the confounding pressure of viruses spread through Varroa mites and the burden of these viruses and mites at the individual bee and colony level.
--which would prevent an uncontrollable spread. This however has not proven to be entirely true.
whether they are suitable for vegetarians. They call for improved labeling similar to those on food to help inform doctors pharmacists and patients about the content of medicines.
And they stress that concerned patients should not stop taking their medication without consulting their doctor first.
Specific dietary preferences regarding animal products in food are common in the general population. Influences such as religion culture economic status environmental concern food intolerances and personal preferences all play a part in the foods that people choose to consume.
Yet many patients and doctors are unaware that commonly prescribed drugs contain animal products --and simply reading the list of ingredients will not make it clear
and occasionally fish) and magnesium stearate (traditionally sourced from cows pigs and sheep) although some manufacturers now use vegetarian alternatives.
Last year a campaign to vaccinate children in Scotland against influenza was halted because of concern in the Muslim community about pork gelatine within the vaccine.
They call for improved drug labeling mirroring those standards advised for food. However they acknowledge it is unlikely that any labeling standard could address all dietary requirements
and vegetarian capsules to replace gelatine are already available. Although vegetarian friendly ingredients may be more expensive than those produced by traditional processes the costs would diminish as production expanded
and they would limit the exposure of patients to products they find unacceptable they conclude.
In addition the clearing of woodlots hedgerows pastures and wetlands to make way for bigger fields has continued apace
But for the objective of plant species conservation other strategies like preserving farmland habitats including woodlots pastures
European definition publishedthe most comprehensive definition of whole grain termed to date has been published this week in the journal Food and Nutrition Research.
and labeling of foods rich in whole grains was born of the HEALTHGRAIN EU project the largest project ever focusing on cereals and health;
and food research institutes. Historically there's been no complete legally endorsed definition of whole grain flour
and products explains Jan-Willem van der Kamp corresponding author of the paper and Senior Officer of International Projects at TNO Food and Nutrition.
Most supermarkets today are stocked with foods that originate from many different countries. When you read'25%whole grain flour'on one product label;
the same claim on a different label could mean something quite different nutritionally. If use of this definition is adopted broadly this inconsistency eventually would cease.
The HEALTHGRAIN definition is the next step in reaching a precise common understanding of what constitutes whole grain in food products--from breads to pasta to breakfast cereals--regardless of where they originate adds van der Kamp.
Almost universally the term whole grain indicates inclusion of all three components of the cereal grain kernel--endosperm (this is the largest part of the grain
this is where sprouting begins) and bran (the grain's protective outer layer; it is rich in dietary fiber.
which can affect the resulting flour's nutritional value. The HEALTHGRAIN definition addresses all three of these issues detailing a permitted list of grains
The need for developing a more comprehensive detailed whole grain definition was identified during the course of the HEALTHGRAIN EU project an initiative intended to increase the use of whole grains and their health protecting constituents in food products for improved nutrition and health benefits.
The HEALTHGRAIN definition was developed by a committee led by van der Kamp representatives of the Swedish Nutrition Foundation;
DPR Nutrition Ltd. UK; and VTT and University of Eastern Finland; in cooperation with a multidisciplinary group of nutrition scientists cereal scientists and technologists plant breeders flour milling specialists and experts in regulatory affairs from throughout Europe.
The article with the complete HEALTHGRAIN definition including the permitted grains can be accessed in the current volume of Food and Nutrition Research (http://www. foodandnutritionresearch. net/index. php/fnr/article/view/22100.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Co-Action Publishing. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
such as pest controlservices provided by Mother Nature such as pest control from insect-eating bats are affected by market forces like most anything else in the economy a University of Tennessee Knoxville study finds.
However in developing nations there is often great pressure on the land to provide enough food for local people resulting in the conversion of natural habitat to farmland.
or chocolate has any environmental benefit.''Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Oxford.
and can be found on our food supply and are used in parks and golf courses and in pest control inside buildings and homes.
#Local foods offer tangible economic benefits in some regionsdespite their typically small size and sparse distribution farms that sell their products locally may boost economic growth in their communities in some regions of the U s. according to a team of economists.
but little evidence that local food systems can be an engine of economic growth in communities said Stephan Goetz professor of agricultural and regional economics in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and director
The team's findings which appear in the February 2014 issue of Economic Development Quarterly shed new light on the role that local food sales play in economies
The study is the first to measure the impacts of local food sales and agricultural sales more broadly in this way.
Yet in other regions local food sales appear to compete with total farm sales. In Southeastern U s. counties for example direct sales were associated with a reduction in total farm sales.
We found that for every $1 increase in agricultural sales personal income rose by 22 cents over the course of five years said Goetz.
When we set out to measure the economic impact of local food sales we frankly didn't expect to find one said Goetz.
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