A Science Daily report from March, 2011, announces that the University of Rhode Island medicinal plant researcher, Navindra Seeram, has discovered thirty-four new beneficial compounds in pure maple syrup to be added to the twenty he found the year before, “…five of which have never been seen in nature.”

Although the exposure of athletes to various routes of physical insult has been recognized since humans ran from predators, only in modern times has attention been paid to the specifics. That covers everything from respiratory irregularities to athlete’s foot. Most common, however, are attacks on the skin, and these account for more than half the outbreaks of infectious diseases that occur among participants in competitive sports.

Many spices are known for their antioxidant potential, that is, they are able to prevent the breakdown of other substances by oxidation. In this case, we are the other substance. Eating a diet beautified with spices, such as cinnamon or turmeric, reduces the body’s negative response to eating high-fat meals. Such dining experiences may have a cumulative toll in elevated triglyceride levels, a marker for increased risk of heart disease.

The featured abstract, from the respected journal, Pediatrics, explores the condition of packed lunches at a pre-school. There is no reason to think that other school environments are any different. Despite a parent’s best efforts at keeping a child’s lunch from spoiling and causing food-related illnesses, such incidents still occur because of inattentive food handling at school. Malevolence is not usually a factor.

An analysis of eighteen different study groups performed by Marianne Moussain-Bosc and her colleagues at a French institute for nervous system studies in 2006 indicated that ,”…B6/magnesium therapy benefits about half of autistic children,” but also noted that a related study showed benefits to those with ADHD, using the same doses of each supplement.

Vitamin D deficiency has hit an epidemic level. Not only are intakes devastatingly low, but also exposure to the sun has become increasingly limited for fear of contracting skin cancer. In his June 23, 1011, newsletter at Newsmax Health, Dr.Russell Blaylock educates his readers when he states that vitamin D3 is actually a hormone rather than a vitamin, and that a deficit of this compound may result in undesirable consequences in the brain, including depression.

Diet is vital to preservation of vision as we age. Some people have a higher risk of losing central vision than others—based partly on genetics—but that can be postponed or prevented by consuming sufficient levels of certain dietary nutrients. Clinicians are advised to provide dietary counsel especially to young persons who are susceptible to the vision-disabling consequences that accompany the genetic variations responsible for early onset of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Using a sufficiently large set of data, the Cochrane Library, a highly respected international collaboration of evidence-based medicine reviews, was able to draw startling conclusions about the association of salt intake with high blood pressure and cardiovascular risks.

There is little doubt that obesity in America is on the upswing. Lots of people think that an artificially-sweetened beverage can offset the poor dietary decisions to which they have become accustomed. There has been established a relationship between non-sugar sweeteners and weight gain based on physiological responses to the message of satiety and the perceived need to consume more calories to achieve it.