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Studying healthy and malnourished young children in Bangladesh, researchers found that malnutrition has persistent detrimental effects on the vast community of microbes living in the gut.

These “friendly” microbes typically aid in extracting nutrients and calories from food, and perform many other vital functions.

The finding could help explain why malnourished children suffer from stunted growth and failure to thrive after treatment with nutrient-rich therapeutic food.

(Credit: Rabiul Hasan, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Dhaka, Bangladesh)

The study’s results suggest that the long-term consequences of childhood malnutrition, such as stunted growth, cognitive problems, and weakened immune systems, may be rooted in lingering, underdeveloped collections of gut microbes that can’t fully harvest energy and calories from food, says senior author Jeffrey I. Gordon, director of Washington University’s Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology.

In healthy children, the researchers identified features associated with normal development of the gut’s community of microbes. In comparison, they note that malnourished children carried communities of gut microbes that did not mature along a normal trajectory. Moreover, these immature bacterial collections could not be restored to good health with standard treatments of therapeutic foods.

“Although therapeutic food-based interventions have resulted in a significant decline in deaths from malnutrition, many children never fully recover,” says first author Sathish Subramanian, a Washington University MD/PhD student.

“We found that children who were malnourished had gut microbial communities that were not consistent with their chronological ages. Moreover, the severity of a child’s malnourishment was tied closely with the degree of immaturity of his or her gut microbial community, and this immaturity could not be durably repaired with standard treatments.”

The researchers are following up their research in animal models colonized with immature gut microbe communities from malnourished children. They are seeking to determine whether giving therapeutic foods for longer periods of time or administering beneficial mixtures of naturally occurring human gut microbes can repair this immaturity and improve health.

MILLIONS OF CHILDREN

Severe acute malnutrition affects about 20 million children worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Moderate acute malnutrition, a less serious form of the disease, is more prevalent in South Central Asia, where it affects 30 million children. Both conditions are problematic in Bangladesh, where more than 40 percent of children under age 5 are afflicted by stunted growth.

“Treatment of malnutrition is challenging in a developing country like Bangladesh, where more than half a million children under 5 years of age suffer from severe acute malnutrition and close to 2 million from moderate acute malnutrition,” says coauthor Tahmeed Ahmed, who treats malnourished children and heads the Nutrition Program at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh, where the research took place.

“This research has contributed immensely to what we know about the mechanisms operating in acute malnutrition. I believe it will open up new vistas for simplifying treatment of this dreadful condition that affects millions of children globally.”

‘AN ORGAN WITHOUT AN ORGAN’

In recent years, scientists have come to learn that severe childhood malnutrition is not due to a lack of food alone. Rather, the condition is far more complex and may involve other factors including a breakdown in the way gut microbes process various components of the diet.

Gordon’s earlier research in Malawi involving sets of twins, in which one in the pair was healthy and the other was severely malnourished, indicated that a dysfunctional gut microbial community is an underlying cause of a severe form of childhood malnutrition.

“Tens of trillions of microbes, primarily bacteria, live in the gut,” Gordon explains. “They break down components of our diets that otherwise would pass right through our bodies and also harvest energy from food, synthesize vitamins, regulate our metabolism, and shape our immune systems.

“You can think of the collection of microbes in your gut as an organ within an organ, but one that is composed of microbial cells rather than human cells.”

WHEN FOOD DOESN’T HELP

To understand the relationship between gut microbes and childhood malnutrition, Gordon and his team first needed a clearer picture of the process by which the community of microbes normally assembles in the gut.

The researchers analyzed collections of gut microbes captured in fecal samples collected monthly from healthy children, including twins, from birth to age two. All of the children in the study lived in the slums of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Studying these children, they identified groups of microbes that assemble in the gut during the first two years of life. “Using this microbial signature of normal gut microbial community maturation, we evaluated the gut microbial communities of 64 severely malnourished children before, during and after they received standard food-based interventions,” Gordon explains.

The children ranged in age from 6-20 months and were randomly assigned to receive one of two therapeutic foods: Plumpy’Nut, an enriched peanut-based food that is the mainstay treatment for severe malnutrition worldwide, or Khichuri-Halwa, which is produced in Bangladesh and has rice and lentils as its main ingredients. Both types of food include milk powder and micronutrients, such as iron.

Fecal samples were obtained from the children before they received the therapeutic foods and every three days while they were being treated for malnutrition. Most children received the therapeutic foods for about two weeks, until they had reached certain weight milestones, as is the standard of care. After treatment ended, the children were followed for four months, and fecal samples were collected monthly.

All the children gained weight on the therapeutic foods, and no significant difference existed in the rate of weight gain based on the type of food a child received. But the therapeutic foods only had a transient improvement on the maturity of a child’s gut microbe community. Once the therapeutic food was discontinued, the gut microbe communities regressed to a more immature state.

“These children, although they gained weight, remained severely stunted and severely underweight, and their health was not fully restored,” Gordon says.

‘IMMATURE’ GUT MICROBE COMMUNITIES

In a separate group of children with moderate acute malnutrition, the researchers also noted a similar immaturity in gut microbe communities.

“These new measuring tools for defining the maturation of the gut microbial community ‘organ’ expand our view of human development following birth, provide a new way of classifying malnourished states, establish a new measure for determining the effects of current therapies, and catalyze thinking about new forms of therapy,” says Gordon.

“This could include new therapeutic foods and the possibility for safely administering naturally occurring human gut microbes that could promote healthy maturation of the gut microbial community.”

The researchers also are asking whether the signature of gut microbe maturation they identified in healthy Bangladeshi children applies to children living in other areas of the world where malnutrition is pervasive but people consume different diets. They are actively pursuing an answer to that question in locations around the world.

“We want to know whether and how this immaturity is linked to the long-term consequences of malnutrition such as stunted growth, impaired immunity and neurodevelopmental abnormalities,” Gordon adds.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the National Institutes of Health funded the study. The research appears online in Nature.

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Gac fruit is also known as Kerala in India, Moc Niet Tu in China. GAC fruit is a gourd shaped fruit about the size of a canteloupe. When it is fully ripened, it is a reddish color. The botanical name of Gac fruit is Momordica cochinchinensis.

Gac fruit oil is being promoted as a unique, antioxidant-rich skin protector from Asia. It has a very high concentration of lycopene, zeaxanthin, beta carotene and vitamin C.  One Gac supplement is being promoted as: Contains a full 30 mg of lycopene in each capsule and a high amount of beta carotene. Supports healthy circulation Supports healthy immune defense, cells and DNA Supports healthy skin Supports healthy eyesight

Gacis thought to have high levels of lycopene and beta-carotene along with good amounts of zeaxanthin.

Gac fruit (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng) is well known as an exceptional source of lycopene and beta-carotene as well as Vitamin C and zeaxanthin. It also contains alpha-tocopherol, vitamin F, and minerals including iron and zinc. Additionally, aril, the red, oily pulp surrounding the seeds, is an exceptional source of long-chain fatty acids, which make the nutrients in Gac readily bioavailable.

Seed content Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2013 Feb. Anti-inflammatory properties of a triterpenoidal glycoside from Momordica cochinchinensis in LPS-stimulated macrophages.  

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A new study shows sugar can send blood pressure soaring in two ways

Eating too much sugar can lead to obesity, and weight gain can contribute to high blood pressure—that’s been known for years now.

But the latest research shows that the sweet stuff can affect blood pressure in an entirely different way, independent of its effect on weight. Scientists from University of Otago in New Zealand reviewed several randomized controlled trials that looked at sugar’s effect on blood pressure, and concluded that not only does sugar help pack on the pounds, but it independently impacts blood pressure and lipids.

The study is one of the first to connect this one-two punch from sugar among people eating average diets—the participants were not provided measured amounts of sugar by the researchers but rather reported on how much sugar they consumed as part of their daily diet. It’s easy to underestimate how much sugar we eat, since it can hide in processed foods and add up.

“Although the effects of sugars on blood pressure and lipids are relatively modest, our findings support public health recommendations to reduce added sugar in our diets as one of the measures which might be expected to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular diseases,” said lead study author Dr. Lisa Te Morengain a statement. The findings are published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

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Wouldn’t it be great if one vitamin could build stronger bones and protect against diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, and depression? Or even help you lose weight? Researchers have high hopes for vitamin D -- which comes from our skin's reaction to sunlight, a few foods, and supplements. Learn the facts in the slides ahead … and see who's at risk for a "D" deficiency.

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Watermelon is undoubtedly one of the sweetest fruits you can eat. In addition to its refreshing taste, watermelon is rich in vitamins, antioxidants and minerals, such as vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium and lycopene. Because watermelon contains 6 g of sugar per cup, it is an excellent energy source. Understand glycemic index to learn how watermelon...

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Guava is a tropical fruit native to the Americas, originating in either Mexico or Central America. While you can eat it raw, guava is more commonly cooked, which destroys its strong odor. Guava is low in calories and high in fiber, vitamin C and vitamin A. Knowing its nutritional value can help you determine how this nutrient-rich fruit can fit...

A yummy, energy-dense fruit! I eat it quite often while living in Vietnam

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Too tired to hit the gym? Simple tips on how to burn calories doing everyday activities.

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More than two-thirds of healthy Americans have a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection on some part of their body, a new study suggests.

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Changing your body is never simple. The one exception might be if you’re an 18-year-old athletic male who can put on muscle and shed body fat with ease. For everyone else, it tends to be a bit of a struggle.

  Women tend to be at a disadvantage when it comes to fat loss and muscle building because the vast majority of the advice available is based on research done on men. This is a gigantic problem with untold consequences for women.

  As you will see in this article, women’s bodies differ significantly from men’s in terms of metabolism and somewhat in terms of exercise response. Additionally, there are considerable gender stereotypes and misconceptions that limit women’s ability to get useful advice about how to improve their physiques.

  This article will tell you five ways that women’s metabolism differs from men’s and what to do about it so you achieve the physique you desire. Whether your goal is fat loss, muscular curves, maximal strength, or athletic performance, this article will tell how to get the most out of your training.

  #1: At rest, women burn more glucose (carbs) than men and less fat. In addition, women tend to have greater fat storage after eating, which also contributes to their higher body fat percentage.

  From an evolutionary perspective, it’s favorable for women to have more body fat because these fat stores will be used during pregnancy and lactation. Once young women become able to reproduce, their bodies will begin storing fat around the hips and thighs “locking it away” in preparation for having a baby.

  The fat around the hips and thighs (called gluteofemoral fat) has a particularly high concentration of DHA, one of the three omega-3 fats. The theory is that gluteofemoral DHA fat is used to make breast milk, and that it is for the development of a baby’s brain.

  Research suggests that U.S. women tend to have a low percentage of DHA in their gluteofemoral fat due to low intake of omega-3s. This typically leads to significant weight gain during pregnancy, because the woman’s brain is thought to monitor nutrient status throughout the body, sensing the low DHA stores.

  This leads to excessive hunger cues, causing women to eat more, in the quest to store as much DHA as possible for nurturing an infant brain.  In contrast, Japanese women have a much higher percentage of DHA in their fat due to high fish intake and are correspondingly leaner.

  What To Do About It: Regardless of whether you’re planning on having a baby, get adequate DHA in your diet. Shoot for a balanced ratio of omega-3 fats to omega-6 fats by limiting your intake of vegetable fats and oils.

  Make your body metabolically flexible so that it is capable of burning fat for energy. Do this by limiting carbohydrates in your diet at certain times so that your body is forced to learn to burn fat.

  For example, try eating lower carb on a day when you aren’t training but higher carb on workout days. Doing anaerobic-style exercise such as weight lifting and sprints also improves the body’s metabolic flexibility.

  #2: Women and men burn (and store) body fat differently. Women rely on fat for fuel during exercise to a much greater degree than men. This makes exercise absolutely essential for women to lose fat because of the unfortunate fact that women burn much less fat at rest.

  In addition, women store fat right below the skin (subcutaneously), whereas men have more visceral fat. Visceral fat is metabolically active and a risk for cardiovascular health and insulin resistance. Meanwhile, for women, having a reasonable amount of lower body fat indicates better health and less heart disease risk!

  Women tend to lose fat from the upper body first, but have a harder time losing lower body fat. As mentioned in #1, women’s bodies preferentially store fat for pregnancy, but they also have a greater number of alpha receptors in this region than men. The combination of alpha receptors and estrogen inhibits the loss of fat. Men have a higher total proportion of beta receptors, which makes it easier for them to mobilize fat to burn it off.

  To get rid of stubborn lower body fat, research shows women must perform anaerobic training. For example, a recent study found that by adding a strength program to an aerobic exercise protocol produced superior fat loss. Women who did concurrent training lost 12.2 percent of fat mass from the legs, decreased hip circumference by 4 percent, and lost 9.7 percent of the original body fat.

  In contrast, the women who did aerobic training lost 5.7 percent fat mass from the legs, decreased hip circumference by 4 percent, and lost 5 percent of their original body fat.

  Scientists suggest that the higher intensity of resistance exercise helps to stimulate the release of body fat from fat cells so that it can be burned for energy. In addition, it’s possible (though not definitive) that estrogen has a positive effect on fat burning during exercise via a few mechanisms:

  •    Estrogen appears to limit the breakdown of triglycerides in the blood stream for storage.

•    Estrogen enhances epinephrine production for greater fat burning.

•    Estrogen stimulates growth hormone, which plays a role in fat metabolism and stimulates blood flow.

  What To Do About It: Perform strength training, favoring multi-joint exercises, with a focus on lower body and total body lifts such as squats, deadlifts, step ups, and lunges. Do high-intensity interval training on a track, bike, or by pushing a sled to target the alpha receptors and enhance fat loss from the lower body.

  #3: Stress affects women’s metabolism, inhibiting fat loss. Of course, stress affects fat loss for everyone, but it’s possible certain kinds of stress are more harmful to women than men.

  Stress leads to persistent cortisol secretion, and cortisol’s primary function is to increase blood sugar (bringing with it an insulin spike) so you have enough energy to get through a stressful situation.

  When this becomes chronic, the body turns the hormone pregnenolone, which is a precursor to estrogen and testosterone, into progesterone, which is then used to make cortisol and aldosterone. Together these hormones lead to greater fat storage and more fluid retention.  Not only will you have more cortisol, but you’ll have less estrogen and testosterone.

  Women with lower testosterone than normal have a disadvantage when it comes to fat loss. Although elevated estrogen is not beneficial for loss, low estrogen isn’t either as we saw in #2, because it inhibits the greater fat oxidation that women experience during exercise. The body’s just not working right any more. Everything is out of whack and fat loss simply won’t happen.

  What To Do About It: Find stress management strategies that work for you, whether it’s meditation, yoga, psychological therapy, or something else.  

  Focus on optimizing your circadian rhythms. Consider that the body operates around a 24-hour circadian clock. Each person’s clock is slightly different, a trait known as chronotype or tendency toward being a morning or evening person. Chronotype reflects the time of the day that someone’s physical functions (hormone level, body temperature, cognitive faculties, eating and sleeping) are active.   When you adhere to your chronotype, you can promote balance and optimal health. When you go against the clock, the innate rhythms are disrupted. This will increase stress and make fat loss much more difficult.

  #4: Intermittent fasting and calorie restriction tends to be detrimental for women but beneficial for men.

  Intermittent fasting (IF) and calorie restriction is a glaring example of how stress negatively affects women’s metabolism compared to men. Both are metabolically beneficial for most men, allowing them to lose fat, lower inflammation, and improve disease risk factors.

  However, research shows fasting is harmful for female reproductive health. Anecdotally, many women have reported that fasting has caused weight gain, blood sugar imbalance, sleeplessness, missed periods, and infertility.

  Where men tend to lose fat with fasting, a large portion of women gain it. The mechanism behind this discrepancy likely has to do with how the female body responds to lack of calories. Scientists believe that calorie restriction, even sporadic restriction, causes hormonal dysregulation, and excess cortisol secretion with the body holding onto its fat stores. It’s a “protective response” as the body stores the fat for future survival when calories will be scarce.

  What To Do About It: Avoid calorie restriction if you’re exercising at a high intensity or for long duration. Be very cautious with fasting. It sounds counter intuitive but if you give your body enough energy, with balanced fat, carbs and protein, your hormones will be in happy balance, stress will be lower, and your body will be more willing to give up your fat stores.

  #5: Young women have the same ability to build muscle as men. Older women appear to be at a disadvantage when it comes to building muscle.

  A common belief is that women can’t build as much muscle as men because they don’t have as much testosterone. Technically this isn’t true. Recent studies show that protein synthesis and gene signaling that leads to muscle gains are nearly equal between young men and women.

  However, women start out with less muscle and their bodies tend to be lighter and smaller than men’s, so increases a 10 percent increase in muscle for a woman will be smaller than a man’s in absolute terms.

  In addition, very large increases in testosterone such as when a male goes through puberty or when one takes testosterone in the form of steroids do increase muscle mass. The small, transient post-workout increase doesn’t. Rather, the exercise-induced increase is thought to be linked to athletic performance.

  A recent study illustrates this: Women and men performed a resistance training workout and then took a protein drink. Muscle protein synthesis was 2.3 times higher in men and 2.7 times higher in women than at rest. Men experienced a 45-fold higher increase in testosterone post-workout than the women, however this had no effect on protein synthesis or gene signaling, which are the primary factors for building muscle.

  The exception is older women who have a reduced muscle building response to resistance exercise. They have lower protein synthesis than men of the same age in response to training, which appears to be maintained even when they take supplemental protein, however more research needs to be done regarding dosing.

  It’s possible older women require a larger dose of protein or more of the amino acid leucine (which has been found to equalize protein synthesis in older and younger men).

  What To Do About It:  If you’re a woman who wants to put on muscle, you’re in luck! You won’t look like a man, but you will be able to build muscle in the same way men can. Consider this a good thing!

  Do a periodized hypertrophy-style training program that favors moderate reps (8 to 12) and moderate load (65 to 85 percent of the 1RM) for a high volume.

  If you just want to get lean, building muscle will help. A small increase in muscle mass will boost your metabolism significantly so you burn exponentially more calories at rest, enabling fat loss.

  Use a training program that changes every 3 to 6 weeks to continually shock your body into adapting. Make sure to use heavy enough weights—one of the most common reason women don’t get results from training is that they use weights that are too light.

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For a long time, we thought avocadoes were good for nothing but ready-made guac and a decent California burger every now and then. But these little nutritional hand grenades were having an explosive impact on our diets for all that time. How so? They’re infused with a key nutrient for maintaining healthy weight: fat. Wait…fat can help...

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Get into your skinny jeans faster with one simple tip: Swap out cream and sugar for cinnamon in your morning cup of Joe. Adding half a teaspoon of cinnamon can boost your metabolism by 20 percent! 

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Cinnamon has a whole range of health benefits, the spice is used to help treat muscle spasms, vomiting, diarrhea, infections, the common cold, and loss of appetite.

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Cinnamon might help you with weight loss by helping you lower your blood sugar levels or increasing your insulin performance. The way your body processes sugar directly correlates to how much fat your body stores and how often you crave sugars and carbs. Always talk to your physician before you begin any weight-loss plan.

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250 posts!

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Learn how stabilizing your blood sugar will help you lose weight and keep it off!

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The FDA announced approval Thursday of the human papillomavirus DNA test as a primary screening method for cervical cancer.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration initially approved the HPV DNA test in 2011, for use alongside or as a follow-up to a Pap test, but this is the first time it has been green-lighted as a primary screening technique.

The FDA announced approval of the method on Thursday after an FDA advisory committee unanimously recommended in March that the HPV test become the first line of screening for the deadly disease.

The approval is limited to women over the age of 24.

Developed by Roche Molecular Systems Inc., the cobas HPV Testcan be used to see if a woman needs additional screening for cervical cancer and to gather information about her future risk.

The Pap test -- the standard for 60 years -- is designed to look for abnormal squamous cells that could indicate cervical cancer, while the HPV test looks for DNA from the virus. A vaginal swab is required for both the Pap test and the HPV DNA test, so you won't notice a difference at the doctor's office.

"The potential benefit of (the HPV test) is that everybody that has a precancerous change or cervical cancer will have a positive test," said Dr. Kevin Ault, professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City. "You're not going to miss anybody."

There are other HPV tests out there, but this one can detect the most problematic strains -- HPV 16 and 18. The test can also detect DNA from 12 other types of HPV that are associated with an increased cancer risk. HPV causes more than 99% of all cervical cancers.

The problem with any HPV test is that a lot of women -- between 2% and 10% -- will test positive for the virus, Ault said. And most women who get HPV don't develop cervical cancer.

HPV is so common that at least 70% of people who are sexually active will get a genital HPV infection at some point in their lives, according to the National Cancer Institute.

"Most people who get HPV only have it for a few months or a year and then it goes away," Ault said. "It's really the people it persists in that are going to the problem."

But how do we know who with HPV will likely develop cervical cancer? Positive results on the HPV test will necessitate further screening, he said. Patients who test positive may have to have a Pap smear as well, and potentially biopsies and other procedures.

"The disadvantage is a lot of people are going to be scared," he said.

If this new test is adopted as the primary screening method, Ault said, doctors can focus their Pap examinations on women who are already known to have HPV.

In most cases, patients who don't have HPV are less likely to need a Pap, which is why the advisory committee felt it best to recommend the Roche test be administered as the first form of detection, women's health experts say.

If both the Pap smear and the HPV test are negative, that would mean the patient essentially has almost no chance of developing cervical cancer in the next five years, Ault said.

"Every year, 12,000 women are diagnosed in the U.S. with cervical cancer. This is especially tragic because cervical cancer is a largely preventable disease, and it is well established that HPV is the cause of almost all cervical cancers worldwide. Women need better access to screening tools that include primary HPV screening in order to reduce their risk of developing cervical cancer," said Dr. Thomas Wright Jr., an expert in gynecology and pathology at Columbia University Medical Center.

Many gynecologists are used to doing routine Pap tests, so the HPV test may take a little while to replace the traditional pap smear, Ault said.

But Thursday's approval of the test does not change current practice guidelines.

Cervical cancer screening guidelines are usually proposed through organizations such as the American Cancer Society or the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The FDA's role is in approval of the test itself.

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Men do get HPV virus the same way women do. There is no FDA approved human papillomavirus HPV test for men, learn how to protect yourself and your partner against HPV. Get facts about HPV virus in men.