Articles and Editorials – Nutrients For All

Assessing the impact of Micronutrient Powders

erichardson — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:52:23 +0000

Improving nutritional status can be a complex process–giving people just any micronutrient supplement or powder doesn’t guarantee results. It is important to think about the quality, not just quantity of nutrients. A study published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) indicated that the prevalence of anemia did not decrease when children were given a micronutrient powder, despite excellent compliance and knowledge of appropriate dosage from caregivers. Read more here.

Demystifying the link between food and health: What happens when I eat that?

apease — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:29:26 +0000

It’s not surprising that food and wellness are related. The link between good nutrition and good health is not that hard to understand; what people put into their body every day undoubtedly has some kind of effect on how it functions. What is probably less clear is the profound effects that ingredients and nutrients in food have on all kinds of body processes from brain function to blood pressure. A growing body of evidence and research supports the idea that even small increases in the amount of salt, sugar, and fat that we eat on a daily basis has significant negative impacts on our wellness. Conversely, diets that are consistently high in fruits and vegetables and low in red meats can significantly improve health. But the relation between the foods we eat and our health is still fuzzy in the mind of the average person. Does anyone really know what the daily soda could do to your health? We believe that raising awareness about the important role that nutrition plays in health can help illustrate the important link between choosing healthy, nutrient-rich foods and good health. Take this study as an example. Researchers from the Yale School of Medicine found that fructose affects the brain in such a way that causes people to overeat. Fructose is ubiquitous in our food system; it is in naturally occurs in fruit, but it is also added to soft drinks, candy, and bread among other things. This common ingredient does not suppress brain activity in the region that makes us want to eat, causing us to overeat. From here on the link is simple: overeating leads to excessive weight gain and the associated range of health problems. Now imagine a world in which soda and fructose-rich foods were associated with overeating and the associated weight gain. Does this seem crazy? Remember when cigarettes, now known as “cancer sticks”, were not associated with lung cancer? Changing the conversation about food and health is very much a possibility. As the evidence accumulates and the skyrocketing levels of diabetes and cardiovascular disease are linked back to dietary changes that have occurred in the last fifty years, this change will undoubtedly occur. We believe that building a Nutrients for All world will help to catalyze that change. We don’t want to wait until 2030, by which time the number of people with diabetes is expected to increase 66% globally. We value our health, so why don’t we value the food that can improve it?

Leverage nutrition to improve school performance

apease — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:55:12 +0000

The Campaign for Education Equity has published a paper calling for schools to focus on key health disparities as a method to improve school performance, especially among low-income and minority youth. The report asks schools to target seven major health disparities, one of which is eating breakfast daily. These disparities, both individually and collectively, affect children’s ability to learn through five major causal pathways: sensory perceptions, cognition, school connectedness and engagement, absenteeism, and temporary or permanent dropping out.

While the entire dietary pattern of children is important to cognitive function and school performance, breakfast is identified as a leverage point that schools can use to increase achievement. Nutrient deficiencies are linked to physical, mental, and behavioral health problems, as well as learning deficiencies, lower arithmetic grades, and repeating a grade. The quality of a child’s breakfast is especially important to brain function because of the timing of the meal.

The report also stresses the synergistic effects of the different health disparities. This means that breakfast and the related nutritional deficiencies also contribute to other key health disparities such as vision, inattention, and hyperactivity. In order to improve education and achievement on a broad scale, assuring nutrient-rich, daily breakfasts is key.

Read the entire report here.

India’s new budget allocates money to nutrient-enriched crops

apease — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:55:45 +0000

A recent article in SciDev.Net reported that India’s new budget would include $40 million USD to fund pilot projects to develop iron-rich pearl millet, protein-rich maize, and zinc-rich wheat crops. This addition would address the micronutrient crisis that has hit India, resulting in widespread malnutrition and stunting in children and anemia in women. The article quotes Howarth Boius, the director of HarvestPlus, who says that adding these biofortified seeds to the staple crops is easier than changing the food habits of the population. The director-general of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Swapan Kumar Dutta, says that the next step is increasing the acceptance of biofortified crops among farmers and promoting India’s traditional crops that are rich in nutrients but are underutilized in comparison to wheat and rice.

Read the article here.

Ashoka Fellow’s fortified supplementary food has beneficial effects

markdlevy@gmail.com — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 13:15:50 +0000

Basil Kransdorff has been working with HIV/AIDS and TB patients in South Africa for a decade. He realized that part of their difficulty in combating the disease comes from their (often extreme) malnourishment. So he developed a “cocktail” of 28 micronutrients (vitamins and minerals), embedded in a pre-cooked whole grain meal (which contains some essential oils). The micronutrients are in complex forms that increase their bioavailability to the body. Putting AIDs and TB patients on this advanced nutritional supplement has resulted in dramatic gains in lean body mass, energy levels, and immune system functioning—and, in the case of TB patients, significantly lower rates of re-infection. These results have now been firmed by an independent university study, which can be found here.

Junk food is deliberately addictive

markdlevy@gmail.com — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:58:50 +0000

A recent article, based on detailed investigative reporting, makes clear that the seeming addictive quality of junk food is no accident. Food companies carefully blend sugar, salt, fats and other ingredients in ways that keep the body from becoming satiated with any one taste, so you keep on eating. In addition, other recent articles document the huge quantities of salt and sugar in the US diet and their harmful impact on wellness. Read more here.

Sugar in our food supply and human health

markdlevy@gmail.com — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:55:12 +0000

Mark Bittman’s opinion piece highlights problems related to our food supply and human health: “increased sugar in a population’s food supply was linked to higher diabetes rates independent of rates of obesity” in a study published by PLoS One.

Mental health is part of wellness

markdlevy@gmail.com — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:29:49 +0000

Medical News Today reported that the mental health of mothers is linked to the health of her baby. The University of Michigan Health Systems study suggests that “efforts to reduce child mortality and improve infant growth, health, and nutritional status in less-developed countries must address the mental health of new moms.” In addition, “two-thirds of participating mothers of sick, hospitalized babies in Ghana showed high risk for symptoms of clinical depression – which puts their babies and young children at significant health risks – according to the new research that appears in theInternational Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics.”

Read the full story here.

Urgent need to create a commodities market of life-saving medicines

markdlevy@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:16:31 +0000

Skoll Word Forum shared a conversation with Executive Director of UNICEF Anthony Lake. He “discussed the urgent need to create a commodities market of life-saving medicines in the developing world, arguing that healthy children are good for business.” Lake argues that: “Innovations in technology, delivery systems and creating demand are critical to accelerating our progress cost-effectively and efficiently.

Some recent examples include: auto-disable syringes which have a small internal valve to stop their being reused and spreading diseases; solar fridges that don’t need a battery so that vaccines can be stored in remote villages; and vaccine vial monitors with temperature sensitive stickers that change color if vials have been exposed to high temperatures and rendered unusable.

Often, it’s not about inventing new technologies, but repurposing existing ones.

For instance, mobile technologies, such as cell phones, are improving how we monitor and report on stocks of health commodities. Health workers can text patients to remind them about appointments and give them information about health or nutrition. These technologies are transforming how health is delivered in the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where there’s a steady expansion in cell phone usage.

Now on the cusp of great change and even greater results, we must work ever more with the private and public sectors to innovate and develop new products and new uses for existing technologies.”

Read the full story here.

Tablets make health care workers more productive

markdlevy@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:00:43 +0000

EHR Intelligence writes that a survey done by CDW indicates that 84% of healthcare providers using tablets on a regular basis report that the device makes them better at multitasking. In addition, the survey indicated that “iPads and Kindle Fires make physicians happier, more mobile, and more productive.”

Read the full story here.