Guidelines to ensure optimal fat quality in Asian-Indian diets

* Best way to consume good fats is get them from cold pressed oils, nuts and seeds.

* Since a complete dependence on just one vegetable oil does not ensure optimal intakes of various fatty acids, use of two or more vegetable oils is recommended. Good choice is a combination of mustard, rice bran, rapeseed (canola), sesame and olive oil.

* Butter and ghee (clarified butter), coconut oil, palm kernel oil, and palm oil can be taken in moderation as a part of a healthy diet. These oils are high in SFAs but they are TFA free, if not processed.

* Use of hydrogenated vegetable oils like margarines and vanaspati for baking or cooking should be strictly avoided.

* Avoid high heat, refined or reused oils.

Health Capsules

A dust patch to ease asthma

Researchers have developed a revolutionary patch that contains a protein produced by house dust mites to treat asthma.

The patch, which is worn on the arm or stomach, gradually releases tiny amounts of the protein into the skin.

It is designed to're-tune' the immune system so that it does not over-react when it comes into contact with mite droppings, which are a leading trigger for asthma attacks, the Daily Mail reported.

As well as treating existing asthma sufferers, it is hoped the new patch could also be used to prevent the disease developing in the first place in children. House dust mites are usually less than half a millimetre long and whitish in colour. They thrive in dark and humid places at temperatures of around 25 degrees centigrade. As they feed on dead human skin cells, they gather in pillows, mattresses, clothing, carpets, and even soft toys. Dust mite allergy leads to swelling and irritation of the airways, causing to breathing difficulties and asthma attacks.

The skin patch, called ViaSkin, has so far been tested on mice. The first human trials are planned for early next year.

Blood pressure drugs may lower Alzheimer's risk

Common blood pressure dru3gs may cut the risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study. US researchers found beta blockers - prescribed since the 1960s to lower blood pressure - may protect against changes in the brain which could be signs of Alzheimer's and other types of dementia. Having high blood pressure, hypertension, in middle age puts patients more at risk of developing these conditions, as well as heart and circulatory disorders, the Daily Mail reported.

In a study, researchers examined the brains of 774 elderly Japanese-American men after death. Of these, 610 had high blood pressure or were being treated for high blood pressure. The study found that all types of high blood pressure treatments were clearly better at protecting the brain than no treatment, according to preliminary data presented at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting. But men who had been given beta blockers as their only blood pressure medication had fewer brain abnormalities compared with those who had not been treated for hypertension, or those who had received other high blood pressure drugs. The brains of men who had received beta blockers along with other high blood pressure medication showed an intermediate reduction in brain abnormalities.

These included two distinct types of brain lesion — those indicating Alzheimer's disease, and lesions called microinfarcts, usually attributed to tiny, unrecognised strokes.

Raspberry for weight loss

Raspberry ketones can help you lose weight and boost levels of a metabolism-regulating hormone, a report claims. These fragrant compounds occur naturally in raspberries and other fruits and can boost levels of adiponectin hormone, which regulates metabolism. Higher levels of this hormone are associated with fewer fat stores. The ketones are normally used to give a fruity smell to cosmetics and foodstuffs but, because you only get between one and four mg from every kg of fresh fruit, a synthetic version is often used to get the same result. And now these ketones are being sold online, in supplement form, as a slimming aid, the report said. A spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association, urges caution, pointing out that the only published research into the effects of raspberry ketones on weight loss is small studies on mice.

Protein and workout resolutions

Is taking up a physical activity at the top of your list of resolutions, also the hardest to keep? Researchers have just found that the protein, CB1 cannabinoid receptor, plays a key role during physical exercise and keeping up performance levels. "The inability to experience pleasure during physical activity, which is often quoted as one explanation why people partially or completely drop out of physical exercise programmes, is a clear sign that the biology of the nervous system is involved," research director at Inserm's NeuroCentre Magendie Francis Chaouloff said.

In their mouse studies, researchers demonstrated that the location of this receptor in a part of the brain associated with motivation and reward systems controls the time for which an individual will carry out voluntary physical exercise. The study has been published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

Binge eating and strange food combos

Food concocting — the making of strange food mixtures like mashed potatoes and Oreo cookies, frozen vegetables mixed with mayonnaise, and chips with lemon, pork rinds, Italian dressing and salt — is common among binge eaters, a new study has suggested. The findings by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) reveal that 1 in 4 survey participants secretly create concoctions. Investigators hope the survey and findings will help bring this oppressive behaviour into the open to better understand and help people suffering from binge-eating disorders.

According to the study, people who concoct are more likely to binge eat than those who overeat without bingeing. Those who concoct reported the same emotions as drug users during the act; they also reported later feelings of shame and disgust, which could fuel an existing disorder.

Mary Boggiano, primary investigator of the study, and her team developed their study around the novel "famine hypothesis," theorizing that concocting would be linked to caloric deprivation. This was based on documented accounts of odd food concoctions created by victims of natural famine and POWs, as well as refugees during wartime food shortages. The research team looked at why people practice food concocting. The majority, 41.2 percent of those who concocted, said the behaviour was due to a craving. Only 9 percent reported hunger as a motive. Boggiano said that is not surprising because most binges occur after a normal meal, when sated, and may be part of the "loss of control" criterion of binge eating. Her previous research showed that having a history of dieting, regardless of hunger, led to binge eating when a preferred food was available. The study has been published online in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. — Agencies