Top Health Threats from Food and Diet

Improve Diet

Comprehensive analyses of a region's food and dietary trends, together with their respective effects on human health, can help maximize the public health effects of government campaigns and research programs, a report published by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) says.
For example, "much greater health gains are to be made through encouraging a healthy diet than through improving food safety,' the report's authors conclude after extensive research into the effects of current food trends in The Netherlands.
Also, after reviewing the full spectrum of dietary habits and potential government measures, they state that "substantial health gains can be made through dietary interventions which are considered feasible."
Of all dietary factors insufficient consumption of fish, fruit and vegetables currently causes the most cases of serious illness and death in The Netherlands. About 50 percent of those can be avoided through interventions which appear feasible from small-scale experiments. In particular, attempts at reducing saturated and trans fatty acid uptake and increasing fish, fruit and vegetables consumption could save many lives, the authors say.
Leading document
"This report will be a leading document in Europe and probably beyond when it comes to making risk-benefit analyses of our food and diets," said Herman Ko� '� � ter, Acting Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and chair of the organisation's Advisory Forum. "Research like this again clearly demonstrates high-quality science can lay the groundwork for informed food policy making," he added. Ko� '� � ter was presented with a copy of the report at the Advisory Forum meeting on 19 May 2006 in Vienna (Austria).
The report "Our Food, Our Health: Healthy diet and safe food in The Netherlands" was originally published in Dutch and is largely based on research by RIVM. Data from long-term studies into popular food habits, together with health risk assessments derived from epidemiological research, were fed into the institute's Chronic Diseases Model to predict the impact of trends and interventions on public health.
The research produced a comprehensive overview of our food's health effects, enabling policy makers with clear choices on the importance of various issues. Among the report's main conclusions:

• Unhealthy diet composition currently reduces the average life expectancy of Dutch 40-year-olds by 1.2 years, while obesity claims 0.8 years.

• Taking into account not just deaths but also years spent living with serious disability, unhealthy dietary habits together cause as much health loss as does smoking.

• Current positive trends are the decreasing intake of trans and saturated fatty acids and the increasing consumption of fish.

• Current negative trends are the ever decreasing intakes of fruit, vegetables and dietary fibre, already below recommended levels for 75 percent of the population.

• Each year in The Netherlands, inadequate diet composition causes about 13,000 deaths due to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Obesity claims 7,000 lives due to cardiovascular disease and cancer. By comparison, foodborne infections claim somewhere between 20 and 200 lives each year.

• About 25 percent of deaths and serious illness caused by overweight and obesity would be avoided if all adults would shed three kilograms of their body weight.

Health Canada Advises Not To Use Certain Weight Loss Pills

Health Canada is advising consumers not to use Natural (Xin Yi Dai) and Lasmi due to concerns about possible side-effects.
Natural (Xin Yi Dai) and Lasmi are both promoted for weight loss.
Reason for Warning
The Hong Kong Department of Health warned against the use of Natural (Xin Yi Dai) and Lasmi because they were both found to contain undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients.
Natural (Xin Yi Dai) was found to contain sibutramine and phenolphthalein, and Lasmi was found to contain sibutramine and spironolactone.
Sibutramine is used in the treatment of obesity and spironolactone is used in the treatment of fluid retention. Both are prescription drugs that should only be used under the supervision of a health care professional.
Phenolphthalein was previously used in over-the-counter laxative preparations but is currently prohibited in Canada as it may cause cancer. Individuals who may have been exposed to phenolphthalein should consult with their health care professional.
Possible Side-Effects
Use of sibutramine may cause headaches, increased heart rate and blood pressure, chest pain and stroke.
Abuse of phenolphthalein-containing laxatives has been associated with stomach and intestinal bleeding, anemia, acute pancreatitis and, in cases of massive overdose, multiple organ damage (including liver failure).
Side-effects associated with spironolactone include electrolyte imbalance, breast enlargement in males, gastrointestinal irritation, fatigue, dizziness and reproductive disorders.

Valerie Bertinelli Asks Jenny Craig To Help Her Lose Weight One Pound At A Time

Jenny Craig Weight Loss

In a television commercial premiering today, Jenny Craig introduces its latest celebrity client, Valerie Bertinelli.
The commercial, which features Bertinelli and Jenny Craig's highly successful current celebrity client, Kirstie Alley, will launch an integrated marketing campaign through 2007 in which Alley's 75-lb. weight loss and her successful maintenance of her weight loss will be the inspiration for Bertinelli to join the Jenny Craig program and reach her 30-lb. weight loss goal.
"Now that Kirstie has reached her goal weight - and looks and feels terrific - her goal is to motivate others to achieve and maintain a more healthful lifestyle," stated Jenny Craig CEO, Patti Larchet. "We are confident and excited that Valerie's interaction with Kirstie in our new campaign not only demonstrates Kirstie's new role as a mentor, but also gives people another opportunity to see a busy mom lose weight on national television."
According to Bertinelli, "I was a huge Cheers fan and have always admired Kirstie Alley's sense of humor, poise and tenacity. Watching her lose weight and maintain her weight loss publicly definitely inspired me to 'call Jenny' and accept the challenge to be a healthier, happier me."
In the new campaign, Bertinelli will lose weight "in real time" - as did Alley - with more frequent updates on her progress and through more hands-on venues. In addition to a series of monthly television and print advertisements, Bertinelli will post regular video and written blogs on the Jenny Craig Web site (http://www.jennycraig.com) to tell the story of her weight-loss journey and to provide tips on how to achieve weight loss success. She will also record video e-mail messages for new and returning Jenny Craig clients.
"It's definitely frightening to know that all of America will be following my progress to see if I actually lose weight," added Bertinelli. "But after researching the Jenny Craig program and what it has to offer in terms of providing the support and education I need, I'm confident that, by the end of the year, I will have lost the weight and learned how to keep it off."
The commercials, which were produced by JWT, New York, will feature interaction between the two actresses and will air nationally on both cable and network television.