An Australian researcher who studied nutritional benefits of dairy food, was awarded the Danisco International Dairy Science Award by the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA). Congratulations to Dr. Parodi for this wonderful honor!
Dr Parodi, 74, is a world expert in dairy nutrition, particularly the role of dairy fat in human health. In 1977, he was the first person to discover the presence and determine the structure of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) – a major form of trans fatty acids in milk fat.
His work spans five decades uncovering the positive health benefits – and possibly the cancer-fighting properties – of dairy foods. Dr Parodi’s work in determining the structure and composition of milk fat was so important that in 1998 he was given the honor of naming a major trans fatty acid found in milk, which he called rumenic acid, after the cows’ stomach system, the rumen.
“For a scientist, exploring the unique properties and health benefits of dairy foods has been very rewarding,” he said.
His research has been supported by Australian dairy farmers through dairy research organizations – most recently Dairy Australia. Last year Dr Parodi was honored with the International Dairy Federation (IDF) award at its world summit in Dublin. He has been a recipient of dairy science’s most prestigious national awards – including the Award of Merit from the Australian Society of Australia and the Loftus Hill Dairy Science Award twice.
The annual international research and development award was established in 1980 and is judged by panel drawn from the ADSA. It recognizes outstanding accomplishments in chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, technology, and engineering pertaining to the dairy foods industries.
Researchers found that adults who had at least one serving of low fat milk or milk products each day had 37 percent lower odds of poor kidney function linked to heart disease compared to those who drank little or no low fat milk.
To determine heart disease risk, researchers from several universities in the United States and Norway measured the kidney function of more than 5,000 older adults ages 45 to 84. They tracked eating patterns and tested albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) — a measure that when too low, can indicate poor kidney function and an extremely high risk for cardiovascular disease.
Researchers found that people who reported consuming more low fat milk and milk products had lower ACR, or healthier kidney function. In fact, low fat milk and milk products was the only food group evaluated that on its own, was significantly linked to a reduced risk for kidney dysfunction.
The study authors cited other research suggesting milk protein, vitamin D, magnesium and calcium may contribute to milk’s potential heart health benefits. An overall healthy diet, including low fat milk and milk products, whole grains, fruits and vegetables was also associated with a benefit — 20 percent lower ACR or healthier kidney function.
Posted: June 23, 2008 at 10:57 pm
By Laura McNamara
The idea of gaining two extra hours in dairy farm management each day without working extra hours seems like a dream, right? What about cutting the time employees spend searching for animals… in half? Well, Scott Haag at Box Canyon Dairy in Wendell, Idaho says a set of MobileDemand rugged tablet PC’s makes those dairy farm dreams an everyday reality.
MobileDemand is a rugged tablet PC manufacturer based out of Idaho and they’ve just put the power of the PC in the hands of the field staff at Box Canyon.
MobileDemand says its partnership with ProfitSource enables dairy farms to bring both wireless computing and specialized DairyQuest software into the cattle pens, streamlining operations, saving time, and reducing error.
I spoke with MobileDemand CEO Matt Miller about how he found the agriculture industry to be optimal match for the rugged PC company. You can listen to my interview with Matt here.
MobileDemand also offers a video summary of its case study with Box Canyon Dairy. The video further illustrates how the tablet PC and DairyQuest Software have helped one dairy farm increase efficiency in both the breeding and health monitoring of its 8,000 cows. You can watch the video here:
Posted: June 11, 2008 at 4:57 pm
By Laura McNamara
Organic milk from pasture-fed cows is believed to be full of nutrients. A study recently published from Newcastle University in the UK suggest that cows that graz on fresh pasture produce milk with higher levels of antioxidants and beneficial fatty acids, such as omega-3’s.
“Grazing dairy cows on grass or grass and clover swards produces milk with a healthier fatty acid profile and higher levels of fat soluble vitamins and antioxidants,” notes Gillian Butler, livestock project manager for the Nafferton Ecological Farming Group at Newcastle University, who led the study.
This study points to the diet of organic cows — fresh grass and clover — as the major reason for these nutritional benefits.
“This study joins a growing body of science indicating strong links between what we feed our farm animals and the nutritional quality of what they feed us. Not only are you what you eat, but you are what what you eat eats too,” says Michael Pollan, author of the best sellers The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food.
The Cornucopia Institute released this study. The farm and food policy research group based in Cornucopia, Wisconsin, says consumers can be confident that “the vast majority of brand name organic milk comes from cows that were given the opportunity to graze on fresh pasture whenever possible.”
New research indicates that when it comes to feeding infants formula, ones made from cow’s milk may be a better choice than soy.
In a clinical report based on a review of available information just released, experts have delivered the definitive word on feeding infants soy protein-based formulas versus cow milk formulas: Why use soy at all?
“Why feed soy when there is no indication for it?” said Dr. Jatinder Bhatia, a professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia, and one of the lead authors of the report by the Committee on Nutrition for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Cow milk is the preferred choice if you cannot breast-feed.”
“When a mother came into the office complaining about colic, fussiness, excessive spitting, constipation — you name it — and attributing it to the infant’s cow milk formula, the first thing I did was change the infant to a soy formula,” said Dr. Frank Greer, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin and the other lead author of the report.
“If the situation improved for whatever reason, the child was thought to be allergic or intolerant of cow milk by the mother, thus promoting a myth of cow milk allergy/intolerance,” Greer said.
The simple solution would be to eliminate formula altogether and breast-feed, the gold standard for infant nutrition. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommend breast-feeding exclusively for the first four to six months and then slowly introducing solid foods, continuing to breast-feed until the infant is about a year old.
“In general, formula use is associated with increased illnesses, both infectious and chronic, like diabetes and cancers, and yet there is no warning on the label,” said Dr. Miriam Labbok, director of the Center for Infant and Young Child Feeding and Care at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “We must begin to view formula as a risky choice for infant feeding, and do more to support women to succeed in breast-feeding.”
Choosing cow milk formula, soy formula or breast-feeding ultimately comes down to personal preference, or, in a few cases, to medical necessity. But without any demonstrated benefit to soy formula for the average healthy infant, choosy pediatricians still choose cow milk.
A new study has added to the evidence that flavored milk is a great choice for children. Not only do flavored milks taste delicious, they are full of essential nutrients.
Using national survey data on more than 7,500 2- to 18-year-olds, researchers found that those who drank flavored milk had similar intakes of calcium, vitamin A, potassium and saturated fat as those who drank only plain milk. And both groups, the study found, got more of these nutrients than children who drank no milk at all.
One reason parents might be wary of chocolate or strawberry milk is that the added sugar might encourage excess weight gain. But in this study, milk drinkers and non-drinkers had a similar average body mass index (BMI), the researchers report in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
The findings suggest that flavored milk can be part of a sound diet for children, according to the research team, led by Mary M. Murphy, a nutrition science researcher with Arlington, Virginia-based ENVIRON International Corp.
The study, funded by the National Dairy Council, is based on results from a government health and nutrition survey. Murphy’s team found that among the 7,557 children and teens those who drank flavored milk tended to drink more milk per day than their peers who only consumed the plain variety.
Some flavored milks contain artificial sweeteners, but most do have extra sugar and calories. While low-fat plain milk contains about 100 calories per serving, a serving of low-fat chocolate milk has about 160 calories, Murphy and her colleagues point out.
Still, the researchers found no significant differences in the average BMI of milk drinkers and non-drinkers younger than 12. Among teenagers, those who drank milk had an average BMI that was comparable to or lower than that of their peers who shunned milk.
Since the 1960s, U.S. children’s milk consumption has fallen off, in favor of sugary sodas and sweetened juices, and some experts believe the trend is one of the factors driving the rising rate of childhood obesity. Until then, the researchers conclude, banning flavored milk from children’s diets “may only have the undesirable effect of further reducing intakes of many essential nutrients provided by milk.”
According to the company, Omega Farms Low-Fat Chocolate Milk provides kids the added benefits of Omega-3s needed for brain development and athletes the perfect combination of carbohydrates and protein needed for sports recovery.
Cindy DiFerdinand, nutritionist of Omega Farms, said: “We are thrilled to add a new product to the Omega Farms popular line of Omega-3 fortified products. Chocolate milk is a classic for kids and a modern sports recovery product for athletes.”
More good news for flavored milk! A recent study released in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that children who drink flavored or plain milk consume more nutrients and have a lower or comparable body mass index (BMI a measure of body fatness) than children who don’t drink milk.
“Milk contains many nutrients that are important for children. We learned in our research that children who drink milk, including plain and flavored milk, have higher intakes of many nutrients that are low in children’s diets, and comparable or lower BMIs compared to children who don’t drink milk,” said Mary Murphy, MS, RD, co-author of the study. “Limiting access to flavored milks in schools and elsewhere may have the undesirable effect of further reducing intakes of many essential nutrients provided by milk.”
The study compared nutrient intakes and BMIs among 7,557 U.S. children and adolescents ages 2-18 years drinking flavored milk (with or without plain milk), exclusively plain milk and no milk. All comparisons were adjusted for the amount of calories reported as well as age allowing for differences to be examined based on equal consumption of calories and age distributions. Results showed milk drinkers (flavored and plain) had significantly higher intakes of vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium than non-milk drinkers. In addition, BMI measures of milk drinkers were comparable to or lower than measures of non-milk drinkers. Intake of added sugars did not differ between flavored milk drinkers and non-milk drinkers. Among females 12-18 years of age, average calcium intakes by flavored milk drinkers and exclusively plain milk drinkers were nearly double the calcium intakes of non-milk drinkers.
Rachel Johnson, PhD, MPH, RD, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Professor of Nutrition at the University of Vermont, a co-author of the study noted, “Intakes of added sugars were comparable between flavored milk drinkers and non-milk drinkers confirming that the inclusion of flavored milk in the diet does not lead to significantly higher added sugar intakes by children and adolescents.”
The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourage children to enjoy three age-appropriate servings of low-fat or fat-free milk, cheese or yogurt each day.
Currently, less than half of children ages 2-8 and only about one-quarter of children ages 9-19 meet the recommended dairy food intake. Flavored milks can provide part of the solution for meeting these recommendations. According to the Dietary Guidelines, small amounts of sugars added to nutrient-rich foods, such as low-fat and fat-free dairy products, may increase a person’s intake of such foods by enhancing the taste of these products, thus improving nutrient intake without contributing excessive calories.2 In addition, the School Milk Pilot Test found that school milk consumption increased by 37 percent through specific improvements such as plastic packaging, one or more additional flavors, and better refrigeration and merchandising.
The folks in Calcium, N.Y. are now slimmer and healthier thanks to lowfat milk, exercise and the researchers at the University of Colorado at Denver. During a 16-week study, the community-based project called “Calcium Weighs In” provided residents of Calcium one-on-one nutrition counseling and group classes.
The battle against obesity in this country could be tackled one community at a time, according to a newly published study in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. Adults in Calcium, New York, who increased calcium intake by drinking more lowfat milk and other milk products and walked more frequently successfully lost weight after a 16-week overhaul.
In this innovative “Calcium Weighs In” community intervention, researchers overhauled the health habits of 199 men and women in a small, rural community of Calcium, New York. The free program provided one-on-one nutrition counseling and group classes, urging participants to set reasonable health goals, choose lowfat dairy foods including milk, cheese and yogurt and exceed a 10,000 step per day goal to increase physical activity.
At the end of the 16-week program, the 116 participants who completed the program lost an average of 13.2 pounds. Total dairy intake increased to nearly 3 servings per day, on average, meeting the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended goal.
Build-A Bear Workshop is teaming up with Milk Rocks, a division of Milk Media, to feature its virtual world, on 120 million milk cartons in 95,000 elementary schools. In addition to the milk cartons, messaging on 12,500 posters and 15,000 book covers will help promote the campaign.
The campaign is designed to be a fun way to promote health and nutrition and to encourage kids to drink milk, Build-A-Bear Workshop said. Each milk carton will include facts about the site and a code for a free virtual milk carton. Online, visitors can create their own unique character, participate in games to earn Bear Bills, buy clothing and furniture for their Cub Condo home and trade items they have created or acquired with other citizens in the world.
Pfizer Animal Health has announced that the therapy PIRSUE® has received approval for extended treatment. Be sure to ask your veterinarian for more information.
Dairy producers can now use PIRSUE® (pirlimycin hydrochloride) Sterile Solution for extended duration therapy treatment of subclinical and clinical mastitis. Pfizer Animal Health recently received the supplemental approval for PIRSUE, which is indicated for the treatment of both clinical and subclinical mastitis in lactating dairy cattle. PIRSUE is labeled for intramammary infections associated with Staphylococcus species such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus species such asStreptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus dysgalactiae and Streptococcus uberis.
“This new approval allows your vet to prescribe PIRSUE once daily for up to eight consecutive days,” said Austin Belschner, DVM, Director, Pfizer Dairy Veterinary Operations. “This provides true flexibility in designing treatment protocols for a wide variety of Gram-positive mastitis pathogens on your dairy.”
“By using extended therapy treatment on mastitis cases, you’re more likely to obtain a bacteriological cure and thus lower the risk of re-treating the animal,” said Belschner.
Posted: January 18, 2008 at 6:01 pm
By News Editor
The Milk Rocks! campaign now has power group Rascal Flattson-board, and one lucky winner will have their dream come true - the chance to sing live onstage with the band! The contest, “Be a Milk Rock Star” starts on March 1 and will include advertisements on milk carton sides and lunchroom posters in more than 95,000 elementary, middle and high schools across the country.
The “Be a milk rock star” push, part of the broader Milk Rocks! public service effort, promotes health and nutrition and was created by MilkMedia. The band will pre-record messages to fans explaining contest rules as well as nutritional facts about milk, which can be seen on milk cartons, school lunchroom posters and a Web site prior to the live concert.
Launching on March 1, 2008, Rascal Flatts fans can register on the Milk Rocks! Web site to select their favorite song (among five) and upload a karaoke-style video of the tune. The top 10 participants voted by the Milk Rocks! online community will win signed Gibson guitars, Rascal Flatts CDs and posters signed by the band. The winner will appear in concert with Rascal Flatts. The grand prize also includes hosting a concert Webcast from the customized Gibson guitar tour bus and meeting a rep of Lyric Street Records, Rascal Flatts’ label.
“We have the greatest fans in the world,” said Rascal Flatts band member Gary LeVox. “So giving our songs back to them, with the opportunity to join the band for a night, is the least we can do to say thanks. And since drinking milk is a big part of keeping our fans energized for our show, we’re happy to help Milk Rocks! get their message out there,” he said.
Nestlé has introduced a revolutionary fountain drink called Sjora - a refreshing mix of milk and juice. Sjora contains 10-percent milk and 5-percent juice and has just 90 calories per 8-ounce serving. Mad Greens, a made-to-order salad bar based in Colo. is one of a handful of restaurants testing the product nationwide.
Adding Sjora helps Mad Greens “round out our concept” as a healthy eatery, said Marley Hodgson, who co-founded Mad Greens with childhood friend Dan Long. Nestle, meanwhile, sees Sjora as a way to make itself into the Coca-Cola of healthier beverages at a time when consumers are growing wary of artificial flavors and corn syrup.
The international food company crafted Sjora as a “light-tasting, very refreshing” beverage that blends about 10 percent milk and 5 percent juice, said spokeswoman Kathy Lenkov. The company offers two flavors, tropical pineapple and mango peach, in regular and diet varieties.
While natural beverages like Honest Tea and Odwalla often are offered at quick-service restaurants in bottled form, Nestle is offering Sjora as a $1.50 fountain drink. That means it costs less, doesn’t take up precious shelf space and gives restaurants a larger cut of the profit.
“At a restaurant like Mad Greens, up to half the people purchasing food choose to take tap water because there isn’t a beverage choice for them,” Lenkov said. “This is a way to capture those customers.”
Dr. Jon Dickinson, an orthopedic surgeon from California, has been concerned about the calcium intake of Americans for several years. So, he decided to take action and has formulated a high-calcium beverage called Osteo. The drink includes 500 milligrams of soluble calcium in each 12-ounce bottle - about half of the minimum daily requirement.
The concept was to create a beverage loaded with calcium, vitamins and minerals in a tasty drink. Dickinson experimented in a makeshift lab in his Ross kitchen, using his four children as testers, until he came up with a blend of spring water, fruit juices and organic cane sugar. It retails for about $2.19 a bottle.
The product is geared for a mature market - one that is widely identified as being susceptible to osteoporosis and low bone mass.
But Dickinson says there is a broader market that includes children and teenagers, and he is planning to introduce a drink for a younger audience called Osteoblast in the spring.
Calcium comes naturally in milk, cheese and other dairy products as well as leafy green vegetables - foods that many people do not consume in adequate amounts.
By 2020, half of all Americans older than 50 will be at risk for fractures from osteoporosis and low bone mass if immediate action isn’t taken by individuals at risk, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Some 10 million Americans age 50 and older have osteoporosis and 34 million are at risk, according to a federal report. Each year, roughly 1.5 million people suffer a bone fracture related to osteoporosis.
“Osteoporosis is an epidemic among children and teenagers in the United States,” Dickinson said, adding that calcium is key to building healthy bones in young people. “It’s really important for children and teens to build the calcium stores.”
Only 13.5 percent of girls and 36.3 percent of boys from 12 to 19 years old in the United States get the recommended daily amount of calcium, according to the health department. Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said preventing bone disease begins in childhood.
“With low calcium intake levels during these important bone growth periods, today’s children and teens are certain to face serious public health problems in the future,” Alexander said.
Dickinson is using his own money to get Osteoblast up and running and attractive to outside investors. “Companies like this take a while to become profitable,” Dickinson said. “It would be nice to break even in 2008, but I probably won’t.” He says his business is a winner now, whether or not it’s profitable. “If we can educate people more about the need for calcium, I’ve accomplished something,” he said.
Posted: December 17, 2007 at 9:15 pm
By News Editor
An amendment that would have banned fatty foods and high-calorie beverages from school vending machines was dropped from the Senate version of the Farm Bill.
The National School Nutrition Standards Amendment, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), would have been the first legislation to update the nutrition standards since 1979, a period in which scientific opinion on what foods are appropriate has drastically shifted.
” ‘Disappointed’ doesn’t begin to describe how we feel,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “There’s a remarkable amount of consensus for national school nutrition standards. It seems it just got caught up in the complications of the farm bill.”
The measure, the result of months of negotiations, ultimately garnered the support of more than 100 public health and education organizations and food industry giants, including Coca-Cola, Nestle and Frito-Lay. Proponents had hailed it as a crucial step toward addressing the dismal state of school nutrition: A CSPI report card last month found that schools in two-thirds of the states had either weak or no nutrition standards in place. The District of Columbia got a C; Maryland a D-plus; Virginia scored a D.
Concerns on both sides of the aisle held up the vote, an aide to Harkin said. Some Democrats objected to federal preemption of stricter state standards, while Republicans had concerns about restrictions on snack foods, he said. Harkin indicated that he is not giving up. “We’re coming back with that,” the senator said. “We have a lot of support for it.”
The amendment would have banned most candy, cakes and cookies, staples of today’s school snack bars. Sugary beverages, considered one of the main causes of teenage obesity, would also have been restricted. Serving sizes and calories for all drinks, with the exception of bottled water, were to be capped.
Posted: December 10, 2007 at 9:02 pm
By News Editor
The results of an exciting study suggest that full-fat dairy products could lead to increased fertility in women seeking to become pregnant. The study, called the Nurses’ Health Study, contained more than 18,000 women. The study was part of a long-term research project looking at the effects of diet and other factors on the development of chronic conditions such as heart disease, cancer and other diseases.
Each of these women said she was trying to have a baby. Over eight years of follow-up, most of them did. About one in six women, though, had some trouble getting pregnant, including hundreds who experienced ovulatory infertility—a problem related to the maturation or release of a mature egg each month. When we compared their diets, exercise habits and other lifestyle choices with those of women who readily got pregnant, several key differences emerged. We have translated these differences into fertility-boosting strategies.
If you are having trouble getting pregnant, and ovulatory infertility is suspected, think of it as temporary health food. OK, maybe that’s going a bit too far. But a fascinating finding from the Nurses’ Health Study is that a daily serving or two of whole milk and foods made from whole milk—full-fat yogurt, cottage cheese, and, yes, even ice cream—seem to offer some protection against ovulatory infertility, while skim and low-fat milk do the opposite.
The results fly in the face of current standard nutrition advice. But they make sense when you consider what skim and low-fat milk do, and don’t, contain. Removing fat from milk radically changes its balance of sex hormones in a way that could tip the scales against ovulation and conception. Proteins added to make skim and low-fat milk look and taste “creamier” push it even farther away.
The depth and detail of the Nurses’ Health Study database allowed us to see which foods had the biggest effects. The most potent fertility food from the dairy case was, by far, whole milk, followed by ice cream. Sherbet and frozen yogurt, followed by low-fat yogurt, topped the list as the biggest contributors to ovulatory infertility. The more low-fat dairy products in a woman’s diet, the more likely she was to have had trouble getting pregnant. The more full-fat dairy products in a woman’s diet, the less likely she was to have had problems getting pregnant.
Posted: December 7, 2007 at 6:52 pm
By News Editor
What happens when today’s youngster get too little milk, sunshine and exercise? An anti-bone trifecta, that for some is leading to rickets, the soft-bone scourge of the 19th century.
But cases of full-blown rickets are just the red flag: Bone specialists say possibly millions of seemingly healthy children aren’t building as much strong bone as they should — a gap that may leave them more vulnerable to bone-cracking osteoporosis later in life than their grandparents are.
“This potentially is a time-bomb,” says Dr. Laura Tosi, bone health chief at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington.
Almost half of peak bone mass develops during adolescence, and the concern is that missing out on the strongest possible bones in childhood could haunt people decades later. By the 30s, bone is broken down faster than it’s rebuilt. Then it’s a race to maintain bone and avoid the thin bones of osteoporosis in old age.
“There’s some early data showing that even a 10 percent deficit in your bone mass when you finish your adolescent years can increase your potential risk of having osteoporosis and fractures as much as 50 percent,” says Dr. James Beaty, president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Already there’s evidence that U.S. children break their arms more often today than four decades ago — girls 56 percent more, and boys 32 percent more, according to a Mayo Clinic study.
It’s not just that they don’t drink fortified milk. Bodies make vitamin D with sunlight. With teen computer use, urban youngsters without safe places to play outdoors and less school P.E., it’s no wonder D levels are low. Because skin pigment alters sun absorption, black children are particularly at risk.
Rickets marks the worst deficiency, where bones become so soft that legs literally bow. Rickets was once thought to have been eradicated with milk fortification, but “I am now treating rickets in a way that I never treated it 20 years ago,” says Tosi, who diagnoses rickets or super-low D levels in children every month at a bone clinic she runs for mostly inner-city children.
Posted: December 7, 2007 at 6:42 pm
By News Editor
The WIC (Women, Infants and Children) food program covered by the U.S. government, has received its first major overhaul in more than 30 years. The program provides food vouchers to low-income women and their children. The changes include the addition of fruits, vegetables and whole grains to the list of foods the vouchers cover.The amount of milk covered by WIC will be reduced from 24 quarts per month to 16 quarts for children aged 1 through 4 years.
The revised list of foods that can be purchased with WIC vouchers is the result of a review that was first announced in August 2006. It does not change the value of benefits, about $39 a month, to qualified low-income pregnant women, and children up to the age of 5 who are at nutritional risk.
USDA heard from “WIC agencies, from stakeholders and, of course, the participants themselves to revise (WIC) so it does reflect the latest nutrition, science and dietary recommendations for Americans,” said Acting Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner. “We believe this rule will do just that.”
Recipients will be allowed to substitute items — such as replacing whole wheat bread with soft corn tortillas, or canned, frozen and dried fruits and vegetables in place of their fresh counterparts — in order to reflect cultural differences and make it easier for people to participate. The revised WIC program also provides incentives for women to continue breast-feeding by providing less formula to partially breast-fed infants, and giving fruit and vegetable vouchers of $10 to fully breast-feeding women, compared with $8 for all other women.
The National Milk Producers Federation said reducing milk and cheese support would deprive many WIC participants of key nutrients, such as calcium and potassium.
Posted: November 19, 2007 at 7:05 pm
By News Editor
Yogurt has fast become a “super” food in 2007 - and one doctor in Denver, Colo. is reminding consumers that yogurt can help improve immunity.
Foods available at the grocery store that claim to boost immunity are a simple matter of eating good bacteria to fight bad bacteria and viruses. Foods with pro-biotics can improve immunity and perhaps digestion, Dr. Dave Hnida reports.
Several studies show people who eat yogurt every day producer more infection fighting cells and have stronger immune systems than those who don’t eat yogurt.
As long as it says live and active cultures on the label, any yogurt should do the trick, Hnida says.
There are some products and special yogurts that have concentrated amounts of a special good bacteria that can also really improve the immune system. Lab studies seem to prove that those claims hold water.
Posted: November 14, 2007 at 12:49 pm
By News Editor
In a recent study, 1,000 New York moms were asked about family’s habits. Out of that group, only 14% said they make it a rule to serve milk with meals. To help re-introduce milk to the family table, the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council in New York is conducting a contest for a New York family to win a year supply of free milk! Check out their website to learn more.
Cindy Schwartz and her son Ben pass up the milk section as they peruse the dairy aisle. “I’m not concerned about our lack of calcium at all because we get it from so many other sources. I’ve never been a milk drinker and my family seems to have followed suit.” Like the Schwartz family, Wendy Gamacag doesn’t usually serve milk to her family with dinner. “My son likes milk; my daughter does not like milk at the table. We typically do water.”
In a recent study, 1,000 New York moms were asked about family’s habits. Out of that group, only 14% said they make it a rule to serve milk with meals.
“That’s a pretty frightening statistic, “said Molly Morgan, a registered dietician and spokesperson for the New York State Dietetic Association. She said families need to think more about what their kids drink.
“The nutrient composition of milk, it’s the perfect package you can’t really find anywhere else. One glass of milk is going to provide you with a third of your daily calcium,” Morgan said.
Morgan said swapping a sugary drink for milk just once a day over the course of a month saves about four cups of sugar.
“There’s actually a lot of supported research that shows serving three servings of dairy foods a day does help to maintain a healthy weight and I do think that incorporating that and getting back to the basics of milk with meals can help with obesity issues in the country, “ Morgan said. And Morgan said while water is a great drink to have at meals, it still doesn’t provide the essential nutrients that milk has.
An Australian researcher who studied nutritional benefits of dairy food, was awarded the Danisco International Dairy Science Award by the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA). Congratulations to Dr. Parodi for this wonderful honor!
