More articles from the nutrition information "garden"

Earlier this week I listed links to selected full-text nutrition articles stored in one digital archive. Today, a bit ahead of schedule, I'm sharing more finds: recent articles & studies I've discovered via other "information-gardening" tools & repositories. These include e-newsletters, Twitter and, of course, blogs and the trustworthy, knowledgeable colleagues and mentors who write them.

The MSNBC article, "Is your junk food habit making you depressed?" led me to a recent British Journal of Psychiatry study, Dietary pattern and depressive symptoms in middle age (abstract).

"How to Eat to Defeat Depression", a recent Rodale article, describes a study on diet, depression and anxiety in women; it's available as an abstract and free, full-text PDF file.

(Note: Often the popular press articles do not include full citations so the reader has to do some sleuthing to find the original research reports in the online journals. I've found Google Scholar works well if you have at least one of the investigator's names and date of publication.)

The January 2010 Tufts' Health & Nutrition Letter features this free online article on one of my pet topics, bone health: "Protecting Women’s Bones: Is the Secret Soy or the Asian Diet?".

"From Complex Carbohydrate to Glycemic Index: Tracing the Controversy" is a thorough, articulate and well-referenced review. You can read the free, full-text article here. (Many thanks to Sophie for providing the second link.) 

Kathryn Elliott (of Limes & Lycopene) has written a carbohydrate primer for the lay public, "GI Know-How", an up-to-date, research-based, easy-to-understand article on Glycemic Index (GI) and Glycemic Load (GL). It's an excellent companion piece to the previous article.

And last but not least, a Twitter friend recommended film critic Roger Ebert's poignant essay on what it's like to not be able to eat, drink or talk: Nil by mouth. Perhaps we (especially me) should read it first to remind us of the joy of dining or shared food experieces. Tube feeding, though it can provide nutrients, cannot replace these.

A small, selective harvest from the information garden

For a while I've been struggling to come up with an original title for the resource collections I publish intermittently. Something concise and descriptive, like "Quicklinks" or "Handpicked Links". Then, last week I came across the term "information garden." Yes, I can see parallels between harvesting a bumper crop of fruits and vegetables, and retrieving high-quality nutrition resources.

For example, while searching the rampantly growing mixed beds of research, reviews & commentary, I rely on familiar guides (e.g., OVID, Google Scholar,) and carefully curated collections (PEN, Amedeo). Sometimes I get lost in dense overgrowth (verbiage and statistics) or distracted by a showy specimen (sensational headline or provocative title). Most of my time, thought & energy go to weeding, pruning, sorting and then placing in the "trug" (Connotea) only the best "produce": evidence to guide dietetic practice; expert opinion on current nutrition topics & controversies where research is limited or difficult to interpret; thoughtful, insightful articles by my colleagues and mentors.

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled* over PubMed Central Canada, an archive of life science journals with free full-text articles. My search last week on nutrition articles published in 2009 yielded 1000+ results, including these articles pertinent to clinical dietitians' diverse practice areas:

The Differential Diagnosis of Food Intolerance

The Public Health Impact of Herbs & Nutritional Supplements

Flavonoids & cognitive function: a review of human randomized controlled studies & recommendations for future studies

Nutritional status and nutritional therapy in inflammatory bowel diseases

Effect of B vitamin supplementation on plasma homocysteine levels in celiac disease

An update on iron physiology

Comparison of Weight-Loss Diets with Different Compositions of Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates

The effect of a low glycemic diet verus a standard diet on blood glucose levels and macronutrient intake in children with type 1 diabetes

Effects of different cooking methods on health-promoting compounds of broccoli

That's all for today -- the articles are information-dense so I'm going to leave you with them for a while before I publish the next collection.

(*Yes, I do use the word "stumble" a lot in my posts, but it's very true: I often find the best resources when I'm looking for something else.)

An eclectic November collection

Confession time: For the past 3 weeks, I've been feeling twinges of guilt and anxiety every time I see Greens & Berries in my web browser's toolbar. Yes, my blog. I've been avoiding it. Until earlier today.

You see, I've convinced myself I don't have enough uninterrupted time for writing and publishing posts on a regular schedule. Inspiration has been hiding, too, perhaps behind the heavy, grey November clouds. Or more likely, she's gone south, looking for sunshine. I would if I could.

That said, reviewing, organizing and annotating Web links don't require inspiration. Just self-discipline and a couple of focused hours, which -- amazingly -- I had this morning between 10 and noon!

Here's a sample of November's additions to my Connotea (clinical nutrition) and Delicious (food and all other interests) bookmarks.

Applying nutrition science

• If you don't have time to read every article or abstract in the latest issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, you can keep up with nutrition research by checking out the highlights page and 50 Most-Frequently Read Articles.
  

• Leslie Beck, RD, on her web site and in her weekly Globe and Mail column, translates the latest nutrition science into practical guidelines. Recently she provided timely tips on how to boost your immune system with the right foods and supplements.

• New York Times health writer Jane E. Brody explores and clearly, succinctly explains how a low-acid diet promotes bone health. If you're interested in reading other studies, you can find them listed in a post I published earlier this month: Nutrition & Bone Health: How to build & maintain healthy bones on a plant-based diet

• Are Vegetarian Diets OK? - In her typical, no-nonsense style, Marion Nestle says "yes", which is no surprise. But I'd encourage you to read beyond Dr. Nestle's post for evidence-based and ethical reasons why they're more than "ok" for humans (adults AND children), animals and the environment.
  

   For example, two of my trusted sources are the Vegetarian Resource Group (look for articles by Reed Mangels, Ph.D, RD) & The Vegan Dietitian (Virginia Messina, MPH, RD.)  Also, in May 2009 the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a supplement on the 5th International Congress on Vegetarian Nutrition.

Writing with integrity

Avoiding plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and other questionable writing practices: A guide to ethical writing (PDF) - Even though I'm not writing my own research now or in the foreseeable future, I'll be applying these guidelines to blog posts where I summarize study results.

Nourishing the senses

These past two weeks there have been many posts and tweets about Vegetarian and Vegan Thanksgiving recipes and I'm not going to repeat them here. However, I'd be remiss if I didn't share this one, my pick for the most elegant meal I've seen on any blog this year: chef and writer Viviane Bauquet Farre's Vegetarian Thanksgiving Feast.

Nourishing the spirit

And one evening, at the end of a day heavy and dark with rain, I found the perfect poem for the moment:

Then too there is this

joy in the day's being done, however
clumsily, and in the ticked-off lists....

(you can read the rest of the poem here)

And let me add there is also joy (!) in this post's being done, however clumsily.

Thank you for reading. I hope you find something in this post to help you get through your day with greater knowledge, better health, and deeper commitment to doing your best work in all things.

Supplemental vitamins & minerals: benefits & risks

Though most dietitians promote obtaining nutrients from food sources, recent research suggests certain supplements may prevent chronic disease and enhance performance; other supplements are associated with increased risk of disease. What should we recommend for our clients?

Here is an excellent, professional resource from Dietitians of Canada that summarizes recent studies on benefits and harm and lists practice points:

Current Issues - The Inside Story: The continuing debate on the benefits and risks of supplemental vitamins and minerals (PDF)

Please note the document is copyright ©2008 Dietitians of Canada. All rights reserved. May be reproduced for educational purposes.

Nutrition & Bone Health: How to build & maintain healthy bones on a plant-based diet

If you haven't already read (or at least skimmed the abstracts) listed in the the previous post, you may want to do so to get the full story -- i.e., bones are made of more than calcium and vitamin D.

Vegan Guidelines (developed by vegan dietitians):

Calcium in the Vegan Diet

FAQs About Vitamin D

Vegan Foods are Good for Bone Health

Meeting Calcium Needs:Tips for Vegans

Bones, Vitamin D, and Calcium

Vegetarian Guidelines (include dairy sources):

Building Bones That Last - Even though more than 5 years old, I've included this resource by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis because it contains a table of the calcium content of many different plant foods as well as the percentage of calcium absorbed from each source.

Bone Health for Women - An "all-in-one" web site with pages on Food, Exercise, Supplements, and Tips & Recipes.

Food Sources of Calcium and Vitamin D - A helpful reference that includes an easy-to-read table of nutrient values for common and not-so-common (e.g., daylily flower, sea cucumber) plant sources of calcium.  Not strictly a vegetarian resource, though, as it includes fish.

Note: The D*action consortium recommends higher Vitamin D supplementation levels than stated in these resources.

Other Greens & Berries posts in this series:

• Nutrition in Bone Fracture Prevention & Healing: Part 1
• Nutrition in Bone Fracture Prevention & Healing: Part 2
• Nutrition in Bone Fracture Prevention & Healing: Part 3
• Nutrition in Bone Health: Selective Literature Review
  

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Image credits: top - Kale Almond Pesto by elana's pantry; bottom - Parsley, cottage cheese & yogurt dip (recipe here)

I've included it here, however, as it has an extensive range of Asian sources plant sources, including