Nutrition articles in "Nature Clinical Practice Neurology" (January & February 2009)

Because I work on a Neuroscience unit, I periodically scan the online neurology and neurosurgery literature for nutrition content. Recently I found these free, full-text articles in Nature Clinical Practice Neurology:

Click on image for full size and source

• Food for thought    HTML   PDF

This editorial reminds us nutritional supplements "have real pharmacological effects, not all of which are desirable."  True, too much of a good thing (a nutrient) can be bad thing (work against other medications). I appreciate the editor's closing statement: "It is, of course, understandable that patients will want to pursue all available options for the treatment of their condition, but they need to be provided with realistic expectations of the benefits, as well as being informed of any potential risks."

Application to practice: Be empathetic to people's needs but truthful about what the best evidence tells us.

• The ketogenic diet, four score and seven years later   HTML  PDF   

This commentary discusses the findings of randomized controlled trials.

Application to practice: "The ketogenic diet should be considered in the treatment of children with refractory epilepsy, and not only as a last resort.

• Polyunsaturated fatty acids and their potential therapeutic role in multiple sclerosis  HTML  PDF 

Key points from this article:

■ Epidemiological studies demonstrate an association between saturated fat intake and the incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS)
■ In vivo studies demonstrate that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) can exert anti-inflammatory effects through multiple, complex mechanisms
■ Controlled and noncontrolled trials have produced mixed results regarding the efficacy of PUFAs in MS; however, these trials have several limitations that could partially explain the lack of a treatment effect
■ Despite the lack of definitive evidence that PUFAs can be beneficial in MS, the anti-inflammatory potential of these agents is intriguing
■ The potential role of PUFAs as a treatment for MS should be further explored in proof-of-concept studies that use MRI-based outcome measures

Application to practice: Because these researchers believe more, better designed research should be conducted, I cannot discourage MS patients from modifying their diets or hoping some day we may find a nutrient or food that may make a difference in their disease progression, symptom management and/or quality of life; I would support them in making the healthiest fat choices by providing education.

Treating the Whole Patient

Touch by chrisevans on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons Licence.My favourite resource of the week is about the art of medicine. No clinical trials or statistics involved. A patient's family member handed me a newspaper clipping (see below) during our low tech, highly connected encounter. In other words, we had a face-to-face, heart-to-heart talk that cannot be replaced by 140-character exchanges.

Treating the Whole Patient    Web page    PDF

Tweeter's Digest

 

I'm torn between micro-blogging on Twitter & "long form" blogging on Greens & Berries. (If you aren't familiar with Twitter, you may want to read this overview.)  Because each Twitter message or "tweet" consists of no more than 140 characters (spaces included), I'm forced to be highly selective and concise about what I share. I'm still experimenting but I think, used wisely, Twitter can be an efficient, interactive learning and communication tool that spreads the wealth of knowledge far and wide.

Here are several links I shared via Twitter during the past few days:

• A Low-Fat Vegan Diet Elicits Greater Macronutrient Changes, but Is Comparable in Adherence and Acceptability, Compared with a More Conventional Diabetes Diet among Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes. Here are links to the study's abstract and a dietitian's commentary in the Globe & Mail.

• Gramene Species. If doing research on grasses or just simply curious about cereal grains, this site, which goes beyond genomics, is worth checking out.

• The International Framework for Food Description. While looking for the online Canadian Nutrient File, I serendipitously found this site that includes helpful compilations {1} {2} of food composition data.

• In the Service of Life. Wisdom from Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen who explains the important differences among serving, helping and fixing.

• Food for Thought. An editorial on supplements and neurological disease, published in the online Nature Clinical Practice Neurology.

I've also discovered food and nutrition resources through other Twitter users' updates -- but I'll leave these for another day. You see, I've had to set an Internet curfew. (Many thanks to Sophie who pointed out the blog post that will help me do this.)

Answer: "Creeping Australian BooBoo"

The question: "What was the first recipe Mollie Katzen created?"

My favourite Web find of the day is not a practice tool, not a research article, not even a seasonal recipe. No, it's a  brief anecdote about the joy of creativity and discovery in the kitchen.

How and when did you [Mollie Katzen] start cooking?
I started make-believe cooking when I was a toddler, using invisible ingredients, plus grass, flowers, and mud. I started cooking with real food when I was about 8 or 9. My mother and grandmother let me follow them around the kitchen, and I was entranced. I tested and wrote my first recipe when I was 9. It was for a chocolate dessert that leaked out of the oven door and across the floor. My wonderful, patient mother, instead of yelling at me, said, "Well this is certainly original. Let's give it a name." We called it "Creeping Australian BooBoo." Lacking the good sense to be deterred, I went on to write many more recipes over the next 35+ years. Somewhere along the way, I figured out how to have things stay in the oven.

Source: About Mollie

I'm so relieved and grateful Mollie's mom didn't scold her daughter about the "mess." Could you imagine vegetarian cookery without a Moosewood Cookbook or Enchanted Broccoli Forest?