That is what Medical experts in the UK are saying according to an article a few days ago in the Guardian. They believe that the changes in farming and food over the last 20 years have led to deficiencies in essential Omega 3 fatty acids with a resultant negative impact on the brain.
They warn of a crisis even bigger than the obesity epidemic. To read the full article click here.
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According to a new study, eating eggs does not impact on the cholesterol particles in the blood that are most likely to cause heart disease.
There has been a long standing myth that eating more than 3 eggs a week could potentially lead to heart disease. Although that myth should have been dispelled years ago it is still quite prevalent with a large number of medical practitioners still preaching the 'no egg' diet.
The current study is just another one which will help put this myth to rest. To read the article click here.
This is in direct contrast to triglycerides which are quite easily lowered by reducing intake of sugars/carbohydrates, refined and processed foods.
This was the increase in spending on stimulants and other psychiatric drugs to treat young people between 2000 and 2003.
US$6.4million a year (2003) is now being spent in psychiatric medication to children.
Change in UK diets 'could trigger mental health crisis' (Full Article)f1
By Maxine Frith and Sophie Goodchild
27 June 2004
Changes in British diets are going to lead to an explosion in mental health problems, medical experts said yesterday. They warned of a crisis even bigger than the epidemic of obesity afflicting the UK.
They said that most of the increase could probably be blamed on changes in farming and food over the past 20 years, which have led to deficiencies in essential omega-3 fatty acids.
Experts will present new evidence at an international conference into the study of the impact of fatty acids in Brighton this week.
The role of omega-3 has previously been underplayed by scientists, but evidence is emerging that it could have a big affect on mental well-being.
Last week, the Food Standards Agency issued new advice encouraging people to eat more oily fish such as tuna and mackerel in a bid to increase intake of omega-3. Scientists are considering whether food should be fortified with the fatty acid in order to avert a health crisis in the future.
Professor Michael Crawford of London Metropolitan University, said: "This is a major health crisis and a really serious issue, which hasn't really been looked at before.
"We are going to have an epidemic of mental health problems in the future if we do not deal with this now. omega-3 has a major role to play in mental health and we need to start recognising that."
Research due to be released at the conference of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids this week will show that pregnant women with lower intakes of omega-3 are more likely to have children who will go on to have behavioural problems, attention disorders and other problems.
The mothers themselves were more likely to suffer from depression if they had lower-than-average intakes of the fatty acid.
Professor Crawford warned: "We are facing a monumental crisis here, and a lot of it is due to the very simple issue of diet."
This follows a study highlighted earlier this year by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which revealed a world-wide link between a lack of omega-3 in the diet and schizophrenia. This research showed that people who ate high levels of sugar and dairy products, instead of oily fish, were more likely to develop severe mental illness.
omega-3 is linked to brain development and mental health and is found in "green" foods such as cabbage due to the photosynthesis process.
Professor Crawford said that at the beginning of the century, people's omega-3 intake was higher because of traditional farming practices where cows and lambs were fed on grass.
However, intensive agriculture practices over the past 50 years have meant that livestock is now fed on grain and vitamins rather than omega-3-rich foods.
Mental health problems are already predicted to become the third most costly burden of disease in the world by 2020. The Independent on Sunday has been campaigning for more than two years to improve access to treatment for the mentally ill.
Scientists are concerned that unless the role of diet is highlighted by the Government, that burden could become worse. Researchers are already looking at ways to alter the feeding of dairy cows in order to increase the production of omega-3 in their milk.
Decreasing intake of omega-3 has also been linked to low rates of fruit and vegetable consumption in the UK.
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Eggs have no impact on dangerous cholesterol, new study (Full Article)f2
6/28/2004 - Eating an egg a day does not impact the cholesterol particles in the blood most likely to cause heart disease, according to a new study that could play an important role in debunking myths surrounding the role of eggs in the diet.
The study, supported by the American Egg Board, measured the influence of a high-cholesterol diet, based on daily egg consumption, on the atherogenicity, or potential to lead to heart disease, of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles.
Researchers have recently found that LDL cholesterol has many fractions, with varying degrees of risk for cardiovascular disease. Prior to this, total LDL-cholesterol was measured to gauge risk for heart disease.
"We found that the dietary cholesterol in eggs does raise the LDL-1 and LDL-2 fractions but it does not impact the small, dense LDL-3 through LDL-7 particles that are the greatest threat for cardiovascular disease risk," explained Maria Luz Fernandez from the University of Connecticut.
"We also found that that egg cholesterol did not impact the small, dense LDL particles among a sub-set of participants who were genetically predisposed to being most sensitive to dietary cholesterol," she added.
Egg producers in the US and UK have been given a boost in recent months by consumers following the protein-rich Atkins diet. The British egg industry saw its first sustained sales rise in many years last year, with eggs up 4 per cent in the first seven months of 2003, helped by consumer education campaigns to try to dispel myths that consumers should not eat more than three eggs per week.
However elsewhere egg producers have been slow to market the health properties of eggs and egg proteins, with many citing the food's 'bad reputation' as a barrier to growth.
Writing in the June issue of Metabolism (vol 5, issue 6, pp 823-830), the Connecticut team said they randomly assigned 27 premenopausal women and 25 men to either an egg (resulting in 640 mg of additional dietary cholesterol) or a placebo diet for 30 days, followed by a three-week washout period.
The larger LDL-1 subclass was greater in hyperresponders, those more sensitive to dietary cholesterol, following egg intake, showing that the consumption of a high-cholesterol diet does not negatively influence the atherogenicity of the LDL particle, reported the scientists.
The American Egg Board said the study, alongside others, shows that strategies to control blood lipids that increase risk for cardiovascular disease, the world's biggest killer, should focus on a diet low in saturated and trans fatty acids, rather than on dietary cholesterol.
The researchers did find that the harmful LDL fractions were influenced by gender, with men having a greater concentration of small LDL particles compared to women, regardless of the type of diets they followed.
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Spending Grows to Treat Youth Behavior (Full Article)f3
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Spending on stimulants and other psychiatric drugs to treat young people with conditions ranging from hyperactivity to depression is increasing strongly, a new U.S. study issued on Monday showed.
There was a 77 percent increase in spending on behavioral medications between 2000 and 2003 in a group of children studied by pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions.
Medco, which helps companies and other groups provide drug coverage, reviewed prescription information for 300,000 U.S. youths aged 19 and younger to compile its report.
For the study group, spending on behavioral medications rose to $6.4 million in 2003 from $3.6 million in 2000.
The use of psychiatric medication in children is a controversial but growing trend.
While some advocates say the increase results from better access to health care and more diagnoses, critics say children and teens are being overmedicated in a society too reliant on a quick fix.
About 5 percent of children in Medco's study took one or more behavioral drugs, Medco Chief Medical Officer Robert Epstein said.
While it was good for children to seek treatment, "you always have to wonder, does every child need to be treated with a prescription medication," Epstein said in an interview.
Money spent on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, medicine saw the biggest increase over the three years -- especially among very young children.
While hyperactivity drug spending for all children and teen-agers rose 183 percent, it nearly quadrupled -- rising 369 percent -- in those 4 and younger, the Medco study said.
Most ADHD drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) for use in patients 6 and older. A few are approved for those 3 and older.
Both more expensive new treatments and increased use are driving up costs, Epstein added. "It was a mixture of both," he said.
The Medco study also found 142 percent more was spent since 2000 to treat autism and so-called "conduct disorders."
Antidepressant spending also grew but not as much, up 25 percent. Epstein said new generic versions of popular antidepressants like Eli Lilly's Prozac helped lower costs.
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