NUTRITION BITES

LOUSY LIVERS

University of Missouri researchers have established a link between Western diets high in fat and sugar and the development of liver disease. The team found mice fed foods high in fat and sugar developed liver inflammation, which led them to develop non-alcoholic fatty liver disease similar to the human version. They also tried treating the mice with an antibiotic cocktail administered through drinking water and found the treatment has the potential to reduce inflammation and chronic liver disease.

CRAVINGS INGRAINED

Overindulging in high-fat foods during pregnancy and while breastfeeding appears to rewire the brains of developing children and may fuel obesity in adulthood, a study using mice at Rutgers University, New Jersey has found. Mice born to obese mothers tended to overeat when given access to unhealthy food compared with mice born to lean mothers. But other mice offspring of obese mothers stayed slim when given an unlimited diet of healthy food. The findings suggest human children whose mothers were overweight during pregnancy and nursing may struggle to moderate their treat consumption but could still eat their fill of healthy foods.

NITRATE & CANCER

Nitrate consumed over a lifetime in tap and bottled water could be a risk factor for prostate cancer, a Spanish study has found. Although short of establishing a causal link, the researchers found participants with higher waterborne nitrate ingestion were 1.6 times more likely to develop low-grade or medium-grade prostate cancer and nearly three times more likely to t develop an aggressive s prostate tumour than those with lower nitrate intakes. They hope their findings will lead to a review of nitrate limits in drinking water. – Listener staff