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Researchers conducted a phase I pilot study to assess the feasibility of using potato starch as a dietary intervention to modify the gut microbiome in bone marrow transplant patients. The study is the first part of a two-phase ongoing clinical trial evaluating the effect of modifying the microbiome on the incidence of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), a major complication that develops in up to half the patients who receive a bone marrow transplant and can lead to injury and death. Previous pre-clinical data from the Reddy lab demonstrated that butyrate, a compound produced by healthy intestinal bacteria when they digest resistant...

(Last Updated On: March 24, 2023) If you like your spuds, National Tater Day on March 31st is for you! The day recognizes all kinds of potatoes which provide us with essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber. #NationalTaterDay Potatoes are quite versatile, which might explain why so many people like them. They are the number one consumed vegetable in the United States. And when you consider how many ways we can eat the over 200 different kinds of potatoes in the United States, you shouldn’t be surprised. First off, we can bake them. Who doesn’t like a baked potato? Yeah, we...

A trial spanning more than 20 years and almost 1,000 participants worldwide has found an important result – people with a condition that gives them a higher chance of developing certain cancers can reduce the risk of some of those cancers by more than 60 percent, simply by adding more resistant starch to their diets. In fact, the results were so compelling when it came to cutting the risk of upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers specifically that the researchers are now looking to replicate them to ensure they're not missing anything. "We found that resistant starch reduces a range of cancers...

Chinese scientists have created starch, a type of complex carbohydrate found in plants, using carbon dioxide, hydrogen and electricity, according to a study published in the journal Science on Friday. Experts said if such technique can be scaled-up to the level of industrialization, it may revolutionize how this key nutrient and industrial ingredient is made, since it does not require farming and processing large quantity of starchy crops such as sweet potato and maize, thus saving more water, fertilizer, and arable land. It may also be used to recycle carbon dioxide, a common industrial waste and a greenhouse gas, into...

The diet helped Andrew Flinders Taylor lose weight—but is it safe? “Make your food boring and your life interesting.” That’s one lesson Andrew Flinders Taylor points out in a Youtube video he posted last December, where he detailed all of the things he learned after eating potatoes for every meal, every single day, for nearly a year. That’s right: Potatoes all day, every day. The potato diet sounds absolutely crazy, but for Taylor, who weighed in at 334 pounds when his experiment began, it led to noticeable results. The Australian native dropped 117 pounds after one year of the “Spud...

Almost forty percent adults in the United States are now obese, continuing an ever-expanding epidemic of obesity that's expected to lead to sicker Americans and higher health care costs. Almost four out of 10 adults and 18.5 percent of kids aged 2 to 19 now meet the clinical definition of obesity, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's up from 30.5 percent of adults and 13.9 percent of children in 1999-2000, the CDC report noted. Public health experts are concerned that the continuing rise in obesity will lead to greater numbers of...

Enlarge Image Future food? Cellulose from switchgrass and other nonfood plants might be converted into edible starch to feed the hungry. Credit: Peggy Greb/ARS/USDA The main ingredient of wood, cellulose, is one of the most abundant organic compounds on Earth and a dream source of renewable fuel. Now, bioengineers suggest that it could feed the hungry as well. In a new study, researchers have found a way to turn cellulose into starch, the most common carbohydrate in the human diet. Ethanol is today's most common biofuel used to power vehicles. It's typically made using sugars from crop plants such...

I'm sitting in a comfortable chair, in a tastefully lit, cheerfully decorated drug den, watching a steady line of people approach their dealer. After scoring, they shuffle off to their tables to quietly indulge in what for some could become (if it hasn't already) an addiction that screws up their lives. It's likely you have friends and family members who are suffering from this dependence—and you may be on the same path yourself. But this addiction is not usually apparent to the casual observer. It has no use for the drama and the carnage you associate with cocaine and alcohol....

Contact: Grady Semmens gsemmens@ucalgary.ca 403-220-7722 University of Calgary Corn's roots dig deeper into South AmericaEarliest signs of maize as staple food found after spreading south from Mexican homeland Corn has long been known as the primary food crop in prehistoric North and Central America. Now it appears it may have been an important part of the South American diet for much longer than previously thought, according to new research by University of Calgary archaeologists who are cobbling together the ancient history of plant domestication in the New World. In a paper published in the March 24 advanced online edition of...

The low-carb craze has passed its prime, as companies report a pickup in the sales of starch-heavy food. General Mills Inc., which makes cereals such as Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Wheaties and Trix, said sales climbed almost 3 percent in the third quarter, to $2.58 billion from $2.51 billion a year ago.

VIKINGS RAPED, PILLAGED THEN DID IRONING May 5 2003 VIKINGS were responsible for introducing ironing to Scotland. The pillaging Scandinavians were surprisingly conscious of their appearance and regularly smoothed their clothes. Excavations across Scotland have revealed evidence that the Nordic warriors used ironing boards and smoothing stones to make the job easier. Dr Euan MacKie, of Glasgow University, said he found out about the ironing culture by chance 10 years ago, when his colleague's child found a piece of a whalebone on the Hebridean island of North Uist. He said: "It is probably right to say Vikings introduced ironing to...