Tahlia's Vitamins Journal

Reference: Carlson Fish Oil

More Information: Nordic Naturals Pro Dha

Watching the television coverage of the health care reform debates and House votes made me think about the possibility of taxing sweetened beverages in order to reduce consumption. Some experts believe the correlation between increased consumption of soda and the rising obesity rates in the US and other countries is important enough that we should consider forcing a reduction of soda consumption by taxing it. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill suggest that increasing the cost of junk foods and soda could reduce obesity.

But is taxing soda or junk food the way to go? What about subsidies? Why not subsidize the production of fruits and vegetables instead of paying farmers more to grow crops such as corn, which is used to make cheap high fructose corn syrup?

Tell me what you think. Should we tax sodas and junk food to reduce consumption? Are there better ways to educate people about what happens when you drink too much sugary, calorie-laden beverages and junk foods?

Daily Nutrition Tip

To uncover more info then please see this web-site about Eskimo 3 Fish Oil

Following a diet rich in soluble fiber may help reduce inflammation and boost your immune system, according to a recently published study. In tests on mice, scientists found that soluble fiber (found in foods like oatmeal, broccoli, and psyllium) can rev up production of an anti-inflammatory protein known as interleukin-4.

For the study, researchers fed a group of mice low-fat diets containing either soluble fiber or insoluble fiber. After six weeks, the animals showed significantly different responses when the researchers injected them with lipopolysaccharide (a substance that creates a bacterial-infection-like effect in the body). For instance, the soluble-fiber-fed group became only half as sick as their study counterparts, and recovered 50 percent sooner.

Known to lower cholesterol, soluble fiber is a type of fiber that attracts water and turns to gel during digestion. Found in wheat bran and whole grains, insoluble fiber helps food to pass more quickly through the digestive system.

To locate much more data then please see this web page about Alaska Deep Sea Fish Oil

“All the sections of the food chain are inter-related in these deep-sea ecosystems, and a small change in any one of the links in this chain can cause great changes in the rest,” says Izaskun Preciado, lead author of the study and a researcher at the Oceanographic Centre in Santander, which is run by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO).

In order to gain a detailed understanding of the species that inhabit El Cachucho (Spain's first Protected Marine Area located off the coast of Llanes in Asturias), the scientists studied three species of shark that live at depths of between 400 and 1,000 metres, the blackmouth catshark (Galeus melastomus), the velvet belly lantern shark (Etmopterus spinax), and the birdbeak dogshark (Deania calcea).

The researcher says the results of the study, which has been published in the Journal of Fish Biology, showed that “the sharks' diet is opportunist, because they feed off whatever resources are available, in this case small euphausiid crustaceans, benthopelagic prawns and fish.”

The samples gathered between October 2003 and April 2004 made it possible to define two different habitats — the top of the bank, at a depth of 454 to 642 metres and covered with a fine layer of sediments with a low percentage of organic material, and the interior of the inner basin, which separates the bank from the continental shelf, at a depth of between 810 and 1,048 metres.

The study shows that the top of the bank (400-500 metres) is inhabited by two of the three shark species studied (the blackmouth catshark and the velvet belly lantern shark). “However, the velvet belly lantern shark is substituted in the deeper parts of the basin by the birdbeak dogshark,” explains Preciado.

In the deepest waters, the scientists sampled down to a depth of 1,100 metres and found that the blackmouth catshark and the birdbeak dogshark coexist there without any trophic competition between them, “since each one has specialised to eat a particular kind of food,” says the oceanographer.

The team stresses the importance of these studies in monitoring species in the El Cachucho area. “It is likely that the establishment of the Protected Marine Area will cause changes in the abundance of certain species of fish, above all commercial ones. For this reason, understanding the trophic network of these ecosystems will help us to predict future changes in the abundance of species,” explains Preciado.

The researcher warns: “A significant increase in a predator species could lead to a drastic decline in its prey, and so understanding the dynamics of the trophic networks will help us to predict changes in each of the sections of the ecosystem.”

The presence of larger blackmouth catsharks in shallow waters, for example, is a good indicator of higher levels of zooplankton production in these areas.

El Cachucho is an undersea mountain located in the Cantabrian Sea, off the coast of Asturias. At around 4,500 metres in height (measured from its base on the deep-water plain of the Bay of Biscay), it has great faunal and biological wealth. It is the first exclusively marine reserve in Spain. To date, only parks such as Doñana, Cabrera and the Atlantic Islands of Galicia had extended their protection to include part of the maritime environment.

Relevant Content articles: Nordic Naturals Proomega

Organic foods are becoming more popular due to concerns about pesticide use, synthetic fertilizer and herbicide residues in our food. Growing food organically is more work-intensive and so it is more expensive than non-organically grown food, but many people think that going organic is worth the extra price.

Not all foods that have the word organic on the label are completely free of bad stuff. If you want to buy organic foods, take some time to learn what the word organic means when you see in on a label. Read Organic Food Basics to learn more.

More About Organic Foods
What is Organic Gardening?
Can Organic Farming End World Hunger?
Organic Wines
Fruits and Vegetables You Should Buy Organic

Daily Nutrition Tip

More Information: Nordic Naturals Children's Dha