Text C. Additive Might Fight Fast-Food Fat

By Sarah Graham

In recent years fast food has been linked to the country's rising obesity rates and the increased incidence of diabetes. Findings presented yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego may provide a means of tempering the cuisine's ill effects: an additive that can slow the absorption of fat to a healthier rate.

Wallace H. Yokoyama of the United States Department of Agriculture and his colleagues fed a group of hamsters a diet with a fat content similar to that of typical American fast food--that is, with about 38 percent of its calories derived from fat--for four weeks. A second group of animals ate a low-fat diet with 11 percent of the total calories coming from fat. At the end of the study period, the high-fat eaters developed insulin resistance--a precursor to diabetes--whereas the control animals did not. The initial results corroborated previous findings in similar studies. But when the scientists repeated the experiment with the addition of a cellulose derivative known as hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) to the high-fat food, the animals on that diet did not develop insulin resistance.

HPMC is already used as a food additive to modify the texture of items such as fillings, sauces and glazes. To achieve similar fat-fighting results in humans, much larger amounts (about five grams per serving) would be required, the scientists propose. The mechanism for HPMC's beneficial effects remains unclear, although Yokoyama posits that the compound works to slow down the absorption of fat by the digestive system. The results, which are preliminary, are not a panacea for fast-food devotees, however. "Obviously, the less fat you eat, the better off you are," Yokoyama says. "But if you're going to eat high-fat foods, then adding HPMC to it might help limit the damage." (From Scientific American Online, March 16, 2005)

Exercise 9. Summarize all the information about the role of diet discussed in this unit and speak on the effects of food on human organism.

Section 3. Recommended Report and Presentation Topics

1. “Out of Africa” migration theory.

2. Hutchinson syndrome.

3. Alzheimer’s disease.

4. Parkinson’s disease.

5. Why do people in the Caucasus traditionally live longer?

6. Age-related transformations in the organism.

7. Anti-age industry.

8. Impaired vision.

9. Wrinkles.

10. Pheromones.

11. The evolutionary role of sexual reproduction.

12. Hermaphrodites.

13. Parthenogenesis.

14. Eating disorders – bulimia, anorexia.

15. Why does fast food taste so good?

16. Health effects of fast food.

17. Dieting.

18. Vegetarians and vegans.

19. Internal organs transformation and alcoholism.

20. Prohibition and legal control of drugs.

[1] Note. Causes of seizures:

a. for neonates (less than 1 month old) include perinatal hypoxia and ischemia, intracranial hemorrhage and trauma, acute CNS infection, metabolic disturbances (hypoglycemia, hypocalcemia, hypomagnesemia, pyridoxine deficiency), drug withdrawal, developmental disorders, genetic disorders;

b. for infants and children (up to 12 years of age) the causes are febrile seizures, genetic disorders (metabolic, degenerative, primary epilepsy syndromes), CNS infection, developmental disorders, trauma, idiopathic;

c. for adolescents (12–18 years) – trauma, genetic disorders, infection, brain tumor, illicit drug use, idiopathic;

d. for young adults (18–35 years) – trauma, alcohol withdrawal, illicit drug use, brain tumor, idiopathic.

[2] The measure of life expectancy at birth is a statistic that represents the expected duration of life for babies born during a given time period, usually one calendar year. Calculated from death rates observed at every age, it is based on the critical assumption that the age-specific risks of death observed during a given year will prevail for all babies born in that year, for the remainder of their lives. In contrast, life span is the theoretical upper limit to life that would be observed if everyone in the population adopted ideal lifestyles from birth to death and if external threats to life were eliminated. Some researchers believe that there is no biologically determined life span per se, but rather a series of time-dependent physiological declines that may eventually be subject to modification (Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 2004, p.98)