Joined: 07 Oct 2005 Posts: 9573 Location: �o�J�i�_ Country:
Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 11:18 pm Post subject:
Too much bacon 'bad for lungs'
Eating large quantities of cured meats like bacon could damage lung function and increase the risk of lung disease.
A Columbia University team found people who ate cured meats at least 14 times a month were more likely to have COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.COPD, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, kills around 30,000 people in the UK each year.The report, in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, said nitrites in meat may be to blame.However, the overall risk of developing COPD remains low. Dr Rui Jiang, leading the research, said high levels of nitrites are used in cured meats such as bacon as preservatives, anti-bacterial agents and colour fixatives.
He said reactive nitrogen species, molecules that can damage body tissues, might be the key.He said: "Nitrites generate reactive nitrogen species that may cause damage to the lungs, producing structural changes resembling emphysema."
COPD risk
The researchers looked at 7,352 American individuals who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted between 1988 and 1994.They compared the results of lung function tests and the risks of developing COPD in participants and found those who ate the meats more often had worse lung function and were more likely to have COPD. COPD is a term used for a number of conditions, and results from chronic bronchitis and emphysema, two inflammatory lung diseases.
It leads to damaged airways in the lungs making breathing more difficult, and is a major cause of disability and death.
Diet 'not to blame'
The researchers also found individuals who consumed cured meats frequently were more likely to be male and of a lower socio-economic status, and to smoke, than those who never consumed cured meats. They also often had lower intakes of vitamin C, fish, fruits and vegetables, and higher energy intakes. Yet they concluded these factors were not to blame for the effects on lungs. Dr Jiang said: "Adjustment for these factors in our analyses did not appreciably change our findings." He said the link between cured meats and lung function was therefore unlikely to be explained by these other dietary factors. He called for more studies of high dietary nitrite intake to assess whether it is a risk factor in the development of COPD.
Professor Peter Calverly of the British Thoracic Society said: "This study illustrates that factors other than smoking may contribute to COPD. "Although smoking remains the single most significant cause of COPD this research seems to suggest other factors may result in increased risk of the disease."
Frankenstein for lunch: Japanese mothers turn lunchboxes into high art
ICHIHARA, Japan -- Kazumi Shimomura's kitchen table is cluttered with tools not usually associated with cooking: A pair of tweezers, a razor knife and a digital camera.
Her culinary style is just as unique.
She sculpts rice colored with egg yolks into the shape of a dinosaur, fashions its eye with sliced cheese and strips of seaweed. Star-shaped pieces of okra adorn the belly.
"I just wanted my son to have fun when he goes to day care on Saturdays," explains Shimomura as she uses tweezers to place tiny teeth-shaped bits of cheese in the dinosaur's mouth.
Spending hours meticulously perfecting a meal that will be gobbled down in a school cafeteria by her 6-year-old son hardly seems like time well-invested.
But lunch-box art marries the age-old Japanese penchant for precision and aesthetics with the country's modern, shrinking, affluent nuclear family, where fewer children mean moms have more time and money to lavish on their little emperors. The intricate presentations are also a public way for mothers -- who often forgo careers to cater to their families -- to demonstrate their devotion to motherhood, dedication to their children's nutrition and creative skills.
"This is rather about my pride," acknowledged Miho Tsukamoto, 41, the mother of two in the western city of Osaka. "My son boasts about my cooking to his friends, so I can't stop doing this."
The boxed lunch -- known in Japan as "bento" -- has been around for a long time.
The prototype of modern bento dates back to the late feudal period between the 17th and 19th centuries. With industrialization came mass production: office workers buy them in train stations, convenience stores and food courts.
Nursery schools typically require children to bring home-cooked bentos and some wives make them for husbands. But the creations of Shimomura and others go way beyond the humble arrangement of fish, rice and vegetables that Japanese subsisted on in the past.
The lunches -- like other types of Japanese art -- often feature a seasonal motif like fireworks in summer or snowmen in winter. Others recreate popular cartoon characters or famous people such as the popular Japanese pop duo Puffy, or even Mozart.
Details are prized. Slivers of carrots are sculpted into a crab on a bed of rice; avocado slices, fried tofu and black sesame seeds morph into Frankenstein's face -- with seaweed stitches on his forehead.
"I never make the same thing twice. I just think about what to make next time," said Shimomura, 38, as she leafed through albums of digital photos of her own work at her home outside Tokyo.
Housewives have taken their lunchbox exhibitions online, where Internet journals feature up-to-date photos of the latest works. Cooking books catering to the trend are proliferating, and companies even host contests.
The blogs provide a forum for mothers to exchange esoteric tips such as how to dye egg white blue. The answer? Add purple sweet potato powder and cook in the frying pan.
The trend has struck a chord with stay-at-home mothers, many of whom retire early when they have children, but still have plenty of creative energy to spare.
"Beside wanting to create things, you also have other motivations, like you want to please someone, or be famous for what you make," said Kunihiro Nakazato, editor for Tokyo-based publishing company X-Knowledge Co., which has put out at least one bento cookbook.
Mari Miyazawa, the host of a popular site, e-obento.com, since 2004, said she started making bento to save money, but now it's become a full-time job: she's authored three cookbooks and is one of the most recognized lunchbox artists in the country.
Miyazawa, 45, a former computer graphics artist, says that making bento art is more demanding because it's impossible to edit -- you either get it right nor not.
"I finally found the perfect medium," she said. (AP)
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SIX slices? Eesh.
