Gluten-free sales are forecast at $1.31 billion in the U.S

Gluten is everywhere. It is in baked goods, pasta and beer, as well as some unexpected items, such as McDonald's French fries, lunch meat, lipstick and some medicines.

Euromonitor International forecasts 2011 gluten-free sales of $1.31 billion in the United States and $2.67 billion worldwide. Sales have more than doubled since 2005 and are expected to hit $1.68 billion in the United States and $3.38 billion globally in 2015.

"Consumers do feel some sort of reward when they eat gluten-free products. They don't feel bloated. They don't have belly aches. This usually encourages them to repeat the purchase," said Ewa Hudson, Euromonitor International's head of health and wellness research.

Europe is ahead of the United States when it comes to celiac disease testing and awareness.Italy, for example, helps people with celiac disease pay for the additional cost of gluten-free foods.

But big U.S. companies are jumping into the fray.

General Mills Inc is a leader, having reformulated some Chex breakfast cereals, Betty Crocker cake and brownie mixes and Bisquick pancake mix to remove gluten.

Anheuser Busch Inbev SA (sells a gluten-free beer called Redbridge, which is sold in many mainstream supermarkets.

P.F. Chang's Bistro Inc for years has had a gluten-free menu and Subway, the popular sandwich chain, is testing gluten-free bread and brownies in Texas and Oregon.

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey and actress Gwyneth Paltrow have talked about avoiding gluten as part of detox diets, comments that prompted critics to dub gluten-free the diet du jour.

Trend chasers who have no medical reason to be on a gluten-free diet account for more than half of the daily consumption of gluten-free products, said Alessio Fasano, medical director at the University of Maryland Center for Celiac Research.

Top-notch professional athletes are the only other people who get some measurable benefit from cutting out gluten without a doctor's orders, he said. Eliminating dietary gluten appears to free up energy that otherwise would be used to break down the tough-to-digest protein, said Fasano, who joked that athletes use the diet as a "legal performance enhancer."

Still, he does not mind that fads are boosting sales.

"If anything, it's good for the market" because the extra customers should help improve quality and lower cost, he said.

Interest from big retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc also should help bring down gluten-free product prices, which run 2 percent to 3 percent higher than similar items containing gluten, said Alice Bast, founder of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.

Consumers have been preoccupied with food sensitivity for some time (remember lactose intolerance?) and there is growing interest in foods that support digestive and overall health, said Tamara Barnett, ethnographic research manager at the Hartman Group, a research and consulting firm. Gluten-free products overlap those trends, she said.

Better-tasting products also help.

"They went from being sawdust to being really good," said "Living Gluten-Free for Dummies" author Danna Korn.

Shauna James Ahern was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2005 and recommends focusing on readily available and naturally gluten-free foods such as fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat.

The cookbook author and "Gluten-Free Girl" blogger, says the category has staying power and suspects she knows why people who do not have a medical reason for going gluten-free feel better when they do.

"They're eating whole foods for the first time in their lives," she says.

Women who drink four or more cups of caffeinated coffee daily seem to have a lower risk of depression

Coffee lovers, take heart: Women who drink four or more cups of caffeinated coffee daily seem to have a lower risk of depression than those who don't drink java or stop at one cup a day, a new study suggests.

Although it's way too early to start recommending regular coffee consumption as a way to prevent depression, the findings may comfort those who feel guilty about their habit.

"This may lessen concerns that caffeine consumption will have a negative impact," said Dr. Christopher Cargile, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. "Caffeine at high doses has long been associated with worsening of anxiety and other psychiatric illness, and at times this has lead to lingering concerns that it might be best to limit its use."

Cargile was not involved with the study, which appears in the Sept. 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

The lion's share of caffeine in the world -- 80 percent -- is consumed in the form of coffee and caffeine is already the most widely used central nervous system stimulant in the world.

Researchers have probed caffeine's effect on heart health, markers of inflammation and cancer (generally the effects are benign or even positive), but there's been relatively little research into its effects on mood.
What little research has been done has generally found a salubrious effect, with more coffee decreasing depressive symptoms and even being associated with a lower risk of suicide.

"Caffeine has short-term positive effects on mood, subjective feelings of having more energy and being more awake in the short term," said study senior author Dr. Alberto Ascherio, who is a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

It seemed natural "to see whether long-term coffee consumption associated with a lower risk of developing depression," he added.

These authors tracked almost 51,000 women, averaging age 63, who were participating in the Nurses' Health Study. None of the women reported being depressed at the beginning of the study and none were on antidepressants.

Depression was measured by new diagnoses accompanied by long-term use of antidepressants.


Women who drank four cups of coffee or more a day had a 20 percent reduced risk for depression and those imbibing two to three cups daily had a 15 percent decreased risk, compared to those drinking one cup or less daily.

Decaffeinated versions of the drink didn't seem to be linked at all with depression.
A relationship between caffeinated coffee and depression does make a certain amount of biological sense, experts say.

"Caffeine is known to affect the release of several neurotransmitters, including dopamine and serotonin, that had been implicated in regulating mood and depression," said Ascherio, who is also professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

But those are short-term effects and "we [still] don't really know why coffee [over] years can decrease depression," he said.

"If caffeine has some antidepressant effect, we may be able to find compounds with an even stronger antidepressant effect," Ascherio said.

First, though, researchers need to determine if there is a cause-and-effect relationship at work here.

"Currently there's just too much we don't know about the cause-and-effect relationship that may be producing these findings," said Cargile, who is also regional associate dean of Texas A&M's Bryan-College Station campus.

More information
The National Institute of Mental Health has more on depression in women.

Diet Quality Affects Adolescent Mental Health

The quality of adolescents’ diets can influence their mental health over time, a new study shows. 

In a study of data collected from 3,000 Australian adolescents in 2005 and again in 2007, researchers at Deakin University found that “diet quality and mental health were linked, with healthier diets associated with better mental health in 2005 and also predicting better mental health in 2007. This relationship even persisted when mental health at the starting point was taken into account," said Dr Felice Jacka from Deakin University’s Barwon Psychiatric Research Unit, who led the study.

For the study, published in Plos One, participants completed questionnaires about their normal diets and their psychological symptoms. Other factors which may be associated with both diet quality and mental health, such as the socioeconomic status of the family, age, gender, physical activity levels, dieting behaviours and weight, were also taken into account.

“Importantly, we found that changes in diet quality over time were linked to changes in mental health," Jacka said. “On average, adolescents whose diets improved over the two year period also experienced an improvement in mental health over that time, while those adolescents whose dietary quality deteriorated over a two year period experienced an associated deterioration in mental health. This wasn’t explained by changes in physical activity levels or weight." 

The researchers also noted that the relationship didn’t seem to work the other way.

“We also examined whether the relationships that we saw could be explained by ‘reverse causality’; that is, was diet quality in adolescents a response to mental health symptoms rather than the other way around? We tested this idea, but did not find any evidence that this was the case," Jacka said.

Sources:

• Deakin University: Diet key to preventing adolescent mental health problems

Snag a free cup of java Thursday for National Coffee Day

It seems there's a national fill-in-the-blank day for just about anything.

National Talk Like a Pirate Day. National Cupcake Week. National Step in a Puddle Day (really, we needed a day for that? I call that a crappy Monday morning).

So let's  not complain, as long as there's free coffee involved.

7-Eleven will caffeinate the masses with a free medium coffee, cappuccino or latte from 7 to 11 a.m. Thursday. According to a news release, 7-Eleven sells 1 million cups of coffee every day.

Krispy Kreme is giving out a free 12-ounce cup of coffee Thursday at participating locations. No purchase necessary.

Not Just Arsenic: Scientists Spot Many Chemicals in Food

People may have been surprised to find out this week that apple juice contains arsenic, but scientists say that many foods contain trace levels of compounds that sound scary but are virtually harmless at low levels.

"Arsenic is something we all take in," said ABC News' chief health and medical correspondent, Dr. Richard Besser.  "We take in small amounts of a lot of things that if you take in large quantities are dangerous, but in small amounts aren't."

Besides arsenic, the Food and Drug Administration keeps tabs on a variety of chemicals and compounds that are present in small amounts in foods.

Dioxins, chemical compounds that come from burning fuels and waste incineration, can be found in trace levels in foods with animal fats, like meat, fish and dairy products.

Acrylamide, a chemical linked to cancer and nerve damage with high exposure, accumulates in small, harmless amounts in potato or grain products when they are fried, roasted or baked.

Fish and shellfish are safe to eat, even though they certain types contain mercury.

Even bananas contain low levels of radioactive potassium.

The FDA says that consumers are in no danger from these compounds and should eat a balanced diet made up of many foods.

Dr. David Acheson, who directs food and import safety for Leavitt Partners, said it's important to understand how much of those compounds is safe to consume.

"If you analyze food down to the molecular level, you'll find many things that are really scary if you take them literally," Acheson said.  "It's not just the presence or absence of a compound that's important, but the levels at which they are present."

Dr. Mehmet Oz caused a stir last week by saying on his national program, The Dr. Oz Show, that many popular brands of apple juice contain arsenic.  Scientists and the FDA agree that apple juice does contain arsenic, but add that the element is present in such small amounts that it is harmless.

Gourmet creameries butter up the food world, spreading good, fatty flavor

Remember when butter came in two varieties — salted and not?

Food writer and blogger Leitha Matz can, which makes it all the more surprising when she contemplates the herd of butter choices now crowding grocery shelves.

“There’s cultured butter, there are artisanal butters. You can get butter that is more yellow in the spring and summer than it is in the autumn and winter because you can actually see the transition of what the animal is eating. “

In fact, Matz, who taste-tested a raft of butters for her blog, Miss Ginsu.com, found herself “astounded at the sheer breadth and variety of butter that was available.”

Spread the news: Butter is getting better in the United States.

“There’s definitely been a kind of whirlwind with butter,” says Andrew Knowlton, restaurant and drinks editor at Bon Appetit magazine.

Like bacon, butter has traveled an interesting path. A hand-crafted product 50 or so years ago, it descended into a mass-produced, taste-shackled commodity only to be resurrected in recent years as interest in good, hand-crafted food has grown.

First the bread at restaurants improved, then chefs, who were listing the names of farm suppliers on their menus, got serious about butter. These days, there are wildly popular butters produced by outfits like Straus Family Creamery on the West Coast and the Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery on the East.

There are even “cult” butters, like the handmade product from a small dairy called Animal Farm in Orwell, (naturally) Vt., which is a supplier to celebrated chef Thomas Keller’s Per Se and The French Laundry restaurants.

And for those with a taste for the exotic, there’s the butter made in Brittany that is flecked with algae.
“When you go to the grocery store now, it’s not just the local dairy and the big brand. You’ve got seven or eight to choose from, including imported butters. We kind of caught up to the Europeans,” says Knowlton.
How does butter fit in with that other big food trend — eating healthy?

Quite well, says Knowlton.

“It goes within my definition of eating healthy, which is you eat less when there’s flavorful food on the plate and you don’t if you’re using fake cheese or low-cal whatever,” he says. “I think anything where people are thinking and talking about what they’re putting in their mouths is part of a healthy diet.”

Allison Hooper, cofounder of the Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, agrees.

“If you eat butter that has tons of flavor, you really don’t need to eat a lot,” she says.

Her creamery started making cultured butter about 13 years ago, patterning it on French butters. In a cultured butter, raw cream is pasteurized (a requirement in the United States), then selected strains of bacteria are added to create the required flavor profile. Butter made from pasteurized fresh cream is called sweet cream butter.
The butter is available salted or unsalted, or, a very popular product, seeded with sea salt crystals.

Mixing things into butter, or making what are known as compound butters, is another development that has become more common. In the October issue, Bon Appetit features a classic herb-lemon zest butter that can double as an instant sauce.

The nice thing about butter is you can indulge in a little luxury without incurring the kind of financial outlay that will cut through your budget like, well, you know.

“It’s not truffles or foie gras or some crazy Himalayan salt,” says Knowlton. “It’s a cheap luxury.”

Coffee consumption reduces side-effects in people on hepatitis C treatment

Drinking three or more cups of coffee a day reduced the incidence of self-reported side-effects by more than 80% compared to non-coffee drinkers in people co-infected with hepatitis C and HIV who were taking hepatitis C treatment, a French study has found.

The study adds to evidence that coffee could be a useful and cheap 'supplement' for people taking hepatitis C treatment and could considerably increase the rate of treatment success. A study published in June (Freedman) found that in patients with hepatitis C and not HIV, drinking three or more cups of coffee a day increased the likelihood of treatment success by 80%.

The HEPAVIH ANRS CO13 study is a cohort study of hepatitis C/HIV co-infected patients taking pegylated interferon/ribavirin hepatitis C therapy. For the present study, 106 patients were evaluated.

Patients were asked whether they drank coffee and, if so, whether they drank it occasionally or had one, two or three or more cups of coffee a day. They were also asked to report on whether they had experienced a list of 30 different symptoms that have been reported as side-effects of hepatitis treatment and to rate the degree of distress they caused.

Seventy-five (71%) of the patients were men, their average age was 44 and 80% had been infected with both hepatitis C and HIV through injecting drugs.

At the start of the study 86% of the patients were taking HIV treatment and had an undetectable HIV viral load, although 13% had a CD4 count below 200 cells/mm³. More than half (52%) of patients had severe liver fibrosis or cirrhosis (fibrosis grades 3-4).

The median number of self-reported treatment side-effects at baseline was three; 31% reported no side-effects and 25% reported over eight.

People drinking three or more cups of coffee a day were 81% less likely to report discomforting side-effects than people reporting none. The likelihood of reporting side-effects decreased by one-third (33%) between each category of coffee consumption (i.e. occasional drinkers had 33% fewer side-effects than non-drinkers, patients drinking one cup a day had 33% fewer than occasional drinkers, and so on).

After adjusting for gender, age and history of opioid use, which are known correlates of reporting a higher number of discomforting side-effects, the effect of coffee remained significant (36% decrease per increase in number of cups drunk).

The researchers comment that the effects seen could be due to caffeine combating the fatigue and lack of concentration and alertness often reported by patients receiving hepatitis C treatment. However It is already known that drinking large amounts of coffee is associated with lower levels of liver enzymes and slower progression of pre-existing liver disease, and previous studies have reported no benefit in drinking tea, which also contains caffeine, albeit at lower levels. The researchers suggest further research into the benefits of coffee consumption and/or caffeine.

Make your morning coffee count:, Alzheimer Society launches annual Coffee Break fundraiser

For many of us it's one of the first things we do each morning: turn on the, coffee maker, or place an order at our favourite haunt for a cup of Joe.

Now that morning or mid-afternoon pick-me-up has the potential to make a difference in the local community.

Last Thursday, the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Alzheimer Society launched its annual Coffee Break fundraising campaign, where residents at Fairmount Home were the first to raise a steaming hot cup of Joe in support of the cause.

"Coffee Break is one of the major fundraisers for the Alzheimer Society across Canada, not just KFL&A," said Education Coordinator Jillian Dahm-McConnell. "What it is, is a way to garner some support and today kick off what we hope will be a number of them that happen in the community over the next couple of months."

Dahm-McConnell noted that the Coffee Break at Fairmount Home was just one of 80 Coffee Breaks so far that will be hosted by organizations and individuals throughout KFL&A in the months to come.

What exactly is an Alzheimer Society Coffee Break? Quite simply, it's an everyday coffee break in support of programs and services offered by the Alzheimer Society.

"So in general, especially for businesses, everyone has a coffee break at some point in time during their day, where coworkers gather and have a quick chit-chat and a coffee. In this situation we actually provide the coffee and a little kit with some paraphernalia from the Alzheimer Society, and instead of either putting into the coffee can that you normally do at work, or gong to Tim Hortons, you spend the money and give a donation to the society," Dahm-McConnell explained.

She mentioned that in some cases volunteers have taken the traditional Coffee Break to a new level, hosting cheesecake parties or brunches.

"They sort of make it into whatever they want, but the bottom line is that the money is being raised for the society and it all goes to the programs and services that serve our clientele."

This year, the KFL&A Alzheimer Society is hoping to raise $63,000 through the Coffee Break campaign, a slight increase over last year's fundraising goal.

"We're always reaching for a little bit more," Dahm-McConnell said, noting that only 30 per cent of the organization's budget is covered by government funding.

"So 70 per cent of our budget relies on the donations of organizations and individuals, so that is why this has become such an important part of our annual budget."

Dahm-McConnell explained that every donation made at Coffee Break events stay within the local KFL&A region, and that money is used to support a wide range of programs and services offered through the organization. Services such as individual and caregivers support groups and education and training programs.

Dahm-McConnell noted that she believes the simplicity of the Coffee Break concept is what has made it so successful over the years.

"It's very user friendly if you will, and a lot of it involves the congregation of people and socialization, which is always a nice sort of break to the day. So it's not re-inventing the wheel by any means, it's just building on what people do naturally, and it makes it easier for people to get involved because it's not a lot to do."

Individuals, organizations and businesses that are interested in hosting their own Coffee Break in support of the KFL&A Alzheimer Society are invited to call (613) 544-3978.

High-Salt Diet, Obesity Increases Heart Damage

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have discovered the combination of a high-salt diet and obesity trigger an abnormal activation of a cellular protein called Rac1 that increases damage to the heart and kidneys.

The findings were presented at the 7th International Symposium on Aldosterone and the ENaC/Degenerin Family of Ion Channels that was sponsored by the American Physiological Society.

The researchers examined the effects of a high-salt diet in rats bred to have high blood pressure and different levels of blood pressure sensitivity to salt. When obese “salt-sensitive" rats were fed a high-salt diet, the team found that Rac1 activated the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) on the rats’ kidney cells. This receptor is normally activated by the hormone aldosterone. When turned on, MR leads to the expression of a protein called epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) and an enzyme called the sodium pump. Both substances promote the reabsorption of salt, which causes the body to retain fluid and results in high blood pressure. This is the first time scientists have seen Rac1 usurp aldosterone’s role in activating MR in the regulation of blood pressure. The protein’s usual duties entail regulating an array of cellular events such as cell growth.

The team made the discovery when attempting to treat the obese, hypertensive rats with drugs designed to block MR activation and inhibit Rac1. When Rac1 inhibitors were successful in lowering the rats’ blood pressure, the team knew they had discovered a mechanism by which obesity and a high-salt diet team up to wreak havoc on blood pressure and the kidneys.

“Our data indicate that the Rac1-mediated pathway in the kidneys can be an alternative therapeutic target for salt-sensitive hypertension and salt-mediated kidney injury," the researchers said. “Based upon our results, we can speculate that Rac1 in the kidneys regulates salt susceptibility of blood pressure, and that Rac1 inhibitors, as well as MR antagonists, may be effective in the treatment of salt-sensitive hypertension."

Sources:

• Newswise: Abnormal Activation of a Protein May Explain Deadly Link Between High Salt Intake and Obesity

Drinking two cups of coffee `cuts stroke risk`

Here's some good news for coffee buffs -- drinking two to three cups of the beverage can significantly reduce your risk of a stroke, says a new study.

Researchers in Sweden have carried out the study and found that drinking coffee can cut the chances of a clot on the brain by 14 per cent, while three or four cups reduce the dangers by 17 per cent, a newspaper reported.
However, six or more only cut the likelihood by around seven percent, says the study.

Antioxidants may be responsible -- other caffeinated drinks such as tea do not bring the benefits but decaffeinated coffee does, according to the researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

For their study, the researchers pooled all the results from eight previous researches involving nearly half-a-million people since the mid-1960s.

According to them, coffee may protect the brain from so-called "bad" cholesterol but fears of increased blood pressure remain.

The findings have been published in the `American Journal of Epidemiology`.

Coffee Falls for a Fifth Day on Stable Stockpiles; Cocoa Drops

Coffee fell for a fifth day in New York, heading for the longest losing streak since July, amid stable stockpiles before harvesting begins in Central America and Colombia. Cocoa slid.

Coffee inventories in Europe were 13.66 million bags on July 31, according to the European Coffee Federation. The port of Antwerp has the top global stocks, Wim Dillen, senior business development manager, said in a Sept. 14 interview. Central America will harvest its largest coffee crop since 1999- 2000, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show.

“Global stocks, which could have suffered a sharp fall with reduced exports from Brazil in the last months, have been stable,” Rodrigo Costa, a contributor for Sao Paulo-based consultancy Archer Consulting, said in a report yesterday. Inventories are unlikely to be drawn down, he said.

Arabica coffee for December delivery dropped 2.9 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $2.575 a pound by 8:45 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. Robusta coffee for November delivery slid $40, or 1.9 percent, to $2,069 a metric ton on NYSE Liffe in London.

Prices also retreated as commodities fell after European policy makers failed to introduce a plan to stem the region’s debt crisis. The S&P GSCI Spot Index of raw materials declined as much as 1.1 percent, dropping for a second session. The dollar strengthened, making commodities priced in the currency more expensive in terms of other monies.

Bullish Bets

Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators decreased their net-long position in New York coffee futures in the week ended Sept. 13, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Net-long positions, or bets on higher prices, fell 3 percent from a week earlier, the CFTC’s Commitments of Traders report showed.
Cocoa for December delivery retreated $37, or 1.3 percent, to $2,755 a ton in New York. Cocoa for December fell 18 pounds, or 1 percent, to 1,789 pounds ($2,809) a ton in London.

Raw sugar for March delivery rose 0.32 cent, or 1.2 percent, to 26.63 cents a pound on ICE, rebounding from a 6.6 percent decline on Sept. 16. White, or refined, sugar for December delivery gained $1.20, or 0.2 percent, to $688.40 a ton on NYSE Liffe after posting a third straight weekly decline last week.

“Heavy deliveries against the London white futures October contract pressured prices and led to the selloff,” Paul Deane, an economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., said in a report today.

Women Coffee Farmers Seize a Plastic Lifeline

Jamaica's Blue Mountains are coffee country. Here, up among the clouds, farmers produce one of the world's most exclusive brands of boutique coffees.

But low prices, economic hardships, back-to-back hurricanes and the loss of crop insurance have devastated some farms and put many out of the coffee business.

Both men and women now scramble for the few dollars to be made by planting scallions, thyme and assorted vegetables year-round. Many of these proud former coffee farmers are competing with householders, who with support from a United Nations-sponsored project, produce and sell vegetables in large quantities, as well as with traditional vegetable and spice farmers.

A small group of women believe they have found a way out of the crisis, and hope the Blue Mountains will also become known for their new product - Eco Weave bags and purses. The women make colourful and fashionable baskets, handbags and purses from discarded plastic shopping bags - dubbed scandal bags "because they are so noisy and so thin everybody can see what you buy".

Since 1737, when Jamaica first exported 37,800 kilogrammes of coffee, Blue Mountain farmers have practiced a labour-intensive type of agriculture to protect the sensitive, steep slopes and chasms of one of the Caribbean's largest conservation areas - the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park.

An estimated 7,000 farmers cultivate 5,261 hectares of coffee in the Blue Mountains. Ninety percent are small farmers working on plots of less than two hectares, and about 40 percent are women.

In good times, farmers received a fixed price of 12 dollars per pound for the green beans. But an over-reliance on the Japanese market resulted in what former agriculture minister Christopher Tufton describes as Blue Mountain Coffee's "greatest marketing challenge in recent times".

Rocked by economic turmoil, the Japanese no longer want the entire Blue Mountain crop. They no longer make advance payments for the coffee, which is sold for 50 dollars per pound when roasted. Now, farmers get on average 2.45 dollars per pound for green beans.

Hardest hit are women. It is they who tend the coffee crop from seedlings to fully-grown trees - planting, fertilising and reaping the red berries. Women like eco-weavers Kadian Edwards Brown and her mother Angella own coffee farms but are also members of the female- dominated labour force in this coffee-growing area.

Like their menfolk, they are unable to afford the cost of fertilisers and other chemicals needed to resuscitate their weather-ravaged farms. And as the factories closed, the women lost their other sources of income as buyers, labourers, factory workers and coffee pickers.

Despite the prestige and the high price the Blue Mountain Coffee fetches on the international market, the communities here are the least developed on this northern Caribbean island. The roughly 1,500 families living in the six communities that make up the primary coffee-growing area have no public transportation and only basic healthcare.

The roads are rough, uneven and unpaved, their surfaces eroded by seasonal rains and frequent hostile weather. And despite an abundance of streams and the presence of the Negro and Yallahs Rivers, which maroon the communities during the rainy season, crumbling infrastructure keeps water pipes dry, forcing residents to carry water on their heads for daily use.

To overcome the challenges posed by terrible roads and the resulting high transportation costs, the women operate in two groups: one group of about 10 women in the Hagley Gap and a second smaller group of six in Penlyne Castle.

They meet one day each week at a church in Hagley Gap and at the small community health centre in Penlyne Castle. They have dubbed their craft eco-weaving because as they point out, since they started working with the bags some six years ago, plastic bags no longer clog the culverts and cause flooding whenever it rains.

"It is our contribution to the environment and I can earn anywhere from 15 to 50 dollars U.S. depending on the size, colours and styles," said Kadian Edwards as she carefully cut and rolled the strips of plastic onto a stick. When that is completed, she crochets the strips of coloured bags into various styles and shapes.

Edwards, a married mother of two small girls, is a member of the Blue Diamond Group that targets the tourist and high-end markets.

"People say my bags are too expensive but depending on the size it takes me two to three days to complete them," she explained.

Others, like Diana Williams Spaulding and members of the Hagley Gap group, target the lower end of the market. Williams Spaulding uses larger crochet hooks and takes less time to make the bags, which she sells for "whatever she can get".

The 48-year-old makes bags to help support the surviving eight of her 14 children. She also cultivates 10 acres of bananas, plantains, potatoes, peas and three acres of coffee.

"When I tried the plastic and saw that it could work I stopped buying cotton because most times things were really bad and I couldn't afford the cotton for crocheting," she said.

Jefferson later started the Blue Mountain Project (BMP) - a U.S. registered charity that, among other things, helps the women through frequent bag-collection drives in U.S. colleges and by helping to find new markets.

Lucille Taylor, a single mother from Penlyne Castle, and Williams Spaulding are the stylists. They see new things, adapt them for the delicate plastic, and teach the new styles to the other women.

But whilst the women have high hopes for their venture, they are hampered by a lack of markets. Most complain that hoteliers and shop owners in the tourist markets fail to appreciate their time and effort.

"Most only want to pay about 600 (Jamaican dollars) or just under U.S. seven dollars for each large bag," Edwards said frowning. "We have to collect the plastic bags, clean them and crochet the bags and baskets."

Almost a year ago, with the help of the BMP, the women received a small grant from Jamaica's Grace Kennedy Foundation to assist them with marketing. Another, Pan Caribbean, is helping them to collect used shopping bags.

Even as the women of the Blue Mountain work hard to make their eco- weaving a success, some fear that without help, it will simply fade away like the coffee market they once depended on.

Fruits and vegetables whose edible sections are white may lower one's risk of stroke

Fruits and vegetables whose edible sections are white may lower your risk of stroke more than other fruits and vegetables, Dutch researchers report.

Every 25 grams per day of white fruits and vegetables consumed led to a 9 percent decrease in the risk of stroke, and apples and pears were the most commonly consumed "white fruit," according to the study, published in the November issue of Stroke.

"Green, orange/yellow and red/purple fruits and vegetables weren't related to stroke. However, the risk of stroke incidence was 52 percent lower for people with a high intake of white fruits and vegetables, compared to people with a low intake," said study author Linda M. Oude Greip, a postdoctoral fellow at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

But, Oude Greip pointed out that the findings don't mean it's OK to stop eating other fruits and vegetables. First, she noted, the findings need to be replicated. And, even if future research confirms these findings, "because other fruit and vegetable color groups may protect against other chronic diseases, it remains of importance to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables," she stressed.

Oude Greip said past research has shown that higher fruit and vegetable consumption can lower the risk of stroke, but none of that research looked at specific fruits and vegetables to see if any contributed more to the reduced risk than the others.

For her study, Oude Greip used data collected by the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment of the Netherlands that included more than 20,000 people. Study participants were between the ages of 20 and 65 at the start of the study, and none showed any signs of cardiovascular disease.

All of the study volunteers completed a 178-item food frequency questionnaire. The study then included 10 years of follow-up information on the participants' health. During the follow-up period, 233 people had a stroke.
Fruits and vegetables were divided into four color groups, each based on the color of the "fleshy" portion of the fruits and vegetables: Green, orange/yellow, red/purple and white.

The only group that was associated with a statistically significant decrease in stroke risk was white fruits and vegetables.

Fruits and vegetables included in the white category were apples, pears, apple juice, apple sauce, bananas, cauliflower, chicory, cucumber and mushrooms. White fruits and vegetables were the most commonly consumed produce, with 36 percent of fruit and vegetable intake coming from the white group. Within the white group, apples and pears were the most commonly consumed, representing 55 percent of what was consumed.

For every 25-gram increase in the amount of white fruit consumed each day, the risk of stroke went down by 9 percent, according to the study. A typical apple is 120 grams, the researchers added.

Oude Greip said it's not clear exactly what components in white fruit might be protective for stroke, but she suspects that the dietary fiber and the flavonoids play a role. Apples and pears are high in a flavonoid called quercetin.

Jessica Shapiro, an associate wellness dietitian at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, said, "Apples and pears are very good fruits. They're available year-round and are almost consistently good.

"As with any study, there are limitations. One is that the food intake was self-reported. Food frequency questionnaires are inherently biased because it's hard to remember exactly what you've eaten in the past. But, the positive thing to take from this is that everything we've been saying is confirmed again. Fruits and vegetables are good for you," she said.

Shapiro also said it would be difficult to single out what it is about white fruits that might reduce the risk of stroke. "It's really the whole foods. There's fiber and phytochemicals and flavonoids, and these all work together synergistically. I don't think you can single out one nutrient."

She said that she wouldn't recommend limiting your diet to just white fruits and veggies. "Eat the rainbow of fruits and vegetables," she added. "Each fruit and each vegetable provides certain nutrients that combine and interplay with others."

More information
Learn more about stroke prevention from the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Coffee consumption reduces side-effects in people on hepatitis C treatment

Drinking three or more cups of coffee a day reduced the incidence of self-reported side-effects by more than 80% compared to non-coffee drinkers in people co-infected with hepatitis C and HIV who were taking hepatitis C treatment, a French study has found.

The study adds to evidence that coffee could be a useful and cheap 'supplement' for people taking hepatitis C treatment and could considerably increase the rate of treatment success. A study published in June (Freedman) found that in patients with hepatitis C and not HIV, drinking three or more cups of coffee a day increased the likelihood of treatment success by 80%.

The HEPAVIH ANRS CO13 study is a cohort study of hepatitis C/HIV co-infected patients taking pegylated interferon/ribavirin hepatitis C therapy. For the present study, 106 patients were evaluated.

Patients were asked whether they drank coffee and, if so, whether they drank it occasionally or had one, two or three or more cups of coffee a day. They were also asked to report on whether they had experienced a list of 30 different symptoms that have been reported as side-effects of hepatitis treatment and to rate the degree of distress they caused.

Seventy-five (71%) of the patients were men, their average age was 44 and 80% had been infected with both hepatitis C and HIV through injecting drugs.

At the start of the study 86% of the patients were taking HIV treatment and had an undetectable HIV viral load, although 13% had a CD4 count below 200 cells/mm³. More than half (52%) of patients had severe liver fibrosis or cirrhosis (fibrosis grades 3-4).

The median number of self-reported treatment side-effects at baseline was three; 31% reported no side-effects and 25% reported over eight.

People drinking three or more cups of coffee a day were 81% less likely to report discomforting side-effects than people reporting none. The likelihood of reporting side-effects decreased by one-third (33%) between each category of coffee consumption (i.e. occasional drinkers had 33% fewer side-effects than non-drinkers, patients drinking one cup a day had 33% fewer than occasional drinkers, and so on).

After adjusting for gender, age and history of opioid use, which are known correlates of reporting a higher number of discomforting side-effects, the effect of coffee remained significant (36% decrease per increase in number of cups drunk).

The researchers comment that the effects seen could be due to caffeine combating the fatigue and lack of concentration and alertness often reported by patients receiving hepatitis C treatment. However It is already known that drinking large amounts of coffee is associated with lower levels of liver enzymes and slower progression of pre-existing liver disease, and previous studies have reported no benefit in drinking tea, which also contains caffeine, albeit at lower levels. The researchers suggest further research into the benefits of coffee consumption and/or caffeine.

Energy, Sports Drinks Aren't for Kids

A new clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is calling for children and adolescents not to consume energy drinks or sports drinks because the beverages contain ingredients that may be harmful to them. The report calls for kids to increase intakes of water, juice and low-fat milk.

The report, “Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks for Children and Adolescents: Are They Appropriate?" was published in the June 2011 issue of Pediatrics and says sports and energy drinks are heavily marketed to children and adolescents; however, in most cases kids don’t need them/

“There is a lot of confusion about sports drinks and energy drinks, and adolescents are often unaware of the differences in these products," said Marcie Beth Schneider, MD, FAAP, a member of the AAP Committee on Nutrition and co-author of the report. “Some kids are drinking energy drinks—containing large amounts of caffeine—when their goal is simply to rehydrate after exercise. This means they are ingesting large amounts of caffeine and other stimulants, which can be dangerous."

Sports drinks, which contain carbohydrates, minerals, electrolytes and flavoring, are intended to replace water and electrolytes lost through sweating during exercise. Sports drinks can be helpful for young athletes engaged in prolonged, vigorous physical activities, but in most cases they are unnecessary on the sports field or the school lunchroom, noted Holly J. Benjamin, MD, FAAP, a member of the executive committee of the AAP Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, and a co-author of the report.

“For most children engaging in routine physical activity, plain water is best," she said. “Sports drinks contain extra calories that children don’t need, and could contribute to obesity and tooth decay. It’s better for children to drink water during and after exercise, and to have the recommended intake of juice and low-fat milk with meals. Sports drinks are not recommended as beverages to have with meals."

Energy drinks contain substances not found in sports drinks that act as stimulants, such as caffeine, guarana and taurine. Caffeine has been linked to a number of harmful health effects in children, including effects on the developing neurologic and cardiovascular systems.

Energy drinks are never appropriate for children or adolescents, said Schneider and Benjamin. In general, caffeine-containing beverages, including soda, should be avoided.

More than a quarter of Americans expect to spend less during the holidays this year

Most than a quarter of Americans expect to spend less during the holidays this year, a survey showed on Monday in an early sign that retailers will have to try harder to win shoppers in the biggest selling season of the year.

The findings underscore the fragility of the U.S. recovery, since consumer spending accounts for almost 70 percent of the nation's economy.

About 27 percent of people surveyed by America's Research Group said they planned to spend less this year, while about 55 percent expects to spend only as much as last year.

The question was one of several asked exclusively for Reuters as part of a larger America's Research Group survey.
 
More than half of those surveyed said they expected the economy to slow further before it recovers. About 51 percent said they did not feel better about their family finances than they did a year earlier.

"Retailers better be worried about Christmas," America's Research Group President Britt Beemer said in an interview. "If half of Americans believe it is going to be worse before it gets better, they may not be too excited about buying much this Christmas season."

Only about 18 percent of Americans plan to spend more this holiday season, down from 23 percent last year, in a worrying sign ahead of a period when some U.S. retailers make as much as a third of their annual sales.
"This is not the kind of number that retailers want to have going into November 1 or they are going to be in big trouble," Beemer said. "They are going to have to give consumers better deals earlier."

Fewer pay raises, falling home values, rising prices for food and other goods, and political gridlock in Washington are all taking a toll on Americans, Beemer said.

"Not that there is no hope at the end of the tunnel, but the light is very, very dim," he said.

Post-recession American shoppers are extremely sensitive to price and continue to chase bargains, according to both the shopper survey and recent data on credit card spending.
 
Heavy back-to-school promotions pushed credit card spending up in August, figures from U.S. payment processing company First Data Corp show.

The unit of private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co found overall dollar volume rose 9 percent in August from a year earlier, but the average purchase increased only 0.3 percent.

"In August, consumers were drawn to stores by aggressive back-to-school promotions," said Silvio Tavares, senior vice president and division manager of First Data Information and Analytics Solutions. "These sales increased overall card spending despite lower average prices."

Budget-conscious shoppers are also venturing beyond discount chains while hunting for bargains, the America's Research Group survey showed.

About 68 percent of those surveyed said they had started shopping at dollar stores, and 42 percent said dollar stores offered better value than discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

That is also bad news for other mass merchandisers such as Target Corp and even Family Dollar Stores Inc and Dollar General Corp, which despite their names also sell goods priced above $1.

"Anybody who is another discounter that sells commodities is vulnerable," Beemer said. "Dollar stores are attacking them at their lowest price level."

The telephone survey of 1,000 consumers took place was conducted September 6-8 and has an error factor of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Americans Embracing Old World Cuisine

While ethnic cuisines such as Asian, Mediterranean and regional Mexican are top on U.S. diners list of favorites, foods from the Northern European countries of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Austria and Belgium are now taking the lead in culinary influence, according to the recently released “New Old World Cuisine: Culinary Trend Mapping Report" from the Center for Culinary Development (CCD) and market research publisher Packaged Facts.


According to the report, American foodies are digging deeper to understand where their everyday food comes from, they are unearthing more authentic versions to buy, sample or make at home. They are discovering great taste, small batch flavors and textures, and long-standing food pairings continue to make gustatory sense. Prime examples include beer with bratwurst, smoked fish with dark hearty breads and schnitzel with spaetzle.

"We see Americans grabbing hold of the flavors and traditions of these culinary stalwarts and bringing them into the 21st century food landscape. From schnitzel food trucks to the wave of craft beer gardens popping up in city after city, we are clearly reclaiming or embracing the culture and traditions of these Old World nations and refreshing them as our own," said Kimberly Egan, CEO of CCD. "It's thrilling to witness the rise of these long under-heralded Old World cuisines within the American food landscape. As consumers continue to seek out excitement and enlightenment through new global cuisines, they will continue to learn how local flavors and foods are born out of culture, an understanding that can enrich and add meaning to our eating experiences."

Sources:

• Packaged Facts: Northern European Cuisines Pique Americans' Culinary Curiosity

Coffee Grounds Go Round Again

Just when you think you’ve figured out the last thing possible to do with recycled coffee grounds, someone comes up with a new idea. Indeed, Lauren Reed-Guy didn’t come up with just one idea, but a whole list, some of which look pretty darn helpful. Although a few are repeaters, she’s listed them all in one place, making her article one you might want to print out to hang on your fridge.

If you run out of baking soda to deodorize your fridge, never fear, but grab an empty margarine tub or something similar and pour some used grounds in. Put this in the fridge to absorb odors. You can also scrub stain-resistant surfaces with grounds, or mix with hot water and touch up furniture scratches. Bet you didn’t think coffee could deodorize your mouth too, but sucking on a bean can refresh breath, and rubbing them between your hands can remove garlic and other odors. Question is: how then do you remove the coffee odor?

Rubbing grounds on pets after their bath can help soften hair and even prevent fleas. That sure beats a smelly flea collar. If you have a garden, by all means spread coffee grounds all around plants and discourage ants, slugs and snails from loitering among them. The grounds even keep all but the most persistent - or coffee loving – cats from turning your nice garden into a privy.

With fall coming, some mulching might be a good idea, and remember, coffee grounds do wonders as mulch and as a part of the compost. The worms will love it, as will the pH levels in the soil. If you still have grounds left over, you can always take them into the shower and use them for a face and body scrub. Just be careful not to leave any on white surfaces which might stain.

Can you think of any other creative uses for coffee grounds that really work? We’d love to hear your ideas. Just write them in the comment section. And brew on, green.

Consumers are buying more full-fat ice cream while sales of healthier options fall

Here's the scoop on ice cream: Most consumers don't care about healthy options, at least not now. 

After a few years of growth, better-for-you brands are slumping, putting a freeze on the entire category, which has suffered an 8% sales decline from 2006 to 2011, market researcher Mintel found in a new report analyzing ice-cream brands sold at grocery stores. "Full-fat, indulgent brands have performed well in the last year, appealing to consumers' desire for a rich, creamy, flavorful and fun eating experience, gaining share but not growing fast enough to reverse the segment's steady decline," the report states. 

Consider that one of the best-performing brands is Ben & Jerry's, whose funky flavors include Cake Batter, Cheesecake Brownie and the newly launched Bonnaroo Buzz, a blend of coffee and malt ice creams with toffee chunks and a "whiskey caramel swirl" for which one serving checks in at 280 calories, including 130 calories from fat. Overall, the Unilever-owned brand grew sales nearly 7% from 2010 to 2011, according to Mintel, which excludes Walmart data. But when Ben & Jerry's tried to lower the fat load a bit with its "Lighten Up" line, it didn't go over so well. The varieties -- introduced in 2007 with half fat and 25% fewer calories -- fell flat and were discontinued in 2009. 

"If you ask people if they want a lower-fat product that delivers on all the great taste, they always say yes," said Ben & Jerry's Marketing Director Dave Stever. But in reality, ice cream is often "your comfort food, it's your breakup ice cream -- and light ice cream is not going to work if that's how you are consuming it." 

Frozen novelties, which include fruit and ice-cream bars, have fared much better, growing sales by 15% from 2006 to 2011, now accounting for nearly 41% of the ice cream/novelty/frozen-yogurt category, according to Mintel. (Although falling, ice cream still leads with about 54%.) While marketers have had more success pushing healthier novelty options, sinful treats still get plenty of attention. Look no further than Unilever, which in April brought its internationally successful Magnum ice cream bar to the states. Varieties include Magnum Double Caramel, a stick of vanilla ice cream covered in caramel sauce and thick Belgian milk chocolate, all for 320 calories a pop. 

On the other end of the scale is Nestle's Skinny Cow brand, which is trying to hit a sweet spot of tasty treats without all the fat. The bars, cones, cups and sandwiches aren't exactly diet options, but are marketed as a daily treat. Brand manager Jessica Vasisht concedes that the indulgence-seeking consumer will always rule the category, but "there's another person who looks at it as a daily treat, a daily reward and is trying to fit tit into their lifestyle on a very frequent basis." And that market seems to be growing, with Skinny Cow sales up 21% in the year ending in April, as the 6-year-old brand grew its share a full point to 7%, leading all novelty brands, according to Mintel. 

But Nestle-owned Dreyer's Slow Churned ice cream (called Edy's east of the Rocky Mountains) -- which promises half the fat of regular ice cream -- has slumped, with sales falling 6% in the year ending April 17, Mintel reported.

Coffee was actually the biggest gainer in the Standard and Poors GSCI Index

Last month Arabica futures rallied 20 percent on the news that frost in the Brazilian growing areas would negatively affect next year’s crop. Coffee was actually the biggest gainer in the Standard and Poors GSCI Index, and the GSCI was down 1.7 percent! Arabica Coffee had more than doubled in price since June of 2010. Rain had cut the output from Colombia, the second largest producer. And according to the U.S.D.A; Coffee stockpiles in Brazil were at their third lowest level in fifty years.

But, now it’s time to say goodbye. Large output looms on the horizon. Brazil could produce as much as 3.78 million tonnes next season. That’s 63 million 60 kilo bags, a 35 percent gain over the last growing season. Central American Coffee growers are expected to reach production levels not seen in more than a decade. A Bloomberg survey of seven analysts resulted in a call for $2.50 a pound in the first quarter and $2.20 in the second.

Next season Brazil expects to produce more than 3.75 million tonnes of Robusta and Arabica Coffees. Colombian Coffee exports are expected to reach 8.5 million 60 kilo bags compared to 7.8 million this growing season. Honduras, Central America’s largest producer, expects output to rise 2.5 percent to 4.1 million bags. Guatemala will likely see output rise three to four percent to 3.6 million bags. Coffee is generally shipped in burlap bags placed in large steel boxes that can carry nineteen tonnes. The London based International Coffee Organization has said that global Coffee exports reached near 93.4 million bags in the 2010 – 2011 marketing year. How many steel boxes were required?

Technical Analysis is a methodology. The information below is not to be taken as trading advice or as a recommendation to buy or sell any commodity future or option. It may or may not agree with the fundamental analysis that appears above.

Weekly Technical Indications Thursday 9/8/2011: At this time the week’s trading range is 285.20-276.60, the last print is 283.80. The stochastic remains in buy mode. This week’s trading activity has again taken place above the center Bollinger band and 9 bar moving average. R.S.I. reads 60.35; lower than last week’s reading of 62.72. The M.A.C.D. histogram at 1.05 is lower than last week’s reading of 2.05. This market is on the cusp of a sizable move. Stay alert! A weekly close at or below 281.25 in December Coffee will turn the weekly trend down.

New Method for Extracting Antioxidants from Grape Waste

Researchers at the University of Arkansas have discovered an environmentally friendly method to extract antioxidants from grape waste for use in other healthy food products. The findings suggest the process may one day be used to create healthy food supplements from the 15 million tons of grape waste generated in the United States alone.

“The goal is to get a value-added food supplement product," said Jerry King, professor of chemical engineering at the University of Arkansas. Beverages such as grape juice and wine contain natural antioxidants, which have anti-inflammatory properties when ingested. However, while juices and wine contain some of the antioxidants, up to 50% remain in the waste material left behind when the skins, stems and seeds get filtered away.“These are valuable components that don’t go into the juice or wine."

The researchers received a $350,000 USDA grant to investigate alternatives to traditional extraction methods that use organic solvents, which can be expensive, toxic and difficult to dispose.

The team utilized a subcritical water processing method that used pressurized water to extract the antioxidants. Water is heated under pressure, which allows it to remain liquid at high temperatures and act as an extraction solvent. They also used organic acids to isolate certain types of antioxidants. Because natural antioxidants can break down at high temperatures, the researchers developed a process of continuous extraction that allows for high flow rates to minimize antioxidant degradation and maximize their breakdown.

The extraction method that not only increases the efficiency of extraction over ethanol alone, but also produces antioxidant compounds that are smaller in size, which are more effectively adsorbed by the body.

Sources:

• University of Arkansas: Researchers Design 'Green' Extraction Method for Antioxidants in Grape Skins