The evidence of the health benefits of eating fish has been accumulating steadily. Frequent fish consumption has been linked with decreased risk of macular degeneration and with lowering the risk of coronary death.

However, reports of health risks associated with the consumption of fish due to mercury, dioxins and PCBs found in some species has some of the public concerned.

A report in this month’s Journal of the American Medical Society declares that the benefits of fish outweigh potential risks. The report states that moderate fish consumption reduces reduces risk of coronary death by 36 percent and the rate of death by 17 percent, and may favorably affect other clinical outcomes.

The study concludes that a variety of seafood should be consumed but that individuals with very high consumption (5 or more servings per week) should limit intake of the species highest in mercury levels.

How detailed a memory is seems to be affected by the levels of acetylcholine in the brain when the memory is made. Acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter, has long been considered to be associated with memory and many major treatments for Alzheimer’s work by making more acetylcholine available in the brain.

According to a study by researchers at UC Irvine, a higher level of acetylcholine was associated with greater detail in memories of specific experiences.

Read about the study here.

See our previous story on how consuming apples and apple juice can boost your acetylcholine levels.

Since requiring nutrient information labels on food packages was instituted by the FDA, consumers have become a lot more savvy about the amounts of fat, fiber and protein that are contained in the calories they eat.

However, all these food labels have limited information and only give totals for a few basic categories with some information on vitamins and minerals. Do you want to know more? Want the lowdown on the amount of Lycopene in your hamburger? Do you know how much Lutein (shown to lower the risk of age-related macular degeneration) is in your homemade tuna noodle casserole?

The USDA has a neat little food checker that will give you detailed nutrition information on thousands of foods, both commercially prepared and as cooked at home. Check it out!

Note: You must have Javascript enabled on your brower to use this online tool.

What’s In The Foods You Eat Search Tool

In a recent study, Vitamin D was found to prevent pancreatic cancer by 43% in individuals taking the USRDA of 400 IU daily. Taking 150 IU daily cut the risk of pancreatic cancer by 22%. Taking more than the recommended 400 IU was not found to increase anti-cancer benefits. The study was done by researchers at Northwestern and Harvard universities.

Halcyon Skinner, Ph.D., of Northwestern states “Vitamin D has shown strong potential for preventing and treating prostate cancer, and areas with greater sunlight exposure have lower incidence and mortality for prostate, breast, and colon cancers, leading us to investigate a role for Vitamin D in pancreatic cancer risk.”

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of death from cancer in the United States.

Vitamin D May Protect Against Some Cancers