Butter Leads to Lower Blood Fats Than Olive Oil, Study Finds

High blood fat levels normally raise the cholesterol values in the blood, which in turn elevates the risk of atherosclerosis and heart attack.

Now a new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that butter leads to considerably less elevation of blood fats after a meal compared with olive oil and a new type of canola and flaxseed oil. The difference was stronger in men than in women.

The main explanation for the relatively low increase of blood fat levels with butter is that about 20 percent of the fat in butter consists of short and medium-length fatty acids. These are used directly as energy and therefore never affect the blood fat level to any great extent. Health care uses these fatty acids with patients who have difficulty taking up nutrition -- in other words, they are good fatty acids.

"A further explanation, which we are speculating about, is that intestinal cells prefer to store butter fat rather than long-chain fatty acids from vegetable oils. However, butter leads to a slightly higher content of free fatty acids in the blood, which is a burden on the body," explains Julia Svensson, a doctoral candidate in Biotechnology and Nutrition at Lund University.

The greater difference in men is due to, among other things, hormones, the size of fat stores and fundamental differences in metabolism between men and women, which was previously known. This situation complicates the testing of women, since they need to be tested during the same period in the menstruation cycle each time in order to yield reliable results.

"Olive oil has been studied very thoroughly, and its benefits are often extolled. The fact that butter raises blood cholesterol in the long term is well known, whereas its short-term effects are not as well investigated. Olive oil is good, to be sure, but our findings indicate that different food fats can have different advantages," emphasizes Julia Svensson.

"Finally, all fats have high energy content, and if you don't burn what you ingest, your weight will go up, as will your risk of developing diseases in the long run," she reminds us.

 Mindfulness Exercises May Improve Mind-Fitness

Anew study led by University of Pennsylvania researchers has found a positive relationship between mindfulness training (MT) and improvements in mood and working memory. Mindfulness is the ability to be aware and attentive of the present moment without emotional reactivity or volatility. The study saw a high-stress US military group preparing for deployment to Iraq being trained.

It was found that the more time participants spent engaging in daily mindfulness exercises the better their mood and working memory, the cognitive term for complex thought, problem solving and cognitive control of emotions. The study also suggests that sufficient MT practice may protect against functional impairments related to high-stress challenges that need large amount of cognitive control, self-awareness, situational awareness and emotional regulation.

To study the protective results of mindfulness training on psychological health in individuals about to experience extreme stress, cognitive neuroscientist Amishi Jha of the Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Penn and Elizabeth A. Stanley of Georgetown University provided mindfulness training for the first time to US Marines before deployment.

The objective of the program, called Mindfulness- based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT), is to cultivate greater psychological resilience or "mental armor" by strengthening mindfulness.

Jha said: "Our findings suggest that, just as daily physical exercise leads to physical fitness, engaging in mindfulness exercises on a regular basis may improve mind-fitness.

"Working memory is an important feature of mind-fitness. Not only does it safeguard against distraction and emotional reactivity, but it also provides a mental workspace to ensure quick-and-considered decisions and action plans. Building mind-fitness with mindfulness training may help anyone who must maintain peak performance in the face of extremely stressful circumstances, from first responders, relief workers and trauma surgeons, to professional and Olympic athletes."

The study has appeared in the journal Emotion and the latest edition of Joint Force Quarterly, the advisory journal for the joint chiefs of staff.

Personalized Blood Tests For Cancer Developed

In what could be claimed a major breakthrough, scientists have developed

personalized blood tests for cancer, using whole genome sequencing.

A team at Johns Hopkins University has used data from the whole genome sequencing of cancer patients to develop individualized blood tests which they say can help physicians tailor patients' treatments.

According to the scientists, the genomebased blood tests may be used to monitor tumor levels after therapy and even determine cancer recurrence. "Using this approach we can develop biomarkers for potentially any cancer patient," lead scientist Victor Velculescu said.