Eating potatoes benefits immune system

Eating potatoes could have a beneficial effect on the immune system, says a study conducted by Spanish researchers.

The vegetable is considered to be rich in vitamin C, B-complex vitamins and has good doses of minerals like iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium and phosphorus. It has long been known that potatoes are good for bowel health.

It is believed to be good for the immune system, particularly if eaten cold or in a salad, the researchers write in Chemistry & Industry - a magazine of the Society of Chemical Industry.

The scientists carried out a study where they fed growing pigs large quantities of raw potato starch (RPS) for over 14 weeks and found that they had healthier bowels.

They also found that these pigs had decreased levels of white blood cells - such as leucocytes and lymphocytes in their blood. White blood cells are produced due to inflammation or when a person is ill to fight the disease, reports the science portal EurekAlert.

The general decrease in leucocytes observed by the researchers suggests an overall beneficial effect, according to immunology expert Lena Ohman at the Department of Internal Medicine, Göteborg University, Sweden.

Said José Francisco Pérez, the lead researcher from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona: "The use of raw potato starch in this experiment is designed to simulate the effects of a diet high in resistant starch."

Humans do not eat raw potatoes, but they do eat a lot of foods that contain resistant starch, such as cold boiled potatoes, legumes, grains, green bananas, pasta and cereals.

About 10 percent of the starch eaten by humans is resistant starch - starch that is not digested in the small intestine and so is shunted into the large intestine where it ferments.

Starch consumption is thought to reduce the risk of large bowel cancer and may also have an effect on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

The decrease in white blood cells observed is therefore interesting, and a diet of resistant starch may be worth trying in IBS patients, an expert said.

Soon, clothes that can monitor your health

European scientists are developing clothing, which they say will be able to monitor the wearer's health.

The 'intelligent textiles' contain embedded sensors designed to monitor body fluids such as blood and sweat.

Scientists say the aim is to use the clothes to check on groups such as recovering hospital patients, people with chronic illnesses and injured athletes.

As of now, the Biotex programme, which is funded by the EU and involves researchers from eight institutions, has developed a prototype multi-sensor test patch, which is ready for testing on volunteers.

Project co-ordinator Jean Luprano, from the Swiss technology company CSEM, told The Engineer magazine: 'Sensors have been built and have been tested in the lab. We have started their integration into textile patches. We will soon have a multi-sensor patch which will allow us to sense several elements in parallel.'

Your shopping reflects what you are

A recent study has found that what people buy tells a lot about their personality.

According to a new study from the June issue of the Journal of Consumer Research, consumer impulses are linked to an individual's qualities and outlook.

The researchers divided the consumers into two categories, 'promotion-focused' consumer and 'prevention-focused' consumer.

The researchers pointed out that if you look for products that enlarge the amount of quality time you have to share, for instance, a football to throw around in the yard, you're a 'promotion-focused' consumer.

On the other hand, if you seek out timesavers, like a new dishwasher, that don't reduce the amount of time you have to spend with your family, you are a 'prevention-focused' consumer.

In two studies, the researchers expand understanding of these consumer impulses by assessing how promotion- and prevention-focused individuals respond to advertisements.

They found that individuals who take up a promotion focus think more about the relationships among products and have an easier time connecting many unequal elements into higher level abstractions. On the contrary, prevention-focused consumers respond better to explicit advertising, pay more attention to specific pieces of data, and are more responsive to detail.

'We extend this line of research by identifying for the first time the cognitive process that appears to underlie these regulatory focus effects. We propose that because individuals who adopt a promotion focus concern themselves with positive outcomes, they are led to perceive the surrounding environment as safe and benign,' write Rui Zhu (University of British Columbia) and Joan Meyers-Levy (University of Minnesota).

'In contrast, individuals who adopt a prevention focus concentrate on negative outcomes, which may alert them that the environment is threatening and that specific actions are needed to ensure against negative outcomes,' they explain.