Many gluten-free products are low in nutrients, and offer technological challenges to food processors. Scientists at the Research Center for Food and Development in Hermosillo, Mexico, experimented with amaranth, a food with a long culinary tradition in Mexico. They found that bread formulation with 60-70% popped amaranth flour and 30-40% raw amaranth flour produced loaves with an even crumb and higher volume than most gluten-free breads, and that cookies formulated with 20% popped amaranth flour and 13% whole grain popped amaranth also worked out well. Both foods offered acceptible dough functionality without some of the additives often needed in GF foods, and the final foods had a very high nutritional value.
Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, August 24, 2010 [Epub ahead of print]

One in ten Chinese adults is estimated to have diabetes, with another 16% on the verge of developing it. With a rate of increase in diabetes faster than in Europe or the U.S., Chinese nutrition experts seeking to promote whole grain brown rice in China carried out a pilot study with 32 Shanghai residents, to learn about attitudes to brown rice. Only a quarter of the group had ever tried brown rice, and almost all (30 of 32) ate white rice daily. While most participants had an inferior view of brown rice before the project, after tasting it and learning of its health benefits, their views became more positive, and 27 of the 32 expressed a willingness to participate in a future long-term brown rice intervention study.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association. August 2010; 110(8): 1216-21.

Researchers conducted a study in Japan to evaluate the effect of isoflavones and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) on the risk for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD.)  Researchers found that patients with COPD had a lower intake of both isoflavones and PUFA than the healthy participants.  Isoflavones and PUFA, which are found in traditional Japanese foods such as soy products and fish, may have a protective benefit against COPD.
Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. 2010 Jul; 54(7):909-917. (Hirayama et al.)

A team of researchers at Cornell University, including WGC Scientific Advisor Rui Hai Liu, analyzed the phenolic content and antioxidant activity of 12 diverse varieties of black rice, and found that antioxidants were about six times higher in black rice than in common brown/white rice. The black rice bran had higher content of phenolics, flavonoids and anthocyanins.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, July 14, 2010; 58 (13): 7580-7.

In India and some other countries, sprouted (malted) grains are commonly used as weaning foods for infants and as easily-digested foods for the elderly and infirm.  A study at the Central Food Technological Research Institute in Mysore, India, measured the changes caused by malting finger millet, wheat and barley. They found that malting millet increased the bioaccessibility of iron (> 300%) and manganese (17%), and calcium (“marginally”), while reducing bioaccessibility of zinc and making no difference in copper. The effects of malting on different minerals varied widely by grain.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 14 July 2010; 58(13):8100-3.

Brazilian scientists carried out a comprehensive review of historic diets native to different parts of Central and South America, and of recent research that sheds light on their protective effects. Benefits of traditional, largely plant-based Latino diets included lower cholesterol, lower diabetes risk, lower blood pressure, and other benefits.
Clinics, 2010; 65(1):1049-54 (Navarro et al.)

Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health followed 39,765 men and 157,463 women as part of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study I and II. They found that those eating several servings of white rice per week had a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes and that those eating 2 or more servings of brown rice had a lower risk. They estimate that replacing about two servings a week of white rice with the same amount of brown rice would lower diabetes risk 16%.
Archives of Internal Medicine. June 14, 2010; 170 (11): 96-9.

At the Memorial University of Newfoundland in Canada, a team of biochemists analyzed the antioxidant activity and phenolic content of several varieties of millet: kodo, finger, foxtail, proso, pearl, and little millets. Kodo millet showed the highest phenolic content, and proso millet the least. All varieties showed high antioxidant activity, in both soluble and bound fractions.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 9 June 2010; 58(11):6706-14.

Researchers from Arizona State University examined associations between mood and diet type in the context of polyunsaturated fatty acid intake. Vegetarian diets are usually lower in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA), which many believe are positively related to neural function and mental health. However, while the vegetarians in this study did consume fewer long-chain omega-3 fatty acids than the omnivores, they reported better moods overall. These results suggest that vegetarian diets are not likely associated with poor mood or depression due to low intake of omega-3 fatty acids and in fact may be associated with improved mood.
Nutrition Journal. 2010 Jun 1; 9:26. (Beezhold et al.)

A Polish team from the Instytut Zywnosci in Warsaw analyzed 22 gluten-free products and 19 naturally gluten-free grains and flours, for gluten content. Gluten content in the products ranged from 5.19 to 57.16 mg/kg. In the inherently gluten-free grains and flours, no gluten was detected in rice and buckwheat samples, but was detected in rice flakes (7.05 mg/kg) in pearl millet (27.51 mg/kg) and in oats (>100 mg/kg). ?(Poland)
Rocz Panstw Zaki Hig. 2010; 61(1):51-5. ??

Meanwhile, in the U.S., Tricia Thompson, MS, RD, a nutrition consultant specializing in gluten-free diets, arranged for gluten-testing of 22 retail samples of inherently gluten-free grains, seeds, and flours. She found contamination of 20 to 2925 ppm in seven of 22 samples, putting them over the proposed FDA limit of 20 ppm, with lower levels in some others. Both articles point to the importance of gluten-free certification even on foods that are naturally gluten-free, such as millet.?(USA)
Journal of the American Dietetic Association. June 2010; 110(6):937-40.

A two-year clinical trial conducted in Japan set out to determine whether consuming a semi-vegetarian diet has a preventative effect against relapse of Crohn’s disease. The participants included twenty-two adult patients suffering from Crohn’s disease who had achieved clinical remission either during medical stay or through surgery. Of these patients, 16 of them consumed a semi-vegetarian diet (SVD) over the course of two years.  Remission was maintained in 15 of 16 patients in the SVD group (94%) vs two of six in the omnivorous group.  The results of this study suggest that consuming a semi-vegetarian diet may help Crohn’s disease sufferers from experiencing symptoms of relapse. 
World Journal of Gastroenterology 2010 May 28;16(20):2484-95 (Chiba et al.)
 

A study by the Department of Preventative Medicine in Hanyang University, South Korea measured the anti-breast cancer effects of seaweed consumption among South Korean women.  Gim and miyeok are the seaweeds most consumed by Koreans.  The study group consisted of 362 women aged 30-65 years old with confirmed breast cancer, and controls visiting the same hospital who were matched to cases according to their age and menopausal status. A 121-item food frequency questionnaire measured food intake.  The daily intake of gim was lower among the women with breast cancer compared to controls.  After results were adjusted for menopausal status, premenopausal women and postmenopausal women both showed inverse associations between gim intake and risk of breast cancer.
British Journal of Nutrition 2010 May;103(9):1345-53. (Yang et al.)