Framing the Latin American nutrition transition in a historical perspective, 1850 to the present.

This paper argues that many of the foundations and trends that led to the rise in obesity and other diet-related health problems in Latin America began to develop in the late nineteenth century. The tendency towards presentism in the nutrition transition literature provides a much abbreviated and limited history of changes in diet and weight. Whereas medical and nutrition researchers have tended to emphasize the recent onset of the crisis, a historical perspective suggests that increasingly global food sourcing prompted changes in foodways and a gradual "fattening" of Latin America. This paper also provides a methodological and historiographic exploration of how to historicize the nutrition transition, drawing on a diverse array of sources from pre-1980 to the present.

Framing the Latin American nutrition transition in a historical perspective, 1850 to the present / A constituição da transição nutricional latino-americana em uma perspectiva histórica, 1850 até o presente

Abstract This paper argues that many of the foundations and trends that led to the rise in obesity and other diet-related health problems in Latin America began to develop in the late nineteenth century. The tendency towards presentism in the nutrition transition literature provides a much abbreviated and limited history of changes in diet and weight. Whereas medical and nutrition researchers have tended to emphasize the recent onset of the crisis, a historical perspective suggests that increasingly global food sourcing prompted changes in foodways and a gradual "fattening" of Latin America. This paper also provides a methodological and historiographic exploration of how to historicize the nutrition transition, drawing on a diverse array of sources from pre-1980 to the present.

Resumo Este trabalho argumenta que fundamentos e tendências que levaram ao aumento da obesidade e de outros problemas de saúde relacionados à alimentação na América Latina começaram a surgir no final do século XIX. A propensão ao presentismo na literatura sobre transição nutricional produz uma história abreviada e limitada das mudanças em alimentação e peso. Embora pesquisadores médicos e nutricionistas enfatizem a recente instalação da crise, uma perspectiva histórica sugere que fontes alimentares crescentemente globalizadas resultaram em mudanças na alimentação e em gradual "aumento de gordura" na população latino-americana. O artigo propõe ainda a exploração metodológica e historiográfica de como historicizar a transição nutricional recorrendo a fontes pré-1980 até o momento.

Joseph Jacobs: Apprentice to Crawford W. Long in Athens, GA; Pharmacist and Retailer of Soda Fountain Beverages in Atlanta, GA.

In the 1870s, Joseph Jacobs was employed as an apprentice in the Longs and Billups pharmacy in Athens, GA. Jacobs later established a chain of pharmacies in Atlanta, GA. Coca-Cola was first sold to the public on May 8, 1886, at Jacobs' Pharmacy in the Five Points district of Atlanta, GA. The soda fountain in Jacobs' Pharmacy was owned by Willis E. Venable, who was related to James M. Venable, the first patient etherized by Crawford Long in Jefferson, GA.

Hunger, food and drink in Brazilian popular music: a brief overview.

The article reflects on how the themes of hunger, consumption of soft drinks and consumption of beans and rice are addressed in Brazilian popular music. We investigate the years of military dictatorship (1964-1985). The focus of the analysis is on the so-called protest song, a musical genre characterized by aesthetic, cultural, political, ideological and social criticism to military rule. The study of the ideology and philosophy of language of Mikhail Bakhtin is the theoretical reference; especially his concepts of "ideological sign" and "word." Analysis reveals that the protest song portrayed elements of the economic, political and social contexts and led to the diffusion of healthy or unhealthy eating habits or ideologies, contributing to the construction of the Brazilian dietary identity.

Fome, comida e bebida na música popular brasileira: um breve ensaio / Hunger, food and drink in Brazilian popular music: a brief overview

O artigo reflete sobre como as temáticas fome, consumo de refrigerantes e consumo de feijão com arroz são enfocadas na música popular brasileira. Investigamos os anos de ditadura militar (1964-1985). O foco da análise é a chamada canção de protesto, gênero musical caracterizado por críticas estético-cultural, político-ideológica e social aos governos militares. Tomando como referencial teórico os estudos de ideologia e filosofia da linguagem de Mikhail Bakhtin, evidenciamos que a canção de protesto retratou elementos dos contextos econômico, político e social, e propiciou a difusão de hábitos e ideologias alimentares saudáveis ou não saudáveis, contribuindo para a construção da identidade alimentar brasileira.

The article reflects on how the themes of hunger, consumption of soft drinks and consumption of beans and rice are addressed in Brazilian popular music. We investigate the years of military dictatorship (1964-1985). The focus of the analysis is on the so-called protest song, a musical genre characterized by aesthetic, cultural, political, ideological and social criticism to military rule. The study of the ideology and philosophy of language of Mikhail Bakhtin is the theoretical reference; especially his concepts of “ideological sign” and “word.” Analysis reveals that the protest song portrayed elements of the economic, political and social contexts and led to the diffusion of healthy or unhealthy eating habits or ideologies, contributing to the construction of the Brazilian dietary identity.

The North Atlantic Oscillation affects the quality of Cava (Spanish sparkling wine).

This study explores the possible effects of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on the quality of Spanish Cava. We found a significant negative relationship between the mean NAO for the months of March through August of each year between 1970 and 2008 and the probability of obtaining a top quality Cava. The NAO is associated with temperature and rainfall variations in the Cava region, which affect vine physiological processes during grape maturity. The probability of obtaining a top quality Cava was highest when the mean value of the NAO was negative, which causes the mean temperature in the Cava area to decrease, with positive consequences on Cava quality. Although the overall discrimination capacity and explanatory power of the model were low, 80% of clearly favorable years were classified correctly as corresponding to top quality Cava, and 70% of clearly unfavorable years were classified correctly as non top quality Cava.

Sucrose acetate isobutyrate (SAIB): historical aspects of its use in beverages and a review of toxicity studies prior to 1988.

Sucrose acetate isobutyrate (SAIB), a mixture of esters of sucrose with a composition approximating the name sucrose diacetate hexaisobutyrate, has been used for over 30 yr in many countries as a 'weighting' or 'density-adjusting' agent in non-alcoholic carbonated and non-carbonated beverages. As part of the demonstration of safety of SAIB as a direct food additive in human diets, a program of toxicity testing was started in the late 1950s that culminated in extensive studies of SAIB in rodents, monkeys and humans over the last decade. This review summarizes the toxicity data, accrued up until 1988, that precede the safety studies published elsewhere in this issue. SAIB has been shown to have very low acute and chronic toxicities in rats, monkeys, and, except for effects on the liver, in dogs at feeding levels of up to 10% in the diet. Slight effects seen in rats and monkeys at levels of 10% in the diet are unlikely to be directly caused by exposure to SAIB. In dogs, however, SAIB causes decreases in bromosulfophthalein (BSP) and indocyanine green (ICG) elimination from the serum immediately following a single dose, indicative of interference with biliary excretion. On repeated feeding in dogs, SAIB caused increases in serum alkaline phosphatase levels, but enzymes indicative of toxic effects on the liver were unaffected. On prolonged feeding to dogs, SAIB caused changes in liver morphology revealed by electron microscopy. All of these effects were reversed when SAIB was withdrawn from the diet. The no-effect level for these effects in dogs was near 5 mg/kg body weight, but these effects were not seen in rats fed up to 4 g/kg body weight/day, monkeys fed up to 10 g/kg body weight/day, or humans fed up to 20 mg/kg body weight/day. The toxicity and pharmacological studies in dogs, rats and monkeys suggest that the effect of SAIB on biliary excretion and liver morphology in dogs is essentially pharmacological rather than toxicological in nature and that the difference between the effects in dogs at levels as low as 5 mg/kg body weight/day, and the lack of effects in rats or monkeys at levels up to 10 g/kg/day is not merely a quantitative difference between species, but an absolute qualitative difference.

History and efficacy of emergency contraception: beyond Coca-Cola.

PIP: Over 30 years of clinical use of emergency contraception has confirmed that such methods substantially reduce the chances of pregnancy, do not entail onerous service provision requirements, and are acceptable to women. The major obstacle to the more widespread use of postcoital methods is a lack of awareness on the part of both potential acceptors and service providers of this important option. Most extensively researched have been the Yuzpe method (200 mcg of ethinyl estradiol and 1.0 mg of levonorgestrel, taken within 72 hours of unprotected intercourse and then 12 hours later), levonorgestrel (two doses of 0.75 mg 12 hours apart starting within 48 hours of unprotected intercourse), and postcoital insertion of a copper IUD. Two new agents--RU-486 and the synthetic progestin and antigonadotropin danazol--offer promise, but require further evaluation. The Yuzpe method is estimated to reduce the likelihood of pregnancy by at least 75%. Lacking in the available literature are studies with rigorous research designs and methodologies capable of generating reliable data on efficacy and side effects, especially among women in developing countries. There is a need, for example, to limit samples to women who have had only one act of unprotected intercourse during a menstrual cycle and to those of proven fertility. Also important are studies that evaluate a range of distributional systems (e.g., vending machines) and user educational approaches. Finally, studies are needed to determine whether the Yuzpe method can be broadened to encompass all the progestins (e.g., desogestrel) used in combined oral contraceptives.^ieng

Coca-Cola, caffeine, and mental deficiency: Harry Hollingworth and the Chattanooga trial of 1911.

Harry Hollingworth's 1911 investigation of the behavioral effects of caffeine is one of the earliest examples of psychological research contracted by a large corporation. The research was necessitated by a federal government suit against the Coca-Cola Company for marketing a beverage with a deleterious ingredient, namely, caffeine. Although Hollingworth's research played little role in the outcome of the Coca-Cola trials, it was important as a model of sophistication in experimental design. As such, it set a standard for psychopharmacological research. It also was particularly important in directing Hollingworth toward a life-long career in applied psychology.

Dr Nooth and his apparatus. The role of carbon dioxide in medicine in the late eighteenth century.

The two earliest inhalers devised for the administration of ether anaesthesia in the U.K. (Hooper's and Squire's apparatus) both incorporated the bottom part of a Nooth's apparatus. This, which was once a household object, is now remembered only as a footnote in one or two specialist histories, and Nooth himself, who was a most distinguished and respected medical man in his day, is almost completely forgotten. Yet there are many aspects of Nooth's life that are of great interest, and his apparatus was one of the very first to be designed to produce, for medicinal purposes, what may inclusively be called carbonated waters; and, surprisingly, there are strong links of coincidence between the histories of artificial mineral waters and of anesthesia, and the personalia involved in each.