University of Illinois researchers Soo-Yeun Lee and Shelly Schmidt are trying to solve a mystery: Why doesn't diet soda taste more like regular soda? Can a well-trained panel of "taste testers" pinpoint the exact problem? And can food scientists do anything to fix it? "If we could make diet soda taste better, it would be a big step in fighting the obesity epidemic," said Shelly Schmidt, a U of I professor of food chemistry. "Many people know they should cut calories, but they won't drink diet pop because they don't like the taste"........

Brain Windows is a blog devoted to reporting, analyzing and interpreting the latest results in the field of brain imaging technologies, particularly at the levels of systems, circuits, single cells and below. Pretty cool geeky stuff.

We all know that eating fruits, vegetables and soy products provides essential nutrition for a healthy lifestyle, while obesity leads to the opposite. Yet proving the effect of nutrition, or obesity, on cancer is an experimental challenge and a focus for scientists. According to emerging evidence being presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, eating well might still be one of the more pleasurable ways to prevent cancer and promote good health........

A bill is winding its way through Congress which seeks to remove the term "abuse" from the name of two NIH institutes. The goal is to attribute addiction as a disease and not as abuse. The two institutes would be renamed as follows:

1. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) would be renamed National Institute on Disease of Addiction (NIDA)
2. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism would be renamed National Institute on Alcohol Disorders and Health (NIADH)

Senator Joe Biden's bill (S1011) has a Findings section which is very helpful in reframing the perspective about addictions:

S1011: SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain's structure and manner in which it functions. These brain changes can be long lasting, and can lead to the harmful behaviors seen in people who abuse drugs. The disease of addiction affects both brain and behavior, and scientists have identified many of the biological and environmental factors that contribute to the development and progression of the disease.

(2) The pejorative term `abuse' used in connection with diseases of addiction has the adverse effect of increasing social stigma and personal shame, both of which are so often barriers to an individual's decision to seek treatment.

Senator Joe Biden's bill (S1011) was introduced on 3/28 with Kennedy and Enzi. It is a companion bill to Patrick Kennedy's (HR1348), which was introduced on March 3 with Rep. Sullivan (R-OK) as the co-sponsor. The name of S1011 is "Recognizing Addiction as a Disease Act of 2007" and HR1348 is `NIDA and NIAAA Name Redesignation Act'.

Got milk? Weightlifters will want to raise a glass after a new study observed that milk protein is significantly better than soy at building muscle mass. The study, conducted by a team of scientists at McMaster Universitys Department of Kinesiology, was recently reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It compared how much muscle protein young men gained after completing a heavy weight workout followed by consumption of equivalent amounts of protein as either fluid skim milk or a soy drink........