Leafy greens and beans aren't the only foods that pack a punch of folate, the vitamin essential for a healthy start to pregnancy.

Flavonoids, a group of compounds found in fruits and vegetables that had been thought to be nutritionally important for their antioxidant activity, actually have little or no value in that role, according to an analysis by scientists in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

Chemists working on tight budgets in developing countries may be able to substitute extracts of potatoes, celery, eggplant, carrot, cassava, horseradish or an array of inexpensive and locally available vegetable products for the costly reagents traditionally needed for chemical reactions, a new study suggests.

A new oral blood thinner is being compared to an old standby to see if it works as well and is easier to manage long term, researchers say.

Scientists studying the health benefits of flavonoids - those disease-preventing compounds in fruits, vegetables, wine, dark chocolate and other foods - finally have comprehensive data on flavonoid levels in foods consumers buy in the United States.

When it comes to some of today's health issues, 100 percent fruit and vegetable juices do help reduce risk factors related to certain diseases.

Do adolescents get enough exercise and eat the right foods? Is there too much fat in their diets? In a study published in the February 2007 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers analyzed the behavior of almost 900 11-to-15 year-olds and found that nearly 80% had multiple physical activity and dietary risk behaviors, almost half had at least three risk behaviors, and only 2% met all four of the health guidelines in the study.

The cafeteria lunch line at Columbus Elementary School moves quickly as students grab portions of carrots, celery, apples and oranges. French fries and hamburgers, once cafeteria staples, are not even offered.

According to recent research, the complexity of tooth surfaces reveals the diet of a species. Scientists at the University of Helsinki's Institute of Biotechnology and Department of Geology showed that the more complex the surface of an animal's teeth, the greater the share of vegetables in its diet.