We often read about the benefits of fiber in the digestive system. These days, it’s prominently featured in food staples as a natural attribute or as an additive. Likewise, a plethora of supplemental fiber products are available online, stocked in grocery stores and on drug store shelves, to give us that added fiber we may be missing in our less than complete diet. But what does fiber really do for us and how much should we be taking in? It’s a well-known fact we need dietary fiber for our bodies to function properly.

Some vegetarians get their share of daily fiber through natural foods, leaving the additives and supplements for those of us more fiber-challenged from our normal dietary habits. Whatever the source, fiber is important for digestive health in people of any age and it’s helpful in the prevention of many conditions, including acid reflux (or GERD), inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS), obesity and diverticulitis.  Fiber is essential in maintaining “regularity”. Regularity is a “nice” word to use, in an effort to avoid any unpleasant sounding terms to describe proper digestion and elimination of our waste. No one really wants to utter the words, “constipation”, “diarrhea”, “irritable bowel syndrome” or other such colorful words or phrases, but everyone goes through a period of discomfort and no one is immune. We just need to do our best to limit the times when we do have issues, principally by making sure we get our daily fiber.

What’s the difference between soluble and insoluble fiber and do we need both? Insoluble fiber is the most important component in moving food through the digestive track. This type of fiber is largely indigestible, helping to bulk up stools and reduce constipation. Insoluble fiber is found in whole fruits and vegetables, seeds and whole grains.

Soluble fiber plays a different but still important role. Rather than passing through the digestive tract intact, as does insoluble fiber, soluble fiber is digested into a gel-type substance, absorbing water and slowing down digestion but also providing a prebiotic effect. Prebiotics, like those found in some soluble fiber sources, promote the growth of healthy digestive bacteria in the intestinal tract, allowing foods to be broken down more easily and aiding absorption of vital nutrients. So, as with most check and balance systems, the two types of dietary fiber work together but with separate functions, to aid in healthy digestion.

We now understand a little better how the process works. The next question is, how much do we need and are we typically getting enough fiber in our diet?
The answer to the latter part of the question is that many of us do not ingest enough healthy fiber in our diets. The typical American gets about half of the daily recommended supply of dietary fiber each day. Daily fiber needs differ with age and gender, so it’s not a one-size-fits-all recipe. The following are guidelines for recommended daily fiber needs:

• Women and Adolescent Girls—25 grams
• Women age 50 and over—21 grams
• Men and Teenage Boys—38 grams
• Men age 50 and over—30 grams
• Children age 4 to 8—25 grams
• Toddlers age 1 to 3—19 grams
• Women and Adolescent Girls—25 grams

*All figures represent daily recommended total fiber (including soluble and insoluble combined)

We have the numbers. Now for the best sources of fiber in the foods we love to eat and in dietary supplements:

You can never go wrong with eating more fruits and vegetables! Whether for the rich sources of essential vitamins often lost in prepared fruits and vegetables or for fiber needs, the fresh stuff is always the better choice at meals or at snack times. Then there are whole grains. Whole grain cereals and breads retain those all-important sources of insoluble fiber, providing better digestion and even contributing to heart health! Stay away from refined grains. They may be a little tastier going down but your body will prefer the whole grains to the refined flours any day!

Supplements offer a great way to take in that fiber we just can’t seem to get in our daily diet. Many choices are out there, including fully dissolving powders, whole food supplements and additives like flax seed that we can sprinkle over our foods for an extra boost of fiber. No longer are we left with the old standards of prunes or gritty mixes for our fruit juices in the mornings. With all the advances in fiber delivery these days, there’s really no excuse for not getting our fiber needs from our foods or from fiber supplements.

Make a friend with fiber, and incorporate dietary fiber into your routine daily for better health.

The past couple of years we have all heard about the health benefits of chocolate, but just how healthy is it?  That is exactly what Dr. McBarron tells us in this short video on chocolate.

You may be surprised with the answer and will understand why many experts do tout chocolate as healthy.

After watching this video you will understand both sides of the issue on the health benefits of chocolate and you can then make an informed decision the next time you must decide if chocolate should be a part of your diet.

Over 100 condition specific natural remedies: Dr. McBarron’s Natural Remedies

Nutritious and Delicious Recipes by Duke

(Duke and the Doctor Recipes)

For many people including myself making soup can be almost therapeutic, especially one that is as nutritious and great tasting as this one.

I am frequently surprised to hear from some people that they are either not familiar with or don’t know how to prepare barley.  Often times they are also unaware of how healthy and important barley and other grains are to a healthy diet.

This recipe combines barley with tomatoes, broccoli, carrots and nutritious herbs and spices.  It is packed with nutrition and tastes great.

For more on the health benefits of barley visit: http://bit.ly/duzImJ

TOMATO-BARLEY SOUP WITH BROCCOLI

1 tbsp                      olive oil

1                               large onion, finely chopped

4                               cloves garlic, minced

2                               carrots, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced

2/3 cup                     quick cooking barley

3 cups                       water

1 cup                        chicken broth

1 can (14 1/2 oz)     crushed tomatoes

3/4 tsp                      salt

1/2 tsp                      pepper

1/2 tsp                      marjoram or oregano

4 cups                       small broccoli florets

1.    In a nonstick Dutch oven, heath the oil over low heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion and carrots are tender, about 10 minutes

2.    Add the barley, stirring to coat. Stir in the water, broth, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and marjoram. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook until the barley is tender, about 20 minutes.

3.    Stir in the broccoli and simmer uncovered until the broccoli is tender, about 5 minutes.

Nutritional Information:

Per serving: 163 calories, 5.3 g total fat (.9 g saturated), 1 mg cholesterol, 7 g dietary fiber (1 g soluble), 27 g carbohydrate, 6 g protein, 856 mg sodium.

While this recipe was not taken from Dr. McBarron’s cookbook “Flavor Without Fat”  it is a great place where you can find many other delicious and nutritious recipes.

by Jan McBarron M.D., N.D. (Health Headline News)

There are many wonderful things that I can say about apples.  If the fact that they are delicious and that they are readily available at the grocery store is not enough to convince you to eat an apple a day, let’s talk about some of the other things that apples do for us.  

1.  Let’s start with pectin.  Pectin is something that apples contain that helps limit the amount of fat that your cells can absorb.  It also helps with keeping blood sugar levels in check and it makes the stomach empty more slowly so you will feel fuller longer. 

2. Apples also contain antioxidants like vitamin C and quercitin.  These antioxidants may help to prevent metabolic syndrome which can lead to diabetes.

3.  Apples are an excellent source of fibre, which reduces cholesterol and aids digestion.Ripe apples are 80 per cent water and virtually fat free.

4. Apples contain minerals such as potassium, which regulates water balance and muscle function.

5. Apples could help fight cancer. Chemicals in the fruit have an effect which far outweighs that of taking only vitamin C. Scientists found 100g of apple gave an anti-oxidant effect equivalent to taking 1500mg of pure vitamin C.

6. Researchers have found apple juice appears to slow down a process that can lead to heart disease.  Apples are an excellent source of fibre, which reduces cholesterol and aids digestion.Ripe apples are 80 per cent water and virtually fat free.

7. Apples contain minerals such as potassium, which regulates water balance and muscle function.

8.  Flavonoids unique to apple – including phloridzin – are thought to play a potentially key role in the special ability of apples to support lung health

9. Apples could help fight cancer. Chemicals in the fruit have an effect which far outweighs that of taking only vitamin C. Scientists found 100g of apple gave an anti-oxidant effect equivalent to taking 1500mg of pure vitamin C. 

10.  Researchers have found apple juice appears to slow down a process that can lead to heart disease.

Apple Recipes:

Baked Breakfast Apples

Apple Datee Turnovers

Cottage Cheese Dip With Apples

Waldorf Salad

A study led by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) chemist Richard Anderson suggests that a water soluble extract of cinnamon, which contains antioxidative compounds, could help reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and heart disease.

The work is part of cooperative agreements between the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center  (BHNRC) operated by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) at Beltsville, Md.; Integrity Nutraceuticals International of Spring Hill, Tenn., and the Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France.   Anderson works in the Diet, Genomics and Immunology Laboratory of BHNRC.   ARS is USDA’s principal intramural scientific research agency.

For the study, conducted in Ohio, coauthor Tim N. Ziegenfuss, now with the Center for Applied Health Sciences based in Fairlawn, Ohio, enrolled volunteers and collected samples.

Twenty-two obese participants with impaired blood glucose values–a condition classified as “prediabetes”–volunteered for the 12-week experimental research study.   Prediabetes occurs when cells are resistant to the higher-than-normal levels of insulin produced by the pancreas (in an attempt to help remove elevated glucose levels from blood).

The volunteers were divided randomly into two groups and given either a placebo or 250 milligrams (mgs) of a dried water-soluble cinnamon extract twice daily along with their usual diets.  Blood was collected after an overnight fast at the beginning of the study, after six weeks, and after 12 weeks to measure the changes in blood glucose and antioxidants.

The study demonstrated that the water-soluble cinnamon extract improved a number of antioxidant variables by as much as 13 to 23 percent, and improvement in antioxidant status was correlated with decreases in fasting glucose, according to Anderson.

Only more research will tell whether the investigational study supports the idea that people who are overweight or obese could reduce oxidative stress and blood glucose by consuming cinnamon extracts that have been proven safe and effective.  In the meantime, weight loss remains the primary factor in improving these numbers, according to ARS scientists.

More details on the 2009 study can be found in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

Research is backing up what common sense and most diet plans [1] already know, that drinking water—more of it at strategic times—can help in weight loss. It’s no surprise that that free-flowing liquid available everywhere in the world is not only good for you but can also curb your appetite.

Brenda Davy, associate professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise at Virginia Tech, and a team of researchers conducted a study comprised of middle-aged and older Americans who were either overweight or considered obese. Participants were put on a low-fat, low-calorie diet and divided into two groups, the only difference being one group had to drink 2 glasses of plain water prior to every meal.

After a period of 12 weeks, the water-drinking group had lost an average of 15.5 pounds per person, while the control group averaged 11 pounds. Those two cups of water before each meal translated into a 30 percent weight loss differential.

Researchers had concerns that the water-drinking group would fill up on water and eat less during the meal, but compensate later by having a snack, however this was not the case. Water not only provides a feeling of fullness, it can also reduce hunger pangs. The catch?— because you know there always is one—the 2 glass water trick only works in older adults, and is not useful to dieters in the 18-35 age range. Apparently in older adults  it takes more time for the stomach to empty, providing a longer period of satiety than in younger adults.

The study was presented today at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society.

A glass of cranberry juice cocktail can fight pesky urinary tract infections, researchers say. Credit: Eli_asenova

Scientists today reported new scientific evidence on the effectiveness of that old folk remedy — cranberry juice — for urinary tract infections, at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held this week.

“A number of controlled clinical trials — these are carefully designed and conducted scientific studies done in humans — have concluded that cranberry juice really is effective for preventing urinary tract infections,” said Terri Anne Camesano, Ph.D., who led the study. “That has important implications, considering the size of the problem and the health care costs involved.”

Estimates suggest that urinary tract infections (UTIs) account for about 8 million medical visits each year, at a total cost of more than $1.6 billion. UTIs involve bacterial infections of the urinary tract and can occur anywhere between the urethra, the opening where urine is excreted from the body, and the kidney. Women are frequent victims, with at least 1 in 3 experiencing a UTI. Studies suggest that only half of women with UTIs seek medical care for the mildest symptoms, which include burning and urgency.

Camesano, who is with the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, said the study set out to shed light on how cranberry juice fights E. coli, the most common cause of UTIs. The study involved growing strains of E. coli in urine collected from healthy volunteers before and after consumption of cranberry juice cocktail. That mixture of cranberry juice, water, and sweeteners is the most popular cranberry beverage. The scientists then tested the E. coli for their ability to stick together and form biofilms. Biofilms are thin, slimy layers that provide an environment for bacteria to thrive.

The scientists concluded that cranberry juice cocktail prevents E. coli from sticking to other bacteria and the surface of a plastic petri dish. E. coli adhere to those cells and work together to form a biofilm. The biofilm enables the bacteria to grow and multiply so that an infection can take root, continue, or become more severe. E. coli that doesn’t stick has a better chance of being flushed out of the urinary track. The results suggest that the beneficial substances in cranberry juice could reach the urinary tract and prevent bacterial adhesion within 8 hours after consumption of cranberry juice.

Camesano expressed reservations about self-treating UTIs and said that individuals who suspect an infection should seek medical advice. UTIs can progress rapidly and, if left untreated with antibiotics, result in severe illness, especially in children, individuals with chronic health problems, and the elderly.

The study was among nearly 8,000 scientific reports scheduled for presentation at the meeting, one of the largest scientific gatherings of 2010.

Provided by American Chemical Society

MONDAY, Aug. 23 (HealthDay News) — When you buy a bottled tea, you may not be getting the health boost you expect.

A new study finds that these increasingly popular beverages may contain far lower levels of antioxidants called polyphenols than green or black tea that you brew at home. In fact, some commercial tea beverages contain such small amounts of polyphenols that you would have to drink 20 bottles to get an amount equal to what’s in one cup of home-brewed tea.

Polyphenols are believed by scientists to have anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic properties.

“Consumers understand very well the concept of the health benefits from drinking tea or consuming other tea products,” researcher Shiming Li said in an American Chemical Society news release. “However, there is a huge gap between the perception that tea consumption is healthy and the actual amount of the healthful nutrients — polyphenols — found in bottled tea beverages. Our analysis of tea beverages found that the polyphenol content is extremely low.”

Li and colleagues measured the levels of polyphenols in six brands of bottled tea beverages purchased at supermarkets. Half of them contained virtually no antioxidants, while the polyphenol levels in others were so low that they would have little effect on health.

“Someone would have to drink bottle after bottle of these teas in some cases to receive health benefits. I was surprised at the low polyphenol content. I didn’t expect it to be at such a low level,” said Li, an analytical and natural product chemist at New Jersey-based biotechnology company WellGen Inc.

In fact, consumers buying commercially bottled teas may actually be spending money on substances detrimental to health, including sugar, high fructose corn syrup and sweeteners, Li said.

The study was presented Sunday at the American Chemical Society annual meeting in Boston.

Alcohol increases the risk of lobular and hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, but not necessarily invasive ductal carcinomas, according to a study published August 23 online in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Although alcohol intake is an established risk factor for overall breast cancer, few studies have looked at the relationship between alcohol use and breast cancer risk by subtype of breast cancer. While some studies have shown alcohol use is more strongly related to risk of hormone receptor-positive (estrogen receptor and/or progesterone receptor-positive) breast cancer, not many have looked at breast cancer risk by histology, or whether a tumor is ductal—in the milk ducts—or lobular—in the milk-producing lobules.

To understand how alcohol may influence sub-types of breast cancer, Christopher I. Li, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center conducted an observational study of a subset of patients in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, conducted between 1993 and 1998, which included 87,724 postmenopausal women aged 50-79 years.

The researchers looked at the following data from the 2,944 women in the WHI study who developed invasive breast cancer: tumor subtypes and hormone status, alcohol consumption, demographic and lifestyle characteristics, family history of diseases and reproductive history. Women were categorized as those who never drank, those who formerly drank and those who currently drank.
Drinkers were grouped into six categories according to the average number of drinks per week, starting from less than one drink per week to more than 14 drinks per week.

The researchers found that alcohol use is more strongly related to the risk of lobular carcinoma than ductal carcinoma, and more strongly related to hormone-receptor- positive breast cancer than hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer. These results confirm previous findings of an association of alcohol consumption with hormone-positive breast cancer risk, as well as three previous case control studies that identified a stronger association of alcohol with lobular carcinoma. The risks observed did not vary by the type of alcohol women consumed.

The authors write, “We found that women who drank one or more drinks per day had about double the risk of lobular type breast cancer, but no increase in their risk of ductal type breast cancer. It is important to note that ductal cancer is much more common than lobular cancer accounting for about 70 percent of all breast cancers whereas lobular cancer accounts for only about 10-15 percent of cases.”

The study’s primary limitation, the authors say, is that alcohol usage was only assessed at the beginning of the study, so the researchers had no information on womens’ past alcohol usage, nor their subsequent usage.

Provided by Journal of the National Cancer Institute

August 16, 2010

Regular beer – but not light beer or other types of alcohol—appears to be associated with an increased risk of developing psoriasis, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the December print issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

“Psoriasis is a common immune-mediated skin disease,” the authors write as background information in the article. “The association between alcohol consumption and increased risk of psoriasis onset and psoriasis worsening has long been suspected. For example, individuals with psoriasis drink more alcohol than individuals without psoriasis, and alcohol intake may exacerbate psoriasis severity.”

For other diseases, type of alcoholic beverage has been shown to influence risk—for instance, beer confers a larger risk for gout than wine or spirits. To evaluate the association between different types of alcohol and psoriasis risk, Abrar A. Qureshi, M.D., M.P.H., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, assessed data from 82,869 women who were age 27 to 44 years in 1991. The women, participants in the Nurses’ Health Study II, reported the amount and type of alcohol they consumed on biennial questionnaires. They also reported whether they had received a diagnosis of psoriasis.

Through 2005, 1,150 cases of psoriasis developed, 1,069 of which were used for analysis. Compared with women who did not drink alcohol, the risk of psoriasis was 72 percent greater among women who had an average of 2.3 drinks per week or more. When beverages were assessed by type, there was an association between non-light beer drinking and psoriasis, such that women who drank five or more beers per week had a risk for the condition that was 1.8 times higher. Light beer, red wine, white wine and liquor were not associated with psoriasis risk.

When only confirmed psoriasis cases—those in which women provided more details about their condition on a seven-item self-assessment—were considered, the risk for psoriasis was 2.3 times higher for women who drank five or more beers per week than women who did not drink beer.

“Non-light beer was the only alcoholic beverage that increased the risk for psoriasis, suggesting that certain non-alcoholic components of beer, which are not found in wine or liquor, may play an important role in new-onset psoriasis,” the authors write. “One of these components may be the starch source used in making beer. Beer is one of the few non-distilled alcoholic beverages that use a starch source for fermentation, which is commonly barley.” Barley and other starches contain gluten, to which some individuals with psoriasis show a sensitivity. Lower amounts of grain are used to make light beer as compared with non-light beer, potentially explaining why light beer was not associated with psoriasis risk, they note.

“Women with a high risk of psoriasis may consider avoiding higher intake of non-light beer,” the authors conclude. “We suggest conducting further investigations into the potential mechanisms of non-light beer inducing new-onset psoriasis.”

By Kate Kelland and Genevra Pittman
August 20, 2010

(Reuters Health) – Eating more green leafy vegetables can significantly cut the risk of developing diabetes, scientists said on Friday.

British researchers who reviewed six earlier studies on links between diabetes and the consumption of fruits and vegetables found that eating an extra serving a day of vegetables like spinach, cabbage, and broccoli reduced adults’ risk of getting type 2 diabetes by 14 percent.

The findings don’t prove that the veggies themselves prevent diabetes. People who eat more green leafy vegetables may also have a healthier diet overall, exercise more, or may be better off financially than people who don’t load up on greens. Any of those factors could affect how likely they are to get diabetes.

But, “the data suggest that green leafy vegetables are key,” said Patrice Carter of the diabetes research unit at Leicester University, the study’s lead author. The review, published today in the British Medical Journal, looked at six studies, which covered more than 200,000 people between 30 and 74 years old, in the United States, China and Finland.

“Fruit and vegetables are all good, but the data significantly show that green leafy vegetables are particularly interesting, so further investigation is warranted,” Carter said in a telephone interview.

Green leafy vegetables contain antioxidants, magnesium and omega 3 fatty acids — all of which have been shown to have health benefits, she added.

Each of the studies that Carter and her colleagues analyzed followed a group of adults over periods of 4-and-a-half to 23 years, recording how many servings of fruits and vegetables each participant ate on a daily basis then examining who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

The researchers found no significant difference in diabetes risk with higher intake of vegetables in general, fruits in general, or combinations of vegetables and fruits. Green leafy vegetables stood out, however, with an increase of 1.15 servings a day producing a 14 percent decrease in an individual’s risk of developing diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body’s inability to adequately use insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, to regulate levels of glucose produced from food. Uncontrolled, the sugar levels rise and can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and major arteries.

The chronic condition is often linked to poor diet and lack of exercise and is reaching epidemic levels as rates of obesity rise. An estimated 180 million people worldwide have diabetes. The costs of caring for those with the disease are soaring in wealthy nations and becoming an increasing burden in developing countries too.

Although there is no cure for diabetes, people with the condition can minimize their chances of getting sicker by being more active and losing weight. Some people with diabetes need medications to control their blood sugar and insulin levels — for others, it’s enough to keep a close watch on their diet.

“We already know that the health benefits of eating vegetables are far-reaching but this is the first time that there has been a suggested link specifically between green, leafy vegetables and a reduced risk of developing Type 2 diabetes,” said Dr. Iain Frame, director of research at the advocacy group Diabetes UK.

But Frame, who was not involved with the current study, added that because of the relatively small number of studies grouped in this analysis, “it is too early to isolate green leafy vegetables and present them alone as a method to reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.”

It’s important not to point to green leafy vegetables as a “magic bullet” for diabetes prevention and forget the broader picture of whole food groups wrote Dr. Jim Mann, of the Edgar National Center for Diabetes and Obesity Research at the University of Otago in New Zealand and Dagfinn Aune of London’s Imperial College in an accompanying editorial. However, they added, “the findings are also a useful reminder to clinicians that giving dietary advice may be just as beneficial, if not more so, than prescribing drugs to patients at risk of chronic disease.”

According to Carter and her colleagues, low consumption of fruit and vegetables is common throughout the world. They cite a 2005 study published by the World Health Organization estimating that inadequate consumption of fruit and vegetables could have accounted for 2.6 million deaths worldwide in the year 2000.

Separate research found that in 2002, 86 percent of adults in Britain ate fewer than the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, with 62 percent consuming fewer than three portions. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found similar patterns among Americans. In 2005, just 33 percent of U.S. adults said they ate at least two servings of fruit a day, and 27 percent reported eating three or more vegetable servings daily.

A large prospective study of 5033 men and women in the Tromsø Study in northern Norway has reported that moderate wine consumption is independently associated with better performance on cognitive tests. The subjects (average age 58 and free of stroke) were followed over 7 years during which they were tested with a range of cognitive function tests.

Among women, there was a lower risk of a poor testing score for those who consumed wine at least 4 or more times over two weeks in comparison with those who drink < 1 time during this period the expected associations between other risk factors for poor cognitive functioning were seen, i.e. lower testing scores among people who were older, less educated, smokers, and those with depression, diabetes, or hypertension.

It has long been known that "moderate people do moderate things." The authors state the same thing: "A positive effect of wine . . . could also be due to confounders such as socio-economic status and more favourable dietary and other lifestyle habits.

The authors also reported that not drinking was associated with significantly lower cognitive performance in women. As noted by the authors, in any observational study there is the possibility of other lifestyle habits affecting cognitive function, and the present study was not able to adjust for certain ones (such as diet, income, or profession) but did adjust for age, education, weight, depression, and cardiovascular disease as its major risk factors.

The results of this study support findings from previous research on the topic: In the last three decades, the association between moderate alcohol intake and cognitive function has been investigated in 68 studies comprising 145,308 men and women from various populations with various drinking patterns. Most studies show an association between light to moderate alcohol consumption and better cognitive function and reduced risk of dementia, including both vascular dementia and Alzheimer's Disease.

Such effects could relate to the presence in wine of a number of polyphenols (antioxidants) and other micro elements that may help reduce the risk of cognitive decline with ageing. Mechanisms that have been suggested for alcohol itself being protective against cognitive decline include effects on atherosclerosis ( hardening of the arteries), coagulation ( thickening of the blood and clotting), and reducing inflammation ( of artery walls, improving blood flow).

Provided by Boston University Medical Center

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People with metabolic syndrome — a cluster of risk factors for heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes — have a better chance of reversing it if they stick to a healthy diet, a new study shows.

While it seems obvious that eating healthy would make you healthier, the findings are important because they show it’s a person’s dietary pattern, not just individual components of their diet, that matters, Dr. Alice Lichtenstein, an expert on diet and heart health from Tufts University in Boston, who was not involved in the new study, told Reuters Health.

A person is considered to have metabolic syndrome if they have three or more of the following risk factors: excess belly fat; high triglyceride levels (a harmful blood fat); low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol; high blood pressure; and either high blood sugar levels or type 2 diabetes.

According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), having metabolic syndrome doubles a person’s risk of heart disease and quintuples their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Nearly a quarter of US adults have the metabolic syndrome.

In the current study, Dr. Tasnime N. Akbaraly of University College London and her colleagues looked at whether sticking closely to the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) could help reverse metabolic syndrome.

The AHEI is a set of nutritional guidelines published by Harvard School of Public Health researchers in 2002. The guidelines emphasize eating whole grains rather than refined grains, white meat rather than red meat, and lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts and soy. Studies have shown that following the guidelines helps cut the risk of chronic disease in both men and women.

Akbaraly and her colleagues studied 339 people with metabolic syndrome participating in the Whitehall II study, a long-running study investigating social determinants of health in British civil servants. Just over a quarter of the participants were women, and participants’ average age was 56.

After five years, nearly half no longer had the metabolic syndrome. People who adhered the most closely to the AHEI, the researchers found, were nearly twice as likely to have reversed their metabolic syndrome.

For people with central obesity, defined as waist circumference above 102 centimeters (40 inches) for men and 88 centimeters (35 inches) for women, those with the healthiest diets were nearly three times as likely to have recovered from metabolic syndrome than those with the unhealthiest eating patterns; healthy eating also had a somewhat stronger effect for people who started out with high levels of harmful triglycerides.

“It’s not about focusing on individual components of the diet,” Lichtenstein said. “It’s really the whole package, and that becomes important because it means that if one of the components of a healthy diet is to eat more fruits and vegetables, just buying a pill saying that there’s a concentrated extract of fruits and vegetables is probably not what’s going to help you.”

“It doesn’t mean if you sprinkle wheat germ on your hot fudge sundae you’re going to get the benefits of whole grains,” she added.

In addition to eating well, Lichtenstein said, people shouldn’t forget that regular physical activity is also a key component of maintaining heart health.

B vitamins-B-6, B-12 and folate-all nourish the brain. But much remains to be discovered about the relation between these essential nutrients and our brainpower.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutritionist Lindsay H. Allen has collaborated in ongoing research that has taken a closer look at the role these nutrients may play in preventing decline in brain function. The investigations, led by Mary N. Haan of the University of California-San Francisco, are part of the multiyear Sacramento (Calif.) Area Latino Study on Aging, or “SALSA.” Begun in 1996, the study attracted nearly 1,800 Hispanic seniors, ages 60 to 101, as volunteers.

According to Allen, the research is needed because many studies of B vitamins and brain function have given inconsistent or conflicting results. Allen is director of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Western Human Nutrition Research Center in Davis, Calif. ARS is the chief intramural scientific research agency of USDA. Scientists from the University of California-Davis (UCD) and the UCD Medical Center also are collaborating in the research.

An analysis of volunteers’ blood samples showed that lower levels of one B vitamin, folate, were associated with symptoms of dementia and poor brain function, also called “cognitive decline,” as determined by standard tests of memory and other factors. The impairments were detectable even though less than 1 percent of the volunteers were actually deficient in folate.

In women, but not men, low levels of folate were associated with symptoms of depression. In fact, female volunteers whose plasma folate levels were in the lowest third were more than twice as likely to have symptoms of depression as volunteers in the highest third. That finding provided new evidence of an association between lower blood folate and depression. Depression is already known to affect brain function.

In research with vitamin B-12, the SALSA team determined that a protein known as holoTC, short for holotranscobalamin, might be key to a new approach for detecting cognitive decline earlier and more accurately.

“We can demonstrate an association between daily consumption of sugared beverages and diabetes risk,” researcher Litsa Lambrakos said. “We can then translate this information into estimates of the current diabetes and cardiovascular disease that can be attributed to the rise in consumption of these drinks.”

The researchers found that sugary soft drinks also contributed to the loss of 21,000 life-years, plus an increase of 50,000 in the life-years spent suffering from heart disease.

“We probably underestimated the incidence, because the rise is greatest among the young, and our model focuses on adults 35 and older,” researcher Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo said.

The analysis included juices with sugar added but excluded 100 percent juice.

“Juice from fruit itself is nutrient-rich, and its nutritional value goes beyond the carbohydrate content,” said Robert H. Eckel of the University of Colorado, a former president of the American Heart Association.

The findings may build new support for the growing push for a soda tax. According to policy experts, a tax of just one cent per ounce would reduce soda consumption by 10 percent.

“The reason why there is a current debate about a tax is that scientific evidence in populations has consistently shown that more than one drink a day increases your risk,” Bibbins-Domingo said.

“The finding suggests that any kind of policy that reduces consumption might have a dramatic health benefit.”

A single serving of soda or other sweetened soft drink contains between 120 and 200 calories of sugar, equivalent to a man’s recommended intake for a full day and exceeding the recommended daily intake for a woman.

Extracts from berries and pomegranate may protect the skin from the detrimental effects of UV exposure, offering interesting dietary approaches to prevent skin wrinkles, suggests a new study.

Korean scientists report that ellagic acid may prevent the degradation of collagen in human skin cells, which would maintain skin structure and slow the formation of wrinkles, according to findings published in this month’s issue of Experimental Dermatology.

Additional studies with hairless mice showed that the polyphenol prevented the thickening of the skin on exposure to UV radiation. Topical application of ellagic acid was associated with a decrease in levels of pro-inflammatory compounds in the skin of the animals, report researchers from the Department of Food and Nutrition at Hallym University in Korea.

“Topical or dietary interventions with berries and pomegranate rich in ellagic acid and ellagitannins are promising strategies in curtailing skin wrinkling and cutaneous inflammation associated with chronic UV exposure leading to photoageing,” wrote the researchers.

The results tap into the growing awareness of the link between diet and health, and by extension physical appearance, means that many consumers are receptive to the concept of ‘beauty from within’.

There is a growing body of science focusing on the potential benefits of nutrients to boost skin health from within, with lutein, lycopene, flavanol-rich chocolate, hydrolysed collaged, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) having been reported to improve skin health.

Study details

The Korean researchers used human skin cells (keratinocytes) and human fibroblasts, which produce the extracellular matrix and collagen in the skin. The cells were exposed to UV-B radiation and ellagic acid.

Results showed that the polyphenol attenuated the UV-B-induced toxicity of these cells, while also preventing the degradation of collagen that is associated with wrinkle formation.

When topically applied to hairless mice at a concentration of 10 micromoles per liter, ellagic acid was associated with a reduction in the production of the pro-inflammatory compounds interleukin-1beta (IL-1b) and IL-6.

“These results demonstrate that ellagic acid prevented collagen destruction and inflammatory responses caused by UV-B,” concluded the researchers.

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Frutarom has launched a black garlic extract, which the firm says can be used in dietary supplements and functional foods to deliver garlic’s heart health benefits without its characteristic bad breath effects.

The new ingredient, which is part of the firm’s EFLA line, is derived from the fermentation of fresh garlic bulbs and is said to show “comparable” benefits for cardiovascular health to fresh garlic.

Production process

Otherwise known as fermented garlic, black garlic is produced by enzymatic fermentation.

“It’s not true fermentation as there is no yeast or fungus involved – some people refer to it as an ‘aging process’,” said Adeline Prevost, Frutarom’s Health product manager. “Our ingredient is produced more via an ‘auto-fermentation’ process, as it’s based on the enzymes that are naturally present in the fresh garlic.”

The garlic bulbs take one months to age, she explained, then they are dried and processed for the extract to be obtained.

Around 6g of fermented garlic is needed to obtain 1g of black garlic extract, meaning that the recommended daily intake of 660mg is equivalent to 4g of the fermented bulbs.

Benefits

Frutarom says that a number of published studies identify the health benefits of black garlic, which include a positive impact on blood pressure and blood lipids, as well as immunomodulatory activity, retardation of arterial calcification and acceleration of wound healing.

The firm has also conducted one (unpublished) study on its branded Black Garlic Extract EFLA 451, which supports its heart health benefits. The in-vitro study, which used plasma from healthy humans) demonstrated that the ingredient can “inhibit thrombocyte aggregation caused by various organic triggers”. This, says Frutarom, contributes to cardiovascular health because aggregating platelets have a negative effect on blood circulation as they increase the risk of capillary blockage and blood clots, and can therefore lead to thrombosis.

In addition, Frutarom said that black garlic has been shown to have a higher antioxidant potency than fresh garlic, which in part explains its cardiovascular benefits. The firm cited an article from Nutrition Research and Practice (2009), which demonstrated that the TEAC (Trolox-equivalence antioxidant assay) value for aged black garlic was 59 micromol/g compared to 13 micromol/g for fresh garlic (based on wet weight).

No bad breath

According to Frutarom, which also supplies garlic extract derived from fresh garlic, the distinctive advantage of its new ingredient is that it does not cause bad breath or body odour.

This is because the compounds that cause bad breath – alliin and allicin – are destroyed by the enzymatic activity in the fermentation process, explained Prevost.

However, a study published in 2007 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicated that the allicin in garlic is actually responsible for some of its health benefits. The study indicated that allicin produces hydrogen sulphide, which signals blood vessels to relax, increases blood flow and boosts heart health.

Prevost agreed that some of garlic’s heart benefits are linked to its allicin content, but said that other studies have shown that “in fermented garlic there are also some compounds that deliver health benefits.”

“But fermented garlic has a very different profile to fresh garlic, so we’re working on identifying which compounds in black garlic are responsible for delivering the health benefits” she said.

Applications

Frutarom said its black garlic ingredient can be used in traditional nutraceutical supplements, such as tablets and capsules, but also in liquid applications with a heart health positioning, instead of or in combination with standard garlic.

Without the pungency of fresh garlic, the fermented variety is said to have a sweet, mild taste and smell, similar to that of oven-roasted garlic.

Frutarom says the ingredient’s mild taste and good water solubility also make it suitable for a variety of savoury and sweet food applications.

Eliminating diabetes and depression, as well as increasing education and fruit and vegetable consumption, are likely to have the biggest impact on reducing levels of dementia in the coming years, should no effective treatment be found, concludes a study published in the British Medical Journal today.

These findings suggest priorities for future public health interventions.

While the exact cause of dementia is still unknown, several modifiable risk factors have already been identified. These include vascular risk factors (heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol), a history of depression, diet, alcohol consumption, and education level.

Based on this knowledge, a team of researchers based in France and the UK estimated which of these risk factors might be most effective in reducing the future burden of dementia, should no effective treatment be found.

Their analysis involved 1,433 healthy people aged over 65 years living in the south of France and recruited between 1999 and 2001. Participants underwent cognitive testing at the start of the study and again at two, four and seven years. A reading test (the Neale score) was also used as an indicator of lifetime intelligence.

Medical history and information on measures such as height, weight, education level, monthly income, mobility, dietary habits, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use was obtained. An individual’s genetic risk of dementia was also measured: although it’s not a factor that can be changed it served as a useful benchmark for dementia risk.

Results showed that eliminating depression and diabetes and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption were estimated to lead to an overall 21% reduction in new cases of dementia, with depression making the greatest contribution (just over 10%). However, the researchers point out that the direct (causal) relationship between depression and dementia remains unclear.

Increasing education would also lead to an estimated 18% reduction in new cases of dementia across the general population over the next seven years. By contrast, eliminating the principal known genetic risk factor from the general population would lead only to a 7% reduction in the number of new cases over the next seven years.

Given these findings, the authors suggest that public health initiatives should focus on encouraging literacy at all ages irrespective of ability, prompt treatment of depressive symptoms, and early screening for glucose intolerance and insulin resistance (early stages in the development of diabetes).

While these calculations can only provide a crude estimate of impact on incidence, they do make a significant statement about public health priorities in disease prevention in the face of current knowledge, conclude the authors. Further studies including younger adults are clearly needed to test the impact of intervention measures.

A second study, also published in the British Medical Journal today, finds that death rates are more than three times higher in people with dementia than in those without dementia in the first year after diagnosis. The study also says that earlier and better detection of dementia in primary care is needed. An accompanying editorial suggests that key areas to focus on include better education and training in primary care, developing more integrated systems of care, and ensuring that policy makers and commissioners plan services that reflect the effects of dementia on primary care and other services.

Provided by British Medical Journal

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women who follow a traditional Mediterranean diet may have a lower risk of developing breast cancer after menopause than women with different eating habits, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that among 14,800 Greek women followed for a decade, those who kept most closely to the region’s traditional diet were less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those whose eating habits were least Mediterranean-like.

The link was seen only among women who were past menopause, and not younger women. Among postmenopausal women, those with the highest Mediterranean diet “scores” were 22 percent less likely to develop breast cancer during the study than those with the lowest scores.

The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, do not prove that the diet itself offers protection against breast cancer. If such a link is proven in future studies, however, the authors estimate that if all women in their study population had closely adhered to a traditional Mediterranean diet, about 10 percent of the 127 postmenopausal breast cancers in the group would have been avoided.

Despite the preliminary nature of the findings, they add to research tying the traditional Mediterranean diet to lower risks of heart disease and certain cancers, such as cancers of the colon and stomach.

In general, the Mediterranean diet is rich in fish, olive oil, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, and relatively low in red meat and dairy.

Researchers have long speculated that the diet may help explain why nations in the Mediterranean region have historically had lower rates of heart disease and some cancers, including breast cancer, compared with other European countries and the U.S.

Until now, only two other studies have looked at the relationship between Mediterranean-style eating and the risk of breast cancer, both done in the U.S. Each found a connection between the diet and lower breast cancer risk, although in one the link was limited to breast cancers that lack receptors for the hormone estrogen — which account for about one-quarter of breast tumors.

The current study focused on women in Greece, as it is the “cradle” of the Mediterranean diet, and a large segment of the population still adheres to it, Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, the senior researcher on the work, told Reuters Health by email.

At the outset, the study participants completed detailed dietary questionnaires and gave information on their lifestyle habits and demographics. Each woman was given a Mediterranean diet score, ranging from 0 to 9, based on how often they consumed vegetables, legumes, fruit and nuts, whole grains, fish and olive oil or other sources of monounsaturated fats; they also won points by limiting meat and dairy.

Of the 14,800 women included, 240 were diagnosed with breast cancer over an average follow-up of 10 years.

Overall, postmenopausal women whose Mediterranean diet scores were in the 6-to-9 range were 22 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than their counterparts with scores between 0 and 3. That was with factors such as age, education, smoking history, weight and exercise habits taken into account.

The findings show an association between Mediterranean eating and lower breast cancer risk, but do not prove cause-and-effect, according to Trichopoulos, who is with the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and the Bureau of Epidemiologic Research at the Academy of Athens in Greece.

Further studies are needed to confirm the results, he said.

However, other evidence suggests ways the Mediterranean diet might curb cancer risk.

Research has found, for instance, that women who closely follow the diet tend to have lower levels of estrogen, which fuels the growth of the majority of breast cancers, than other women do. Other studies in the lab suggest that the fats found in the Mediterranean diet — both olive oil and the omega-3 fats in oily fish — may slow the growth of cancer cells.

The diet is also typically rich in antioxidants, which protect body cells from damage that can eventually lead to disease, including cancer. Trichopoulos said that if the Mediterranean diet does have a protective effect against cancer, it is “likely” to involve that antioxidant component.

It also makes sense, said the researcher, that the diet could affect the risk of postmenopausal, but not premenopausal, breast cancer.

Younger women who develop breast cancer, he explained, often have a genetic vulnerability to the disease, whereas in older women, lifestyle and environmental exposures may be relatively more important contributors to risk.

Based on their findings, Trichopoulos and his colleagues write, the association between the Mediterranean diet and breast cancer is of “modest, but not negligible, strength.”

In the U.S., a woman’s chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer rises from about a half a percent, or one in 233, during her 30s, to about four percent, or one in 27, during her 60s.

Established risk factors for breast cancer include older age and having had a first-degree relative diagnosed with the disease. Research has also linked obesity, sedentary lifestyle, use of hormone replacement therapy and high alcohol intake to an increased risk.

New research has observed the suppressive effects of resveratrol on inflammation and oxidative stress in humans – the first time such effects have been observed.

Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation are part of the root causes of many diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, insulin resistance, auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, and Alzheimer’s disease.

The new study, published early online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, investigated the effects of resveratrol-containing Polygonum cuspidatum extract (PCE) on oxidative stress and inflammation, by measuring its suppressive effect on reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and a range inflammatory mediators.

The study, led by Prof. Paresh Dandonda from the University at Buffalo, suggests that resveratrol may reduce oxidative stress and inflammation through increased expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines, and a reduction in pro-inflammatory molecules.

“These comprehensive suppressive effects on ROS generation and inflammation are consistent with an anti-aging action of resveratrol” wrote the researchers.

Promise of long life

Resveratrol, a powerful polyphenol and anti-fungal chemical, is often suggested to be the bioactive compound in grapes and red wine.

Interest in resveratrol exploded in 2003 when research from David Sinclair and his team from Harvard reported that it was able to increase the lifespan of yeast cells. The research, published in Nature, was greeted with international media fanfare and ignited flames of hope for an anti-ageing pill.

Since then studies in nematode worms, fruit flies, fish, and mice have all linked resveratrol to longer lives. Other studies on resveratrol have reported anti-cancer effects, anti-inflammatory effects, cardiovascular benefits, anti-diabetes potential, energy endurance enhancement, and protection against Alzheimer’s.

Inflammatory effects

The aims of the new study were to investigate the effect of PCE on oxidative and inflammatory stress in normal human subjects. The researchers wrote: “There is data showing the anti-inflammatory effects [of resveratrol] in vitro, but there is no data demonstrating this in humans”

In the study, 20 healthy participants were randomized to receive placebo or PCE (containing 40mg resveratrol) over a six week period.

Researchers observed that the resveratrol rich PCE suppressed reactive oxygen species generation, and also suppressed binding of the pro-inflammatory cytokine NFkB. The study also saw a significant reduction in the expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6, two major pro-inflammatory cytokines that are regulated by NFkB.

In parallel to these effects, the study witnessed a reduction in the expression of two major pro-inflammatory molecules (JNK-1 and IKK?), leading to an anti-inflammatory response. The study also saw a reduction in the expression of SOCS-3, a protein that is modulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines.

“The observations suggest a potent anti-inflammatory effect of PCE containing resveratrol.”

Comprehensive effect

The results demonstrated in the research are the first time that such findings have been seen in humans, but are consistent with potential antiatherogenic and antiaging effects of resvertatrol. Concluding that PCE “has a comprehensive suppressive effect on oxidative and inflammatory stress.”

Prof. Dandona said that whilst the results of the study are promising, one drawback is that the research did not eliminate the possibility that something other than resveratrol was responsible for the observed anti-inflammatory response from PCE.

“The product we used has only 20 percent resveratrol, so it is possible that something else in the preparation is responsible for the positive effects. These agents could be even more potent than resveratrol. Purer preparations now are available and we intend to test those.”

The authors state that “Longer term studies are required to determine whether these effects are durable and whether higher doses will produce a greater effect.”

Source: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

A new study suggests that consuming specific compounds in meat related to processing methods may be associated with an increased risk of developing bladder cancer. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings may be relevant for understanding the role of dietary exposures in cancer risk.

Eating red and processed meats has been linked to an increased risk of developing several different types of cancer. Animal studies have identified a number of compounds in meat that might account for this association. These include heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and N-nitroso compounds. Nitrate and nitrite are added to processed meats and are known precursors to N-nitroso compounds.

Amanda J. Cross, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute in Rockville and colleagues conducted one of the first prospective studies – the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study—to assess the relationship between intake of these meat-related compounds and the risk of developing bladder cancer. They used information gathered through questionnaires to assess the types of meat consumed as well as how meat was prepared and cooked to estimate the intake of these meat-related compounds.

The investigators had information from approximately 300,000 men and women aged 50 to 71 years from eight US states. At the start of the study (1995 to 1996), all participants completed lifestyle and dietary questionnaires about their usual consumption of foods and drinks. The participants were followed for up to eight years, during which time 854 people were diagnosed with bladder cancer.

People whose diets had the highest amount of total dietary nitrite (from all sources and not just from meat), as well as those whose diets had the highest amount of nitrate plus nitrite from processed meats had a 28 percent to 29 percent increased risk of developing bladder cancer compared with those who consumed the lowest amount of these compounds. This association between nitrate/nitrite consumption and bladder cancer risk may explain why other studies have observed an association between processed meats and increased bladder cancer risk.

“Our findings highlight the importance of studying meat-related compounds to better understand the association between meat and cancer risk,” said Dr. Cross. “Comprehensive epidemiologic data on meat-related exposures and bladder cancer are lacking; our findings should be followed up in other prospective studies,” she added.

Provided by American Cancer Society

Resveratrol, a popular plant extract shown to prolong life in yeast and lower animals due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, appears also to suppress inflammation in humans, based on results from the first prospective human trial of the extract conducted by University at Buffalo endocrinologists.

Results of the study appear as a rapid electronic publication on the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism website and will be published in an upcoming print issue of the journal.

The paper also has been selected for inclusion in Translational Research in Endocrinology & Metabolism, a new online anthology that highlights the latest clinical applications of cutting-edge research from the journals of the Endocrine Society.

Resveratrol is a compound produced naturally by several plants when under attack by pathogens such as bacteria or fungi, and is found in the skin of red grapes and red wine. It also is produced by chemical synthesis derived primarily from Japanese knotweed and is sold as a nutritional supplement.

Husam Ghanim, PhD, UB research assistant professor of medicine and first author on the study, notes that resveratrol has been shown to prolong life and to reduce the rate of aging in yeast, roundworms and fruit flies, actions thought to be affected by increased expression of a particular gene associated with longevity.

The compound also is thought to play a role in insulin resistance as well, a condition related to oxidative stress, which has a significant detrimental effect on overall health.

“Since there are no data demonstrating the effect of resveratrol on oxidative and inflammatory stress in humans,” says Paresh Dandona, MD, PhD, UB distinguished professor of medicine and senior author on the study, “we decided to determine if the compound reduces the level of oxidative and inflammatory stress in humans.

“Several of the key mediators of insulin resistance also are pro-inflammatory, so we investigated the effect of resveratrol on their expression as well.”

The study was conducted at Kaleida Health’s Diabetes-Endocrinology Center of Western New York, which Dandona directs.

A nutritional supplement containing 40 milligrams of resveratrol was used as the active product. Twenty participants were randomized into two groups of 10: one group received the supplement, while the other group received an identical pill containing no active ingredient. Participants took the pill once a day for six weeks. Fasting blood samples were collected as the start of the trial and at weeks one, three and six.

Results showed that resveratrol suppressed the generation of free radicals, or reactive oxygen species, unstable molecules known to cause oxidative stress and release proinflammatory factors into the blood stream, resulting in damage to the blood vessel lining.

Blood samples from persons taking resveratrol also showed suppression of the inflammatory protein tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and other similar compounds that increase inflammation in blood vessels and interfere with insulin action, causing insulin resistance and the risk of developing diabetes.

These inflammatory factors, in the long term, have an impact on the development of type 2 diabetes, aging, heart disease and stroke, noted Dandona.

Blood samples from the participants who received the placebo showed no change in these pro-inflammatory markers.

While these results are promising, Dandona added a caveat: The study didn’t eliminate the possibility that something in the extract other than resveratrol was responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects.

“The product we used has only 20 percent resveratrol, so it is possible that something else in the preparation is responsible for the positive effects. These agents could be even more potent than resveratrol. Purer preparations now are available and we intend to test those.”

Provided by University at Buffalo

Nestle is teaming up with the Cleveland Clinic research center to conduct what it says will be amongst the largest controlled studies on the benefits of whole grains.

The Swiss firm’s research center has pumped $500,000 into the project, which it says it will use to build the scientific substantiation and the marketing communication of its whole grain products globally.

The primary focus of the study will be the impact of whole grains on body fat and body composition. Secondary outcomes will look at other metabolic components, including cholesterol, glucose and insulin.

“We know that whole grains are healthy, but evidence has been quite moderate, partly because most studies so far have been epidemiological, and partly because the intervention trials are often not well-designed, with diets not being well controlled,” said Dr Takoua Debeche, science and technology manager for the Nestlé Food Business.

“The study we’re conducting is a very well controlled crossover study, where we’ll control the entire diet of the subjects and we’ll be using state of the art technologies to examine health benefits, in particular body composition,” she told NutraIngredients-USA.com.

Study design

The 26-week study will involve between 40 and 50 participants, who will eat commercially available meals provided by Nestle Prepared Food Company.

During the first phase, one of the group’s diets will include most of their carbohydrate coming from whole grains, while the other will receive carbohydrates mainly from refined grains.

The second phase will see the two groups switching diets, to eliminate any misleading impact of individuals’ physiologies on the findings.

“This research will be one of the largest controlled studies of its type on whole grains and the first to use advanced body composition measurement techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that are used at the Cleveland Clinic,” said Nestle.

The researchers will also use metabolomic analyses to examine changes in metabolism. Metabolomics is an integrative approach to metabolism, which looks at organisms in a coherent way in order to help maintain health and prevent disease.

The technology measures changes to any metabolic end-points via biological samples such as blood, urine or saliva. It forms part of Nestle’s wider focus on nutritional metabonomics, which it uses to understand individuals’ metabolic responses to different nutrients.

Benefits and product development

Nestle has already completed a two-week pilot study on whole grains, which has been submitted for publication, and which revealed that whole grain consumption reduced LDL cholesterol, improved insulin sensitivity and reduced total body fat.

“Our objective with the long-term study is to confirm these benefits, with a focus on the reduction in body fat and particularly abdominal fat,” said Dr Debeche.

Participants are being recruited this month. Preliminary data is expected by the end of the year, with final results expected at the end of 2011.

The findings will be used to add weight to Nestle’s communication on the benefits of its whole-grain containing products. The firm is planning to launch new whole grain ready meals under its Lean Cuisine and Stouffer’s brands, which it expects will be on shelves in the US within the next 12 months.

(NaturalNews) Research has been steadily accumulating that olive oil, a main component of the Mediterranean diet, has extensive health-protective properties. For example, phytonutrient components of olive oil have been found to be effective against breast cancer cells (http://www.naturalnews.com/025633_c…) and studies suggest the abundance of olive oil in the Mediterranean style of eating may be the reason that diet helps prevent depression (http://www.naturalnews.com/027265_d…). Now scientists have discovered that phenolic compounds in olive oil directly repress genes linked to inflammation.

This could be especially important in halting the dangerous effects of metabolic syndrome. Characterized by excess abdominal fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high blood glucose levels, metabolic syndrome is linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and early death.

Research published in the journal BMC Genomics investigated changes in genes mediated by olive oil phenols (which are most abundant in the extra-virgin varieties of olive oil). The double-blind, randomized study, headed by Francisco Perez-Jimenez from the University of Cordoba, involved 20 research subjects, all with metabolic syndrome. For six weeks, the patients did not take any supplements or drugs and they were all placed on similar low-fat, carbohydrate-rich diets. Then, for breakfast, they ate either a breakfast containing virgin olive oil with a high content of phenolic compounds or a similar breakfast with low phenol content.

The research team took blood samples after the meals to check for the expression of over 15,000 human genes. The results? The high phenol olive oil clearly impacted the regulation of almost 100 genes — many of which have been linked to obesity, high blood fat levels, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

“We identified 98 differentially expressed genes when comparing the intake of phenol-rich olive oil with low-phenol olive oil. Several of the repressed genes are known to be involved in pro-inflammatory processes, suggesting that the diet can switch the activity of immune system cells to a less deleterious inflammatory profile, as seen in metabolic syndrome,” Dr. Perez-Jimenez said in a statement to the press. “These findings strengthen the relationship between inflammation, obesity and diet and provide evidence at the most basic level of healthy effects derived from virgin olive oil consumption in humans.”

The ability of olive oil’s phenolic compounds to reduce or prevent inflammation also provides a molecular basis for the reduction of heart disease observed in Mediterranean countries, where virgin olive oil represents a main source of dietary fat.

Spices such as cinnamon could be used in the battle against type 2 diabetes, according to United States Agricultural Department (USDA) scientists.

Nutrition researchers from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are purifying, characterizing and evaluating the components of cinnamon and other spices to explore their beneficial effects on insulin levels and related functions.

Research by chemist Richard Anderson, at the Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center (BHNRC), Maryland and colleagues suggests certain spices may be beneficial to some people with diabetes.

Blood glucose levels

Their study, based on a water-soluble extract of cinnamon, suggested that the spice could have a beneficial effect on insulin or blood glucose levels. “Insulin is a key hormone that ‘opens a door’ within cells and then escorts glucose into those cells, thus providing fuel to them,” according to the USDA website explaining the research. “Without a sufficient insulin supply, or ability to use available insulin, glucose builds up in the blood instead of going into cells where it can be metabolized and used for fuel. Over time, damage occurs to the eyes, kidneys, heart, and nerves.”

The cinnamon extract study, conducted in Ohio, focused on 22 volunteers with metabolic syndrome, which increases the chances of developing diabetes. Volunteers were randomly assigned to supplement their diets with either water-soluble cinnamon extracts or a placebo for 12 weeks.

Volunteers who took the cinnamon extract group showed significant decreases in fasting blood glucose and small increases in lean muscle mass compared with the placebo group. “Improvement in lean muscle mass is considered a marker of improved body composition,” according to the researchers.

Pre and post study analysis of the extract group also revealed small but statistically significant decreases in body fat and blood pressure. But other characteristics of metabolic syndrome, such as abnormal blood LDL or HDL cholesterol levels or triglycerides, were unaffected by the cinnamon extract.

Meanwhile, new biomarkers could help physicians and other health care professionals monitor the success of experimental nutrition-based strategies designed to help prevent type 2 diabetes.

Nutrition-based strategies

One study lead by ARS research physiologist Sean Adams explored the potential of natural compounds in the body, known as fatty acylcarnitines, to serve as diabetes biomarkers which could act as indicators to assess nutrition-based strategies to prevent the condition. The scientists determined this after searching for telltale molecules in blood samples from diabetic and nondiabetic African-American women who volunteered for the research.

Levels of some fatty acylcarnitines were nearly 300 percent higher in the diabetic volunteers than in those without the disease. The higher levels were assigned to incomplete or inefficient oxidation of fat in the diabetic women.

The biomarkers research also promises to identify more quickly children and adults who are at risk of developing this type 2 diabetes.

(NaturalNews) Resveratrol is a type of phytonutrient known as a polyphenol. Found in the skin of grapes, wine, grape juice, peanuts, and berries, it has often been hailed as a life-extending natural compound. After all, research in mice and lab rats has indicated it can protect those animals from obesity and diabetes and has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and blood-sugar-lowering effects, too. However, rats and mice are rodents — and their physiology is in many ways different from the primate family that includes apes, monkeys and, most importantly, human beings.

But now for the first time a study has shown resveratrol has the ability to rev up metabolism and spark weight loss in primates — and that means the polyphenol might have weight loss and even anti-aging and life-extending benefits in people, too.

Fabienne Aujard, from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris, France, worked with a team of scientists to document how a diet supplemented with resveratrol impacted the weight, metabolism and energy intake of six mouse lemurs. (Despite their names, mouse lemurs have nothing to do with rodents. Found only on the African island nation of Madagascar, they are mouse-sized primates — the group that includes apes and humans.)

The study, which was just published in the BMC Physiology journal, showed that after four weeks of resveratrol supplementation there was a significant decrease in the animals’ food intake along with a reduction in the body-mass gain lemurs normally experience in winter. The response to the resveratrol supplementation also involved significant changes in the animals’ body temperatures. The researchers noted that resveratrol appears to reduce weight by increasing satiety (the feeling of being full) and also by increasing the resting metabolic rate (the amount of energy expended while at rest) — so the animals burned up more calories even when not exercising.

“We’ve found that lemurs eating a diet supplemented with the compound (resveratrol) decreased their energy intake by 13 percent and increased their resting metabolic rate by 29 percent,” Dr. Aujard said in a statement to the press. “These results provide novel information on the potential effects of resveratrol on energy metabolism and control of body mass in a primate. The physiological benefits of resveratrol are currently under intensive investigation, with recent work suggesting that it could be a good candidate for the development of obesity therapies.”

(NaturalNews) New research published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research has identified how cranberry juice works at the molecular level to fight virulent E. coli infections in the urinary tract. The team of researchers from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts that conducted the study found that cranberry juice literally stops E. coli cells from attaching themselves to urinary tract cells, preventing infection.

E. coli cells are covered in small, hair-like filaments called fimbriae, which clasp onto healthy cells and spread infection. But the molecules in cranberry juice cause the fimbriae to curl up, effectively stopping them from being able to latch onto urinary tract cells.

The team discovered that, apart from cranberry juice, virulent E. coli is too strong to be eliminated from the urinary tract by the simple flow of urine. But when cranberry juice is present, normal urinary flow is enough to expel most of the E. coli cells from the tract.

The study is different from a typical clinical study, in that researchers have identified the logistical method by which cranberries prevent infection. It is already known that cranberries and cranberry juice help to prevent urinary tract infection, but this research sheds a little bit more light as to why and how it works.

“This is not a clinical study — it’s a mechanical study that shows us the direct forces that can lead to infection,” explained Terri Camesano, professor of chemical engineering at WPI, and author of the study.

Though the team used commercial preparations of cranberry juice cocktail, it may be more beneficial to use whole cranberry juice or even fresh-squeezed cranberry juice to obtain maximum benefit.

There are many other benefits to be obtained from cranberries as well.

“Cranberry juice is famous for its antioxidant properties and support of a healthy urinary tract; its organic acids and fatty acids help keep bacteria from sticking to urinary tract cells. Cranberry can also decrease the incidence of constipation and urinary incontinence as well, especially in older people. If you don’t have extract on hand, you can simply add an ounce of unsweetened cranberry juice (a good one is Just Cranberry) to an 8-ounce glass of water,” explains Brenda Watson and Leonard Smith in their book, The Detox Strategy: Vibrant Health in 5 Easy Steps.

(NaturalNews) The vegetable known as the beetroot in Great Britain (and usually called the table beet, garden beet, red beet or just plain beet in the U.S.) has been studied in recent years for its health-building properties. For example, scientists have found it is rich in the nutrient betaine, which reduces the blood concentration of homocycsteine, a substance linked to heart disease and stroke. Now a study just published in the American Heart Association’s Hypertension journal concludes drinking beet juice lowers high blood pressure quickly and effectively — and could be a natural approach to helping prevent cardiovascular problems.

British scientists at the Queen Mary University of London found that drinking beet juice lowered blood pressure to healthy levels within 24 hours. In fact, it was just as effective as prescription nitrate tables in treating hypertension. In a previous study two years ago, the same research team had first observed that drinking beetroot juice lowered blood pressure — now they’ve figured out exactly why.

It turns out that the organic form of nitrate found in beet juice is the key to its blood pressure lowering benefits. Study author Amrita Ahluwalia, Professor of Vascular Biology at Queen Mary’s William Harvey Research Institute, said the investigators were able to prove the nitrate was the cause of beet juice’s beneficial effects on cardiovascular health because they showed beet nitrate increased levels of the gas nitric oxide in the circulation. Nitric oxide is a type of biological messenger in the body. It signals smooth muscle tissue to relax, induces vasodilation and increases blood flow, leading to a lower blood pressure.

“We gave inorganic nitrate capsules or beetroot juice to healthy volunteers and compared their blood pressure responses and the biochemical changes occurring in the circulation,” Professor Ahluwalia said in a statement to the press. “We showed that beetroot and nitrate capsules are equally effective in lowering blood pressure indicating that it is the nitrate content of beetroot juice that underlies its potential to reduce blood pressure. We also found that only a small amount of juice is needed — just 250ml — to have this effect, and that the higher the blood pressure at the start of the study the greater the decrease caused by the nitrate.”

“The research will be welcome news to people with high blood pressure who might now be able to use a new ‘natural’ approach to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease (including stroke and heart attacks) — the world’s biggest killer,” the researchers added in the media statement.

For example, as NaturalNews previously reported, University of East Anglia (UEA) researchers have discovered olive oil may stop ulcerative colitis from developing in the first place (http://www.naturalnews.com/028813_o…). Now ongoing research by South Dakota State University (SDSU) scientist Moul Dey is providing evidence an extract made from a food plant in the Brassica genus can heal ulcerative colitis symptoms.

While a researcher at Rutgers starting in 2004, Dr. Dey screened about 3,000 extracts of this plant family (which includes cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, watercress and broccoli), looking for anti-inflammation activity. She found that Phenethylisothiocyanate, PEITC for short, in cruciferous veggies has particularly strong anti-inflammatory properties. Early winter cress (also called upland cress) — an herb in the Brassica genus that’s used in salads, soups and garnishes — is an especially rich source of PEITC.

“I tested this substance in a mouse model that is already established and widely used. What we found is that it not only alleviates several clinical signs of ulcerative colitis — for example, it attenuates the damage that occurs in the colon tissues and colon epithelium, as well as the clinical signs like diarrhea and blood in stool. The weight loss is a major sign in colitis and that was alleviated, too,” Dr. Dey said in a statement to the media.

Now her work, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is expanding to study whether the plant extract can treat colon cancer, too. “There is an established link between ulcerative colitis and colon cancer. People who have ulcerative colitis are at significantly higher risk to have colon cancer,” Dr. Dey said in the press statement. “Whether this plant extract might help with colon cancer symptoms directly or perhaps delay the onset of colon cancer in ulcerative colitis patients, we don’t know the answers to those questions, but it is something we would like to look into.”

by David Gutierrez
July 15 2010

(NaturalNews) Drinking more than one sweetened soft drink per week may significantly increase your risk of pancreatic cancer, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota and published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

“The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth,” lead researcher Mark Pereira said.

The researchers followed 60,524 adult male and female participants in the Singapore Chinese Health Study for 14 years, monitoring their soda intake and pancreatic cancer risk. They found that participants who drank two or more sweetened soft drinks per week were 87 percent more likely to develop cancer of the pancreas than those who drank sodas less frequently.

This risk was not seen among those who drank non-sweetened fruit juices instead.

“Singapore is a wealthy country with excellent healthcare,” Pereira said. “Favorite pastimes are eating and shopping, so the findings should apply to other western countries.”

Researchers believe that excessive sugar consumption may cause damage to the pancreas, which produces the sugar-regulating hormone insulin. Some research also suggests that sugar may accelerate the growth of some tumors, which rely more heavily on glucose than other bodily cells.

Sugar may not be solely responsible for the observed effect, however.

“Soft drink consumption in Singapore was associated with several other adverse health behaviors such as smoking and red meat intake, which we can’t accurately control for,” said Susan Mayne of the Yale Cancer Center.

Prior studies have linked consumption of red meat, especially burned or charred varieties, to a significantly increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is one the most lethal forms of the disease, with a 5-year survival rate of only 5 percent. An estimated 37,680 people are diagnosed with the disease in the United States each year, and 34,290 die from it.