 Friday February 27, 2009
Vitamin D Delivers Multiple Benefits
New York Times Syndicate 02-26-09
ATLANTA -- Vitamin D may not just be good for you, it may help save your life.
Recent research from Johns Hopkins University suggests that higher amounts of vitamin D in your diet decreases your likelihood of dying. Studies found that a vitamin D deficiency increases your risk of death by 26 percent, and vitamin D decreases the mortality rate from almost every type of cancer including breast, colon and prostate.
Research also suggests that vitamin D helps prevent diabetes, kidney disease and cardiovascular disease.
Surprising news for some, but not for Atlanta physician Reginald Fowler.
The doctor of internal medicine found that 80 percent of his patients lacked the crucial vitamin that maintains normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus in the body.
"It's nothing new, but if we can do something about it, we will decrease the incidence of disease significantly," said Fowler, who regularly screens for vitamin D during exams. A simple blood test can check for levels that should remain at 30 (nanograms per milliliter) or above.
People who are deficient in vitamin D may experience muscle pain or a feeling of achiness. Severe and long-term deficiency of vitamin D leads to rickets, a softening or weakening of the bones.
The sun helps the body produce vitamin D, but too much time in direct sunlight can increase the risk of skin cancer. So food and supplements are generally deemed the best sources.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends an intake value of 200 International Units per day for people up to age 50, but Fowler and other health officials recommend at least double that amount.
To increase your intake, eat more vitamin D-rich foods such as salmon and tuna, fortified cereals, nuts, orange juice and dairy products. An 8-ounce glass of fortified milk contains about 100 IUs of vitamin D. You can also take a vitamin D-3 supplement such as cholecalciferol.
"This is not something to play around with," Fowler said.
"These are little changes that can make a huge impact."
Vikki Conwell writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=7945&Section=Vitamins
Clean living could cut one third of common cancers
Last Updated: 2009-02-26 10:31:46 -0400 (Reuters Health)
LONDON (Reuters) - Healthier living could prevent about one third of the most common cancers in rich countries and about one quarter in poorer ones, international researchers said on Thursday.
Better diets, more exercise and controlling weight could also prevent more than 40 percent of colon and breast cancer cases in some countries, according to the study which urged governments and individuals to do more to cut the number of global cancer deaths each year.
"At the time of publication, roughly 11 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer and nearly eight million people die from cancer each year," said Michael Marmot, who led the study from the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research.
"However, cancer is mostly preventable."
The study involved 23 experts who analyzed both the incidence of 12 common cancers across the world and data on diet, exercise and weight to see how these factors contributed to kidney, mouth, lung, gallbladder and the other cancers.
The researchers found that healthier living would prevent 43 percent of colon cancer cases and 42 percent of breast cancer cases in Britain, and 45 percent of bowel cancer and 38 percent of breast cancer cases in the United States.
The findings follow the same groups' study in 2007 that showed how quickly people grow and what they eat are both significant causes of cancer.
They recommended -- in line with what health experts, including governments and the U.N. World Health Organization, have long been advising -- that people follow diets based on fruits, vegetables and whole grains and go easy on red meats, dairy products and fats.
The team also looked at China and Brazil as representatives of low- and middle-income countries, respectively.
Overall improving diet, exercise and weight would in the United States prevent more than a third of the 12 most common cancers -- which also included stomach, womb (uterus), prostate, pancreas and esophagus tumors.
This amounted to 39 percent of the cancers in Britain, 30 percent in Brazil and 27 percent in China.
"This report shows that by making relatively straightforward changes, we could significantly reduce the number of cancer cases around the world," Marmot said in a statement.
"On a global level every year, there are millions of cancer cases that could have been prevented and this is why we need to act now before the situation gets even worse."
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/02/26/eline/links/20090226elin010.html
Alzheimer's plaques 'big impact'
The sticky amyloid plaques linked to Alzheimer's disease may have a more widespread impact on the brain than thought, American research suggests.
The deposits are known to damage neurons - cells that transmit signals throughout the nervous system.
But now they have also been shown to impact on astrocyte cells, which play a key support role in the brain.
The work, featured in Science, suggests the full effect of plaques on the brain is much more complex than suspected.
“ Our work suggests that amyloid plaques might have a more complex role in altering brain function than we had thought ”
Dr Kishore Kuchibhotla
MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease
It also raises the possibility of a new target for drugs to treat Alzheimer's.
Astrocytes are abundant throughout the brain, making up about half of its total volume.
Until recently they had been thought to play a passive support role to neurons, but are now thought to send their own chemical signals, which can travel long distances across the brain.
The researchers, from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, found that the plaques seemed to make astoctyes more active - and not just those cells in their immediate vicinity.
Previously it had been thought that plaques only impacted on neurons - and then only on those that were close by.
But the latest finding suggests individual plaques are able to spread their malign influence much further afield through the tissue of the brain.
Lead researcher Dr Kishore Kuchibhotla said: "Our work suggests that amyloid plaques might have a more complex role in altering brain function than we had thought.
"We've only begun to scratch the surface of how plaque deposition impacts astrocyte function.
"One key question will be how increased astrocyte signaling impacts neuronal function, and another will be whether astrocyte activity limits or intensifies plaque deposition."
The researchers labelled astrocytes with a dye that lights up when the cell is active, and shuts off when it is not.
They were surprised to see astrocytes flicker on and off at much higher rates in mice bred to be riddled with plaques.
The astrocyte activity appeared to be synchronized and passed to distant areas of the brain in a wave-like fashion.
Blocking neuron activity had no impact on reducing astrocyte activity, suggesting the effect on the cells was independent.
Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "This development may prove to be a breakthrough in our understanding of the disease, and the hunt for new Alzheimer's drugs.
"It's a new and exciting area of research for Alzheimer's, so these findings mark the beginning of the journey for the scientists involved, but it is a path that may someday lead to the treatment we desperately need."
Yakult: probiotics may boost brain health
Nutraingredients.com, 27-Feb-2009
Probiotics pioneer Yakult says preliminary research indicates the interrelationship of the nervous systems of the gut and the brain could confer cognitive benefits when probiotics are consumed.
Speaking at a one-day seminar about ‘Functional Foods for the 50+ Market’, Netherlands-based Yakult science manager, Dr Jia Zhao, said at least one UK study highlighted how probiotic consumption could benefit those with autism.
Small brain, big brain
“An upcoming area is mental health,” Dr Zhao told NutraIngredients.com after making her presentation on gut health for over-50s. “The brain is not beyond the reach of probiotics. The gut is the ‘small brain’ as it is called from a neurology point of view. This is an area for probiotics and functional foods to explore.”
She said this year’s Yakult’s bi-annual symposium in the Netherlands would focus on probiotic health benefits outside of the gut and brain health was one area that would be discussed.
Other areas of interest were weight management, a particularly relevant topic to over-50s where obesity and overweight rates can soar above 75 per cent. Ongoing research on various probiotic strains demonstrated some were more suited to particular health benefits than others, and some may function better in older than younger digestive systems.
Wealthy older folks
Chairman of the event, Dr Sian Astley, the European communications manager at the UK-based Institute of Food Research, highlighted some of the special challenges that accompanied manufacturing and marketing foods to a slice of the population some are calling wealthy older folks (WOOFERs).
She said the science was moving forward demonstrating varying functional food for the elderly benefits from bone health to heart health, but marketing needed to be sensitive to the fact many over-50s are sceptical about having their foods medicalised.
“The needs of representatives of differing sub-groups of the population vary greatly – so they want different things to people in their 20s or children or the very elderly that may be over-80,” she told NutraIngredients.com.
“What was encouraging about this conference was the progress science is making in areas such as nutrigenomics and that is making the marketing job easier.”
Some of that science was presented by the likes of Cognis (zeaxanthin and lutein and eye health), DSM (cardiovascular health and a range of ingredients including omega-3, soy and plant sterols and stanols), Danisco Sweeteners (dietary fibre) and Cargill (glucosamine and joint health).
The manner in which science and marketing was being affected by the European Union health and nutrition claims regulation was mentioned several times by both speakers and delegates.
Sophia Johansson, the senior technical and regulatory advisor at Leatherhead Food International, noted in her presentation that some claims were age-specific to over-50s.
“But we were surprised by how few article 13 claims have been submitted,” she said, perhaps reflecting the relative novelty of foods in this sector.
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Industry/Yakult-probiotics-may-boost-brain-health
Lupin-enriched bakery may slash blood pressure, boost heart health
Foodnavigator-USA.com 26-Feb-2009
Bread enriched with lupin kernel flour at the expense of wheat flour may reduce blood pressure and boost heart health, says new research from Australia.
Overweight and obese men and women who consumed the lupin-enriched bakery experienced decreases in their systolic and diastolic blood pressures of 3.0 and 0.6 mm Hg, according to findings published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
“These results suggest that a diet moderately higher in dietary protein and fibre can significantly reduce blood pressure,” wrote the researchers, led by Jonathan Hodgson from the University of Western Australia in Perth.
“They also confirm the potential of lupin kernel flour as a novel food ingredient to bring about these outcomes. This approach may be a relatively simple and acceptable dietary measure for helping to reduce cardiovascular risk in overweight and obese persons.”
Lupin flour has been earmarked as the next major competitor to soybean as a high protein source.
Lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.), is the major grain legume grown in Australia and production exceeds 800,000 tons per year. Used mainly for feed, since 2001 in Australia lupin bran and flour have been used as a substitute in food formulations for more expensive traditional cereal grains.
The average protein content of lupin is just over 30 per cent, compared with 44 to 48 per cent in soybeans. In Europe, the flour is already being used in bakery and pasta products because it can replace eggs and butter to enhance colour and additional potential uses of lupins are in crunchy cereals and snacks, baby formula, soups and salads.
In addition to the protein, lupin flour is also said to contain non-starch polysaccharides which act like both soluble (oat fibre) and insoluble (wheat bran) fibre.
Study details
Hodgson and his co-workers recruited 88 overweight and obese men and women with an average age of 57.9 and an average BMI of 30.6 kg/m2, and randomly assigned them to receive either a white bread group or a lupin kernel flour-enriched bread group for 16 weeks. Both interventions contributed between 15 and 20 per cent of the participants’ usual daily energy intake.
At the end of the study, results for the 74 people who completed the study showed that systolic and diastolic blood pressures decreased by 3.0 and 0.6 mm Hg, respectively, in the lupin group. The pulse pressure of participants in the lupin-flour group also decreased by 3.5 mm Hg, but the researchers noted no change in heart rate.
In terms of the mechanism, the researchers could not clarify since “a range of mechanisms may be involved”, they said. One such possibility is the high content of arginine, which is a known precursor for the vasodilator nitric oxide.
“The decrease in blood pressure could result from an improvement in vascular tone mediated by nitric oxide, a potent endothelium-derived relaxing factor,” wrote the authors.
“However, it is difficult to speculate on the mechanisms behind the observed differences in blood pressure, given that multiple factors in the diet - protein, carbohydrate, and fibre - were changed,” they added.
Role for lupin in weight management
Previously, Dr Hodgson has reported that lupin flour may increase satiety and play a role in weight loss. A study from 2006 reported that eating a breakfast containing lupin bread resulted in significantly higher self-reported satiety than the white bread group, and a lower energy intake (488 kJ less) at lunch than the white bread breakfast.
Eating the lupin-enriched bread at lunch also reduced between meal energy intake (1028 kJ less) than the white bread lunch (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 84, pp. 975-980).
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
2009, Volume 89, Pages 766-772
“Effects of lupin kernel flour-enriched bread on blood pressure: a controlled intervention study”
Authors: Y.P. Lee, T.A. Mori, I.B. Puddey, S. Sipsas, T.R. Ackland, L.J. Beilin, J.M. Hodgson
Lupin-enriched-bakery-may-slash-blood-pressure-boost-heart-health
Acrylamide may be added to Canada’s toxic substance list
Foodnavigator-USA.com 26-Feb-2009
Health Canada has recommended that acrylamide – a possible carcinogen found in French fries and potato chips – be included on the nation’s list of toxic substances.
The chemical is produced when starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures, and is caused by a reaction, known as the Maillard effect, between sugar and an amino acid called asparagine. It is this process which creates the brown color and tasty flavor of baked, fried and toasted foods.
Acrylamide was first called into question in 2002, when scientists at the Swedish Food Association found unexpectedly high levels of acrylamide – which had been found to cause cancer in laboratory rats – in carbohydrate-rich foods.
Now a recommendation has been made on the grounds that current consumption levels “may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health.” It was published in the Canada Gazette on February 21.
Research efforts
The recommendation did acknowledge, however, that research into a possible carcinogenic link for humans has so far been inconclusive.
It said: “While the mode of induction of tumors by acrylamide has not been fully elucidated, it can not be precluded that the tumors observed in experimental animals have resulted from direct interaction with genetic material.”
The decision to recommend acrylamide’s inclusion on the list is part of the Canadian government’s ongoing review of nearly two hundred chemical substances in widespread commercial use that have never before been subjected to thorough risk analysis.
Since the 2002 Swedish discovery, over 200 research projects have been undertaken to find out more about the chemical, with their findings coordinated by national governments, the UN and the EU. Over the past few years, food manufacturers have been making efforts to remove or reduce the chemical in their products, despite a number of null results from these studies.
Industry approaches
Successful approaches employed so far include converting asparagine, the precursor to acrylamide formation, into an impotent form using an enzyme, binding asparagine to make it inaccessible, adding amino acids, changing the pH to alter the reaction products, cutting heating temperatures and times, and removing compounds from recipes that may promote acrylamide formation.
However, most attention in the past two years for reducing the chemical has focused on the use of enzymes to convert asparagine into another amino acid called aspartic acid, thereby preventing the creation of acrylamide. There are two main competitors in this area: Novozymes with its Acrylaway enzyme, and DSM’s Preventase, both of which were launched for use by the food industry in 2007.
The Canadian government is inviting comments on the recommendation until April 22.
Amino acids against acrylamide – choice is critical for effects: Study
Foodnavigator-USA.com 25-Feb-2009
Using amino acids to compete with, and reduce, the sources of acrylamide should focus on the common additive cysteine, according to results from Belgium.
According to a study published in the journal Food Chemistry, L-cysteine may reduce the concentration of acrylamide by more than 99 per cent.
“Selectively increasing the free amino acid pool to compete with asparagine for available carbonyls and/or to enhance the elimination of acrylamide has already been proposed as a possible mitigation mechanism for acrylamide generation,” explained lead author Kristel de Vleeschouwer from the Leuven Food Science and Nutrition Research Centre (LFORCE) at the Catholic University of Leuven.
The study taps into the trend of reducing acrylamide in foods, as the industry aims to improve the public perception about food safety, which has suffered in recent years.
Acrylamide is a suspected carcinogen that is formed by a heat-induced reaction between sugar and an amino acid called asparagine. Known as the Maillard reaction, this process is responsible for the brown colour and tasty flavour of baked, fried and toasted foods.
The compound first hit the headlines in 2002, when scientists at the Swedish Food Administration first reported unexpectedly high levels of acrylamide, found to cause cancer in laboratory rats, in carbohydrate-rich foods.
Since the Swedish discovery a global effort has been underway to amass data about this chemical. More than 200 research projects have been initiated around the world and their findings co-ordinated by national governments, the EU and the United Nations.
New data
Using the model asparagine-glucose control system, de Vleeschouwer and her co-workers tested the effects of two amino acids, glutamine and cysteine, on acrylamide formation.
The researchers report that adding glutamine into the system produced the undesirable effect of slightly increasing the acrylamide yield.
On the other hand, cysteine had a “pronounced reducing effect (greater than 99 per cent) on the acrylamide yield”, they said.
This reduction was due to an additional acrylamide elimination reaction dependent on the cysteine concentration, said de Vleeschouwer.
However, “speculations have been made in literature concerning the exact mechanism(s) by which these amino acids affect acrylamide formation/elimination, but mechanistic studies are, however, lacking”, added the researchers.
Care needed
While the cysteine addition could reduce acrylamide levels in this model system, the authors urged caution with regarding to extrapolation of the results to finished foods, since “such treatment certainly also has an effect on the favourable qualities of colour, texture and flavour that are associated with heat-treated foods.
“Therefore, it would be advisable to first determine the mechanism by which different amino acids act on acrylamide formation and elimination reactions […]
“This will allow prediction of the impact of (pre)treatments with amino acids on the kinetic parameters of acrylamide formation and elimination on the one hand and of reactions responsible for colour and flavour on the other hand,” they concluded.
Enzymes leading anti-acrylamide approaches
The most attention for acrylamide reduction or removal has focussed on the potential of asparaginase enzymes to tackle the problem. The two main players in this area, DSM and Novozymes, both launched their solutions for use by the food industry in 2007, after having licensed the application rights from Frito Lay and Proctor and Gamble.
DSM's Preventase and Novozyme's Acrylaway are said to work in the same way: they convert asparagine into another amino acid called aspartic acid, thus preventing it from being converted into acrylamide. The effect is a reduction in acrylamide in the final product by as much as 90 per cent.
While Preventase is derived from Aspergillus niger, Acrylaway comes from a different strain, Aspergillus oryzae.
Source: Food Chemistry
Pages 535-546
“Role of precursors on the kinetics of acrylamide formation and elimination under low moisture conditions using a multiresponse approach – Part II: Competitive reactions”
Authors: K. De Vleeschouwer, I. Van der Plancken, A. Van Loey, M.E. Hendrick
Amino-acids-against-acrylamide-choice-is-critical-for-effects-Study
Drinking Coffee Reduces Risk of Stroke, Cancer and Dementia
by Barbara Minton, NaturalNews.com
(NaturalNews) It's a pleasant surprise when something questionable turns out to be full of health benefits. First chocolate was found to prevent heart disease. Then red wine was shown to increase overall longevity. Now the spotlight is on coffee. Newly released studies reveal that coffee drinking lowers risk of stroke, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and dementia. It even improves social skills and depressive symptoms. Other recent research has shown that drinking coffee reduces the risk of diabetes.
There is a reason 90 percent of the population loves coffee
Mother Nature wants people to be healthy and reproduce. She has created in them an attraction to foods that promote good health. Bright, vibrant vegetables that shimmer with energy, luscious fruits, and the dazzling aroma of coffee just can't be denied. Some of the health benefits of coffee come from its caffeine content. The ability of coffee to lower the risk for Parkinson's disease and treat asthma and headaches is linked to caffeine. Caffeine can enhance athletic performance by increasing endurance. This is why coffee was designated as a controlled substance until recently by the Olympic Games Committee.
Coffee drinking is major source of antioxidants for most people
People in the U.S. receive most of their antioxidants from the coffee they drink. Scientists have found that a typical serving of coffee contains more antioxidants than a typical serving of blueberries, grape juice, raspberries, or oranges. A cup of coffee contains up to four times as much antioxidant activity as a cup of green tea contains.
Antioxidants protect people from free radicals produced in the body and encountered in the environment and diet. Scientists believe that drinking coffee makes it possible to limit, postpone or prevent many degenerative diseases including cancer, heart disease cataracts, and diseases of the nervous system. Epidemiological studies have shown that adding antioxidant polyphenols to the diet reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Chlorogenic acid is the prominent polyphenol in coffee, although there are others. A Japanese study of 61,000 people found that coffee drinkers are less likely to develop liver cancer that those who abstain. The researchers hypothesized that chlorogenic acid was the cancer fighting agent. Robusta coffee contains up to ten percent chlorogenic acid, and Arabica coffee contains an amount up to seven percent. Caffeic acid is another polyphenol found in coffee that has been shown to protect cells from oxidation. Caffeic acid works together with cholorogenic acid to protect cerebral neurons, promote cell differentiation, and normalize colon function. The combination has been found effective at halting cell proliferation and inducing appropriate cell death in breast cancer cells.
American's coffee drinking averages more than one cup per day. Decaffeinated coffee has the same antioxidant content as regular coffee. New research findings suggest that the addition of milk to coffee binds the antioxidants and reduces their potential to be effective in the body. A recent study found that caffeic acid was unavailable to the body as the result of it binding with milk added to blueberries.
Coffee consumption and risk of stroke in women
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health assessed the association between coffee consumption and the risk of stroke over a 24 year period of follow-up in women. They analyzed data from a cohort of 83,076 women without history of stroke, coronary heart disease, diabetes or cancer who participated in the Nurses' Health Study. Coffee consumption was assessed from 1980 through 2004. They documented 2280 varied strokes. After adjusting for confounders, the correlation of coffee drinking with stroke fell by 20 percent in the group drinking the most coffee. The researchers concluded that coffee drinking moderately reduced the risk of stroke. Their study was reported in the February edition of Circulation.
High regular coffee consumption associated with reduced endometrial cancer risk
A hospital based case-control study, reported in the January International Journal of Cancer, examined the associations between endometrial cancer risk and usual consumption of regular and decaffeinated coffee among 541 women with endometrial cancer and 541 women healthy women. Women who drank four or more cups of combined coffee and tea showed a significantly reduced cancer association.
Coffee offers protection against Alzheimer's disease and dementia
Determining the long-term impact of caffeine on cognition was the aim of a study in Finland, reported in the January Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Scientists specifically looked for the association between coffee and/or tea drinking at midlife and Alzheimer's disease or dementia in late life. Participants were randomly selected from a population-based cohort previously participating in a longitudinal study. After an average follow-up of 21 years, 1409 individuals aged 65 to 79 completed the re-examination. A total of 61 cases were identified as demented, with 48 having diagnosed Alzheimer's disease. Coffee drinkers at midlife had lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer's later in life compared with those drinking none or only small amounts of coffee. An amazing 65 percent decrease was found in people who drank 3 to 5 cups of coffee per day. Tea drinking showed no association with dementia or Alzheimers' in this study.
A study reported in the Oct.-Nov. issue of American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, found that caffeine may have a protective effect on the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease. Antioxidants were also seen as protective through their ability to reduce inflammation.
Risk of type 2 diabetes is lower in coffee drinkers
An older study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that habitual coffee consumption was consistently associated with lower risk of diabetes. Although the exact mechanism of its action was not revealed, the scientists concluded that the antioxidants in coffee help control cell damage that can contribute to the development of the disease. The high concentration of chlorogenic acid in coffee reduces glucose concentrations. The researchers pointed out that their results were not due to caffeine, as decaffeinated coffee produced the same degree of risk reduction.
In a report that combined data from several sources, people who drank four to six cups of coffee a day had a 28 percent reduction in risk of diabetes compared with people who drank two or fewer cups a day. Those who drank even more had a 35 percent reduction.
Coffee increases cooperation and sociability, and decreases depression
A newly released study from the February issue of Nutrition and Neuroscience examined the effects of caffeinated coffee on antidepressant related cooperative behavior. Seventy-seven low level caffeine users took part in a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study of a single dose of caffeinated coffee and a single dose of decaffeinated coffee with a three day period in between. Participants were asked to play a game with an imagined person. After drinking caffeinated coffee, participants were more open to the imaginary player and displayed fewer signs of sadness. The researchers concluded that only the caffeinated coffee helped to improve social skill and depressive symptoms.
Longitudinal studies have found a significantly lower rate of suicide among men and women who drink two or more cups of coffee each day. Reasons for this were unclear.
More research reveals more benefits
Newer studies continue to add to older, impressive results revealing the benefits of coffee. Drinking two or more cups a day was found to reduce the risk of colon cancer by 25%. The likelihood of developing gallstones was decreased by nearly 50% in those drinking at least two cups of coffee a day. Liver cirrhosis was reduced by a whopping 80% in drinkers of two or more cups a day.
A compound called Trigonelline that has anti-adhesive and antibacterial properties was found to help prevent tooth decay.
http://www.naturalnews.com/025737.html
Eat Celery for Improved Health
by Sheryl Walters, NaturalNews.com
(NaturalNews) The reason celery is so low in calories is because it is so high in water content. Fresh, light green celery with glossy ribs is the best for eating. Celery is truly economical; all parts of the plant are edible and one cup contains only about twenty calories. There is no waste. It's a great food and has a number of known health benefits.
Celery can provide a sense of calmness. It can also help lower blood pressure. People with gout should be fans of celery because it lowers uric acid.
Drinking fresh celery juice is said to reduce appetite. Taken before a meal it may help with weight loss.
People seldom think of celery as a real food in and of itself. In today's culinary world, celery is used as a seasoning, a garnish or a snack, but Hippocrates considered it a medicine and recommended it for kidney health.
High in calcium and Vitamin C, celery should be a part of your daily diet. It is an excellent finger food and best when eaten raw. Avoid the large, fibrous bottom ends and for best flavor, store celery in a part of the refrigerator where it won't freeze.
One of the complaints about celery is that it is boring and the flavor tends to be bitter. Celery ribs make perfect little boats for holding more flavorful fare. Fill them with peanut butter and pair with an apple and a serving of cottage cheese for a light but tasty breakfast. They are excellent when used for dipping sticks with egg salad or chicken salad. An individual serving removes the dislike of "double dipping." Celery is delicious with a variety of cheeses and makes a perfect boat for pimento spread.
Chunks of celery, apple, pineapple, walnuts and chicken can be combined with a light mayonnaise for a quick and easy salad. Chunks of havarti cheese make a good substitute for chicken when you feel like a meatless salad. This salad can be served with or without addition of lettuce. Celery seed is an excellent addition to any salad. The intensity of its flavor may surprise you. It adds a real kick to any cold seafood dish.
If you are fortunate enough to have a juicer, blend celery, carrots, apple and tomato for a bright flavorful juice. Seasoned with a touch of salt and lemon, it makes a great mid-afternoon snack.
For those who wish to eat more celery on a regular basis, it can be added to any soup or vegetable dish. Place it in the body cavity of a chicken you want to roast. Lay celery ribs across a pot roast before cooking. Whenever you boil seafood, add a few celery ribs to the pot. It adds a nice touch of flavor and helps reduce fishy odor.
Celery can also be grilled. A light spray of olive oil and it is ready for the grill. Don't overcook it and serve with lemon, pepper and a dollop of low fat sour cream. A few stalks of fresh celery and a little imagination will brighten up your daily food intake.
http://www.naturalnews.com/025734.html
Common Mouthwash Products Boost Risk of Oral Cancer by 900 Percent
by David Gutierrez, NaturalNews.com
(NaturalNews) The use of mouthwashes that contain alcohol as an ingredient can drastically increase a person's risk of cancers of the mouth, head and neck, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Australia's University of Melbourne and University of Queensland School of Dentistry.
Researchers studied use of mouthwash among 3,210 people and compared it with rates of mouth, head and neck cancers.
"We see people with oral cancer who have no other risk factors than the use of [mouthwash containing alcohol], so what we've done is review all the evidence," said lead researcher Michael McCullough, chair of the Australian Dental Association's therapeutics committee,
The researchers found that all participants who used an alcohol-containing mouthwash at least once per day had a significantly increased risk of cancer, independent of other risk factors such as smoking or drinking alcoholic beverages. Among those who both used alcohol-containing mouthwash and regularly drank alcoholic beverages, the risk of cancers of the larynx, pharynx or oral cavity was five times that of people who drank but did not use mouthwash. The risk of cancer in people who smoked and used alcohol-containing mouthwashes was an astonishing nine times that of non-mouthwash-using smokers.
"Since this article, further evidence has come out," McCullough said. "We believe there should be warnings. If it was a facial cream that had the effect of reducing acne but had a four to fivefold increased risk of skin cancer, no one would be recommending it."
The body breaks down alcohol, also known as ethanol, into a carcinogenic compound called acetaldehyde. The researchers note that due to the way that mouthwash is swished around, acetaldehyde may thereby accumulate in the oral cavity.
In addition, the researchers believe that alcohol makes mucus membranes more permeable to other chemicals, allowing nicotine and other carcinogens increased access to the body's tissues.
http://www.naturalnews.com/025729.html
Maca is the New Old Herbal Supplement
by Sheryl Walters, NaturalNews.com
(NaturalNews) This unusual root has been growing in high-altitude areas of South America for at least two-thousand years. Deliberately cultivated and harvested by Peruvian Incans, it was used as currency at one time. During Spanish colonization of Peru, maca was used by the Incans to pay taxes. Although known to the indigenous populations for centuries, maca is fairly new to the commercial supplement world of Western cultures, but is rapidly gaining in popularity due to its amazing healing properties.
Before general commercial cultivation can be successful, maca needs to be adapted to different growing conditions. Thus far, germination of seeds is somewhat hit-and-miss in all but the high-altitude, harsh growing conditions in Peru. A variety of maca is found in Bolivia, at lower altitude and easier growing conditions, but it too, doesn't grow well in a greenhouse. From historical data, maca is known as an aphrodisiac and energizer. Recent studies done on rats demonstrate that maca can reduce prostate size. Current small studies are underway in humans but published findings are not yet available. Preliminary studies find that maca can heighten libido but does not raise actual hormone levels.
Early research findings suggest that maca acts by balancing hormones. Proponents of this supplement allege that it produces energy by its action on the adrenal glands. They also report it reestablishes hormone balance in women to prevent negative symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and mood swings. It serves as an aphrodisiac for both men and women, again by balancing hormones and lifting depression. This seems like a tall order for a cousin of the radish!
Dried maca root has a nutritional profile similar to cereal grains such as rice. It is 60% carbohydrates, 10% protein, 8.5% fiber and 2.2% fats. It is high in iron, selenium, calcium and magnesium. Interestingly, selenium is being studied extensively by the Department of Veterans Affairs as a prostate cancer treatment/preventive, and maca has already been shown to shrink the prostate in rats.
The Peruvians have always eaten maca cooked, but have prepared it in many different ways. Fermented, it makes a weak beer. It can also be roasted, boiled and mixed with milk as a cereal, or mashed and dried as flour. In the booming market of nutritional supplements, maca is produced most often as a powder or as a gelatin. The gelatinized version is much more potent that any other preparation. In Norway, maca is considered a medicine and cannot be used without a prescription.
Maca root comes in different colors. Three in particular have been most studied and used. Black maca root is used for energy; cream is used for food because of its sweeter flavor, and red seems to be the one that reduces prostate size. Maca also comes in gold, purple and green. Each color is considered to be genetically unique. It would seem from the different actions of various colors, that this is correct.
http://www.naturalnews.com/025728.html
HUFFINGTON POST, Posted February 25, 2009 | 08:29 PM (EST)
A major health official within the United States Government today endorsed more research into possible links between vaccination and autism, saying that such studies are "legitimate."
The official, Dr. Duane Alexander, Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), an NIH agency, said scientists must investigate susceptible subpopulations of children, including kids with mitochondrial disorders and those who have trouble metabolizing mercury.
Even as the mainstream media, most pediatricians, and vaccine inventors like Dr. Paul Offit try to shut down the vaccine-autism discussion (and its attendant research), thoughtful scientists who are actually in real positions of power are speaking up to support the important work that still remains to be done.
"One question (is) whether there is a subgroup in the population that, on a genetic basis, is more susceptible to some vaccine characteristic or component than most of the population, and may develop an ASD in response to something about vaccination. We know that genetic variations exist that cause adverse reactions to specific foods, medications, or anesthetic agents. It is legitimate to ask whether a similar situation may exist for vaccines," Dr. Alexander said in a remarkable Q&A with Autism Speaks Scientific Director, Geraldine Dawson, PhD, posted today at the group's website.
"No clear evidence yet exists to implicate a specific relationship, but questions persist about whether there may be subpopulations unable to remove mercury from the body as fast as others, some adverse or cross-reacting response to a vaccine component, a mitochondrial disorder increasing the adverse response to vaccine-associated fever, or other as-yet-unknown responses," he added.
The point about mitochondrial disorders and vaccine-associated fever was a clear reference to Hannah Poling, the little girl with full-blown autism who won her Vaccine Court case last year when HHS conceded that a "vaccine-induced fever and immune stimulation that exceeded metabolic reserves" had triggered her descent into autism.
At a January meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), a staff representative from NICHD was the only federal panel member to abstain from removing previously approved vaccine-related studies from the Strategic Plan for Autism Research.
As it turns out, research into environmental triggers of developmental disorders like autism "is a major component of our research program," Dr. Alexander said of the NICHD. This includes studying "gene-environment factor interactions," he added.
And, he suggested that epidemiological studies conducted to date (and showing no link to vaccines) may have missed small, vulnerable subgroups of children. "These are difficult to detect," he said, "especially if only a few people have this genetic variant that makes them susceptible. [Instead], large numbers of individuals need to be studied to find enough people with the rare variant."
Fortunately, the Federal government has embarked on the massive National Children's Study (NCS), which is currently recruiting some 100,000 children. Alexander said that researchers expect to find that 600 to 700 of these kids will be diagnosed with ASD by age three.
"We will be able to study the genetic constitution of the children with autism in relation to many environmental exposures (illness, home chemicals, medications, vaccines, and many others)," he said, "and compare them to a control group in the sample without ASD on this whole range of exposures. If there are genetic variations linked to autism related to any of these exposures, this study should identify them if they are not too rare."
Dr. Alexander's words are sure to be warmly received within many quarters of the autism community. He said that vaccine and environmental studies into autism may help science break down subgroups of ASD children into categories that are, "based on cause or response to different treatment approaches." Diagnosis, therefore, could become a wonderful tool in determining "different prevention/intervention/ treatment approaches that could personalize care and markedly improve outcomes."
Dr. Alexander also seems quite determined that conflicts of interest and barriers to full transparency in the research process should not be tolerated, (as they are today, in my opinion), but instead be eliminated. He said that parents, (and pesky, inquisitive journalists) play a critical role as autism research watchdogs.
"The research process at its best is open and constantly questioning. It even reevaluates things that have been accepted for a long time, and is honest enough to be self-correcting when new information develops," Dr. Alexander said. "What is important is that the scientific inquiry moves ahead unfettered but free of conflict of interest so that the public can have confidence in the results. When there is evidence that research may not be free of bias, it is the role of the research community and the public to raise questions and concerns, assure that corrective measures are taken to be sure that results are valid and untainted, and provide assurance to the public that their trust is earned and deserved."
"It is important that there be agreement on the message that no clear causative link has yet been established (between vaccines and autism), although research continues on the question, just as it does for other questions related to vaccines," Dr. Alexander concluded. "There are still legitimate questions to ask about possible vaccine-associated events, and such questions need to be pursued in the interest of both public safety and maintaining public trust."
It all sounds reasonable to me.
But I still predict we will hear howls of protests from people who think they know better than the chief of an NIH agency.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/nih-agency-head-vaccine-a_b_170034.html
Viagra orgy man collapses
By VINCE SOODIN Published: 26 Feb 2009
A SEX-MAD Russian died after guzzling a bottle of Viagra pills to keep him going for a 12-hour orgy with two women pals.
The women had bet mechanic Sergey Tuganov £3,000 that he wouldn’t be able to satisfy them both non-stop for the half-day sex marathon.
But minutes after winning the wager, the randy 28-year-old dropped dead with a heart attack, revealed Moscow police.
One of the women, named only as Alina, said: “We called emergency services but it was too late, there was nothing they could do.”
Million Women Study Shows Even Moderate Alcohol Consumption Associated With Increased Cancer Risk
ScienceDaily (Feb. 26, 2009) — Low to moderate alcohol consumption among women is associated with a statistically significant increase in cancer risk and may account for nearly 13 percent of the cancers of the breast, liver, rectum, and upper aero-digestive tract combined, according to a report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
With the exception of breast cancer, little has been known about the impact of low to moderate alcohol consumption on cancer risk in women.
To determine the impact of alcohol on overall and site-specific cancer risk, Naomi Allen, D.Phil., of the University of Oxford, U.K., and colleagues examined the association of alcohol consumption and cancer incidence in the Million Women Study, which included 1,280,296 middle-aged women in the United Kingdom. Participants were recruited to the study between 1996 and 2001. Researchers identified cancer cases through the National Health Service Central Registries.
Women in the study who drank alcohol consumed, on average, one drink per day, which is typical in most high-income countries such as the U.K. and the U.S. Very few drank three or more drinks per day. With an average follow-up time of more than 7 years, 68,775 women were diagnosed with cancer.
The risk of any type of cancer increased with increasing alcohol consumption, as did the risk of some specific types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, rectum, and liver. Women who also smoked had an increased risk of cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, and larynx. The type of alcohol consumed--wine versus spirits or other types--did not alter the association between alcohol consumption and cancer risk.
Each additional alcoholic drink regularly consumed per day was associated with 11 additional breast cancers per 1000 women up to age 75; one additional cancer of the oral cavity and pharynx; one additional cancer of the rectum; and an increase of 0.7 each for esophageal, laryngeal, and liver cancers. For these cancers combined, there was an excess of about 15 cancers per 1000 women per drink per day. (The background incidence for these cancers was estimated to be 118 per 1000 women in developed countries.)
"Although the magnitude of the excess abso¬lute risk associated with one additional drink per day may appear small for some cancer sites, the high prevalence of moderate alco¬hol drinking among women in many populations means that the proportion of cancers attributable to alcohol is an important public health issue," the authors write.
In an accompanying editorial, Michael Lauer M.D., and Paul Sorlie, Ph.D., of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in Bethesda, M.D., emphasize that these new results derived from such a large study population should give readers pause. Although previous epidemiological studies have suggested that there is a cardiovascular benefit associated with moderate alcohol consumption, the excess cancer risk identified in the current study may outweigh that benefit. "From a standpoint of cancer risk, the message of this report could not be clearer. There is no level of alcohol consumption that can be considered safe," the editorialists write.
Allen N et al. Moderate Alcohol Intake and Cancer Incidence in Women. J Natl Cancer Inst, 2009;101: 296-305
Michael Lauer and Paul Sorlie. Alcohol, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer: Treat With Caution. J Natl Cancer Inst, 2009;101: 282-283
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090224163555.htm
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