An easy way to reduce the risk of periodontitis

Periodontitis is inflammation of the gum tissue and can with time lead to the loss of teeth and has also been shown to be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Brushing and flossing your teeth regularly is of course important. What also is important is to have dietary and lifestyle habits that help reduce inflammation.

One of the factors affecting inflammation was investigated in the study reviewed here. Omega 3 fatty acids and its association with periodontitis were studied in 9,182 adults ages 20 years and older (Naqvi AZ, et al. 2010).

The researchers concluded that higher intake of especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), but also although to a lesser degree eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) were associated with lower prevalence of periodontitis.

A lot of research has shown that omega 3 fatty acids help to reduce inflammation, that is one of the reasons why it is providing many health benefits.

Omega 3 fatty acids from fish oil is something everybody can benefit from since we usually don't get enough omega 3 fat in our diet.

EPA and DHA are the active ingredients in fish oil, so be sure to use a product which has higher amounts of these ingredients and has been checked thoroughly for contaminants.

The formula "Better Fish Oil," is a pharmaceutical grade fish oil with higher amounts of EPA and DHA. Click here to read more about all the benefits of omega 3 fatty acids.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Naqvi AZ, Buettner C, Phillips RS, Davis RB, Mukamal KJ. n-3 fatty acids and periodontitis in US adults. J Am Diet Assoc. 2010 Nov;110(11):1669-75.

Is calcium dangerous to your heart?

Maybe you have read about a study claiming that calcium by itself taken as a supplement is associated with an increase risk of myocardial infarction (Bolland MJ, et al. 2010).

This study has been criticized as being highly inaccurate. The study was a so called meta-analysis where the researchers picked earlier published studies which the participants had been taking calcium supplements by itself. The way the studies were picked is one of the factors being criticized. Other criticisms were that the studies picked were not designed to evaluate cardiovascular risk, data on cardiovascular death was collected separately at a later time and several other issues. The researchers also eliminated studies where calcium was used together with vitamin D because those studies showed a decreased cardiovascular risk.

Another study also published recently investigated both calcium and vitamin D as it related to cardiovascular risk (Wang L, et al. 2010). These researchers concluded that vitamin D supplements of moderate to high doses may reduce cardiovascular disease risk, whereas calcium supplements seemed to have minimal cardiovascular effects.

Calcium is an important mineral with proven health benefits, but it is better to take calcium together with other minerals and with vitamin D.

To read more about these benefits, click here.

To read the original abstracts, click on the references below.


References:

Bolland MJ, Avenell A, Baron JA, Grey A, MacLennan GS, Gamble GD, Reid IR. Effect of calcium supplements on risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular events: meta-analysis. BMJ. 2010 Jul 29;341:c3691. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c3691.

Wang L, Manson JE, Song Y, Sesso HD. Systematic review: Vitamin D and calcium supplementation in prevention of cardiovascular events. Ann Intern Med. 2010 Mar 2;152(5):315-23.

Guidelines to help prevent stress fractures

Athletes in general and girls and young women participating in gymnastics, soccer and track and field are at higher risk for stress fractures.

A study including both men and women athletes with the majority being women documented that in athletes with similar training habits, those with stress fractures are more likely to have lower bone density, lower dietary calcium intake and menstrual irregularity (Myburgh KH, et al. 1990).

There are also other important factors than calcium affecting bone strength. One of the factors is vitamin D.

When female gymnasts ages 10-17 years were assessed for both vitamin D status and dietary calcium intake most of them had vitamin D levels below recommended guidelines for optimal bone health and many of them also had calcium intake below the daily recommended intake for their age (Lovell G. 2008).

Low vitamin D levels have shown to be a predisposing factor for stress fractures also in military recruits (Ruohola JP, et al. 2006).

Other minerals in addition to calcium are also important. Magnesium has been documented to prevent fractures and improve bone density (Sojka JE, Weaver CM. 1995).


Bone density has also been found to be significantly better when zinc, copper, manganese and potassium were added to calcium (Strause L, et al. 1994).

As you see there are several factors affecting bone density and bone strength. For these reasons it is better to supplement the diet with a formula containing all these nutrients. The BMJ is such a formula which supports both bone, joints and other connective tissue.

Click here to read about it.

To read the original abstracts, click on the references below.


References:

Lovell G. Vitamin D status of females in an elite gymnastics program. Clin J Sport Med. 2008 Mar;18(2):159-61.

Myburgh KH, Hutchins J, Fataar AB, Hough SF, Noakes TD. Low bone density is an etiologic factor for stress fractures in athletes. Ann Intern Med. 1990 Nov 15;113(10):754-9.

Ruohola JP, Laaksi I, Ylikomi T, Haataja R, Mattila VM, Sahi T, Tuohimaa P, Pihlajamäki H. Association between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and bone stress fractures in Finnish young men. J Bone Miner Res. 2006 Sep;21(9):1483-8.

Sojka JE, Weaver CM. Magnesium supplementation and osteoporosis. Nutr Rev. 1995 Mar;53(3):71-4.

Strause L, Saltman P, Smith KT, Bracker M, Andon MB. Spinal bone loss in postmenopausal women supplemented with calcium and trace minerals. J Nutr. 1994 Jul;124(7):1060-4.

Easy way to increase fat loss

The study reviewed investigated the effect of moderate calorie restriction for 14 days with 8.5 or 5.5 hours of night time sleep (Nedeltcheva AV, et al. 2010). The objective was to see if sleep restriction had an effect on fat loss. Fat loss and fat free mass were two of the things measured.

The results were very interesting showing that when the participants slept 5.5 hours they lost 55% less fat compared to when they slept 8.5 hours.

What was also surprising was that when they slept less they lost 60% more fat free mass than when they slept more.

Losing fat free mass like muscle tissue is neither healthy or productive in the long run if you want to lose weight and stay lean, since muscles are metabolic active tissue which help you burn calories.

If you want to get healthier and stay lean you need to lose fat, not muscles.

This research reminds us of how important it is to get enough sleep, it is even affecting the way we lose weight.

Sleep enough, exercise regularly and eat meals that promote a lean body composition.

To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.


Reference:

Nedeltcheva AV, Kilkus JM, Imperial J, Schoeller DA, Penev PD. Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity. Ann Intern Med. 2010 Oct 5;153(7):435-41.