A simple thing you can do to help improve blood sugar, cholesterol, and gastrointestinal function.

Flax seeds, which are tiny small brown seeds, can be health promoting in several ways.

Flax is a source of omega 3 fatty acids which we all need. Fish oil is however a more efficient source of omega 3 since fish oil comes in the form of EPA, DHA the active ingredients of omega 3 fat. Flax oil has to be metabolized into EPA, DHA.

However, flax seeds have a lot of other benefits. The study reviewed here investigated the effect of flax on fasting blood sugar and total cholesterol in diabetic patients (Thakur, G., et al. 2009). The participants added 5 grams of flaxseed gum to their diet and were followed for 3 months.

The results for the treatment group showed that fasting blood glucose decreased from 154 +1-8 mg/dl to 136 +1-7 mg/dl. The total cholesterol decreased from 182 +1-11 mg/dl to 163 +1-9 mg/dl. The low-density lipoprotein LDL, the so called bad cholesterol, decreased from 110 +1-8 mg/dl to 92 +1-9 mg/dl.

The fiber in the flax seeds is the ingredient responsible for the results. They slow down the absorption of the glucose from other foods.

The flax seeds will also be beneficial for your gastrointestinal tract. It will help constipation, but it will not give you diarrhea.

I suggest you take 2 table spoons of flax seeds daily and grind them up for some few seconds in a coffee grinder. You need to grind them up to break the shells to get the benefits. They can be sprinkled on food or you can mix them in a glass of water and drink it down.

I do not recommend buying a big bag of already ground up seeds, since flax seeds oxidize very quickly when the shell has been broken.

Flax seeds may also help to regulate hormones in a beneficial way. I wrote about the benefits of flax seeds for the prevention of prostate cancer a while back. The research related to that can be accessed at www.tissuerecovery.com by clicking on Articles and Abstracts.

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




Reference:

Thakur, G., et al. Effect of flaxseed gum on reduction of blood glucose and cholesterol in type 2 diabetic patients. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009 June 22:1-11. [Epub ahead of print]

Eating a certain way can prevent depression.

Studies have shown that the Mediterranean Diet can help protect against cardiovascular disease.

The study reviewed here assessed the association between the Mediterranean dietary pattern and the risk of depression (Sanchez-Villegas A., et al. 2009). A total of 10,094 participants who were healthy at the beginning of the study were followed from 1999 and is still followed.

After a median follow-up of 4.4 years the results showed inverse dose-response relationships for fruits, nuts, the monounsaturated fat (olive oil) to saturated fat (animal fat) ratio and legumes.

The researchers concluded that the result suggested a protective role of the Mediterranean dietary pattern regarding the prevention of depressive disorders.

This is one more reason to eat a low glycemic index diet similar to the Mediterranean pattern.

If you are interested in easy to make recipes and more information on how to reduce the risk for chronic disease the book, "The Food Connection" describes the reasoning and research for a very healthy way of eating, click here.




Reference:

Association of the Mediterranean dietary pattern with the incidence of depression: the Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra/University of Navarra follow-up (SUN) cohort. Sánchez-Villegas A, Delgado-Rodríguez M, Alonso A, Schlatter J, Lahortiga F, Majem LS, Martínez-González MA. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009 Oct;66(10):1090-8.

High homocysteine levels are associated with increased risk for coronary heart disease and stroke, but you can easily prevent that.

Homocysteine is an amino acid, which can build up in your body and cause problems if you are deficient in folic acid, vitamin B-12, and vitamin B6.

The study reviewed here followed 2009 participants for an average of 11.95 years documenting homocysteine levels and how it affected the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke (Sun Y., et al, 2009).

The results showed that participants with blood levels of homocysteine above 9.47 micromole/L had a 2.3-fold risk for cardiovascular events and participants with homocysteine levels above 11.84 micromole/L had a 2.4-fold risk for death.

Taking a good vitamin B-Complex regularly will in most people reduce homocysteine levels.

There are some people who do not metabolize folic acid properly and would not get the same benefits from regular folic acid. They could however take a vitamin B-Complex, which also contains the metabolism of folic acid and get the benefits.

To read more about the benefits of B-vitamins, click here.



Reference:

Use of serum homocysteine to predict stroke, coronary heart disease and death in ethnic Chinese. 12-year prospective cohort study. Sun Y., Chien KL, Hsu HC, Su TC, Chen MF, Lee YT. Circ J. 2009 Aug;73(8):1423-30. Epub 2009 Jun 11.

How does body composition affect bone mass.

The belief has been that increased fat mass was a protective factor for osteoporosis. This has now been challenged by two studies. One was done in 2007, which included 150 females and 150 males between the ages of 13 and 21 years (Janicka A., et al, 2007).

The conclusion of this study was that the findings provided compelling evidence that despite increased mechanical loading from higher fat mass, adipose (fat) tissue is not beneficial to bone structure.

The other study was just published in July 2009 and included 677 men between the ages of 25 and 45 years (Taes YE., et al, 2009). The results documented that both total and regional fat mass were found to be inversely associated with areal bone mass and size.

The researcher concluded that increased fat mass is associated with smaller bone size, and lean mass was a consistent positive determinant of bone size.

If you follow a low glycemic index diet high in nutrients and exercise regularly, your body fat percentage will adjust to what us normal for you without you having to count calories.

You will learn how to eat that way by reading the book “Effective Nutrition for Effective Healing”, click here for more information.




References:

Fat mass is not beneficial to bone in adolescents and young adults. Janicka A, Wren TA, Sanchez MM, Dorey F, Kim PS, Mittelman SD, Gilsanz V., J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Jan;92(1):143-7. Epub 2006 Oct 17.


Fat mass is negatively associated with cortical bone size in young healthy
male siblings. Taes YE, Lapauw B, Vanbillemont G, Bogaert V, De Bacquer D, Zmierczak H, Goemaere S, Kaufman JM., J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Jul;94(7):2325-31. Epub 2009 Apr 28.

The way you eat can help prevent eye disease.

Even your eyes can get protection from the food you eat.

An interesting study done over eight years and including 2924 participants documented the benefits from eating a low glycemic index diet and the essential fatty acids EPA and DHA (Chiu CJ, et al. 2009). EPA and DHA is the type of fat you find in fish and fish oil supplements. The participants in this study took supplements.

The conclusion of this study was that a lower glycemic index diet with higher intakes of EPA and DHA was associated with reduced progression to advanced age-related macular degeneration.

A low glycemic index diet is a diet that will stabilize the blood sugar at a low level instead of causing high spikes.

Excellent forms of very low glycemic carbohydrates that will stabilize the blood sugar at a good level are beans and lentils. If you want to you know more about the benefits of low glycemic meals read the book “The Food Connection’, click here.

To read more about the benefits of the omega 3 essential fatty acids EFA, DHA, click here.




Reference:

Does eating particular diets alter risk of age-related macular degeneration in users of the age-related eye disease study supplements? Chiu CJ, Milton RC, Gensler G, Taylor A,. Br J Ophthalmol. 2009 Jun 12.

More evidence for the prevention of prostate cancer by dietary changes and exercise.

It has been suggested that prostate cancer might be an aspect of the metabolic syndrome, a co ndition which includes insulin resistance, high blood pressure and weight gain. Insulin resistance means that the insulin is not as effective as it used to be in transferring the blood sugar into the cells where it can be used for energy, due to changes on the receptor sites of the cells.

Diet and exercise have shown to alter factors that slow the growth and induce apoptosis (cell death) of prostate cancer. The research reviewed here investigated why exercise and a diet low in fat and high in fiber would provide anticancer effects (Soliman S. et al. 2009, Barnard RJ. 2007)

The researchers found that the intervention slowed the growth and increased apoptosis (cell death) in prostate cancer cells and the results were associated with a reduction in serum IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor-1).

Exercise and the right diet have a health promoting effect on the growth factor IGF-1.

The researchers concluded that diet and exercise intervention might help prevent prostate cancer as well as aid in the treatment of prostate cancer during the early stages of development.

To learn more about an effective dietary approach read the book “The Food Connection”, click here.

To read original research abstracts click on the references below.




Reference:

Analyzing Serum-Stimulated Prostate Cancer Cell Lines After Low-Fat, High-Fiber Diet and Exercise Intervention. Soliman S, Aronson WJ, Barnard RJ,. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2009 Apr 17.

Prostate cancer prevention by nutritional means to alleviate metabolic syndrome. Barnard RJ,. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep;86(3):s889-93.

3 minutes of exercising gives the same benefits as 1 hour or more.

Would you spend 3 minutes, 3 days per week exercising if it gave you the same cardiovascular and metabolic benefits as exercising for 1 hour also 3 times per week?

Maybe you think this sounds too good to be true, but research has really demonstrated that to be possible.

In 2008 three studies were conducted evaluating the effects of extremely low volume high-intensity interval training on cardiovascular and metabolic changes. One study compared two groups of participants where one group did low-volume sprint interval training consisting of four to six 30 second high intensity sprints on a stationary bike, separated with 4.5 minute recovery three days per week for six weeks (Rakobowchuk M, et al, 2008). The other group did 40-60 minutes of continuous cycling of approximately 65% of capacity 5 days per week for six weeks. At completion of the study, the researchers concluded that low volume sprints interval training produced improvement in peripheral vascular structure and function comparable to endurance training.

A similar study compared 30 seconds bicycle sprints repeated four to six times with 4.5 minutes recovery between repeats three times a week with 40-60 minutes continuous cycling at a 65% workload for 5 days a week (Burgomaster KA, et al, 2008). After six weeks, this study found similar changes in mitochondrial markers for skeletal muscle carbohydrate and lipid oxidation for both protocols.

The most recent study done by another research group investigated changes in insulin sensitivity using the same protocol of high intensity interval training (Babray JA, et al 2009).

They found that the insulin sensitivity improved by 23% while aerobic cycling performance improved by 6% in only six sessions over 2 weeks.

Insulin sensitivity relates to the glucose metabolism, the more insulin sensitive you are the better it is.

Insulin resistance (low insulin sensitivity) leads to type 2 diabetes and a variety of other health problems.

Reference:

Extremely short duration high intensity interval training substantially improves insulin action in young healthy males. Babraj JA, et al. BMC Endocr Disord. 2009 Jan 28;9:3.

Similar metabolic adaptations during exercise after low volume sprint interval and traditional endurance training in humans. Burgomaster KA, et al. J Physiol.2008 Jan1;586(1):1-2.

Sprint interval and traditional endurance training induce similar improvements in peripheral arterial stiffness and flow-mediated dilation in healthy humans. Rakobowchuk M, et al. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2008 Jul;295(1) :R236-42.