Omega 3 fatty acids decrease arterial stiffness

A lot of research has documented the anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular protective benefits of omega 3 fatty acids.

The study reviewed here is interesting because it measured an almost immediate benefit after eating an omega 3 rich meal (Chong MF, et al. 2010).

12 men and 13 women participated in the study and received on two occasions and in a random order an omega 3 rich meal and a control meal.

The researchers measured arterial stiffness at baseline and at 30, 60, 90, 120, 180 and 240 minutes after a meal.

A significant improvement of arterial stiffness was seen after eating the meal high in omega 3 fat. It was concluded that this has important implications for the beneficial properties of omega 3 fatty acids and cardiovascular risk reduction.

Eating fish high in omega 3 fat, like wild salmon, is healthy. It may however not be good to eat it every day because of contamination with heavy metals like mercury and also other contaminants like pesticides.

Taking high quality fish oil capsules containing higher amount of EPA and DHA, the beneficial fats in fish oil, will solve that problem.

Our product “Better Fish Oil” has been extensively tested for both mercury and pesticides as well as many other toxins to ensure the product is of high quality.

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



Reference:

Chong MF, Lockyer S, Saunders CJ, Lovegrove JA. Long chain n-3 PUFA-rich meal reduced postprandial measures of arterial stiffness. Clin Nutr. 2010 Mar 1.

Green tea, breast and liver cancer

Many benefits have been associated with green tea consumption. The polyphenols in green tea may also be preventive against various cancers.

Regular consumption of green tea and breast cancer risk was evaluated recently (Shrubsole MJ, et al. 2009). Compared with nondrinkers, regular drinking of green tea was associated with a slightly decreased risk for breast cancer.

A dose-response relationship was also found with the amount of green tea consumed per month. Higher amount provided more protection.

The association between green tea consumption and liver cancer incidence has also been evaluated (Ui A, et al. 2009). 41,761 adults aged 40-79 years participated in the study which lasted for 9 years.

The researcher found that green tea consumption was inversely associated with the incidence of liver cancer. Higher green tea consumption was associated with lower risk. 5 cups or more per day provided the most protection.

If you like green tea, it is better if you also make it strong. It is the polyphenols in the green tea which provides the protection. If you don’t want to drink 5 cups or more daily of green tea, you can take one capsule per day of a green tea extract, which is equivalent to 5 or more cups.

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


References:

Shrubsole MJ, Lu W, Chen Z, Shu XO, Zheng Y, Dai Q, Cai Q, Gu K, Ruan ZX, Gao YT, Zheng W. Drinking green tea modestly reduces breast cancer risk. J Nutr. 2009 Feb;139(2):310-6. Epub 2008 Dec 11.

Ui A, Kuriyama S, Kakizaki M, Sone T, Nakaya N, Ohmori-Matsuda K, Hozawa A, Nishino Y, Tsuji I. Green tea consumption and the risk of liver cancer in Japan: the Ohsaki Cohort study. Cancer Causes Control. 2009 Dec;20(10):1939-45. Epub 2009 Sep 19.

Be happy and reduce your risk for coronary heart disease.

Being happy certainly makes life more enjoyable both for ourselves and other people we come in contact with. It may also help protect us from serious diseases.

In a large study which included 14,916 person-years of observation, the researchers investigated that being happy could help prevent coronary heart disease events over a period of 10 years (Davidson KW, et al. 2010).

When age, sex and cardiovascular risk factors were accounted for, it was still found that being happy and positive was protective against coronary heart disease.

Feeling happy is easier said than done sometimes. Meditation is one tool you can use for working on being happier. If you do it regularly, it can help you stay in a better state of mind.

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



Reference:

Davidson KW, Mostofsky E, Whang W. Don't worry, be happy: positive affect and reduced 10-year incident coronary heart disease: The Canadian Nova Scotia Health Survey. Eur Heart J. 2010 Feb 17.

Green tea extract lowers cardiovascular risk factors in 3 weeks.

Many benefits have been associated with the use of green tea. The study reviewed here examined the effect of a green tea extract on cardiovascular risk factors (Nantz MP, et al. 2009). A standardized green tea extract was used to eliminate the variables of both the quality and quantity present when drinking green tea.

The study participants took 1 capsule of the green tea extract twice daily and blood pressure, cholesterol, amyloid-alpha (a marker of chronic inflammation) and malondialdehyde (a marker of oxidative stress) were measured at the start and after 3 weeks.

The results showed that after 3 weeks, systolic blood pressure was lowered by 5 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure lowered by 4 mmHg. Serum amyloid-alpha was lowered by 42% and malondialdehyde was lowered by 11.9%. Total cholesterol was also lowered and LDL was lowered in everybody with a LDL cholesterol level of more than 99 mg/dl.

If you don’t like to drink green tea or don’t want to drink 5 cups or more daily, then you can take a capsule of high quality green tea extract instead.

To read the original abstract, click the reference below.



Reference:

Nantz MP, Rowe CA, Bukowski JF, Percival SS. Standardized capsule of Camellia sinensis lowers cardiovascular risk factors in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Nutrition. 2009 Feb;25(2):147-54. Epub 2008 Oct 9.

What to do to help prevent cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease

Cognitive decline and Alzheimer disease are getting more common as more people are living longer. This is not a good trend and it is something to think about especially since research has now shown that there is something you can do to help prevent it.

Both physical activity and what we eat impact brain function. Study participants living in New York who had the highest adherence to the Mediterranean diet also had 28% less risk of developing mild cognitive impairment when compared to participants who had the lowest adherence (Scarmeas N, et al. 2009).

The participants with mild cognitive impairment who had the highest adherence to the Mediterranean diet had 48% less risk of developing Alzheimer disease compared to participants who had the lowest adherence. Even participants in the middle tertile of adherence had a 45% lowered risk of developing Alzheimer.

When researchers investigated adherence to the Mediterranean diet and also physical activity and risk for Alzheimer disease they found that both adherence to a Mediterranean type diet and a higher level of physical activity were independently associated with reduced risk for Alzheimer disease (Scarmeas N, et al. 2009).

Eating much more in line with a Mediterranean style diet is good for the mind as well as being beneficial for the rest of the body.

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



References:

Scarmeas N, Stern Y, Mayeux R, Manly JJ, Schupf N, Luchsinger JA. Mediterranean diet and mild cognitive impairment. Arch Neurol. 2009 Feb;66(2):216-25.

Scarmeas N, Luchsinger JA, Schupf N, Brickman AM, Cosentino S, Tang MX, Stern Y. Physical activity, diet, and risk of Alzheimer disease. JAMA. 2009 Aug 12;302(6):627-37.

Results after 4 weeks on a fast-food, high calorie diet.

The study reviewed here investigated the effects on insulin signaling in humans after consuming a fast-food, high calorie diet for 4 weeks that led to weight gain (Danielsson A., et al. 2009).

After we eat, insulin transports the glucose from the blood into the cells where it can be used for energy. People who develop type 2 diabetes first develop what is called insulin resistance, which means the insulin is no longer able to transfer the blood glucose into the cells as efficiently as it used to. This happens because receptors on the cells start to be less sensitive to the insulin signal.

The researchers conducting this study discovered that it did not take very long for the participants to develop insulin resistance. After only 4 weeks, they developed moderate systemic insulin resistance. The amount of insulin receptors was reduced similar to what happens in type 2 diabetes. These study participants gained 10% body weight, but they were still fairly lean with a body mass index of 24.3.

Even without being severely overweight these participants still developed insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance can not only lead to type 2 diabetes, but also many other serious diseases.

A high nutrient low glycemic index way of eating is how you can prevent insulin resistance and stay lean.

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



Reference:

Danielsson A, Fagerholm S, Ost A, Franck N, Kjolhede P, Nystrom FH, Strålfors P. Short-term overeating induces insulin resistance in fat cells in lean human subjects. Mol Med. 2009 Jul-Aug;15(7-8):228-34. Epub 2009 Apr 30.

Sitting time associated with cardiometabolic risk markers

Many people spend several hours daily watching television and in addition to that sit the major part of the day at work. The effects of both sitting time and TV viewing were investigated in 2,761 women and 2,103 men by measuring waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), resting blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, fasting and 2 hours postload plasma glucose and fasting insulin (Thorp, AA, et al. 2010., Dunstan DW, et al. 2010).

The results showed that sitting time for both men and women was detrimentally associated with waist circumference, BMI, systolic blood pressure, fasting triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, 2 hours postload plasma glucose and fasting insulin.

Most people could probably cut down on TV viewing, but spending hours exercising everyday would not be practical and possible. The good news is that it is not necessary to spend hours exercising everyday to improve these cardiometabolic risk factors.

If you have been reading prior blogs, you may remember research showing equal benefits of short, intensive interval training and much longer, but less intensive training. It showed that just some few minutes of the actual activity 3 times a week could save hours weekly, and it will still produce the same benefits. If you, in addition to that adjusted the way you eat to high nutrients, low glycemic index meals you would see a big difference in your health in just some few weeks.

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



References:

Dunstan DW, Barr EL, Healy GN, Salmon J, Shaw JE, Balkau B, Magliano DJ, Cameron AJ, Zimmet PZ, Owen N. Television viewing time and mortality: the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab). Circulation. 2010 Jan 26;121(3):384-91. Epub 2010 Jan 11.

Thorp AA, Healy GN, Owen N, Salmon J, Ball K, Shaw JE, Zimmet PZ, Dunstan DW. Deleterious associations of sitting time and television viewing time with cardiometabolic risk biomarkers: Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) study 2004-2005. Diabetes Care. 2010 Feb;33(2):327-34. Epub 2009 Nov 16.