Canadians following heart-smart diets will be happy to know that what's good for the heart is also good for the brain, experts say. "The same eating patterns that protect us against the risk of heart disease can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease," says Melanie Rozwadowski, assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.
A newly discovered genetic variation may be the reason why nearly half of women in the United Kingdom are vitamin A deficient. This previously unknown variation appears to reduce the ability to produce sufficient amounts of vitamin A from beta-carotene, according to researchers.
Long-term vitamin D deficiency may result in lower levels of the sex hormone estrogen but not testosterone, U.S. researchers said. Lead investigator and cardiologist Dr. Erin Michos of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said the findings build on previous studies showing that deficiencies in vitamin D and low levels of estrogen, found naturally in differing amounts in men and women, were independent risk factors for hardened and narrowed arteries and weakened bones.
Good sleep and nutrition are the cornerstones of good immune health. For extra immune health support, vitamin C, rhodiola and yeast beta glucans, such as Wellmune, can help improve your ability to resist infection and illness during stressful times.
Vitamins are are essential to our health and cannot be manufactured by the body. It is one of the B vitamins that plays an important role in the metabolism of every cell. It contains cobalt compounds known as cobalamins of which cyanocobalamin is the most popular. B12 and your nervous system. Our nerves may be compared to electrical wires that are wrapped in an insulating sheath made from myelin.
Most health conscious people know of the positive effects on digestion from using probiotic supplements. Many take probiotic supplements after using antibiotics to replace the good intestinal flora bacteria indiscriminately killed by antibiotic use.
If you eat fish to gain the heart-health benefits of its omega-3 fatty acids, baked or boiled fish is better than fried, salted or dried, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2009. And, researchers said, adding low-sodium soy sauce or tofu will enhance the benefits.
A well-known Eastern medicine supplement may help avoid the most common cause of liver transplantation, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding came as a surprise to the scientists, who used a number of advanced genetic and genomic techniques in mice to identify a molecular pathway that counters acetaminophen toxicity, which leads to liver failure.
Alternative health remedies are increasingly important in the health care marketplace. A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research explores how consumers choose among the many available remedies. "Examples of the wide array of health remedy options available to consumers include drugs, supplements, acupuncture, massage therapy, Ayurveda, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (to name a few).
Various products derived from the beehive have been studied and propolis has proved to be a product having beneficial results for human health. Propolis (Pro-before, Polis-city = defense of the city), is the resinous substance that bees gather from the leaf buds of trees and certain vegetables.
A dietary antioxidant found in vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower can protect cells from damage caused by chemicals generated during the body's inflammatory response to infection and injury, a new study has found. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine say their finding has implications for such inflammation-based disorders as cystic fibrosis (CF), diabetes, heart disease, and neurodegeneration.
Avocados are Mother Nature's skin moisturizer. With their healthy fats and phytonutrients, they offer remarkable benefits to human skin -- both when eaten and when used topically. Here, we present a collection of supporting information about avocados from some of the top authors and personalities in the natural health industry.
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that a dietary antioxidant found in such vegetables as broccoli and cauliflower protects cells from damage caused by chemicals generated during the body's inflammatory response to infection and injury. The finding has implications for such inflammation-based disorders as cystic fibrosis (CF), diabetes, heart disease, and neurodegeneration.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, but not testosterone.
Lactobacillus GG (LGG) can decrease the risk of upper respiratory tract infections including rhinitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis, otitis, and the common cold in children attending day care centres, claims a new study. The findings of the researchers, which were published in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, also found that the rate of absence from childcare centres due to infections was lower in children receiving LGG in comparison to those who were not.
Researchers at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed microscopic polymer beads that can deliver an antioxidant enzyme made naturally by the body into the heart. Injecting the enzyme-containing particles into rats’ hearts after a simulated heart attack reduced the number of dying cells and resulted in improved heart function days later.
People with heart disease and similar conditions who don’t have enough vitamin D are more likely to be depressed than their counterparts with adequate levels of the “sunshine vitamin,” according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando. This link seems to be even stronger in the winter.
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has confirmed that the omega-3 fats, DHA and ALA, can benefit eye and cognitive development in babies. EFSA supported the role of these fats in fetal and newborn eye and brain development but said there was an adequate supply in breast milk. Their rejection of the need for supplementation did not please those that back omega-3 supplementation in infants and other population sub-groups.
Whether it is the economy or a desire to live a more natural lifestyle, more consumers are spending their money on alternative and complementary medicines, which worries some medical experts, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times.
Meditation is good for the body as well as the mind, scientists have discovered, as the practice significantly reduces the risk of a heart attack for people with heart disease. Patients with heart disease who practised Transcendental Meditation cut their chances of a heart attack, stroke and death by half, compared with non-meditating patients, the first study of its kind has found.
University of Granada researchers have found that consumption of certain kinds of fish more than three times a week could worsen cognitive performance in children. Those with higher levels of exposure to mercury show a generalised delay in cognitive, memory and verbal areas. Mercury is a contaminant found especially in oily fish and canned fish and to a lesser extent in white fish.
While mothers have known that feeding their kids milk builds strong bones, a new study by researchers at the Heart Institute at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City suggests that Vitamin D contributes to a strong and healthy heart as well - and that inadequate levels of the vitamin may significantly increase a person's risk of stroke, heart disease, and death, even among people who've never had heart disease.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the first conclusive evidence in men that the long-term ill effects of vitamin D deficiency are amplified by lower levels of the key sex hormone estrogen, but not testosterone.
Geo Thermal Therapy is the practice of using both hot and cold stones for the purpose of massage. Geo means stone, thermal means temperature, and therapy means massage. When stones are heated and placed on the skin, they allow for blood stream to open. The heat can also lower blood pressure and reduce stress. Geo Thermal Therapy uses cooler stones as well.
Once consumers turn to natural sleep and stress-reducing aids, they can find many botanicals with stress-reducing and sleep-inducing effects. Wild Jujube (Ziziphus spinosa) possessed an anti-anxiety effect at lower doses, and a sedative effect at higher doses in mice. A double blind, placebo-controlled study of healthy subjects demonstrated noteworthy anxiolytic effects of skullcap (Scutellaria laterifolia).
New research findings presented today at the Society for Integrative Oncology's (SIO) Sixth International Conference in New York show promise in assessing the efficacy and safety of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) using traditional research methods. Susan Sencer, MD, Medical Director, Hematology/Oncology at Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota (Children's), presented findings on the use of the homeopathic agent Traumeel S(R) in children with mucositis undergoing stem cell transplantation (SCT).
