Hot Health Studies

Flax Seed Inhibits Breast Tumors

Posted: July 11, 2008 | Comments: 3

Filed under: Breast Cancer | Author: Sarah

Breast cancer affects as many as 1 in 7 women in America, and kills over 50,000 every year. In the UK, 1 in 9 women develop breast cancer and over 13,000 die every year. So any way of reducing these appalling death figures would be a welcome boon for women and health authorities around the world.

Thirty nine post-menopausal women with recently diagnosed breast cancer and awaiting surgery were studied. The women were given either a muffin that contained 25 grams of ground flaxseed, or a plain (placebo) muffin that contained no flaxseed. The study was conducted over a 39-day period.

After the study, all breast-cancer tumours were removed from the women and analysed. It was found that the growth of tumours from the women who had been eating the flaxseed muffins was significantly reduced compared to the women eating the plain muffins. This is the first time it has been proved in humans that flaxseed can significantly restrict the growth of breast tumours!

The suspected reason why flaxseed was found to be so effective against breast cancer tumors is because it contains a significant amount of a compound called lignan. Lignan is known to regulate estrogen levels. High levels of estrogen have been linked to breast, uterus and cervical cancer.

Got Antioxidant Anxiety? Here’s The 10 Highest Antioxidant Foods

Posted: January 25, 2008 | Comments: 2

Filed under: Food | Author: Sarah

Taking a walk through your neighborhood grocer, you are sure to notice that just about everything seems to be labeled “antioxidant.” Everything from tea to vegetables and even chocolate and wine are suppose to be “rich in antioxidants.” Apparently, they do everything from improving skin to battling cancer. But really, what is antioxidant and why should I care if my bottle of wine has any?

Is this just another marketing ploy to get me to purchase tea that taste like feet all in the name of good health?

According to The American Heritage Science dictionary an antioxidant is: “A chemical compound or substance that inhibits oxidation. Certain vitamins, such as vitamin E, are antioxidants and may protect body cells from damage caused by the oxidative effects of free radicals.” http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=antioxidant

Okay now we are getting somewhere. So what is a free radical and why don’t we want them oxidizing in our body?

Referencing The American Heritage Science Dictionary, a free radical is: “An atom or group of atoms that has at least one unpaired electron and is therefore unstable and highly reactive. In animal tissues, free radicals can damage cells and are believed to accelerate the progression of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and age-related diseases.”

So free radicals are a group of atoms that have at least one electron that is not paired which makes it unstable. Because of its unstable state these free radicals can damage cells and cause cancer to accelerate. The antioxidants protect the body from these crazy free radicals running ramped through out systems by preventing them from oxidizing. Now this is starting to make perfect sense. I see why everything in the grocery store is labeled as being rich in antioxidants, it’s a huge money making market.

Obviously, antioxidants can help people be much healthier and protect against cancer. There does seem to be a mix of evidence as to how much they actually do help protect against cancer but at this point, every little bit helps. http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/common/standard/transform.jsp?requestURI=/healthatoz/Atoz/hl/nutr/vita/alert03032005.jsp

However, I am quiet skeptical that everything that is labeled as having antioxidants, actually does contain these cancer fighting helpers.

So what foods contain the highest amounts of antioxidants naturally?

According to an article by Harvard Health Publication the foods highest in antioxidants are as follows:

Blackberries

Walnuts

Strawberries

Artichokes

Cranberries

Coffee

Raspberries

Pecans

Blueberries

Cloves

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/cancer/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100152031

These are all things that are part of healthy, balanced diet.

While antioxidants may not cure all of our ailments, it is obvious that they do help. So the next time you are cruising the aisles of the local market, before you purchase that strange looking brew that claims to have antioxidants, remember that you can get more of these free radical fighting helpers by eating lots of fruits and vegetables.

You don’t need to purchase any special elixir, just pay better attention to what you are eating everyday.

“antioxidant.” The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company. 06 Jul. 2008. Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/antioxidant.

“free radical.” The American Heritage® Science Dictionary. Houghton Mifflin Company. 06 Jul. 2008. Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/free
radical

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Garlic and Weight Loss

Posted: January 22, 2008 | Comments: 0

Filed under: Weight Loss | Author: Sarah

Most people are aware that eating garlic can help in the fight against heart disease and perhaps even cancer. But it may also help in losing weight! Scientists working at a research institute in Israel, the Weizmann Institute of Science, have found a compound in garlic that may significantly help in the battle to lose weight.

The four-person team have found that a compound called allicin is produced when garlic is crushed. Normally, this is nature’s way for the garlic plant to protect itself from insects, parasites, fungus, and bacteria – the allicin simply kills or repels the bacteria, fungus or insects. In fact, allicin has proved to be highly potent in killing many forms of bacteria!

Allicicn, the overwhelming odour of crushed garlic that everyone is familiar with, is produced when a compound in garlic called allin is broken down by a garlic enzyme called allinase. By simply crushing garlic a chemical reaction occurs between the enzyme allinase and the compound allin to produce allicin.

The scientific team led by Dr Mirelman fed two groups of rats a high sugar diet; a diet of mainly fruit sugar. One group obviously gained weight, however, the other group were also fed allicin – the highly potent compound found in garlic – and this group did NOT gain any weight, even though they consumed the same amount of sugar This suggests that allicin – the compound found in garlic - was somehow stopping the rats from gaining extra weight. The exact reason why it prevented weight gain in the rats is unknown.

But, garlic is known to reduce blood fat levels. So the possible reason for the rats not gaining weight is that allicin binds with or dissolves blood fat, thus lowering or limiting the level of body fat.

Although similar studies have yet to be performed on humans, it’s suspected that garlic may have the same effect on humans as it did rats because garlic behaves in the same way on blood fat levels.

Poor Diet Can Lead to Bad Behavior

Posted: April 14, 2007 | Comments: 0

Filed under: Children, Behavior & ADHD | Author: Sarah

A study concluded in 2004 suggests that children fed a poor diet are more likely to be irritable, swear, argue, and generally develop an anti-social attitude.

Professor Adrian Raine from the University of Southern California (USC) co-authored a study based on the development of more than 1000 children from Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean just off the coast of South Africa.

The researchers analysed data over a 14-year-plus period which included factors such as social background, education and health, and they concluded that the more under-nourished the children, the greater the risk of anti-social behavior in later years.

Therefore, Professor Raine pointed out that parents could help prevent their children developing anti-social and aggressive bevavior by ensuring they receive a nutritional diet.

Eating Meat Reduces Hunger Pains

Posted: April 2, 2007 | Comments: 0

Filed under: Weight Loss | Author: Sarah

The exact reason why diets like Atkins (high protein) promote weight loss is not well understood. But there are many anecdotal stories to support the idea that eating plenty of meat can result in losing weight.

Previous research has suggested there is link between significant protein consumption and reduced hunger pains. Indeed, Gilles Mithieux of Lyon University in France, head researcher of a new study, states that, “It is well known that protein feeding decreases hunger sensation and subsequent food intake in animals and humans.”

Researchers from the French research body INSERM, made the surprising discovery that diets high in protein spark glucose production in the small intestine. The study involving rats, demonstrated that significant protein consumption increased gene activity that leads to greater glucose production in the animals’ intestines.

The extra glucose was detected by the liver glucose-sensor which, in turn, triggered parts of the brain that reduced hunger pains and hence food intake. The underlying reasons why protein triggers glucose production still remains unknown, but researchers suspect that eating meat activates a chemical inside intestinal cells which prompts specific genes to produce glucose.

This research supports the idea that adding quality protein to your diet may help you lose weight.

Flax Seed Inhibits Breast Tumors

Got Antioxidant Anxiety? Here’s The 10 Highest Antioxidant Foods

Garlic and Weight Loss

Poor Diet Can Lead to Bad Behavior

Eating Meat Reduces Hunger Pains

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