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Anti-Oxidant/Exercise Link Examined Further

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� Rose Anne @ 12:03 pm

A barrage of critical response has greeted new German research on antioxidants and exercise.

Anti-oxidant expert Alexander Schauss PhD. called the study “misleading” in an interview with Nutraingredients.com. He said the paper’s title, implying antioxidants prevent health promoting benefits of physical exercise, misrepresented its contents. Schauss observed that the small study, involving 40 subjects, was designed to look at effects of intensive exercise on insulin resistance. Muscle biopsies used to measure baseline biochemical data were only taken from nine individuals. Schauss questioned conclusions drawn from such limited data, noting that existing literature does not support the German study’s conclusions.

Nutritional biochemist Dr. Rob Childs echoed Schauss’s comments, calling the German conclusions “a gross over extrapolation of the experimental findings.”

Childs, who advises professional cyclists, said “studies dating back to the 1980’s have shown that antioxidants reduce muscle damage.” He cited newer studies showing antioxidants improving athletes’ lung capacity and exercise performance. Childs concluded that the study’s design produced a lack of clear data, possibly resulting in an “experimental artifact.” The Childs interview was also published by Nutraingredients.com

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MEDITERRANEAN DIET REDUCES RISK OF HYPERTENSION

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� Rose Anne @ 9:22 am

In yet another affirmation of the power of traditional foods, a new European study has found that, even as it falls out of favor on its home turf, the Mediterranean diet continues to be protective against high blood pressure. Emphasis on fruits, vegetables and olive oil in the diet was specifically linked to decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.

The study followed almost 9000 people between the ages of 20 and 95, and was conducted in a Mediterranean setting. Researchers found what was deemed to be a “statistically significant interaction” between olive oil and fruits and vegetables in the diet, but only when olive oil consumption was below 15 grams per day.

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OMEGA 3 DHA PROTECTS AGAINST PARKINSONS, HUNTINGTONS, ALZHEIMERS

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� Rose Anne @ 10:14 am

Dietary Omega 3 fatty acid (specifically DHA) protects against a genetic mutation causing degeneration of the nervous system, according to new research. Researchers at Louisiana State University Research Center found that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) protects against diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s by preventing misfolding of brain proteins, a cellular error linked to a heritable gene.

This misfolding results in tangled protein clumps that cannot be properly processed by brain cells, ultimately becoming toxic enough to kill surrounding cells. Spinocerebellar Ataxia can appear early in life as a result of this genetic error, adversely affecting speech, eye movement and hand co-ordination. The LSU team showed DHA protecting against this disease.

Neuroprotectin D1 is a naturally occurring brain molecule derived from DHA that promotes brain cell survival. The LSU researchers suggested that enhanced dietary DHA not only prevents disease but promotes rescue of dying brain cells. They concluded that DHA may benefit patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa, Parkinson’s and some forms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Individuals who are celiac or gluten intolerant may be more subject to these disorders because of intestinal damage caused by unbroken (improperly digested) proteins from gluten and casein. Damaged intestinal villi found in gluten intolerant individuals leads to poor absorption of long chain fatty acids such as DHA, with resulting vulnerability to neurodegenerative brain changes.

Traditional food sources of DHA includes fatty fish such as butterfish, wild Alaskan salmon and sardines. Algaes are a primary food source of DHA, for fish as well as humans.

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CURRIES FIGHT AGING

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� Rose Anne @ 9:47 am

Eating curries may protect against cancer, Alzheimer’s and infectious disease, as well as improving heart health. New research shows that cucurmin, the compound that gives tumeric its yellow color, stabilizes cell membranes, effectively reversing age related changes.

The study is one of many that points to traditional foods as the answer to the epidemic of new health issues that threatens to overwhelm our economies and significantly damage our quality of life. Alzheimer’s and cancer both occur much more frequently in populations that consume industrialized foods.

The new study, in the current Journal of the American Chemical Society, shows cucurmin working at low concentrations to affect the negative curvature of the cell membrane. Tumeric, a member of the ginger family, has a 2500 year history as a folk medicine in India, where it is used to disinfect cuts and burns. It is also a key component of the diet in a society that, like many traditional cultures, blurs the distinction between food and medicine.

Tumeric offers better anti-inflammatory properties than drugs such as NSAIDS, and may be useful for arthritis and other painful conditions. Clinical studies have demonstrated tumeric’s potential in preventing and treating prostate cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma. Other data indicates it may be helpful in the fight against obesity by aiding fat metabolism.

Other benefits attributed to tumeric include improvements in psoriasis, cholesterol metabolism, MS and type 2 diabetes.

http://pubs.acs.org/action/doSearch?searchText=Ayyalusamy+Ramamoorthy&searchSub=Search&publication=40001010

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Links

5/17/2009

Anti-Oxidant/Exercise Link Examined Further

5/11/2009

MEDITERRANEAN DIET REDUCES RISK OF HYPERTENSION

5/7/2009

OMEGA 3 DHA PROTECTS AGAINST PARKINSONS, HUNTINGTONS, ALZHEIMERS

5/5/2009

CURRIES FIGHT AGING