Dr. John's Health Matters
Welcome to Dr. John's Health Matters blog.
The articles posted here are from various sources who are duly acknowledged. I would appreciate being immediately notified, if any copywritten material needs to be removed. This blog is not intended to replace the qualified advice of a licensed health practitioner. Readers should exercise their own judgment. Enjoy, subscribe, participate and tell others :)
Following:
Navigate
COMING SOON!
Expand all | Collapse all 
Search
Click Tags under Articles
NOTE: SEARCH BY KEYWORD FUNCTIONS BELOW ARE TEMPORARILY MALFUNCTIONING. USE AT OWN RISK.
Or Display Full Article by
Posts tagged "carotenoid"
Wednesday, Sep 2nd, 2009 ↓Blueberry juice displays weight management benefits: Mouse study →
Sept 2, 2009 (Foodnavigator.com)—Drinking a modified blueberry juice may reduce food intake and body weight, and offer weight management potential, suggest findings from a new study with mice.
Canadian researchers report that mice prone to obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and hypertension drinking the blueberry juice were protected against the development of glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus.
The blueberry juice used in the study was not standard juice but had undergone a transformation using the Serratia vaccinii bacterium.
“Results of this study clearly show that biotransformed blueberry juice has strong anti-obesity and anti-diabetic potential,” said lead researcher Pierre Haddad, from the Université de Montréal.
“Biotransformed blueberry juice may represent a novel therapeutic agent, since it decreases hyperglycemia in diabetic mice and can protect young pre-diabetic mice from developing obesity and diabetes.”
Blueberries, nature’s only ‘blue’ food, are a rich source of polyphenols, potent antioxidants that include phenolics acids, tannins, flavonols and anthocyanins.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: blueberry juice antioxidant weightloss weight management obesity carotenoid insulin diabetes hypertension serratia vaccinii bacterium cholesterol cancer alzheimer prevention
Tea consumers may have younger biological age →
Aug 25, 2009 (Nutraingredients.com)—The cells of regular tea drinkers may have a younger biological age than cells from non-drinkers, according to new research from China.
Researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong looked at the length of telomeres, DNA sequences at the end of chromosomes that shorten as cells replicate and age.
The ageing and lifespan of normal, healthy cells are linked to the so-called telomerase shortening mechanism, which limits cells to a fixed number of divisions. During cell replication, the telomeres function by ensuring the cell’s chromosomes do not fuse with each other or rearrange, which can lead to cancer. Elizabeth Blackburn, a telomere pioneer at the University of California San Francisco, likened telomeres to the ends of shoelaces, without which the lace would unravel.
With each replication the telomeres shorten, and when the telomeres are totally consumed, the cells are destroyed (apoptosis). Previous studies have also reported that telomeres are highly susceptible to oxidative stress. Some experts have noted that telomere length may be a marker of biological ageing.
“The antioxidative properties of tea and its constituent nutrients may protect telomeres from oxidative damage in the normal ageing process,” wrote the authors in the British Journal of Nutrition.
The Hong Kong-based researchers, led by Ruth Chan, noted that the telomeres of people who drank an average of three cups of tea per day were about 4.6 kilobases longer than people who drank an average of a quarter of a cup a day.
This average difference in the telomere length corresponds to “approximately a difference of 5 years of life”, wrote the researchers, led by Ruth Chan.
For full article, see link above.
Tags: tea consumption younger age length telomere dna chromosome aging lifespan cancer stress damage carotenoid plant extract
Eat Fat With Tomatoes to Absorb All the Nutrients →
Aug 24, 2009 (Mercola.com)—Tomatoes are a good source of the antioxidants lycopene and beta-carotene. But if you eat a tomato without adding a little fat, your body is unlikely to absorb all these nutrients.
Scientists recruited graduate students to eat bowls of salad greens with tomatoes and various types of salad dressings. The researchers put IV lines into the participants’ veins and drew blood samples before and after they’d eaten the salads in order to get precise measurements of the absorption of nutrients.
When researchers went back and analyzed the blood samples, they realized that people who had eaten fat-free or low-fat dressings didn’t absorb the beneficial carotenoids from the salad. Only when they had eaten the oil-based dressing did they get the nutrients.
Sources: 
NPR July 27, 2009
Tags: tomato antioxidant lycopene beta-carotene absorb nutrient blood meal diet nutrition carotenoid
Chocolate again linked to better heart health →
Aug 17, 2009 (Nutraingredients.com)—Increased intakes of chocolate may decrease the risk of a heart attack victim from dying from heart-related problems, according to a joint US-Swedish study.
Eating chocolate two or more times per week was associated with a 66 per cent reduction in cardiac mortality, while less frequent consumption was also associated with smaller decreased risks, say the researchers in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
The study is said to be the first to assess the possible effects of chocolate consumption on the prognosis of men and women following a heart attack.
The health benefits of antioxidant-rich chocolate have received much recognition in recent years, with positive findings from a number of studies impacting on consumer awareness. Chocolate manufacturers are using high cocoa content (over 70 per cent) as a means of differentiation, and cocoa has also received attention for its potential in functional food applications.
The new study, however, did not differentiate between the different types of chocolate, be it milk or dark. “In the European Union, milk chocolate has to contain a minimum of 25 per cent of cocoa solids, dark chocolate 35 per cent,” explained the researchers. “The corresponding proportions in United States are 10 per cent and 15 per cent.
“According to the main chocolate producer (Marabou owned by Kraft Foods Sverige AB, Sweden) in the decade of the 1990s, about 90 per cent of the consumption was milk chocolate in Sweden and Swedish milk chocolate normally contains about 30 per cent cocoa solids,” they stated.
For full article see link above.
Tags: chocolate heart attack prevention cardiovascular antioxidant carotenoid phytochemical plant extract consumption coca
New Supplement May Help Slow Sight Loss In Elderly →
June 19, 2009 (Sciencedaily.com) —Queen’s University Belfast academics have helped develop an antioxidant supplement which may slow down sight loss in elderly people.
The supplement may help those affected by the leading cause of blindness in the Western World, a five-year research programme has found.
For full article see link above.
Tags: eye sight elder antioxidant supplement aging blindness nutrition carotenoid vision
Vitamin-exercise study questioned →
May 12 09 (NutraIngredients.com) — Reports that vitamins C and E may blunt the positive effects of exercise are misleading, according to an antioxidant expert.
German researchers have reported that antioxidant vitamins C and E may blunt the positive effects of exercise, with respect to insulin sensitivity. Findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Reacting to the study , Alexander Schauss, PhD, from AIBMR Life Sciences, a nutraceutical products consultancy, told NutraIngredients.com that the title of the study (Antioxidants prevent health-promoting effects of physical exercise in humans) was misleading.
“The primary objective of this study was to study the effect of a 4-week intensive 5-days a week exercise program on insulin sensitivity. Yet the title of the paper leads one to believe otherwise,” he said.
“This is a small gender-biased study of 40 male subjects, 25 to 35 years of age. When I read through the study for the first time I had to wonder how could the authors have come up with such a title for their paper?” he asked.
For full article, see link above.
Carotenoids linked to fewer hip fractures →
Mar 26. 09 (FoodNavigator-USA.com) — Increased intakes of antioxidant pigments from plants may lower the risk of hip fracture in older men and women, according to a 17-year study from the US.
Of the individual carotenoids studied, lycopene was found to have the greatest protective effect, while beta-carotene had a weak association with fewer hip fractures, according to data published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
For full article, see link above.
