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High antioxidant fruits top list for lung protection
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, December 27 2022
The European Respiratory Journal published the results of a study that found protective effects for tomatoes and other high antioxidant fruits against the decline in lung function that can occur during aging. “In the present study, we sought to investigate whether a higher intake of dietary sources of antioxidants in middle-aged European adults could attenuate ageing-related lung function decline over 10 years,” explained lead researcher Vanessa Garcia-Larsen of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and her associates. The current investigation, which is part of the Ageing for Lungs in European Cohorts study, included 680 adults that participated in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey. Food frequency questionnaires completed upon enrollment were analyzed for antioxidant intake. Lung function was assessed by spirometry testing. A high intake of fruit and apples was associated with a decrease in the decline in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) over ten years of follow up. Consuming more apples, bananas, tomatoes, herb tea and vitamin C was associated with a reduction in the decline of forced vital capacity (FVC), another measure of lung function. Further statistical analysis found significance for tomato intake as protective against FVC decline. When smokers, nonsmokers and ex-smokers were separately considered, higher apple, banana and tomato intake were associated with a reduction in FVC decline in ex-smokers. “This study shows that diet might help repair lung damage in people who have stopped smoking,” Dr Garcia-Larsen stated. “It also suggests that a diet rich in fruits can slow down the lung’s natural aging process even if you have never smoked. The findings support the need for dietary recommendations, especially for people at risk of developing respiratory diseases such as COPD.”
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Antioxidant enzyme protects telomeres
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne (France), December 23 2022.
The journal Cell Reports published the discovery of researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale De Lausanne of an antioxidant enzyme that protects the cells’ telomeres—sequences of repetitive nucleotides which, in turn, cap and protect the chromosomes. Telomeres are especially vulnerable to damage caused by oxygen radicals that are byproducts of normal metabolism. Joachim Lingner and colleagues identified the antioxidant enzyme peroxiredoxin 1 (PRDX1) on telomeres during the phase of the cell cycle in which the cells synthesize new DNA and duplicate its genetic material, as well as during the next phase when the cell grows before dividing. Removal of PRDX1 from the cells resulted in increased susceptibility to oxidative damage. The researchers found that incorporation of an oxidatively damaged nucleotide in telomeres caused the cessation of chromosome growth. It was determined that telomerase, which builds chromosomes by elongating them, halted the growth process upon detection of the damaged nucleotide. “Our study links oxidative damage and telomeres, both of which have been previously linked to aging and cancer,” Dr Lingner stated. “We expect that further studies of this problem will provide insights that help us understand mechanisms of cancer development, aging and inherited disease.”
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Dawn-to-dusk dry fasting leads to health benefits in the study of immune cells
Baylor College of Medicine, January 5, 2022
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have found more evidence that dry fasting (fasting without food or liquid intake) from dawn to dusk can play an important role in overall health. In a new study published in Metabolism Open, researchers found that fasting from dawn to dusk for four weeks has an anti-atherosclerotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumorigenic effect on the proteins in a type of immune cell called a peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC). “We know that disruptions of the circadian rhythm are associated with cancer and metabolic syndrome. This type of fasting can potentially act as a reset to normal for the circadian rhythm,” said Dr. Ayse Leyla Mindikoglu, corresponding author of the study and associate professor in the Margaret M. and Albert B. Alkek Department of Medicine at Baylor. “After fasting, our participants lost weight, and their blood pressure and insulin resistance improved.”The researchers previously found similar results in blood serum. The current study used samples from the previous study examining 14 people with metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions including obesity, insulin resistance (elevated blood glucose levels), elevated blood pressure, high triglycerides (a type of blood fat) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (good cholesterol). These conditions can lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The participants were observing the month of Ramadan, which consists of fasting for four consecutive weeks without eating or drinking from dawn to sunset. Outside of fasting, participants were allowed to eat whatever they preferred and were not required to follow any exercise regimen or weight loss measures. Participants gave blood samples before the fasting period began, at the conclusion of fasting and one week after fasting was completed. The research team used mass spectrometry techniques to examine the proteome of PBMCs in the blood. They found that proteins associated with atherosclerosis, heart disease and cancer promotion were decreased, while proteins associated with cancer and inflammation suppression were increased. They found that apolipoprotein B, which is a more accurate risk predictor for developing atherosclerotic heart disease than low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, was significantly decreased at the end of four-week dawn-to-dusk dry fasting compared with its level before fasting, and its decrease persisted even one week after the fasting period. “The findings of this study are important because we were able to confirm the favorable effect of dawn-to-dusk dry fasting at the cellular level,” Mindikoglu said. “This is the first time that this type of investigation into the proteome of immune cells has been done in subjects with metabolic syndrome who fasted from dawn to dusk.”
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Tomatoes may combat the damaging effects of radiation
University of Manchester,
A team of researchers from have discovered that lycopene—the red pigment in tomatoes—is extremely successful at guarding against the harmful effects of radiation. Dr Ruth Edge from The University of Manchester, together with her colleagues Professor George Truscott from Keele University and Professors Fritz Boehm & Christian Witt from Berlin, undertook a study of lycopene (one of the carotenoids – plant pigments found in many fruits and vegetables) and its effectiveness at protecting against radiation at the University of Manchester’s Dalton Cumbrian Facility, part of the Dalton Nuclear Institute. Radiation therapy is used to treat a wide range of tumours, but until now, its side effects have constrained its effectiveness. Recently, there has been interest in the possible role of dietary carotenoids in limiting these effects. In addition, interest has grown in identifying dietary counter-measures against nuclear accidents. The results of the study, published in FEBS Letters, have shown that lycopene is an effective carotenoid at offering protection from the damaging effects of gamma radiation, and that dietary intervention could be useful in efforts to defend people from these effects. A plentiful supply of tomatoes, cooked in oil which helps the body to absorb carotenoids, would be an effective way of adding lycopene to diets. A major finding of the study is that such protective effects are reduced as the oxygen concentration is increased. Dr Ruth Edge said: “We have shown that lycopene can protect human cells efficiently against gamma radiation at low, but not high oxygen concentrations, and we hope that this effect may allow for improvements in radiation cancer therapy if the oxygen concentration can be increased in solid tumours compared to the healthy surrounding tissue”.
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Do the negative ways that others treat us contribute to later self-harm?
University of North Carolina, January 5, 2022
Engaging in self-harming behaviors without the intention to die, or non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), increases dramatically in the transition from childhood to adolescence and continues to grow throughout the teenage years. Although engagement in NSSI is often associated with emotional reactivity and may occur in response to distressing social experiences, some youth are more likely than others to carry out self-injury. How both emotional and social-environmental vulnerabilities may interact within individuals to increase developmental risk for self-harm remains unknown. Now, a new longitudinal study in Biological Psychiatry, examines the neural-based correlates and other risk factors for self-injurious behaviors such as NSSI, an understanding of which could help bolster kids’ resilience against NSSI behaviors. NSSI behaviors include cutting or carving skin, inserting objects under nails or skin, burning skin, scraping or picking skin to the point of drawing blood, and hitting oneself on purpose. For the study, researchers at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill led by Olivia H. Pollak, MA, examined adolescents’ reactivity in a brain area called the amygdala, which has been associated with emotional reactivity and sensitivity to the social environment, including reward and punishment. The 125 participants performed a task in which they anticipated and sought to avoid peer punishment (a scowling face) and anticipated and sought to gain social reward (a smiling face) while undergoing brain imaging. Participants completed a questionnaire the year of the scan and again one year later to determine past NSSI behavior. The teens also classified their peers (from a class roster) as those they liked most and least—an established assessment of social preference, capturing real-world experiences of peer acceptance and rejection. The researchers found that greater amygdala reactivity during anticipation of social punishment predicted greater NSSI engagement one year later among adolescents with lower peer-nominated social preference. This finding suggests that adolescents who are both more sensitive to the prospect of social punishment and who experience greater social adversity in their real-world peer network may be at heightened risk for future NSSI. First author Olivia H. Pollak added, “Clinically, our findings suggest that teaching emotion regulation skills and increasing prosocial peer interactions may help protect against engagement in self-injurious behaviors in adolescence.”
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The Real Benefits of Lemon Water According to Science
Green Med Info, January 3rd 2023
Botanically, it is a citrus fruit in the Rutaceae family (scientifically known as Citrus Limon), and while being the smallest in its family has more comprehensive health benefits than its family members They are likely to have originated in India around the Himalayan foothills and spread from there. The two main types of lemons are the Lisbon and Eureka. There are others that have come into vogue such as the sweeter Meyer Lemons. The fruit is lower in calories about 29 per 100 grams, which makes it one of the lower in Lemons as a Source of Vitamin-C
We know lemons are high in vitamin C which is essential for normal growth and development . A single lemon contains around 30-40 mg of vitamin C (in comparison an orange contains around 80-90 mg of vitamin C).
- Lemon Water as Detox and Cleanse
This is the first benefit that comes to mind when it comes to lemon water, and usually the most overstated. Not surprisingly, the amount of urine is increased when drinking lemon water however lemon water brings with it the primary compound known as Citrate. This is a naturally-occurring inhibitor of toxins (which can build up in the form of crystals in the body). The Citric acid enhances your body’s ability to naturally flush out these unwanted toxins. As published by Dutch researchers in the European Journal of Nutrition, lemon peels and the waste stream of the lemon peels are effective in lowering blood and liver cholesterol levels. As published by Indian researchers in a 2005 edition of BMC Pharmacology, hesperidin (a citrus bioflavonoid found in lemons) demonstrates the ability to protect the liver from damage. After administration of CCl4 (a well known liver toxin), the authors concluded that hesperidin demonstrates a protective effect on the liver. These studies shed light on the lemon’s ability to enhance the liver’s function of filtering out unwanted toxins.
- Improve Digestion with Lemon Water
Citrus flavonoids are the primary cause of improved digestion when drinking warm lemon water. They aid in the assimilation of food, help prevent fatty liver, decrease chances of cardiovascular disease, fat-lowering, and reduced insulin sensitivity. This has to do with it’s ability to inhibit certain synthesis of fat in the body .
Citrus flavonoids act as a great digestive tonic, with appetite suppressing abilities. It has also been shown to calm an upset stomach or mild indigestion. This has to do with the hydrochloric acid in your stomach that start the process of breaking down your food. It is believed the citrus flavonoids in lemon water support the hydrochloric acid in the stomach in breaking down food. The best way to utilize lemon water as a digestion aid is to also include the zest of the lemon which will improve the good bacteria in your gut.
- Alkalize with Lemon Water
If you’re new to the concept of alkalinity, it’s the process of neutralizing acid in the body. The basic idea is your body has certain acids that can build up causing negative side effects such as acid reflux, upset stomach, acidosis, and beyond (10). An ideal range to fall between is 4.6-8.0 and can be tested with pH strips using saliva or urine. Lemon water is a safe and effective way to manage your pH levels and achieving healthy alkalinity may benefit in bone health, reduced muscle wasting, decrease chances of hypertension and strokes, improved cardiovascular health, and improved memory).
- Reduced Wrinkles and Improved Skin
This claim states benefits from both drinking lemon water and applying topically. Lemons have been found to be high in antioxidants which are linked to anti-aging properties. The primary cause of aging comes from free radicals that cause the breakdown of various tissues in the body, namely skin. Research showed that plant derived antioxidants were able to reverse the breakdown of collagen fibers in the skin. If you want to apply lemon juice topically there are various ways depending on preference. The simplest way is to dilute in water and pat on the face with a damp cloth avoiding the eyes.
- Benefits of Essential Oils in Lemons
If you’re looking to get the oils into your lemon water simply take the peel and squeeze or twist the outer zest portion. If you watch closely you’ll be able to see the lemon oils coming out of the zest. One of the most interesting benefits that has been linked to lemon oil is its moderate antimicrobial activities against bad bacteria, yeast and fungi such as Candida albicans more commonly known to cause yeast infection). In another study performed by the Central Food Technological Research Institute looked at how geraniol, a phytonutriant found in lemon, aided in reversing diabetic neuropathy. The study showed that sciatic nerve damage was reduced through lemon oil (geraniol) use. In the full 8 week study cellular function was restored, suggesting that the use of lemon oil regularly can assist in regulating energy stores, and as previously mentioned help preventing disease.