Health News for the Week

This week was a great week for scientific research in the health field. Here are some of last week’s most worthy findings: 

Fish Oil – better than Vegetable oil at reducing inflammation; http://www.lef.org/whatshot/index.html#fobt

Binge Drinking deprives the body of Omega 3 fatty acids; http://www.lef.org/whatshot/index.html#bddt

Another Study confirming Hormone Replacement Increasing Breast Cancer Risk; http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=FA1CAB22-E7F2-99DF-319788020F226A81&chanID=sa003

Fat Friends and Your Waistline; http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=FF5A6C55-E7F2-99DF-3CC480987ABF2D4B&chanID=sa011

Obesity Pill Linked to Suicide

“Patients with severe depression should not be prescribed Acomplia, said the European Medicines Agency. ” Preliminary studies by the FDA suggest it may greatly increase the risk of suicide. For the full story, see: http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=5635&Section=NUTRITION

P53 for Cancer

If you read our quercetin article, you already know that some of the benefits quercetin causes are a direct result of it’s impact on the production of P53 protein. Now, a scientific study has determined that P53, even without quercetin, can reduce your risk of cancer and increases the lifespan of mice a whopping 16% (equivalent to approximately 12 more years in humans if similar results are to be achieved).

 Source: Life Extension Foundation. 2007 Jul 19; http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=5616&Section=AGING

Heart X-ray raises cancer risk

A type of X-ray used to diagnose heart disease may cause cancer in women and young adults. Source: Scientific American. 2007 Jul 17; http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=heart-x-ray-raises-cancer&chanID=sa011&modsrc=reuters

Tomatoes for your prostate?

With data all over the map on lycopene, it seems that tomatoes (which are still somewhat controversial in their functional benefits), rather than lycopene supplementation is the way to go. See: http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=5617&Section=NUTRITION if you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of tomatoes for prostate health.

Milk + Yogurt for Type 2 Diabetes?

Milk has been bashed alot lately for it’s ability to bind to phytochemicals and destroy their antioxidant properties. This is good news for milk fans, however we recommend that you don’t consume milk with your fruits and vegetables, to ensure that your antioxidants aren’t being destroyed.

Prevent cancer before it happens!

A great guide to eating healthy is available here: http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=5612&Section=NUTRITION . Absolutely wonderful advice.

Wholegrains… Lower cholesterol, lower risk of heart disease and diabetes, and more!

Recent studies attribute all this to a diet high in wholegrains. Check out: http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=5615&Section=NUTRITION for the full scoop!

Good Old Metformin…

“Most type 2 diabetes drugs are equally effective for lowering blood sugar, but the generic drug metformin has fewer side effects than several newer, pricier medications, a government report finds…”

Source: WebMD. 2007 Jul 16; http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/10101/old-diabetes-drug-has-advantages

 —–

I must say that this really doesn’t surprise me. Metformin has had absolutely fantastic results in animal studies, even in animals without diabetes. See: http://www.pubmed.com

PMID: 16125352 for more info.

High Sugar Foods and Eyesight…

“Eating lots of sugary, starchy foods may make eyes more vulnerable to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), America’s top cause of vision loss…”

WebMD. 2007 Jul 13; http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/Macular-Degeneration/news/20070713/high-sugar-foods-may-affect-eyesight

 —–

A great article, which I highly recommend. It would be nice, however, if quality sites like WebMD started emphasizing the benefits of glycemic load use rather than the glycemic index. The glycemic index does a fairly good job at elucidating good foods, however it does unfortunately classify certain good foods (ie watermelon) as bad, due to the presence of a few high glycemic carbohydrates present in a typical slice.