Health A-Z

Black pepper – more health benefits than you know!

We use it to spice up our omelette, or add that extra zing to Indian dishes, but did you know that humble black pepper can add a lot more to your food than just flavour. Here is a list of its top 10 benefits.

Helps prevent cancer: According to a study carried out by the University of Michigan Cancer Center, black pepper was found to prevent the development of breast cancer tumors.

They found that the piperine content of black pepper plays a key role in preventing cancers. It further stated that when combined with turmeric its anticancer properties are heightened. Apart from the piperine, black pepper also contains Vitamin C, Vitamin A,
flavonoids, carotenes and other anti-oxidants that help remove harmful free radicals and protect the body from cancers and diseases. Other studies have suggested its efficacy in stalling the progression of skin cancers and bowel and colon cancer as well. Add a teaspoon of pepper powder to your food once a day. It is better that you eat freshly ground pepper rather than adding it to a dish while cooking.

Helps in digestion: The piperine content of black pepper makes it a great digestive. It stimulates the taste buds to signal the stomach to produce more hydrochloric acid. This acid is essential to digest proteins and other foods in the stomach, which when left undigested cause flatulence, indigestion, diarrhoea, constipation and acidity. The excess hydrochloric acid secreted helps in preventing these conditions. To aid in digestion, add a tablespoon (depending on the number of servings being prepared) of freshly ground pepper powder to your meal, while cooking. It will add to the flavour of the dish and keep your stomach healthy.

Helps you lose weight: Black pepper is great in aiding the proper assimilation (extraction of all the nutrients) of food. Moreover, its outer layer which contains potent phytonutrients stimulates the breakdown of fat cells. It also promotes sweating and urination and is a great way to get rid of excess water and toxins from the body.  All these activities collectively help in weight loss. For effective weightloss, just sprinkle pepper over your food. Do not eat too much of the spice, it can cause severe side effects.

Relieves gas: Known for its carminative properties (a substance that prevents the formation of gas) black pepper is great to relieve discomfort caused due to flatulence and colicky pain. Adding pepper to your meals instead of chili powder will help relieve
flatulence.

Can give you clear skin: Apart from a great way to help you sweat and release all the toxins from your skin, it acts a great exfoliant. Pepper when crushed and added to a face scrub, helps slough off dead skin, stimulates circulation and helps deliver more oxygen and nutrients to the skin. The antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties help keep the skin safe from infections like acne.

Beats dandruff: Ditch those anti dandruff shampoos, try using pepper instead. Because of its antibacterial and anti inflammatory properties, pepper is great to get rid of dandruff. Mix a teaspoonful of crushed black pepper in a cup of curd. Mix well and apply
on the scalp. Leave in for about half an hour. Rinse out your hair well. Do not use shampoo at this stage. Wash your hair with shampoo the next day. Make sure you do not use too much pepper, it may cause your scalp to burn.

Clears up a stuffy nose and relieves cough: Due to its antibacterial properties, black pepper is a very effective natural remedy to cure colds and coughs. Its warm, spicy flavour also helps loosen phlegm and relieve a stuffy nose. Try sprinkling freshly ground pepper on hot soup or rasam. It will immediately loosen up the phlegm and help you breathe easier. (Also read: Healthy recipe for black pepper and garlic rasam)

Helps people with anorexia: Black pepper is known to improve digestion and stimulate the taste buds. Because of this property, it is a great natural remedy for people with anorexia (a condition where the person does not eat) by helping them regain their appetite. Adding a little pepper to their food, will go a long way in resolving anorexia.

Helps the body use nutrients more efficiently: Black pepper is known to have properties that help enhance bioavailability. This means that it helps in the proper transport and absorption of nutrients from food. This property also helps drugs work more efficiently.

Is a natural anti-depressant: The Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology reported that the compound piperine in black pepper increases the cognitive function of the brain and helps beat depression. It was also found that pepper eaten on a regular basis helps the brain function properly. Add it to your daily meal, or eat it as seasoning on a salad.  Pepper in any form can help make you smarter and less depressed.

So, the next time you want to spice up your meal, use pepper. It will not only add to the flavour, it has the potential to make you happier.

Source: Health India

Wash your hands after handling receipts to avoid BPA

Handling receipts may increase the body’s level of a chemical that has been linked to reproductive and neurological problems, suggests a new small study.

The researchers write in the Journal of the American Medical Association that bisphenol A – commonly known as BPA – typically enters the body when people eat food from a can. But it can also be absorbed through the skin from receipts, according to the study’s lead author.

“It’s not the main source of exposure, but it’s an additional source that wasn’t previously recognized,” said Dr. Shelley Ehrlich of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio.

BPA is used in the process of making hard plastics, and has been banned from use in manufacturing baby bottles. The chemical is also used in the interior lining of many food cans. The chemical can leach into foods that are stored in such containers and eventually end up in the body when people eat the food. More recent research has found that people can also end up with increased BPA levels after touching materials containing the chemical.

BPA is in thermal paper, which used to be a mainstay in fax machines and is still commonly used for receipts. Thermal paper is coated with a material that turns black when heat is applied. At the cash register, the printer applies small amounts of heat to create numbers and letters.

BPA is chemically similar to the hormone estrogen, and is thought to mimic that hormone’s effects in the body, making it a member of a class of chemicals known as “endocrine disruptors.”

In the past, BPA has been linked to a number of health problems, including reproductive disorders and brain development anomalies among children exposed in the womb. Higher levels of BPA in urine have also been tied to an increased risk of obesity among children.

For the new study, Ehrlich and her colleagues recruited 24 Harvard School of Public Health students and staff between 2010 and 2011. The participants were at least 18 years old and not pregnant. First, the participants were asked to handle receipts for two hours with their bare hands. After at least one week, they were asked to handle receipts again while wearing gloves.

Before they handled the receipts, the researchers found that 20 of the 24 participants’ urine samples had small but measurable amounts of BPA. After the first experiment, BPA was present in all urine samples, though at levels that remained within national averages.

The concentration of BPA in the urine samples had increased, though by an amount equivalent to about a quarter of what would be expected from eating canned soup, for example.

After waiting a week and having the participants handle receipts for two hours while wearing gloves, the researchers found no significant increase in the BPA levels in the participants’ urine samples afterward.

Ehrlich said the average person should not be alarmed by the findings, but cashiers and bank tellers who handle receipts throughout the day may want to take precautions – especially if they’re pregnant or of child-bearing age.

“Handle receipts with care,” she said. “They are a source of exposure to BPA and if people are handling them a lot on a daily basis … they should perhaps consider using gloves for now.”

In the current study, the researchers used nitrile gloves. Ehrlich said additional research would be needed to determine whether latex or other types of gloves also work.

She also said people may want to wash their hands after handling receipts.

“I don’t think people should be super alarmed, but they should be aware,” she said.

Source: the globe and mail

New F.D.A. Nutrition Labels Would Make ‘Serving Sizes’ Reflect Actual Servings

The Food and Drug Administration for the first time in two decades will propose major changes to nutrition labels on food packages, putting calorie counts in large type and adjusting portion sizes to reflect how much Americans actually eat.

It would be the first significant redrawing of the nutrition information on food labels since the federal government started requiring them in the early 1990s. Those labels were based on eating habits and nutrition data from the 1970s and ’80s, before portion sizes expanded significantly, and federal health officials argued that the changes were needed to bring labels into step with the reality of the modern American diet.

“It’s an amazing transformation,” said Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, commissioner of the F.D.A. “Things like the size of a muffin have changed so dramatically. It is important that the information on the nutrition fact labels reflect the realities in the world today.”

The proposed changes include what experts say will be a particularly controversial item: a separate line for sugars that are manufactured and added to food, substances that many public health experts say have contributed substantially to the obesity problem in this country. The food industry has argued against similar suggestions in the past.

“The changes put added sugars clearly in the cross hairs,” said Dr. David A. Kessler, who was commissioner during the original push for labels in the 1990s. “America has the sweetest diet in the world. You can’t get to be as big as we’ve gotten without added sweeteners.” Millions of Americans pay attention to food labels, and the changes are meant to make them easier to understand — a critical step in an era when more than one-third of adults are obese, public health experts say. The epidemic has caused rates of diabetes to soar, and has increased risks for cancer, heart disease and stroke.

The proposal will be open to public comment for 90 days, and it will take months before any change is made final. In a special concession to industry, the agency is allowing companies two years to put the changes into effect.

Source: New York Times

Eat strawberries to lower bad cholesterol

A rich source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients, strawberries offer a range of health benefits.

Adding to the long list is a recent study published in the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, which found that incorporating strawberries into your daily diet could help lower cholesterol and boost cardiovascular health.

Researchers from the Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy and their colleagues from the Universities of Salamanca, Granada and Seville (Spain) studied 23 healthy volunteers over a month. 500g of strawberries were added to their daily diets and blood samples were taken before and after the experiment.

At the end of the study, the high-density lipoprotein (HDL or good cholesterol) levels remained unchanged, whereas low-density lipoproteins (LDL or bad cholesterol) and the quantity of triglycerides fell to 8.78 percent, 13.72 percent and 20.8 percent respectively.

Other parameters such as the general plasma lipid profile, antioxidant biomarkers (such as vitamin C or oxygen radical absorbance capacity), antihemolytic defences and platelet function also improved at the end of the study. However, all parameters returned to their initial values 15 days after abandoning the ‘treatment’ with strawberries.

The flavonoids and antioxidants in the fruit prevent buildup of bad cholesterol which can clog the arteries among other cardiovascular benefits.

Including this power packed fruit in your daily diet helps boost immunity, protects against infections, regulates blood sugar levels, suppresses growth of cancer cells, slows down ageing process, prevents hair loss and boosts brain power.

So if you’re not already a fan of red, juicy, heart-shaped delights, then it’s high time that you add it to your daily diet.

Source: Zee news

Eating vegetarian diets may help lower BP

A new study has revealed that eating a vegetarian diet is associated with lower blood pressure (BP), and the diets can also be used to reduce blood pressure.

Factors such as diet, body weight, physical activity and alcohol intake play a role in the risk of developing hypertension. Dietary modifications have been shown to be effective for preventing and managing hypertension.

The authors analyzed seven clinical trials and 32 studies published from 1900 to 2013 in which participants ate a vegetarian diet. Net differences in BP associated with eating a vegetarian diet were measured.

In the trials, eating a vegetarian diet was associated with a reduction in the average systolic (peak artery pressure) and diastolic (minimum artery pressure) BP compared with eating an omnivorous (plant and animal) diet.

In the 32 studies, eating a vegetarian diet was associated with lower average systolic and diastolic BP, compared with omnivorous diets.

The study was published in the journal JAMA.

Source: DNA India

Know the danger of hidden sugar in processed foods

Leading health experts from across the globe have united to tackle and unmask hidden sugar so consumers can make informed decisions about what they eat and drink.

The food industry is adding more and more sugar to food which consumers are largely unaware of as it is mostly hidden, warns research.

Leading health experts from across the globe have united to tackle and unmask hidden sugar so consumers can make informed decisions about what they eat and drink.

Added sugar has no nutritional value, gives no feeling of fullness and is acknowledged to be a major factor in causing obesity and diabetes worldwide.

“A can of Coca Cola has a staggering nine teaspoons of sugar (35g). Similar amounts can be found in the flavoured water, yogurts, canned soup, ready meals and even bread,” said the report published in journal The Conversation.

“Like the model of salt reduction pioneered by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) in the UK, a similar programme can gradually reduce the amount of added sugar in food and drink products,” suggested Graham MacGregor, chairman, CASH.

The CASH has been successful in compelling companies and manufacturers to add less salt to products over a period of time by setting targets for the food industry and mobilising public information.

There are several parallels between salt and sugar.

Like salt, most of the sugar we consume is hidden in processed food and soft drinks.
There are also specific taste receptors for sugar, which if sugar intake is gradually reduced become more sensitive.

So over time, we don’t notice that sugar levels have gone down, said the research.

Source: khaleej times

 

Lack of exercise and high fat diet fueling obesity epidemic in Europe

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that lack of physical inactivity and diets high in fats, salts and sugars has led to obesity and overweight is becoming “the new norm” throughout Europe.

Up to 27 percent of Europe’s 13-year-olds and 33 percent of 11-year-olds are overweight, officials said ahead of an EU summit in Greece with a special focus on “the grave public health concern” of childhood obesity.

Countries with the highest proportion of overweight 11-year-olds included Greece, with 33 percent, Portugal (32 percent), and Ireland and Spain, both with 30 percent, the Independent reported.

Overall the UK is performing slightly better, but in Wales 30 percent of 11-year-old boys are overweight.

The WHO’s regional director for Europe, Zsuzsanna Jakab, said that Europeans’ “perception of what is normal has shifted”.

She said that being overweight is now more common than unusual, adding that we must not let another generation grow up with obesity as the new norm.

Inactivity, listed by the WHO as the fourth leading cause of death globally, is now viewed as one of the major health threats affecting developed countries.

In the UK more than two thirds of people over the age of 15 were insufficiently active, according to the WHO’s latest data, from 2008.

It is recommended that adults get 150 minutes moderate-intensity exercise per week, while children and adolescents should have an hour per day, according to international guidelines.

Source: Yahoo news

Call for Shake-Up in Africa Nutrition Research

Rwanda has achieved remarkable success in reducing child hunger, and nutrition experts believe there may be lessons here for other countries in Africa.

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in a 2013 report on progress in tackling malnutrition, noted that in 2005 more than half of Rwanda’s children under five years of age – about 800,000 – were stunted. “Just five years later, stunting prevalence had decreased from an estimated 52 percent to 44 percent,” the report said.

The Rwandan approach has been to try and find home-grown solutions.

It scaled up community-based nutrition programmes in all 30 of the country’s districts, and has also been setting up an almost universal community-based health insurance scheme. “This was all done with the help of food grown locally, and not packaged interventions provided by donors,” said Fidele Ngabo, director of Maternal Child Health. “There are thousands of local solutions for hunger…

“Each village comes up with community-based approaches to tackle malnutrition and food insecurity that don’t cost money – we are at the centre to provide support and play a monitoring role,” she said.

Examples include the setting up a communal grain reserve to which each household contributes at least 20 percent of their harvest during a good season, with the stored grain being used during the lean season; or the expansion of kitchen gardens with shared information on the vegetables to be grown.

Suggestions and proposed solutions are debated in working groups comprising aid agencies, researchers, academics and government officials.

Source: All Africa

6 ways to have a healthy online life

The average tween or teen consumes nearly 11 hours of media a day, according to research from the Kaiser Family Foundation, and scientists are raising concerns about how all that screen time is affecting young people.

That 11-hour average shows how multitasking has become routine for young people. For example, in the 2010 Kaiser study, one hour of watching videos while simultaneously texting would count as two hours of media consumption.

But even without factoring in multitasking, the screen-time numbers young people are racking up are astonishing. Surveys by market researcher Ipsos Mobility last fall show that on school days Canadian teens spend five hours a day just on their smartphones — texting, social networking, gaming, and watching videos.

Scientists worry it’s producing distracted kids who have a hard time focusing and thinking deeply or analytically.

Some educators and parents say anxiety is climbing in kids who spend so much time curating multiple online profiles, keeping up with hundreds of digital friends, and picking their way through the sometimes nasty world of social media and online bullying.

But experts say there are ways to counteract some of those effects, and ensure that kids have a healthier online life.

Source: CBC

 

Radiation fears from mobile towers unfounded: Panel

Fears of electromagnetic radiation from cellphone towers adversely affecting human health are unfounded and without any scientific merit, claims an expert panel, brushing aside apprehensions raised by a professor of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay.

Rejecting the contention of electrical engineering professor Girish Kumar, the 13-member panel said Kumar repeatedly red-flagged these concern in the media because of his family’s commercial interest in companies involved in manufacturing radiation-shielding products. Kumar’s daughter Neha Kumar sells radiation-shielding products through her company NESA Radiation Solutions Pvt Ltd. The panel said the IIT professor did not disclose his “conflict of interest” while being part of the panel, though he initially agreed to do so.

“In October 2013 I disclosed my daughter’s business in my newsletter, which was circulated to the committee members. What more I can do?” Kumar told Deccan Herald.

The members of the committee noted that on one hand Kumar was spreading misinformation and creating misconceptions and ill-founded apprehensions in the mind of people by sensationalising and blowing out of proportions the effects of EMF radiation, while on the other side he was promoting his family’s business on related products, thus throwing professional ethics to the winds.

The committee, comprising five IIT professors, besides scientists from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre (ITRC), Lucknow, and the Indian Council of Medical Research, along with government officials, was formed at the behest of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, which was hearing a litigation on health hazards of cellphone towers.

The court instructed Kumar to be a part of the Department of Telecom panel, so that other scientists get an opportunity to listen to his arguments and comments.

In its report, the panel has concluded that Kumar’s assertion of people living within 50-300 m of mobile towers are more prone to the dangerous ill effects of electromagnetic radiation are not backed by “conclusive scientific evidence”.

“The word ‘evidence’ in the draft report was replaced by ‘conclusive evidence’ in the final report by the committee, in which eight out of 13 persons are pro to the Department of Telecommunication. On every page, I have signed that I do not agree with the report and also on the last page, I have signed that committee was biased,” said Kumar.

“He (Kumar) may not agree, but other committee members agree that Kumar’s assertion could not be substantiated by available scientific literature,” said committee member, Ajoy Chakraborty, who is professor in the department of electronics and electrical communication engineering at IIT Kharagpur.

Source: The Deccan Herald