Nutrition & Fitness

Better diet tied to fewer deaths after heart attack

As lifestyle changes – specifically those geared toward making changes in your diet – will have an impact

People who changed their eating habits for the better following a heart attack tended to live longer than those who stuck to eating not-so-heart-healthy foods in a new U.S. study

Among some 4,000 men and women, those whose post-heart attack diets improved the most were 30 percent less likely to die from any cause and 40 percent less likely to die of heart disease, compared to those whose diets improved least.

“This study really suggests that lifestyle changes – specifically those geared toward making changes in your diet – will have an impact,” Dr. David J. Frid, a preventive cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, told Reuters Health.

“I think it`s something we`ve assumed for a long time, but we had no compelling data to substantiate it,” Frid, who wasn`t involved in the new study, said.

Research into how diet improvements may be linked to improvements in health after a heart attack is limited, Dr. Shanshan Li at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and her colleagues write in JAMA Internal Medicine.

For the new analysis Li`s group used data from two long-term studies of male and female healthcare workers who reported major lifestyle and medical events every two years and filled out diet questionnaires about every four years.

The researchers included data on 2,258 women and 1,840 men who had no history of heart attack, stroke, cardiovascular disease or cancer when they began participating in the mid-1970s and mid-1980s. But they all later had heart attacks.

Based on the questionnaires, researchers assigned each person a diet-quality score that factored in several diet components, including how much red and processed meat, nuts, sugar-sweetened beverages, vegetables, fats, alcohol, whole grains and salt the person ate.

During the studies, there were 1,133 deaths from all causes. Of those, 558 were linked to cardiovascular disease.

Among the 20 percent of men and women with the greatest post-heart attack improvements in their diet quality score, 140 died. That compares to 247 deaths among the 20 percent of people with the least-improved diet quality.

“They found the benefit is around a 30 percent reduction in subsequent mortality and cardiac events. When you compare that to other interventions we do… that reduction is almost as good as what we see with statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs),” Frid said.

An overall high-quality diet score after a heart attack was tied to about 24 percent fewer deaths from any cause during the study, compared to those people with the lowest diet-quality scores.

Li, who did not reply to a request for comment, and her colleagues point out that their results are consistent with past findings about Mediterranean-style diets, which are high in olive oil, nuts, fish and fresh fruits and vegetables.

In an accompanying editorial, Drs. Ramon Estruch and Emilio Ros, of the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain, said the diet score used in the new study shares many aspects of the Mediterranean diet.

For example, good diets are considered those high in whole grains, fruits and vegetables and low in trans fats, meat and sugary drinks.

“The problem is it`s really difficult to change the dietary habits of the people,” Estruch said.

Fortunately, he added that little changes in diet can add up for people.

“Little changes in the dietary habits can lead to big changes in the health,” he said.

 

Women over 60 need to exercise only once a week

Doing a little bit of exercise can go a long way,” Gordon Fisher, Ph.D., primary investigator of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Human Studies

A new study has suggests that women over age 60 may need to exercise only one day a week to significantly improve strength and endurance .

The study, by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), monitored 63 women performing combined aerobic exercise training (AET) and resistance exercise training (RET) for 16 weeks.

One group performed AET and RET one time per week, a second group two times per week and a third group three times per week.

The study found significant increases in muscular strength, cardiovascular fitness and functional tasks in each group, but there were no significant differences in outcomes among groups.

“One of the biggest barriers to exercise training for the older female population is adherence, and one of the key findings in this study is that doing a little bit of exercise can go a long way,” Gordon Fisher, Ph.D., primary investigator of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Human Studies in the School of Education, with a secondary appointment in Nutrition Sciences in the School of Health Professions, said.

“Telling people that they need to do at least three to five days of exercise to improve their overall health can be a major obstacle.

“Lack of time is the most often-cited barrier to exercise adherence. This study demonstrates that doing as little as one AET and one RET workout each week can provide a lot of benefit for older women`s overall quality of life and health,” he said.

The study is published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

 

Eat kiwifruit to ward off tiredness and depression

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Vitamin C in kiwi fruit activate enzymes in the body and different neurochemicals in the brain

Researchers found people who ate two kiwifruit daily had significantly less fatigue and depression than those who consumed half a kiwifruit daily.

The finding came out of a University of Otago, Christchurch study which involved 54 young male university students who generally eat little fresh fruit and vegetables.

They also felt they had more energy.

These changes appeared to be related to the optimizing of vitamin C intake with the two- kiwifruit dose. Kiwifruit are an exceptional source of vitamin C.

Vitamin C helped activate enzymes in the body that enhanced the levels of metabolic energy and different neurochemicals in the brain, Professor Margreet Vissers, of the university`s Centre for Free Radical Research said.

The findings were published in the Journal of Nutritional Science.

Eating broccoli can help prevent osteoarthritis

eating broccoli will improve and protect the people from osteo arthritis

Scientists have revealed that eating broccoli could help you avoid suffering the most common form of arthritis- osteoarthritis.
Researchers at the University of East Anglia have discovered that a compound sulforaphane, found mainly in the vegetable, slows down the destruction of cartilage in joints linked with osteoarthritis, the Mirror reported.

The study found that the vegetable might have health benefits for people with osteo arthritis and even protect them from developing the disease.

 

Walnuts health benefits and their Nutrition facts:

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Walnuts known as the “brain food” rich in omega-3 fatty acids and helpful in the treatment of type diabetes-2

Walnuts are known for their crunchy and nutritious value; the walnuts will boost your immune system and improves metabolism and cardiovascular health. Walnuts have plenty of health benefits and have rich source of vitamins and minerals which are essential for a healthy life.

Health Benefits of Walnuts:

  1. Walnut health benefits are good for heart and circulatory system as they are rich in nutrition. They help maintain proper blood compositions, balance in inflammation-regulating molecules and blood vessel.
  2. Often known as the “brain food” because its nutrients are important to the brain. Walnut nutrition has the capability to enter into the cell membranes of the brain and allow the waste products to exit from the cells, due to the high concentration of omega-3 fatty acids.
  3. Walnut nutrition is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, including the alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). These acids enhance cardiovascular functions, including blood pressure. These acids also prevent heart attacks and have fewer chances for blood clot in arteries.
  4. Walnut nutrition also decreases abdominal adiposit

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    Inside the walnut

6. Also walnut health benefits include high number of antioxidants. This property of walnuts helps in lowering chronic oxidative stress, and the anti-inflammatory properties reduce the risk of chronic inflammation, thus lead to cancer development; so, regular intake of walnuts will prevent prostrate and breast cancer.

7. Regular intake of walnuts is helpful in the treatment of type diabetes-2 as it maintain blood sugar levels and insulin metabolism.

8. The anti-inflammatory properties of walnuts are helpful in protecting bone health. These are further effective in curing conditions, like rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, psoriasis and eczema.

Eight foods to keep your skin glowing:

Feeling that your skins are not glowing and tired within? Here are eight  foods and tricks to keep your skin at the pink of its health

  1. Sweet Potato:

Sweet potato contains Beta-carotene, which makes them pale orange, balances skin’s pH, helps combat dryness, and promotes cell resulting in smoother skin.

2. Wild salmon

A study found that eating one serving every five days can prevent actinic keratoses—ugly rough patches that are precancerous.

  • 3. Tomatoes

The fruit’s red pigment, lycopene, is an antioxidant that prevents skin from sun damage. To best absorb lycopene, eat tomatoes with olive oil.

4. Citrus Fruits

Vitamin C is essential to building collagen, makes the skin young-looking. Citrus also contains bioflavonoids, which protect skin from UV rays and prevent cell death.

5. Leafy Greens

Spinach, kale, and other greens contain lutein, which protects skin from sun-induced inflammation and wrinkles.

 6. Stay away from white foods

Avoid white bread, pasta, rice, and other refined grain products? They’re quickly broken down into the ultimate white food: sugar. Once in the bloodstream, sugar bonds with protein and creates advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which cause collagen to become inflamed and stiff, leading to wrinkles.

 7. Avoid pills

“There are many health nutrients in food said Nicholas Perricone, a board-certified dermatologist.”It’s very likely that these unknowns work synergistically for a bigger benefit than what you can find in a supplement.”

8. A bonus drink

According to dermatologist Leslie Baumann, red wine contains skin-friendly grape-seed extract and resveratrol, two powerful antioxidants which makes the skin ever glowing

 

Will Eating eggs every day raise cholesterol?

Eating more than two eggs does not lead to higher serum cholesterol in teens, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Granada analyzed the egg intake in adolescents and the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, such as lipid profile, excess fat, insulin resistance and high blood pressure.

“Health professionals insisted that eating eggs increased cholesterol levels, so in recent decades various public health organizations restrict the intake of egg” Alberto Soriano Maldonado, , said.

However, the recent research suggests that increased serum cholesterol is more affected by intake of saturated fats and trans fats – present in red meat, baked goods, etc The results involves nine countries, demonstrated that eating larger amounts of egg is neither linked to higher serum cholesterol nor to worse cardiovascular health, regardless of their physical activity.

“The conclusions, published that an intake of up to seven eggs a week is not an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases,” said Soriano.

Researchers suggest reviewing dietary recommendations; it would be useful to conduct similar research on a sample group with higher egg intake.

“Egg is a cheap food that is rich in very high-quality proteins, minerals, foliates and B vitamins. Thus it can provide a large quantity of nutrients necessary for optimum development in adolescents,” researchers said. A medium-size egg contains 200 milligrams of cholesterol but has more unsaturated fats and has 70 calories.

 

Regular exercise can cut down your stroke risk- especially in men

 

A new research says Regular exercise lowers the risk of having a stroke. A stroke is that a blood vessel in the brain gets blocked. So the brain cells won’t get enough oxygen and other nutrients and  as a result it dies

There may be some reasons for having stroke been identified, including smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes and being inactive.

Michelle N. McDonnell, Ph.D., from the University of South Australia, Adelaide and her colleagues obtained data from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study.

REGARDS is a large, long-term study funded by the NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to look at the reasons of stroke mortality among African-Americans and other residents living in the Southeastern United States.

The researchers also gathered health measures such as body mass index and blood pressure.
At the beginning of the study, the researchers asked participants how many times per week they exercised vigorously enough to work up a sweat.

The researchers contacted participants every six months to see if they had experienced a stroke or a mini-stroke known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA). To confirm their responses, the researchers reviewed participants` medical records.

The researchers reported data for over 27,000 participants who were stroke-free at the start of the study and followed for an average of 5.7 years. One-third of participants reported exercising less than once a week.

Study subjects who were inactive were 20 percent more likely to experience a stroke or TIA than participants who exercised four or more times a week.

The findings revealed that regular, moderately vigorous exercise, enough to break a sweat, was linked to reduced risk of stroke. Part of the protective effect was due to lower rates of known stroke risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity and smoking.

Seaweeds: add more nutrition to your diet:

 

More than years, Japanese, Chinese  and   Australians have enjoyed seaweed, better known by its dietary proponents. These plants are actually classified as algae.

 

In history, Native Americans and Scandinavians also incorporated sea vegetables into their diets. Today, sea vegetables are more popular in Japanese restaurants and available in Asian markets as part of a health-conscious diet.

Sea vegetables are the most nutritious foods. They contain large quantities of minerals including iron, calcium and iodine and vitamins like A, C, and many of the B complex vitamins. At the same time, they are low in calories. It is unlikely that anyone could gain weight by eating sea vegetables, and this makes them ideal for those who are trying to maintain a healthy weight or lose excess pounds.

Some sea vegetables, notably the brown ones, will protect our body from radiation, as it contains alginic acid. This polysaccharide, found in kombu, arame, hijiki and some other plant species, binds to radioactive strontium and eliminates it through the bowels. This does not mean that by eating sea vegetables you can endure dangerously high levels of radiation, but it does mean that if you have been exposed to radiation, some of it can be removed through the consumption of dietary sea vegetables.

Some sea vegetables help to lower cholesterol, due to the presence of beta-sitosterol, a plant sterol that binds to cholesterol and inhibits its absorption through the intestines. Analysis shows that cholesterol is excreted through feces, instead of contributing to blood levels. For those who wish to maintain or lower cholesterol, sea vegetables may be the best choice.

Another nutritional aspect is the content of thyroxin found in brown varieties. This iodine-containing hormone is also produced in the thyroid gland and functions both to regulate growth and to speed up metabolism. Daily addition of sea vegetables to your diet can help to boost metabolism, enhancing energy and improving weight control.

Commonly eaten sea vegetables include agar, alaria, arame, dulse, hijiki, kelp, kombu, nori and wakame. You can find many of these in natural food stores.

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Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have investigated sea vegetables, a number of which appear to possess anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, and anticancer properties. Some of this activity is attributed to beta-glucans in these plants. This category of compounds is especially useful for improving immune function among those whose immune systems have been suppressed.

Nutritious, protective, remarkably low in calories and very good tasting, sea vegetables may just find their way into your kitchen and your diet.

Salty foods combined with BMI increases high BP in children

 

 

Salty meals, along with body mass indexes (BMIs)    and obesity, increases a scary side effect in young    children: high blood pressure.

 

The risk of high blood pressure among children and adolescents has increased 27 percent in the past 13 years, according to a new study in the American Heart Association’s journal

“It is a public health issue our children have higher blood pressures,” stated by Dr. Bonita Falkner, professor of medicine and pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. “Though it may be only 4 to 5 mm Hg (increase), that extra pressure burden at a young age, is carried through

 

life, can become a large burden.”

Doctors have long known that factors like obesity, high BMI and excess belly fat can lead to an increased risk for high blood pressure among both adults and children.  Yet researchers have had difficulty pinpointing other factors contributing to high blood pressure – until now.

In this study, researchers were able to pinpoint for the first time another clear culprit contributing to high blood pressure levels: sodium intake.

Researchers examined the records of over 11,500 children between the ages of 8 and 17 participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They analyzed data from 1988 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2008.

More than 80 percent of children, from both time periods, had a daily sodium intake in excess of 2,300 milligrams. The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.

“The salt content of the food supply has increased markedly over the past few decades, and there’s been a progressive rise in the proportion of the average daily diet that is processed food,” Falkner said. “There’s probably much more salt exposure in children now.”

Developing high blood pressure at such a young age, there is some preliminary evidence that shows hypertension could cause damage to some of the body’s key organs.

“Children who already have confirmed hypertension, a good portion of them already have enlargement of the heart; they may have some albumin in the urine suggesting they have kidney strain; they are beginning to show they have thickening in carotid artery and a stiffening of aorta,” Falkner said. “The implication is that the blood pressure level is causing some stress or injury to the cardiovascular system.”

When a doctor discovers high blood pressure in a child, they first check for other health problems that could be exacerbating the blood pressure levels, like cardiovascular or kidney disease. If no underlying issues are identified, they will encourage parents and children to adopt lifestyle changes – such as eating fresh foods and exercising more.

“If it cannot be controlled by lifestyle changes, diet, physical activity and weight control, then we treat them with medication,” Falkner  said.

Overall, Falkner hopes people will take note of the role that sodium is playing in increased blood pressure levels. “It had been difficult to prove this, and now that we know it really is there, we have to pay attention to it,” Falkner said.