Diabetes

Health Effects of Poor Dental Hygiene that Extend Beyond Your Mouth

It is very important to take good care of your teeth and gums, but for more reasons than you might think. Because the mouth is the “gateway to the body,” bacteria from the teeth and gums can affect your overall health in more ways than one.

To keep the mouth and teeth healthy, it is recommended to brush and floss every day – at least two times a day. Dentists also recommend avoiding certain cavity-producing foods, such as sugary treats, and avoiding tobacco products. You should also see your dentist or oral health professional regularly (recommended every six months).

But why? Well, obviously, poor dental hygiene can lead to tooth decay or cavities. Despite what you might think, cavities do not only occur in children. Adults can get them too. The teeth are covered in a hard outer coating called enamel. Every day, a thin film of bacteria (dental plaque) builds up on the teeth which produces a bacteria that can eat a hole in this enamel if not removed. Brushing and flossing can help protect your teeth from decay, but once a cavity has formed, a dentist has to fix it.

Gum disease is another consequence of poor dental hygiene. When plaque builds up along and under the gum line, infections can occur that harm the gums and the bone that hold the teeth in place. The most severe form of gum disease is known as periodontal disease. In this case, infection has become so severe that bone deterioration can occur, leading to tooth loss.

Bad dental health can be also particularly bad for your social life as well. Halitosis – bad breath – is caused by small food particles that are wedged between the teeth that collect bacteria and emit chemicals such as hydrogen sulfide. This is the same compound which gives rotten eggs their characteristic smell.
Good dental health, though, is not just important for your teeth, gums, and breath. The bacteria that originate in the mouth can travel throughout the body and cause a host of health problems that you may not be aware of.

1. Heart Disease/Stroke Risk
People with periodontal disease are two times more likely to develop heart disease and arterial narrowing as a result of bacteria and plaque entering the bloodstream through the gums. The bacteria contains a clot-promoting protein that can clog arteries, leading to an increased risk of heart attack. In addition, if high levels of disease-causing bacteria from the mouth clog the carotid artery – the blood vessel that delivers blood to the brain and head – it could increase the risk of having a stroke.

2. Increased Risk of Dementia
Tooth loss due to poor dental health is also a risk factor for memory loss and early stage Alzheimer’s disease. One study, published in Behavioral and Brain Functions, found that infections in the gums release inflammatory substances which in turn increase brain inflammation that can cause neuronal (brain cell) death.

3. Respiratory Problems

Bacteria from periodontal disease can travel through the bloodstream to the lungs where it can aggravate respiratory systems, especially in patients who already have respiratory problems. A study published in the Journal of Periodontology uncovered a link between gum disease and an increased risk of pneumonia and acute bronchitis. “By working with your dentist or periodontist, you may actually be able to prevent or diminish the progression of harmful diseases such as pneumonia or COPD,” says Donald S. Clem, DDS, president of the American Academy of Periodontology. ”

4. Diabetes
95% of US adults with diabetes also have periodontal disease and 1/3 have such advanced disease that has lead to tooth loss. This is likely because people with diabetes are more susceptible to contracting infections.

The link between gum disease and diabetes appears to be a two-way street. In addition to having a higher risk gum disease due to diabetes, periodontal disease may also make it more difficult to control blood sugar, putting the patient at risk for even more diabetic complications.

Source: emaxhealth

Heart attack causes and symptoms are different in women

The causes of heart attacks and the warning symptoms that can signal the need for immediate medical attention are different in women than in men, according to a scientific statement issued today by the American Heart Association.

When women don’t recognize this, they may suffer worse outcomes, a fate that is even more likely in black and Hispanic women, according to the AHA.

The organization published its first comprehensive statement on gender differences in heart attack patients in its journal Circulation.

“Women seem to do worse for several reasons,” said Dr. Laxmi Mehta, the lead author of the recommendations and the director of women’s cardiovascular health at Ohio State University in Columbus.

Importantly, people don’t realize that while both sexes may experience chest pain before or during a heart attack, women may be more likely to have unusual symptoms instead, such as shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting, and back or neck pain.

Then, when they do get to a hospital, women may be less likely than men to receive medications that help to prevent clots, decrease the heart’s workload and lower blood pressure or cholesterol.

“There is a lot at stake for women when there is a delay in treatment or lack of adherence to recommended therapies,” Mehta added by email. “Women face higher rates of being readmitted to the hospital, heart failure and death.”

Biology is also part of the problem.

Even though both women and men get heart attacks caused by blockages in the main arteries leading to the heart, the way the clots develop may differ, according to the scientific statement.

Men tend to have a more “classic” type of blockage where plaque ruptures off the artery wall, forms a blood clot and causes a complete halt of blood flow through the artery to the heart, said Dr. Sheila Sahni, chief fellow in cardiovascular disease at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles.

“Women, more often, tend to have a plaque erosion where smaller pieces of plaque break off, become exposed and cause the formation of smaller blood clots which may or may not cause total occlusions all at once, leading to a more subtle presentation,” Sahni, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

In addition, women tend to be about a decade older than men when they suffer heart attacks, potentially making them frailer and more likely to suffer from other health problems such as diabetes that can make their treatment more complicated, Sahni added.

Risk factors also differ by gender, with high blood pressure more strongly associated with heart attacks in women than in men. For young women with diabetes, the risk for heart disease is four to five times higher than it would be for a similar young man.

Race, too, is an issue. Compared to white women, black women have a higher incidence of heart attacks in all age categories and young black women have greater odds of dying before they leave the hospital. Black and Hispanic women are also more likely to have heart-related risk factors such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure at the time of their heart attack.

Once a heart attack begins, the best way for women to minimize damage is to get help quickly, said Dr. Leslie Cho, director of the women’s cardiovascular center at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

“Time is muscle,” Cho, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “If women are diagnosed and treated later in the course of the heart attack, they can suffer from irreversible heart damage.”

Source: foxnews

Mysterious Syndrome Can Cause People to Become ‘Drunk’ Without Drinking

The baffling case of a woman who was arrested for DWI without drinking has spotlighted a rare condition called “Auto-Brewery” syndrome, where the digestive system becomes its own tiny brewery.

The woman was able to get the charges dismissed after her lawyer presented evidence by a doctor that she had the rare syndrome, according to the AP. The syndrome causes substances in the gut to ferment food into ethanol, thereby causing a person’s blood-alcohol level to spike. While the story of food-turning-to-alcohol in the body may seem like a convenient tale for the police, doctors have found the rare condition in multiple patients.

As a person’s blood-alcohol level rises, he or she can exhibit all the same symptoms as someone who drank too much liquor, including slurred words and confusion. In one case, the patient said that alcohol could be smelled on their breath.

Dr. Richard Peek, a professor of medicine and cancer biology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said the cause of the symptoms is not fully understood although there is one likely culprit.

“Yeast are normally in the GI tract and the commonality of all these case reports is they have an increased number of candida,” Peek told ABC News. “When [yeast] ingest a meal that has a high amount of carbohydrates, they metabolize the carbohydrates into ethanol.”

Peek said the alteration of the gut’s bacteria, called the microbiome, has far-reaching effects with auto-brewery syndrome being one of the most drastic results.

“These observations show the importance of gastric microbiota or microbiome in altering functions,” Peek said. “It really can regulate or cause disease such as irresistible bowel syndrome and it’s been linked to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, fatty liver.”

Peek said more study was needed to pinpoint the exact cause and find a cure that works for all patients.

“You could recommend a low carbohydrate diet and in some cases that has worked to reverse the symptoms,” Peek said, stressing that these treatments have not been proven for every patient. “You can treat the patients with antifungal medications to reduce the load of candida in microbiota.”

While most people will not end up with a tiny “brewery” in their gut, Peek said anyone can face an alteration of their micrombiome, due to illness, antibiotics or other conditions.

He recommended a good diet, exercise and occasional probiotics to achieve a healthy microbiome.

Source: abcnews

Moderate coffee drinking may be tied to lower risk of death

People who drink coffee daily, even up to four cups per day, are less likely to die from heart disease, neurological disease, type 2 diabetes or suicide than others, according to a new study.

Researchers did not test how upping coffee consumption would change health outlooks, so they cannot conclude that coffee “causes” a decreased risk of death. Rather, they looked at death trends in groups with varying amounts of coffee consumption.

“The main takeaway is that regular consumption of coffee can be incorporated into a healthy diet,” said senior author Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

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“There is no evidence of harm of regular consumption in terms of chronic disease risk or mortality, and consistent evidence that consumption of coffee reduces the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” Hu told Reuters Health by phone.

“People who are already drinking it should continue to enjoy it, but for people who don’t drink it or don’t like it, there’s no particular reason to start for the sole reason of health,” he said.

Hu and his coauthors studied the association of coffee intake – caffeinated, decaffeinated, or both – and risk of death based on self-reported coffee habits of more than 160,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study and Nurses’ Health Study 2 and 40,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.

Every four years, participants in these studies filled out questionnaires on lifestyle factors, including how often they usually consumed caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee, ranging from never to six or more times per day.

The researchers had data on the participants from the mid-1980’s or early 1990’s through 2012. During that time, 19,524 women and 12,432 men died.

Those who reported drinking one to five cups of any type of coffee per day were less likely to have died during follow-up than those who did not drink coffee, the authors reported in Circulation.

Death from heart disease, neurological disease and suicide was less common among moderate coffee drinkers than among others, but there was no relationship with deaths from cancer, the researchers found.

“The benefit in terms of mortality is very small,” and leveled out at four to five cups per day, Hu said.

For diabetes and cardiovascular disease, caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee seem to have similar effects, so the benefits may be due to compounds in the coffee other than caffeine, he said.

“Coffee of course is a complex beverage, it’s really difficult or impossible to pinpoint the ingredients that are responsible,” Hu said.

But for neurodegenerative disease, depression and suicide, most likely the benefits are due to caffeine, he said.

 

Source: Foxnews

Benefits of statins slightly outweigh diabetes risk

“Statins increase risk of diabetes, but benefits are still worth it, say experts”.

Benefits of statins slightly outweigh diabetes risk

A large study found the medication lead to a modest increase in weight and subsequent diabetes risk. The authors report that these risks were more than offset by the reduction in cardiovascular disease, but these results were not provided in the study.

The study involved nearly 130,000 people, which found that statin use (used to lower cholesterol levels) increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 12% and is associated with weight gain of around quarter of a kilo (half a pound) over four years.

It found indirect evidence that the protein statins target to reduce cholesterol could be at least partly responsible for the effect on type 2 diabetes as well. This evidence was based on looking at the effect of natural genetic variations that affect the protein, and not on a direct analysis of the effect of statins.

Importantly, the authors themselves note that this “should not alter present guidance on prescription of statins for prevention of [CVD]”. They do suggest that lifestyle changes, such as exercise, should be emphasised as still being an important part of heart disease prevention in people who are taking statins. This seems reasonable, and it is likely to be part of what doctors already recommend.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal

Source: NHS

25 pc of diabetics worldwide live in China

A new study has revealed that 1 in 4 people with diabetes worldwide live in China.

According to the study, diabetes has become a major public health crisis in China, with an annual projected cost of 360 billion RMB (nearly 35 billion British pounds) by 2030 and a new collaborative approach to care that uses registries and community support could help improve diabetes care.

25 pc of diabetics worldwide live in China

The study found that China has the largest number of people with diabetes of any country in the world, and the disease has reached epidemic proportions in the adult population. In 1980, less than 1 percent of Chinese adults had diabetes, but this increased to almost 12 percent (113.9 million adults) by 2010. Latest estimates indicate that around half of Chinese adults have prediabetes, putting them at high risk of diabetes and multiple related illnesses.

The researchers said that especially alarming is that most adults with diabetes are undiagnosed (70 percent of all cases), only a quarter of people with diabetes have received treatment and that the disease is controlled in just 40percent of those treated.

Over the past 30 years, China’s standard of living and life expectancy have improved for many, but the ageing population, dietary changes, reduced physical activity, and exceptionally high rates of smoking have contributed to the diabetes epidemic. The health consequences of this epidemic threaten to overwhelm health-care systems and urgent action is needed.

In future decades, the double burden of an ageing population and rising rates of young-onset diabetes will have an enormous toll on productivity and health-care systems [Paper 1]. Series co-leader Professor Ronald Ma, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, explained that given the increased long-term risk of complications in people with young-onset diabetes, the potential economic and health burden associated with this epidemic is very alarming. In 1993, the cost of diabetes treatment in China was 2.2 billion RMB, but the projected cost for 2030 is 360 billion RMB, which highlights the critical importance of prevention.

The study was published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology

Source: yahoo news

An hour of moderate exercise a day may decrease heart failure risk

Exercising each day can help keep the doctor away.

In a new study reported in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Heart Failure, researchers say more than an hour of moderate or half an hour of vigorous exercise per day may lower your risk of heart failure by 46 percent.

Exercising each day can help keep the doctor away.

Heart failure is a common, disabling disease that accounts for about 2 percent of total healthcare costs in industrialized countries. Risk of death within five years of diagnosis is 30 percent to 50 percent, researchers said.
Swedish researchers studied 39,805 people 20-90 years old who didn’t have heart failure when the study began in 1997. Researchers assessed their total- and leisure time activity at the beginning of the study and followed them to see how this was related to their subsequent risk of developing heart failure. They found that the more active a person, the lower their risk for heart failure.

They also found:
The group with the highest leisure time activity (more than one hour of moderate or half an hour of vigorous physical activity a day) had a 46 percent lower risk of developing heart failure.

Physical activity was equally beneficial for men and women.
Those who developed heart failure were older, male, had lower levels of education, a higher body mass index and waist-hip ratio, and a history of heart attack, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

“You do not need to run a marathon to gain the benefits of physical activity — even quite low levels of activity can give you positive effects,” said Kasper Andersen, M.D., Ph.D., study co-author and researcher at the Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden. “Physical activity lowers many heart disease risk factors, which in turn lowers the risk of developing heart failure as well as other heart diseases.”

Study participants completed questionnaires that included information about lifestyle, physical activity, smoking and alcohol habits, and medication use. Researchers looked at total physical activity, which included job-related activities, and leisure activities. Participants’ self-reported leisure physical activity was divided further into three categories: light, such as casual walking; moderate, such as jogging or swimming; and heavy, such as competitive sports. Diagnoses, hospitalizations and deaths were verified using participants’ medical records.

“The Western world promotes a sedentary lifestyle,” Andersen said. “There are often no healthy alternative forms of transportation; in many buildings it is hard to find the stairs; and at home television and computers encourage sedentary behavior.

“Making it easier and safer to walk, bicycle or take the stairs could make a big difference. Our research suggests that everyone could benefit from getting out there and moving every day.”

Although the relationship between heart failure and exercise has not been broadly studied, the study’s findings reaffirm the importance of continued physical activity for all adults and support the American Heart Association’s recommendations of 150 minutes of moderately intense physical activity every week. For those who need to lower their blood pressure and cholesterol the association recommends 40 minutes 3-4 times per week.

In the United States, heart disease, a major risk factor for heart failure, remains the leading cause of death, claiming 380,000 lives every year. An estimated 5.7 million Americans have congestive heart failure and about half die within five years of their diagnosis.

Source: science daily

Sitting in an office chair for long periods

How much can sitting affect our body? Too much time spended in the sitting position is killing you. Sitting all day at work, and later on the couch or infront of computer at home have been proven to have negative  impact on human health.

Sitting in an office chair for long periods

Diabetes and heart disease.
Stressful working conditions are increasing the risk of stroke at women fir 88%, and employees who are middle-aged or older and sit most of the working time have twice the risk of diabetes, according to research from the British University of Leicester.

In order to improve the circulation of the blood and sugar balance, every hour stand and walk for five minutes or do some practice in office.

Hip pain.
This pain often affects women who work sitting, especially those who are genetically prone to getting osteoporosis.

Adjust your chair for your legs and back so thay can form an angle of 90 degrees. Allso practicing yoga can help with problems with hips.

Sitting in an office chair for long periods2

Weight Gain.
More than 60% of the employees in the office regularly snack unhealthy foods such as chips or chocolate, and experts say that the work associated with sitting and unhealthy diet are the main causes of obesity in countries around the world.Eat less fast food and unhealthy snacks, replace them with healthier options, such as dried fruit or nuts.

Dry eyes.
Looking at the computer screen causes pressure on the eye muscles. It causes dryness and deteriorating eyesight.

To prevent this, apply the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look 20 feet in distance and hold the gaze 20 seconds. It will be enough for the eyes to rest.

Source: secretly healthy

Sleepless teens likelier to get obese

A new study has demonstrated that teenagers who get less than six hours of sleep a night might be at risk of being obese as compared to their peers who sleep more than eight hours.

Sleepless teens likelier to get obese

Researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health showed that teenagers had a high risk of being obese by age 21 and its was 20 percent higher among 16-year-olds who slept less than six hours.

Shakira F. Suglia, ScD, assistant professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School, said that lack of sleep in teenage years could stack the deck against one for obesity later in life and if one becomes an obese adult, it was much harder to lose weight and keep it off and the longer one was obese, there was a greater risk for health problems like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Suglia added that the message for parents was to make sure their teenagers got more than eight hours a night and a good night sleep did more than help them stay alert in school and it helped them grew into healthy adults.

The study is published in Journal of Pediatrics

Source: ANI news

Health Benefits of Guava

The health benefits of guava include the treatment of diarrhea, dysentery, constipation, cough, cold, skin care, high blood pressure, weight loss and scurvy.

Health Benefits of Guava

Many of you may have tasted this mouth-watering treat, or have at least seen or heard about it. Guava is very common in Asian countries, but is increasingly available in the western world, particularly as more of its health benefits are revealed. It is a somewhat round or pear-shaped seasonal fruit, and is light green, yellow, or maroon in color on the outside when it is ripe. Guava also has white or maroon flesh and lots of small hard seeds enveloped in very soft, sweet pulp. It is eaten raw (ripe or semi-ripe) or in the form of jams and jellies.

This popular fruit is a powerhouse of nutrients. If the traditional adage says that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” in Europe and Americas, the phrase is probably changed to “A few guavas in the season keeps the doctor away for the whole year” in the Indian Subcontinent and places where guavas typically grow. Its scientific name is Psidium Guajava.

What makes guava special is that protecting the fruit does not require excessive use of chemical pesticides as in the case of grapes, apple, and other so-called “exotic” fruits. It is one of the least chemically treated and sprayed fruits.

Health Benefits of Guava

Some of the surprising and brilliant health benefits are listed below.

Weight loss: Guava is very helpful for those who want to lose weight without compromising their intake of proteins, vitamins and fiber. Guava is very high in roughage and rich in vitamins, proteins and minerals, but it has no cholesterol and a low number of digestible carbohydrates. It is a is very filling snack and satisfies the appetite very easily. Guava, especially raw guava, also has far less sugar as compared to apples, oranges, grapes, and other fruit. Adding a medium-sized guava to your lunch and you will not feel hungry again until the evening. Ironically, it can also help with weight gain in lean, thin people. This is probably due to its wealth of nutrients, which keep the metabolism regulates and helps to promote the proper absorption of nutrients.

Diabetes: In a related benefit to blood pressure mentioned above, an intake of guava can also help those patients who suffer from diabetes. The high level of dietary fiber in guava helps to regulate the absorption of sugar by the body, which decreases the chances of major spikes and drops in insulin and glucose in the body. Studies have shown that consuming guava can help prevent the appearance of type-2 diabetes.

Eyesight: Guavas are extremely good sources of vitamin-A, which is well known as a booster for vision health. It can help slow down the appearance of cataracts, macular degeneration, and general health of the eyes. It can not only prevent degradation of eyesight, but even an improvement in eyesight once it has begun to degrade.

Cancer Prevention: One of the most celebrated and important benefits of adding guava to your diet is its ability to inhibit the growth and metastasis of cancerous cells. There have been numerous studies done in recent years on guava’s effects primarily on prostate cancer, breast cancer, and oral cancers. Guava leaf oil is extremely successful as an anti-proliferative substance, and has actually been shown to be more effective than some leading modern medicines in reducing cancerous growth. Guavas are also rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that has been shown to be wildly successful in reducing prostate cancer risk. That same antioxidant has also shown to inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells, although further human trials need to be done.

Finally, the naturally high levels of vitamin-C in guavas, which are four times higher than the levels found in oranges (the traditional vitamin-C powerhouse), provides the immune system a huge boost in antioxidants. Antioxidants are the major lines of defense against the proliferation of free radicals in the body, which are one of the main causes of serious conditions like cancer and heart disease. Therefore, adding guava to your diet has numerous ways in which it helps you stay health and cancer-free.

Scurvy: Guava can outdo many other fruits, including orange and other citrus fruits, in terms of its concentration of vitamin-C. A deficiency of vitamin-C can cause scurvy, and proper intake of vitamin-C is the only known remedy for that dangerous disease. In fact, guavas contain 5X more vitamin-C than oranges, which are often heralded as the absolute best source of that beneficial vitamin.

Diarrhea & dysentery: Guava is very rich in astringents (compounds that make your gums feel tighter and fresher). After you chew guava leaves, eat a raw guava, or use some guava-based toothpaste), your mouth feels healthier, and the astringent qualities also add substance to loose bowels and reduce symptoms of diarrhea. These astringents are alkaline in nature and have disinfectant and anti-bacterial properties, thus helping to cure dysentery by inhibiting microbial growth and removing extra mucus from the intestines. Furthermore, other nutrients in guava such as vitamin-C, Carotenoids and potassium, strengthen and tone the digestive system while simultaneously disinfecting it. Guava is also beneficial in treating gastroenteritis for the same reasons stated above.

Thyroid Health: Guavas are a good source for copper, which is an important part of regulating thyroid metabolism by helping to control hormone production and absorption. The thyroid gland is one of the most important glands in the body for regulating hormones and organ system function, so guava can help balance your health in many ways.

Constipation: Guava is one of the richest sources of dietary fiber in terms of fruit. Its seeds, if ingested whole or chewed, serve as excellent laxatives. These two properties of guava help the formation of healthy bowel movements, and aid the body in retaining water and thoroughly cleaning your intestines and excretory system. It is said that constipation alone can lead to 72 different types of ailments, so any help with constipation is beneficial. Your total health is undeniably affected by proper digestion, and more importantly, proper excretion. Frequent consumption of guava can ensure both.

Brain Health: Another of the tremendous positive benefits of guavas is the presence of B3 and B6 vitamins. B3 (also known as niacin) can increase blood flow and stimulates cognitive function. B6 is a great nutrient for brain and nerve function. Therefore, eating guava can help you increase brain function and sharpen you focus.

Cough & cold: Juice of raw and immature guavas or a decoction of guava-leaves is very helpful in relieving coughs and colds by reducing mucus, disinfecting the respiratory tract, throat and lungs, and inhibiting microbial activity with its astringent properties. Guava has one of the highest quantities of vitamin-C and iron among fruits, and both are proven to be preventive against colds and viral infections. In some areas of India, roasted ripe guava is used as a remedy against extreme cases of cough, cold, and congestion. Ripe guava should be avoided by people who are suffering from cough and cold, as it can exacerbate the problem, and one should also avoid drinking water immedaitely after eating guava as it can lead to a soar throat.

Skin care: Guavas can improve the texture of your skin and help you to avoid skin problems more than even the highest ranked beauty creams or skin toner gels. This is chiefly due to the abundance of astringents in the fruit (more astringent is present in immature guavas) and in its leaves. Your skin can benefit from either eating the fruits (this helps tighten your muscles apart from your skin) or by rinsing your skin with a decoction of its immature fruit and leaves. It will tone up and tighten the area of loosened skin where you apply it. In addition to the astringents, guava is very rich in vitamin-A, B, C and potassium which are good antioxidants and detoxifiers, which keep your skin glowing and free from signs of premature aging, wrinkles and other dermal disorders.

High blood pressure: Guava helps reduce cholesterol in the blood and prevents it from thickening, thereby maintaining the fluidity of blood and reducing blood pressure. Studies have shown that food lacking fiber (such as refined flour) add to blood pressure, due to its quick conversion to sugar. Guava, being very rich in fiber and hypoglycemic in nature, helps reduce blood pressure.

Other benefits: There are so many health benefits of guava, it is hard to know where to begin. It is important to know that guava helps control diabetes and protects the prostate. The juice of guava leaves has been known to cure toothaches, swollen gums & oral ulcers, and the juice speeds up the healing process of wounds when applied externally. Finally, it reduces the frequency of convulsions, epilepsy, and bacterial infections.

As with many alternative foods and supplements, there is little risk in eating them in natural form, but you must do your due diligence when taking it in medical forms. Be cautious when adding any new medicinal form of guava into your diet, and it is better to stick to eating guava in its natural form as a raw fruit.

Source: organic facts