Monthly Archives: April 2018

Celery: A Strong Protector

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As a member of the parsley family, these stalks contain compounds that may help
lower blood pressure and perhaps help prevent cancer.
Celery is also a good source of insoluble fiber as well as some essential nutrients,
like potassium, vitamin C and calcium.

Lower bad cholesterol
Laboratory tests with animals shows the ability to lower cholesterol.
In a study conducted at the National University of Singapore, laboratory animals were
fed a high-fat diet,plumping them up for 8 weeks and raising their cholesterol.
Then they gave some of the animals celery juice. The animals that drank the celery juice
had significantly lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol than the animals that didn’t
received any celery juice.

Lower Blood Pressure
Celery has been used in Asia as a remedy for people with high blood pressure.
In the United States, a man named Mr. Le with mild high blood pressure and persistence persuaded
researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Rather than cutting back on salt as his doctor advised, he began eating four stalks of
celery per day. Within a week, his blood pressure had dropped from 158/96 to 118/82.

An assistant professor of medicine and pharmacological and physiological science
at the University of Chicago, W. J. Elliott, MD, PhD, decided to put celery at the test.
Test animals were injected with a small amount of 3-n-phthalide, a chemical compound celery
that is found in celery. Within a week, the blood pressure of the animals dropped an
average of 12 to 14 percent.

“Phthalide was found to relax the muscles of the arteries that regulate blood pressure,
allowing the vessels to dilate.” according to Dr. Elliott. In addition, the chemical reduced
the number of “stress hormones” called catecholamines in the blood.
This may be helpful because stress hormones typically raise blood pressure by causing
blood vessels to constrict.

If you have high blood pressure and would like to give celery a try, use this strategy
recommended by Asian practisioners. Eat four to five stalks of celery every day for
a week, then stop for three weeks. Then start over and eat celery for another week.
But don’t overdo it and eat celery by the pound, warns Dr. Elliott.
Each celery stalk contains 35 milligrams of sodium, and for some people, this can cause
blood pressure to go up instead of going down. “Eating a ton of celery can be dangerous
if you have salt-sensitive hypertension.” says Dr. Elliott.

Preventing Cancer
Celery contains compounds that may help prevent cancer, according to research.
Firstly, celery contains compounds called acetylenics, which proved to stop the growth
of tumor cells.
Secondly, celery contains compounds called phenolic acids, which block the action of
hormone like substances called prostaglandins. Some prostaglandins are thought to encourage the growth of tumor cells.
Thirdly, celery contains compounds called coumarins, which help prevent free radicals
from damaging cells. That gives celery a one-two-three punch against cancer.

A Skin Stalker
As celery is such a sweet, succulent stalk, it has to produce its own pesticides to
protect it from hungry fungi.
These compounds protect the celery, however, they could do humans some harm.
For some people, getting these compounds in the diet, or even through the skin,
can make their skin very sensitive to sunlight. So much so that they can get sunburns
after they have spent even a short period of time in the sun.

If you begin having skin problems after eating celery, stop eating it.
You have to wash celery thoroughly before you eat it . That way you remove any fungi
that may have formed on the plant, which sometimes causes the production of those
compounds.

Protect the Flavonoids
Don’t be tempted to cut up celery to eat later. It’s best to eat the celery soon after
you cut it. After only 24 hours in the fridge, the flavonoids are consider ably
decreased, according to researchers in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Save the leaves
While celery stalks are certainly a healthy snack, however, the leaves contain the
most potassium, vitamin C and calcium.

Eat it the way you like it.
While many foods lose nutrients during cooking, most of the compounds in celery
are staying on during cooking. Eating a cup of celery raw or cooked, provides about
9 milligrams of vitamin C, which is 15% of the Daily Value; 426 milligrams of potassium
of 12% of the Daily Value, and 60 milligrams of calcium, or 6% of the Daily Value.

A Heart Healthy Diet Prevent Stroke

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The fact that stroke can strike suddenly without warning is most frighting.
There is often no sign or anything, just a fraction of a second sense that something went wrong.
Although the stroke itself comes out of the blue, the problems that causes it usually develop
over years. When the blood, that contains oxygen and nutrients, can’t reach parts of the brain,
stroke occurs, or when an artery ruptures and blood is lost.

The risk of a stroke will be present by high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes,
and a dangerous prediabetic condition called metabolic syndrome – and all these factors
can be reduced by choosing the right food and a healthy lifestyle.
“Your diet plays a critical role in preventing stroke”, says Thomas Pearson, M.D. PhD,
professor of epidemiology and chairman of the department of community and preventive
medicine at the University of Rochester in New York.

A study involving more than 87,000 nurses at the Harvard School of Public Health showed that women
who ate the most fruits and vegetables had a 40% less change of having a stroke than those who ate the least.
Another study conducted at the University of California, San Diego, discovered that people who ate a single
serving of potassium-rich fruits and vegetables a day where also able to cut there risk of stroke by 40%.

The following six strategies offer powerful protection:
Calm high blood pressure with dairy and potassium. High blood pressure (135/85 or higher)
doubles your risk for a stroke. Here is why. Pressured by high-speed blood flow, arteries
in the brain thicken and can eventually squeeze shut. Small arteries may rupture under pressure.
The risk for developing clot-producing plaque on the artery walls due to high blood pressure.
More than 300,000 strokes annually could be prevented if everyone in the US brought it
under control. Your diet should include low-fat dairy products and plenty of potassium-rich
foods. Not only does potassium fight high blood pressure, it also appears to make blood
less likely to clot, which can reduce the risk of stroke even more.
Potassium rich foods are fat-free milk, low-fat yogurt, vegetable juice cocktail, baby limas,
kidney beans, lentils, baked potatoes, prune juice and died peaches.

Reverse metabolic syndrome with smart meal combo’s.
Metabolic syndrome is a combination of prediabetic conditions including insulin resistance
which occur when your cells stop responding quickly to insulin’s command to absorb blood
sugar – plus slightly high blood pressure, blood sugar, and triglycerides, plus low levels of
good high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Nearly everyone with this condition is
overweight. There are at least 40 million Americans at risk for metabolic syndrome.
People with metabolic syndrome doubles their risk of stroke.

You can prevent this condition by eating high-fiber, low-sugar foods, lean protein, good fats
such as nuts, oily cold-water fish, and flaxseed. Fruits, vegetables and grain products low
on the Glycemic Index, also keeps blood sugar and insulin levels lower.
This will cut cravings and help you lose weight and can almost instantly make your body cells
more sensitive to insulin’s signals. Avoid foods like doughnuts, sugary soft drinks, and white
bread, which send sugar levels soaring, fast.
You can also slow the rise in blood sugar after a meal by combining a high-fiber or high-
protein food with a refined carbohydrate – for example, with some navy beans with instant rice,

Lose weight
Not only what you eat but also how much you eat can play a role in controlling stroke.
Overweight can raise a woman’s stroke risk by 75%. Obesity raises it by 100%.
When researchers at Harvard University compared body weight and stroke risk in 116,759
nurses, they found that overweight women were two to four times more likely to have high
blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
Being overweight is perhaps the leading cause of high blood pressure, which rapidly increases
stroke risk. As a matter of fact, people with high blood pressure are five times more likely
to have a stroke than those who’s blood pressure are normal.
Also, being overweight increase your risk of developing diabetes and the risk of stroke.

Treat diabetes with slow carbs
Having diabetes in women seems to be a bigger threat for a stroke than for men, because
of raising blood pressure and brain-threatening blood clots, and makes her risk for stroke
two to four times higher than normal.

The best food strategy for keeping diabetes under control is choosing “good”, “slow”
complex carbohydrates like fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
These keep blood sugar levels lower and steadier and also help control levels of insulin
in your body. Experts theorize that surges of insulin after a meal heavy loaded with
refined carbs advance biochemical changes in the body that promote high blood pressure
and blood clot formation – which are two big stroke risks.

Rebalance your cholesterol profile with good fats
High levels of bad low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and low levels of good (HDL)
cholesterol increase the risk of stroke. When the level of good cholesterol is low, your body
is unable to haul away the bad cholesterol , giving it free entry inside the lining of your
artery walls and start the process that leads to clogged arteries.
To get lower LDL and higher HDL levels you should eat less saturated fats and more good
fats. Choose olive oil or canola oil for cooking to maintain healthy HDL levels.
By adding plenty of exercise you give them a boost.

Also, skip full-fat milk, cheese, sour cream, and ice cream….and turn down that fat-marbled
prime rib. What you don’t eat can be just as important as what you do eat.
Research has shown that people who get the most fat in their diet – especially the saturated
fat in meats and other animal foods – have a bigger change of having a stroke than those who
eat healthier foods. This is because a diet that is high in saturated fat raises cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol which is known for clogging arteries in the heart, can also block blood vessels
in and leading to the brain.

“Reducing saturated fat intake is the most powerful dietary maneuver you can make”‘
according to John Crouse, MD, professor of medicine and public health sciences and
associate director of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine General Clinical
Research Center.

Limiting meat servings to 3 to 4 ounces a day, using little or no butter, switching to low-fat
dairy foods, and avoiding high-fat snacks is all what’s necessary for most people to keep
healthy cholesterol levels.

Choose lots of produce as well.
When researchers from the well-known Framingham Heart Study Group scrutinized the diets
of 830 men, they found that for every three servings of fruits and vegetables people ate
every day, their risk of stroke declined 22%.

There are several reasons that fruits and vegetables are so beneficial for preventing stroke.
Most of all, they are high in fiber, which has been shown to lower bad cholesterol.
These foods also contain powerful antioxidants, according to epidemiologist Michael Hertog,
PhD, of the National Institute of Public Health and Environmental protection in the Netherlands.
They help prevent the harmful LDL cholesterol from sticking to your artery walls and blocking
blood flow to the brain. Foods that contain a large quantity of antioxidants are: garlic,onions,
kale, carrots, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, blueberries, plums, cherries, oranges and red grapes.

You don’t need a lot of antioxidant-rich food to get the benefits. In the Nurses’ Health Study,
for example, Harvard researchers discovered that women who get as little as 15 milligrams
of beta-carotene daily, which is the amount in a large carrot, reduced their risk of stroke.

Except fruits and vegetables, tea (both green and black tea) is also an excellent source of
flavonoids. When Dr. Hertog studied more than 550 men aged 50 to 69, he found that those
who got most of their flavonoids from tea were able to reduce their risk of stroke by 73%,
compared with those who got the least of these healthful compounds.
He found that those men who drink at least 5 cups of tea daily can reduce their stroke risk
by more than two-thirds, compared with those drink who less than 3 cups a day.

Dropping just a few pounds can cut stroke risk. You don’t have to be model-thin to stay
healthy, says Thomas A Pearson, MD. PhD, of the University of Rochester.
Losing 10 to 20 pounds is often sufficient to lower blood pressure and with it, the risk
of having a stroke.

The Healing Power of Currants

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Currants are a favorite fruit in various countries.
The British love currant jams and jellies. The French consider black currant liquor
as their favorite. Until the turn of the previous century, Americans enjoyed fresh currants,
as well as currant jellies and sauces.

Today, fresh currants are hard to find in the US. (Don’t be fooled by the black “currants”
sold in supermarkets, they are really zante grapes.
What caused the end of our craving for currants? In the early 1900s, the USDA banned
the cultivation of currants because the shrubs harbored a fungus that was destroying
white pines. Even though the ban was lifted in the 1960s, currants never really made
a comeback. This is unfortunate, because currants, the forgotten fruit are a superb source
of vitamin C and fiber. What’s more, they contain a compound that present a powerful
cancer fighting potential.

Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention
It’s ironic that the forgotten fruit might prove to be helpful in keeping your memory sharp.
Researchers in New Zealand found that substances in currants could help prevent
Alzheimer’s disease. Two compounds in the currants, anthocyanins (which give them
their deep red color) and polyphenolics ( which is also abundant in red wine and chocolate),
where found to protect the brain cells of rats against the kind of damage that occurs in
people’s brains afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease.

Anthocyanins as well as polyphenolics are powerful antioxidants that provide protection
against free radicals.These highly reactive oxygen molecules can damage the brain and
other tissues if left to run amok. Much more research is needed to see if these results
would actually translate to people too.

Cancer Protection
Besides the fact that currants are extremely high in vitamin C content – a half cup of black
currants for example, has 101 milligrams of vitamin C, which is 168% of the Daily Value
and three times that of oranges – there is another thing that gets researches excited.
It’s the fact that berries contain a compound called ellagic acid, which has the ability
to prevent cancer from starting.

Ellagic acid belongs to a disease-fighting family of compounds known as polyphenols.
(Cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, and grapes also contain polyphenols).
It has been shown in laboratory studies to be a powerful antioxidant that helps neutralizing
free radicals, according to Gary Stoner, PhD, professor and cancer researcher at Ohio
State University in Columbus.
Free radicals try to replace their missing electrons by stealing electrons from healthy cells,
causing cellular changes that can lead to cancer.

It may surprise you that researchers found that currants are a much higher source of
antioxidants than blueberries, long regarded as the antioxidant champ.

Ellagic acid also has the ability to block the effects of cancer-causing chemicals in the body
at the same time that it stimulates the activity of enzymes that fight cancer growth.
This two-pronged approach makes this compound a powerful alley for blocking cancer.

Another antioxidant that has been found in currants is quercetin. In general, the most
common sources of quercetin are onions, tea, apples and red wine.
That’s for most of us anyway. The Finns, however, commonly eat certain types of berries
that contain quercetin – currants, lingonberries, and bilberries.
Researchers in Finland reasoned that these berries may be an important source of quercetin
in that country. The scientists divided 40 healthy men into two groups.
Half of the men ate their usual diets, but the other half 100 grams of black currants,
lingonberries and bilberries every day. After 8 weeks, the researchers found that the men
who ate the berries had blood levels of quercetin 32 to 51% higher than the men who ate
their regular diets. So the researchers concluded that these berries are a good source of
quercetin.

Like ellagic acid, quercetin has long been considered important in possibly helping to
prevent cancer. In test tube studies, it inhibits the growth of cancer cells, including those
from breast, colon, prostate, and lung tumors.

Protection against Digestion and Heart disease
Like most berries, currants are also high in fiber. The black, red, and white types all provide
about 2 grams, or 8% of the Daily Value. Apart from controlling digestive problems like
constipation and hemorrhoids, fiber also helps to deal with more serious health problems,
like high cholesterol and heart disease.

From a study of 21,930 Finnish men it showed that those who got just 10 extra grams of
fiber a day were able to reduce their risk of dying from heart disease by 17%.
Eating one or two servings of currants a day , along with extra fruits and vegetables,
will provide all the fiber you need to help keep your circulation in optimum form.

The only problem with fresh currants is that they are hard to find, since most supermarkets
don’t stock them. Your best change to find them is to check out roadside stands or farmers’
markets, as growers sometimes sell small amounts of these homegrown favorites.

When you are lucky enough to get your hands on fresh currants, you will get the most
out of them by storing them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. That way you will
be able to keep them fresh for 2 to 3 days. Or you can freeze them for use throughout
the year.

Benefits of Apples are Skin Deep

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Apples are more than just a wholesome snack. Research have shown that eating apples can help reduce the risk of heart disease, and they may also help protect you from lung cancer. In addition, they may lower your risk of asthma and improve your overall long function.
Antioxidant Protection Phenolics are some of the most powerful disease-fighting components in apples, and they have been getting a lot of research attention lately. Phenolics are a type of phytochemicals that can act as powerful antioxidants, neutralizing free radicals before they can get a change to damage your DNA and other important components within your body.

Researchers at the Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and Seoul University in South Korea found that these phenolics may provide the bulk of the antioxidant power in apples, rather than the vitamin C. Other research from Cornell set out to rank the total phenolic content in many popular fruits. Apples came in second place behind the cranberries, and beat out other favorites such as the red grape, strawberry, pineapple, banana, peach lemon, orange, pear, and grapefruit.

This study also found that apples have the second highest total antioxidant activity of these fruits, again beaten by the cranberry. If you take into account their tastiness, easy preparation time and versatility, apples are hard to beat as an easy way to get a quick dose of antioxidants.

Getting to the Heart of the Matter
The phytochemicals in apples may make them useful tools in warding off heart disease. A study that followed almost 40,000 women for about seven years associated apples with a 13% to 22% lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Research in Finland has found that intake of flavonoids – a type of phenolics found in apples – was inversely associated with death from heart disease in women.

Another study, involving more than 30,000 older Iowa women found that, consuming catechin and epicatechin – both flavonoids found in apples – was associated with a lower risk of death from coronary heart disease.

Even though, many people favor the flesh, much of an apple’s healing power can be found in the skin, which ccontains large amounts – about 4 milligrams – of an antioxidant compound called quercetin. Like vitamin C and beta-carotene, quercetin can help prevent harmful oxygen molecules from damaging individual cells.

Even in the healing world of antioxidants, quercetin is thought to be exceptional. Another Finnish study, this one following more than 10,000 men and women, found that the people who ate the most quercetin had a 20% lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease than those who ate the least.

Cancer Protection
A study involving more than 120,000 men and women found that women who ate at least one serving of apples daily had a lower risk of lung cancer. A Hawaiian study looked at the diet history of 582 people who had lung cancer and 582 without the disease found that the people who consumed the most apples and onions and white grapefruit had nearly half the risk of lung cancer than those who ate the least amounts of these foods.

Effect of Apples on Lung Problems Apples may also help reduce your risk of asthma and improve your lung health. An Australian study involving 1,600 adults associated apple and pear consumption with a lower risk of asthma. And a study of more than 13,000 adults in the Netherlands found that those who consumed more apples and pears had a better lung function and less chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Apple Fiber for Digestive Health
Apples are also a rich source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. A 5-ounce apple including the skin has about 3 grams of fiber. Insoluble fiber, found in the skin, has long been recommended to relieve constipation. Studies show that a smoothly operating digestive tract can help prevent colon cancer. Also, insoluble fiber is filling which make apples an excellent weight control food for people who want to lose weight without feeling hungry.

The soluble fiber in apples, which is the same kind that is found in oat bran, acts differently from the insoluble kind. In stead of passing through the digestive tract more or less unchanged, soluble fiber forms a gel-like material in the digestive tract that helps lower cholesterol and with it, the risk of heart disease and stroke.

A particular form of soluble fiber called pectin is very helpful to reduce the amount of cholesterol produced in the liver. An average-seize apple contains 0.7 gram of pectin, more than the amount in strawberries and bananas.

Indeed, it appears that having an apple or two a day really can help to keep the doctor away.