February 2010 News Articles
Protecting the Colon
Everyday nutrients may extend life and cut chances of colorectal cancer
People with colorectal cancer (CRC) lived longer when vitamin D levels were higher and those with higher levels of quercetin or vitamin B6 were less likely to have CRC, according to three new studies.
Doctors in a vitamin D study said that earlier findings showed people with low vitamin D levels were more likely to have CRC, and wanted to see if vitamin D levels could predict survival after diagnosis. Researchers estimated vitamin D levels—from sun exposure, diet, supplements, skin type, and body mass index—in more than 1,000 people at the time they were diagnosed with CRC. Over 18 years of follow up, those with higher vitamin D scores were half as likely to die from the disease as were those with lower vitamin D scores.
Doctors in a CRC study believe that flavonoids—the antioxidants in plants, fruits, vegetables, and tea—reduce the chances of CRC. Researchers explained that CRC rates are high in England, and set out to measure flavonoids in the English diet. Englishmen and women get most of their flavonoids from drinking tea, so scientists measured non-tea flavonoids in the diets of 264 people with CRC plus 408 healthy participants. Those whose diets had the highest levels of the flavonoid quercetin from non-tea sources were 40 percent less likely to have CRC than those with the lowest quercetin levels. In a vitamin B study, scientists measured blood levels of B vitamins in over 200 people with CRC and also in more than 400 healthy people of similar age, sex, and ethnicity. As blood levels of the active form of vitamin B6 (pyridoxal-5'-phosphate) fell, chances of CRC rose, and those with the lowest levels of vitamin B6 were 51 percent more likely to have CRC than were those with the highest vitamin B6 levels.
Reference: British Journal of Cancer; 2009, Vol. 101, No. 6, 916-23
Elderberry for Flu
Doctors in a flu study believe that the antioxidant flavonoids in elderberry bind to flu-virus particles to prevent the virus from infecting cells or reproducing. About 70 people with flu-like symptoms for less than 24 hours took 700 mg of elderberry extract in four 175 mg doses per day, or a placebo. Symptoms included fever, headache, muscle aches, nasal congestion and discharge, and coughing. After 48 hours, none in the placebo group had recovered, and symptoms in most had stayed the same or worsened. For the elderberry group, 60 percent reported one or two minor symptoms while another 28 percent were symptom-free.
Reference: Online Journal of Pharmacology & PharmacoKinetics; 2009, Vol. 5, 32-43
Doing Better in Day Care and in School
Nutrients and diet improved kids' health and scholastic performance
Probiotics helped kids in day care avoid respiratory infections, prebiotics helped adolescent girls absorb minerals, and kids who ate a healthy diet performed better in school tests, three new studies reveal.
Doctors in an infection study gave about 300 children in day care Lactobacillus GG in 3 ounces of milk per day, or a placebo. After three months, kids who took Lactobacillus were 34 percent less likely to have an upper respiratory tract infection, and symptoms cleared up faster, compared to placebo. Doctors said probiotics work in the gut, the immune system's first line of defense against infection.
In a prebiotics study, doctors explained that adolescent girls often do not get enough calcium or magnesium—important for healthy bones—and thought that prebiotics might increase the amount of minerals the body would absorb. Researchers gave 14 adolescent girls with low calcium in the diet, 7 grams of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) per day, or a placebo. After 36 days, girls in the FOS group were able to absorb 18 percent more magnesium compared to placebo. The amount of calcium the girls absorbed did not change, which doctors said was because calcium was so low the body had already absorbed it all.
In a diet quality study, researchers wanted to see how diet might affect school performance. Doctors tracked the height, weight, and socioeconomic status of about 4,600 fifth grade students, and measured the quality of their diets. The students took a literacy test that included reading stories and information texts and writing answers to questions. After adjusting for income, age, education, school, and sex, students whose diets included more fruit and vegetables and fewer calories from fat were 41 percent less likely to fail the test.
Reference: Clinical Nutrition; November, 2009, Electronic Prepublication
Healthy Moms Have Healthier Kids
Kids whose moms took folic acid while pregnant had better mental health, kids whose moms had good choline levels avoided birth defects, and pregnant moms who took carnitine maintained healthy levels, in three new studies.
Doctors in a child behavior study knew that mothers' low folate levels can cause brain and spinal cord defects in babies, but wanted to see how folic acid supplements might also improve kids' behavior. Researchers measured how much folic acid moms took during the first trimester, then evaluated over 4,200 of their children at 18 months. Kids whose moms did not take folic acid were 44 percent more likely to have developmental and behavioral problems compared to kids whose moms took folic acid. Researchers in a birth defect study noted that folate is only part of the solution to birth defects, which occur even though U.S. manufacturers must add folic acid to foods. Doctors took blood samples from 180,000 pregnant California women and identified 80 whose children were born with birth defects. Scientists compared these samples with over 400 random samples from mothers whose kids did not have birth defects and found that moms with higher levels of one essential nutrient—choline—were much more likely to have kids without brain and spinal cord defects than were moms with low choline levels.
In a carnitine study, doctors said that nearly every cell in the body contains this energy-producing amino acid. The body uses iron to synthesize carnitine, but pregnant women may not have enough iron to do so. Researchers gave 26 healthy pregnant women 500 mg of L-carnitine per day, or a placebo, from the 13th week of pregnancy through birth. At the end of the study, the placebo group had lost both carnitine and iron while those in the carnitine group had maintained good carnitine levels.
Reference: British Journal of Nutrition; 2009, 1-8, Electronic Prepublication
Losing Weight More Safely and Easily
Prebiotics and fenugreek curbed hunger, licorice reduced weight, fat, and cholesterol, and phyto-chemicals may reduce obesity, in four new studies.
In a prebiotics study, 48 overweight or obese, but healthy, adults took 21 grams of oligofructose (OF) per day, or a placebo, while maintaining their normal diet and lifestyle. After 12 weeks, levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin—which tells the brain to feed the body—were lower in the OF group than in the placebo group, and the OF group had lost over two pounds while the placebo group had gained almost one pound.
In a fenugreek study, 18 obese but healthy people, average age 32, ate a breakfast containing 4 or 8 grams of fenugreek fiber, or a placebo. Compared to the placebo and 4 gram groups, those in the 8 gram group were much less hungry, felt fuller and more satisfied, and expected to eat less food later in the day. Doctors believe that fenugreek fiber allows the stomach to empty more slowly.
In a licorice study, about 80 men and women ranging in weight from normal to obese took 300 mg, 600 mg, or 900 mg of licorice flavonoid oil (LFO) per day, or a placebo. After eight weeks, although all groups had consumed about the same amount of calories, the three LFO groups had much less body fat mass compared to placebo. The 900 mg group also had significantly lower body weight and LDL cholesterol levels compared to the start of the study.
Doctors in a weight study analyzed the diets of about 60 young adults who ranged in weight from normal to obese. Researchers measured calories from plant-based foods and found that, while participants consumed about the same amount of total calories, those who weighed less ate more plant-based foods, more phytochemicals, fewer saturated fats, and had less oxidative damage to cells, and less inflammation than those who ate fewer plant-based foods.
Reference: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition; 2009, Vol. 89, No. 6, 1751-9
Women's Heart Health
Women with more lycopene had healthier blood vessels, postmenopausal women with higher folate levels had lower blood pressure, and premenopausal women deficient in vitamin D developed high blood pressure later in life, three new studies reveal.
Doctors in a lycopene study said that atherosclerosis—when coronary arteries narrow and stiffen, leading to heart disease—begins with inflamed blood vessels, and wanted to see if lycopene levels could predict blood vessel health. Researchers measured lycopene levels in over 250 healthy women, aged 31 to 75, and found that women with higher lycopene had more flexible blood vessels than those with lower levels, and LDL cholesterol levels were about 16 percent lower, and C-reactive protein levels—a sign of inflammation—were 37 percent lower.
In a folate study, researchers gave postmenopausal women 15 mg of the active form of folic acid (5-methyltetrahydrofolate, or 5-MTHF) per day, or a placebo. After three weeks, while there were no effects for placebo, those in the 5-MTHF group had significantly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure, lower homocysteine levels—a sign of inflammation—and less insulin resistance.
In a blood pressure study, doctors wanted to see if premenopausal vitamin D levels could predict high blood pressure later in life. Researchers took annual blood pressure readings from over 550 premenopausal women over the course of 15 years. At the start of the study, 2 percent of the women had been diagnosed with high blood pressure, and researchers discovered another 4 percent who had not been diagnosed. By the end of the study, another 19 percent of the women had developed high blood pressure, for a total of 25 percent. Women who were deficient in vitamin D at the start of the study were three times more likely to develop high blood pressure later in life as were those with normal vitamin D levels.
Reference: Atherosclerosis; 2009, Electronic pre-publication
Omega-3s Help Men's Hearts
Men who got more omega-3s were less likely to have a heart attack
Doctors know omega-3 fatty acids help those with heart disease, but wanted to see if omega-3s would lower the chances of heart problems in healthy people.
Researchers in a heart study measured the amount of omega-3s in the diets of over 57,000 healthy adults. Over the next eight years, doctors wanted to see who would develop acute coronary syndrome (ACS), a condition where plaques partially or completely block coronary arteries, causing sudden chest pain, and which may lead to a heart attack. Chances of ACS began to decrease as men consumed more than 390 mg of omega-3s per day. While chances of ACS in women did not change with omega-3 levels, men who got more than 390 mg of omega-3s per day were 27 percent less likely to have ACS than were men who got less.
Reference: British Journal of Nutrition; October, 2009, Electronic Prepublication
