Category: Diet

Mediterranean Diet & Macular Degeneration

The Mediterranean Diet, based on consumption of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes, and olive oil has been linked to many health benefits.  The diet, based on foods eaten in Greece, southern Italy, and Spain, is low in saturated fats and high in fiber and monounsaturated fats.

When combined with regular exercise this way of eating has been strongly associated with many symptoms of improved health: decreased mortality, lowered cardiovascular risk factors, and weight loss.  Research now associates a lowered risk of developing macular degeneration with the Mediterranean Diet.

Continue reading “Mediterranean Diet & Macular Degeneration”

Nourishing Vegetarian Stuffed Pumpkin

This tasty presentation is fabulous to take to a Thanksgiving potluck!

The recipe is for pumpkin, but Long Island Cheese, a white/buff C. moschata type of squash which is paler than a pumpkin outside with a rich nutty flavor is superb. Another great squash for this recipe is the dark green Kabocha squash for a dramatic color contrast at the table. But any large squash or pumpkin at least 10″ inches in diameter would suit very nicely. You can do a lot of the prep work the day or two days before. Continue reading “Nourishing Vegetarian Stuffed Pumpkin”

Sustainable and Highly Nutritious Seaweed

Researchers in Ireland have shown that it is possible to grow three highly nutritious kinds of seaweed through sustainable industrial-scale cultivation.  They have grown Laminaria digitata (a brown seaweed “kelp”)  grown “very successfully” on longlines in Roaring Water Bay, in southwestern Ireland.
A three-year Irish project to grow three valuable species of seaweed with valuable nutritional properties in an aquaculture environment has shown that sustainable industrial-scale cultivation is viable, say researchers.

Seaweed is purported to lower cholesterol, reduce blood pressure, fight obesity, promote healthy digestion, and tackle free radicals.

Seaweed also contains nutrients that are vital to eye health and maintaining good vision, including vitamin A and vitamin C.  Learn more about food sources for other nutrients that benefit the eyes at our website.

Source: .nutraingredients.com

Gout Linked to Consumption of Sugary Beverages

Gout isn’t just a disease that attacked historical heavyweights like Henry VIII.

soft drink cans
image via hvo.wr.usgs.gov

A new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association seeks to determine if sugar-laden sodas and orange juice increase the likelihood that women will develop gout.  Gout is a form of arthritis that occurs when crystals of uric acid accumulate in a joint.

Over 22 year study, researchers did find that consuming high-fructose beverages did increase women’s risk of developing gout.  That said, out of the nearly 79,000 women in the study, only 778 developed the disease over that period.  Source: https://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/jama.2010.1638v1?rss=1

Learn more about how to prevent and treat gout naturally.

Beet Juice Can Help Prevent Dementia, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Eye Floaters

In our practice we are great proponents of juicing and its many health benefits. One veggie that is in many of the recipes that we recommend for specific eye conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and eye floaters is the humble seeming beet.  We have known for a long time the beet helps to improve circulation and also purifies and builds up the blood.

New research finds that the nitrates found in beet juice both widen blood vessels and increase blood flow to the brain.

In a study of 14 people over age 70 published in Nitric Oxide: Biology and Chemistry, the participants who ate a high-nitrate diet featuring beet juice showed increased blood flow to the white matter of the frontal lobes of their brains.  Dementia and other related conditions are most commonly associated with the degradation of that part of the brain.

Source: WebMD

For more information on juicing, please visit our website.

Pumpkin Seed, Macular Degeneration & BPH

Macular Degeneration:

Pumpkin seed oil is rich in zeaxanthin, which protects the retina and slow the progress of macular degeneration. In 2003, the Medical Research Council Environmental Epidemiology Unit at the University of Southampton in England announced that zeaxanthin “may be far more important in preventing or stabilizing macular degeneration than previously realized.”  Learn more about zeaxanthin.

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia:

When pumpkin seed is taken along with saw palmetto symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia can be reduced (BPH).   Scientists have noted that the benefit may arise from some of the contents of pumpkin seed, such as plant sterols, zinc, and  fatty acids. Learn more about benign prostate hyperplasia.

 

Added sugar can increase heart attack risk

New study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found those who ate more added sugar were more likely to have higher cardiovascular disease risk factors, including higher triglyceride levels and higher ratios of triglycerides to high-density lipoprotein, the “good” cholesterol.

Sugar which is being added in greater amounts and with greater frequency than ever before by food manufacturers in almost all  processed foods and beverages appears to raise the risk of heart disease.

Researchers took a close look at data on  nutritional intake and levels of fat in the blood  in more than 6,000 adults between 1999 and 2006.

They found that those who consumed greater amounts of additional sugar had risks of experiencing heart disease.  This included not only higher triglyceride levels but higher ratios of triglycerides to HD.

Researchers: Miriam Vos, MD, Emory School of Medicine & associates.

Published: Journal of American Medical Association, 2010.

Learn more about natural ways to help prevent heart disease.

Poor Dental Hygiene Tied to Heart Disease Risk

It occurs to us that those who consume more sugar may also be more likely to have poor dental hygiene habits.  Researchers in the following study were looking at brushing and flossing rates – but sugar consumption is certainly tied to dental caries.

Researchers looking at the health histories of more than 11,000 patients in Scotland, have found that those patients who do not brush their teeth twice a day are more likely to have heart disease compared to those who do so.

70% of the subjects brushed their teeth twice a day, and 60% visit the dentist twice a year.  Those subjects with poorer brushing habits had a 70% higher risk of heart disease.

Researchers: University College of London

Published: British Medical Journal (BMJ), May, 2010

Sugary sodas linked to pancreatic cancer: study

Analyses of data collected on 60,524 Singapore Chinese adults showed that people who drank two or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks a week were at greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with individuals who did not, the study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention says.

A study published in 2010 which analyzed data collected for 60,524  Chinese adults in Singapore demonstrated that those people who consume two or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks weekly were at higher risk of suffering from pancreatic cancer compared with those who do not drink sugary drinks.

However, the researchers did not find a link was found between  juice consumption and pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer is a rapidly fatal cancer in adults.  Fewer than 5% of patients survive five or more years after being diagnosed with this form of cancer.

Published: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 2010.

New Recommendations for Daily Sugar Consumption

How much sugar can you safely eat in a day?

The answer is probably less than you think.

Although Americans are used to eating more than 22.2 teaspoons (or 355 calories) of added sugar a day, the recommended limit is 10 teaspoons, or 100 calories a day. A new study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association (AHA) gives consumers detailed guidance on sugar consumption by recommending an upper limit on added-sugars intake.

Added sugars are sugars and syrups added to foods during processing or preparation as well as those added at the table. This does not include naturally sweet foods such as fruit.

Excessive consumption of sugars has been linked with several metabolic abnormalities and adverse health conditions, as well as with a lack of essential nutrients.

The AHA report also noted:

  • An upper limit for added sugars should be no more than half your discretionary calories.
  • Most American women should consume no more than 100 calories of added sugars per day; most men, no more than 150 calories. That’s about 6 teaspoons of added sugars a day for women and 9 for men.
  • Soft drinks and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the No. 1 source of added sugars in the American diet. A 12-ounce can of regular soda contains about 130 calories and 8 teaspoons of sugar.

The AHA recommends a diet that is rich in fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, high-fiber whole grains, lean meat, poultry and fish in order to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease.