Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world, but many people don’t know what HPV is. Learn about this dangerous virus and what you can do to help protect your body from Amanda Williams, MPH.
Green tea is commonly known for its antioxidant protection and immune support, but did you know that it can also promote bone health? Learn how its most active constituent, EGCG, can support overall bone health.
A recent study led by researchers from the National University of Sinapore (NUS) revealed that regular tea drinkers have better organized brain regions associated with healthy cognitive function, compared to non-tea drinkers. Here’s what you need to know.
Previous studies have demonstrated that tea intake is beneficial for mood improvement and even cardiovascular disease prevention, states the study. But this research team wanted to further explore the direct effect of tea on brain networks. Thirty six adults ages 60 and above were recruited and data about their health, lifestyle and psychological well-being was recorded. The elderly participants also had to undergo neuropsychological tests and an MRI.
The research team found that individuals who consumed either green tea, oolong tea or black tea at least four times a week for about 25 years had brain regions that were interconnected in a more efficient way.
Assistant Professor Feng Lei from the Department of Psychological Medicine from NUS explained, “Take the analogy of road traffic as an example – consider brain regions as destinations, while the connections between brain regions are roads. When a road system is better organized, the movement of vehicles and passengers is more efficient and uses less resources. Similarly, when the connections between brain regions are more structured, information processing can be performed more efficiently.”
“We have shown in our previous studies that tea drinkers had better cognitive function as compared to non-tea drinkers. Our current results relating to brain network indirectly support our previous findings by showing that the positive effects of regular tea drinking are the result of improved brain organization brought about by preventing disruption to interregional connections.”
Green tea comes from the same plant as black tea, but does not undergo the fermentation process needed to make black tea. It is very high in antioxidants known as catechins, especially EGCG. EGCG has been shown to inhibit the uptake of fat into fat cells and at higher doses, and has been shown to burn fat and reduce a person’s waistline – sometimes considerably. Green tea quickly travels throughout your system and offers major protection for the digestive tract, a man’s prostate, a woman’s breasts, and cervical tissue thereby reducing the risk of dangerous cellular changes.
Green tea has an effect on upper respiratory tract infections and is very beneficial during flu and cold season. Green tea controls the bacteria associated with bad breath and gum disease and is hard on problematic bacteria in the digestive tract including yeasts yet ignores the intestine’s healthier bacteria that are required for good digestion.
Green tea powerfully improves the health of the skin, rejuvenating old skin cells and improving the look of the skin. According to research, green tea may even improve the texture and look of aging skin. Green tea has powerful vascular effects helping to promote the health of blood vessel walls and protecting healthy circulation to the heart and brain.
Photo by Rawpixel on Unsplash A new study involving mice, suggests that EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate), the most abundant catechin and biologically active component in green tea, could alleviate high-fat and high-fructose (HFFD)-induced insulin resistance and cognitive impairment. What is EGCG? After water, green tea is the …
*Image: Huffington Post The scientific link between alcohol and breast cancer is strong, but most of the research backing it has been done in caucasian women, not diverse groups of women. Now, in a new analysis published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, scientists find …
by Jerry Hickey, R.Ph.
Why are you so tired? Because the power-plants inside your cells are old and wrinkly! Within each of your trillions of cells (with few exceptions) there are tiny power plants called mitochondria. Some cells have a few hundred of these dynamos and some have thousands, depending on the type of cell; the power plants are strategically situated allover the cell so every little bit gets energy. These power-plants transform the metabolites derived from the fats and carbohydrates in your food, converting them into usable energy known as ATP. About ninety-percent of your bodies daily energy needs are met through ATP.
In much the same ways as your skin becomes old and wrinkled, your mitochondria also wrinkle and have a decreased ability to manufacture energy. Good news! Certain nutrients improve metabolism and foster energy production through their effects on the mitochondria, increasingly being referred to as mitochondrial nutrients. A nutrient known as Resveratrol, the red wine antioxidant, triggers the recycling of old power-plants breaking them down and reforming them into newly made and efficiently working mitochondria.
Two important mitochondrial nutrients are ALCAR and ALA. ALCAR is an excepted abbreviation for the amino acid Acetyl-L-Carnitine; this amino acid acts like the truck driver delivering fuel for the creation of ATP. ALA (the accepted abbreviation for the nutrient Alpha-Lipoic Acid) is part of the fuel itself. ALA is also a powerful antioxidant and restorative for nerve tissue. In fact, NF-Kappa B is an immune system messenger that triggers aging; an additional benefit to ALA is its ability to shut down NF-Kappa B slowing the aging process. When you supplement an aging body with these three supplements, you may improve metabolism and energy production. Human clinical trials show that these nutrients increase energy, reduce fatigue, and support many aspects of aging including brain function, heart function and circulation, sexual function, a better balance of blood fats and blood sugar, improved muscle mass with a decrease in truncal fat, and decreased generalized inflammation. They also support the health of your ears and eyes (both extensions of your brain), the sense of taste and smell, liver function, the efficiency of blood vessel walls and ALCAR and ALA are among the most important of all life-extending supplements.
Clinical trials show that one or more of these nutrients increase energy in the elderly (those over 80) and even in the very elderly (centenarians). They increase stamina in heart patients, increase energy in people with chronic diseases, in individuals on medications that cause fatigue, or in conditions associated with fatigue including chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, fibromyalgia, chemo-brain, and various viral infections. They are safe and good for anyone who needs energy.
Viral researchers at the School of Medicine at Wuhan University investigated the effects of Green Teas major antioxidant EGCG on the bird flu (influenza A) virus. EGCG was administered to human cells before, during and after infection with the flu virus. EGCG effectively inhibited the virus in these cells. To strengthen the evidence mice were infected with the flu. GreenTea’s EGCG reduced the death rate in the infected mice and decreased viral damage to the lungs; a major danger from the flu. The researchers concluded that EGCG has a strong effect against influenza A H1 N1 virus in a dose-dependent manner meaning the higher the dosage the better the effect.
Researchers from the University of Florida, Gainesville gave healthy adults either concentrated Green Tea capsules or inactive placebo twice a day for three months in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Green Tea capsules strongly reduced the number of people with the flu, reduced the duration of infection if they developed the flu, and reduced the number of days with any symptoms. The immune system of the subjects on green Tea had a much greater ability to fight the flu with a greater pool of disease fighting T cells and a better production of interferon gamma in response to infection. Interferon gamma is very important for fighting viruses, bacteria and tumor cells. The results of this study were published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition
An important group of people who need flu prevention are the elderly, since according to the CDC more than 90% of the deaths related to the infection occur in those over age 65. A recent study measured the effectiveness of gargling with green tea in elderly patients living together in a nursing home. Researchers in Japan measured the rate of influenza infection in two groups of nursing home residents, one gargling three times daily with green tea extract, and the other group gargling three times daily without green tea extract. All residents received influenza immunization prior to the gargling experiment. However, immunization often fails to protect the elderly. When a healthy person is immunized they make a pool of antibodies that protect them from future infection but because the elderly have an aging immune system they are not capable of making enough antibodies and they are still susceptible to infection. During the three month study period (January-March), many residents became infected with the flu in spite of the flu vaccination. However, 87% fewer residents gargling with green tea developed the flu compared to those gargling placebo; an astounding result. The results of the study were published in the journal Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
Your muscle stores glycogen; a reservoir for future fuel used for energy during physical activity. The reason why marathon runners gobble down pounds of pasta before a race is to increase the amount of glycogen stored in their muscles to help supply fuel longer during the race. Unless you are an elite athlete your glycogen stores are minimal, with less to burn during exercise and this affects your endurance. In fact, even elite athletes do not have enough glycogen to power an athletic event. However, their body compensates for this by switching to burning fat instead of glycogen. However, your body isn’t trained to do this; Green Tea may be your answer. Researchers at the Human Performance Laboratory, School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom note that drinking Green tea promotes the burning of fat in humans even when they are resting. The scientists investigated the effects of green tea extract and its ability to burn fat during moderate-intensity exercise in human volunteers. Two crossover studies were performed.
In the 24-hour period before the experiment participants took 3 capsules containing either GTE supplying a total of 366mg EGCG, or they took an inactive placebo for comparisons sake. The results were fantastic; the men burnt 17% more fat while exercising if they supplemented with GTE. Moreover, they also derived a greater amount of their energy from fat and not muscle glycogen with this also improving by about 17%. Green Tea Extract also improved insulin sensitivity by 13% in study B. The studies are published in the March 2008 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Nucleotides are the essential building blocks for all cells in our body; this is the reason why they offer such a wide variety of benefits, especially for energy, immunity, and healing. Nucleotides are naturally found in small amounts in some nutritious foods including liver, fish, and brewers yeast and they are an important component of breast milk needed for the development of a quickly growing baby. We also constantly require Nucleotides, especially for tissues that turnover quickly, such as the cells of the immune system or for any organ when healing takes place after surgery or an accident.
When it comes to immune system function there is a great deal of evidence showing how Nucleotide supplements act as regulators of the immune system and studies show that Nucleotides stimulate the production of antibodies to fight an infection. A study shows that Nucleotides maintain immune system function during intense exercise and that they offset the negative effects of stress hormones which would offset the increased risk of a cold or flu infection in elite athletes and exercisers. A previous study at Queen Margaret University College in Scotland demonstrates that Nucleotides help prevent secondary infections in people with a cold or flu infection; flu patients are in a weakened state and often develop a secondary infection usually as bacterial pneumonia and this is the major killer responsible for most deaths attributed to the flu. The same study shows that Nucleotides decrease the severity of symptoms in patients infected with a cold or flu including sore throat (20% reduction), muscle ache (15% reduction), headache (40% reduction), with a strong reduction in sinus and ear pain.
Nucleotides also support energy production, after all our old friend ATP is a Nucleotide and it supplies 90 percent of your body’s daily energy needs. This effect is handy during recuperation, during an infection or illness, while exercising or dieting.
