Health for life

Showing posts with label twenty. Show all posts

Sweetened Beverages Increase Heart Disease Risk in Men by Twenty Percent

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Researchers publishing the results of a study in the prestigious American Heart Association journalCirculation have found that men who drank a 12-ounce sugar-sweetened beverage a day had a 20 percent higher risk of heart disease compared to men who didnt drink any sugar-sweetened drinks. This should come as no surprise as sweetened (and calorie-free) beverages have come under scrutiny for contributing to increased risk of potentially fatal conditions such as diabetes, dementia, stroke, liver necrosis (fatty liver), overweight and obesity.

Excess glucose in the bloodstream is easily converted to triglycerides by the liver and promptly stored as fat, typically around the waistline for use during leaner times. This survival mechanism worked very well for our ancestors of several hundred generations past, but times of plenty now exist regularly, several times each day for most.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Boost Blood Fats to Significantly Increase Heart Disease Risk
Humans were never metabolically wired to consume the large amount of nutrient-poor calories as we do today, and it is leading to an early grave for millions. The bottom line is simple: eliminate calories from sugar-sweetened beverages and lower your risk of heart disease by one-fifth.

Researchers reviewed the beverage consuming habits of 42,883 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, and after controlling for risk factors including smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol use and family history of heart disease, they determined that daily consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages resulted in a twenty percent increase in cardiovascular disease. Scientists found that less frequent consumption, on the order of twice weekly to twice monthly did not increase risk.

Eliminate Sugary Drinks in Favor of Water, Green and White Teas
Lead study author, Dr. Frank Hu and his team from the Harvard School of Public Health measured blood markers for cardiovascular disease in the group such as C-reactive protein (CRP), potentially damaging blood fats including triglycerides and oxidized LDL cholesterol as well as good lipids known as high-density lipoproteins (HDL). They found that compared to a group of non-sweetened beverage drinkers, the test participants had significantly elevated levels of triglyceride, CRP and lower HDL levels.

These findings are to be expected with excess consumption of glucose. Excess sugar in the blood, when not required for energy to fuel metabolic processes is rapidly converted to free circulating blood fats and then stored as body fat. High levels of LDL cholesterol become oxidized (making the lipoprotein molecules sticky) where they are easily combined with calcium and other materials in the blood and are incorporated into atherosclerotic plaque. Most health-minded people will eliminate sugar-sweetened beverages entirely from their diet, as well as dramatically reduce all sources of quick-releasing ined carbohydrates to dramatically lower their risk of heart disease.

Coffee Consumption Lowers Depression by Twenty Percent in Women

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Depression is a chronic and recurrent condition that affects twice as many women as men, including approximately one of every five U.S. women during their lifetime. Loss of productive work hours has become a significant problem in the workplace making the development of strategies to prevent the debilitating condition a priority for research scientists.

The result of a peer-reviewed journal study publishedin the Archives of Internal Medicineexplains that consumption of caffeinated coffee can reduce the symptoms of depression in women in a dose dependent manner. This is an important finding because coffee is a popular beverage already consumed by many. Just three to four cups of java each day may just help lift your spirits and improve feelings of melancholy.

Four Cups of Coffee Consumed Daily Found to Lower Depression Symptom by 20%

The authors of the study noted that 80% of worldwide caffeine consumption is in the form of coffee, the most commonly used CNS (central nervous system) stimulant. The research leader, Dr. Michel Lucas and his team set out to determine if the consumption of coffee or other drinks containing caffeine might be linked to depression risk. To conduct the study they gathered data on 50,737 women with an average age 63 years. It was determined that none of them had depression when the study began.

The participants were part of the Nurses Health Study and were asked to complete a detailed questionnaire detailing their caffeine and coffee consumption over a 24 year period. The researchers determined how often they consumed caffeinated and non-caffeinated coffee, non-herbal teas, caffeinated sodas (sugared or low calorie) and all types of caffeine-free soft drinks as well as chocolate intake. For the purpose of this study, depressionwas defined as having a diagnosis of clinical depression and being prescribed regular antidepressants during the previous two years.

Coffee Found to Lower Depression in Women in a Dose Dependent Manner

During the course of the studyanalysis, 2,607 new cases of depression were recorded among the participants. From the data collected, researchers found that women who consumed two to three cups of caffeinated coffee per day were 15% less likely to develop depression compared to those who drank a maximum of one cup of caffeinated coffee per week. Further they determined women who drank at least 4 cups per day had a 20% lower risk than the females consuming only one cup per day.

Interestingly, the consumption of decaffeinated coffee had no impact on depression risk, an indicator that a synergistic link exists between chemical compounds in coffee and caffeine to produce the risk-lowering effect. Study authors concluded "In this large prospective cohort of older women free of clinical depression or severe depressive symptoms at baseline, risk of depression decreased in a dose-dependent manner with increasing consumption of caffeinated coffee." Drinking two to four cups daily of a caffeinated coffee beverage may provide significant depression-lowering benefits in women.

Eating Red Meat Increases Risk of Death from Heart Disease and Cancer by Twenty Percent

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have published the results of a twenty-two year study on red meat consumption in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. The scientists found that red meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of total, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality, and that substituting other healthy protein sources, such as fish, poultry, nuts, and legumes, was associated with a lower risk of mortality.

Lead study author, Dr. Ann Pan noted “Our study adds more evidence to the health risks of eating high amounts of red meat, which has been associated with type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers in other studies.” Researchers reviewed the data supplied by two independent studies of 37,698 men and 83,644 women, each conducted over a period of 22 to 28 years, revealing data over a very long time frame. All participants were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer when the studies began, and diet was assessed through use of a questionnaire every four years.

Substituting Poultry, Nuts and Legumes for Red Meat Lowers Mortality Risk up to Nineteen Percent

For the duration of the two studies, a total of 23,926 deaths were recorded with 5,910 from cardiovascular disease and 9,464 from cancer. From the results, regular consumption of red meats, especially processed meats such as sausage, hot dogs and luncheon meats was associated with a significant increased mortality risk. A daily serving of unprocessed red meat (about three ounces, the size of a deck of cards) was found to increase mortality by thirteen percent. Processed meat consumption (the equivalent of one hot dog each day) increased death risk from all causes by twenty percent.

Limit Consumption of Red Meats to Ten Percent of Calories and Eliminate Processed Meats

Breaking the results down further, the researchers found that mortality risks were increased by 18% and 21% for cardiovascular diseases, and 10% and 16% for cancer mortality (unprocessed meat consumption compared to processed meats). Study authors took into account chronic disease risk factors such as age, body mass index, physical activity, family history of heart disease and other causes of cancer. The research team was quick to note that the results do not mean that meat must be eliminated from the diet, except for processed meats that are unhealthy at any level of consumption due to high concentrations of preservative nitrites.

Nutrition experts suggest limiting unprocessed red meats to several ounces, two or three days of the week. Always choose free-range, organic meats to avoid growth hormones and food-borne illnesses typically found in conventionally farmed animals. They suggest substituting fish, poultry (again, organically raised), nuts, legumes and whole grains to lower mortality risks by 7% to 19%. The study team concluded “choosing more healthful sources of protein in place of red meat can confer significant health benefits by reducing chronic disease morbidity and mortality.”