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Transfatty acids are not a fat we need as compared to essential fatty acids like omega 3 and omega 6, which we do need.
Trans fats are formed when vegetable oils are hydrogenated, which makes the unsaturated fat into saturated fat. You are, for that reason, more likely to be exposed to transfat the more processed food you eat. French fries, for example, can contain varies amounts of transfatty acids depending on the source of oil used in the frying.
The research reviewed investigated transfatty acids and cancer risk (Hu J, et al. 2011). The study was conducted in Canada and matched varies forms of cancer cases with normal population controls.
It was found that dietary transfatty acids were positively associated with the risk of cancers of the colon, breast and prostate with a borderline association for pancreatic cancer.
The researchers concluded that a diet low in transfat may play a role in cancer prevention.
The more unprocessed food you eat the better off you are for several reasons.
To learn more about the benefits of unprocessed food read the book “The Food Connection” which also includes a lot of easy to make recipes.
To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.
References:
Hu J, Vecchia CL, Groh MD, Negri E, Morrison H, Mery L; The Canadian Cancer Registries Epidemiology Research Group. Dietary transfatty acids and cancer risk. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2011 Jun 22.
Courtesy of Dr. Sopler – www.TissueRecovery.com
There are numerous studies documenting the health benefits of omega 3 fatty acids. However some estimates using food frequency questionnaires have associated omega 3 fat with a higher incidence of diabetes.
The research reviewed investigated for that reason the relationship between omega 3 fatty acid measurements in 3,088 men and women and the incident of diabetes (Djousse L, et al. 2011). The average follow up time was 10.6 years.
The researchers concluded that when objective biomarkers of omega 3 fatty acids were used it was not associated with a higher incidence of diabetes. Instead it was found that individual with the highest concentration of alpha linoleic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) had a lower risk for diabetes.
EPA and DHA is the active ingredients in fish oil. ALA is found in flax seeds and is converted by the body to EPA, DHA.
Both fish oil and flax seeds are very healthy. It is however easier to increase the level of EPA and DHA in the body by taking fish oil since the conversion of ALA in flax seed to EPA, DHA is not that efficient.
Flax seeds are very good for other reasons. Grind raw whole flax seeds in a coffee grinder for approximately 10 seconds and use 2 tablespoons twice daily. This is beneficial for the gastrointestinal tract and the lignans in the shells can also help to convert estrogen to healthier metabolites.
For fish oil, use capsules and a product which has high levels of EPA, DHA .
To read the original abstract, click on the reference below.
References:
Djoussé L, Biggs ML, Lemaitre RN, King IB, Song X, Ix JH, Mukamal KJ, Siscovick DS, Mozaffarian D. Plasma omega-3 fatty acids and incident diabetes in older adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011 Aug;94(2):527-33. Epub 2011 May 18.
Courtesy of Dr. Sopler – www.TissueRecovery.com
Two common health concerns seem to have an association with each other and that is bone mineral density and the risk for myocardial infarction. This interesting study was conducted in Sweden and the participants were 6,872 men and women (Wiklund P, et al. 2011). Bone mineral density was measured for the total hip and also for the femoral neck, which is a common area of fractures. The average follow up time was 5.7 years.
Continue reading Link between bone mineral density and myocardial infarction
Sleep apnea causes abnormal pauses in breathing or abnormal low breathing during sleep. Some of the symptoms are snoring, fatigue during the day, impaired reaction time and decreased short term memory.
Both red and processed meat has been implicated to increase the risk of several diseases. The two studies reviewed here specifically focused on the consumption of red and processed meat and the risk of stroke.
One of the investigations followed 40, 291 men aged 45-79 years for the average of 10.1 years (Larsson SC, et al. 2011). The conclusion from the research was that processed meat consumption is positively associated with the risk of stroke.
Continue reading Red meat and the risk of stroke
A lot of research has been published on the benefits of fish and omega 3 fatty acids.
The study referenced here is interesting because it compared the intake of fish, how it was prepared and how it related to the risk of heart failure (Belin RJ, et al. 2011).
84,493 women aged 50-79 were included in the investigation. Fish consumption were recorded according to frequency and if it was baked/broiled or fried.
Continue reading The way you cook your fish is important
Low vitamin D levels are commonly found with obesity. The first study reviewed here investigated the effect of weight loss through diet and exercise on serum levels of vitamin D (Mason, et al. 2011). Vitamin D concentration was measured at the start of the study and 12 months later.
Insulin resistance is a gradual process and if not addressed it can lead to type 2 diabetes. The cells in insulin resistant tissue are less responsive to insulin, causing the pancreas to compensate by producing more insulin in an attempt to transfer the blood glucose into the cells where it can be used for energy. There are several factors that can contribute to insulin resistance and it is interesting that pesticides seem to be one of these factors.
The conventional way to evaluate the risk for cardiovascular disease is by examining levels of cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides. Also included when assessing the risk for cardiovascular disease are information such as blood pressure, diabetes and smoking.
All this information is valid, but it turns out that testing the fitness level can improve the predictability of cardiovascular risk.
The study reviewed here included more than 66,000 participants without cardiovascular disease ages 20 to 90 (Gupta S, et al. 2011). These individuals were followed until death or the end of the study period, which lasted up to 36 years.
Continue reading Fitness good predictor for long term risk of heart attack
Research has shown that sleeping 7-8 hours per night can make it easier to lose weight.
What makes the study reviewed here interesting is that stress in addition to sleep can have an impact on weight loss (Elder CR, et al. 2011). The participants in this research were obese individuals with a body mass index of 30-50 and the intervention consisted of 22 group session over 26 weeks.
The results documented that sleep time and lower stress at the entry of the study predicted success in weight loss. The participants with lower stress predicted greater weight loss.
Continue reading Lower stress and amount of sleep affects weight loss.
Omega 3 fatty acids have been found to provide multiple health benefits according to numerous studies.
Sometimes researchers use food-frequency questionnaires to assess data. The data based on such information may not always be reliable.
The study reviewed here was instead based on data from measurements of the omega 3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) in the participants blood plasma (Djousse L, et al. 2011). The researchers investigated the association between these omega 3 fatty acids and type 2 diabetes.
Continue reading More research on the benefits of omega 3 fat
The reviewed research evaluated the association of midlife overweight and dementia, Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia (Xu WL, et al. 2011).
This study was especially interesting because the study participants were 8,534 twin individuals with an average age of 74.4 years.
Height and weight of the participants were available at midlife (mean age 43.4) since the study was done in Sweden. Sweden has social medicine and keeps good records.
Continue reading Overweight and risk of dementia
Numerous studies in the last few years have documented a variety of health benefits provided by vitamin D.
While sun exposure is a good source of vitamin D many people today use sunscreen most of the time when they are outside. Vitamin D deficiency has been found to be fairly common even in warmer climates. For that reason most people will benefit from supplementing with vitamin D. 1000 to 2000 IU per day is usually adequate.
Continue reading New research on vitamin D
Probiotics have been in the news a lot lately. There are numerous brands on the market and also many different strains of bacterias promoted as being healthy and producing benefits for the gastrointestinal tract.
Most of these friendly bacterias are temperature sensitive and need to be refrigerated to keep their potency. Unless the type of bacterias included in the product have been documented to survive the acidity of the stomach they may not even get to the intestines alive providing little benefits.
Continue reading What can you expect from effective probiotics?
Cholesterol lowering drugs are big business, but most people could lower both their cholesterol and blood glucose levels by changing the way they eat.
We all prefer to be happy, but we may not realize how much of an impact happiness may have on us.
There have been numerous studies the last few years on happiness and how it affects our health.
The research reviewed here looked at many studies that evaluated subjective well-being such as life satisfaction, absence of negative emotions, optimism and positive emotions and how it relates to health and longevity (Diener E, Chan M. 2011).
Continue reading Be happy, live longer
If we can protect our DNA we may be able to slow down aging. Slowing down the aging process appeals to most people, but the question is if it is possible with the resources we have now.
The research reviewed investigated if that was possible by implementing a couple of readily available resources (Gutierrez-Mariscal FM, et al. 2011).
Continue reading Protect your DNA
Loss of muscle mass as we get older is a common problem for many.
Resveratrol got a lot of attention some years ago when research showed amazing benefits in mice.
Resveratrol is still a substance receiving a lot of attention from the research community. Two interesting and recent studies on resveratrol are reviewed here.
Both studies were conducted on human.
Continue reading New research on Resveratrol
Research has shown that green tea provides many health benefits.
The research reviewed here was interesting because it investigated if capsules containing green tea catechins and theanine could prevent influenza infection (Matsumoto K, et al. 2011).
The participants were healthcare workers and the study was conducted over a period of 5 months.
Continue reading Green tea may help prevent influenza infection
Usually the research reviewed here is published in national or international medical journals. The research reviewed this time was however presented at a recent international stroke conference (Anwar Z, et al. 2011). The study was both interesting and surprising and for that reason you should know about it.
The researchers investigated the association between drinking soda, both diet soda and regular soda and the risk of strokes in 3, 298 participants. The average follow up was 9.3 years during which 559 vascular events occurred.
Continue reading Surprise health risk of diet soda.
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