May 6th, 2008
Pardon the brief hiatus the last several days; I took some time out to deliver a fabulous baby girl ;-) …
And as any parent would know, I’m still trying to get the hang of things, trying to find and fall into a new routine that will work for the whole family. The past several days have been exhilarating, an exciting period indeed, but in between feeds, nappy changes, and the rest of the house chores, it’s getting a bit challenging to find the time to update this blog.
Thus, I’m opening the floor for guest bloggers. If you’re interested in contributing an entry about functional foods and nutraceuticals — foods with medicinal and healing properties — just drop me an email at ruth(at)b5media.com. I can’t offer any compensation, though, except for the author credits and a link to your webste or blog.
Looking forward to your submissions!
Tags: , diet, functional-food, health, health diet, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, healthy-food, nutraceuticals, nutrition, superfoodsShare This
By ruth -- 2 comments
April 28th, 2008
How do you make a heart healthy meal even heart-healthier? By pairing it with antioxidant-rich wine, of course!
Toast To Mom, a site designed to inspire and support heart healthy lifestyle choices, while raising awareness and funds for women living with heart disease, features 5 recipes from the WomenHeart’s All Heart Family Cookbook and pairs them with wines from Clos du Bois, one of America’s best-known wineries and a premier Sonoma County producer of super-premium wines.
Check them out!
Tags: cardiovascular-health, clos du bois, cookbooks, diet, functional-food, health, health diet, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, healthy-food, heart healthy recipes, heart-health, nutraceuticals, nutrition, superfoods, wineShare This
By ruth -- 0 comments
April 25th, 2008
Here’s an excellent introductory article about funcitonal foods I thought you all might find interesting: Are functional foods feasible?
The article covers briefly the history of functional foods, and how the market has boomed in the last few decades. Are they worth it? Are they really beneficial? What issues should consumers be aware of?
At any rate I cannot agree enough with the author’s parting shot:
If these enhanced foods do make their way into your pantry, use them as an enhancement rather than a replacement. No substitution exists for a varied and well-balanced diet. If you’re truly concerned about adequateness with your diet, consult a registered dietitian or physician for a proper diagnosis and treatment.
Tags: , diet, functional-food, health, health diet, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, healthy-food, nutraceuticals, nutrition, superfoodsShare This
By ruth -- 0 comments
April 25th, 2008
It’s fairly common knowledge that there’s no cure for the common cold. However, a new study indicates that Wellmune WGP, a natural immune-enhancing ingredient manufactured by Biothera, could prevent fever and alleviate the symptoms of a cold, to the extent that you no longer feel the need to miss work or school due to the cold-like symptoms.
“This study’s results are exciting because they show the potential for Wellmune WGP to naturally enhance the body’s innate immune response to protect against and ameliorate the symptoms of something that every one of us encounters—the common cold. These results are consistent with numerous other immune health studies conducted with our ingredient, and indicate the real-life benefits that Wellmune WGP supplementation can provide.”
What is Wellmune, exactly?
Wellmune WGP is a functional food, beverage and dietary supplement ingredient available worldwide through Biothera and its distributors. This natural compound (gluco polysaccharide) is isolated from the cell walls of a strain of yeast. Wellmune WGP is patented, GRAS-approved, Kosher, non-allergenic and GMO-free. Numerous peer-reviewed studies support the safety and efficacy of Wellmune WGP, which is the culmination of years of research and a technology investment of more than $250 million. Wellmune WGP is available as a soluble and dispersible powder for ease of formulation in a wide range of foods and beverages, including clear liquids.
Find out more from Biothera.
Tags: alternative-medicine, colds, diet, dietary-supplement, flu, functional-food, health, health diet, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, healthy-food, immune defense, immune response, nutraceuticals, nutrition, superfoodsShare This
By ruth -- 1 comment
April 24th, 2008
With Mother’s Day and the National Women’s Health Week just around the corner, here’s a wonderful gift idea for all the heart-health conscious women out there: the WomenHeart’s All Heart Family Cookbook.
Here’s an excerpt of a review from Publishers Weekly at Amazon:
The introduction explains that scientists have identified 40 foods that can help reduce, prevent, and even reverse heart disease. Those 40 foods—among them chocolate, red wine, tropical fruits, almonds and avocados—are the focus of this health-conscious cookbook. All 175 recipes include one or more of them, and the first section details, food by food, in easily understandable (even occasionally funny) language, why they’re good for you. The recipes are accessible and appealing, if not especially original. The superstar ingredients are marked with a heart symbol; key nutritional information accompanies each entry. The full spectrum of basic food genres is covered, from breakfast foods like Broccoli and Cheese Strata (featuring egg whites), Asparagus Frittata (using egg substitute) and Green Tea–Oatmeal Pancakes to desserts such as Orange Pistachio Cake and an antioxidant-rich but still decadent Flourless Chocolate Cake.
On the other hand, why only mom’s and women? I’m sure everyone can benefit from these recipes!
Tags: cardiovascular-health, cookbooks, diet, functional-food, health, health diet, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, healthy-food, heart healthy recipes, heart-health, nutraceuticals, nutrition, superfoodsShare This
By ruth -- 1 comment
April 24th, 2008
Two new studies presented at the Experimental Biology Annual Meeting suggest that Diabetinol, an all-natural dietary supplement made from citrus, may help lower blood glucose levels and be beneficial in lowering the risks of heart disease and diabetic complications in people with type 2 diabetes.
“Our scientifically validated testing has consistently shown that Diabetinol™ improves blood glucose numbers. This time we saw a sizeable change in glucose intolerance in just a short time. This is good news for many of the 21 million Americans with diabetes. Tighter blood sugar control may mean less diabetic complications like nerve pain and kidney disease. And, that could mean less disability and expense from complications and associated medications and certainly less stress for the patient.”
A six-month study is underway to evaluate Diabetinol treatment in a larger sample of people with type 2 diabetes.
Tags: blood-sugar, diabetinol, diet, dietary-supplement, functional-food, health, health diet, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, healthy-food, nutraceuticals, nutrition, superfoods, ~DiabetesShare This
By ruth -- 0 comments
April 23rd, 2008
In a review of existing scientific literature, scientists say that, among its other impacts on bone health and possibly reducing cancer risks, vitamin D also plays an important in brain development and function.
McCann & Ames point out that evidence for vitamin D’s involvement in brain function includes the wide distribution of vitamin D receptors throughout the brain. They also discuss vitamin D’s ability to affect proteins in the brain known to be directly involved in learning and memory, motor control, and possibly even maternal and social behavior. The review also discusses studies in both humans and animals that present suggestive though not definitive evidence of cognitive or behavioral consequences of vitamin D inadequacy.
Vitamin D is naturally present in only a few food items. There are food products such as milk and yogurt that are enriched with Vitamin D, and while our bodies can produce Vitamin D upon sun exposure, many still suffer from Vitamin D deficiency as the efficiency of Vitamin D production is also function of skin tone, making populations with darker skin tone at risk for rickets, bone fractures and possibly other diseases including several types of cancer due to a inadequate vitamin D.
Thus, experts conclude that Vitamin D supplementation is warranted for groups whose vitamin D status is exceptionally low, particularly nursing infants, the elderly, and African Americans.
Tags: bone-health, diet, functional-food, health, health diet, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, healthy-food, nutraceuticals, nutrition, nutritional-supplements, rickets, superfoods, vitamin-D, vitamins, ~Cancer, ~Dietary SupplementsShare This
By ruth -- 3 comments
April 22nd, 2008
I’ve blogged about how CocoaVia snack bars may lower cholesterol levels. Well, a new study indicates that apart from this, eating two CocoaVia dark chocolate bars a day also lowers systolic blood pressure.
The study, funded in part by Mars Inc., the company that makes the bars, was published in this month’s Journal of Nutrition.
Erdman attributes the drop in cholesterol numbers (total cholesterol by 2 percent and LDL or “bad” cholesterol by 5.3 percent) to the plant sterols that have been added to the bar and the drop in blood pressure to the flavanols found in dark chocolate.
The authors are quick to say that the results were not influenced by the fact that Mars funded the study. Me? I don’t need an excuse to eat chocolate ;-)
Tags: blood-pressure, cardiovascular-health, Chocolate, cholesterol, diet, functional-food, health, health benefits of chocolate, health diet, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, healthy-food, heart-health, nutraceuticals, nutrition, superfoodsShare This
By ruth -- 0 comments
April 20th, 2008
What is DHA, aka Omega 3? Why is it important? Who needs it? What foods are naturally rich in it? Are there alternative sources?
Here’s an excellent reading material about Omega 3s from the WebMD. The website is sponsored by lifesdha, a manufacturer of DHA supplements sourced from algae instead of fish, so expect a lot of promotional blurbs. Still, the information about the health benefits of DHA Omega 3 remain true.
Tags: cardiovascular-health, DHA, diet, eye-health, fish-oil, functional-food, health, health diet, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, healthy-food, heart-health, nutraceuticals, nutrition, omega-3, superfoods, vision, ~Dietary Supplements, ~Mental HealthShare This
By ruth -- 1 comment
April 19th, 2008
I have always believed that in a lot of cases, real foods are healthier than taking dietary supplements, and that you get most of the health benefits from eating real food than a concoction of pills, powders and other extracts. And it’s a lot more enjoyable, too!
This is also something the experts at the American Institute for Cancer Research seem to point out in their review of studies on the matter: that whole foods, and not dietary supplements, play a role in lowering cancer risk.
Under certain conditions, some high-dose supplements seemed protective at specific doses, some did nothing, and some actually increased the risk of cancer. In contrast, the research was much more consistent when the AICR expert panel examined over 440 studies on cancer risk and foods that contained specific vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. These widely different results led them to conclude: “Dietary supplements are not recommended for cancer prevention.”
However, they are not saying that dietary supplements are totally useless. It’s just that the results aren’t all that clear and conclusive.
Of all the supplements reviewed by the panel, only two seemed to have a potential role in protection, and even then the research was less than clear. According to the panel, selenium probably protects against prostate cancer, while calcium probably protects against colorectal cancer. Yet they also concluded that high calcium consumption probably increases risk for prostate cancer.
For whole foods, the evidence on several categories of such foods as protective against a variety of cancers were classified as follows:
- Foods containing folate are probably protective against pancreatic cancer.
- Foods containing carotenoids are probably protective against cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and lung.
- Foods containing beta-carotene are probably protective against esophageal cancer.
- Foods containing lycopene are probably protective against prostate cancer.
- Foods containing vitamin C are probably protective against esophageal cancer.
- Foods containing selenium are probably protective against prostate cancer.
The panel also concluded that other categories of plant foods – including non-starchy vegetables, allium vegetables (onions, leeks, etc.), garlic and fruits in general are probably protective against seven different kinds of cancer.
Why the use of the word “probably”? Well, when it comes to whole foods, it’s just really difficult to pinpoint the substance to which certain health benefits can be attributed to. It could be the substance indicated, or a combined effect of the substance with something else in the food, or a different compound altogether.
Read the entire report here.
Tags: anti-cancer foods, diet, functional-food, health, health diet, health-food, Healthy Eating, healthy-diet, healthy-food, nutraceuticals, nutrition, superfoods, ~Cancer, ~Dietary SupplementsShare This
By ruth -- 3 comments
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