Flavonoid-rich food, including berries, apples, pears, chocolate and wine, appear to have a positive effect on blood pressure levels, an association that is partially explained by characteristics of the gut microbiome, according to new research published on August 23rd of 2021 in “Hypertension”, an American Heart Association journal. Over 8000, various natural flavonoids have been […]
Vitamin D is a type of nutrient that the body produces when a person’s skin has exposure to direct sunlight. People can also consume vitamin D, but it is not naturally present in many foods. High quantities of vitamin D are present in oily fish and certain types of mushrooms. It has multiple health benefits […]
Understanding how diet affects gut microbes and thereby influences human health might lead to targeted dietary strategies. A clinical trial now provides some steps on the path towards this goal. Dietary fibre is the indigestible part of plant foods. Is mostly in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes. There are two types of fibre, soluble […]
Feeding mice high-fructose corn syrup, a widely used sweetener in human diets, has been found to drive an increase in the surface area of the gut that is associated with enhanced absorption of dietary nutrients and weight gain. The incidence of obesity has been steadily increasing, tripling globally between 1975 and 2016, at a high […]
Parkinson’s disease (PD) stands in second place after Alzheimer’s disease among common neurodegenerative disorders. An overall incidence rate of 17 per 100,000 persons per year has been reported. The onset of PD is usually at 65 years or older, and it appears slightly more frequently in men than in women. The aging of society around […]
Nearly 25% of US adults report concurrently taking a prescription medication with a dietary supplement. Some supplements, such as St. John’s wort and goldenseal, are known to cause clinically important drug interactions and should be avoided by most patients receiving any pharmacologic therapy. Some other supplements are predicted to cause interactions based on in vitro […]
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in Europe (47% of total mortality) and one of the main causes of death worldwide (31% of all worldwide deaths). The influence of modifiable risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, or poor diet, has been the object of investigation since the 1950s, and […]
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells showing potential for use in regenerative medicine. Culture techniques that are more stable and methods for the more efficient production of MSCs with therapeutic efficacy are needed. A study by Koichi Fujisawa, et al, evaluated the effects of growing bone marrow (Bm)-derived MSCs in the presence of L-carnitine, […]
Two doctoral students from the Department of Food Science and Technology at the NUS Faculty of Science in Singapore have created probiotic coffee and tea drinks that are packaged with live probiotics. Traditional probiotic carriers like yoghurts and cultured milks are dairy-based products. The rise in veganism, along with common health issues like lactose intolerance, […]
In two separate studies analyzing different measures of healthy plant food consumption, researchers found that both young adults and postmenopausal women had fewer heart attacks and were less likely to develop cardiovascular disease when they ate more healthy plant foods. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. Suboptimal diet is […]