Time For Wellness Blog

Chamomile for depression

2013-02-12T05:47:37+00:00

The herb chamomile has a long traditional use for depression and anxiety, and an exploratory study supports its anti-depressant activity.

A research group from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia revisited a previously study demonstrating anti-anxiety effects of Chamomile extract to see if it was effective for depressive symptoms as well.

Of the original participants in the anxiety study it was found that there were important reductions in depression scores across everyone who was treated with Chamomile vs. placebo. In addition those who had established depression had clinically meaningful reductions in depression.

“Chamomile may provide clinically meaningful antidepressant activity that occurs in addition to its previously observed anxiolytic activity” concluded the study. “The identification of safe and effective CAM therapies for depression would be of public-health relevance for many individuals unable or unwilling to use conventional antidepressant therapy.”

Reference:

Amsterdam JD, Shults J, Soeller I, Mao JJ, Rockwell K, Newberg AB. Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) may provide antidepressant activity in anxious, depressed humans: an exploratory study. Altern Ther Health Med. 2012 Sep-Oct;18(5):44-9.

Vitamin D for IBS?

2013-02-10T05:47:21+00:00

A recent case report describes a significant improvement in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms with high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation, leading researchers to suggest this discovery could help IBS sufferers.

IBS is likely to have many different causes, but for some people low vitamin D might be part of the problem. A patient reported significant improvement in her IBS symptoms, and after exploring this discovery on social media researchers found that many others had reported similar benefit.

This led investigators to review data from 37 IBS sufferers commenting on the effect of vitamin D supplementation, and of these approximately 70% of these reported that high-dose supplementation improved their IBS symptoms.

“A randomised controlled trial into the effect of vitamin D supplementation on IBS symptomatology to test this association scientifically is merited” they concluded. While we wait for such a study you can check your blood vitamin D levels to make sure you are not deficient as it may in part explain you symptoms.

Reference:

Sprake EF, Grant VA, Corfe BM. Vitamin D3 as a novel treatment for irritable bowel syndrome: single case leads to critical analysis of patient-centred data. BMJ Case Rep. 2012 Dec 13;2012.

Gazpacho soup lowers blood pressure

2013-02-02T05:35:36+00:00

Raw, super foods may be a fad, but in the Mediterranean they are simply lunch. A study of raw, phytonutrient dense gazpacho soup has found unique heart health benefits.

Gazpacho is a popular cold soup typically made from tomato, cucumber, green peppers, garlic and olive oil and many of these ingredients protect against high blood pressure which is a major risk factor for heart attack or stroke.

By analysing the diets of some 3995 Spanish individuals at high risk of heart disease, it was found that people who reported regularly consuming Gazpacho were much less likely to have high blood pressure (hypertension). Also gazpacho was associated with lower blood pressure in a dose dependent fashion even after adjustment for potential confounders including total fruit and vegetable intake.

“The association between gazpacho intake and reduction of blood pressure is probably due to synergy among several bioactive compounds present in the vegetable ingredients used to make the recipe” concluded the study investigators.

Reference:

Medina-Remón A, Vallverdú-Queralt A, Arranz S, et al. Gazpacho consumption is associated with lower blood pressure and reduced hypertension in a high cardiovascular risk cohort. Cross-sectional study of the PREDIMED trial. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2012 Nov 10. doi:pii: S0939-4753(12)00181-0. 10.1016/j.numecd.2012.07.008. [Epub ahead of print]

Multivitamins improve feelings of wellbeing

2013-02-01T05:35:56+00:00

How do people feel when they take a daily multivitamin? Well pretty good, more energetic and have a better mood, according to a clinical study.

Compared to a placebo people taking multivitamins reported enhanced mood and increased energy levels.

Common ways people described improvements in energy included:

“More alert, bright, full of energy”

“I found getting up early. . .easier”

“Have felt like I have more energy”

“I feel some sort of relaxation and energy”

“My energy levels were quite good over the period and

"I felt happy most of the time”

“A general feeling of more alertness particularly in the morning”

“I felt physically less tired”

And the improvements in energy were more pronounced in women than men. The study investigators concluded “multivitamin supplementation may be associated with appreciable mood enhancement and increases in energy even in a normal, non-depressed and non-anxious population.”

Reference:

Sarris J, Cox KH, Camfield DA, Scholey A, Stough C, Fogg E, Kras M, White DJ, Sali A, Pipingas A. Participant experiences from chronic administration of a multivitamin versus placebo on subjective health and wellbeing: a double-blind qualitative analysis of a randomised controlled trial. Nutr J. 2012 Dec 14;11(1):110.

Avocados a super food?

2013-01-27T05:24:05+00:00

Enjoying avocados regularly might be a good way to increase your nutrient intake, improve your blood cholesterol and reduce your body weight.

A recent study found that regular avocado eaters tend to get more good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats), dietary fiber, vitamins E, K, magnesium, and potassium in their diet. Although this may not only be from avocados as they also had significantly higher intakes of vegetables; ate more fruit, had better overall diet quality and lower intakes of added sugars than people who do not eat avocado.

Eating avocados was also associated with lower body weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference and higher good HDL cholesterol. Further, the risk for metabolic syndrome was 50% lower.

Now, this study was limited by the fact that all these observations are associations and so cannot prove that avocados are responsible for the effects. However avocados are packed full of healthy fats (which are associated with weight loss, not gain) vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber so may be at least in part responsible. And they have been shown to reduce cholesterol and improve nutrient absorption from foods like salsa.

In any case, enjoying avocados as part of a healthy diet appears to be a delicious idea.

Reference:

Fulgoni VL 3rd, Dreher M, Davenport AJ. Avocado consumption is associated with better diet quality and nutrient intake, and lower metabolic syndrome risk in US adults: Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001--2008. Nutr J. 2013 Jan 2;12(1):1. [Epub ahead of print]

Curcumin cuts diabetes risk

2013-01-26T05:23:49+00:00

Curcumin, the yellow pigment from turmeric, has been shown to prevent type-2 diabetes in people at high risk and deserves attention as a safe, cheap anti-diabetic medicine.

In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo- controlled trial a group of people at high who met the criteria for pre-diabetes, placing them at high risk of developing type-2 diabetes, took either placebo or curcumin (250 mg pure curcumin from turmeric) twice daily for 9-months.

At assessment after 9-months those who took curcumin had a significantly lower incidence of type 2 diabetes. The curcumin treatment also appeared to improve overall function of β-cells, which play an important role in maintaining healthy blood sugar.

Because curcumin is safe and could be produced freely at a relatively low cost compared to pharmaceutical medication, curcumin should be the subject of further research as an anti-diabetic medicine.

Reference:

Chuengsamarn S, Rattanamongkolgul S, Luechapudiporn R, Phisalaphong C, Jirawatnotai S. Curcumin extract for prevention of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2012 Nov;35(11):2121-7.

The traditional Nordic diet: why Scandinavian women dont get fat.

2013-01-21T05:09:41+00:00

Although the traditional Mediterranean diet has received a lot of attention other traditional dietary patterns may be equally healthful, like the traditional Nordic diet for example.

The traditional Nordic diet is “rich in foods grown in the Nordic countries, e.g. apples and berries, roots and cabbages, rye, oats and barley, low-fat milk products, rapeseed oil, and fish (salmon and Baltic herring); it is also low in red meat, processed meat products and alcohol.”

Many of these foods have unique health benefits; studies have found that herring may reduce risk for chronic disease like heart disease and cancer, and dark rye bread is much healthier than wheat; it is higher in antioxidants and vitamins and has also been shown to lower cholesterol while wheat bread has no effect (1-5).

A recent study of the Nordic diet in 4720 Finnish people found that those who ate close to this traditional dietary pattern were less likely to have an excessively large waist circumference (a measure of abdominal fat) compared with subjects with low adherence to the diet (6).

“Hypotheses suggest that the Nordic diet has multiple health effects for Nordics" commented the study group. "Recent randomised clinical trial on Swedish hypercholesterolaemic subjects suggested that the Nordic-style diet reduces cardiovascular risk factors. In addition, results from a Danish cohort of men and women showed a significant inverse association between the Nordic food index (which illustrates high use of apples and pears, cabbages, roots, rye bread, oatmeal and fish) and total mortality."

References:

Terry P et al. Fatty fish consumption lowers the risk of endometrial cancer: a nationwide case-control study in Sweden. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. Jan;11(1):143-5
Terry P et al. Fish consumption and breast cancer risk. Nutr Cancer. 2002;44(1):1-6.
Lindqvist H et al. Herring (Clupea harengus) supplemented diet influences risk factors for CVD in overweight subjects.Eur J CLin Nutr. 2007 Sep;61(9):1106-13.
Michalska A et al. Antioxidant contents and antioxidative properties of traditional rye breads. J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Feb 7;55(3):734-40.
Lienonen KS et al. Rye bread decreases serum total and LDL cholesterol in men with moderately elevated serum cholesterol. J Nutr. 2000 Feb;130(2):164-70.
Kanerva N, Kaartinen NE, Schwab U, Lahti-Koski M, Männistö S. Adherence to the Baltic Sea diet consumed in the Nordic countries is associated with lower abdominal obesity. Br J Nutr. 2012 May 10:1-9. [Epub ahead of print]

Beetroot juice for high blood pressure

2013-01-20T05:09:14+00:00

Beetroot juice could be the anti-hypertensive medicine of the future with increasing evidence suggesting it is an effective way to lower blood pressure.

A number of studies have demonstrated a blood pressure lowering effect of beetroot. The effect is thought to be in part because beetroot contains nitrate, a substance used to make nitric oxide, which enables your blood vessels to relax and reduce the pressure.

Most studies have been tightly controlled with a low nitrate diet so a recent report set out to see if beetroot juice was still effective without any dietary change.

The study found that a single dose of 500 g of beetroot and apple juice lowered blood pressure by 4–5 mmHg. This magnitude of reduction is very impressive and would translate to a significant reduction in cardiovascular death at the population level.

Reference:

Coles LT, Clifton PM. Effect of beetroot juice on lowering blood pressure in free-living, disease-free adults: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Nutr J. 2012 Dec 11;11(1):106.

Do calcium supplements increase cardiovascular risk?

2013-01-13T04:39:41+00:00

An expert investigative group has critically examined recent concerns of cardiovascular disease risk with use of calcium supplements. The investigation concluded that calcium supplements are safe.

Results from three recent studies have prompted concern about a potential association between calcium supplement use and a small increase in the risk of adverse cardiovascular events. However, a number of issues with the studies, such as inadequate compliance with the intervention, use of nontrial calcium supplements, potential bias in event ascertainment, and lack of information on and adjustment for known cardiovascular risk determinants, suggest that bias and confounding cannot be excluded as explanations for the reported associations.

Findings from other cohort studies also suggest no detrimental effect of calcium from diet or supplements, with or without vitamin D, on cardiovascular disease risk. In addition, little evidence exists for plausible biological mechanisms to link calcium supplement use with adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

The authors do not believe that the evidence presented to date regarding the hypothesized relationship between calcium supplement use and increased cardiovascular disease risk is sufficient to warrant a change in the Institute of Medicine recommendations, which advocate use of supplements to promote optimal bone health in individuals who do not obtain recommended intakes of calcium through dietary sources.

Reference:

Heaney RP, Kopecky S, Maki KC, Hathcock J, Mackay D, Wallace TC. A review of calcium supplements and cardiovascular disease risk. Adv Nutr. 2012 Nov 1;3(6):763-71.

Vitamin D improves anti-depressant drug response

2013-01-12T04:39:27+00:00

Adding vitamin D to standard anti-depressant medication has been shown to improve treatment response compared to medication alone.

In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial patients with major depressive disorder received either 1500 IU vitamin D3 plus 20 mg fluoxetine or fluoxetine alone daily for 8 weeks. Depression severity was assessed at 2-week intervals using the 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) as a primary outcome measure and the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) as a secondary outcome measure.

Depression severity based on HDRS and BDI decreased significantly after intervention, with a significant difference between the two groups. The vitamin D + fluoxetine combination was significantly better than fluoxetine alone from the fourth week of treatment.

“In the present 8-week trial, the vitamin D + fluoxetine combination was superior to fluoxetine alone in controlling depressive symptoms” concluded the study investigators. Importantly this study shows that not only can vitamin D be safely administered alongside medication; it improves treatment response as well.

Reference:

1. Khoraminya N, Tehrani-Doost M, Jazayeri S, Hosseini A, Djazayery A. Therapeutic effects of vitamin D as adjunctive therapy to fluoxetine in patients with major depressive disorder. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2012 Oct 23. [Epub ahead of print]

Vitamin K linked to reduced diabetes risk

2013-01-07T03:47:52+00:00

A large study has found a robust association between higher dietary intake of vitamin K and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.

Vitamin K, while traditionally thought to be primarily involved in blood clotting, is emerging as an important factor in the development of many chronic diseases including diabetes, cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis.

To see if there is an association between dietary vitamin K intake and type 2 diabetes risk baseline vitamin K intake and subsequent incidence of diabetes were examined over a median follow-up of 5.5 years.

Dietary vitamin K at baseline was significantly lower in subjects who developed type 2 diabetes during the study. After adjustment for potential confounders, risk of incident diabetes was 17% lower for each additional intake of 100 μg vitamin K per day. Moreover, subjects who increased their dietary intake of vitamin K during the follow-up had a 51% reduced risk of incident diabetes compared with subjects who decreased or did not change the amount of vitamin K intake.

Dietary intakes of vitamin K are commonly low among children, adults and the elderly (2-4). Green leafy vegetables (kale, watercress, broccoli, and spinach) and some vegetable oils (soybean, canola, and olive) are major contributors of dietary vitamin K. And supplementation with a similar amount of vitamin K achievable through diet (500 mcg daily) has been shown to improve blood sugar control (5).

References:

Ibarrola-Jurado N, Salas-Salvadó J, Martínez-González MA, Bulló M. Dietary phylloquinone intake and risk of type 2 diabetes in elderly subjects at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 Nov;96(5):1113-8.
Prynne CJ, Thane CW, Prentice A, Wadsworth ME. Intake and sources of phylloquinone (vitamin K(1)) in 4-year-old British children: comparison between 1950 and the 1990s. Public Health Nutr 2005;8: 171–80.[1]
Thane CW, Bolton-Smith C, Coward WA. Comparative dietary intake and sources of phylloquinone (vitamin K1) among British adults in 1986–7 and 2000–1. Br J Nutr 2006;96:1105–15.4. [1]
Thane CW, Paul AA, Bates CJ, Bolton-Smith C, Prentice A, Shearer MJ. Intake and sources of phylloquinone (vitamin K1): variation with socio-demographic and lifestyle factors in a national sample of British elderly people. Br J Nutr 2002;87:605–13.
Yoshida M, Jacques PF, Meigs JB, Saltzman E, Shea MK, Gundberg C, Dawson-Hughes B, Dallal G, Booth SL. Effect of vitamin K supplementation on insulin resistance in older men and women. Diabetes Care. 2008 Nov;31(11):2092-6.

Is fluoride in drinking water safe?

2013-01-07T03:42:04+00:00

A heated issue is the safety of the fluoridated drinking water. A recent review suggests fluoridation of drinking water is unnecessary and may be harmful.

Reviewing the effects and safety of fluoridated drinking water, PhD Candidate in Chemistry, Michael Czajka concluded that “Given that fluoridation of water supplies is not necessary (applying fluoride topically achieves the same effect) and since unfluoridated populations have roughly the same rate of tooth decay, it is no longer necessary to fluoridate water to maintain a reduction in tooth decay. It is also a matter of some urgency that better studies of the systemic effects of fluoride are carried out.”

Some key points from the review are:

Fluoride research concentrates largely on the teeth to the virtual exclusion of systemic effects although fluoride is a known systemic toxin.

About 400 million people (~6% of the world’s population) drink fluoridated water.

The effect of fluoride on the teeth is topical (directly on the teeth) and not systemic, so drinking fluoridated water has no benefit.

Infants and children commonly ingest levels of fluoride through drinking water in excess of recommended guidelines.

Identifying fluoride toxicity (fluorosis) is difficult and its symptoms can easily be mistaken for arthritis or possibly chronic fatigue syndrome.

Fluoride toxicity has been associated with serious hearing, mental health, bone and teeth problems.

Comparing fluoridated to non-fluoridated countries the author points out that although it has been stated by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that “fluoridation was one of the ten most important public health measures of the 20th century” ... “many countries (i.e., Belgium, Japan, Denmark, and the Netherlands) have removed fluoride citing a wide range of health concerns. Furthermore, none of these countries have shown an increased incidence of dental caries.”

If your drinking water is fluoridated and you want to remove the fluoride the author offers the following advice: “the simplest method of removing fluoride is distillation. Reverse osmosis is also highly effective. Both these methods remove all other minerals from the water as well which may not be desirable. Activated alumina cartridges are an alternative method. Cartridges require regular changing but there is no easy way to tell when this should occur.”

Reference:

1. Czajka M. Systemic Effects of Fluoridation. JOM, 27 (3): 2012; 123-130.

Living free of heart disease

2012-12-16T02:05:14+00:00

Just how common is heart disease, what is your risk, and how can you live free of disease? A new study sheds some light.

To see what the risk of developing cardiovascular disease is over people’s lifetime the data from a number of large studies that have assessed heart disease risk factors over many years was analyzed. This level of information has not been available until now.

Heart diseases studied included both fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and other heart disease related deaths.

Key findings from the study were:

The average risk of heart disease after age 45 years was 60.3% for men and 55.6% for women.
People with multiple risk factors (high blood pressure, who smoke, high cholesterol or diabetes) had a much higher risk.
And those with no risk factors lived on average 14 years longer free of heart disease than people with just 2 risk factors.
However, lifetime heart disease risk was still very high, 30% in men and women even with an optimal risk factor profile.

It’s likely that looking at broader lifestyle related risk factors such as diet, exercise, stress management and social support would produce more meaningful insight than cholesterol and blood pressure, but nonetheless staying healthy appears to add well over a decade of disease-free years to your life.

Reference:

Wilkins JT, Ning H, Berry J, Zhao L, Dyer AR, Lloyd-Jones DM. Lifetime risk and years lived free of total cardiovascular disease. JAMA. 2012 Nov 7;308(17):1795-801. doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.14312.

How much green tea should you drink?

2012-12-15T02:04:32+00:00

Drinking green tea has clear health benefits, but how much should you drink each day? Research suggests enjoying just a couple of small cups can have a big impact.

Green tea has many beneficial effects but one of the most important is the ability of phytonutrients in green tea to act as antioxidants and reduce oxidation induced damage to your DNA, as this is related to a wide range of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

To see if drinking green tea daily would reduce DNA damage a group of healthy men and women, aged 35–50 years, drank either green tea (150 ml, twice daily) or water for 4 weeks. At the end of the study DNA damaged was assessed using a test called the comet assay, which measures changes in oxidation-induced DNA damage and resistance of DNA to oxidant challenge.

After 4 weeks the green tea drinkers had actually lowered their initial level of DNA damage by 30%. Commenting on the finding the investigators said that these DNA protective “effects of green tea lend support to its use as a functional food and provide scientific evidence for the more confident recommendation of regular intake of green tea for health promotion.”

Reference

Han KC, Wong WC, Benzie IF. Genoprotective effects of green tea (Camellia sinensis) in human subjects: results of a controlled supplementation trial. Br J Nutr. 2011 Jan;105(2):171-9.

Pediatrics group offers advice on organic foods

2012-12-10T01:06:23+00:00

The American Academy of Pediatrics has published its first guidance on organic foods. Taken together, the report suggests organic foods may have both environmental and health benefits.

The guidance is meant to help healthcare professionals advise their patients on organic foods, here are some of the key points:

Nutritional differences between organic and conventional produce appear minimal, but studies examining this have been limited by inadequate controls for the many subtle potential confounders, such as moisture, maturity of the produce, and measurement techniques.
Organic produce contains fewer pesticide residues than does conventional produce, and consuming a diet of organic produce reduces human exposure to pesticides.
Organic animal husbandry that prohibits the nontherapeutic use of antibiotic agents has the potential to reduce human disease caused by drug-resistant organisms.
Organic farming approaches in practice are usually more expensive than conventional approaches, but in carefully designed experimental farms, the cost difference can be mitigated.
The price differential between organic and conventional food might be reduced or eliminated as organic farming techniques advance and as the prices of petroleum products, such as pesticides and herbicides, as well as the price of energy, increase.
Organic farming reduces fossil fuel consumption and reduces environmental contamination with pesticides and herbicides.
Large prospective cohort studies that record dietary intake accurately and measure environmental exposures directly will likely greatly enhance understanding of the relationship between pesticide exposure from conventional foods and human disease and between consumption of meat from hormone-treated animals and the risk of breast cancer in women.

Reference

Forman J, Silverstein J; COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION; COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. Organic foods: health and environmental advantages and disadvantages. Pediatrics. 2012 Nov;130(5):e1406-15.