Health News

 

Chocolate Lovers

 

Chocolate lovers around the world can smile. New research from Germany shows that dark chocolate seems to lower blood pressure. The bad news? It requires an amount smaller than two Hershey’s Kisses to do it. The study, which involved 44 people aged 56 through 73, involved the volunteers eating just over six grams of dark chocolate daily for almost five months. The people who ate that amount ended up with lower blood pressure than those who ate white chocolate. The study needs to still be duplicated with a larger, more ethnically diverse group.

 

 

Helping Hand for Diabetes

There is hope for diabetes sufferers, in the form of vitamin K. The vitamin K dependant protein osteocalcin may have a positive effect on reducing obesity and diabetes, suggests a new study. The study found that osteocalcin plays a key role in regulating the cells that produce insulin in the pancreas and release it into the bloodstream. Vitamin K can be absorbed from phylloquinone, which is found in green leafy vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli and spinach, or menaquinones, which make up about 10 per cent of vitamin K consumption and can be found synthesized in the gut by microflora.

 

Tea Time!

What tea lovers have known all along is finally official: Tea really is good for you! In June, Health Canada’s Natural Health Products Directorate approved tea for increasing alertness, maintaining cardio-vascular health and as a source of antioxidants, which neutralize the body’s free radicals, which damage cells. Black, green and oolong teas were all approved, and green tea extract was approved for weight management if used with a healthy diet and exercise. The Health Canada ruling allows tea manufacturers to include improved health claims on product packaging and marketing.

 

Love Your Lungs Right

Teens who turn away from fruit and fish may not be doing their lungs any health favours. A recent study of 2,112 American and Canadian teenagers by the Harvard School of Public Health and Health Canada shows that teens who ate less fruit and fish, both of which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, had higher rates of asthma, wheezing and symptoms of chronic bronchitis such as cough and phlem. Those who had a low intake of omega-3’s were 37 per cent more likely to develop bronchitis symptoms. Health Canada’s new Food Guide recommends teenage girls consume seven fruits and vegetables a day and teenage boys consume eight.

 

Olive Extract for Arthritis

Supplements with olive extract may decrease the pain and inflammation of arthritis, according to a new study in the journal Nutrition Research. An eight week treatment with olive extract improved daily living activities in patients with osteoarthritis. The supplements also had the added benefit of decreasing homocystein levels, a marker of improved cardiovascular health. The study concluded that introducing a natural and safe food extract would have beneficial effects on the lives of arthritis sufferers.