From the category archives:
(A good summary article) External Arrhythmia Triggers Arrhythmias don’t necessarily need some type of internal condition like heart disease to trigger them. In fact, arrhythmias can often result from “every-day” sources. In most cases it is not possible to identify any specific triggers. Examples of triggers include: Stimulants: Can cause premature and irregular heartbeats Smoking [...]
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[Sitting down and sipping tea five times a day would be relaxing it itself...] from the article: The study was initiated in an attempt to study a possible association between the consumption of green tea and reduced mortality. Investigators in Japan enrolled over 40,000 people in this study, and followed them prospectively for more than [...]
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[We're 90% bacteria and 10% human to start with - may as well have enlist the pros...] from the article: The people in the probiotic group showed a muted response in brain areas involved in processing and sensation, compared with the other two groups. On the flip side, people who didn’t eat any yogurt had [...]
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[In my opinion, cardiologist Richard Fogoros provides the best medical information on heart disease on the Web] from the article: At the end of the day, we can state four general rules that all parties – both low fat and low carb – would agree to: 1) Avoid the simple carbohydrates that cause rapid rises [...]
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From the article: But with so many people, more than a decade of follow-up and enough deaths to compare, “this is probably the best evidence we have“ and are likely to get, said Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health, who has researched coffee and health in the past. Two cups of [...]
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from the article: A final word of wisdom: Just because nuts and alcohol (in small amounts) may be good for the heart, it does not necessarily follow that the ideal food is beer nuts. Say Nuts to Heart Disease Adding nuts to your diet may reduce the risk of heart disease By Richard N. Fogoros, [...]
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Summary of article: “The first message is that coffee intake is not associated with a higher risk of stroke,” which he says is reassuring. “Second, the analysis showed that low to moderate intake—one to three cups of coffee per day—was associated with lower risk of stroke in the general population, across a wide range of [...]
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This is a Cochrane review abstract and plain language summary, prepared and maintained by The Cochrane Collaboration, currently published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011 Issue 9, Copyright © 2011 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.. The full text of the review is available in The Cochrane Library (ISSN [...]
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From omnivore to vegan: The dietary education of Bill Clinton – By the time he reached the White House, Bill Clinton’s appetite was legend. He loved hamburgers, steaks, chicken enchiladas, barbecue and french fries but wasn’t too picky. At one campaign stop in New Hampshire, he reportedly bought a dozen doughnuts and was working his [...]
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Risk Factors For Heart Disease Increased By Fructose Consumption 29 Jul 2011 Medical News Today A recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) found that adults who consumed high fructose corn syrup for two weeks as 25 percent of their daily calorie requirement had increased blood [...]
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Nice to see the research caveats in the article– that nurses may not be representative of the population, and that coffee may be a problem for slow metabolizers. from the article: What this study shows is that, in a general population, there’s no obvious harm, or benefit, to consuming coffee after a heart attack. Deaths [...]
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Conclusion: Eat both Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Health & Prevention Two Sources of Omega-3 Benefit the Heart – In Different Ways In a small study supported by the California Walnut Commission, diets containing walnuts or fish both derived cardiovascular benefit – although each diet had a different effect on lipid parameters. Twenty-five adults with [...]
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Phytosterols Nathan Gray February 15, 2011 Numerous clinical trials in controlled settings have reported that daily consumption of 1.5 to 3 grams of phytosterols/-stanols from foods can reduce total cholesterol levels by between eight and 17 per cent, representing a significant reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease. A review of 84 clinical trials in [...]
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High-fiber diet tied to lower odds of early death Reuters Health February 15, 2011 People who eat a lot of fiber every day might be less likely to die prematurely from a range of illnesses — including heart disease, cancer, and infection — a new study suggests. The benefits of fiber in promoting weight loss, [...]
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When the Framingham study found a correlation between heart disease and cholesterol levels, the assumption became that eating eggs was bad, since eggs include high level of cholesterol. Whoops. Faulty thinking. Millions of us have been deprived of eating eggs because of this faulty assumption. Check out these findings: A Review of Scientific Research and [...]
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Although keeping a food journal is most likely an effective strategy to lose weight, the problem with the research cited below is that there is no control or differentiation over who keeps a food diary and who doesn’t. Of course anyone who has the focus and discipline to keep a food diary is going to [...]
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It seems to me that if Macademia nuts are required for heart health, and medical expenses are tax deductible in the United States, that going to Hawaii to make sure you are eating quality, organic macademia nuts would be tax deductible. Macadamia Nuts Can Be Included In Heart Healthy Diet, Study Suggests ScienceDaily Apr. 14, [...]
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Virgin Olive Oil and a Mediterranean Diet Fight Heart Disease by Changing How Our Genes Function ScienceDaily July 6, 2010 Everyone knows olive oil and a Mediterranean diet are associated with a lower risk for cardiovascular disease, but a new research report published in the July 2010 print issue of the FASEB Journal offers a [...]
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OJ Lowers Diastolic BP in Healthy Volunteers Nancy Walsh, Staff Writer, MedPage Today December 29, 2010 Drinking orange juice — or a control beverage plus a flavonoid prominent in citrus fruit and thought to be cardioprotective — had beneficial effects on diastolic blood pressure and microvascular reactivity, a small study found. Healthy volunteers who drank [...]
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Antioxidants Tied to Lower Stroke Risk Medpage Today December 29, 2010 Eating a diet high in antioxidants may protect against ischemic stroke, an Italian cohort study showed. People who had a diet high in total antioxidant capacity — an index that takes into account several different antioxidants and their interactions — had a 59% reduced [...]
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This article highlights an interesting problem with placebo research — the ingredients in the placebo itself. Note that it mentions a study where heart patients did better with a placebo — the placebo had olive oil in it, which may have been a helpful ingredient. However, I think most people and researchers are missing the [...]
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Continuing on the theme of using will-power as a strategy for behavioral change — I grew up on the Little Engine that Could. Perhaps it helps children climb mountains and surmount obstacles. This article suggests, however, that if you attempt to do more than is reasonable, if you think you can avoid temptation all the [...]
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Walnuts’ Potential New Link to Heart Health Reported Walnuts, already shown in some studies to reduce “bad” (LDL) cholesterol, may have yet another way of enhancing cardiovascular health. University of California-Davis (UC-Davis) scientists and their Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of Padova (Italy) co-investigators have found that laboratory hamsters that ate feed containing walnuts [...]
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Green tea Botanical evidence indicates that India and China were among the first countries to cultivate tea. Today, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, second only to water. Hundreds of millions of people drink tea around the world, and studies suggest that green tea (Camellia sinesis) in particular has many health [...]
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Fiber is one of those nutrients that many of us know is important but that remains a bit of a mystery. Exactly what is it? What are the best sources of fiber? And what are its health benefits? Here we try to answer these and other questions. Vegetables and Fruits: Get Plenty Every Day: How [...]
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Medical News Today December 2, 2006 Study: Almonds May Protect Against Heart Disease, Diabetes Risk In the midst of holiday feasting on starchy, sugary foods, new research provides valuable insight into the long-term as well as the immediate short-term health impact of almonds. A study published today in the Journal of Nutrition found that eating [...]
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This research story has been making the rounds in many places on the Web…. I would like to see a comparison of risk reduction from eating the right foods and exercise versus risk reduction from medications like Plavix or statins… It is likely such a comparison would show that lifestyle changes have a much greater [...]
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The problem with much of the research on coffee and other drugs is that each individual has a unique combination of genes and thus a unique ways of processing the drug. (One man’s meat is another man’s poison.) One of the genes implicated in coffee metabolism is CYP1A2: it makes a difference on how fast [...]
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This is a large and longitudinal study. Surprisingly strong findings. New Scientist June 12, 2008 Guzzling coffee may cut heart disease A strong cup of coffee in the morning can feel like a life saver. Now, one of the largest and longest studies of coffee drinking suggests that coffee may indeed boost your lifespan – [...]
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Coffee: Is it Good or Bad for You? Scientists find health benefits from coffee The Mayo Clinic February 01, 2007 ROCHESTER, Minn. — If your morning beverage of choice is coffee, recent research provides an extra perk. Like much-publicized green tea, which has garnered considerable attention due to its high antioxidant content, researchers have found [...]
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(This blog is not suggesting that should (or should not) drink coffee…. Rather, it is just providing links to information that can help you decide… Type “coffee” in the search box on the right) from www.healingdaily.com Is coffee good or bad for your health? How would you like a drug which could lower your risk [...]
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From www.Teecchino.com (“America’s Favorite Coffee Alternative”) Why Be Caffeine-free? This may seem like a very strange question – isn’t the state of being caffeine-free our normal state of being? Yet, we hear this refrain all the time: “No caffeine? What’s the point??” Most of us live a stimulant-driven life with caffeine being the number one [...]
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It never occurred to me to do a Wikipedia search about coffee; it was shown as a link in a Google search. Surprisingly – or not surprisingly — the Wikipedia article was the most thorough review I have found on the effects of coffee to date. Clearly, whether or not coffee is good for you [...]
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Coffee Health Risks: For the moderate drinker, coffee is safe says Harvard Women’s Health Watch Despite 20 years of reassuring research, many people still avoid caffeinated coffee because they worry about its health effects. However, current research reveals that in moderation—a few cups a day—coffee is a safe beverage that may even offer some health [...]
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It seems to me that it is still not clear whether drinking coffee is good for you or bad for you, or both. Part of the problem in the research is individual’s vary greatly in how drugs affect them: perhaps the question should be: For which individuals is coffee beneficial and under what conditions. Mayo [...]
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After the heart attack, I gave up drinking coffee. Giving up caffeine is a standard prescription for people with heart issues. The problem for me was that I really like coffee. Reading articles like this from the Mayo Clinic makes me think twice: However, the research appears to bear out some risks. High consumption of [...]
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American Journal of Clinical Nutrition June 23, 2010 Caffeine consumption and incident atrial fibrillation in women. BACKGROUND: It is somewhat controversial whether caffeine consumption is associated with an increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF). OBJECTIVE: We prospectively assessed the relation between caffeine intake and incident AF. DESIGN: A total of 33,638 initially healthy women [...]
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Brilliant idea. Let’s also put statins in the drinking water. Outlets Should Offer Free Statins With Junk Food Say UK Researchers MedPage Today 13 Aug 2010 Imagine this: order a cheeseburger and fries, and pick up a free cholesterol-busting statin tablet along with the other free condiments, that’s what a group of UK researchers suggests [...]
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