Simply Natural Cafe

Here are some healthy tip for your smartness & physical fitness.  
Prevention is better than cure.
  
HEALTHY JUICES :

Carrot + Ginger + Apple  - Boost and cleanse our system.
Apple + Cucumber + Celery -   Prevent cancer, reduce cholesterol, and eliminate stomach upset and headache..  
Tomato + Carrot + Apple - Improve skin complexion and eliminate bad breath.  
Bitter gou rd + Apple  -   Avoid bad breath and reduce internal body heat.  
Orange + Ginger + Cucumber - Improve Skin texture and moisture and reduce body heat.  
Pineapple + Apple + Watermelon - To dispel excess salts, nourishes the bladder and kidney.  
Apple + Cucumber + Kiwi - To improve skin complexion.  
Pear & Banana -   regulates sugar content..  
Carrot + Apple + Pear + Mango - Clear body heat, counteracts toxicity, decreased blood pressure and fight oxidization .  
Honeydew + Grape + Watermelon  - Rich in vitamin C + Vitamin B2 that increase cell activity and strengthen body immunity.  
Papaya + Pineapple  - Rich in vitamin C, E, Iron. Improve skin complexion and metabolism.  
Banana + Pineapple  - Rich in vitamin with nutritious and prevent constipation 

Fruit  Benefit :
 
 apples :

Protects your heart, prevents constipation, Blocks diarrhea, Improves lung capacity, Cushions joints.

apricots :

Combats cancer, Controls blood pressure, Saves your eyesight, Shields against Alzheimer’s, Slows aging process.

artichokes:
 Aids digestion, Lowers cholesterol, Protects your heart, Stabilizes blood sugar, Guard s against liver disease.

 
avocados:
 Battles diabetes, Lowers cholesterol, Helps stops strokes, Controls blood pressure, Smoothes skin.

 
bananas:
 Protects your heart, Quiets a cough, Strengthens bones, Controls blood pressure, Blocks diarrhea.

 
beans:
 Prevents constipation, Helps hemorrhoids, Lowers cholesterol, Combats cancer, Stabilizes blood sugar.  
 
beets:
 Controls blood pressure, Combats cancer, Strengthens bones, Protects your heart, Aids weight loss. 
 
blueberries:
 Combats cancer, Protects your heart, Stabilizes blood sugar, Boosts memory, Prevents constipation.  
 
broccoli:
 Strengthens bones, Saves eyesight.

The new research, presented April 19 at the Experimental Biology convention in New Orleans, gives tantalizing clues to the potential of blueberries in reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. The effect is thought to be due to the high level of phytochemicals – naturally occurring antioxidants – that blueberries contain.

The study was performed in laboratory rats. While the animal findings suggest blueberries may be protective against two health conditions that affect millions of Americans, more research should be done.

The researchers studied the effect of blueberries (freeze dried blueberries crushed into a powder) that were mixed into the rat diet, as part of either a low- or high-fat diet. They performed many comparisons between the rats consuming the test diets and the control rats receiving no blueberry powder. All the rats were from a research breed that is prone to being severely overweight.

In all, after 90 days, the rats that received the blueberry-enriched powder, measured as 2 percent of their diet, had less abdominal fat, lower triglycerides, lower cholesterol, and improved fasting glucose and insulin sensitivity, which are measures of how well the body processes glucose for energy.

While regular blueberry intake reduced these risks for cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, the health benefits were even better when combined with a low-fat diet.

In addition to all the other health benefits, the group that consumed a low-fat diet had lower body weight, lower total fat mass and reduced liver mass, than those who ate a high fat diet. An enlarged liver is linked to obesity and insulin resistance, a hallmark of diabetes.

The rats in the study were similar to Americans who suffer fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome as a result of high-fat diets and obesity. Metabolic syndrome is a group of health problems that include too much fat around the waist, elevated blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, high triglycerides, and together these conditions increase the risk of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.

But were the health benefits seen in rats a result of losing abdominal fat, or something else?

“Some measurements were changed by blueberry even if the rats were on a high fat diet,” says E. Mitchell Seymour, M.S., lead researcher and manager of the U-M Cardioprotection Research Laboratory. “We found by looking at fat muscle tissue, that blueberry intake affected genes related to fat-burning and storage. Looking at muscle tissue, we saw altered genes related to glucose uptake.”

Steven Bolling, M.D., a U-M heart surgeon and head of the Cardioprotection Laboratory, says: “The benefits of eating fruits and vegetables has been well-researched, but our findings in regard to blueberries shows the naturally occurring chemicals they contain, such as anthocyanins, show promise in mitigating these health conditions.”

Although the current study was supported by the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council, which also supplied the blueberry powder, the council did not play a role in the study’s conduct, analysis or the preparation of the poster presentation.

Adapted from materials provided by

University of Michigan

Mercury Found In High Fructose Corn Syrup Used As Food Sweetener

Researchers in the US found that much of the high fructose corn syrup that is increasingly replacing sugar in processed foods is tainted with mercury, a metal that is toxic to humans. They also tested many branded food products and found they too contained mercury.

The findings come from two studies, one of which is published in the journal Environmental Health and the other is by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP).
Dr David Wallinga, who works at the IATP, was involved in both studies. He told the press that mercury was toxic in all its forms, and that:

“Given how much high fructose corn syrup is consumed by children, it could be a significant additional source of mercury never before considered.”

Use of HFCS as a sweetener instead of sugar has risen sharply in recent decades, and now is commonly used to sweeten breads, cereals, breakfast bars, beverages, luncheon meats, yogurts, soups, and condiments.

According to IATP estimates, the average American probably eats about 12 teaspoons of HFCS a day, with teenagers and consumers on the higher end of the spectrum perhaps eating 80 per cent higher than this.

In the first Environmental Health study, researchers, led by Renee Dufault, who was working at the FDA at the time, found mercury in nearly 50 per cent (9 out of 20) of samples of commercial high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) they tested in 2005.

In the second, IATP study, researchers sent 55 popular branded foods and drinks where HFCS is the first or second highest labelled ingredient to a commercial laboratory for testing; they found that nearly one third of them contained trace amounts of mercury.

Potentially hazardous levels of metal ions are present in many commercially available wines. An analysis of reported levels of metals in wines from sixteen different countries found that only those from Argentina, Brazil and Italy did not pose a potential health risk owing to metals.

According to Professor Naughton, “The THQ is a risk assessment designed to avoid underestimation. It therefore incorporates several assumptions, such as maximum absorption of ingested metal ions and lifetime exposures. In contrast, bolus dosing (e.g. binge drinking) and cross effects with other potential toxins (e.g. alcohol) are not accounted for, nor are the effects on the elderly, the young or those with a clinical condition”.

The authors found that THQ values for most wines were well above the value of 1.0 and thus are of concern. Typical potential maximum THQ values ranged from 50 to 200, with Hungarian and Slovakian wines reaching 300. THQ values for both red and white wines studied were high, having values ranging from 30 to 80 based on a 250mL glass per day. Naughton said, “These values are concerning, in that they are mainly above the THQ value of 1.0. Excess intake of metal ions is credited with pathological events such as Parkinson’s disease. In addition to neurological problems, these ions are also believed to enhance oxidative damage, a key component of chronic inflammatory disease which is a suggested initiator of cancer”.

These results also question a popular belief about the health-giving properties of red wine: that drinking red wine daily to protect from heart attacks is often related to levels of ‘anti-oxidants’. However the finding of hazardous and pro-oxidant metal ions creates a major question mark over these supposed protective benefits. The authors recommend that, “Levels of metal ions should appear on wine labels, along with the introduction of further steps to remove key hazardous metal ions during wine production”.

Naughton and Andrea Petroczi. Heavy metal ions in wines: meta-analysis of target hazard quotients reveal health risks. Chemistry Central Journal

Diets high in fast food can be highly toxic to the liver and other internal organs, but that damage can be reversed, says one of the country’s leading experts on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, who offers four steps to undo the effects of a ’super-size me’ diet.

It was probably enough to make many Americans lose their appetite: A recent study from Europe showed that eating too much fast food – a diet high in fat and sugar – could cause serious damage to your liver.

EPA has issued the first list of pesticides to be screened for possibly disrupting the endocrine system.  Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interact with and possibly disrupt the hormones produced or secreted by the human or animal endocrine system, which regulates growth, metabolism and reproduction.

“Endocrine disruptors can cause lifelong health problems — especially for children,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Gathering this information will help us work with communities and industry to protect Americans from harmful exposure.”

EPA will issue test orders to the manufacturers of 67 pesticide chemicals this summer to determine whether their chemicals may disrupt the endocrine systems (estrogen, androgen and thyroid).  Testing, conducted through the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP), will eventually be expanded to cover all pesticide chemicals

Brazilian berry destroys cancer cells in lab, UF study shows
 A Brazilian berry popular in health food contains antioxidants that destroyed cultured human cancer cells in a recent University of Florida study, one of the first to investigate the fruit’s purported benefits.

Published  in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the study showed extracts from acai (ah-SAH’-ee) berries triggered a self-destruct response in up to 86 percent of leukemia cells tested, said Stephen Talcott, an assistant professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

“Acai berries are already considered one of the richest fruit sources of antioxidants,” Talcott said. “This study was an important step toward learning what people may gain from using beverages, dietary supplements or other products made with the berries.”

He cautioned that the study, funded by UF sources, was not intended to show whether compounds found in acai berries could prevent leukemia in people.

“This was only a cell-culture model and we don’t want to give anyone false hope,” Talcott said. “We are encouraged by the findings, however. Compounds that show good activity against cancer cells in a model system are most likely to have beneficial effects in our bodies.”

Other fruits, including grapes, guavas and mangoes, contain antioxidants shown to kill cancer cells in similar studies, he said. Experts are uncertain how much effect antioxidants have on cancer cells in the human body, because factors such as nutrient absorption, metabolism and the influence of other biochemical processes may influence the antioxidants’ chemical activity.

Another UF study, will investigate the effects of acai’s antioxidants on healthy human subjects, Talcott said. The study will determine how well the compounds are absorbed into the blood, and how they may affect blood pressure, cholesterol levels and related health indicators. So far, only fundamental research has been done on acai berries, which contain at least 50 to 75 as-yet unidentified compounds.

“One reason so little is known about acai berries is that they’re perishable and are traditionally used immediately after picking,” he said. “Products made with processed acai berries have only been available for about five years, so researchers in many parts of the world have had little or no opportunity to study them.”

Talcott said UF is one of the first institutions outside Brazil with personnel studying acai berries. Besides Talcott, UF’s acai research team includes Susan Percival, a professor with the food science and human nutrition department, David Del Pozo-Insfran, a doctoral student with the department and Susanne Mertens-Talcott, a postdoctoral associate with the pharmaceutics department of UF’s College of Pharmacy.

Acai berries are produced by a palm tree known scientifically as Euterpe oleracea, common in floodplain areas of the Amazon River, Talcott said. When ripe, the berries are dark purple and about the size of a blueberry. They contain a thin layer of edible pulp surrounding a large seed.

Historically, Brazilians have used acai berries to treat digestive disorders and skin conditions, he said. Current marketing efforts by retail merchants and Internet businesses suggest acai products can help consumers lose weight, lower cholesterol and gain energy.

“A lot of claims are being made, but most of them haven’t been tested scientifically,” Talcott said. “We are just beginning to understand the complexity of the acai berry and its health-promoting effects.”

In the current UF study, six different chemical extracts were made from acai fruit pulp, and each extract was prepared in seven concentrations.

Four of the extracts were shown to kill significant numbers of leukemia cells when applied for 24 hours. Depending on the extract and concentration, anywhere from about 35 percent to 86 percent of the cells died.

The UF study demonstrates that research on foods not commonly consumed in the United States is important, because it may lead to unexpected discoveries, said Joshua Bomser, an assistant professor of molecular nutrition and functional foods at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

But familiar produce items have plenty of health-giving qualities, he said.

“Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with decreased risk for many diseases, including heart disease and cancer,” said Bomser, who researches the effects of diet on chronic diseases. “Getting at least five servings a day of these items is still a good recommendation for promoting optimal health.”

Credits Writer:Tom Nordlie, tnordlie@ifas.ufl.edu, Stephen Talcott, sttalcott@ifas.ufl.eduJoshua Bomser, ,jbomser@hec.ohio-state.edu

100 Percent Juice Consumption Linked To Healthier Diet. No Link To Obesity In Kids.

According to a recent analysis of government data, children who drank 100 percent juice had healthier overall diets than non-juice consumers and consumed more total fruits, fiber and key nutrients such as vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and folate. The juice consumers also had significantly lower intakes of total fat, saturated fat and sodium.

According to the researchers, the group of 100 percent juice consumers also had equal or lower bodyweights and body mass indexes (BMI) than the non-juice consumers, adding to the scientific evidence which shows that 100 percent juices play a role in a healthful diet and are not associated with overweight.
Using well-established data from the government\’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), researcher Victor Fulgoni, Ph.D., examined the impact of 100 percent juice in children\’s diets on bodyweight and BMI among more than 7,500 children ages 2-18. This analysis of the most recent NHANES database (1999-2002), combined with growth chart data from the Centers for Disease Control and Promotion (CDC), found that juice consumers had significantly lower z-scores for body mass index for their age than non-juice consumers (body mass index is a relative measure taking into consideration body weight and body size and z-scores represent the distance from the mean or average of the total population studied).

While there were no differences specifically in BMI between the juice consumers and non-juice consumers for children aged 2-11, there were differences in children aged 12-18 years — the juice consumers had significantly lower BMIs than those who drank no juice at all.

According to Fulgoni, \”These findings are consistent with many other research studies that have found no association between consumption of 100 percent juice and obesity.\”

The government data analysis also demonstrates that children who drank 100 percent juice had a total fruit intake that was three times higher than non-juice consumers. These research findings are supportive of statements made in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report (Appendix G; Fruit and Fruit Juice Analysis), which states that fruit juices provide higher, more substantial contributions of several vitamins and minerals than whole fruit. With the exception of fiber, these include vitamin C, potassium, folate and magnesium.

Experimental Biology is a multi-society, interdisciplinary, scientific meeting attended by 12,000 independent scientists and sponsored by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). The abstract of Dr. Fulgoni\’s research \”Consumption of 100 percent juices is not associated with being overweight or risk for being overweight in children,\” has been published in a special issue of the March FASEB Journal.

 A diet rich in vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots and leafy vegetables, could cut the risk of adult asthma by about 20 per cent, says new research.

The \”Five-a-day\” message is well known, but applying this does not seem to be filtering down into everyday life. Recent studies have shown that consumers in both Europe and the US are failing to meet recommendations from the WHO to eat 400 grams of fruit and vegetables a day.

The new study, from the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, Mexico, reports that women who ate a diet high in fruits and veg such as tomatoes, carrots and leafy vegetables considerably reduced their risk of asthma, a condition that affects 30 million people in Europe.

Published in the journal Thorax (Vol. 61, pp. 209-215), the researchers report the results of a prospective investigation of 68535 women whose dietary habits were recorded as part of the French branch of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Dietary intakes were measured from food frequency questionnaires of the daily intake of 208 food items.

After eleven years of follow-up, the researchers found that women who consumed more than 90 grams per day of leafy vegetables had a 22 per cent lower risk of asthma than those who ate less than 40 grams per day.

Similar risk reductions were also seen for tomatoes (20 per cent) and carrots (18 per cent).

The researchers also reported that women who used dietary supplements were m ore likely to be thinner, eat significantly more fruit and vegetables, but also more likely to report allergies.

The underlying mechanism or mechanisms of protection, say the scientists, is most probably due to the a combination and/or interaction of nutrients from the fruit and vegetables.

\”One biological mechanism may be associated with the effect of antioxidant vitamins, such as carotenoids. Carrots and leafy vegetables are rich in carotenoids (alpha- and beta-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin) which protect cells from oxidative stress.

Tomato juice, carrot juice and spinach powder have been shown to increase plasma levels of cystolic glutathione transferase [a family of enzymes that can play a role in the detoxification of lipid peroxidantion products], an effect attributed to carotenoids,\” wrote lead author Isabelle Romieu.

The researchers also noted that leafy vegetables are a rich source of folate, which has been linked to reduction in DNA damage due to oxidative stress.

The strengths of the study include the large number of prevalent asthma cases and the wide variability of the reported diets. However, the use of questionnaires did not permit the researchers to assess modifications of a woman\’s diet due to their asthma.

The study is yet more support for increasing the daily intake of fruit and vegetables – a recommendation that should be relatively easy to implement.Fruit and veg may cut adult asthma risk
A diet rich in vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots and leafy vegetables, could cut the risk of adult asthma by about 20 per cent, says new research.

Source: http://www.nutraingredients.com