Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 8/9/06.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Exercise Important in Reducing Size of Abdominal Fat Cells - Doctor's Guide, 8/8/06 - "The diet-alone group had no changes in abdominal fat cell size. However, both exercise groups had decreases of about 18% in the size of their abdominal fat cells"

Elderly 'should take probiotics' - BBC News, 8/7/06 - "the drinks, yoghurts or capsules could help protect older people against bowel conditions, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) ... as people get older they have reduced levels of friendly bacteria and increased levels of disease-causing bacteria ... at about the age of 60 there was a big drop in bacteria levels, and older people had 1,000-fold less friendly bacteria than other younger adults" - See iHerb or Vitacost probiotics.

Diet High in Saturated Fat May Reduce Protective Effect of HDL - Medscape, 8/7/06 - "The anti-inflammatory activity of HDL appears to decrease after consumption of saturated fat, but improves on consumption of polyunsaturated fat"

Compound In Dairy Products Targets Diabetes - Science Daily, 8/4/06 - "Researchers first became interested in CLA when it was shown to inhibit a variety of cancers such as breast, skin and colon in mice, and further research showed effects on circulating cholesterol and inflammation ... he used CLA on mice prone to adult onset (Type-2) diabetes. Results indicated that the mice had an improvement in insulin action, and a decrease in circulating glucose" - See iHerb or Vitacost CLA products.  Related CLA article:

• CLA Weight Loss Debate Continues - WebMD, 5/22/06 - "for six months ... Three months into the study, the CLA group had lost an extra 1.5 pounds of body fat, compared to the placebo group ... At the study’s end, the CLA group lost 5.6% more body fat mass than those taking the placebo. The CLA group also lost about 3.3 pounds more than the placebo group"

Vitamin D often low in seemingly healthy girls - Reuters, 8/4/06 - "Vitamin D deficiency during childhood and adolescence ... might impair the acquisition of peak bone mass at the end of skeletal growth and maturation, thereby increasing the risk of osteoporotic fracture later in life ... Thirty-seven girls (73 percent) were vitamin D deficient, and nine (17 percent) were severely deficient" - See iHerb or Vitacost vitamin D products.

Chocolate May Help Aging Blood Vessels - WebMD, 8/4/06 - "The results showed blood vessel function improved among both younger and older adults after the cocoa phase. But these improvements were more pronounced in the older group ... the flavonol-rich cocoa products used in these studies should not be confused with commercially available snacks that contain many calories but are low in natural cocoa and flavonols"

Apple Juice May Boost Memory - WebMD, 8/4/06 - "consumption of antioxidant-rich foods such as apples and apple juice can help reduce problems associated with memory loss"

Chromium Improves Glycemic Control When Sulfonylurea Is Insufficient - Medscape, 8/3/06 - "By the end of the randomized treatment period, mean fasting glucose had decreased by 31.0 mg/dL in the CrPic group, which was significantly superior to the mean 11.3 mg/dL decrease in the placebo group ... Participants receiving placebo gained weight and percent body fat during the randomized treatment period, whereas subjects receiving CrPic experienced an increase in fat-free mass vs baseline. Only subjects receiving placebo had increases in total abdominal, visceral, and abdominal subcutaneous fat" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.

Chemical in Curry May Cut Colon Cancer - WebMD, 8/2/06 - "Each of the patients then received 480 milligrams of curcumin and 20 milligrams of quercetin three times a day for six months ... The results showed that treatment with the curry and onion compounds reduced the average number of polyps by 60%, and decreased their size by 50%" - See iHerb or Vitacost curcumin products and iHerb or Vitacost quercetin products.

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics:

Folic acid improves endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetes--an effect independent of homocysteine-lowering - Vasc Med. 2006 May;11(2):101-9 - "2 weeks of folic acid supplementation can improve endothelial dysfunction in type 2 diabetics independent of homocysteine-lowering" - See iHerb or Vitacost folic acid products.

Coenzyme Q10 and exercise training in chronic heart failure - Eur Heart J. 2006 Aug 1 - "CoQ10 main effect was: peak VO2+9%, EDDBA +38%, systolic wall thickening score index (SWTI) - 12%" - See iHerb or Vitacost coenzyme products.

Vitamin D deficiency in breastfed infants in Iowa - Pediatrics. 2006 Aug;118(2):603-10 - "Vitamin D deficiency, including severe deficiency, was common among breastfed infants in Iowa who did not receive preformed vitamin D. Deficiency occurred mostly during winter but was not completely absent during summer ... Vitamin D supplementation should be provided to all breastfed infants"

The evidence for efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids in preventing or slowing the progression of retinitis pigmentosa: a systematic review - Can J Ophthalmol. 2006 Aug;41(4):481-490 - "There are trends in improvement of some retinitis pigmentosa outcomes with omega-3 fatty acids in the higher quality studies"

Metformin-pioglitazone and metformin-rosiglitazone effects on non-conventional cardiovascular risk factors plasma level in type 2 diabetic patients with metabolic syndrome - J Clin Pharm Ther. 2006 Aug;31(4):375-83 - "Significant TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, TG improvement was present in the pioglitazone group at 12 months compared with the baseline values, and these variations were significantly different between groups. No TC, LDL-C, TG improvement was present in the rosiglitazone group after 12 months. Significant Lp(a) and HCT improvement was present in the pioglitazone group at 12 months compared with the baseline values, and Lp(a) change was significant compared with the rosiglitazone group. Significant HCT decrease was observed in the rosiglitazone group at the end of the study" - See pioglitazone at OffshoreRx1.com.

l-Arginine, the substrate for NO synthesis: An alternative treatment for premature atherosclerosis? - Int J Cardiol. 2006 Jul 20 - "l-arginine administration may be useful in patients with premature atherosclerosis" - See iHerb or Vitacost l-arginine products.

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