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Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 12/26/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

New Ingredients In Drug-like Anti-aging Products Improve Skin - Science Daily, 12/28/07 - "skin surface irregularity can be improved through the topical application of niacin, while the appearance of fine lines can be diminished through the application of moisturizers containing engineered peptides and over-the-counter retinoids. Skin pigmentation can become more regular with the use of photoprotective ingredients. Furthermore, combining cosmeceutical ingredients in a moisturizing agent can magnify benefits and improve skin appearance"

Dark chocolate 'not so healthy' - BBC News, 12/24/07 - "Plain chocolate is naturally rich in flavanols, plant chemicals that are believed to protect the heart ... many manufacturers remove flavanols because of their bitter taste"

Cooking Veggies May Not Cut Nutrients - WebMD, 12/21/07 - "In some cases, the veggies lost antioxidants to cooking. But not all antioxidants decreased when cooked -- and in some cases, certain antioxidant levels rose when cooked"

Dietary fibre linked to better lung function - Nutra USA, 12/21/07 - "In terms of COPD risk, Han and co-workers report a 15 per cent lower risk for people with the highest versus lowest intakes of total fibre. In addition, the highest intake of cereal fibre was associated with a 17 per cent lower risk, while fruit fibre was associated with a 28 per cent lower risk" - [Abstract]

More support for omega-3 and weight management - Nutra USA, 12/21/07 - "Laboratory mice fed a high fat diet and supplemented with eight per cent fish oil gained less weight and metabolised more fat than their murine counterparts not receiving the supplement" - [Abstract] - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

Vitamin B-12 Function May Be Diminished By Excessive Folate - Science Daily, 12/21/07 - "homocysteine and methylmalonic acid are at much higher levels in individuals who have a combination of vitamin B12 deficiency and high blood folate levels than in individuals who are also vitamin B12 deficient but have normal folate levels"

Green tea may cut prostate cancer risk - USATODAY.com, 12/20/07 - "those who drank five or more cups of green tea a day reduced their risk of having progressive prostate cancer by half, compared with those who drank a cup or less" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.

Low Antioxidant Level May Damage Fetal Neurons - Science Daily, 12/20/07 - "Fetal neurons that have low levels of a vital antioxidant, glutathione, are the first to die when exposed to alcohol in cell culture and possibly in the living brain"

Depletion Of One Antioxidant Linked To Parkinson's In Mice - Science Daily, 12/20/07 - "mice suffering from a depletion of the antioxidant glutathione in dopamine-producing neurons developed nerve damage and symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) in humans"

  • Getting More Glutathione? - Dr. Weil, 8/29/02 - "To my knowledge, the only supplement that effectively raises glutathione levels in the body is N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). My colleague Kathleen Johnson, a dietician here at the Program in Integrative Medicine, tells me that other glutathione supplements are ineffective because they’re digested before they can get into the bloodstream" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.

Maternal omega-3 consumption boosts offspring's coordination - Nutra USA, 12/20/07 - "Our results suggest that prenatal DHA availability, which can be influenced by maternal dietary DHA intake during pregnancy, can have an effect on quality of movement in later life" - [Abstract] - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Moderate Exercise May Cut Dementia Risk - WebMD,12/19/07- "Moderate physical activity (such as walking and climbing stairs) may help prevent dementia in people aged 65 and older"

How Much Fish Is Enough? - Medscape, 12/19/07 - "the American Heart Association recommends the equivalent of 1 gram of active omega-3 compounds (eicosapentaenoic [EPA] and docosahexaenoic acids [DHA]) ingested daily.[3] This amount can be obtained by consuming a 4-ounce serving of white albacore tuna, 2 to 3 ounces of salmon (pink or red), 2 ounces of herring, and 2 to 3 ounces of sardines daily. Alternatively, significantly higher quantities of shellfish would need to be consumed, including 8 or more ounces of crab, shrimp, and lobster daily.[3] For significant TG-lowering effects (20% reduction and greater), the amount of EPA/DHA required is considerably higher (ie, 2 to 4 grams daily) and exceedingly difficult to obtain unless a person consumes vast quantities of fish every day. Therefore, patients with CHD can get the omega-3 fatty acids needed from a diet rich in oily fish. Similarly, patients with TG levels in the borderline-elevated range (150-199 mg/dL) may reduce TG levels by approximately 10% with consumption of fish equivalent to 1 gram of EPA/DHA. However, with higher TG levels, and especially when levels exceed 500 mg/dL, a diet rich in fish is most likely to be insufficient for reducing TG levels to an acceptable range" - See Mega Twinlab Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

Childhood Dairy Intake Linked to Colon Cancer - oncologystat.com, 12/19/07 - "Those who reported high levels of dairy during childhood were about 3 times more likely to develop colon cancer than those with low intake. A high intake was considered 2 or more cups a day, with a low intake being half a cup or less"

Excess folate worsens B12 deficiency effects: study - Nutra USA, 12/19/07 - "Finding that the combination of high blood folate levels and low vitamin B12 status is associated with even higher levels of these compounds is a strong indication that the high folate is interfering with the action of these B12-containing enzymes, thus resulting in the exacerbation or worsening of the vitamin B12 deficiency"

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the Medline ones at the top):

J Nutr. 2008 Jan;138(1):49-53Lycopene Inhibits Disease Progression in Patients with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia - J Nutr. 2008 Jan;138(1):49-53 - "Symptoms of the disease, as assessed via the International Prostate Symptom Score questionnaire, were improved in both groups with a significantly greater effect in men taking lycopene supplements. In conclusion, lycopene inhibited progression of BPH" - See Jarrow Lyco-Sorb (contains Lyco-O-Mato) at Amazon.com.

Docosahexaenoic Acid Supplementation Decreases Remnant-Like Particle-Cholesterol and Increases the (n-3) Index in Hypertriglyceridemic Men - J Nutr. 2008 Jan;138(1):30-35 - "Plasma remnant-like particle-cholesterol (RLP-C) and the RBC (n-3) index are novel risk factors for cardiovascular disease ... DHA supplementation for 45 d decreased (P < 0.05) fasting RLP-C (36%) and increased plasma eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA):arachidonic acid (AA) (100%) and the RBC (n-3) index (109%). Continued supplementation with DHA between d 45 and 91 further increased the RBC (n-3) index (162%) and plasma EPA:AA (137%) compared with baseline values. RLP-C concentration was positively associated (P < 0.01) with the plasma concentrations of triacylglycerols (Kendall's correlation coefficient or r = 0.46), triacylglycerol:HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) (r = 0.44), total cholesterol:HDL-C (r = 0.26), Apo B (r = 0.22), C III (r = 0.41), and E (r = 0.17), and 18:1(n-9) (r = 0.32); it was negatively associated (P < 0.05) with plasma concentrations of DHA (r = -0.32), EPA (r = -0.25), HDL-C (r = -0.21), LDL cholesterol:Apo B (r = -0.30), and HDL-C:Apo A"

The combination of epigallocatechin gallate and curcumin suppresses ERalpha-breast cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo - Int J Cancer. 2007 Dec 20 - "Tumor volume in the EGCG + curcumin treated mice decreased 49% compared to vehicle control mice (p < 0.05), which correlated with a 78 +/- 6% decrease in levels of VEGFR-1 protein expression in the tumors. Curcumin treatment significantly decreased tumor protein levels of EGFR and Akt, however the expression of these proteins was not further decreased following combination treatment. Therefore, these results demonstrate that the combination of EGCG and curcumin is efficacious in both in vitro and in vivo models of ERalpha- breast cancer and that regulation of VEGFR-1 may play a key role in this effect"

Renoprotective action of l-carnitine in fructose-induced metabolic syndrome - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2007 Dec 17 - "l-carnitine (CA) administration ... The benefits of CA in this model suggest the therapeutic use of CA to counter the kidney changes associated with metabolic syndrome" - See l-carnitine at Amazon.com.

Effect of rosuvastatin on insulin sensitivity in an animal model of insulin resistance: Evidence for statin-induced hepatic insulin sensitization - Atherosclerosis. 2007 Dec 17 - "Taken together, these data suggest that statin-treatment increases whole body and peripheral tissue insulin sensitivity via improved cellular insulin signal transduction"

Anti-atherosclerotic properties of telmisartan in advanced atherosclerotic lesions in apolipoprotein E deficient mice - Atherosclerosis. 2007 Dec 17 - "These data suggest that chronic inhibition of the RAS by telmisartan prevails in reducing advanced atherosclerosis and promoting plaque stability over ramipril, possibly through the reduced activity of the pro-inflammatory transcription factors NFkappaB and Egr-1 and through the activation of PPARgamma"

Timing of Blood Pressure Measurement Related to Caffeine Consumption (January) - Ann Pharmacother. 2007 Dec 19 - "Reviews of caffeine's acute effect on blood pressure indicate changes of 3-15 mm Hg systolic and 4-13 mm Hg diastolic. Typically, blood pressure changes occur within 30 minutes, peak in 1-2 hours, and may persist for more than 4 hours"

Protective Effects of Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Extract on KBrO3-Induced Kidney Damage in Mice - J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Dec 20 - "bilberry extract reduced the degree of oxidative stress and kidney damage induced by KBrO 3. These findings demonstrate that the protective effect of bilberry extract is attributed to its free radical scavenging activity and lipid peroxidation inhibitory effect" - See bilberry at Amazon.com.

Dietary Fiber, Lung Function, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study - Am J Epidemiol. 2007 Dec 5 - "Adjusted odds ratios of COPD for the highest versus lowest quintiles of intake were 0.85 (p = 0.044) for total fiber, 0.83 (p = 0.021) for cereal fiber, and 0.72 (p = 0.005) for fruit fiber. This study provides the first known evidence that dietary fiber is independently associated with better lung function and reduced prevalence of COPD"

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet Is Inversely Associated With Circulating Interleukin-6 Among Middle-Aged Men. A Twin Study - Circulation. 2007 Dec 17 - "A 1-unit within-pair absolute difference in the diet score was associated with a 9% (95% CI, 4.5 to 13.6) lower interleukin-6 level"

Dietary fish oil upregulates intestinal lipid metabolism and reduces body weight gain in C57BL/6J mice - J Nutr. 2007 Dec;137(12):2629-34 - "These findings suggest that an upregulation of intestinal lipid metabolism is associated with the antiobesity effect of FO" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.

Relationship between long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids at birth and motor function at 7 years of age - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Dec 19 - "Our results suggest that prenatal DHA availability, which can be influenced by maternal dietary DHA intake during pregnancy, can have an effect on quality of movement in later life" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

VITAMIN D2 IS AS EFFECTIVE AS VITAMIN D3 IN MAINTAINING CIRCULATING CONCENTRATIONS OF 25-HYDROXYVITAMIN D - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Dec 18 - "1,000 IU of vitamin D2 daily was as effective as 1,000 IU of vitamin D3 in maintaining serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and did not negatively influence serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels. Therefore, vitamin D2 is equally as effective as vitamin D3 in maintaining 25-hydroxyvitamin D status" - That contradicts other studies.  I'd err on the safe side.  See:

  • Vitamin D2 is much less effective than vitamin D3 in humans - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Nov;89(11):5387-91 - "Vitamin D(2) potency is less than one third that of vitamin D(3). Physicians resorting to use of vitamin D(2) should be aware of its markedly lower potency and shorter duration of action relative to vitamin D(3)"

Effects of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on hip bone mineral density and calcium-related analytes in elderly ambulatory Australian women: a 5-year randomized controlled trial - J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Dec 18 - "Addition of vitamin D to calcium has long term beneficial effects on bone density in elderly women living in a sunny climate, probably mediated by a long term reduction in bone turnover rate"

Coffee, caffeine, and coronary heart disease - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2007 Nov;10(6):745-51 - "Diterpenes present in unfiltered coffee and caffeine each appear to increase risk of coronary heart disease. A lower risk of coronary heart disease among moderate coffee drinkers might be due to antioxidants found in coffee"

Vitamin D and cardiovascular disease risk - Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008 Jan;11(1):7-12 - "vitamin D deficiency may be a contributor to the development of cardiovascular disease potentially through associations with diabetes or hypertension"

Fruit and vegetable intake and head and neck cancer risk in a large United States prospective cohort study - Int J Cancer. 2007 Dec 18 - "Results from this large prospective observational study are consistent with previous case-control studies and support the hypothesis that total fruit and vegetable intake is associated with reduced risk of head and neck cancer"

Ascorbic Acid Decreases the Binding Affinity of the AT(1) Receptor for Angiotensin II - Am J Hypertens. 2008 Jan;21(1):67-71 - "Ascorbic acid decreases the binding affinity of the AT(1) receptor. These results offer a mechanistic explanation for the reported blood pressure lowering effect of ascorbic acid"

Health Focus (Macular Degeneration):

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