Holistic Health Articles and Research Related to Herbal Medicines, Foods and Phytochemicals

Monday, 12 August 2019

Whole Food Onion's Quercetin inhibits the Effect of Hypertension Against the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Overweight and Obese Individuals

By Kyle J. Norton

Hypertension is a condition of abnormally high blood pressure in the bloodstream. Hypertension a member of the cluster conditions of metabolic syndrome associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of the arteries as the heart pumps out blood.

According to the statistics provided by the American Heart Association, approximately, 103 million U.S. adults have high blood pressure, or 1 in 2 adults in the US have the syndrome.

Obesity is a medical and chronic condition caused by long-term excessive body fat accumulated. Overweight is a condition of excess body weight relative to height.

According to the Body Mass Index(BMI), people who have a BMI between 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight and a BMI of over 30 is an indication of obesity.

The formula of the BMI indexBMI= weight (kg)/ height (m2)

According to the statistic, 68% of the American population is either overweight or obese. However,
in 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight, inclduing over 650 million were obese worldwide.

Bad eating habit, unhealthy lifestyle and certain medical conditions such as kidney disease, diabetes, and sleep apnea not only induce overweight and obesity but also increase the risk of high blood pressure.

Dr. Shu-Zhong Jiang, the lead scientist wrote, "The imbalance between energy intake and expenditure is the main cause of excessive overweight and obesity. Technically, obesity is defined as the abnormal accumulation of ≥20% of body fat, over the individual's ideal body weight".

And, "Excessive overweight remains among the most neglected public health issues worldwide, while obesity is associated with increased risks of disability, illness, and death. Cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of mortality worldwide, particularly hypertension and diabetes, are the main illnesses associated with obesity".

The results strongly suggested that obesity not only is associated with hypertension but also is the major contributor to the risk of other chronic diseases.

The onion is a plant in the genus Allium, belonging to the family Alliaceae, a close relation of garlic. It is often called the "king of vegetables" because of its pungent taste and found in a large number of recipes and preparations spanning almost the totality of the world's cultures.

Depending on the variety, an onion can be sharp, spicy, tangy, pungent, mild or sweet.

On finding a potential compound for the inhibition of hypertension, researchers examined the effects of polyphenol quercetin in pre-hypertension and stage I hypertension in overweight and obesity individuals.

The double-blinded, placebo-controlled cross-over trial included 70 Subjects randomized to receive 162 mg/d quercetin from onion skin extract powder or placebo for 6-weeks separated by a 6-week washout period.

According to tested assays and compared to the baseline,
* Group treated with quercetin did not significantly show the effect on 24 h ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) parameters and office BP in the hypertensives subgroup.

* However, quercetin decreased 24 h systolic BP by -3·6 mmHg (P=0·022) compared to placebo.

* Furthermore, quercetin treatment significantly decreased day-time and night-time systolic BP in hypertensives without alternating vasoactive biomarkers such as endothelial function, parameters of oxidation, inflammation, lipid, and glucose metabolism in the total and hypertensive subgroup.

Based on the findings, researchers said, " supplementation with 162 mg/d quercetin from onion skin extract lowers ABP in patients with hypertension, suggesting a cardioprotective effect of quercetin".

In other words, supplementation with 162 mg/d quercetin from onion skin extract protects the heart against CVD by normalizing the blood pressure in hypertensive patients through unknown mechanisms.

Taken altogether, onion may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of liver alcoholic cytotoxicity pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters
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Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca

Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Effects of a quercetin-rich onion skin extract on 24 h ambulatory blood pressure and endothelial function in overweight-to-obese patients with (pre-)hypertension: a randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled cross-over trial by Brüll V1, Burak C1, Stoffel-Wagner B2, Wolffram S3, Nickenig G4, Müller C4, Langguth P5, Alteheld B1, Fimmers R6, Naaf S7, Zimmermann BF7, Stehle P1, Egert S. (PubMed)
(2) Molecular mechanisms of the anti-obesity effect of bioactive ingredients in common spices: a review by Lu M, Cao Y , Xiao J, Song M, and Ho CT. (PubMed)
(3) Obesity and hypertension by Shu-Zhong Jiang, Wen Lu, Xue-Feng Zong, Hong-Yun Ruan, and Yi Liu. (PMC)

Phytochemical Carotenoids Block the Onset of Colorectal Cancer in Patients with DICER1 rs3742330 Genotypeancer

By Kyle J. Norton

Cancer is a class of disease associated with irregular cell growth in the tissue of organs.

The colon-rectum formed a part of the digestive system is involved in the absorption of water from the small bowel contents and broken down of certain materials in the feces into substances of which some of them to be reabsorbed and reused by the body.

Colorectal cancer is cancer located in the colon or rectum caused alternation of cell DNA. Most cases of colorectal cancer begin in the cells on the surface of inner ling tissue in either the colon or rectum, before multiplying to form a tumor.

Colorectal cancer is relatively very common and slowly growing and progressing cancer.
The disease is also the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in developed countries, including the US and Canada.

According to the statistics provided by the American Cancer Society, in the US,
101,420 new cases of colon cancer and 44,180 new cases of rectal cancer will be diagnosed in 2019.

Additionally, colorectal cancer will also cause the death of 51,020 Americans in 2019.

Overall, the lifetime risk of colorectal cancer developing is 1 in 22 (4.49%) in men and 1 in 24 (4.15%) in women.

Besides adenocarcinomas, the common type of colorectal cancer originated in epithelium tissues and squamous cells that make up the bowel lining together with the gland cells, other types of colorectal tumors include

* Carcinoid
Carcinoid is an unusual type of slow growth neuroendocrine tumor in the hormone-producing tissue in the digestive system. the condition may look benign but can spread to other parts of the body as they grow

* Leiomyosarcomas
Leiomyosarcomas are the rare and resistant types of colorectal cancer and generally not very responsive to chemotherapy or radiation. They are a malignant abnormal mass of tissue of smooth muscles of the colon, comprising between 5–10% of soft tissue sarcomas.

* Lymphomas
Bowel lymphomas are rare and more likely to start in the rectum rather in the colon. Many patients with lymphomas are diagnosed in the late stage and already spread to other organs.

* Melanomas
Melanomas are a rare malignant tumor of cells that produce the dark pigment. This type of bowel cancer usually originates from somewhere else and then spread to the bowel.

Carotenoids is a class of mainly yellow, orange, or red fat-soluble pigments, including lycopene and carotene, found abundantly in ripe tomato, pumpkins, carrots, corn, and daffodils.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of colorectal cancer, researchers investigated whether dietary lutein/zeaxanthin, the major compounds found in carotenoid intake affect colorectal cancer risk in patients with a DICER1 rs3742330 polymorphism.

The experiment included 923 colorectal cancer patients and 1,846 controls based on eligibility criteria, that answered the semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire and the DICER1 rs3742330 genotype.

Based on the returned questionnaires differentiation, the highest quartile of lutein/zeaxanthin consumption was inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk.

In genotype analysis, patients who carry G allele (AG + GG) showed a significantly reduced colorectal cancer incidence compared to that of AA carriers.

Furthermore, patients with G allele (AG + GG) along with high lutein/zeaxanthin consumption were markedly associated with a decreased colorectal cancer risk, particularly in rectal cancer compared to that of AA carriers with low lutein/zeaxanthin intakes.

The results strongly suggested that carotenoids major compounds lutein/zeaxanthin has a strong implication on the colorectal cancer risk in patients with DICER1 rs3742330 genotype.

Dr. Kim J, the lead scientist after taking into account co and confounders wrote in the final report, " colorectal cancer risk was related to an interactive effect between dietary lutein/zeaxanthin intake and the DICER1 rs3742330 polymorphism".

Taken altogether, carotenoids may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of colorectal cancer, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of carotenoids in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Sources
(1) Plasma and dietary carotenoids and vitamins A, C and E and risk of colon and rectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition by Leenders M1, Leufkens AM, Siersema PD, van Duijnhoven FJ, Vrieling A, Hulshof PJ, van Gils CH, Overvad K, Roswall N, Kyrø C, Boutron-Ruault MC, Fagerhazzi G, Cadeau C, Kühn T, Johnson T, Boeing H, Aleksandrova K, Trichopoulou A, Klinaki E, Androulidaki A, Palli D, Grioni S, Sacerdote C, Tumino R, Panico S, Bakker MF, Skeie G, Weiderpass E, Jakszyn P, Barricarte A, María Huerta J, Molina-Montes E, Argüelles M, Johansson I, Ljuslinder I, Key TJ, Bradbury KE, Khaw KT, Wareham NJ, Ferrari P, Duarte-Salles T, Jenab M, Gunter MJ, Vergnaud AC, Wark PA, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB. (PubMed)
(2) Antiproliferative effects of carotenoids extracted from Chlorella ellipsoidea and Chlorella vulgaris on human colon cancer cells by Cha KH1, Koo SY, Lee DU. (PubMed)

Rectal cancer
(1) (1) Plasma and dietary carotenoids and vitamins A, C and E and risk of colon and rectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition by Leenders M1, Leufkens AM, Siersema PD, van Duijnhoven FJ, Vrieling A, Hulshof PJ, van Gils CH, Overvad K, Roswall N, Kyrø C, Boutron-Ruault MC, Fagerhazzi G, Cadeau C, Kühn T, Johnson T, Boeing H, Aleksandrova K, Trichopoulou A, Klinaki E, Androulidaki A, Palli D, Grioni S, Sacerdote C, Tumino R, Panico S, Bakker MF, Skeie G, Weiderpass E, Jakszyn P, Barricarte A, María Huerta J, Molina-Montes E, Argüelles M, Johansson I, Ljuslinder I, Key TJ, Bradbury KE, Khaw KT, Wareham NJ, Ferrari P, Duarte-Salles T, Jenab M, Gunter MJ, Vergnaud AC, Wark PA, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB. (PubMed)
(2) Dietary Lutein Plus Zeaxanthin Intake and DICER1 rs3742330 A > G Polymorphism Relative to Colorectal Cancer Risk by Kim J1, Lee J1, Oh JH2, Chang HJ2, Sohn DK2, Kwon O3, Shin A4, Kim J. (PubMed)
(3) Bowel (Colorectal ) Cancer by Kyle J. Norton

Healthy Legume, Navy Bean Promotes the Gut Health

By Kyle J. Norton

The colon formed part of the digestive system is also called the large intestine which plays a critical role in removing water, salt, and forming a stool through its muscles lines.

There are over 100 trillion live in the colon that maintains a healthy balance with the body.

In a normal or healthy individual, gut microbiota besides protecting the host against pathogens that cause infectious disease, it also has strong imparts in some specific function in the host, including
* Nutrient metabolism is a process that absorbs end products of food digestion such as monosaccharides, glucose from carbohydrates, monoacylglycerol and long-chain fatty acids from lipids, and small peptides and amino acids from protein.

* Xenobiotic metabolism is the action that protects the host against chemicals that affect normal metabolism.

* Drug metabolism is the process to alter chemical of a drug that may cause harm to the body

* Gut microbiota also has been found to protect gut mucosal barrier in preserving the ability to absorb nutrients.

* Gut microbiota immunomodulatory activity reduced risk of disease associated with chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, such as bowel inflammatory disease.

However, there are several factors that may have strong impacts on gut microbiota. Dr. Sai Manasa Jandhyala, the lead scientist wrote, " (1) the mode of delivery (vaginal or cesarean); (2) diet during infancy (breast milk or formula feeds) and adulthood (vegan based or meat based); and (3) use of antibiotics or antibiotic like molecules that are derived from the environment or the gut commensal community.

And "A major concern of antibiotic use is the long-term alteration of the normal healthy gut microbiota and horizontal transfer of resistance genes that could result in the reservoir of organisms with a multidrug-resistant gene pool".

The small, white navy bean, also called pea bean or haricot, popular in both dry and green forms, is very popular in Britain and the US, native to Peru. It is now grown and consumed across the world, due to their numerous health benefits.

On finding a natural compound for the improvement of colon health, researchers examined the effect of cooked navy bean (NB) or black bean (BB) flours on the colonic microenvironment in the gut.

The study included C57Bl/6 mice were fed diets supplemented with 20% cooked navy bean (NB) or black bean (BB) flours or an isocaloric basal diet control (BD) for 3 weeks.

According to the tested analysis

* Both NB and BB similarly altered the fecal microbiota community structure by increasing the abundance of carbohydrate fermenting bacteria such as Prevotella, S24-7, and Ruminococcus flavefaciens.

* Both beans also enhanced short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production (microbial-derived carbohydrate fermentation products) by activating the colonic expression of the SCFA receptors GPR-41/-43/-109a associated with reduced colonic inflammation.

* Furthermore, parameters associated with the improvement of the colon health were also enhanced by the administration of black and navy beans, including the biomarkers of colon barrier integrity such as crypt height, mucus content, cell proliferation, and goblet cell number.

The results strongly suggested that navy bean improves colon health by increasing the expression of gut "good" microorganisms.

Based on the findings, researchers said, " Overall, NB and BB improved baseline colonic microenvironment function by altering the microbial community structure and activity and promoting colon barrier integrity and function; effects which may prove beneficial in attenuating gut-associated diseases".

Taken altogether, the cooked navy bean may be considered a remedy for the improvement of the colon health, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Navy Beans Impact the Stool Metabolome and Metabolic Pathways for Colon Health in Cancer Survivors by Baxter BA1, Oppel RC2, Ryan EP. (PubMed)
(2) White and dark kidney beans reduce colonic mucosal damage and inflammation in response to dextran sodium sulfate by Monk JM1, Zhang CP1, Wu W2, Zarepoor L1, Lu JT1, Liu R2, Pauls KP3, Wood GA4, Tsao R2, Robinson LE5, Power KA. (PubMed)
(3) Role of the normal gut microbiota by Sai Manasa Jandhyala, Rupjyoti Talukdar, Chivkula Subramanyam, Harish Vuyyuru, Mitnala Sasikala, and D Nageshwar Reddy. (PMC)

Cooked Tomato's Lycopene Protects Protein, Lipid and Cell Damage Against Oxidative Stress in Human Studies

By Kyle J. Norton

Oxidative stress is a condition characterized by overexpression of free radicals in the body.

In other words, oxidative stress is a result of the imbalance of the ratio of free radical and antioxidant caused by abundant free radicals and low levels of antioxidant enzymes produced by the body.

Free radical is an unstable atom with a single electron on the outermost ring. Given to its nature, free radical readily donate or intercept an electron from another atom, leading a chain of the free radical cascade which cannot be stopped until all single electron is paired or inhibited by antioxidants.

The antioxidant is a stable atom with a function to inhibit oxidation, come either from dietary sources or produced by the body.

Contrast to general belief, free radical is also needed in moderated amount for the function of the heart muscle to pump blood such as NO for vasodilation and increasing blood flow.

According to studies, in cancer, oxidative stress has been found to induce cytotoxicity used in chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer by killing cancer cells.

However, in a healthy person, oxidative stress is harmful because it not only induces cells lipid and protein oxidation but also causes the change of cell DNA, leading to diseases associated with oxidative stress including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Ozone, certain pesticides, and cleaners, cigarette smoke, radiation, pollution are some of the risk factors associated with the increased risk of oxidative stress.

Based on the oxidative stress theory of aging oxidative stress, oxidative stress is also the main culprit contributed to the aging in human.

Dr. Ilaria Liguori, the lead scientist said, "Aging is a process characterized by the progressive loss of tissue and organ function. The oxidative stress theory of aging is based on the hypothesis that age-associated functional losses are due to the accumulation of RONS-induced damages".

Tomato is red, edible fruit, genus Solanum, belongs to family Solanaceae, native to South America. Because of its health benefits, the tomato is grown worldwide for the commercial purpose
and often in the greenhouse.

With an aim to find a potential compound for the treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress researchers examined the efficacy of lycopene a carotenoid commonly found in tomatoes and tomato products.

In a total of 23 healthy postmenopausal women, 50-60 years old, provided blood samples at baseline and following a one-month lycopene-depletion period according to the St. Michael 's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada. PARTICIPANTS AND STUDY DESIGN.

Compared to the blood sample before and after experiment samples, one-month lycopene-depletion period diet showed a significantly decreased the antioxidant profile including serum lycopene, lutein/zeaxanthin and glutathione peroxidase (GPx).

Furthermore, the diet also depressed of levels of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), significantly in the participants while increasing levels of lipid and protein oxidation.

In other words, tomatoes restrictive diet increased the risk of diseases associated with oxidative stress in postmenopausal women due to the increase of ROS and depletion of antioxidant in the tissues.

In order to reveal more information about tomato effect against oxidative stress, researchers conducted a study to determine whether lycopene would act as an antioxidant to decrease oxidative stress parameters.

The study included a total of 60 postmenopausal women, 50-60 years old, following a 1-month washout without lycopene consumption,.

After a month, the participants were randomly divided into groups with 15 members each consumed either : (1) regular tomato juice, (2) lycopene-rich tomato juice, (3) tomato Lyc-O-Mato lycopene capsules, or (4) placebo capsules, twice daily for total lycopene intakes of 30, 70, 30, and 0 mg/day respectively for 4 months.

According to the tested assays, for 4 months significantly increased serum lycopene compared to placebo.

Moreover, the total serum antioxidant capacity (TAC) and decreasing lipid and protein peroxidation were found to increase substantially in the groups treated with consumed juice or lycopene capsules compared to the placebo group.

Taken altogether, tomatoes and its major bioactive compound lycopene may be considered remedies for the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of lycopene in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Sources
(1) Dietary restriction of lycopene for a period of one month resulted in significantly increased biomarkers of oxidative stress and bone resorption in postmenopausalwomen by Mackinnon ES1, Rao AV, Rao LG. (PubMed)
(2) Supplementation with the antioxidant lycopene significantly decreases oxidative stress parameters and the bone resorption marker N-telopeptide of type I collagen in postmenopausal women by Mackinnon ES1, Rao AV, Josse RG, Rao LG. (PubMed)
(3) Oxidative stress, aging, and diseases by Ilaria Liguori,1 Gennaro Russo,1 Francesco Curcio,1 Giulia Bulli,1 Luisa Aran,1David Della-Morte,2,3 Gaetano Gargiulo,4 Gianluca Testa,1,5 Francesco Cacciatore,1,6Domenico Bonaduce,1 and Pasquale Abete. (PMC)

Sunday, 11 August 2019

Cranberry, the Anti Urinary Tract Infection Healthy Food

By Kyle J. Norton

Infection is an inflammatory condition caused by a microbial invasion on body tissues

Most cases of bacterial infection are treated with antibiotics. However, bacteria are very adaptable, overuse of antibiotics has been found to make them resistant to antibiotics.

Most common symptoms of bacterial infection include redness and heat, swelling, fever, pain at the site of infection.

Urinary tract infection (UTIs) mostly occurred in women is an infection that affects the bladder and urethra caused mostly by bacterial strains Escherichia coli (E. coli), commonly found in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

UTIs has been found to limit the function of the bladder and induce kidney infection.

Most common symptoms of urinary infection are a persistent urge to urinate, urinary burning sensation, cloudy urine, and smelly urine.

In severe cases, patients may also experience symptoms of blood in the urine and bladder and pelvic pain.

Most common risk factors of urinary tract infection are gender, females are more like to have UTI comapred to males, sexual activity, use of birth control, and menopausal women.

Some researchers suggested that sexual intercourse may increase the risk of symptomatic urinary tract infection in postmenopausal women.

Dr. Elya E. Moore, the lead scientist in the joint study lead by the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine wrote, ".., as with younger women, sexual intercourse is strongly associated with UTI in post-menopausal women, supporting a common mechanism for infection among women of widely varying ages".

And, " This finding emphasizes the clinical importance of inquiring about recent sexual intercourse when treating post-menopausal women for symptomatic urinary tract infections".

Cranberry is an evergreen dwarf shrub, genus Vaccinium, belongings to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern America and Southern Asia. Because of its health benefits, cranberry has been cultivated in some parts of the world for commercial profit and used in traditional and herbal medicine to treat wounds, urinary disorders, diarrhea, diabetes, stomach ailments, and liver problems.

On finding a potential compound for the treatment of urinary infection, researchers examined the effect of cranberry anti urinary tract infections (UTIs) activity.

Based on the analysis, cranberry consumption showed a significant effect on decreasing UTI related symptoms by suppressing inflammatory associated with the immunologic response to pathogenic invasion by eradicating the bacteria.

Furthermore, injection of cranberry against UTIs was also found to prevent the development of infections only in populations at lower risk for contracting UTIs compared to low effective in a higher risk population.

Taken altogether, cranberry may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of UTIs, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Cranberry for Urinary Tract Infection: From Bench to Bedside by Nabavi SF, Sureda A, Daglia M, Izadi M, Nabavi SM. (PubMed)
(2) Current clinical status on the preventive effects of cranberry consumption against urinary tract infections by Vasileiou I1, Katsargyris A, Theocharis S, Giaginis C. (PubMed)
(3) Sexual Intercourse and Risk of Symptomatic Urinary Tract Infection in Post-Menopausal Women by Elya E. Moore, Ph.D. Stephen E. Hawes, Ph.D.,1 Delia Scholes, Ph.D.,1,3 Edward J. Boyko, MD, MPH,1,4,5 James P. Hughes, Ph.D.,6 and Stephan D. Fihn, MD, MPH. (PubMed)

Herbal Bilberry, the Natural Treatment for Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI) with No Side Effects

By Kyle J. Norton

Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is a condition caused by the interruption of blood that returns to the heart from the legs due to the damage of venous wall and/or valves in the leg veins, leading to the collection of blood on the veins.

The pool of blood that collected into the veins is called stasis which can be observed over the surface of the affected area.

Researchers do not know the exact causes that prevent the valves to block the calf muscles and the muscles in the feet to squeeze the veins and push the blood upward. However, according to epidemiological studies, researchers do know that aging, occupation associated with extended sitting or standing or a combination of aging and reduced mobility are some of the most prevalent factors associated with chronic venous insufficiency.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a condition of a blood clot that formed in a vein deep in the leg has been found to develop CVI within 10 years after diagnosis in over 30% of patients.

The University of California in the examination of the risk factors associated with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) by classified them against the gender suggested age, family history of venous disease, waist circumference, and flat feet were most common predictive risks in both sexes.

However, men with occupation as a laborer, cigarette smoking, and normotension were also independently associated with severe venous disease.

In women, hours standing, history of a leg injury, number of births, and cardiovascular disease have also increased the risk of the condition.

Most common symptoms of CVI include swelling, pain, itchiness and twisted, enlarged veins observed on the skin on the affected location.

Untreated CVI may cause increased pressure and swelling that have been found to burst the capillaries, leading to skin reddish-brown, especially near the ankles.

Bilberry is a species of low-growing shrubs in the genus Vaccinium, belonging to the family Ericaceae, native to Northern Europe.

The plant has been used as herbs in traditional medicine for the treatment of acute and chronic diarrhea, gastritis, gastric ulcer, and duodenal ulcer, enterocolitis, ulcerative colitis, anemia, cystitis, kidney disease, and psoriasis, diabetes, etc.

With an aim to discover a novel and natural ingredient for the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency with no side effects, researchers examined the effects of an oral venotropic compound (Linfavenix, including bilberry) on patients with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI).

Patients selected to the study were divided into a group treated with Linfavenix or with below-knee elastic compression.

According to based results, the Linfavenix group included 14 patients 7 males and 7 females with the mean age of 44.5 exerted the average ambulatory venous pressure (AVP) range 34-55 compared to those in the elastic compression group with 12 patients (5 males and 7 females) with the mean age of 45 of the range of 36-56.

In other words, there were no significant differences in AVP and RT between the two groups in the improvement of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) at the treatment of 2 weeks.

However, at 4 weeks although there were nonsignificant between the two groups, RF in the Linfavenix group showed a significant decrease in chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) compared to the efficacy in a single ingredient treatment.

The findings suggested that the treatment with Linfavenix is effective for the treatment of CVI at least comparable to those of elastic compression but in a lesser extent compared to the combined treatment.

During the experiment, no adverse effects were reported by the participants. According to the compliance and tolerability scores, no patient had to stop treatment; there were no drop-outs.

Based on these results, researchers suggested, "the treatment with Linfavenix is, in its microcirculatory efficacy, at least comparable than elastic compression with is considered a standard therapeutic option in these patients".

Taken altogether, bilberry used combined with other ingredients may be considered a functioning remedy for the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) pending to the validation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

1,2 Julie O. Denenberg, MA,1 John Bergan, MD,3Robert D. Langer, MD, MPH,5 and Arnost Fronek, MD, PhD. (PMC)

Healthy Food Cucumber's Cucurbitacin B (CuB) Gut Microbiota

By Kyle J. Norton

Gut Microbiota is a community of microorganisms living in our gut. Under normal condition, the ratio of the gut microbiome composition is balanced.

However, the use of antibiotics, illness, stress, aging, bad dietary habits, and lifestyle may alternate the ratio by increasing the growth of "bad" bacterias, leading the development of chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, cancer, and autism.

In other words, imbalanced of the gut microbiota may have a strong and negative impact on the immunity, the digestive, fat and carbohydrate metabolism, and the central nervous system

* In immunity, balanced of the gut microbes showed to stimulate the immune function against inflammatory immune disorders.

* In the digestive system, balanced gut microbes protect the gut against gastrointestinal diseases and non-gastrointestinal diseases.caused by overexpression of bad bacteria.

* In carbohydrate metabolism, gut microbes influence the nutrient extraction from the diet, thus reducing the risk of obesity and obese complication.

* Neurologically, gut microbiota can control brain insulin signaling and metabolite levels that play a critical role in neurobehaviors.

Out of many prevalent factors that cause the onset of the unbalanced ratio of gut microbiota, some researcher suggested that the Western diet may have negatively influenced to induce overgrowth of bad microorganisms in the gut.

Dr. Marit K. Zinöcker, the lead scientist wrote, "Western diet promotes inflammation that arises from both structural and behavioral changes in the resident microbiome"

And, "The environment created in the gut by ultra-processed foods, a hallmark of the Western diet, is an evolutionarily unique selection ground for microbes that can promote diverse forms of inflammatory disease".

The cucumber plant is a species of Cucumis Sativus, belongings to the family Cucurbitaceae and native to Western Asia. It is a creeping vine with roots in the ground and grows up with the support of frames.

With an aim to find a natural compound which enhances the gut microbiomes composition, researchers compared the effects of carrot, cucumber, and broccoli seed flours extracts with 50% acetone on gut microbiota modulating capacity.

In vitro, all three seed flour extracts enhanced a total number of gut bacteria and altered the abundance of specific bacterial phylum or genus.

In other words, cucumber showed a potential effect to improve the ratio of gut microbiota in the flavor of the "good" bacterias, similar to those of carrot and broccoli.

In J774A.1 cells, cucumber also exerted a similar activity by protecting the microbiota that exhibits anti-inflammatory activity by suppressing LPS induced production pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β and COX-2 mRNA expressions.

Furthermore, in obesity, induced progression of metabolic disorders, especially type 2 diabetes (T2DM), cucumber not only improved IR in obese mice and relieving inflammation in adipose tissue and blood but also enhanced the microbiota composition ratios.

More precisely, cucumber improved the ratio of gut microbiome composition by promoting IR and reducing inflammation.

Taken altogether, cucumber may be used for the improvement of gut microbiota, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Chemical Compositions of Cold-Pressed Broccoli, Carrot, and Cucumber Seed Flours and Their in Vitro Gut Microbiota Modulatory, Anti-inflammatory, and Free Radical Scavenging Properties by Choe U1, Li Y1,2, Gao B2, Yu L1, Wang TTY, Sun J, Chen P, Liu J3, Yu L. (PubMed)
(2) Therapeutic Effect of Cucumis melo L. Extract on Insulin Resistance and the GutMicrobiome in Lepob/Lepob Mice by Lee D1, Yoo JH1, Lee BC. (PubMed)
(3) The Western Diet–Microbiome-Host Interaction and Its Role in Metabolic Disease by Marit K. Zinöcker1,* and Inge A. Lindseth. (PMC)