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

Tuesday, 3 September 2019

Antioxidant Lycopene Protects Your Arteries Against Hypertension

By Kyle J. Norton

Hypertension is a condition of abnormally high blood pressure. It also is a member of the cluster of metabolic syndrome associated with the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the arterial walls. In high blood pressure, the heart has to work harder than normal to pump blood through the circulation system. Over time, high blood pressure has been found to cause damage to the heart and arteries.

High blood pressure can be acute or chronic. Acute high blood pressure most often occurs to people with sudden stress.

Sometimes, it can be caused by intense physical exercise. As the heart must pump harder to provide the needs of nutrients and oxygen.

People with high blood pressure in most cases are asymptomatic.

Most cases of chronic high blood pressure are associated with an unhealthy lifestyle and chronic diseases such as kidney disease, leading to the onset of strokes and cardiovascular disease.

On another hand, If you can control your diet, such as making changes to lifestyle, maintaining ideal weight and diet with low salt, you could do just fine without the drugs.

Epidemiologically, here are some natural remedies which will help you to lower high blood pressure, keeping it in the normal range of 130/80.
* Calcium and Magnesium
A combination of these 2 minerals with the right DOSAGES has a long and indisputable track record for normalizing blood pressure safely. Be sure only taking these compounds with a ratio of 2 to 1. Otherwise, this compound might cause irregular heartbeat.

* Mediterranean diet
A study found that people in Greece and Italy always have ideal blood pressure, because their diet contains more polyunsaturated fat, such as olive oil. If you can replace saturated fat in your diet with extra virgin oil, you could easily normalize your blood pressure.

* Reducing Salt intake
Salt is a mineral composed of sodium and chloride. You need only half a tablespoon a day, but we consume many times more than that every day causing high blood pressure and increasing the risk of early death.
Avoid processed meat, because it has been soaked in salt. Use little Ketchup, mustard, and soy sauce because they contain high amounts of salt.

* Cigarette
If you smoke, you better quit. The nicotine in cigarettes and other tobacco products causes your blood vessels to constrict and your heart to beat faster, which temporarily raises your blood pressure.

* Alcohol
Alcohol might cause a temporary rise in blood pressure in some people. If you have high blood pressure, you should reduce your daily intake of alcohol to 1-2 cups.

* Relaxation
Stress may affect blood pressure. Managing stress, by relaxation techniques, such as yoga, lightweight exercise, aerobic exercise, can be healful.

Lycopene is a phytochemical in the class of carotenoid, a natural pigment with no vitamin A activity found abundantly in tomatoes and other red fruits and vegetables, such as red carrots, watermelons, and papayas,

Tomatoes provide about 80% of the lycopene in the world diet. In plants, lycopene protects the host against excessive photodamage and perform various functions in photosynthesis.

On finding a natural compound for the treatment of hypertension, researchers examined the tomato carotenoids such as lycopene anti-high blood pressure activity.

The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study included patients with untreated hypertension individuals who received either 5, 15 and 30 mg lycopene or 15 mg of synthetic lycopene or a placebo over eight weeks.

According to the tested analysis,

* The effective doses of Tomato Nutrient Complex (TNC) that maintain normal blood pressure in untreated hypertensive individuals were 15 or 30 mg of lycopene associated with significant reductions in mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) compared to other treatments.

* Furthermore, Treatment with the lower dose standardized for 5 mg of lycopene or treatment with 15 mg of synthetic lycopene showed no significant effect on blood pressure.

* The increase of blood levels of lycopene was dose-dependent.

The results strongly suggested that only the TNC dose of 15 mg lycopene or higher have a beneficial effect on SBP in hypertension.

Taken altogether, lycopene found in tomato may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of hypertension, pending on 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.

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
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

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) Effect of Tomato Nutrient Complex on Blood Pressure: A Double Blind, Randomized Dose⁻Response Study by Wolak T1, Sharoni Y2, Levy J3, Linnewiel-Hermoni K4, Stepensky D5, Paran E. (PubMed)
(2) Lycopene and Vascular Health by Mozos I1,2, Stoian D3, Caraba A4, Malainer C5, Horbańczuk JO6, Atanasov AG. (PubMed)

Healthy Food Onion Protects Protect the Heart Against Chemo-Cardiotoxicity

By Kyle J. Norton

Cardiotoxicity is a medical condition that causes damage to the heart muscle, leading to reduced heart muscles function to pump blood, and heart failure.

Long term intake of certain medication and people who are under treatment of chemotherapy have been found in most cases of cardiotoxicity.

However, people who are infected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) genetic preposition, a malignant disease associated with the amyloid deposited on the heart or other organs, high blood pressure, untreated hyperthyroidism, and vitamin b2 deficiency are some of the most prevalent factors found in patients with cardiotoxicity.

Most common symptoms of cardiotoxicity are associated with not enough blood circulation in the body such as tiredness and fatigue, a long-term (chronic) cough, shortness of breath, floating due to the enlarged heart muscle, abnormal heart or lung sounds and swelling in your hands, feet, or unusual weight gain.

Conventionally, treatment of cardiotoxicity is totally depending on the types of the disease including
Beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors induce (widen) the arterial dilation and improvement of the blood flow and diuretics.

Some researchers in examining the risk of cardiotoxicity in patients with chemotherapy wrote, "Age and preexisting left ventricular dysfunction have been identified most consistently as being associated with the development of clinical heart failure or a worsening of left ventricular function with chemotherapy".

And, ""Other cardiovascular conditions, including hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery disease, are also associated with the risk of cardiotoxicity".

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 potent ingredient which processes cardio-protective activity researchers examined the effects of extracts from edible wild onion species, Allium flavum, and Allium carinatum, that reduce side effects of cytostatic doxorubicin (Dox).

In human hepatoma (HepG2) and lung carcinoma (A549) cells, the methanol extracts exhibited high levels of antioxidant activity and worked synergistically to increased Dox anticancer activity, without affecting the health of normal cells.

Futhermore, antioxidative enzymes level such as catalase and superoxide dismutases in the cancer cells was also suppressed by the chemicals, compared to normal cells upon applied treatments.

In the toxicity assays on the zebrafish model, the chemical extracts isolated from edible wild onion species processes lower toxicity compared to Dox, with no teratogenic effects at applied doses.

Most importantly, the extracts not only successfully protect the Dox-treated embryos of life-threating cardiomyopathy but also reduced developmental toxicity and neutropenia. in the zebrafish model.

Additionally, the extracts also processed a higher anti-angiogenic activity compared to those of antiangiogenic drugs such as sunitinib or auranofin.

Taken altogether, onion extracts may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of cardio-toxicity, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Wild edible onions - Allium flavum and Allium carinatum - successfully prevent adverse effects of chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin by Aleksandar P1, Dragana MĆ2, Nebojša J3, Biljana N3, Nataša S4, Branka V5, Jelena KV. (PubMed)
(2) Risk factors for chemotherapy-related cardiac toxicity by Polonsky TS1, DeCara JM. (PubMed)

Turmeric Protects the Brain Cells Against Memory Deficit

By Kyle J. Norton

Memory impairment is a condition associated with a slow decline in memory, thinking and reasoning skills. Over time, the condition can worsen enough to affect the quality of life and daily activity.

Memory loss frequently is an early sign of memory deficit. Many factors can cause memory change. However, memory impairment in the elderly in most cases is associated with a gradual loss and death of neurons such as Alzheimer's disease.

Some memory change can be resolved on their own or cured by medical treatment if the underlining cause is found. However, loss or gradual loss of neurons capacity cannot be revered such as dementia.

According to statistics, in the US, approximately 5.7 million people are living with dementia. Most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, affecting 5.5 million people of all ages.

Most common risk factor associated with memory deficit is increasing age, smoking the genetic preposition of APOE-e4, also linked to Alzheimer's disease, obesity and medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and depression, and physical inactivity.

Out of many risk factors, aging may be one of the major culprits that cause memory deficit in large numbers of older adults, leading to irreversible memory impairment such as AD and PD.

Dr. Gary W Small, said, "Memory changes cause concern to many patients as they grow older.". However, there are some factors that can decrease the progression of the condition, including stress reduction, physical and mental activity, healthy diet and lifestyle choice.

Turmeric is a perennial plant in the genus Curcuma, belongings to the family Zingiberaceae, native to tropical South Asia.

The herb has been used in traditional medicine as anti-oxidant, hypoglycemic, colorant, antiseptic, wound healing agent, and to treat flatulence, bloating, and appetite loss, ulcers, eczema, inflammations, etc.

On findings a potential compound which processes anti-neuro-degeneration, researchers examined the effects of curcumin on the early stage amnesia of AD-related to memory retrieval deficit.

Selected Male NMRI mice (20-25 g body weight) included in the study were treated with 50 or 100 mg/kg/po curcumin or its vehicle for 10 days. During the experiment, the animals were trained in passive avoidance apparatus ar day 10 and 30 min. before the retention test that performs after 24 hours of curcumin or its vehicle application, scopolamine (1 mg/kg/i.p.) or its vehicle was administrated.

According to the tested analysis, curcumin treatment at 50 and 100 mg/kg doses not only inhibited the activity of scopolamine in the induction of memory retrieval deficit but also restored Akt and GSK dephosphorylation associated with neuroprotection against scopolamine.

In other words, curcumin at the tested concentration effective protect the Akt and GSK pathways which play are a critical role in enhancing cell survival by stimulating cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis caused by scopolamine in the brain.

After taking others into account, Dr. Lv KJ, wrote in the final report, "pre-test scopolamine administration disrupts memory retrieval along with with with with the diminished Akt and GSK-3β phosphorylation in the hippocampus while curcumin administration prevented those changes."

Taken altogether, turmeric processed abundantly bioactive compound curcumin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of memory retrieval deficit, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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

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
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You. How-To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

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) Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) extract may prevent the deterioration of spatial memory and the deficit of estimated total number of hippocampal pyramidal cells of trimethyltin-exposed rats by Yuliani S1, Mustofa2, Partadiredja G. (PubMed)
(2) Curcumin ameliorates scopolamine-induced mice memory retrieval deficit and restores hippocampal p-Akt and p-GSK-3β by SoukhakLari R1, Moezi L2, Pirsalami F3, Ashjazadeh N4, Moosavi M. (PubMed)
(3) What we need to know about age related memory loss by Gary W Small, Parlow-Solomon professor on aging. (PMC)

Monday, 2 September 2019

Mustards in the Prevention and the Treatment of Chronic Diseases

By Kyle J. Norton

Chronic diseases are a group of medical conditions most commonly associated with aging, including
arthritis, cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and stroke, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and seizures, and obesity.

Nutrigenomic activity is a scientific term that optimizes the interaction of nutrition and genes, especially in the prevention or treatment of disease.

In other words, the nutrigenomic activity provided information on how the interaction of certain foods with specific genes that lead to the increased risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.

Biologically, nutrigenomics also provided the information molecularly how chemicals found in the diet altered the expression of genes that affect the individual health.

More precisely, nutrigenomics is depending totally on an individual's genetic makeup.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, chronic diseases also are the major driver of health care costs, accounting for nearly 75 percent of aggregate healthcare spending and increasing absenteeism that impact workforce patterns.

Each chronic patient has cost the health care spending $5300 annually.

Believe it or not, chronic diseases in the US, chronic diseases are responsible for 7 out of 10 deaths yearly. In other words, chronic diseases kill more than 1.7 million Americans each year.

According to the joint study led by the Fordham University, chronic diseases are among the most prevalent and costly health conditions in the US, affecting over 133 millions of the US population as many of them suffer from at least one chronic disease and the number is growing in the rapid rate.

Some chronic diseases such as cancer have been found to be the leading causes of hospitalization, long-term disability, reduced quality of life, and death.

The World Health Organization suggested that unhealthy diet and excessive energy intake, physical inactivity, and tobacco use are some of the most common cause of chronic diseases.

In other words, an unhealthy diet and physical inactivity raised blood pressure, raised glucose levels, abnormal blood lipids (particularly low-density lipoprotein – LDL cholesterol), and overweight (body mass index ≥25 kg/m2) and obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) are some of the most common prevalent factors found in patients in the Western World.

Other risk factors associated with the risk of chronic disease also inclduing excessive alcohol drinking, infectious agents, some environmental factors such as air pollution, which contribute to asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases.

Some researchers suggested by changing unhealthy lifestyle pattern, chronic diseases may be preventable.

Dr. Walter C. Willett, the lead scientist in the concern about the risk chronic disease in poor lifestyle individuals wrote, "Several lines of evidence indicate that realistic modifications of diet and lifestyle can prevent most CAD, stroke, diabetes, colon cancer, and smoking-related cancers".

And, "Among U.S. adults, more than 90 percent of type 2 diabetes, 80 percent of CAD, 70 percent of stroke, and 70 percent of colon cancer are potentially preventable by a combination of nonsmoking, avoidance of overweight, moderate physical activity, healthy diet, and moderate alcohol consumption".

Mustard is a genus Brassica, belongings to the family Brassicaceae, native to the Himalayan region of India. The veggie has seen used in some forms in African, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and soul food cuisine because of its popularity.
With an aim to find natural food that lowers the incidence of chronic diseases including different kinds of cancer, researchers examined the anti-cancer effects of sulfur-containing glucosinolates (GLSs)-secondary plant compounds from mustards, including isothiocyanates.

According to medical literature, ITCs promoted overall health in vitro and vivo. The phytochemical also exerted anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory properties by activating the redox-sensitive transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) involved in antioxidants expression. and phase II enzymes involved in drug metabolism.

Furthermore, administration ITCs also significantly ameliorate a severe inflammatory phenotype in colitic mice in vivo.

In other words, ITCs inhibited the risk of chronic disease through its antioxidants and anti-chemical toxicity activity.

Researchers after taking other factors into account wrote, "an epigenetic mode of action for Brassica-derived phytochemicals, the conduction of further studies would be recommendable to investigate if the beneficial effects of these compounds also persist during an irregular consumption pattern".

Taken altogether, mustards processed abundantly ITCs may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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

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
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You. How-To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

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) Brassica-Derived Plant Bioactives as Modulators of Chemopreventive and Inflammatory Signaling Pathways by Sturm C1, Wagner AE. (PubMed)
(2) Chronic diseases and health promotion by WHO
(3) Chapter 44Prevention of Chronic Disease by Means of Diet and Lifestyle Changes by Walter C. Willett, Jeffrey P. Koplan, Rachel Nugent, Courtenay Dusenbury, Pekka Puska, and Thomas A. Gaziano. (NCBI)

Phytochemicals Betaxanthins Reduce the Risk of Stenosis of the Arteries

By Kyle J. Norton

Stenosis of the arteries is a narrowing large artery caused by the accumulation of plaques located on each side of the neck that carries blood to the head, face, and brain.

Most common causes of stenosis of the arteries are results from atherosclerosis.

Untreated stenosis of the arteries has been found to induce complications of transient ischemic attack or stroke, depending on a blot clot that briefly blockage or partly or completely blockage of a blood vessel to the brain.

Atherosclerosis is a medical condition caused by plaque accumulated on the wall of arteries, leading to the narrowing of the artery and reducing oxygen risk blood flow to the heart and brain.

Depending on the location of the blockage, if the reduced blood flow occurred in the brain, it will cause the death of the brain cells, leading to stroke.

However, if the reduced blood flow occurred in the heart, it will cause damage to the heart tissues, leading to heart disease.

Most common disease associated with atherosclerosis is coronary artery disease. Plaques are made up of cholesterol, calcium and other chemical substances in the artery

Most people with atherosclerosis are asymptomatic at the early stage.

Some researchers suggested that atherosclerosis is a lipoprotein-driven disease. Therefore, people with high blood cholesterol are at an increased risk of atherosclerosis. Overuse of calcium supplement is also found to elevated the condition risk, particularly in the elderly.

Other risk factors that have bee found epidemiologically by studies are high blood pressure, triglycerides, smoking, insulin resistance, obesity or diabetes and inflammatory diseases, such as arthritis, lupus or infections.

Most cases of atherosclerosis can be reversed by making a change of lifestyle and moderate exercise. However, in severe cases surgery to remove plaque from the artery may be the only option.

Betaxanthins are Phytochemicals in the class of red and yellow indole-derived pigments, belonging to the group of Betalains, found abundantly in beets, Sicilian prickly pear, etc.

On finding a potent ingredient for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, researchers investigated the effects of betalains, consisting of betacyanins and betaxanthins on the stenosis of the arteries.

In vivo and in vitro studies, betalains and betalain-rich diets is not only safe but also inhibited oxidative stress-, inflammation-, and dyslipidemia-related diseases associated with narrowing arteries involved in atherosclerosis, or a build-up of plaque on the inside of the arteries.

Furthermore, betalains and betalain-rich diets are safe toxicological safety, incorporated with easy accessibility, low price, biodegradability, and potentially advantageous biological effects on health.

These results strongly suggested betalains may be used in food manufacturing and related industries to overcome current concerns over the health risks of artificial colors.

Dr. Rahimi P, the lead scientist wrote, "(Even with the efficacy), further studies using pure betalains are required to gain a deeper understanding of their precise biological functions".

Taken altogether, betaxanthins found abundantly in betalains and betalain-rich diets may be considered anti-atherosclerotic remedy, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Betalains, the nature-inspired pigments, in health and diseases by Rahimi P1, Abedimanesh S1, Mesbah-Namin SA1, Ostadrahimi A. (PubMed)

Western diet Is Associated with The Risk of Metabolic Syndrome

By Kyle J. Norton

The Western pattern diet or typical American diet is a modern dietary pattern associated with a high intake of processed foods, red meat, processed meat, fried and refined foods, and high-sugar.

The Western pattern diet has also been found to induce chronic diseases. Dr. Hariharan D, the lead scientist wrote, "Characteristics of the Western diet that fueled the obesity epidemic may also impact kidney disease incidence and progression. Enlarging portion sizes over the past half-century have been accompanied by increased intake of protein, sodium, and processed foods while consumption of fruits and vegetables has declined".

And, ", the Western diet, characterized by high intake of red meat, animal fat, sweets, and desserts and low intake of fresh fruits and vegetables and low-fat dairy products, increases risk of chronic diseases".

The results clearly suggested, if you are following a traditional diet with high fruits and vegetable and fewer in processed food, saturated and trans fat, and red meat accompanied with moderate exercise daily, you are at a substantially decreased risk of chronic disease, compared to those who follow the Western diet.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, including too much fat around the waist, high blood pressure, triglycerides, and blood sugar, and low HDL cholesterol.

In other words, if you process 3 of the aforementioned conditions, you are at a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. However, most people with metabolic syndrome have never developed
CVD and diabetes.

Other than high blood glucose, most patients with metabolic conditions are asymptomatic.

Epidemiologically, aging, ethnicity, obesity, medical condition such as diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and polycystic ovary syndrome are most risk factors found in patients with the syndrome.

Green peas are species of Pisum Sativum belongings to the family Fabaceae and native to western Asia from the Mediterranean Sea to the Himalaya Mountains. The pea is a green, pod-shaped vegetable and a cool-season crop grown in many parts of the world.

On finding a potent ingredient for the reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, researchers investigated the association between major dietary patterns and prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance.

The cross-sectional study included a total of 425 subjects 35 to 55 y of age. According to the returned food-frequency questionnaire from participants,

* The Western pattern with a high in sweets, butter, soda, mayonnaise, sugar, cookies, tail of a lamb, hydrogenated fat, and eggs was associated with greater odds of having increased triacylglycerol (odds ratio 1.76, 95% confidence interval 1.01-3.07) and blood pressure (odds ratio 2.62, 95% confidence interval 1.32-5.23).

* The prudent pattern with a high in fish, peas, honey, nuts, juice, dry fruits, vegetable oil, liver and organic meat, and coconuts and low in hydrogenated fat and non-leafy vegetables was associated with a prevalence of low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (odds ratio 0.55, 95% confidence interval 0.31-0.96).

* The vegetarian dietary pattern with a was inversely associated with a risk of an abnormal fasting blood glucose level (odds ratio 2.26, 95% confidence interval 1.25-4.06).

Based on the findings, researchers said, "Major dietary patterns were significantly associated with the risk of metabolic syndrome".

Taken altogether, People who follow the Western diet are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes comapred to other dietary patterns.

Sources
(1) Relationship between major dietary patterns and metabolic syndrome among individuals with impaired glucose tolerance by Amini M1, Esmaillzadeh A, Shafaeizadeh S, Behrooz J, Zare M. (PubMed)
(2) The Western Diet and Chronic Kidney Disease by Hariharan D1, Vellanki K, Kramer H. (PubMed)

Green Peas (Pisum Sativum) Reduces the Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

By Kyle J. Norton

An inflammatory bowel (IBD) disease is a group of chronic inflammatory diseases associated with the gastrointestinal tract, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

Ulcerative colitis has been found to induce chronic inflammation and ulcers in the inner lining of the large intestine (colon) and rectum, causing diarrhea, often with blood or pus, abdominal pain, and cramping, rectal pain, and bleeding and urgency to defecate.

Crohn's disease is a type of IBD associated with the inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract, leading to symptoms of frequent, recurring diarrhea, rectal bleeding, unexplained weight loss, fever.
and abdominal pain and cramping.

According to the statistics, provided by the CDC in the US, IBD affects over 1.3% or 3 million US adults including Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis in 2015.

Most common symptoms of IBD include diarrhea, fever, and fatigue, abdominal pain and cramping, loss of appetite and unintended weight loss and blood in the stool.

Conventionally, most cases of IBD are treated with anti-inflammatory medicine, immune suppressor or antibiotics, and drugs that reduce symptoms, depending on the severity of the conditions.

Most cases of IBD has been found in older adults in the age of 45 years or older.

Dr. Danielle Nimmons and Jimmy K Limdi said, "The incidence and prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are increasing globally. Coupled with an aging population, the number of older patients with IBD is set to increase. The clinical features and therapeutic options in young and elderly patients are comparable but there are some significant differences".

And, "In addition, age-specific concerns such as co-morbidity; loco-motor and cognitive function, poly-pharmacy and its consequences need to be taken into account. In applying modern treatment paradigms to the elderly, the clinician must consider the potential for more pronounced adverse effects in this vulnerable group and set appropriate boundaries maximizing benefit and minimizing harm".

Green peas are species of Pisum Sativum belongings to the family Fabaceae and native to western Asia from the Mediterranean Sea to the Himalaya Mountains. The pea is a green, pod-shaped vegetable and a cool-season crop grown in many parts of the world.

On finding a potent ingredient for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, researchers investigated the impact of green pea (GP) supplementation on the susceptibility of high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice to dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis.

The study included 6-week-old C57BL/6J female mice fed a 45% HFD or HFD supplemented with 10% GP. for 7-week before colitis was induced by adding 2.5% DSS in drinking water for 7 days followed by a 7-day recovery period.

Based on the tested analysis, BP supplement showed a significant effect in ameliorating the disease index score in HFD-fed mice during the recovery stage by reducing neutrophil infiltration and chemokine associated with a pro-inflammatory response.

Furthermore, pro-inflammatory markers in the tested mice such as interleukin (IL)-6, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), IL-17, interferon-γ (IFN-γ) were also inhibited by the administration of GP supplement.

Moreover, the mucin 2 content and goblet cell differentiation markers associated with the protection of digestive functioning were significantly increased by the GP supplement.

Additionally, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress induced by the 2.5% DSS that cause digestive cell dysfunction was inhibited by the GP application.

Based on the findings, researchers wrote, "GP supplementation ameliorated the severity of DSS-induced colitis in HFD-fed mice, which was associated with the suppression of inflammation, mucin depletion, and ER stress in the colon".

Taken altogether, green peas may be considered a functional food for the prevention of inflammatory bowel disease, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Dietary Green Pea Protects against DSS-Induced Colitis in Mice Challenged with High-Fat Diet by Bibi S1, de Sousa Moraes LF2, Lebow N3, Zhu MJ. (PubMed)