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

Monday 29 July 2019

Healthy Food Navy Bean Balances the Ratio of Gut Microbiota for Optimal Health

By Kyle J. Norton

Gut microbiota a community of microorganisms that live in the gut of humans and animals. The gut metagenome contains genetic material recovered directly from environmental samples.

Depending on the genetic made up and environmental factors, including diet, the gut microbiota of one individual can be different compared to others

Epidemiological studies suggested that unbalanced of the ratio of bacterias in the GI tract induce changes in microbiome structure, that links to inflammatory, functional and metabolic disorders such as IBD, IBS, and obesity.

Dr. Ana M Valdes, the lead scientist in the examined the health benefits associated with intestinal microbiome suggested that gut microbes have a strong effect on human health including immune, metabolic and neurobehavioral traits.

More precisely, the intestinal microbiomes

* Interact with the immune function that has a strong impact on host immune balance for optimal health.

In other words, intestinal microbiomes modulate the function of the immune system depending on the needs of the host.

* Reduce the risk of gastrointestinal diseases and non-gastrointestinal diseases caused by overexpression of bad bacteria.

* Increase nutrient absorption from the diet and maintain digestive metabolism, thus reducing the risk of obesity and obese complications.

* Control brain insulin signaling and metabolite levels against neurobehaviors.

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.

With an aim to find potential health food for the improvement of gut microbiota, researchers examined the impact of cooked navy bean powder on the fecal microbiome of healthy adult pet dogs.

The study included the analysis of the fecal samples from healthy dogs prior to dietary control and after 4 wk of dietary treatment with macro- and micronutrient matched diets containing either 0 or 25% cooked navy beans (n = 11 and n = 10, respectively).

According to the tested assay performed from the fecal samples, there were no major effects of navy bean inclusion on microbial populations. However, there were significant differences due to dietary intervention onto both research diets.

More precisely, after 4 wk of dietary intervention both control or navy bean diet, increased the levels of Phylum Firmicutes and decreased the levels of Phyla Actinobacteria and Fusobacteria, compared to baseline.

Additional differentiation of the sample, researchers suggest

* Cooked navy bean exerted no negative alterations of microbial populations in dogs, therefore, the bean powders may be a viable protein and fiber source for commercial pet foods.

* The no difference of both diet associated with the highly variable microbial populations observed in these healthy adult pet dogs at baseline may contribute to the potential reason for the difficulty to detect alterations in microbial populations following dietary changes.

Furthermore, in C57Bl/6 mice that 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, researchers found that
* Both NB and BB diet similarly altered the fecal microbiota community structure by increasing the abundance of carbohydrate fermenting bacteria such as Prevotella, S24-7, and Ruminococcus flavefaciens.

* Both NB and BB enhanced mucus and epithelial barrier integrity vs. BD in multiple aspects associated with the diseases in the colon.

* The risk of colonic diseases involved in the biomarkers was also inhibited by both NB and BB diet through improving the colonic cell integrity.

Collectively, Dr. Monk JM, the lead scientist wrote, " 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 fermented navy bean may be considered a remedy for the improvement of the gut microbiota, 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
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) Effects of dietary cooked navy bean on the fecal microbiome of healthy companion dogs by Kerr KR1, Forster G, Dowd SE, Ryan EP, Swanson KS. (PubMed)
(2) Navy and black bean supplementation primes the colonic mucosal microenvironment to improve gut health by Monk JM1, Lepp D2, Wu W2, Pauls KP3, Robinson LE4, Power KA. (PubMed)

Healthy Food Onion Protects the Healthy Cell Against Cyto and Geno-Toxicity

By Kyle J. Norton

Cytotoxicity is the process that kills cells by inducing toxic substance.

Cancer cytotoxicity is the stage of killing cancer cells by toxicity with or without inducing side effects.

Most cases of cytotoxicity of a substance are to determine the potential toxicity of the quality of the substance, including plant extracts or biologically active compounds isolated from plants.

In other words, the aim of the cytotoxic studies is to find the minimal quality that is essential for the successful development of pharmaceutical or cosmetic preparation that induces cellular toxicity for the treatment of cancer.

Before the preparation can be used in human, bioassays associated with a number of different cell lines in vitro and vivo have been used to assess the cytotoxicity of many herbal plants, including those of African medicinal plants.

Free radicals have also been found to induce cytotoxicity to cause cancer death by oxidative stress.

Dr. Clifford Fong wrote, "An analysis of the cytotoxicity data for a wide range of anti-cancer drugs applied to triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells and ovarian cancer cells under normoxic, hypoxic and anoxic conditions have shown that free radical forms of the drugs are involved".

And " This finding is consistent with the known involvement of oxidative stress in the TNBC and ovarian cancer cells. A mechanism to explain the formation of these drug-free radicals and how they can be involved in oxidative stress is proposed".

Genotoxicity is the term associated with chemical agents that damages the genetic information within a cell, causing mutations of cell DNA, a major cause of cancer.

Not all genotoxicity are mutagenicity, However, all mutagens are genotoxic.

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 treatment of cancer, researchers examined the effect of an onion extract on cyto- and genotoxicity in human lymphocytes treated with bleomycin (BLM), a radiomimetic agent.

In radiation exposure -induced oxidative DNA damage in the increased risk of cancer, the risk the richest sources of dietary flavonoids found in onion inhibited the frequency of micronuclei (MN) and DNA damage following treatment with BLM, according to the cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus assay and a single cell gel electrophoresis assay.

Phytochemicals in the onion showed a significant increase in cell viability in lymphocytes exposed to BLM compared to cells treated with BLM alone.

Onion also suppressed the increased frequency of BLM induced MN and DNA damage in a dose-dependent manner evidenced by lymphocytes viability pretreated with onion extract (10 and 20 μL/mL).

Moreover, the frequency of BLM-induced MN was decreased at all doses of BLM and DNA damage was decreased by the administration at 3 μg/mL of BLM.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "onion extract may have protective effects against BLM-induced cyto- and genotoxicity in human lymphocytes".

Taken altogether, onion processed abundantly bioactive compounds may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) Protective Effect of Onion Extract on Bleomycin-Induced Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity in Human Lymphocytes by Cho YH1,2, Lee JW3, Woo HD4, Lee S5, Kim YJ6, Lee Y7, Shin S8, Joung H9, Chung HW. (PubMed)
(2) Evaluation of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of Hancornia speciosa latex in Allium cepa root model by Ribeiro TP1, Sousa TR1, Arruda AS1, Peixoto N1, Gonçalves PJ2, Almeida LM. (PubMed)
(3) Free radicals in chemotherapy-induced cytotoxicity and oxidative stress in triple negative breast and ovarian cancers under hypoxic and normoxic conditions by Clifford Fong (HAL)

Herbal Turmeric Promotes the Disaggregation of Amyloid-β Plaques in Alzheimer's disease

By Kyle J. Norton

Dementia is a group of neurodegenerative diseases caused by a decline in mental ability in the older population that is severe enough to interfere with daily life, such as memory loss.

Compared to dementia, neurological disorders are a class of brain disease associated with reduced function of the brain, depending on the region of the neurons that were affected.

Alzheimer's disease is a type of dementia correlated with major reductions of neurons to the respective target areas, named after German physician Alois Alzheimer.

In other words, Alzheimer's disease is caused by the gradual loss of neuron functioning that usually starts with the early symptom of the difficulty of remembering recent events and worsens over time.

Alzheimer's destroys brain cells, causing cognitive modalities severe enough to affect language communication, memory, lifelong hobbies or social life. Alzheimer's gets worse over time, and it is fatal.

The disease is most prevalent in the elderly and causes over 60% of all cases of dementia.

According to the statistics, approximately 5.7 million Americans of all ages are living with Alzheimer's.

Believe it or not, 15.9 million family caregivers provided an estimated 18.2 billion hours and $230 billion to people with dementia worldwide.

Epidemiological studies suggested that Alzheimer's disease is caused by a combination of genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors that affect the neurons of the brain over time. However, less 10% of patients with AD are associated with a genetic preposition. Patients with such mutated genes on chromosomes 21, 14, and 1are virtually guaranteed to develop the disease.

Dr. Rudolph E. Tanzi said, "The inheritance of AD exhibits a dichotomous pattern. On one hand, rare mutations in APP, PSEN1, and PSEN2 virtually guarantee early-onset (<60 years) familial AD, which represents ∼5% of AD. On the other hand, common gene polymorphisms, such as the ε4 and ε2 variants of the APOE gene, can influence susceptibility for ∼50% of the common late-onset AD".

And, " These four genes account for 30%–50% of the inheritability of AD".

Turmeric is a perennial plant in the genus Curcuma, belonging 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 for the treatment of flatulence, bloating, and appetite loss, ulcers, eczema, inflammations, etc.

On finding a natural compound which reduces the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD), researchers examined the neuroprotective and cognitive-enhancing properties of turmeric in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

In vivo and vitro, curcumin, a polyphenol derived from turmeric herb exerted significant activity against the formation and promotes the disaggregation of amyloid-β plaques.

Furthermore, in hyperphosphorylation of tau, curcumin attenuated the saturation of multiple phosphorylation sites. Abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau in the brain plays a vital role in the molecular pathogenesis of AD.

Moreover, curcumin enhanced the clearance of amyloid-β plaques aggregation by binding to the binds copper, lowering cholesterol.

Interestingly, curcumin also modified microglial activity against inflammation, inhibited acetylcholinesterase, the enzymes associated with reduced function neurotransmitters and mediated the insulin signaling pathway that augments neuronal growth and synaptogenesis associated with synapse formation.

Additionally, curcumin demonstrated a significant effect on neuro-stress through its antioxidant property.

Based on the finding, researchers wrote, "curcumin has the potential to be more efficacious than current treatments. However, its usefulness as a therapeutic agent may be hindered by its low bioavailability".

In other words, in order to overcome the curcumin limitation of bioavailability, the development of new curcumin formulations that increase bioavailability is necessary.

Taken altogether, turmeric processed abundantly bioactive compound curcumin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of AD, 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.

Sulforaphane-Rich Broccoli Sprout Extracts Protects the Brain Cells Against Cognitive Deficits

By Kyle J. Norton

Cognition is the process of the brain functioning associated with the attention of working memory, producing and comprehending language, learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision making.

Cognitive deficit is a medical condition, that affects a person's thinking, communication, understanding or memory. The cognitive deficit can be acute or chronic.

Acute cognitive deficit is a short-term health problem caused by drugs toxicity and withdrawal, electrolyte disturbance, lack of drugs, liver disease, infection, reduced sensor input, intracranial urinary retention/fecal impaction or myocardial/metabolic/pulmonary. An acute cognitive deficit may be recovered if the cause is found.

Chronic cognitive deficit is a permanent medical condition caused by the gradual or permanent loss of the neurons, leading to problems of language, ideomotor and constructive praxis, visual gnosis, spatial attention, learning abilities, and executive functions.

There is no single cause of the chronic cognitive deficit. Increase in age, genetic preposition, certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, high blood cholesterol, and pressure, being obese and lack of exercise are some prevalent factors found in patients with chronic cognitive deficit.

Some researchers suggested that depending on the locations of the brain that were affected, patients may be at risk of Alzheimer's disease such as brain change caused by the abnormal clumps of beta-amyloid protein (plaques).

Small strokes or reduced blood flow through the brain can also cause a chronic cognitive deficit.

According to the observation of the patient MRI, patients brain with cognitive impairment also showed shrinkage of the hippocampus, a brain region important for memory, enlargement of the brain's fluid-filled spaces (ventricles) and reduced use of glucose, the sugar that's the primary source of energy for cells.

Out of many risk factors associated with the onset of the condition, obesity is also one of the major risk factors of cognitive impairment in the Western world.

Dr. Jason C. D. Nguyen, the lead author on the neurological team wrote in the final report, "The incidence of obesity in middle age is increasing markedly, and in parallel, the prevalence of metabolic disorders including cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes is also rising. Numerous studies have demonstrated that both obesity and metabolic disorders are associated with poorer cognitive performance, cognitive decline, and dementia".

Brussels sprout is a species of wild cabbage (Brassica oleracea), belong to the family of Brassicaceae and was cultivated since ancient Rome.

With an aim to find a potential compound for the treament of cognitive impairment, researchers examined the effects of dietary intake of sulforaphane-rich broccoli sprout extracts against parameters associated with the risk of cognitive dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia.

According to the results of the experiment, sulforaphane (SFN) derived from broccoli showed a strong effect in the activation of the transcription factor Nrf2 regulated by Keap1, a cytoplasmic protein which plays a central role against the stimulation of oxidative stress.

Moreover, pretreatment with SFN attenuated cognitive deficit, the increase in 8-oxo-dG-positive cells, and the decrease in PV-positive cells in the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampus found in patients with a neurodegenerative disease caused by oxidative stress induced by administration of phencyclidine (PCP).

In other words, PCP-induced cognitive deficits were inhibited by the subsequent subchronic administration of SFN.

Believe it or not, chronic dietary intake of glucoraphanin (a glucosinolate precursor of SFN) during the juvenile and adolescence not only prevented the onset of PCP-induced cognitive deficit but also increased in 8-oxo-dG-positive cells and the decreased in PV-positive cells in the brain at adulthood.

The results strongly suggested the NRF2 gene and the KEAP1 gene had an epistatic effect in gene reaction on cognitive impairment (e.g., working memory and processing speed) in patients with schizophrenia.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "SFN may have prophylactic and therapeutic effects on cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Therefore, the dietary intake of SFN-rich broccoli sprouts during the juvenile and adolescence may prevent the onset of psychosis at adulthood".

Taken altogether, broccoli sprout processed abundantly SFN may be considered a functional food for the promotion of cognitive deficit, 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
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) Dietary Intake of Sulforaphane-Rich Broccoli Sprout Extracts during Juvenile and Adolescence Can Prevent Phencyclidine-Induced Cognitive Deficits at Adulthood by Shirai Y1, Fujita Y1, Hashimoto R2, Ohi K3, Yamamori H3, Yasuda Y3, Ishima T1, Suganuma H4, Ushida Y4, Takeda M3, Hashimoto K. (PubMed)
(2) Obesity and cognitive decline: role of inflammation and vascular changes by Jason C. D. Nguyen,1 A. Simon Killcross,2 and Trisha A. Jenkins. (PMC)

Sunday 28 July 2019

Cucumber's Cucurbitacin B (CuB) Might Process Anti Diabetes Potency

By Kyle J. Norton

Diabetes is a medical condition caused by not insufficient insulin entering the bloodstream.

In other words, diabetes is a condition associated with the inability of the body to use insulin properly.

Most cases of insulin insufficiency in the bloodstream in diabetes are either caused by the gradual died-off of the pancreas beta cells or insulin receptors clogged-up by fat and cholesterol.

Hallmarks of diabetes are hyperglycemia and insulin resistance.

According to the statistics, in 2017, 7.3% of Canadians aged 12 and older (roughly 2.3 million people) reported being diagnosed with diabetes

Most common causes of diabetes are

* Metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions including high blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose

associated with an increased risk of diabetes.

* Gestational diabetes
High blood glucose of pregnant women has been found to increase the risk of diabetes in later life.

* Prediabetes
Most cases of prediabetes are caused by unhealthy diets with high saturated fat, smoking, and excessive alcohol drinking. Prediabetes is a high-risk state for diabetes, especially in patients who remain with prediabetes despite intensive lifestyle intervention.

* Damage to the Pancreas causes the gradual and irreversible loss of beta cells that reduce the production of insulin

* Influenza a viruses
Influenza A virus is a common cause of pancreatitis in naturally and experimentally infected animals.

However, recently, researchers found that influenza virus infection may play a role as a causative agent of pancreatitis and diabetes in humans.

* * Head trauma
Head trauma is considered a possible cause of central diabetes insipidus with symptoms of failure to concentrate urine, an increase in urine specific gravity.

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 processes anti-diabetes property, researchers investigated the effect of different fractions of Cucumis prophetarum on antidiabetic and antioxidant activity.

The study was carried out to examine the anti-diabetes and antioxidants of the different doses of aqueous crude extract (CE) of C. prophetarum fruits fractionated into water-soluble fraction 1 (F1), chloroform fraction 2 (F2), basic fraction 3 (F3), and neutral fraction 4 (F4) by acid-base extraction,

Based on the chemical analysis,
* F1 exhibited effective antidiabetic activity with an IC50 value of 20.6 and 59.9 µg/mL.

* According to α-amylase assay, the anti-diabetes activity was found in the decreasing order of CE > F4 > F3 > F2.

* According to the DPPH assay, F1 (IC50 = 73 µg/mL) showed better reducing ability than CE >F4 >F2 > F3 (IC50 = 78-272 µg/mL

* Furthermore, according to the SO and metal chelation assays, F1 showed the highest activity anti-diabetes at the IC50 = 101 and 147 µg/mL.

These results strongly suggested that F1 possesses a potent antidiabetic compared to other fractions, in vitro.

In other words, all ingredients in cucumbers work synergistically to exhibit the anti-diabetes activity compared to a single compound.

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

Sources
(1) Antidiabetic and antioxidant potency evaluation of different fractions obtained from Cucumis prophetarum fruit by Gawli K1, Lakshmidevi N. (PubMed)
(2) Cucurbitacin B Induces Hypoglycemic Effect in Diabetic Mice by Regulation of AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Alpha and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 via Bitter Taste Receptor Signaling by Kim KH1,2, Lee IS1,2, Park JY1,2, Kim Y1,2, An EJ1,2, Jang HJ. (PubMed)
(3) Diabetes – The Causes by Kyle J. Norton

Healthy Food Navy Bean, a Natural Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol

By Kyle J. Norton

Cholesterol is a way substance produced by the liver or from food sources plays an important role to build strong cell membranes and produce steroid hormone and vitamin D and aiding the digestive tract in absorbing the nutrients for our body need.

Hyperlipidemia is also one of condition found in the cluster of metabolic syndrome.

In a healthy individual, excess cholesterol is returned to the liver after performing the aforementioned function by high-density lipoprotein or "good cholesterol".

However, a prolonged period of overexpression of abnormal blood cholesterol due to excessive consumption of fat or reduced levels of "good cholesterol" in the bloodstream can cause plaque building up on the arterial wall, leading to heart diseases and stroke.

Depending on the choice of diet, your risk of high blood cholesterol can be increased or decreased.

The healthy ratio of blood cholesterol is 4 (low-density lipoprotein) to 1 (high-density lipoprotein).

If your ratio is lower than 4, you are considered to have a healthy blood cholesterol ratio.

Hyperlipidemia is preventable. If you have high blood cholesterol, reducing bad fat intake accompanied by increased intake of "good cholesterol" with moderate exercise can be helpful.

More precisely, by changing to a healthy diet and lifestyle with moderate exercise, you are at the lower risk of high blood cholesterol sometimes in the future (weeks or months, depending on the levels of blood cholesterol today).

People who follow the Western diet with a high in saturated and trans fat, red meat, processed food and low in fruits and vegetables and whole grains may have a substantially increased risk of abnormally high blood cholesterol.

According to the article "Western Diet and Heart Risk", the author wrote, "Western diets cause a third of heart attack deaths worldwide,” the Daily Mail reports. Western-style diets high in meat, fat, dairy and salt put people at higher risk of a heart attack. According to the newspaper, a study has found that poor diet is responsible for 30% of the risk of heart disease".

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 dietary source for the treatment of high blood cholesterol, researchers examined whether cooked navy bean powder (NBP) and/or heat-stabilized rice bran (RB) supplementation is tolerable, improves dietary fiber intake in children, and modulates lipid profiles.

The study included children aged 8 to 13 years at risk for CVD due to abnormal lipids. In other words, all participants were diagnosed with elevated cholesterol levels including total cholesterol ≥180 mg/dL and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) <60 mg/dL; low-density lipoprotein (LDL) ≥100 mg/dL and HDL <60 mg/dL; or non-HDL >100 mg/dL and HDL <60 mg/dL.

Participants received muffins or a smoothie daily that included 0 g NBP or RB (control), 17.5 g NBP, 15 g RB, or a combination 9 g NBP + 8 g RB. Fasting blood was collected at baseline and week 4.

Only 38 children completed the trial, including n = 9 control, n = 10 NBP, n = 9 RB, and n = 10 NBP + RB groups.

Additionally, participants in the intervention groups significantly increased intake of NBP and RB at week 4 (p≤.01), particularly increased fibers in NBP and NBP + RB groups from baseline to week 4.

Based on the tested assays, HDL-cholesterol was higher in NBP-group participants compared to control at week 4.

Although other lipid parameters also showed signs of decreasing, they are insignificantly due to the

shorter duration in the experiment (4 weeks).

In other words, higher daily intakes are needed for a longer duration to induce favorable changes across multiple serum lipid parameters.

Taken altogether, navy bean may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of high blood cholesterol, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Sources
(1) A Pilot Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial to Assess Tolerance and Efficacy of Navy Bean and Rice Bran Supplementation for Lowering Cholesterol in Children by Borresen EC1, Jenkins-Puccetti N2, Schmitz K1, Brown DG1, Pollack A2, Fairbanks A1, Wdowik M1, Rao S1, Nelson TL1, Luckasen G3, Ryan EP. (PubMed)
(2) Western diet and heart risk, Tuesday, October 21, 2008, by NHS

Phytochemical Betanin, the Best Free Radical Scavenger

By Kyle J. Norton

Antioxidants are stable atoms which inhibit oxidation caused by free radical.

Free radical scavengers are types of antioxidant that inhibit free radicals before they can orchestrate a chain reaction that can not be stopped until all electrons in the outermost ring are paired or inhibited by antioxidants.

Oxidative stress is associated with chronic disease due to the imbalanced ratio of free radicals and antioxidants produced by the host includes heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Antioxidants besides produced by the body, they can also come into the body dietary sources.

In a healthy individual, an antioxidant produced by the body is good enough to counter the expression of free radicals induced by cell metabolism and free radicals induced by the environment such as the air we breathe and the food we eat.

However, people with a weakened immune system, intake of antioxidant from outside sources such as fruits and vegetables can be helpful.

Believe it or not. moderate free radicals in the body are necessary for the body functioning, including the promotion of heart function in blood circulation.

Most common types of free radical scavengers include
* Catalases, the very important enzyme is produced by the host that protect the cell from oxidative damage by free radicals.

*Glutathione peroxidase, is a cytosolic enzyme produced by the host that dissolves hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen and peroxide radicals to alcohols and oxygen.

*Superoxide dismutase (SOD), is also produced by the host that dissolves superoxide radical into either ordinary molecular oxygen or hydrogen peroxide.

*Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and vitamin D.

Betanin is phytochemicals in the class of red and yellow indole-derived pigments of Betacyanins, belonging to the group of Betalains, found abundantly in beets, chard, etc.

In the urgency to find a natural compound for the treatment of diseases associated with overexpression of free radicals, researchers examined the betanin free radical scavenging activity.

According to the Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) assay, at a pH > 4, betanin is about 1.5-2.0-fold more active to scavenge free radical compared to those of anthocyanins.

More precisely, the exceptionally high antioxidant activity of betanin was associated with an increase of its H-donation and electron-donation ability, totally depending on the expression of cationic state to mono-, di- and tri-deprotonated states present at basic solutions.

In other words, the efficacy of betanin high free radical scavenging activity was dependent on the levels of pH.

Taken altogether, betanin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of diseases associated with oxidative stress, pending to the confirmation of larger sample size and multicenter human study.

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