by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health

It’s a mantra that we’ve heard for years—cut back on salt! But a new study dashes that advice, demonstrating that it’s not just too much salt that’s bad for our hearts but apparently also too little.

Not all of this surprised me, because many practitioners of natural medicine have long held the view that advice on salt intake should be individualized—and not simply be “less is best” for everyone. So I called the study’s lead author, Martin J. O’Donnell, MB, PhD, an associate clinical professor of medicine at McMaster University in Canada, to learn more about the research.

SHAKING UP CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Dr. O’Donnell told me that his study—published in November 2011 in Journal of the American Medical Association—is the first large study to report potential heart health risks for both low and high salt intake in a single study.

Dr. O’Donnell and his colleagues examined data from nearly 29,000 men and women (all age 55 or over) from 40 countries who either had heart disease or were at increased risk for it because of prior history and co-morbidity factors such as diabetes. They looked at how much sodium was excreted in their morning fasting urine (so it wasn’t self-reported salt intake) at the start of the study. The participants were not aware that their salt consumption was being measured, nor were they asked to raise or lower their intake—they just ate the amount that they normally ate.

What the researchers found was that, over four years, those who consumed higher-than-average amounts of salt and those who consumed lower-than-average amounts of salt experienced more heart problems (including deaths) than those with an average intake.

WHAT’S “AVERAGE”?

It’s worth noting that the “average” salt consumption among participants in this study—estimated between 4,000 mg and 6,000 mg per day—is much higher than the recommended upper limits of 1,500 mg per day (the advice of the American Heart Association) or 2,300 mg per day (the recommended dietary guideline from the US Department of Agriculture). And yet in this study it was the people who consumed this much salt who had the least number of heart problems.

The study showed that those with the highest and lowest amounts of sodium excretion had the highest risk. For example, those who consumed more than 8,000 mg daily were at a 50%-to-70% higher risk of suffering a cardiovascular event over the four-year period, compared with the “average” salt group. And, not quite as alarming but still of concern, among those whose daily salt intake was between 2,000 mg and 3,000 mg, the likelihood of dying from a cardiac event related to congestive heart failure rose by 20%, compared with the “average” salt group.

Now, it’s important to note that patients who ate the least amount of salt might have been doing so because they were at very high risk for disease and their doctors had insisted that they cut back severely on salt. In other words, their risk uptick might not be due to their salt intake (or their salt intake alone), but also due to poor health. “We did some analysis to address this issue, but we can’t exclude this possibility—larger clinical trials will be the only way to truly answer this question,” said Dr. O’Donnell.

The mystery is—how could consuming a low amount of salt increase cardiovascular risk? There may be several potential reasons for this, Dr. O’Donnell said, but the most prominent hypothesis is that lower salt intake activates the body’s renin-angiotensin system, which results in narrowed blood vessels, which of course makes it harder for blood to flow to and from the heart.

WHAT’S THE SALT SOLUTION?

This study—and others that have recently shown that similarly negative health effects may be associated with a low-salt diet—caught the attention of the government. Congress has already put on hold its plans to legislate lower sodium levels for school lunches, requesting more information from the US Department of Agriculture before putting it to vote. Dr. O’Donnell said that there is “an urgent need to establish a safe range for sodium intake.”

In terms of how much salt you should eat, talk to your doctor about your particular risk factors—and remember that the jury is still out.

Source: Martin J. O’Donnell, MB, PhD, associate clinical professor of medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health

There’s promising news for people who suffer from a very intractable disease. Patients with ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that affects the rectum and the lining of the colon, often have to turn to powerful drugs or surgery to relieve symptoms such as painful abdominal cramping and uncontrollable diarrhea—and relief does not always come. But new research shows that there’s a food that may help these patients find relief naturally—bilberries!

You’ve likely never seen these in the produce section of any supermarket that you’ve visited here in the US. Resembling blueberries in both appearance and flavor, bilberries are much more commonly grown and eaten in Europe. They’re known to be particularly high in anthocyanins—the chemical compounds that give berries their rich, vivid colors—and as we’ll see later, they also have anti-inflammatory properties.

To find out more about new research into why bilberries impact IBD, I called lead study author Gerhard Rogler, MD, PhD, a professor in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at University Hospital of Zurich and Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology in Switzerland. The study was published in the November 2011 edition ofMolecular Nutrition & Food Research.

A BILBERRY-RICH DIET

Prompted by patients who told him that bilberries seemed to improve their symptoms of ulcerative colitis, Dr. Rogler worked with researchers from around Europe to design a mouse study to see if they were right. The mice were all induced with acute ulcerative colitis, and researchers divided them into five groups, as follows…

• One group (the control group) ate standard mouse food.
• One group ate food that was 80% standard mouse food and 20% dried bilberries (by weight). Dried bilberries contain about 11.2% anthocyanins.
• The other groups ate standard mouse food plus an extract consisting of either 10%, 1% or 0.1% bilberry anthocyanins.

The result: Bilberries made a big difference. One week after being on the diets, the group receiving the 0.1% extract showed no reduction in inflammation of the lining of the colon and rectum compared with the control group…the 1% extract group showed a 56% reduction…the 10% extract group showed a 43% reduction…and the group eating a diet of 20% dried bilberries had a 35% reduction.

Dr. Rogler isn’t sure why the 1% extract had the greatest effect, but the fact that bilberries may help at all is good news, because if a human with ulcerative colitis were to experience a similar reduction in inflammation of the lining of the colon and rectum, he or she would likely experience fewer and/or less severe symptoms.

There was another benefit seen for the mice that ate either the actual bilberries or the extract—big reductions in the amount of secreted proteins called IFN-y and TNF that have been shown to be part of the cause in autoimmune diseases.

WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE?

Dr. Rogler called these study results “quite encouraging,” though he added that further research will be needed to confirm that bilberries would have a similar effect in humans. Future studies will also need to figure out the best amount for humans to eat and whether or not a certain amount of a bilberry supplement would work equally well.

Even though the science is young, since the symptoms of ulcerative colitis can be so severe, Dr. Rogler would encourage patients to talk to their doctors now about at least eating the dried fruit. But it’s crucial to talk to your physician first, because some parts of bilberries may interact with diabetes medications, anticoagulant drugs or supplements that contain chromium (because bilberries contain chromium, too).

How to find the fruit? You can buy dried bilberries online. If you eat them fresh, you would probably get the same amount of anthocyanins as you would in dried, said Dr. Rogler, but they’re hard to keep fresh—especially when shipped—so you’re more likely to find them dried. For example, you can buy four ounces of dried bilberries atwww.StarwestBotanicals.com, a retail herb shop based in Rancho Cordova, California, for about $13. Throw them on your cereal or salad or make your own trail mix for a delicious way to fight disease.

Source: Gerhard Rogler, MD, PhD, a professor in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at University Hospital of Zurich and Zurich Center for Integrative Human Physiology, University of Zurich, Switzerland.

by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health

“Keep your LDL cholesterol low” is practically a medical mantra now. It’s a greater struggle for some folks than for others — some people are able to achieve a desirable level with little or no effort, while others accomplish it by taking statin drugs. A new tool for lowering LDL emerged about 10 years ago when margarines with plant compounds called phytosterols — known to inhibit absorption of LDL cholesterol in the intestines — started cropping up in supermarkets. Could these be the ideal solution?

Better than Statins?

Phytosterols (as well as phytostanols, a subgroup of phytosterols) exist naturally in some vegetable oils, but in amounts too low to affect our cholesterol levels. Once extracted from these oils, however, they become a food additive or supplement that can deliver quite a cholesterol-lowering punch. Indeed, studies showed that consuming about two to three grams of phytosterols a day (you get this from about four to six tablespoons of the margarine) lowers total cholesterol by up to about 10% and LDL by up to about 14%.

Research had examined the effects of ingesting just two to three grams of phytosterols a day… but what would happen if you doubled or even tripled that intake? It’s known that statin drugs work to only a certain point — they have what’s known as a “leveling off” effect, which means that there is a diminishing effect — doubling the dose won’t double the result. Does this happen with phytosterols, too?

Recently, a Dutch scientist, Ronald Mensink, MSc, PhD, professor of molecular nutrition in the department of human biology at Maastricht University Medical Centre in The Netherlands, conducted a three-week study to answer that question, using the type of phytosterol called phytostanols.

Ninety-three people with mildly elevated LDL cholesterol were divided into four groups — consuming no stanols or three, six or nine grams daily. Results: The more stanols people ate, the lower their LDL dropped. The three-gram group had a 7.4% decrease on average… the six-gram group showed an 11.9% decrease… those consuming nine grams of stanols per day decreased LDL by an average of 17.4%. No adverse effects were found in any of the groups.

But Dr. Mensink urged caution despite the impressive findings — he said that more research is needed before advising any consumption increase, since we don’t yet have data on the long-term safety of consuming higher levels of sterols.

Dr. Rubman’s Advice

When I checked in with Daily Health News medical editor Andrew L. Rubman, ND, he agreed that phytosterols — in the form of supplements or food additives — may be helpful. Echoing Dr. Mensink’s cautionary note, he said…

• People with high LDL (above 150 mg/dl) can benefit from phytosterol/stanol-fortified foods, whether or not they are taking a statin drug.

• A good phytosterol supplement, such as EP Phytosterols made by Endurance Products (800-483-2532, www.Endur.com, $20 for a bottle of 100 tablets, 450 mg each tablet) may be better yet.

• Until we have further research, consume no more than two to three grams of phytosterols/stanols per day.

• Don’t take phytosterol/stanol supplements or fortified foods if you already have low LDL (below 100 mg/dl). Yes, they’re natural, said Dr. Rubman, “but they still have druglike properties that actively interfere with cholesterol uptake, just as some drugs do.”

Dr. Rubman pointed out that having high LDL may not mean your body makes too much — there are other potential causes as well. It’s therefore important to work with a knowledgeable doctor who can treat the source and not just the symptom.

 Source(s):

Ronald P. Mensink, MSc, PhD, professor of molecular nutrition, department of human biology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, The Netherlands.

Andrew L. Rubman, ND, founder and medical director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, Connecticut. www.SouthburyClinic.com.

by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health

If you ever find yourself packing for an indefinite stay on a desert island, may I suggest that you bring along some baking soda? Just a few months ago, I wrote about how this household staple helped stave off further damage for people with chronic kidney disease (see Daily Health News, May 11, 2010, “5-Cent Cure for Kidney Disease”)… so I decided to explore what other ways this household staple might be helpful for our health. As it turns out, there are plenty — and in a few cases in particular, baking soda is a far safer solution than the chemical concoctions most people turn to in order to solve certain problems!

What we know as “baking soda” actually is properly called bicarbonate of soda or (if you are a chemist) NaHCO₃. It’s a natural substance that can be found in dissolved form in many mineral springs and also in our own bodies in bile, where it serves to neutralize the hydrochloric acid produced by the stomach as it passes into the intestines. To learn more, I contacted Vicki Lansky, author of the book Baking Soda: Over 500 Fabulous, Fun & Frugal Uses You’ve Probably Never Thought Of, who has done exhaustive research on the topic. She pointed out that besides being safe and quite effective, baking soda is a very inexpensive antidote to many health problems that plague us today.

Here’s her list of helpful, healthful applications for baking soda…

Easy, effective wash for fresh produce to protect against foodborne bacteria and pesticide residue. The powdery quality of baking soda makes it useful as a gentle scrub for fruits and vegetables, and it’s especially effective for fruit such as pears and apples that you may want to eat raw without peeling. How to use it: Shake some dry baking soda into your hands, rub it over the fruit and then rinse off under your kitchen faucet.

Safe insect repellent to keep ants, cockroaches and other undesirable critters from your kitchen cabinets. Place jar lids filled with water (for the insects to drink) and sprinkle baking soda (for them to eat) nearby on the bottoms of cabinets and under the sink. The chemical reaction of the two together kills the ants. There’s an outdoor version, too — combine a teaspoon of baking soda with one-third of a cup of cooking oil… shake well in a watering can then sprinkle the mixture lightly on plants.

Relief from stinging and itching. If a bee or other insect stings you, make a paste of baking soda and water (aim for the consistency of toothpaste) and rub onto the site — you’ll find that the pain subsides quickly. The reason it works: The baking soda neutralizes the toxins that trigger the pain along with some of the reactive compounds produced in the affected tissue. This paste also is useful in soothing itching from bites by mosquitoes and other insects, as well as for rashes, hives and even poison ivy.

To soothe an upset stomach after a large or troublesome meal. If you can’t get your stomach to quiet down after eating something that disagrees with you (or when you’ve eaten too much), try completely dissolving one-half teaspoon of baking soda in four ounces of water. This is essentially the same compound that your stomach produces to neutralize stomach acid. There are some important caveats: Don’t take within two hours of medications (especially tetracycline, which is used to treat bacterial infections), and don’t take with large amounts of milk (it increases the likelihood of allergic reaction). Don’t use this remedy if you are on a sodium-restricted diet for high blood pressure. And, since frequent gastritis and heartburn can be signs of more serious issues, including heart disease, don’t rely on this remedy more than once in a while. If you are having regular digestive difficulties, see your doctor.

As an underarm deodorant. You can pat a bit of baking soda onto each armpit after a morning shower, just like an old-fashioned dusting powder. While this won’t stop you from sweating, it will diminish the unpleasant odor. Not only is this far less expensive than commercial deodorants, it’s also perfectly safe. Antiperspirants actually plug the sweat glands, and some people think this may cause cancer. (See Daily Health News, April 15, 2010, “The Antiperspirant-Cancer Connection.”) Along the same lines, you also can use baking soda as a foot deodorant — just sprinkle a bit on your feet or in your shoes.

As an exfoliant. Baking soda is a gentle and effective exfoliant that almost all skin types can tolerate and only rarely causes an allergic reaction — it’s a good way to clean and open pores, diminishing whiteheads and clearing oily skin.To remove dead cells on the outer layer of skin, splash some water on your face… put some baking soda into the palm of your hand… and gently rub on the baking soda, using circular motions. Rinse.

And a final tip — baking soda is baking soda, so you can save money by purchasing a store brand instead of the better-known national ones. Not that they’re expensive either, but now that you know about all these nifty uses, you just might find that you’re going through a lot more baking soda than before.

Source(s):

Vicki Lansky, author of more than two dozen books on parenting and household management, lives in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Her Web site is www.PracticalParenting.com or go to www.BookPeddlers.com/BP.BSoda.html for more information on her book on baking soda.

by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health

Yes, we live in a coffee society. Hellooo Starbucks! But even at that shrine to the roasted bean, you can order lots of different kinds of teas, too. Next time you find yourself there or in another beverage shop, you might want to order yourself a piping hot cup of green tea, which has bountiful health benefits. I was reminded of this once again when I attended a lecture on the topic by Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the nonprofit American Botanical Council.

WHAT MAKES GREEN TEA DIFFERENT?

While green, black and oolong teas all come from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, and theoretically offer similar health benefits, the truth is that the green tea we drink usually is far better for us because it has undergone the least amount of processing. Some types of tea must be fermented — the leaves wilt, and then they are bruised and rolled, which results in the leaves being fully oxidized. But with green tea, the wilting is halted by using dry or steam heat, so the leaves are only dried. This allows them to remain exceptionally rich in natural polyphenol antioxidants known as catechins, Blumenthal explained. The most powerful of these is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), which acts as a kind of superhero antioxidant in your body to wipe out free radicals that damage genetic material in cells and cause disease.

Blumenthal noted that there actually has been an explosion of research on green tea over the past decade. Blumenthal and I reviewed some of the stand-out findings…

• Lower heart risk. Numerous studies demonstrate that green tea can lower your risk for cardiovascular disease.

• Explore green tea’s anticancer potential. A variety of population-based research suggests that green tea protects against cancer — in other words, cancer rates tend to be lower in Asian countries, where people regularly consume the beverage. And in one recent study of more than 500 people in Taiwan, investigators found that people (including both smokers and nonsmokers) who did not drink green tea experienced more than five times the risk for lung cancer compared with participants who drank at least one cup a day.

• Slim down with a cup of tea. In a clinical trial of more than 100 overweight adults ages 21 to 65, half had about two cups (about 16 ounces) of a catechin-containing beverage that included green tea extract each day while the other half drank a placebo beverage that did not contain green tea. All engaged in 180 minutes weekly of moderate exercise and were asked to eat what they normally eat throughout the study. After 12 weeks, members of the catechin group had shed more abdominal fat and showed greater improvement in their triglyceride (blood fat) levels than the control group. Results were published in the February 2009 Journal of Nutrition.

HAVE A CUPPA ANTIOXIDANTS

Following an extensive review of the data on green tea, Blumenthal told me that he believes that most health benefits begin to accrue with about five cups per day. My first reaction was, wow, that’s a lot of tea — but he explained that this refers to five of the five-ounce cups common in Asia, which translates to about three of our Western-style mugs.

Generally speaking, said Blumenthal, the teas with the most nutrients are almost always sold in bulk as “leaves” as opposed to in tea bags. Brewing tea in bags is more convenient for most people, but if you want more bang for your buck, buy the leaves. You can buy either caffeinated or decaffeinated green tea. Some experts think that decaffeinated tea may have fewer nutrients, but Blumenthal doesn’t know of any data that supports this.

To preserve the tea’s antioxidants, store the leaves or bags in a cool, relatively dark area. How you take your tea — such as with milk, sugar or honey — doesn’t appear to affect the health benefits of tea, said Blumenthal. Just be sure to steep the tea for two to five minutes to get the most polyphenols — and if you’re using a bag, dunk it up and down.

Source:

Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director, American Botanical Council (www.HerbalGram.org), an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to disseminating accurate, reliable and responsible information on herbs and medicinal plants. Blumenthal is the editor/publisher of HerbalGram, an international, peer-reviewed quarterly journal.

by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health

If you can’t remember where you put your glasses or the last name of the couple that you’ve just been introduced to, be sure to remember this one word — guanfacine. It’s the name of a drug, currently used to treat high blood pressure, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety, that might be able to reverse a major type of short-term memory loss in older people, according to a new study. That’s right — reverse memory loss. Even if an elderly person’s ability to remember has deteriorated over 15 or 20 years, doctors may soon be able to prescribe guanfacine to restore the memory to the way it was during young adulthood. Now, we’re not talking about memory loss due to Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia — we’re talking about the loss of working memory, which occurs in nearly everyone, sometimes starting as early as age 50 and almost certainly after the mid-60s.

I spoke with Amy Arnsten, PhD, the study’s lead researcher and a professor of neurobiology and psychology at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, to find out how this drug works.

UNLOCKING SECRETS OF MEMORY

Prior studies have shown that the faster neurons fire, the better the working memory. What Dr. Arnsten and her colleagues explored is how aging affects the firing of the neurons — and whether guanfacine might help speed up the firing.

For the study, she gathered six rhesus monkeys of three different age groups. Two were “young adults,” two were “middle-aged” and two were “aged.” The monkeys played a game that required them to remember the locations of objects on computer screens. During the game, a tiny electrode that had been painlessly inserted into each monkey’s prefrontal cortex allowed researchers to monitor their brain function. Compared with the young adult monkeys, the neurons in the middle-aged and aged monkeys fired more slowly.

Earlier tests done by Dr. Arnsten’s lab had shown that neurons in the prefrontal cortex of humans and other animals fire more slowly when there’s a buildup there of a substance called cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). So in this study, researchers injected the monkeys with guanfacine, which is known to inhibit the production of cAMP in the prefrontal cortex. Afterward, neuron firing doubled, on average, in both the middle-aged and aged monkeys, compared with the firing speed of their neurons when they weren’t given the guanfacine injection. These results appeared in the July 27, 2011 issue of Nature.

FROM MONKEYS TO HUMANS

The question remains: Would guanfacine have the same effect on humans? Dr. Arnsten said that she and her colleagues are optimistic because the prefrontal cortex functions similarly in both species. In fact, researchers at Yale have already begun clinical trials on the effect of guanfacine on the working memory of people age 75 or older (who don’t suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s). Results of these tests are expected in the fall of 2012.

Meanwhile, there’s the question of whether guanfacine could or should be prescribed now, off-label, for memory loss. Dr. Arnsten thinks that it’s too early to try this — because it hasn’t yet been proven to reduce memory loss in humans. However, if future studies show that it’s a good idea, you can be sure that I’ll remember to tell you about it.

Source(s):

Amy Arnsten, PhD, professor of neurobiology and psychology at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. Dr. Arnsten is a member of Yale’s Kavli Institute of Neuroscience, a group that focuses on innovative approaches to study of the human brain.

by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health

There is a new, offbeat, research-based treatment for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a.k.a. the wintertime blues, that involves light — and if you’re thinking, well, I’ve heard that one before… I assure you, you have not. This first-of-its-kind tool consists of lights that you shine into your ears, which send a “get going” signal to the photosensitive part of your brain that produces the feel-good chemical serotonin. Two small earbuds are connected by a wire to a lightweight device that looks like an iPod, and just eight to 12 minutes of daily use has been shown to banish SAD symptoms quite effectively.

DARK DAYS, DARK MOODS

Common SAD symptoms include depression, anxiety and loss of energy. While the exact mechanism that causes SAD hasn’t been pinned down, it’s known that reduced exposure to natural outdoor sunlight (like during winter months) disrupts the body’s circadian rhythm (the internal body clock) while also decreasing production of serotonin. Scientists believe that both genetic and environmental factors, including living in the Northern hemisphere, put certain people at higher risk than others.

Most people with SAD respond well to a traditional treatment that involves putting your face in front of a special type of light for about an hour a day, but now new research from Finland, presented in Budapest in November at the International Forum for Mood and Anxiety Disorders, reports better results in far less time when light is delivered to the ears. To understand this better, I contacted the study’s lead author, Timo Takala, MD, PhD, chief physician at Finland’s Oulu Deaconess Institute.

NOW “EAR” THIS!

Since the brain is sensitive to light — not just the eyes — Dr. Takala and his team wondered if light therapy might work if it was directed at the brain through the ears. He said that we receive sunlight through the ear canals (and actually through the skull bone, too), not just through the visual system. This had led a Finnish manufacturer, Valkee, to develop a device that delivers light therapy directly into the ears via earbuds equipped with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The light used in the Valkee headset is similar to the kind used in traditional therapy, except that it’s brighter. Dr. Takala’s team was engaged by Valkee to test the device’s efficacy.

Study: In one of the clinical trials, researchers studied 13 men and women who were suffering from SAD. Each participant received light in both ears from a Valkee headset in the morning for eight to 12 minutes at a time, five times a week for four weeks. At the beginning of the study and at the end of each week, participants’ SAD symptoms were self-reported using standard surveys for depression and anxiety.

One major finding: At the end of the study, which took place during the dim months of January and February in Finland, 77% of people achieved “full remission” of depression symptoms and 92% saw at least a 50% reduction. The same statistics were true in terms of anxiety. It’s important to note that this was a small study, there was no control group (so the placebo effect can’t be ruled out), and the ear light therapy was not compared with traditional light therapy. But Dr. Takala said that prior research has shown that traditional light treatment for one hour daily eliminates depression in about 60% of patients.

LIGHTER, BRIGHTER, HAPPIER

Dr. Takala thinks that based on this preliminary data, ear light therapy may be more effective and certainly less time-consuming than traditional light therapy because the light used is more intense. He said it’s also more convenient, since you can do other things more easily while wearing earbuds.

In any case, Dr. Takala suggests that people with SAD who want to try the earbuds start with 12 minutes of ear light use 30 to 60 minutes after awakening in the morning five times a week. If symptoms don’t improve after five days, try them for an hour or two before bedtime instead. While it should be mentioned that some users reported headache, nausea and dizziness while using the Valkee headset, Dr. Takala noted that those side effects also can occur in some people just from being exposed to natural sunlight. He added that using the device for shorter periods usually eliminates these side effects while still relieving symptoms. And in case you were wondering, like traditional light therapy devices, the ear light device blocks potentially harmful UV rays.

Right now, the Valkee headset is available only in Europe, the only place where it is approved for use as a medical device. Valkee is looking into getting regulatory approval in the US, and Dr. Takala thinks that within the next year the device may be sold here, too. If you’re interested in buying the product, talk to your doctor first — and bring this article with you, because the device is new and he/she may not know about it yet. You could buy a Valkee headset online through third parties — such as on eBay, where they were recently offered for around $200 to $300. Or if you know a friend going to Europe, you could save on shipping by asking him/her to bring one back for you.

This device does sound like a bright idea — I’m interested to hear the FDA’s take on the product and see if future research confirms these findings.

Source(s):

Timo Takala, MD, PhD, chief physician, Oulu Deaconess Institute, Finland.

by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health

Losing weight is hard — and keeping it off can be even harder. In fact, after analyzing 31 long-term studies on the topic, researchers at UCLA found that within five years, up to two-thirds of people on diets regained more weight than they had lost. And you may have heard a lot of buzz about a recent Australian study, because its findings claim to explain one reason why — your hormones can work against you. The depressing implication of the research is that weight loss is nearly impossible to sustain — in particular for those who have been seriously overweight or obese. I was intrigued by this claim but also puzzled because, like me, you’ve surely known people who have lost weight and have kept it off. So how come certain people are able to “overcome” their hormones, while others are not?

For help solving this riddle, I called Michael Aziz, MD. He’s an attending internal medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and author of The Perfect 10 Diet, in which he discusses 10 hormones that profoundly impact weight loss. (For more information on The Perfect 10 Diet, check out the January 18, 2011 issue of Daily Health News.)

WHAT THE RESEARCH FOUND

Fifty men and women who were overweight or obese enrolled in the Australian study. They weighed, on average, 210 pounds and were put on an extreme diet for eight weeks, consuming just 500 to 550 calories per day. Dieters who had lost 10% or more of their body weight by week eight were allowed to continue with the study. At the end of week 10, they received individual counseling from a dietician about foods that would help them maintain their weight loss and were encouraged to either start or continue exercising. Throughout the 62-week study, blood samples were taken to monitor assorted hormones.

What the researchers discovered…

• In terms of weight, after 62 weeks, study participants had each regained about 12 pounds, on average — about half of the pounds that they had lost by week 10.

• From week 10 through week 62, following the initial weight loss, the levels of hormones that influence hunger changed in a way that increased appetite.

Therefore, the researchers argued, regaining weight is — at least partly — due to hormonal changes. They also reported that this information might help pharmaceutical companies design more effective weight-loss drugs to help dieters regulate their hormones and feel less hungry. To me, there were assorted holes in this logic, including the assumption that drugs are the answer.

POKING HOLES IN THE RESEARCH

Dr. Aziz wasn’t surprised by what the study found, but he pointed out many flaws that may have helped lead to the disheartening results…

• Participants were on a crash diet. During the weight-loss stage, the people in this Australian study weren’t eating what Dr. Aziz would call “regular” food — they drank diet formulations with chemicals that he said have a negative effect on hormones. Furthermore, he added, consuming so few calories and having such extreme and rapid weight loss likely sent their bodies into a “long-term starvation” mode, in which metabolism slows, calorie burning decreases and hunger rises.

• The follow-up was weak. Dr. Aziz added that the researchers did not investigate what participants actually ate in the year after their crash diet and failed to find out what (if any) exercise they did. And both of those factors may have affected the results.

• The study wasn’t long enough. People who carry excessive weight generally need at least a year — oftentimes longer — for hormones to even begin to normalize and rebalance after weight loss even if they eat a healthy diet the whole time. These participants were studied for barely over one year, so it’s no wonder that their hormones were out of whack when measured, Dr. Aziz said.

THE REAL KEYS TO LOSING WEIGHT — AND KEEPING IT OFF

As you might have guessed (but probably don’t want to hear), Dr. Aziz assured me that there is no quick fix for weight loss. The most effective and healthiest way to shed pounds, he said, is by going back to the basics…

1. Eat real, natural foods and get moving. “Losing weight isn’t just about eating low-calorie foods,” said Dr. Aziz. “Many low-calorie foods are processed, so they aren’t filling. You’ll be starving an hour later and will end up ruining your diet.” Besides being low in calories, foods should also contain filling nutrients, such as fiber and protein. So fill your plate with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and lean meats. Exercise, of course, is also crucial. Aerobic exercises, such as running, brisk walking and bike riding are great because they burn calories, boost your metabolism and have been shown to suppress appetite, he said.

2. Give it time. “Trying to lose a ton of weight in a short amount of time is likely to backfire,” said Dr. Aziz. Instead, be patient, he said — when you let weight loss happen slowly, your hormones will have more time to rebalance and will be less likely to work against you.

While hormones do play a role in weight control, according to Dr. Aziz, what you eat and how much you move around can play an even larger role.

Source(s):

Michael Aziz, MD, attending internal medicine physician, Lenox Hill Hospital, and founder and director, Midtown Integrative Medicine, both in New York City. He is author of The Perfect 10 Diet (Cumberland House).

by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health

Can ginger really help men with prostate cancer? It certainly is a time-honored remedy for other, less serious problems — including occasional indigestion, muscle soreness, nausea and even arthritis pain. But if ginger can help men manage, or even someday cure, this dangerous cancer, well, that puts it on another level entirely. Since prostate cancer — and the question of whether or not it should even be treated in many men — is generating such controversy these days, I’m really happy to be able to tell you about a therapy that is totally natural and, according to recent research, scientifically sound.

ANTITUMOR BENEFITS WITHOUT TOXIC EFFECTS

There’s no doubt that ginger is a nutritional powerhouse — previous research has shown that many of the phytochemicals that make up ginger are packed with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiproliferative powers. Some have been shown, individually, to reduce the risk of developing cancer, and others have been shown to slow tumor growth if cancer occurs. Researchers at Georgia State University in Atlanta thought it would be interesting to see what effect whole ginger extract might have on prostate cancer, specifically, because other studies have shown that a high intake of fruits and vegetables (which also are high in phytochemicals) help prevent prostate cancer.

After implanting human prostate cancer in mice, investigators fed half of them whole ginger extract (the human equivalent of about 3.5 ounces of fresh ginger) every day for eight weeks, while the other half, the control group, was fed no ginger. Researchers found…

• In the mice that were fed ginger, there was an inhibition (or slowing) of tumor growth by an average of 56%, compared with no inhibition of tumor growth in the control group that received no ginger.

• Among the ginger-fed mice, there were no toxic effects in healthy tissue such as the gut or bone marrow. This is a promising finding, because if these were humans with prostate cancer and they were given a typical treatment of chemotherapy, there would be a high likelihood of toxic side effects, such as neuropathy, nausea, hair loss, mouth sores, diarrhea and permanent infertility.

These findings appeared in the August 18, 2011 issue of British Journal of Nutrition.

AN ANTICANCER DIET

I thought it was really interesting that this super food actually slowed tumor growth, so I called Geovanni Espinosa, ND, director of clinical trials at the Integrative Urology Center at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City and a highly regarded expert in natural treatment for prostate cancer, to hear what he had to say about this research.

One finding that Dr. Espinosa pointed to was that ginger showed zero signs of toxicity in the study. He noted that ginger is not 100% risk-free — for example, in rare cases, high amounts of ginger might worsen a bleeding disorder, reduce blood sugar too much if you’re diabetic and interfere with blood pressure drugs and certain heart medications, such as digoxin and digitoxin. So the possible side effects of treatment with ginger need to be studied in humans. But Dr. Espinosa believes that the Georgia State study provides sufficient information to encourage most prostate cancer patients to include ginger in their diets — so talk to your doctor. And, because some of the individual components in ginger are anti-inflammatory, he believes that ginger (like fruits and vegetables) may even help prevent prostate cancer as well — even though that topic wasn’t tackled in this particular study. In fact, since inflammation lies at the bottom of so many diseases besides prostate cancer, Dr. Espinosa told me that virtually everyone — male and female — can benefit from consuming ginger.

It’s easy to include the pungent root in your daily diet — you can grate it or slice it to mix with vegetables, rice, salad dressings and smoothies. Ginger tea (made from the root) is delicious, as are some ginger-infused beverages from natural-food manufacturers — just don’t fall into the trap of thinking ginger ale is a healthy choice, since it has so much sugar!

 Source(s):

Geovanni Espinosa, ND, director, Integrative Urology Center, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City. www.DrGeo.com.

by Carole Jackson, Bottom Line Health

When I saw a recent study saying that a common kitchen spice may help sweep something called cellular metal toxicity from the brain — specifically excessive amounts of iron and copper, which have been linked to diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s — it made me want to spice up my life.

I’m talking about curcumin, a phytochemical that is found in the spice turmeric. This intriguing study comes from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston — it was published in Journal of Biological Chemistry. We’ve been learning for years that this phytochemical can prevent and treat many diseases, such as certain cancers, but this is the first study to suggest that curcumin is also beneficial to the brain.

SWEEPING AWAY METALS

Lead study author Muralidhar Hegde, PhD, and senior author Sankar Mitra, PhD, noted that our bodies naturally contain trace amounts of certain metals, including copper and iron. In small amounts, these metals are not only harmless but essential for good health. But some people’s brain cells — for reasons that scientists don’t yet completely understand — start accumulating large amounts of copper or iron, which can wreak havoc.

If you have a large amount of iron and copper in your brain cells, the extra “free” metals overwhelm the proteins that are supposed to store them and start causing two major problems. First, they initiate chemical reactions that lead to DNA damage. And then, to make matters worse, Dr. Hegde and colleagues found, they also interfere with DNA repair enzymes that attempt to fix the damage. Since too much unrepaired DNA damage can lead to neurodegenerative disorders, that’s one scary situation.

THE WONDER SPICE

But it’s not all doom and gloom. The researchers tested several chemicals called metal chelators and natural dietary and/or plant components in petri dishes to see if any of the substances would help keep iron and copper stored so they wouldn’t interfere with the DNA repair enzymes. All the substances tested worked to some extent, but there was one that worked better than all the rest — curcumin. “Curcumin appeared to stop the metals from blocking the DNA repair by more than 90% to 95% — so it essentially reversed the damage to the genetic material,” said Dr. Hegde.

A natural remedy that may help stave off Alzheimer’s disease is exciting to think about — but, said Dr. Hegde, it’s important to keep the nature of this particular finding in context. Animal testing is in order to confirm that curcumin is an effective treatment and to know exactly how much curcumin belongs in the ideal dose, then researchers can move on to human studies.

In the meantime, since what we are talking about is just a common spice, what can’t hurt — and might greatly help — is to consume greater quantities of curcumin in foods like Indian and Asian dishes.

Source(s):

Muralidhar Hegde, PhD, research scientist, and Sankar Mitra, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas