August 1, 2017

Heartburn Meds Linked to Increased Risk of Early Death

Although popular Fourth of July foods such as hamburgers and hot dogs can trigger heartburn, sufferers may want to rethink the use of popular over-the-counter remedies, which a new study links to early death. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis concluded that prolonged use of proton pump inhibitors (PPI), which suppress the secretion of stomach acid and is found in popular heartburn medications such as Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid, increased an early risk of death by 25 percent, compared to people who used H2 blockers, another known inhibitor of stomach acid. The study, titled “Risk of death among users of Proton […]
August 1, 2017

Olive Oil Intake Associated With Better Memory

Findings from a study reported on June 21, 2017 in the  Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology indicate a potential protective role for extra virgin olive oil consumption against the development of Alzheimer’s disease.  Olive oil is a prominent component of the Mediterranean diet and has been suggested by some researchers to be the reason behind the diet’s beneficial effects. “The thinking is that extra virgin olive oil is better than fruits and vegetables alone, and as a monounsaturated vegetable fat it is healthier than saturated animal fats,” commented lead investigator Domenico Praticò, MD, who is a Professor in the Departments of […]
July 25, 2017

Can Grape Seed Extract Prevent Colon Cancer?

Research conducted at Pennsylvania State University indicates that grape seed extract and resveratrol, which occurs in red grapes, can suppress colon cancer stem cells. The study was reported in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine. “We are particularly interested in targeting stem cells because, according to cancer stem-cell theory, cancerous tumors are driven by cancer stem cells,” explained coauthor Jairam K.P. Vanamala, who is an associate professor of food sciences at Penn State. “Cancer stem cells are capable of self-renewal, cellular differentiation and maintain their stem cell-like characteristics even after invasion and metastasis.” In human colon cancer stem cell cultures, a […]
July 25, 2017

Plants That May Help Boost Sexual Performance

The earliest humans used plants for medicine as well as for food. By medieval times, people were making huge amounts of money trading spices around the globe. People wanted to make their food taste good, of course. But the perceived medicinal benefits also were extremely important. According to author Jack Turner, “In the medieval mind, spices and medicine were effectively one and the same. Not all drugs were spices, but all spices were drugs.” An 11th-century monk named Constantine wrote that ginger, cinnamon, galangal (a root related to ginger) and pepper could be used to treat impotence. Indeed, the search […]
July 18, 2017

Poor Diet May Fuel Alzheimer’s Disease

The University of Southern California issued the following news release: A diet high in cholesterol, fat and sugar may influence the development of Alzheimer’s disease in people who carry the ApoE4 gene, a leading risk factor for the memory-erasing disease, indicates a new USC study. The study on mice, published June 12 in the journal eNeuro, is the latest to explore the association between obesity and Alzheimer’s disease, both of which are associated with inflammation and both of which affect millions of people. For the study, researchers at the USC Davis School of Gerontology compared the effects of a poor […]