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Jimi's Daily Health Articles

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
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Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Quercetin, Your Brain, and Your Mood
Last week I promised to say more about how the flavonoid quercetin that is abundant in many plant foods can influence your mood, mental clarity, and energy.

It does this by slowing down the enzymes MAO A, MAO B, and COMT, which are involved in breaking down serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline.

How this affects you depends on whether you inherited the "fast" or "slow" versions of these enzymes.

If you have the "fast" versions of any of these enzymes, you'll use up neurotransmitters faster than people with the slower versions of these enzymes.

For example, if you have have the "fast" version of MAO A you'll tend toward lower levels of serotonin and be more prone to carb cravings and depressive disorders.

"Fast" versions of any of these enzyme may also lower dopamine levels, which can raise your risk of Parkinson's Disease.

Since quercetin slows down the neurotransmitter-degrading enzymes, quercetin can be an ally in boosting neurotransmitters naturally.

But if you have slow versions of any of these enzymes, and therefore higher levels of these neurotransmitters, quercetin's enzyme-slowing effect might not be helpful.

With slow versions of these enzymes you are likely to have higher levels of dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline, making you more likely to experience stress.

Quercetin would further slow your neurotransmitter-degrading enzymes, thereby raising your already high neurotransmitter levels and making you more stress-prone.

Given quercetin's effect on neurotransmitter metabolism, would you want to know which food has 77x the amount of quercetin as broccoli?

Capers.

I loooove capers! (and broccoli, onions, and other quercetin-rich foods). Perhaps that's because these quercetin-rich foods help slow down my fast MAO A enzyme.
 
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Rhianne

Diamond Contributor
Member For 2 Years
ECF Refugee
Quercetin, Your Brain, and Your Mood
Last week I promised to say more about how the flavonoid quercetin that is abundant in many plant foods can influence your mood, mental clarity, and energy.

It does this by slowing down the enzymes MAO A, MAO B, and COMT, which are involved in breaking down serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline.

How this affects you depends on whether you inherited the "fast" or "slow" versions of these enzymes.

If you have the "fast" versions of any of these enzymes, you'll use up neurotransmitters faster than people with the slower versions of these enzymes.

For example, if you have have the "fast" version of MAO A you'll tend toward lower levels of serotonin and be more prone to carb cravings and depressive disorders.

"Fast" versions of any of these enzyme may also lower dopamine levels, which can raise your risk of Parkinson's Disease.

Since quercetin slows down the neurotransmitter-degrading enzymes, quercetin can be an ally in boosting neurotransmitters naturally.

But if you have slow versions of any of these enzymes, and therefore higher levels of these neurotransmitters, quercetin's enzyme-slowing effect might not be helpful.

With slow versions of these enzymes you are likely to have higher levels of dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline, making you more likely to experience stress.

Quercetin would further slow your neurotransmitter-degrading enzymes, thereby raising your already high neurotransmitter levels and making you more stress-prone.

Given quercetin's effect on neurotransmitter metabolism, would you want to know which food has 77x the amount of quercetin as broccoli?

Capers.

I loooove capers! (and broccoli, onions, and other quercetin-rich foods). Perhaps that's because these quercetin-rich foods help slow down my fast MAO A enzyme.

Thanks, Jimi. I’ll try it! :hug::hug:
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
The holiday season is upon us. Unfortunately, the temptations of holiday foods make it a precarious time for those with diabetes and prediabetes. If you’re not careful, all those sweets and high-carbohydrate meals could send your blood sugar through the roof.

Instead of letting holiday eating get the better of you, minimize the cookies, fudge, and other sugar-filled treats. Go easy on alcoholic beverages and “white” foods such as bread, rolls, and potatoes.

And please give yourself a gift this season by watching the video below. You’ll find some simple, all-natural tips and strategies to overcome prediabetes — or control or reverse Type 2 diabetes. While particularly important during the holidays, it’s also a great way to start a whole new year.

Happy Thanksgiving,
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Don’t Let Your Body Be Flooded
with Cancer-Friendly Hormones

One of the largest glands in your body may be releasing hormones that increase your risk for cancer right now – even as you read this. And chances are, you’re growing more of this glandular tissue every day.

But you don’t have to let it. You can rein it in.

And its reduction could save your life.

Surprisingly, the gland I’m talking about consists of the fat tissue you carry around your waistline. You probably didn’t know it secretes hormones, much less that those hormones can be deadly. . .

The fact is, body fat is a prolific emitter of hormones. According to researchers at York University in England, fat cells release about 400 different hormones called adipokines that get into the bloodstream and travel throughout the body.1

If you are overweight, the hormones from your adipose tissue cause significant inflammation that can lead to cancer and then can stimulate that cancer to grow rapidly. In contrast, the chemicals released from the fat tissue of people who are more muscled with less body fat has the opposite effect.

Good fat cells, bad fat cells

So it’s not just fat cells per se that raise your risk – it’s the ratio between fat and muscle.

"Our research has found that the characteristics of hormones produced by fat cells in obese people can promote breast cancer growth, whereas in lean people it prevents growth," says researcher Michael Connor. "The characteristics of those hormones differ depending on whether the person is lean or obese and that determines whether the cancer grows or not."

Studies are now indicating that gaining enough weight to be considered obese is rapidly replacing smoking as our central cancer risk factor. Today about 38 million Americans still smoke, but a shocking 80 million are heavy enough to be classified as obese – which represents about 35 percent of the total US population.

That’s why in England, which pretty much has the same obesity epidemic as the US, Cancer Research UK (a cancer research and charity organization) has launched a nationwide campaign to boost awareness of how obesity and cancer are linked.

They point out that obesity now causes more cases of bowel cancer than does smoking. Plus, they add that the same applies to kidney cancer, ovarian cancer and liver cancer.2

Helping cancer survive

If you’ve read a few articles about how cancer cells survive or die in the body, you may remember a description of a cellular process called apoptosis that can wipe out cancer cells. Apoptosis refers to a form of programmed cellular suicide.

Under certain circumstances, the body can fight against cancer cells by causing them to self-destruct via apoptosis. And some natural chemicals found in fruits and vegetables can enhance this aspect of the body’s defense against cancer.

However, research in Spain shows that as your weight goes up and up, the amount of a chemical called survivin that shows up in your blood also goes up and up. The tests in Spain show that levels of survivin are 2.5 times higher in obese people than in slimmer folks. And despite the hormone’s hopeful-sounding name, that’s bad news.

Because the “survive” part of survivin’s name means it helps undesirable cells survive and avoid death as a result of apoptosis.

And the two types of undesirable cells that end up surviving more easily? Stem cells that produce more fat cells and cancer cells.

That’s a double whammy. The fact that you have more survivin in your body means more stem cells are continually maturing into fat cells. Then, as those fat cells increase, more survivin is released that simultaneously perpetuates more fat cells and stimulates more cancer to grow and spread.3

One of cancer’s best friends

Unfortunately, the damage doesn’t stop there: another substance released by body fat called IL-6 can also spur on cancer growth.

Now IL-6 is a bit of a puzzle to researchers. When it is released by the body fat in people who are obese, it increases inflammation and helps cancer become more aggressive. But when the same substance is released by your muscles during exercise, it seems to have the opposite effect. And scientists are still trying to figure out why.

However, there’s no doubt that the IL-6 in obese people is a danger. It’s one of cancer’s best friends. Research shows that when IL-6 promotes cancer it can keep cancer cells from self-destructing in apoptosis, help tumors invade organs, promote the growth of blood vessels to supply cancer cells with nutrients, increase the spread of cancer to other sites in the body, and defend cancer cells from oxidative stress that might otherwise kill them.4

Push back against inflammation

If you’re looking to reduce the inflammatory effects of IL-6 and its effects on cancer, one of the best ways, as you might expect, is to lose weight. Getting rid of some body fat may at least curtail the release of some of the fat-generated IL-6.

Yet another way to bring down IL-6 is to consume a natural chemical found in vegetables called lutein.

According to researchers in Sweden, lutein, the pigment that gives spinach its dark-green color, can help limit IL-6 and the inflammation it causes.5

The Swedish scientists, whose main focus was on how IL-6 can also increase the risk of heart problems, point out that lutein belongs to a family of pigments called carotenoids. Other carotenoids include the lycopene that turns tomatoes red and the beta-carotene that’s responsible for carrots being orange.

The tests in Sweden, performed at Linkoping University, found that lutein is the primo carotenoid for reducing circulating IL-6. As you get more lutein in your diet (or supplements) the IL-6 in your blood drops.

Raw is better

If you decide to consume more lutein-rich spinach, the Swedish researchers recommend you put it in your smoothies and or juice it. When you break up spinach that way, it releases lutein in a way that makes it easier for it to be absorbed.6

On the other hand, the Swedes say not to heat spinach very much because the heating can destroy its lutein.

"Best is not to heat the spinach at all,” recommends researcher Rosanna Chung. “And even better is to make a smoothie and add fat from dairy products, such as cream, milk or yogurt (fat helps lutein get digested in the intestines). When the spinach is chopped into small pieces, more lutein is released from the leaves.”

Other ways to reduce IL-6 or shrink its inflammatory effects include:

Get a good night’s sleep. A study at UCLA suggests that sleeping 7 to 8 hours a night is the sweet spot for controlling IL-6. In this investigation, sleeping either more or less than that amount, or being awakened at night, can cause increases in IL-6.7

Use yoga to limit your stress. Research conducted at the University of Ohio shows that although stress leads to increased IL-6, doing yoga can limit those increases.8

Do some exercise. For reasons researchers have not entirely explained, when IL-6 is released during exercise, instead of helping cancer grow, the IL-6 stimulates the activity of natural killer cells that go after cancer cells.9

It used to be thought that the fat cells we carry around our waist are merely unsightly ways for the body to store extra calories that it doesn’t need. But now we know better. Those cells are busy little hormone factories that feed your cancer risk. The sooner you try to limit their influence on your health, the better off you’ll be.
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
One Sleepless Night Can Trigger 30% Rise in Emotional Stress

In the U.S., some 40 million adults suffer anxiety disorders, and the numbers are rising.

Now, new research from the University of California, Berkeley, shows that a full night of sleep may be the best medicine, as it is crucial for stabilizing emotions.

Meanwhile, one sleepless night can trigger up to a 30% rise in anxiety levels.

The researchers found that deep sleep, as known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) slow-wave sleep, is particularly key for calming and reseting the anxious brain.

"We have identified a new function of deep sleep, one that decreases anxiety overnight by reoorganizing connections in the brain," said senior study author Matthew Walker. " Deep sleep seems to be a natural anxiolytic (anxiety inhibitor), so long as we get it each and every night."

The key is getting deep, restful sleep every single night.

If you are thrown off track by a bad night's sleep, or you often suffer poor sleep, it is very important to prioritize improving your sleep.

I've covered and will continue to cover research-based keys to doing so, such as:

  • Don't use electronics such as phones, computers, and TVs at least 2 hours before bed, because they emit blue light that negatively impacts your circadian rhytms.
  • Try to go to sleep and awake at consistent times.
  • Don't drink alcohol at least a few hours before bed, because it can negatively impact hormones that help you sleep.
  • The darker and quieter your bedroom, the better the sleep. If there is persistent noise from outside, consider a machine or recording that emits white noise.
  • Research shows that warmer temperatures are not good for sleep. 70°F (20°C) or slightly cooler seems to be comfortable for most people.

Okay, then, the bottom line of this week's new research is yet more good reasons to strive for exercise and a good night's sleep :)
 

Jimi

Diamond Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Is Your Blood Pressure
Helping or Hurting Your Brain?


Over the years you’ve no doubt heard your doctor explain how high blood pressure, or hypertension, increases your risk of heart attack, stroke and heart failure, and can damage organs like the kidneys and eyes.

But your doctor probably hasn’t talked much about how high blood pressure also damages your brain, disrupting your ability to think, remember and learn. As a result, high blood pressure can lead to vascular dementia.

Here’s the important new research and what to do about it…

So, we all know that controlling hypertension is vital, but when it comes to the health of your brain, what does healthy blood pressure control look like? Should this be modest, aiming for a top blood pressure (systolic) reading below 140, or aggressive, driving it down to 120?

Hypertension Linked to
White Matter Damage


Back in 2010, the National Institutes of Health launched the systolic blood pressure intervention trial (SPRINT). This major research project included more than 9,000 people aged 50 or over at high risk of cardiovascular disease.

A large team of scientists compared drug interventions that lowered blood pressure readings down to the standard target of 140, or further down to 120. The latter was achieved by prescribing additional hypertension-lowering drugs.

After a little more than three years, researchers discovered that patients more intensively treated with a double drug intervention had a significantly lower rate of heart attack, heart failure, stroke and death from any cause compared to the modestly treated group.1 There was little point in continuing with the trial when the benefits of the lower target became obvious.

Now. . .I would not take a medication to drive my blood pressure down – more about this later.

First let’s consider what the scientists found when they looked at the brains of these individuals. In a follow-up study called SPRINT MIND, scientists examined the effects of these blood-pressure-lowering treatments on the white matter of a subgroup of 449 study participants.

White matter, which makes up a large portion of the brain, is composed of billions of nerve fibers - axons - that connect brain cells to each other. Axons are covered with myelin, a white fatty sheath that protects them and speeds the flow of electrical signals.

Damage to the white matter can occur for a variety of reasons such as leaky blood vessels (bleeding), mini strokes, thinning of the myelin and more, all of which uncontrolled hypertension can cause.

In fact, previous studies demonstrated people with high blood pressure have more build-up of white matter lesions and a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia. So, it’s really no surprise that the researchers found the more blood pressure control, the better.

Intensive Control is Far More Effective

The scientists reported that intensive control, or a regimen of two blood-pressure-lowering drugs, was 57 percent more effective at slowing the accumulation of white matter lesions compared to standard treatment of one blood-pressure-lowering drug.2

The researchers published their work in JAMA in August. A member of the research team, Dr. Lenor Launer, commented:

"Both the brain scans and the cognitive tests reinforce the potential benefits that intensive blood pressure management may have on the brain. We hope that these findings will become the foundation for future studies on how to protect the brain throughout a person’s life."

Dr. Walter Koroshetz, of the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, added, "These initial results support a growing body of evidence suggesting that controlling blood pressure may not only reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease but also of age-related cognitive loss."3

However, it was not all good news.

Loss of Brain Volume

Interestingly, the patients who underwent the intensive, two-drug regimen to lower blood pressure lost 12.1 percent more total brain volume than those folks who underwent standard, one-drug treatment. The researchers described this loss as small, with unclear clinical significance.

I don’t agree. It’s been known for some years that people with mild cognitive impairment have some brain atrophy. Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University even put forward the idea that brain volume is so important to memory function that the rate of brain volume loss may predict whether a patient will develop dementia even before any signs of the disease.4

More research is clearly needed here before I’d feel comfortable endorsing a dual-drug blood pressure lowering regimen. In fact, I would not take ANY blood pressure drug except as a last resort, when lifestyle changes have failed.

It seems with the white matter gains, you’re suffering brain volume loss. I’m curious if the reported gains and losses would also occur with natural blood-pressure-lowering therapy. I sure doubt it.

A natural approach to reducing blood pressure should include a healthy diet, supplements, meditation and exercise. Obesity is strongly correlated with hypertension, so getting the pounds off is essential.

One thing’s for sure, natural therapy would certainly help you avoid the side effects patients experienced during the SPRINT study. And the side effects are nasty. Patients tend not to comply with their doctor’s orders to take these drugs because they’re so unpleasant. Needless to say, the side effects are even worse if you take two blood pressure drugs.

SPRINT researchers reported that intensively treated patients, those on the dual-drug regimen in the study, suffered more side effects than those taking standard, one drug therapy. For example, they suffered from more instances of low blood pressure, temporary loss of consciousness caused by a fall in blood pressure, electrolyte abnormalities, and acute kidney injury or acute renal failure.5

On top of this, in an earlier report from SPRINT MIND published in January, the scientists concluded: "Among adults with hypertension, intensive blood pressure control did not significantly reduce the risk of probable dementia."6

It's important to remember that all the SPRINT participants were at high risk of heart disease, and therefore the findings cannot be extrapolated to people who are not at the same level of risk.

Regardless, despite the conflicting results in determining blood pressure’s true effect on memory and cognition during this early stage of research, it’s safe to say that controlling your blood pressure is critical to living a long healthy life.

If you’re suffering from higher than normal blood pressure, I’d personally recommend using a natural approach to lower your blood pressure first, and then, only if necessary, adding a drug regimen.
 

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