Video:
Interview with Dr. Rupert Sheldrake (41:21)
Stomach cancer cells halted with whole tomato extracts
Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine at Temple University October 10, 2022
The Mediterranean diet has become regarded as highly beneficial to overall health, maintaining ideal weight and a reduced risk of cancer plus many other chronic disease conditions. One of the staples of this diet is tomatoes, especially the low-acid varieties that are grown in Italy...
Video:
- Interview with Dr. Rupert Sheldrake (41:21)
Stomach cancer cells halted with whole tomato extracts
Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine at Temple University October 10, 2022
The Mediterranean diet has become regarded as highly beneficial to overall health, maintaining ideal weight and a reduced risk of cancer plus many other chronic disease conditions. One of the staples of this diet is tomatoes, especially the low-acid varieties that are grown in Italy and its impact on cancer risk is quite interesting.
Recent research by the Sbarro Institute for Molecular Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pa. has confirmed that two tomato cultivars grown in Southern Italy inhibit both malignant features and cellular growth in stomach cancer cells.
For the study, whole tomato lipophilic extracts were analyzed for their ability to fight and diminish neoplastic features of stomach cancer cells. Both the Corbarino and San Marzano tomato varieties were found to inhibit the cloning behavior of malignant cancer cells as well as impede their growth.
When tomato extracts were used on stomach cancer cells, key processes related to cell development, migration and proliferation were inhibited. The tomato extracts ultimately induced apoptosis, or cancer cell death in cancer cells. The study results were published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology.
Significantly, the tomato extracts contributed to the movement of cancer cells away from the primary tumor, which resulted in their death. These anticancer effects weren’t related to just one particular compound such as lycopene. Instead, the whole tomato seemed to contribute to its anticancer effects.
Previous studies had suggested the carotenoid compound lycopene, which creates the orange-red color of tomatoes, is what fights cancer cells. While lycopene may still be a major factor, the entire tomato seemed to have a highly potent effect against cancer.
Amino Acid Arginine Found As Effective As Drugs For Glucose Metabolism And DiabetesUniversity of Copenhagen & University of Cincinnati, October 9, 2022 If you suffer from type 2 diabetes, you may want to consider snacking on nuts to treat the condition. Supplementation with the amino acid arginine, commonly found in almonds and hazelnuts, could help to improve glucose metabolism by as much as 40%, according to new research in mice. The study shows that supplementation with the amino acid significantly improves glucose metabolism in both insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant metabolisms.
In new experiments, researchers from the University of Copenhagen working in collaboration with a research group at the University of Cincinnati, have demonstrated that the amino acid arginine, found in salmon, eggs, and nuts, improves glucose metabolism significantly in both lean (insulin-sensitive) and obese (insulin-resistant) mice.
”In fact, the amino acid is just as effective as several well-established drugs for type 2 diabetics,” says postdoc Christoffer Clemmensen. As improbable as it may seem, the most important molecule in regulating the function of our arteries is nitric oxide (NO), a gas better known to us as an air pollutant. As synthesized in our arteries in tiny quantities, however, NO acts as a powerful mediator of vasodilation, the mechanism by which arteries dilate, when necessary, to lower our blood pressure and increase the flow of blood to tissues that need it. The principal source of our NO is arginine. This occurs via enzyme-catalyzed reactions that occur in endothelial cells, the thin layer of smooth, tightly “tiled” cells that line the inner walls of our arteries.
What researchers have found is that L-arginine potentiation of glucose-induced insulin secretion occurs independently of NO.
The researchers found that arginine improves glucose metabolism significantly in both lean (insulin-sensitive) and obese (insulin-resistant) mice. “We can also see that arginine increases the body’s production of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), an intestinal hormone which plays an important role in regulating appetite and glucose metabolism, and which is therefore used in numerous drugs for treating type 2 diabetes,” said Clemmensen.
Supplemental dosages of 6 to 8 grams L-Arginine per day are considered safe. Although available in food, for some applications such as stimulating secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary, it is not released quickly enough as the food is digested. The supplemental doses taken on an empty stomach will arrive at the blood-brain barrier without competition. Then growth hormone secretion will be stimulated which in turn can affect glucose metabolism
Increasing green space could narrow lifespan gap between poorest and richest areas
University of Glasgow (Scotland), October 19, 2022
Increasing the amount of natural (green and blue) space and private gardens has the potential to narrow the lifespan gap between those living in the most and least deprived areas, suggests research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology of Community Health.
Each 10% increase in natural space is linked to a 7% fall in the incidence of early death among the under 65s, the findings indicate.
It’s not clear if access to natural space might also be associated with differences in lifespan and protection against an earlier than expected death, so the researchers used the measure of “years of life lost,” or YLL for short, to try and find out.
Natural space was defined as: woodland; scattered trees; scrub; marsh; heath; open water (inland or tidal); semi natural grassland; general natural areas, such as grass on sports pitches, roadside verges, and farmland; agriculture; hard bare ground, such as rocks, boulders, and cliffs; and soft bare ground, such as sand, soil, and foreshore.
Areas with the highest income deprivation had the lowest average percentage cover of natural space and gardens (58.5%, 49–65%). People living in these areas had the highest levels of ill health.
The study found that every 10% increase in natural space cover was associated with a 7% fall in the incidence of premature death.
Food for thought: Study finds link between depression and unhealthy diets
Macquarie University, October 18, 2022
A Macquarie University study of 169 adults aged 17 to 35 found those eating a Western-style diet were more likely to have lower levels of kynurenic acid (KA)—a small molecule important to a number of bodily functions—and report higher levels of depression than those eating diets rich in fresh fruit and vegetables.
Neuroscientist Dr. Edwin Lim and neuropsychologist Dr. Heather Francis published a paper on the findings of the study in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition.
“Western-style diets high in fat, sugar and processed foods were already known to increase the risk of depression, but this is the first time a biological link involving the kynurenine pathway has been established,” Lim says.
“People from the group eating an unhealthy diet had lower levels of KA and more severe symptoms of depression. This indicates that KA may help to protect us against depression.”
The human body has a number of ways of producing important molecules and metabolites necessary to keep it functioning. One of these important molecules is tryptophan—an essential amino acid that the body can’t make itself, that is found in foods like dairy products, poultry, bananas, oats, nuts and seeds.
When tryptophan is broken down, it can produce either serotonin and melatonin—important for our mood and sleep—or it can be processed by the kynurenine pathway, which creates KA and other important metabolites linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Lim says this is the first time anyone has been able to show that Western-style diet has an effect on the way that tryptophan is metabolized in otherwise healthy young people.
“There is, however, a clear relationship between an increased risk of depression and eating an unhealthy diet that is high in fat, sugar and processed foods, giving us all the incentive to eat more fresh vegetables and fruit,” she says.
Study finds Mediterranean diet more effective cure for acid reflux than meds
Feinstein Institute for Medical Research & New York Medical College, October 8, 2022
Sticking to a Mediterranean diet is just as effective at controlling reflux as medicines prescribed to millions of people each year, research suggests.
Patients who ate primarily fish, vegetables and whole grains – and drank alkaline-heavy water – reported a greater reduction in their symptoms than those on proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), the small study found.
Patients who ate fish, vegetables and whole grains reported a greater reduction in symptoms than those on proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), the study found
Gastric, or oesophageal, reflux describes the traveling of stomach contents back up into the esophagus — a reversal of the normal flow. This is due to a poorly functioning lower esophageal sphincter, a ring of muscle at the top of the stomach that normally shuts to stop the contents of the stomach leaking out and up the foodpipe.
In the study, published in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology – experts compared 85 patients treated with PPIs with 99 who followed a 90 percent plant-based, Mediterranean-style diet, who also drank alkaline water.
The diet consisted mostly of fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts and barely any dairy or meat including beef, chicken, fish, eggs and pork. People were also told to avoid known triggers of reflux, including coffee, tea, chocolate, fizzy drinks, greasy and fried food, spicy food, fatty food and alcohol.
Patients on the plant-based diet also lost weight and needed fewer medicines for other conditions, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
‘The results we found show we are heading in the right direction to treating reflux without medication.’
Shorter sleep in later life linked to higher risk of multiple diseases
University College London, October 19, 2022
Getting less than five hours of sleep in mid-to-late life could be linked to an increased risk of developing at least two chronic diseases, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.
The research, published in PLOS Medicine, analyzed the impact of sleep duration on the health of more than 7,000 men and women at the ages of 50, 60 and 70, from the Whitehall II cohort study.
Researchers examined the relationship between how long each participant slept for, mortality and whether they had been diagnosed with two or more chronic diseases(multimorbidity)—such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes—over the course of 25 years.
People who reported getting five hours of sleep or less at age 50 were 20% more likely to have been diagnosed with a chronic disease and 40% more likely to be diagnosed with two or more chronic diseases over 25 years, compared to people who slept for up to seven hours.
Additionally, sleeping for five hours or less at the age of 50, 60, and 70 was linked to a 30% to 40% increased risk of multimorbidity when compared with those who slept for up to seven hours.
Researchers also found that sleep duration of five hours or less at age 50 was associated with 25% increased risk of mortality over the 25 years of follow-up—which can mainly be explained by the fact that short sleep duration increases the risk of chronic disease(s) that in turn increase the risk of death.
“Our findings show that short sleep duration is also associated with multimorbidity.
As part of the study, researchers also assessed whether sleeping for a long duration, of nine hours or more, affected health outcomes. There was no clear association between long sleep durations at age 50 and multimorbidity in healthy people.
Study finds Mediterranean diet more effective cure for acid reflux than meds
Feinstein Institute for Medical Research & New York Medical College, October 8, 2017
Sticking to a Mediterranean diet is just as effective at controlling reflux as medicines prescribed to millions of people each year, research suggests.
Patients who ate primarily fish, vegetables and whole grains – and drank alkaline-heavy water – reported a greater reduction in their symptoms than those on proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), the small study found. Gastric, or oesophageal, reflux describes the traveling of stomach contents back up into the esophagus — a reversal of the normal flow. This is due to a poorly functioning lower esophageal sphincter, a ring of muscle at the top of the stomach that normally shuts to stop the contents of the stomach leaking out and up the foodpipe.
In the study, published in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology, experts compared 85 patients treated with PPIs with 99 who followed a 90 percent plant-based, Mediterranean-style diet, who also drank alkaline water.
The diet consisted mostly of fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts and barely any dairy or meat including beef, chicken, fish, eggs and pork. People were also told to avoid known triggers of reflux, including coffee, tea, chocolate, fizzy drinks, greasy and fried food, spicy food, fatty food and alcohol.
Patients on the plant-based diet also lost weight and needed fewer medicines for other conditions, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
‘The results we found show we are heading in the right direction to treating reflux without medication.’
