Monday 30 September 2013

Plant Pigments Might Help Protect Your Bones / Dark Chocolate: A Valentine for Your Health / Omega-3s in Fish May Help Slow Biological Aging

Tufts Health & Nutrition Update
 Research news you can use from the editors of the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter.

September 30, 2013

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Plant Pigments Might Help Protect Your Bones


Natural pigments found in plants, called carotenoids, may help protect against bone loss in older men and women, according to new research led by Tufts epidemiologist Katherine Tucker, PhD.

In addition to the familiar beta-carotene, Tufts researchers and colleagues at Boston University and Hebrew SeniorLife in Boston examined potential effects on bone mineral density of carotenoids including alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and lutein plus zeaxanthin. The four-year study tracked changes in bone mineral density at two areas of the hip and lumbar spine of 213 men and 390 women, average age 75, participating in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study. Carotenoids, particularly lycopene, were associated with some level of protection against losses in bone mineral density at the hip in men and at the lumbar spine in women. No significant associations were observed at the other bone sites.

The results suggest there is a protective effect of carotenoids against bone loss in older adults.

 

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Dark Chocolate: A Valentine for Your Health


Many foods that nutrition scientists find are good for us can be difficult to love. Think of broccoli, which the first President Bush famously refused to eat. But then there's chocolate, which study after study reports has health benefits to match its deliciousness. The only trouble with chocolate, of course, is that it's also high in calories and fat.

What's a sensible way to strike a balance between enjoying chocolate's health (and taste) benefits and minimizing its downsides? With the chocolate-giving holiday of Valentine's Day in mind, we posed that question to Jeffrey B. Blumberg, PhD, director of Tufts' HNRCA Antioxidants Research Laboratory and a noted expert on the health effects of the antioxidant polyphenol compounds found in chocolate.

"The evidence that polyphenols-specifically the flavonoids and, especially, the flavanols-in chocolate have some health benefits continues to grow," says Blumberg. "The highest concentrations of these polyphenols are found in dark chocolate. Studies have particularly focused on cardiovascular endpoints like blood pressure and vascular reactivity. Indeed, enough data has now been generated from these studies that positive results have been demonstrated in several published systematic reviews and meta-analyses

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Omega-3s in Fish May Help Slow Biological Aging

 

The omega-3 fats in fish oil, touted for their heart-health benefits, may have a bonus for heart patients: slowing biological aging at the cellular level. In a study of patients with stable coronary artery disease, those with the highest blood levels of omega-3s also showed the least shortening of telomeres, a sign of biological rather than chronological aging. Patients with the lowest omega-3 levels, on the other hand, had the fastest rate of telomere shortening when researchers compared measurements from the start of the study to five years later.

Several studies have shown increased survival rates among individuals with established cardiovascular disease who consume more omega-3 fatty acids from fish. But the mechanisms underlying this protective effect are not well understood.


Telomeres are a structure at the end of a chromosome involved in the replication and stability of the chromosome. Genetic factors and environmental stresses can shorten the length of a telomere, so telomere length is becoming an emerging marker of biological age.

   

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