Newsbriefs: Vegetable Consumption; Gluten; Vitamin D Deficiency; High Cholesterol
Many benefits to fruit, vegetable consumption.
Women who consumed a diet high in fruit and vegetables—eight to nine servings a day—in their younger years are much more likely to have healthier arteries in later life compared to women who ate three or fewer servings daily. Previous studies have found that middle-aged adults who consume high amounts of fruits and vegetables are less likely to have a heart attack or stroke. The findings confirm the belief that plaque buildup is a lifelong process that can be slowed by consuming a healthy diet at a young age. Fruit and vegetable consumption does not confer the same protection to men. Another study, from University College, London, found that consuming seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables daily reduces risk of death by 42 percent, compared to eating less than one portion. Specifically, risk of death by cancer is reduced by 25 percent and heart disease by 31 percent. Vegetables have significantly higher benefits than fruit, the research showed. Salad eaters had a 13 percent risk reduction per portion, while fresh vegetables had the strongest preventive effect—each daily portion reduced overall risk of death by 16 percent. (Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, March 31, 2014.)
Breakthrough for gluten-intolerant patients.
A key molecule that could lead to new treatments for patients with celiac disease and possibly other gastrointestinal disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome, has been discovered by researchers at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder among people with a sensitivity to dietary gluten. The body’s response can lead to abdominal pain, malnutrition and anemia, among other problems. The molecule, called elafin, is present in the intestine of healthy individuals, but substantially decreased in patients with celiac disease. (The American Journal of Gastroenterology March 31, 2014.)
Vitamin D deficiency contributes to poor mobility among very obese.
Severely obese people who are also vitamin D-deficient walk slower and are less active overall than people with healthy vitamin D levels. About 6.5 percent of American adults are severely obese, meaning their body mass index (BMI) is greater than 30 (a body mass index of 18.5 – 24.9 is considered normal). Poor physical functioning can reduce quality of life and even shorten life spans, the researchers said. The group with the highest vitamin D levels had the fastest walking times and highest amount of self-reported physical activity, as well as the lowest average BMI of the study participants. Improving vitamin D levels “should improve quality of life and may decrease the risk of early death in people with severe obesity,” said Tomas Ahern, MB, BCh, BAO, of St. Columcille’s Hospital and St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, one of the study’s authors. “This could be a simple matter of spending more time outside, since sun exposure can boost the body’s natural vitamin D production.”
High prevalence of inherited, undetected, undertreated high cholesterol.
About one in 500 people worldwide have an inherited condition of extremely high cholesterol, called familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). The condition is largely undiagnosed and undetected, and is linked with premature heart disease and death, according to Thomas Knickelbine MD, Preventive Cardiology Director at the Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. The research team analyzed health records of 391,000 patients between 2009 and 2012 to identify people who were at least 80 percent likely to have FH (determined by levels of low-density “bad” cholesterol, and age). They found that of 841 patients (one in 465), likely to have FH, only 4.3 percent had been diagnosed with the condition. In addition, of that patient group, almost 26 percent were not taking a statin, suggesting that undertreatment is widespread. Findings were presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Washington, D.C., in March 2014.
The post Newsbriefs: Vegetable Consumption; Gluten; Vitamin D Deficiency; High Cholesterol appeared first on University Health News.
Powered by WPeMatico
