Peachy foods protect against a cluster of ageing diseases

Philadelphia: Fruits with stones, such as peaches, plums and nectarines, help protect against several ageing diseases, according to new research from the US.

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The findings of research scheduled for presentation at the 244th American Chemical Society meeting, to be held August 19-23, 2012 in Philadelphia, reveal a protective effect from consuming these fruits, against against metabolic syndrome–a cluster of factors that predict obesity-related diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease.
Texas AgriLife Research food scientist Dr Luis Cisneros-Zevallos said:  “In recent years obesity has become a major concern in society due to the health problems associated to it.
“In the US, statistics show that around 30 percent of the population is overweight or obese, and these cases are increasing every year in alarming numbers.
“The major concern about obesity is the associated disease known as metabolic syndrome,” he observed.
“Our studies have shown that stone fruits – peaches, plums and nectarines – have bioactive compounds that can potentially fight the syndrome, ” Dr Cisneros-Zevallos reported.” Our work indicates that phenolic compounds present in these fruits have antiobesity, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic properties in different cell lines and may also reduce the oxidation of bad cholesterol LDL.
“Our work shows that the four major phenolic groups–anthocyanins, clorogenic acids, quercetin derivatives and catechins–work on different cells –fat cells, macrophages and vascular endothelial cells,” he continued. “They modulate different expressions of genes and proteins depending on the type of compound. However, at the same time, all of them are working simultaneously in different fronts against the components of the disease, including obesity, inflammation, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
“Each of these stone fruits contain similar phenolic groups but in differing proportions so all of them are a good source of health promoting compounds and may complement each other,” he concluded.
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Tangerines protect from heart disease

New York: Eating tangerines may help protect against heart attacks, diabetes, and obesity, according to new US research.

This is because it contains a substance called Nobiletin, a pigment found in tangerine peel, is ten times more potent than a similar one derived from grapefruit which protects from obesity and metabolic syndrome.

 

tangerine.jpgResearchers from the University of Western Ontario, in Canada, fed two groups of mice a diet high in fats and simple sugars, reports the journal Diabetes.

One group had symptoms of illness such as elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, high blood levels of insulin and glucose and a fatty liver – all of which increase the risk of diabetes and heart disease. But a second group on the same diet but who were fed Nobiletin showed no similar rise. The substance also protected them from atherosclerosis, the build-up of plaque in arteries, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Eating tangerines could protect against heart attacks, diabetes and stroke as well as staving off obesity

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Metabolic syndrome is indicator of heart failure in middleage

Upsalla: Metabolic syndrome significantly boosts the chances of heart failure in middle age, suggests new research published the magazine Heart.

Metabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of conditions, including obesity, high blood pressure, unfavourable blood fat levels, and diabetes.

The researchers at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, base their findings on regular monitoring of more than 2,300 men who were aged 50 between 1970 and 1974 and who were tracked until the age of 70.

The presence of metabolic syndrome at the start of the study was strongly associated with the subsequent development of heart failure. Men with the syndrome were almost twice as likely to develop heart failure as those without.

This was independent of any other established risk factors for heart failure, such as coronary artery disease, a heart attack, smoking, and poorly working heart valves.

The authors suggest that metabolic syndrome may directly affect the heart itself as well as boosting the build up of fatty deposits in the arteries.

The likely mechanism is insulin resistance and the subsequent excess insulin circulating in the blood, say the authors. Insulin may excessively enlarge the heart muscle (myocardium), thereby impairing its capacity.

High circulating levels of insulin also stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, thought to be a risk factor in heart failure, and cause heart muscle cells to wither and/or stiffen.