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Soda, OJ May Increase Risk of Gout

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According to a new study  drinking too much soda or fruit juice will increase the risk of developing gout, a painful form of arthritis.

Women who drank two cans or more of non-diet soda a day, or 12 ounces or more of orange juice a day, were more than twice as likely to develop gout. Women who drank just one soda or 6-ounce glass of juice per day were at 74 percent and 41 percent greater risk, respectively.

CNN reports:
“The culprit appears to be fructose … [F]ructose increases levels of the chemical uric acid, which causes gout. When uric acid levels in the body get too high, the acid hardens into sharp crystals that are deposited in joints.”

You may click to see :
Soft Drinks Linked to Pancreatic Cancer Risk

Resources:
CNN November 10, 2010
Journal of the American Medical Association November 10, 2010; [Epub ahead of print]

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Healthy Tips

Pick the Right Veg’ for Health

Obvious choices of fruit and vegetables are not necessarily the healthiest, say researchers.
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According to US experts, making simple swaps like eating sweet potatoes instead of carrots and papaya rather than oranges could make a difference.

Foods, like raspberries, watercress and kale, are richer in phytonutrients which may help prevent disease, they told a US meeting.

UK nutritionists said a balanced diet is essential to good health.

The British Nutrition Foundation warned that relying on eating a few select food types to boost health was ill-advised and said there was no such thing as a “superfood”.

Experts recommend five portions a day of fruit and veg in a healthy diet.

Plant foods are known to contain “phytonutrient” chemicals that can protect the heart and arteries and prevent cancers.

But the most popular varieties may not be the best, according to US researchers.

They analysed data from US health surveys of people’s dietary habits to look at the most common sources of phytonutrients.

They found that for 10 of the 14 phytonutrients studied, a single food type accounted for two-thirds or more of an individual’s consumption, regardless of how much fruit and veg they ate overall.

Carrots were the most common source of beta-carotene, oranges and orange juice the most common source of beta-cryptoxanthin, spinach the most common source of lutein/zeaxanthin, strawberries the most common source of ellagic acid and mustard the biggest provider of isothiocyanates.

However, for each of these phytonutrients there was a richer food source available.

Richer foods:-

Switching from carrots to sweet potatoes would nearly double beta-carotene intake, say the researchers.

Similarly papaya contains 15 times more beta-cryptoxanthin than oranges, while kale has three times more lutein/zeaxanthin than spinach.

Raspberries have three times more ellagic acid than strawberries and one cup of watercress contains as much isothiocyanate as four teaspoonfuls of mustard.

Study leader Keith Randolph, who is a technology strategist for the supplement company Nutrilite, said: “These data highlight the importance of not only the quantity but also the significant impact the quality and variety of the fruits and vegetables you eat can have on your health.”

Dr Emma Williams of the British Nutrition Foundation said: “They are right that some foods are richer sources of phytonutrients.

“But at the end of the day, to be healthy you need to make sure you have a varied and balanced diet.

“No one food can give you everything you need.”

The findings were presented at the 2010 Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, California.

Source
: BBC NEWS: April 27. 2010
http://www.healthyreader.com/2008/05/13/12-most-contaminated-fruits-and-vegetables/

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News on Health & Science

Orange Juice May Damage Teeth Enamel

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Some juice is so acidic, it can take part of your teeth with it.

New warning: A U.S. expert says orange juice is so strong it can ‘literally wash away your teeth’

Fruit beverages can cut enamel hardness by 84 per cent causing teeth to erode more than previously thought, according to one U.S. expert.

Dr Yan-Fang Ren, of the Eastman Institute for Oral Health, at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York, said the acid in orange juice ‘is so strong that the tooth is literally washed away’.

Dr Ren and his team made the discovery after studying the effects of over-the-counter teeth whitening products.

He found the effect of six per cent hydrogen peroxide, the common ingredient used for teeth whitening, was ‘insignificant’ compared with acidic fruit juices.

The orange juice markedly cut hardness and increased roughness of tooth enamel.

The researchers used a revolutionary vertical scanning microscope for the first time to see the extensive surface detail on teeth.

It has long been known that fruit juice and carbonated drinks have high acid content and can reduce the strength of enamel.

Dentists have advised some of these drinks should only be consumed with a straw or at the same time as eating food.

But the damaging effects of drinks could be worse than previously thought, according to the article in the Journal of Dentistry.

Weakened and eroded enamel may speed up the wear of the tooth and increase the risk of tooth decay developing and spreading.

Dr Ren said: ‘Most soft drinks, including sodas and fruit juices, are acidic in nature.

‘Our studies demonstrated that the orange juice, as an example, can potentially cause significant erosion of teeth. It’s potentially a very serisevereous problem for people who drink sodas and fruit juices daily.

‘We do not yet have an effective tool to avert the erosive effects, although there are early indications that higher levels of fluoride may help slow down the erosion.’

Dr Ren advises consumers to be aware of the acidic nature of beverages, including sodas, fruit juices, sports and energy drinks.

The longer teeth are in contact with the acidic drinks, the more the erosion will be.

Those who sip their drinks slowly over 20 minutes are more likely to have tooth erosion than those who finish a drink quickly.

Dr Ren said it is important to keep good oral hygiene by brushing teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste.

The research comes after a recent study revealed that drinking fruit juice dramatically reduces the effectiveness of drugs used to treat cancer, heart conditions and high blood pressure.

Research has shown that orange, apple and grapefruit juice can also wipe out the benefits of some antibiotics and hay-fever pills.

It is thought the drinks stop drugs from entering the bloodstream and getting to work in the body – possibly rendering them useless.

The potential effects are so serious, researchers warned, that if in doubt patients should swap fruit juices for water when on medication.

Source: Mail Online. 2nd. July. ’09

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Healthy Tips

Drink Brewed Tea to Protect Your Teeth

{{en}}Green tea leaves steeping in an uncovere...
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Forget lattes and fresh lime juice, the best thing to drink is brewed tea, for it has no erosive effect on teeth and its antioxidants provide health benefits, according to a new research.
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Refined sugars and acids found in soda and citrus juice promote tooth erosion, which wears away the hard part of the teeth, or the enamel. Once tooth enamel is lost, it’s gone forever.

However, brewed tea is a beverage that does not produce such irreversible results.

Apart from tasting good, brewed tea has many health benefits. Tea is loaded with natural antioxidants, which are thought to decrease incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

For the study, lead author Mohamed A. Bassiouny, DMD, BDS, MSc, PhD, compared green and black tea to soda and orange juice in terms of their short- and long-term erosive effect on human teeth.

The study found that the erosive effect of tea was similar to that of water, which has no erosive effect. And, when comparing green versus black, he discovered that there is a better option among those as well.

“When we look at tea and read about the benefits, it’s amazing-not because green tea is ‘the in thing’-but because there are advantages,” Bassiouny said.

He added that much research done overseas, in countries such as Japan and Europe, found that green tea was identified to being superior over black due to its natural flavonoids (plant nutrients) and antioxidants.

Experts suggest drinking drink tea without additives such as milk, lemon, or sugar because they combine with tea’s natural flavonoids and decrease the benefits.

The also suggest to stay away from pre-packaged iced teas because they contain citric acid and high amounts of sugars. It does not matter whether the tea is warm or cold-as long as it is home brewed without additives.

Kenton Ross, DMD, FAGD, AGD spokesperson, sees patients’ erosion problems on a daily basis in his practice. “This study clearly shows that brewed teas resulted in dramatically less enamel loss than soft drinks and acidic juices. I would highly recommend patients choose tea as an alternative to more erosive drinks like soda and fruit juice.”

The study is published in the July/August issue of General Dentistry, the clinical, peer-reviewed journal of the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD).

Sources: The Times Of India

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