Onions and cantaloupes latest cause of worry

Gill’s Onions, based in Oxnard, Calif., has issued voluntary recalls of diced and slivered onions because of a possible risk of listeriosis, the company has reported on its website.

Gills Onions in Oxnard, Calif., has recalled diced and slivered onions after one package tested positive for listeria.

 
The large recall, triggered when the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes were detected at a processing plant, has stores across the country (including Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market) pulling “tons of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods” off their shelves, WebMD reported Thursday.

Separately, a North Carolina grower has recalled cantaloupes, also citing worries about listeria contamination.        

Elderly people, pregnant women and individuals with weakened immune systems are most at risk of serious illness from listeria infection, according to this website from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Listeriosis can cause fever, muscle aches and diarrhea, as well as miscarriage. There are about 1,600 cases each year in the U.S.

One bright spot in the onion recall: No one has been sickened by tainted onions, and only one bag of onions has tested positive for listeria, Gill’s said on its website. According to CDC reports, a listeria outbreak in 2011 — which originated in cantaloupes from Colorado’s Jensen Farms and spread through 28 states across the U.S. — infected 146 people, killing 30 and possibly causing a miscarriage in a pregnant woman who fell ill.

The recalls coincide with recent reports that the country is not meeting its goals for reducing foodborne illnesses such as salmonella and listeria.  In this July 28  story about the CDC statistics from the Washington Post, consumer advocates complained that the government has been too slow to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act, which should help prevent foodborne illness. 

Source : LATimes

Tomato Rich Diets Against Diabetes CVD and Cancer

Red Tomato

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Linn.) is considered as a vegetable, rather than its botanically as a form of fruit, due to it is mostly used as an ingredient for culinary purposes. Tomato, which in Bahasa Indonesia is known as tomat, has other binomial synonyms, such as, Lycopersicon lycopersicum (L.) H. Karst., and Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.

When I ate tomato as a dessert, first I sliced a tomato into four pieces, put them in a glass, added with few sugar, crushed and mixed the tomato with spoon, and enjoyed it. Thats how I used to enjoy eating tomato, besides of having it as a fruit juice.

There are many health benefits of tomato, including the protection from tumors at various anatomy have been attributed to tomato. According to several scientific studies, tomato is believed to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-metastatic, antimutagenic, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, anticarcinogenic, cardioprotective, and anti-neurodegenerative effects.

Anti-diabetic Effects

Tomatoes are a rich source of lycopene, β-carotene, α-tomatine, tomatidine, potassium, vitamin C, flavonoids, folate and vitamin E. Among tomato carotenoids, lycopene is the most active antioxidant. Lycopene acts as an antidiabetic agent through lowering the free radical, effectively at the dose of 90 mg/kg body weight, in a study using streptozotocin induced hyperglycaemic rats. (Ali MM, et al. 2009)

In a quasi experimental study, 32 type 2 diabetic patients received 200 g raw tomato daily for eight weeks. The study concluded that daily consumption of 200 g raw tomato, may decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, in which will be useful for reducing cardiovascular risk associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. (Shidfar F, et al. 2011)

Cardioprotective Effects

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of human morbidity and mortality in developed countries. Increasing the consumption of fruits and vegetables is recommended for CVD prevention. But, until now, many scientific studies mostly failed to show the effect of consumption of tomato in decreasing the risk of CVD. However, the antioxidant as well as the anti-inflammatory effects of lycopene, could be the background for cardioprotective effects of tomato, or tomato products.

In a study among 39,876 middle aged and older women initially free of CVD and cancer. Dietary intake of lycopene was not strongly associated with the risk of CVD. However, the higher consumption levels of tomato based products, such as, tomato sauce and pizza, had potential reductions in CVD risk, and give cardiovascular benefits. (Sesso HD, et al. 2003)

Lycopene inhibits lymphocyte (a type of white blood cell that is important in the formation of antibodies) proliferation (the growth and reproduction of similar cells) through mechanisms dependent on early cell activation, providing one possible mechanism to explain the beneficial effects of tomato rich diets against CVD. (Mills LM, et al. 2012)

Anti-cancer Effects

Based on several observational studies, the benefit of tomato was strongest for prostate, lung, and stomach cancers. And were also suggested to treat pancreas, colon, rectum, esophagus, oral cavity, breast, and cervix cancers. However, multiple components derived from tomato may contribute to its anti-cancer properties, and higher consumption of tomato or any tomato based products is associated in lowering the risk of cancer.

The high α-tomatine from green tomato extracts strongly inhibited several human cancer cell lines, such as, breast, colon, gastric, and hepatoma. α-Tomatine was found to be highly effective in inhibiting the growth of all human cancer cell lines. (Friedman M, et al. 2009)

Recent study had found that tomatidine, an aglycone of glycoalkaloid tomatine in tomato, possessed anti-inflammatory properties and may serve as a chemosensitizer in multidrug-resistant tumor cells. Just like embelin in my previous post about vidanga, tomatidine significantly decreased the nuclear level of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB).

NF-κB is a transcription factor which regulates several genes associated with inflammation, proliferation, carcinogenesis, and apoptosis. The study also suggested that tomatidine may potentially use in anti-metastatic therapy, as a new therapeutic agent. (Yan KH, et al. 2013)

So, whatever the variety of tomatoes around the world, all them have huge benefits for us. And tomato based products may also contribute to our health. Stay healthy! Let us not waste our health to look for treasure (wealth) and then squandered our treasure to seek health!

Yeast Hydrolysate Powered Fat Loss 7 Reduction in Total Body Fat and 14 Reduction in Abdominal Fat W out Diet

Will the fat-burning magic of 1g/day of yeast hydrolysate dissolve the fat thats still covering the last 2 packs?

It sounds like a marketing scam and I must warn you, one of the authors of a soon-to-be-published paper on the basis of which I came up with this headline is actually with a company that specializes in food additives.

This obviously warrants a heightened degree of suspicion, but it does not mean that the study results could or even must be doctored. I would thus suggest, we take a look at what the Korean scientists from Jeonju University, the University of Seoul, the Korea University and the Neo Cremar Company Ltd. actually did and found before we jump to any premature conclusions about the validity or non-validity of the data.

What exactly is yeast hydrolysate?

I guess, the first thing we have to address is what exactly it was Jung et al. administered to their 24 male and 30 female participants  with body mass indices (BMI) of at least 25 kg/m² (the obesity cut off in the Asia-Pacific region is 25 kg/m²). To this end, its best to look at how this "supplement" was produced (if you want the short version fast forward to the first red box ;-)

1. 

   Youve read about the anti-Crohns effects of saccharomyces cerv. (bakers yeast) in the SuppVersity Facebook News, recently
   
   

   Saccharomyces cerevisiae (IFO 2346) is incubated in a growth medium containing 2% molasses, 0.6% (NH4)2SO4, 0.1% MgSO4$7H2O, 0.2% KH2PO4, 0.03% K2HPO4,  for 3 days at 30°C.
2. After incubation, the culture is centrifuged at 10,000g for 20 minutes.
3. Immediately after the cells are removed from the centrifuge, they are suspended in 20 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) and hydrolyzed with 1000 units of bromelain at 30 C for 4 h.

The result of this third step actually is already a, but not yet the hydrolysate. To achieve the "good stuff", it is then centrifuged at 10,000g for 20 min. The small molecules which are then removed from the supernatant are then passed through a 10 kDa molecular-weight cutoff membrane and eventually lyophilized - et voilà!

"Hold on! So what do I need?" Before you hit the "too complicated button" at the bottom of this page, let me briefly point out that you dont need to understand or memorize the production process. The thing you have to look for, when you are shopping for corresponding products is a yeast hydrolysate with a maximal molecular weight (thats ~ the size of the indiv. peptides) of <10kDa that was produced from Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In the study at hand, the of this 3+1 step process was packed into 500 mg pouches before it was handed over to the subjects in the active arm of the study (the placebo contained dextrin).  

Figure 1: Inter-group baseline differences for weight + body composition for men and women (Young. 2014
)

Both the placebo and yeast supplements had to be taken twice a day 30 min before breakfast and dinner. So far that all sounds like standard procedure. If you take a look at the outcome of the randomization process, you will yet see that there are non-negligible inter-group differences in body composition (see Figure 1): In conjunction with the high fat mass, the low body weight and lean mass of the ladies in the control group, could have significant effects on the change in body weight. Unfortunately, the scientists did not test the significance of this difference, but a 39% gap in lean body mass that comes hand in hand with a 13% higher fat mass can be expected to have a very relevant effect on the outcome of any dietary intervention.

Speaking of dietary interventions! there was no dietary intervention.

I know, it sounds hilarious, but there was no dietary intervention. All the participants had to do was to consume the 1g of yeast hydrolysate or the 1g of dextrin in 2x500mg servings 30 min before breakfast and dinner. Thats at least what they were advised to do.

Figure 2: Changes in energy intake (% baseline) and body composition (Young. 2014)

The data in Figure 2 does yet tell you that what they actually did (voluntarily, though) was "dieting". This is particularly true for the female study participants, who reached caloric deficits of 26% by week 6-8 and 28% by week 8-10. Against that background its not that surprising that the statistical significant changes in body comp were only observed in the female study participants. 

There are no effects on resting metabolic rate! The notion that the reduced energy intake is the main, if not the only driving force of the fat loss Jung et al. observed in the study at hand is supported by observations the researchers made in a previous study from 2011 (Jung. 2011a). In the said study, the 20 obese females (body fat >28%) in the yeast group did experience a non-significantly improved fat loss compared to the control group. They did yet also suffer from a "higher" reduction in resting metabolic race (-9.69kcal/day vs. -4.35kcal/day) - similarly non-significant as the weight loss difference, obviously.

This does not mean that the yeast extract doesnt work - quite the contrary, for the average individual who is neither willing nor able to adhere to a caloric deficit without the help of tools like this, it could actually come very handy. For the average physical culturist, it would yet obviously be more interesting if yeast hydrolysates had spot reducing qualities (learn more about spot reduction). And if we take another look at the full text of the study, we could actually argue that this is basically what the authors suggest, when they refer to the results of previous studies and state:

"Yeast hydrolysate increases the reduction of body fat in obese individuals compared with placebo, which supports the hypothesized abdominal fat-lowering effects of yeast hydrolysate" (Young. 2014)

If you look at the study at hand, the question we would have to answer should thus read: Are the abdominal and total fat mass disproportionate. Or to say it differently: Did the subjects lose signifcantly more abdominal than total fat? And in view of the previously discussed problem: Did this vary between male and female participants? Unfortunately, the scientists didnt do us (or rather me) the favor of doing this for us, already. Therefore I had to do the calculations and plotting for Figure 3 myself:

Figure 3: Relative change in body fat mass and abdominal fat thickness (Jung. 2014)

As the text in the box in Figure 3 already tells you, the existing discrepancy between the reduction in total body fat and abdominal fat thickness does not necessarily "prove" the spot reducing prowess of yeast hydrolysate. We do after all know that in the chubbier folks the unhealthy fat in / on the midsection is usually the first to go.

Is the fat loss really localized? 

Furthermore, a previous study by the same researchers clearly refutes the abdominal specific fat loss effects. The corresponding paper was published in 2011 in the Journal of Food and Biochemistry (Jung. 2011a; same paper I referenced in the box above), and despite the fact that the researchers observed a trend for an increase in weight loss within only 4 weeks on the same <10kDa yeast hydrolysate, the fat loss results of the obese women who participated in the study were at best triceps (-2.15 vs. -1.05mm reduction in skinfold thickness in yeast vs. control) and not belly specific (-1.70 vs. -1.08mm reduction in skinfold thickness in yeast vs. control).

Unfortunately, I cannot tell you whether the same can be said of the 2009 paper by Suh et al., because the online archive of the Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, where it was published starts in March 2011. In view of the fact that it was not "ab-specific" in obese women, I really doubt that it will have has particularly pronounced effects on the waistline of female college students - a subject group of whom you would expect that they are at least somewhat closer to the fitness and leanness level of the average SuppVersity reader.

If you are looking for alternative, yet not necessarily more effective purported spot-reduction supp- lements / techniques, you may want to (re?)read the recent SuppVersity article about green tea, green clay & magnesium sulfate soaked "plaster body wraps" | read more

Is yeast hydrolysate an effective tool in your weight loss arsenal? A definitive answer to this question is yet still lacking. Personally, I would spend my money otherwise, because I have never had a problem with cutting back calories, when I decided that this is necessary to lose weight. If, on the other hand, you belong to those people who are constantly hungry, it may be worth trialling a once month supply of yeast hydrolysate caps (or sachets).

The only thing you should be prepared for is that it is not going to work if you dont diet. In all of the human studies Ive seen so far, the weight loss went hand in hand with a reduction in calorie intake; and despite the fact that there is good evidence that the His-Pro (=Cyclo) peptides in yeast hydrolysates have additional value as potent antioxidants (Jung. 2011b), their subsequent effect on glucose metabolism will depend on a baseline increase in inflammation. In other words: The bigger your belly, gluttony and baseline inflammation, the greater the benefits.

References:

• Jung, E. Y., Kim, S. Y., Bae, S. H., Chang, U. J., Choi, J. W., & Suh, H. J. (2011a). Weight reduction effects of yeast hydrolysate below 10 kDa on obese young women. Journal of Food Biochemistry, 35(2), 337-350.
• Jung, E. Y., Lee, H. S., Choi, J. W., Ra, K. S., Kim, M. R., & Suh, H. J. (2011b). Glucose Tolerance and Antioxidant Activity of Spent Brewers Yeast Hydrolysate with a High Content of Cyclo‐His‐Pro (CHP). Journal of food science, 76(2), C272-C278.
• Jung, E. Y., Hong, Y. H., Kim, J. H., Park, Y., Bae, S. H., Chang, U. J., & Suh, H. J. (2012). Effects of Yeast Hydrolysate on Hepatic Lipid Metabolism in High-Fat-Diet-Induced Obese Mice: Yeast Hydrolysate Suppresses Body Fat Accumulation by Attenuating Fatty Acid Synthesis. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 61(2), 89-94.  
• Jung, E. Y., Cho, M. K., Hong, Y. H., Kim, J. H., Park, Y., Chang, U. J., & Suh, H. J. (2014). Yeast hydrolysate can reduce body weight and abdominal fat accumulation in obese adults. Nutrition, 30(1), 25-32.
• Suh, H. J. (2009). The weight reduction effect of yeast hydrolysate-SR101 on female college students. Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, 14(2), 123-128.

Fluoride Chlorhexidine Free Tooth Hygiene For You What Alternatives are There And How Effective are Natural and Not So Natural Fluoride Free Products

There are alternatives and adjuncts to fluoride you just have to know them.

To start off with the most important information not in, but about this article: This is not an anti-fluoride article.  I am not even going to mention the ongoing debate about the usefulness and safety of fluoride in toothpaste and co.

What I am offering is a concise list of natural agents with similar anti-bacterial properties as fluoride anyone of you can use to improve his tooth hygiene - this includes those of you who believe the whole fluoride scare is another overweight child of the hype generating online health community.

Various anti plaque agents, and other agents like enzymes have been effectively used as prevention of
dental caries. Ever since 1970‘s researchers started to search for non-fluoride agents for the  prevention of dental caries. And as Agarwal write in a recent article in Oral Hygiene & Health, "fluoride agents may serve as adjunctive therapeutics for preventing, arresting or even reversing dental caries" (my emphasis in Agarwal. 2014).

Against that background, the items in the following list should be understood as suggestions; agents I suggest you may want to try to improve your dental health, irrespective of whether you combine them with a fluoride containing toothpaste or not:

• Essential oils: Essential oils have been used for centuries. Only, recently however, has this practice caught scientific attention and scientists began to study the antimicrobial activity against caries-related bacteria.
  
  

  

  Thyme with its main active ingredient thymol is one of the essential oils you could use in an anti-bacterial mouth wash.

  Essential oils derived from plants are typically a complex mixture of approximately 20-60 compounds that are in solution at various concentrations. Overall, the main chemical group is primarily composed of terpenoids, followed by aromatic and aliphatic constituents. Thymol and eugenol are two of the better known agents from essential oils of thyme and clove oil or basil. They have been shown to inhibit the growth of a wide range of oral microorganisms including mutans streptococci, in vitro. Convincing data on their efficacy from in vivo studies, on the other hand is scarce (Agarwal. 2014).
• Ocimum sanctum aka "Tulsi": Tulsi, Ocimum sanctumis a plant of Indian origin and chances are youve already read its name. Its a time tested premier medicinal herb thats usually used diabetes mellitus, arthritis, bronchitis and skin diseases. Luckily tulsi does also have potent antimicrobial properties, against a whole variety of microorganisms like Staphylococus aureus, Klebsiella, candida albicans, E. coliandproteus sp.
  
  The antimicrobial activity of tulsi is attributed to its constituents namely ursolic acid and carvacrol. Agarwal et al. (Agarwal. 2010) in their study demonstrated an antimicrobial potential of tulsi extract at various concentrations and achieved maximum antimicrobial potential at 4% concentration level. Thats not much, but something we can work with... as only one ingredient of our toothpaste and mouth-wash, obviously ;-)

• 

  Figure 1: Prunis is not as potent as  0.2% chlor- hexidine (CHX) and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), but inhibits the growth of human oral keratinocytes within 5 minutes (Seneviratne. 2011)

  Prunus mume: Prunus mumeis is like Tulsi a TCM staple, It is, just like Tulsi not usually used for tooth hygiene.
  
  In vitro data from studies such as the one the data of which you see in Figure 1, would yet suggest that it is rightly considered to be a candidate for develo- ping an oral antimicrobial agent to control or prevent dental diseases associated with oral pathogenic bacteria like Strepto- coccus mutans, S. sobrinus, S. mitis, S. Sanguinis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, P. gingivalis, Aggregatibacter actino- mycetem comitans (Seneviratne. 2011)
• Green and black tea (Camellia sinensi): No reason to tell you what these are, right? Well, various component in green and black tea (leaves of Camellia sinensis), notably the simple catechins, have anticariogenic activity.
  
  Among the pathogens that have been shown to suffer from the exposure to these tea catechins are also S mutans and S sobrinus. In addition, there is evidence that tea does not only plaster your teeth with black tar, but that this black tar inhibits the adherence of bacteria to your teeth (lucky you ;-) - this works by the inhibition glucosyl transferase and the consequent reduction in biosynthesis of sticky glucan. And above all, a recent paper in the Journal of the Indian Society of Peridontologyconfirm sthe "effectiveness of green tea catechin mouthwash as an antiplaque agent" in man (Kaur. 2014).

Listen up tea haters! In their 2004 paper, Taylor et al. do yet conclude that *surprise* tea shares its anticariogenic effects (this is anti-caries not anti-cancer, folks ;-) against alfa hemolytic streptococci with cocoa and coffee!

• Oleic acid, Linoleic acid and epicatechin polymer fom Cacao bean husk: Have all been shown to have anti-cariogenic activity. Just like green tea, coffee and cacao, they inhibit the adherence of the bacteria to your teeth and best of all, there is even evidence that this stuff works - in rodents, at least (Ooshima. 2000; Osawa. 2001)
• Proanthocyanidins, phenolic acids, flavonols from Cranberry: These shows antimicrobial activity against biofilm cells of mutans streptococci. They will disrupt the acidogenic/aciduric properties of planktonic and biofilm cells of S. mutans and have rodent studies to back up their efficacy as in vivo inhibitors of caries development in rats infected with S. mutansis (Koo. 2002)
• Meswak chewing sticks (Twigs of Salvadora persica): The name already gives it away. This is another tool from traditional medicine, which is supposed to have been used by the Babylonians some 7000 years ago (Al Sadhan. 1999).

  

  Table 1: Miswak is not the only type of chewing stick thats used world-wide (Sukkarwalla. 2013)

  In this case, however, one that is in fact use to prevent caries! And in fact, the sticks have strong antibacterial effects against all relevant bacteria (Almas. 2004) - no wonder they have been used for tooth hygiene after being embedded in agar forever.
  
  What should be said, though, is that you could also use other anti-microbial substances as "toothpaste" on a Miswak stick, after youve made it bacteria proof with agar (agar is a polysaccharides that cannot be metabolised by bacteria).

  

  Figure 2: Marked reduction in levels of Streptococcus mutans in Miswak as compared to toothbrush users (left) and overview of Antimicrobial effects of Miswak (right; both from Sukkarwalla. 2013)

  Its effects, and the illusration in Figure 2 makes this quite clear, does still go way beyond the one of a classic toothbrush (Sukkarwalla. 2013).
• Trace elements: Actually, the initially mentioned fluoride would belong into this category as well... what? Yeah, you are right: Its note exactly smart to replace it with zinc, tin, aluminium, copper, iron, strontium, barium, manganese and molybdenum, gold, or lead, all of which have been investigated as weapons in our never-ending battle against tooth decay (hard to believe, I know).
  
  Of these trace elements, aluminum, copper, and iron have been used most commonly as cariostatic agents. Unfortunately, these agents are about as unhealthy for its user, as they are for the bacteria, when they are used in oral care products as simple salts. Moreover, the toxicity of many metals like aluminum, copper, barium molybdenum, would restrict the concentration at which they could be safely used.
• Propolis, the resinous mixture that honey bees collect from tree buds, sap flows, or other botanical sources: Propolis is a natural beehive product that serves a double purpose. It is used to make honey, and it keeps the hive bacteria-free.
  
  Propolis shows potent anti-bacterial activity against S. mutans and/or S. sobrinus in vitro ad has been used successfully as part of a a mouthwash with in vivo antimicrobial activity against S. mutans (Duailibe. 2007). Moreove, topical applications of chemically characterized Propolis extracts have also been shown to be highly effective in reducing the incidence and severity of smooth surface and sulcal caries in rats (Koo. 1999). 

What you should know about propolis, thoug is that as with every natural product, though, propolis does not come "standardized" like a phamaceutical. Accordingly, its cariostatic effectsare highly variable depending on its chemical composition and geographical origin. In other words: It owes its antimicrobial potency to the plants - worst case scenario: The bees fly around in a GMO area and collect no natural antimicrobials at all ;-)

• There are many other reports in the literature concerning the antimicrobial activities that various plant extracts may have against cariogenic bacteria, although the majority of these studies provide limited or incomplete information due to the lack of chemical characterization of the extracts. However, there are a few exceptions. For example, Li et al. (1999) have identified gallotannins from Melaphis chinensis and triterpenes (ceanothic acid and ceanothetric acid) from Ceanothus americanus as antimicrobial agents that harbor activity against mutans streptococci.
  
  Furthermore, a chemically characterized extract of Galla chinensis(containing gallic acid and methyl gallate) has been demonstrated to impede the growth of S. mutans and other caries- related organisms, including Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Actinomyces naeslundii, within biofilms. Recently, established that naturally occurring phenolic compounds generally display antibacterial activity by disrupting the membrane lipid-protein interface as nonionic surface-active agents (Greenberg. 2008) and  Ramakrishna et al. (2011) studied various natural alternatives derived from plants and plant products and concluded that it can serve as a prevention and treatment option against cariogenic bacteria. 

• 

  They certainly dont look like it, but being filled with licorice extract, these lollipops are good for your teeth.

  Chinese Licorice Root: As a SuppVersity reader you know that it can help you lean out, by keeping your cortisol levels up(!). What you may have read as an aside, only, is that it will also help fight caries, if it is consumed as a "teeth hygiene lollipop" that contains a special herbal formula extracted from the Chinese licorice root.
  
  These orange flavoured herbal lollipops was discovered by microbiologist at the UCLA school of dentistry should be consumed twice a day- one in the morning after breakfast and another after professional teeth cleaning between two and four times a year (Agarwal. 2010). 
• Xylitol: Xylitol is last on the list, and probably an agent may of you know. Its - unlike most people think - 100% natural and was first used as a tooth-friendly sweetener in chewing gums, lollipops and other stuff more than 80 years after its discovery in 1891 by German chemist Emil Fischer.
  
  Dental benefits of xylitol were first recognized in Finland in 1970 using animal models. The first chewing gum developed with the aim of reducing caries and improving oral health was released in Finland in 1975 and in United States shortly after. Xylitol is not fermented by cariogenic plaque bacteria and thus does not lower the pH of the plaque. It reduces the accumulation of plaque on the surface of the tooth.
  
  In contrast to many other marketing claims the efficacy of xylitol based chewing gum is scientifically established (Isokangas. 1987) and its effect to inhibit enamel dissolution, another claim you may have heard already has in vitro data to back it up (Arends. 1990). In children reporting caries experience, consumption of xylitol containing lozenges or hard candy reduces incidence of coronal caries (Alanen. 2000).
  
  For children below age two, in addition to the study that evaluated xylitol tablets, the xylitolcontaining syrup among children in the Marshall Islands and reported a statistically significant difference in favor of xylitol syrup (Milgrom. 2009) - for children unde rthe age of 2, on the other hand, there is insufficient evidence that xylitol syrup prevents caries. The same lack of convincing evidence exists with respect to xylitol dentrifrice, of which we cannot tell if its the xylitol or another agent thats responsible for the inhibition of dental caries.

"Hardcore tooth hygiene" ;-)

Now that youve got a long list, all youd need is a plan of attack. The latter will certainly depend on the availability of the previously mentioned agents and your personal preferences, but in general it will probably look somewhat like this:

Assuming you have already abandoned regular, fluoride-containing toothpaste, I suspect that you will be using a different product for tooth hygiene. Aside from buying Meswak chewing stick and replacing your toothbrush your best chance to increase your tooth hygiene would thus be (a) the use of xylitol logenes and chewing gums or licorice lollipops and (b) using some cacao bean husk (extracts), in a thyme oil spiked green tea mouthwash after you brushed your teeth (you remember the "protective film" the tea will create on your teeth?).

And if you are really hard core you do both: Brush with meswak sticks first, flush with a green tea + thyme oil mixture, afterwards. But dont complain about "green tea colored teeth" ;-)

Reference:

• Agarwal, Pooja, and L. Nagesh. "Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of various concentrations of Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) extract against Streptococcus mutans: An in vitro study." Indian Journal of Dental Research 21.3 (2010).
• Agarwal, R., et al. "Prevention of Dental Caries-Measures beyond Fluoride." Oral Hyg Health 2.122 (2014): 2332-0702.
• Al Sadhan, Raed I., and Khalid Almas. "Miswak (chewing stick): a cultural and scientific heritage." Saudi dental journal 11.2 (1999): 80-87. 
• Alanen, Pentti, Pauli Isokangas, and Kristjan Gutmann. "Xylitol candies in caries prevention: results of a field study in Estonian children." Community dentistry and oral epidemiology 28.3 (2000): 218-224.
• Arends, J., et al. "Combined effect of xylitol and fluoride on enamel demineralization in vitro." Caries Research 24.4 (1990): 256-257.
• Duailibe, Silvana Alves de Carvalho, Azizedite Guedes Gonçalves, and Fernando Jorge Mendes Ahid. "Effect of a propolis extract on Streptococcus mutans counts in vivo." Journal of Applied Oral Science 15.5 (2007): 420-423. 
• Greenberg, Michael, Michael Dodds, and Minmin Tian. "Naturally Occurring Phenolic Antibacterial Compounds Show Effectiveness against Oral Bacteria by a Quantitative Structure− Activity Relationship Study." Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 56.23 (2008): 11151-11156. 
• Isokangas, Pauli. "Xylitol chewing gum in caries prevention. A longitudinal study on Finnish school children." Proceedings of the Finnish Dental Society. Suomen Hammaslääkäriseuran toimituksia 83 (1987): 1.
• Kaur, H., S. Jain, and A. Kaur. "Comparative evaluation of the antiplaque effectiveness of green tea catechin mouthwash with chlorhexidine gluconate." Journal of Indian Society of Periodontology 18.2 (2014): 178.
• Koo, H., et al. "Effect of Apis mellifera propolis from two Brazilian regions on caries development in desalivated rats." Caries Research 33.5 (1999): 393-400. 
• Li, Xing-Cong, Linin Cai, and Christine D Wu. "Antimicrobial compounds from< i> Ceanothus americanus</i> against oral pathogens." Phytochemistry 46.1 (1997): 97-102.
• Ooshima, T., et al. "Caries inhibitory activity of cacao bean husk extract in in-vitro and animal experiments." Archives of Oral Biology 45.8 (2000): 639-645.
• Osawa, K., et al. "Identification of cariostatic substances in the cacao bean husk: their anti-glucosyltransferase and antibacterial activities." Journal of Dental Research 80.11 (2001): 2000-2004.
• Ramakrishna, Y., et al. "Decreasing cariogenic bacteria with a natural, alternative prevention therapy utilizing phytochemistry (plant extracts)." Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry 36.1 (2011): 55-64.
• Seneviratne, Chamida J., et al. "Prunus mume extract exhibits antimicrobial activity against pathogenic oral bacteria." International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry 21.4 (2011): 299-305. 
• Sukkarwalla, Adnan, et al. "Efficacy of Miswak on Oral Pathogens." Dental research journal 10.3 (2013): 314.
• Taylor, Peter W., J. M. Hamilton-Miller, and Paul D. Stapleton. "Antimicrobial properties of green tea catechins." Food science and technology bulletin 2 (2004): 71-81.

Removal of Ovaries and Early Menopause

In pre-menopausal women, most of the estrogen in the body is made by the ovaries. Because estrogen makes hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers grow, reducing the amount of estrogen in the body or blocking its action can help shrink hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers and reduce the risk of hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers coming back (recurring).

In some cases, the ovaries may be surgically removed to treat hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer or as a risk-reduction measure for women at very high risk of breast cancer. This is called prophylactic or protective ovary removal, or prophylactic oophorectomy. Removing the ovaries is one way to permanently stop the ovaries from producing estrogen. Medicines also can be used to temporarily stop the ovaries from making estrogen (called medical shutdown). Ovarian shutdown with medication or surgical removal is only for pre-menopausal women.

Medical shutdown of the ovaries

Medicines can be used to temporarily stop the ovaries from making estrogen. Two of the most common ovarian shutdown medicines are:

• Zoladex (chemical name: goserelin)
• Lupron (chemical name: leuprolide)

Zoladex and Lupron are both luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists. These medicines work by telling the brain to stop the ovaries from making estrogen. The medicines are given as injections once a month for several months or every few months. Once you stop taking the medicine, the ovaries begin functioning again. The time it takes for the ovaries to recover can vary from woman to woman.

Women who want to bear children after breast cancer treatment may prefer medical shutdown of the ovaries over surgical ovary removal.

Deciding to have your ovaries shut down with medicine or surgically removed requires a lot of careful thought and discussion with your doctor. Tell your doctor about any fertility concerns you may have. Together you can weigh the benefits and the risks against each other and decide on the best option for you and your unique situation.

In an oophorectomy, a surgeon removes both your ovaries — the almond-shaped organs on each side of your uterus. Your ovaries contain eggs and secrete the hormones that control your reproductive cycle. Removing your ovaries greatly reduces the amount of the hormones estrogen and progesterone circulating in your body. This can halt or slow breast cancers that need these hormones to grow.

Women with BRCA gene mutations usually also may have their fallopian tubes removed at the same time (salpingo-oophorectomy), since they have an increased risk of fallopian tube cancer as well.

Who can consider prophylactic oophorectomy?

Prophylactic oophorectomy is usually reserved for women with a significantly increased risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer due to an inherited mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene — two genes linked to breast cancer, ovarian cancer and other cancers. High-risk women age 35 and older who have completed childbearing are the best candidates for this surgery.

Prophylactic oophorectomy may also be recommended if you have a strong family history of breast cancer and ovarian cancer but no known genetic alteration. It might also be recommended if you have a strong likelihood of carrying the gene mutation based on your family history but choose not to proceed with genetic testing.

How much can oophorectomy reduce the risk of cancer?

If you have a BRCA mutation, a prophylactic oophorectomy can reduce your:

• Breast cancer risk by up to 50 percent in premenopausal women. As an example, if a woman with a high risk of breast cancer had a 60 percent chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in her lifetime, oophorectomy could reduce her risk to 30 percent. Put another way, for every 100 women just like her, 60 could be expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer without oophorectomy. And 30 would be expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer after oophorectomy.
• Ovarian cancer risk by 80 to 90 percent. As an example, if a woman with a high risk of ovarian cancer had a 30 percent chance of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer at some point in her lifetime, oophorectomy could reduce her risk to 6 percent, assuming an 80 percent risk reduction. Put another way, for every 100 women just like her, 30 could be expected to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer without oophorectomy. And six would be expected to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer after oophorectomy.

In studies, the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer varies. And your individual risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer varies depending on many factors, including your family history, your lifestyle choices and other strategies youre using to reduce your risk of cancer. For some women, oophorectomy may offer great reduction in risk. For other women, the risks of surgery and the potential side effects may not be worth the reduction in cancer risk.

What are the risks of oophorectomy?

Oophorectomy is a generally safe procedure that carries a small risk of complications, including infection, intestinal blockage and injury to internal organs. The risk of complications depends on how the procedure is performed.

But more concerning are the complications that can come from losing the hormones supplied by your ovaries. In women who have yet to undergo menopause, oophorectomy causes early menopause. Early menopause carries many risks, including:

• Bone thinning (osteoporosis). Removing your ovaries reduces the amount of bone-building estrogen your body produces. This may increase your risk of a broken bone.
• Discomforts of menopause. Hot flashes, vaginal dryness, sexual problems, sleep disturbance and sometimes cognitive changes are problems for some women during menopause. Removing your ovaries doesnt mean youll immediately have these problems, but it does mean that any menopausal symptoms you develop will occur earlier and are more likely to reduce your quality of life than if they occurred during natural menopause.
• Increased risk of heart disease. Your risk of high cholesterol and heart disease may increase if you have your ovaries removed.
• Lingering risk of cancer. Prophylactic oophorectomy doesnt completely eliminate your risk of breast cancer or ovarian cancer. A type of cancer that looks and acts identical to ovarian cancer can develop after the ovaries and fallopian tubes are removed. The risk of this type of cancer, called primary peritoneal cancer, is low — much lower than the lifetime risk of ovarian cancer if the ovaries remain intact.

Prophylactic oophorectomy might relieve much of your anxiety about developing either disease, but this type of surgery can also take an emotional toll on you. Even if you didnt plan on having children, you might mourn the loss of your fertility. Or you may, like some, have a strong sense of femininity tied to your fertility and reproductive cycle.

Do women have to take post-menopausal hormone therapy after oophorectomy?

Use of low-dose hormone therapy after oophorectomy is controversial. While studies have shown that use of hormone therapy after menopause may increase a womans risk of breast cancer, other studies suggest early menopause can cause its own serious risks.

Women who undergo prophylactic oophorectomy and dont use hormone therapy up to age 45 have a higher rate of premature death, cancer, heart disease and neurological diseases. Its not clear that the higher rates of these diseases are due to low estrogen levels caused by oophorectomy, but doctors typically recommend that younger women who have surgically induced menopause consider taking low-dose hormone therapy for a short time and stopping by age 45 or 50.

Prophylactic oophorectomy may also increase your risk of memory loss and dementia. But studies show this risk may be reduced with the use of hormone therapy after surgery.

It isnt entirely clear what effect hormone therapy might have on your cancer risk. Several studies have found that short-term hormone therapy doesnt increase the risk of breast cancer in women with BRCA mutations who have undergone prophylactic oophorectomy. Ask your doctor about your particular situation. If you decide to take low-dose estrogen, plan to discontinue this treatment after age 50.

You may opt to have your uterus removed during your oophorectomy surgery, so that you can take a type of hormone therapy (estrogen only hormone therapy) that may be safer for women with a high risk of breast cancer. Discuss the benefits and risks of hysterectomy with your surgeon.

Differences Between Natural and Surgical Menopause

Natural menopause begins when the ovaries cease to produce an egg every four weeks, menstruation ceases and the woman is no longer able to bear children. Postmenopausal begins after menstruation has ceased for 12 months. For intact women, this process usually happens on average between the ages of 35 and 51. The ovaries reduce their production of estrogen and progesterone and physical changes and side effects occur that coincide with natural aging. In contrast, surgical menopause causes an immediate plunge into postmenopause after the ovaries are removed. Note that if youve had your ovaries removed after menopause, you wont be in surgical menopause and you wont feel any hormonal differences in your body. If youve had your ovaries removed before youve reached natural menopause, youll wake up from your surgery in postmenopause.

Once the ovaries are removed, your body immediately stops producing estrogen and progesterone. Your follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) will skyrocket in an attempt to make contact with ovaries that no longer exist. Unlike women who go through menopause naturally, women wake up after a bilateral oophorectomy in immediate estrogen withdrawal. Its that sudden: One day you have a normal menstrual cycle, the next day you have none whatsoever. This can cause you to become, understandably, more depressed, and youll also feel the physical symptoms of estrogen loss far more intensely than a woman in natural menopause.

Symptoms can include:

• Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling
• Bouts of rapid heart beat
• Irritability
• Mood swings, sudden tears
• Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)
• Loss of libido
• Vaginal dryness
• Crashing fatigue
• Anxiety, feeling ill at ease
• Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom
• Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion
• Memory lapses
• Itchy, crawly skin
• Headache change: increase or decrease
• Depression
• Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head
• Tingling in the extremities
• Osteoporosis
• Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier

Fortunately, you most likely wont experience all of these symptoms, and the ones you do have will vary in degree and duration. The great news is that nature offers you alternatives to the damaging effects of convential horomone replacement therapy. Soy isoflavones are phytochemicals (naturally occurring plant chemicals) in soy products. Some isoflavones, such as genistein and daidzein, exert mild estrogenic effects and are thus called phytoestrogens. Structurally similiar to estrogen, soy isoflavones have the capacity to bind to empty estrogen receptors and relieve hormonally based symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes. It is this ability to decrease hormone reception that also seems to be the mechanism by which phytoestrogens such as soy isoflavones prevent hormone-dependent cancers.

In addition to the physiological changes that occur during hysterectomy, there can also be emotional and psychosocial changes after the surgery. The natural, gradual transition from peri- into post-menopause normally gives the woman an opportunity to gradually adjust to her biological and emotional changes and to ease into the second part of her life. Women undergoing surgical menopause dont have the luxury of easing into it over time. Rather, the woman is faced with both the challenge and opportunity to establish a new hormonal balance and make the mental adjustments necessary to not only deal with the shock of surgery, but also to establish a relationship with her new and different body/self.

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/hormonal/ovary_removal.jsp

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/breast-cancer/WO00095

http://www.womenlivingnaturally.com/articlepage.php?id=97

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070829162824.htm

Study Suggests Frozen Veggies Worse Than Common Wisdom Says Frozen Asparagus Zucchini and Green Beans Lose More Antioxidants During Boiling

Green asparagus from the fridge and  from the market are not created equal - at least not when they finally end up on your plate after a short bath in hot water.

You just have to watch one of the consumer report shows on television to hear it: "Frozen veggies are way better than their reputation would suggest." Actually, here in Germany this sentence has been repeated to soften that Ive even heard people say theyd buy the frozen broccoli because it contained "more vitamins and the other good stuff, you know." And you know what? For some veggies like spinach, for example, this may actually be the case. For others, like broccoli or peas, the nutrient status of the frozen and the raw uncooked vegetable appears to be more or less identical (Favell. 1998). But thats something you cannot say for the green asparagus stems, zucchini and green beans in a recent study from the Università degli Studi di Parma in Italy.

Warning: Dont take this article as an excuse and stop eating veggies completely. The frozen stuff may lose more vitamins, when you boil it, but (a) you can still blanch it and (b) even with significantly reduced antioxidant effects veggies are still among the healthiest things you can eat.

I am not an asparagus expert and can still tell that the cell structure of the Transverse  sections boiled (C - from raw | D - from frozen) is profoundly messed up compared to the raw (A) and blanched (B) variety | legend: c = collenchyma; vp = vascular bundle; p = parenchyma; f = fissure.

In the corresponding experiment, the Italian researchers bought Green asparagus stems (Asparagus officinalis L., var. Grande), zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L., va Quine) and green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L., var. Giamaica) from a local producer and processed them within 24 hours from harvesting. For each of the veggies four samples were prepared: Raw/uncooked  (R), raw/boiled  (B), blanched (BL) and industrially frozen/boiled (FB)

The raw (ten kilograms of each vegetable), blanched (five kilograms of each vegetable) and industrially frozen  samples  (five  kilograms  of  each  vegetable) had been transported were  transported  to  the  University of  Parma laboratories  under  adequate  refrigerated conditions to avoid the exuberant nutrient loss that occurs upon inadequately slow (re-)freezing.

SuppVersity Suggested Read: " Conventional vs. Organic: Its Not About Getting More, But Getting Less For Your Money. Less Pesticides, Dioxins & Co" | read more if you want to know if the claim "organic is always better" is a similar misconcept as "frozen over fresh".

If you "freeze" your veggies in the freezer compartment of your fridge, this will make the cells blast, so that even before they are cooked, and the nutrients flow out. It is generally assume that the latter would not happen, if the veggies are shock-frosted.

Figure 1: Total antioxidant capacity of green asparagus, zucchini and green beans raw, blanched, boiled and frozen and boiled (Paciulli. 2014); as the data tells you frozen veggies with similar  icy grease on them like you see on the right may not really be a better source of antioxidants than fresh veggies from the farmers or even the supermarket.

If we look at the data in Figure 1, though, it would appear that the cells may have "cracked" already so that they are more susceptible to the subsequent heat assault and the frozen + boiled samples end up having consistently lower total antioxidant (Figure 2) and feric acid reducing capacity than their raw + boiled counterparts.

For a similar reason (nutrient retention), the blanched samples have been cooled immediately after blanching in an ice-water bath for 3 min before they have been transported to the laboratories, where their analysis shows that only the Zucchini lost a small, but significant amount of their total antioxidant activity.

Figure 2: It would be interesting to see if the negative effects of freezing and boiling occur in all vegetables. In view of the fact that previous studies compared raw vs. frozen, but nor raw + cooked vs. frozen + cooked, frozen Broccoli + cooked broccoli could be exactly as "bad" as asparagus, zucchini and green beans.

The thing that is of most practical relevance, tough, is the significant negative effect of freezing + boiling on both, the total antioxidant capacity (Figure 1) and the ferric reducing capacity (Figure 2) of all three vegetables.

The previously "cited" statement that youre better of with the "fresh" frozen veggies is thus probably only right, if you eat them raw. Compared to fresh veggies, the previously frozen asparagus, zucchini and green beans lost almost 11-30% of their antioxidant prowess during the cooking process - and the same may well happen to other veggies, including broccoli, which have been compared in previous studies only on a raw vs. frozen, but not on a cooked vs. frozen + cooked basis. Unless youre afraid that all the good veggies may limit your gains due to their potent anti-oxidant effects, it appears smart to stay away from their frozen varieties.

References:

• Paciulli, Maria, et al. "Impact of the industrial freezing process on selected vegetables Part I. Structure, texture and antioxidant capacity." Food Research International (2014).

Tips To Get Healthy Skin And Acne Free Natural Way

Having healthy skin acne free becomes the desire of every woman. There are many factors that cause acne. From the heredity, stress, increasing testosterone at puberty or menstruation, to pollution. But the main thing is because of excessive production of oil glands that cover the skin pores.

Acne often appears on the skin area that has the most oil glands, such as the face, neck, chest, back and shoulders. Most people, especially young, are vulnerable to acne. However, you can prevent or get rid of acne.

To get healthy skin acne free, here are some tips you need to do:

1. Always keep the face clean, diligently wash the face with soap that matches your skin PH. Avoid soap / cleanser that makes our skin becomes dry after use. Because if our skin is dry then automatically your skin will make more oil. If too much oil, and rarely cleaned, the oil will cover the skin pores and sooner or later the bacteria cause inflammation of acne will go.

2. Diligent exercise or physical akitivitas produce sweat, it produced positive results for reducing the severity of acne.

3. Drink plenty of water. With a good irrigation system in our body, blood or other organs of the body will be more clean and healthy so acne healing process will be faster.

4. Avoid excessive stress can be a trigger because of more and more acne.

5. If the acne appears, do not squeeze your acne, especially if your hands are not clean because of acne will get worse and can lead to other injuries or infections.

6. Avoid fatty foods and multiply the consumption of vitamin C and foods containing zinc.

7. Avoid alcohol. Avoid ingredients that can make your skin dry like alcohol and alcohol-based toners, even though you have oily skin. This product can erode the natural protective layer of moisturizer and skin. Additionally, these products will also get you into trouble tolerate acne medications are prescribed.

8. Use oil-free moisturizer. Healthy skin tend to be moist. Choose an oil-free moisturizer with the words "noncomedogenic" on the label. This means that these products will not clog your pores or cause acne. You may hesitate to apply moisturizer to skin that tends to develop acne. But, a good moisturizer actually helps soothe the skin and prevent acne

9. Choose oil-free sunscreen. Apply an oil-free sunscreen or moisturizer with a sun protection factor (SPF) 15 or higher. This product provides protection from both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB). Chose products with noncomedogenic label, so it does not clog your pores. And apply every two hours.

10. Avoid over-wash your face. Dirty skin does not trigger acne. Washing your face too often and strong it can irritate the skin and aggravate acne. Try washing your face twice a day with mild soap and warm water.

eyelashes thicker and tapering treat naturally

Surely youve seen the pretty eyelashes tapering artist belongs on television. They have long eyelashes and tapering, so that their eyes look more expressive and attractive. Eyelashes indeed become more appeal for girls, because it has automatic tapering eyelashes make your eyes look beautiful and attractive. eyelashes thicker and tapering naturally

Here are some tips for you, in order to have long eyelashes, thick, tapering and using naturally:

1. You can use olive oil or cream is safe to use for the eyelashes and use it before bed.Olive oil will stimulate follicle growth and healing irritation that can inhibit the growth of . In addition, the oil can also make your lashes become longer and thicker.

2. - Clean the lashes and lashes with a water flush of tea that has been deposited in the open air at night
- Use a cotton wrapped around the end of the stick
- Then dip the cotton into the tea water that has been condensed
- Apply gently on the lashes, especially the roots of the lashes

3. - Prepare the stem of betel leaf (Remove the left and right side of betel leaves and stems left middle)
- Bite one end of the rod so that the sap out of betel leaf and dip in the mucus of aloe vera.
- Take a little mucus and apply on eyelashes

How to make healthy skin is not oily and sticky

Make healthy skin Nowadays there are many ways to overcome oily skin, for example with the help of facial cleanser products are sold freely, oil-free cream specials, or with cosmetic treatments.

facial cleanser
Dermatologists agree that the most effective way to manage oily skin is cleanse your face in the morning and evening. Use a gentle cleanser and light due to the use of harsh cleansers face it triggers the skin to increase oil production.

Use towels face
After washing your face do not use a dirty towel, customs of the people we are only using one towel for the entire body and face. This is not good, because the bacteria attached agency of the towel can be carried forward. The solution always provide special towels for the face.

Freshener or toner
Before applying the toner, please note that the usefulness of toner is to restore the acidity of the skin, cleans and removes excess oil for skin care cosmetics and ready to help summarize the pores.
Adjust the toner to your skin type and use the sticky and oily areas such as the forehead, nose and chin.

Use wax paper correctly
Wax paper is often used as a practical solution to eliminate shiny and oily face, besides easy to carry oil paper also can be used at any time, but when using unnecessary rubbed into the skin, just press it slowly to the oily areas, because of the nature this paper suck excess oil so that the appearance is maintained.

Menopause and High Blood Pressure

Blood pressure generally increases after menopause. Some doctors think this increase suggests that the hormonal changes of menopause may play a role in high blood pressure. Others think an increase in body mass index (BMI) in menopausal women may play a greater role than hormonal changes.

Menopause-related hormonal changes can lead to weight gain and make your blood pressure more reactive to salt in your diet — which, in turn, can lead to higher blood pressure. For some women, hormone therapy (HT) for menopause also may contribute to increases in blood pressure.

General causes for high blood pressure

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is caused by several factors including: age, heredity, race, sodium intake, obesity, alcohol, and inactivity.

* Age. As people age, there is an increased likelihood of high blood pressure.

* Heredity. High blood pressure tends to run in families.

* Race. African Americans tend to develop high blood pressure compared to Caucasians.

* Sodium intake.Some people have higher sensitivity to sodium. Consuming foods that are high in sodium cause an increase in blood pressure.

* Obesity. Blood pressure increases as body weight increases.

* Alcohol.Consuming more than one to two glasses of alcoholic beverages a day can increase blood pressure.

* Inactivity.Lack of exercise or leading a sedentary lifestyle can lead to obesity and an increase in blood pressure.              

Hypertension as a key risk factor in menopause

As blood is pumped from your heart through your body, the blood puts force or pressure against the blood vessel (or artery) walls. Your blood pressure is a reading, or measure, of this pressure. When that reading goes above a certain point, it is called high blood pressure, another name for hypertension. When you have high blood pressure, it is partly because your blood vessels become narrower, forcing your heart to pump harder to move blood through your body. These changes cause the blood to press on the vessels walls with greater force.

High blood pressure is called the "silent killer" because it usually has no signs or symptoms. It is dangerous because it makes the heart work too hard. If not controlled over time, high blood pressure can affect not only your heart and blood vessels but also other organs, making them function not as well as they should. The effects of uncontrolled high blood pressure include:

* Stroke. High blood pressure is the most important risk factor for stroke. High blood pressure can cause a break in a weakened blood vessel in the brain. This can cause bleeding in the brain, which is a stroke. If a blood clot blocks a narrowed blood vessel, it can also cause another type of stroke.

* Impaired vision. Blood vessels in the eye can in time burst or bleed due to high blood pressure. Vision can become blurred or impaired and can result in blindness.

* Kidney damage. The kidneys filter wastes from our bodies. Over time, high blood pressure can narrow and thicken the blood vessels of the kidneys. Thus the kidneys cannot do their job well, and wastes build up in the blood. When kidney failure occurs, medical treatment (dialysis) or a kidney transplant is needed.

* Heart attack. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart attack. If the heart cannot get enough oxygen because of narrowed or hardened arteries, chest pain (angina) can occur. If the flow of blood is blocked, a heart attack results.

* Congestive heart failure. High blood pressure is the number one risk factor for congestive heart failure, a serious condition where the heart is not able to pump enough blood to meet the bodys needs.

So, hypertension is very most important risk factor that affects women in her postmenopausal years. About 30 to 50% of women develop hypertension (RR >140/90 mmHg) before the age of 60 and the onset of hypertension can cause a variety of symptoms that are often attributed to menopause.

Womens systolic pressure -- the top number in the blood pressure reading and the one thats more closely associated with heart disease risk and stroke in people over age 50 -- increases by about 5 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) with menopause. A study done between 2001 and 2003 among people over age 60 showed that women had a higher systolic blood pressure than did men in every state in America. According to the report, women tended to think they didnt have high blood pressure when, in fact, they did.

For healthy adults, blood pressure less than 120/80 mm Hg is desirable. Untreated high blood pressure can cause the heart to work too hard. Mild to moderate hypertension may cause complaints such as non-specific chest pain, sleep disturbances, headaches, palpitations, hot flushes, anxiety, depression, tiredness, etc.

Women with a family history of hypertension and women with a history of hypertension in pregnancy are at increased risk to develop hypertension in this age period. Hypertension often clusters with other risk factors such as overweight, elevated insulin resistance, diabetes, and lipid abnormalities. In the Women’s Health Study it was shown in almost 40,000 healthy women (≥45 years) that an elevated blood pressure increases CV risk and that hypertension is a strong predictor for the development of type II diabetes. Even in premenopausal women, hypertension has been shown to be a potent risk factor for the presence of coronary artery disease. Despite the high prevalence of hypertension in middle-aged women, less than half of the patients receive adequate treatment, especially in the older age group when the risk of hypertension-related morbidity and mortality is highest.

Checking blood pressure

Do you know that there are people having high blood pressure only when they visit their health care providers office? This condition is called white coat hypertension. It is quite easy and convenient to test your blood pressure at the convenience of your home. There are over-the-counter blood pressure measuring devices you can purchase in pharmacies and discount chain stores that you can use at home. These include the blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope and electronic monitors, such as digital readout monitors.

Here are some tips for what you can do to ensure as accurate a blood pressure reading as possible:

* Dont drink coffee or smoke for 30 minutes before the blood pressure check.

* Before your blood pressure is checked, sit still for five minutes with your back supported and your feet flat on the ground. Try to rest your arm on a table at the level of your heart.

* Go to the bathroom prior to the reading. A full bladder can change your blood pressure reading.

* Get two readings, taken at least two minutes apart, and average the results.

Controlling blood pressure

To control your blood pressure both before and after menopause, focus on a healthy lifestyle:

1. Get regular physical exercise. Exercise helps lower blood pressure because it makes the heart stronger. With greater strength, the heart can pump more blood with less effort. Being physically active for 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week can lower blood pressure by 4 to 9 mm Hg.

2. Follow a healthy eating plan. A healthy diet consists mostly of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat or fat-free dairy products. Limit consumption of red meat, processed foods and sweets. Several studies have shown that those who follow the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan, a healthy diet similar to whats described here, may reduce blood pressure by up to 14 mm Hg.

3. Reduce dietary sodium. Salt (sodium) increases blood pressure in most people with high blood pressure and in about 25 percent of people with normal blood pressure. The recommended daily sodium intake is 1,500 to 2,400 milligrams; lower is even better.

4. Limit alcohol intake. In small amounts, alcohol can help prevent heart attacks and coronary artery disease. But that protective effect is lost when women regularly drink more than one drink a day. Above that amount, alcohol can raise blood pressure by several points and can interfere with blood pressure medications.

5. Achieve a healthy weight. Being thin isnt essential. But for those who are overweight, losing as little as 5 percent to 10 percent of body weight can lower blood pressure by several points. With less body mass to nourish, the heart doesnt have to pump as hard and the pressure on the arteries decreases.

6.  If you still smoke, stop!

 Latest research

While there is a definite causal relationship between ageing and tendency for higher blood pressure, the two new research studies have confirmed that there are no reasons to believe that menopause itself causes high blood pressure, and the hormonal changes impact on the high pressure development risk yet to be validated.

A study led by Dr Casiglia of University of Padova, Italy analyzed over 9,000 women aged 18 to 70 years. The researchers found that a higher risk of hypertension in menopausal women was due to their higher age not due to the fact that they were menopausal. The researchers concluded, “Conclusion: The cardiovascular effects usually attributed to menopause seem to be a mere consequence of the older age of menopausal women.”

A study led by Dr Cifkova from Prague, Czech Republic analyzed 900 women aged 45-54 years as they went through menopause. Researchers found there was no relationship between blood pressure and menopausal status - being premenopausal, going through menopause, or being postmenopausal. Menopausal status had no effect on the risk of high blood pressure. However, they found the main factor to increase blood pressure was an increase in BMI (Body Mass Index) or body fatness.

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2644382/

http://www.sophisticatededge.com/can-menopause-cause-high-blood-pressure1.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/menopause-and-high-blood-pressure/AN01463

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/117474.php

http://www.power-surge.com/educate/highbloodpressure.htm

http://www.my-health-software.com/view/items/menopausal-women.html

Cayenne Pepper Health Benefits And Nutrition Fact

Various research activities conclude behind the spicy taste, cayenne pepper has many benefits, especially for health. Can reduce the risk of cancer, lower cholesterol levels in the blood and can heal the wounds.

Results of laboratory research in the UK found that the content of capsaicin in cayenne pepper that cause a sense of spicy, can kill cancer cells without damaging normal cells. So it is no wonder why some cancer cases in Mexico and India, where people eat lots of spicy food, less than Western countries, where people tend to not like spicy food.

Meanwhile, two research by a team from Australia was also revealed, adding cayenne pepper in every cuisine can lower cholesterol levels in the blood. The results also explain, spicy foods can also stabilize insulin levels in the blood.

In the dose that is not excessive, spicy foods beneficial to the stomach. Thus the results of the study by a team of researchers from Hungary. Capsaicin can reduce stomach acid and serve as anti-inflammatory.

Nutrition Fact of Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne peppers have amazingly very high levels of vitamins and minerals. Just 100 g provides (in % of Recommended daily allowance):

127% of vitamin-C (Ascorbic acid),

39% of vitamin B-6 (Pyridoxine),

54% of niacin,

71% of riboflavin,

1387% of vitamin A,

97.5% of iron,

41% of copper,

43% of potassium,

but no cholesterol.

Health benefits of Cayenne pepper

• Improve blood circulation

Cayenne pepper increases blood circulation in the body. Which in turn can help prevent low blood pressure problems. It also helps to prevent blood stagnation problems.

• Relieves muscle pain

Cayenne pepper is rich in capsaicin, these substances can help to relieve pain and muscle spasm problems. It also helps to relieve joint pain in arthritis condition.

• Helps detoxify

Cayenne pepper is known as a circulatory stimulant for the body. It helps to assist the bodys digestive system. It helps in cleansing and detoxification processes, helping to sweat excessively, which is also good for detoxification.

• Helps you lose weight

Cayenne pepper is rich in antioxidants, which help to increase the bodys metabolic rate. Consuming cayenne pepper in the diet can also help in losing weight and burn off excess fat from the body.

• Maintain a healthy heart

Cayenne pepper helps to reduce levels of bad cholesterol from the body. Which in turn prevents the risk of heart disease. Cayenne pepper also helps to lower blood pressure, body, thus providing benefits for heart health.

• Helps in Allergies

Cayenne pepper has anti-inflammatory properties, which help in skin allergic conditions. It also helps to relieve the pain caused by arthritis conditions.

• Helps to treat colds and flu

Cayenne pepper helps reduce the formation of dense mucus that cause colds. in the presence of capsaicin contained therein. So that cayenne pepper can also relieve nasal congestion.