Question of the week: What is the health benefit of Cranberry Juice in addition to its Vitamin C content?
Answer: In a recent study, cranberry juice that was widely believed to have protective effect on recurrent UTIs has been disputed. It was a placebo-controlled trial among women with recent UTIs and the statement reads: “twice-daily cranberry juice did not decrease the incidence of recurrence.”
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Question of the week: Is there any health benefit in using glasswares than plastic containers?
Ans: It has been observed that using plastic containers in the microwave (especially at high temperatures) could be an important source of contaminants like PCBs and POPs reaching our systems. The advice now is to use glassware instead of plastic containers in the microwave to avoid chemicals from the plastic from contaminating the food.
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Frequent chocolate consumption was associated with lower BMI in a cross-sectional study published in the
Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers assessed the chocolate intake of roughly 1000 healthy adults via food-frequency questionnaires. Although more frequent chocolate consumption was associated with higher intake of calories and saturated fat relative to less frequent consumption, chocolate intake was linked to lower BMI — even after adjustment for mood scores, activity, calories, and saturated fat.
Based on rodent studies, the authors speculate that catechins, derived from cocoa, may increase mitochondrial biogenesis and capillarity, muscle performance, and lean muscle mass. They conclude: “A randomized trial of chocolate for metabolic benefits in humans may be merited.”
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Question of the week: I was listening to a radio program on healthy living and the presenter made mention of too much salt can kill. My worry here is how much salt is too much?
Answer: Salt can be harmful, so eat less than 2300 mg of sodium daily. If you fall within any of the following:
• Hypertensive,
• Middle-aged or
• African American,
then consume less than 1500mg of sodium daily.
Furthermore, always go for more fibre: vegetables, fruits and grains; these are great sources of fibre that may help lower risk of heart disease.
This is a suggestion by the Centre for Disease Control Atlanta, USA (CDC).
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Question of the week: Please advice me on basic ways to beat aging far ahead of time
Answer: Aging is a natural un-avoidable process which occurs at a certain age in life. It often starts manifesting at the age of 40. It is advisable to eat fresh foods eg vegetables, food rich in vitamin A, avoid fries, drink enough fluid, mild to moderate daily exercise, avoid stress, avoid alcoholic beverages, start using anti-aging formulations at the age of 30, use good products especially those that contains retinoids or AHA etc.
You can read more on ways to avoid aging early at Healthcare Magic.
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Question of the week: I read in one of the daily newspapers on the increase rate of Obesity and Diabetes but have not discussed ways to beat the two. Could you please add more light on that?
Answer: Several literatures have linked Obesity to type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Obesity is often seen in those who run a sedentary lifestyle and in those with inactivity, a situation often seen in children and young men/women in their first decade of lives hence the reason why type 2 diabetes is on the rise in those within that age bracket.
Increasing veggies, fluid intake, avoiding excess salt in diets, cutting on simple carbohydrates (eg sweets, chocos, ice cream etc), avoiding cholesterol diets and undergoing casual exercise are measures to adopt if someone truly wants to beat obesity and thus type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
Conclusively it is advisable to have routine bi-annual glucose test done especially if one has multiple of these risk factors.
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Question of the week: What are the health benefits of Brocolli?
Answer: scientific research by scientists has uncovered a potential biochemical basis for the apparent cancer-fighting ability of broccoli and its veggie cousins. They found out for the first time that certain substances in the vegetables appear to target and block a defective gene associated with cancer.
Fung-Lung Chung and colleagues showed in previous experiments that substances called isothiocyanates (or ITCs) — found in broccoli, cauliflower, watercress, and other cruciferous vegetables — appear to stop the growth of cancer. Read more on this from: Science Daily.
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Question of the week: Turmeric: what benefit does it have?
Answer: Turmeric, which is a well known spice (and recently being used as a supplement in a capsular form) contains Curcumin which has the ability to kill variety of breast cells that have the potential of transforming to cancer. Thus in addition to breast cancer prevention, it also maintains optimum female health.
Read more on the benefits of turmeric.
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Question of the week: Why the advice to drink enough fluid in a day?
Answer: Water is essential for good health, so replace what you are losing by drinking enough quantity of clean/purified water throughout the day. Each cell in the body carry out its metabolic function by using water molecules thus without enough water, the internal mileu would not be balanced. Poor intake of fluid leads to dehydration with lots of problems setting in e.g. poor cell functions, production of concentrated urine leading to stone formation in either the Kidneys, Ureters or Urinary bladder etc.
The quantity of water to take in a day depends on the type of weather you live in and the type of activity you undertake in a day. As a guide, if you live in a hot climate or your job involves sweating a lot, it means you must take at least 3 litres whereas if you live in a cold climate or your jobs involves working indoor or in a environment that has A/C then you should consume not less than 1.5 litres daily.
NB: To get dual benefits, add a squeeze of lemon juice to your daily cup of water as it boosters your immunity and aids in cleansing your system.
I hope that answers your question.
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Question of the week: What are transfats?
Answer: Trans fats (TFAs) are found in blood and comes from synthetic sources in foods, such as partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and natural sources in foods, such as milk.
Oils are made solid by food manufacturers using the process of hydrogenation to make products containing unsaturated fatty acids solid at room temperature and therefore more resistant to becoming spoiled or rancid.
I was reading a report by the CDC couple of days ago that trans fats levels in the blood of white adults in the U.S. population has decreased by 58 percent between 2000 – 2009. The CDC were pleased to announce that finding as it was the first time their researchers were able to measure trans fats in human blood.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (USDA/HHS) 2010 recommend keeping TFA consumption as low as possible, especially by limiting foods that contain synthetic sources of trans fats, such as partially hydrogenated oils, and by limiting other solid fats.
It is advisable to replace margarine containing trans fat with unsaturated vegetable oil thus if you use margarine, choose a soft margarine spread instead of stick margarine.
In western countries, foods are labelled with nutrition information thus its advisable to check your labels to be sure the soft margarine that you use does contain little or no trans fat.
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tips on living healthy 