Ah, summer! Time to pack away the long johns and the woollens - and slip into a long-sleeved shirt and pants, to cower in the shade under your extra-wide brimmed tight-weave sun hat while you reminisce about the days when sunburn, skin damage, and cancer didn’t damper the spirit of the season.
 
To put things in perspective, the long-sleeved shirt and pants are still a great idea when you’re puttering in the garden or enjoying a backyard barbecue with friends. The ensemble is not going to work, however, if you want to savour an afternoon at the beach or lounge by the pool. You’ll have to find another way to protect exposed skin, and that comes in the form of sunscreen.
 
Is Sunscreen Safe?

Some commercial sunscreens contain ingredients that are proven in studies to mutate into toxic substances when exposed to sunlight. Because some mutagens could be ...

We all know the buzz we get from sugar: the light-headedness, the short-term happiness. We’ve cracked jokes about sugar addiction, anxious for our ‘fix’ and thinking it nothing more than a harmless indulgence. But it’s time to realise sugar addiction is no laughing matter. Instead, sugar addiction is physically and psychologically real, and is a likely factor in many of our chronic diseases.

How sweet it ain’t

If you think talk of sugar addiction is merely hyperbole, it’s time for an intervention. In 2008 animal studies, researchers tested sugar against four markers of physiological addiction: bingeing, withdrawal, craving and cross-sensitization.

Researchers determined that sugar consumption triggered changes in the brain that also occur with addictive drugs. The Nutrition Journal published research in 2009 illustrating that sweet flavours produce addictive-like behaviours including a withdrawal syndrome. French researchers found that our appetite for tasting something sweet surpasses cocaine reward. In the study, ...

If you’re still a smoker, be sure to get your fish oil. New research suggests that omega-3 fatty acids could help reduce the physical harm caused by your nicotine habit by decreasing damage to your arterial function. The study was carried out in Greece and presented at the World Congress of Cardiology.

Researchers found that smokers who took 2 grams of omega 3 fats EPA and DHA daily showed improvements in arterial stiffness and smoking-induced damage of the elastic properties of blood vessels – which are independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

While researchers encourage the intake of the essential fats, of course, they advise that the best way to protect yourself against the harmful effects of tobacco is to stop smoking.

Until next time

Let's all walk the talk!

Lisa

It seems that Vitamin C is good for blood pressure. Research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, short-term supplementation of vitamin C may reduce blood pressure, with benefits even greater for people with high blood pressure.

The Johns Hopkins researchers pooled data from 29 clinical trials, with the median dose of vitamin C calculated to be 500 milligrams per day, and a median trial duration of eight weeks.

Results showed that vitamin C supplementation was associated with a significant reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, with greater reductions observed in people with high blood pressure. With one death every 39 seconds triggered by hypertension, it’s probably a good idea to get your 500 mgs of vitamin C every day.

For more information about C for your heart, go here.

Until next time,

Let's all walk the talk!

Lisa

British researchers conclude that taking a multivitamin supplement daily can improve cognitive performance in both children and adults. Teams of British neuroscientists investigated the effects of multivitamin supplementation on mood and cognitive function in men, women and children who took commercially-available vitamins and mineral supplements daily for 4 to 12 weeks. Cognitive performance was tested through tasks requiring attention, memory, accuracy and/or multitasking ability. The mood or stress levels of participants were also assessed. Researchers determined that vitamin and mineral supplementation improved cognitive performance after only a few weeks of supplementation.


Other studies cited in the review concluded that 1 -2 grams of fish oil containing docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was associated with increased cerebral blood flow while subjects were engaged in cognitive tasks, drawing a link between DHA and positive implications for aging healthily and dementia.


Researchers concluded that the optimum level of vitamin requirements are far more than what ...