Just thought I’d quickly share a couple of bits of news and research with you!
Sugar can eat away your brainpower!
According to US scientists from UCLA (University of California Los Angeles), who recently published consuming too much sugar can eat away your brainpower!
The study which introduced high-fructose corn syrup (a common ingredient in processed foods) to the diet for six weeks, noted that there was a significant reduction in memory and brain function at the end of the period, compared with the control group.
“Because insulin can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, the hormone may signal neurons to trigger reactions that disrupt learning and cause memory loss” Gomez-Pinilla said.
The average American consumes more than 40 pounds (18 Kg) of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. “Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body. This is something new!”, “Our findings illustrate that what you eat affects how you think,” said Gomez-Pinilla.
I know this study won’t come as a big shock to most of you, but I do find it slightly worrying as more and more American processed food hits our shores!
This is why we have NO SUGAR in 99% of our products!
Multivitamin Supplements Boost Brain Function, say UK Researchers!
No, this doesn’t mean that you can have a high sugar diet and then just take a multivitamin! lol
In a series of studies published in the British Journal of Nutrition, Psychopharmacology, and Human Psychopharmacology, teams of British neuroscientists investigated the effect of multivitamin supplementation on mood and cognitive function.
The researchers monitored groups of healthy children, men and women who took commercially available vitamins and minerals supplements daily for 12 weeks, and tested their cognitive performance through tasks requiring attention, memory, accuracy and/or multitasking ability. The mood or stress levels of participants were also assessed.
Their findings indicated that taking a multivitamin supplement daily can improve cognitive performance in both children and adults, after only a few weeks of supplementation.
Men taking high dose B-Complex vitamins showed improved performance on cognitive tasks, were less mentally tired and showed improved vigor. Women taking multivitamins & mineral supplements were demonstrated to have increased accuracy and speed on multitasking. Children, aged 8-14, showed increased accuracy in attention-based tasks.
These findings add solid evidence indicating that good quality multivitamin supplements offer significant and varied benefits. According to the UK’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey, the general population in the UK has vitamin deficiencies or insufficiencies across most vitamin groups.
Multivitamins aren’t the only supplements that have an impact on brain activity. In a study the same group of scientists found that supplementing with 1-2 grams of fish oil containing DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) was associated with increased cerebral blood flow, and therefore an influence on brain function, especially as we age!
I hope these studies have got you thinking and maybe even considering a daily multivitamin!
Sources:
Yahoo! News UK: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/sugar-dumb-us-scientists-warn-18091874.html
Nutra Ingredients.com: http://www.nutraingredients.com/content/view/print/628612.html
Here’s a couple of interesting studies I’ve recently found.
Vitamin D supplements may help you live longer!
Vitamin D supplements may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and boost survival for older people, suggests a new analysis.
The greatest benefits of the supplements were observed in people with vitamin D deficiency, researchers from the University of Kansas report in the American Journal of Cardiology. The findings could have implications for current guidelines, said the researchers, since supplements providing at least 400iu per day may be needed to avoid deficiency.
“Because vitamin D deficiency is widespread, strategies directed at population-based supplementation programmes could prove beneficial,” wrote the researchers.
Vitamin D refers to two biologically inactive precursors – D3, also known as cholecalciferol, and D2, also known as ergocalciferol. Both D3 and D2 precursors are transformed in the liver and kidneys into 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), the non-active ‘storage’ form, and 1.25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1.25(OH)2D), the biologically active form that is tightly controlled by the body.
While our bodies do manufacture vitamin D on exposure to sunshine, the levels in some northern countries are so weak during winter months that our body makes no vitamin D at all, meaning that dietary supplements and fortified foods are seen by many as the best way to boost intakes of vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency in adults is reported to cause osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, fractures, common cancers, auto-immune diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascuar diseases. There is now also more evidence that the vitamin may reduce the incidence of several types of cancer and type-1 and -2 diabetes.
Probiotic intake linked to fewer birth complications!
Regular consumption of probiotic formulations are associated with a 20% reduction in the risk of pre-eclampsia, suggests new data from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
The potential benefits were even more pronounced when researchers studied severe pre-eclampsia, with daily intakes associated with a 39% reduction, according to results published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
“This large observational study indicates an independent protective association between intake or probiotic products and pre-elampsia, especially when severe, suggesting that probiotics might specifically ‘target’ and modify the type of inflammation underlying severe pre-eclampsia,” wrote the authors, led by Dr Anne Lise Brantsaeter.
The Norwegian researchers analysed data from 33,399 women participating in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study. Results showed that a daily intake of strong probiotics was associated with a 20% reduced risk of pre-eclampsia, with even more pronounced effects for severe pre-eclampsia, showing a 39% reduced risk!
So, that’s four great studies across three great products, I hope you found this interesting!
Sources:
Nutra Ingredients.com: http://www.nutraingredients.com/content/view/print/624036.html
Nutra Ingredients.com: http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Probiotic-intake-linked-to-fewer-birth-complications.html
You might have seen the 1% For The Planet logo on our stationary and on our website. 1% For The Planet is an organisation that commits member companies to contributing 1% of gross turnover to ecological and environmental charities and organisations across the world. By committing 1% of gross turnover, rather than profit, the amount given is much higher than it otherwise would be.
Thanks to all our lovely customers, we’ve once again been able to increase our contribution over what we gave last year. So, congratulations – you’ve made a real difference to the environment by buying your supplements from Bio Nutrition and giving 1p in every £ you spend directly back to the environment,
As we live on an island, and as Bio Nutrition is right on the south coast (we can see the sea from our front door – if we stand on tip-toe!) we’ve once again given your 1% to an organisation that works tirelessly to keep our beaches and waters as clean as possible – Surfers Against Sewage. You can find out more about the sterling work they do at their website www.sas.org.uk. If you live by the sea, too (and even if you don’t), why not consider becoming a member? Clean water is something that affects us all.
You can find out more about Surfers Against Sewage at www.sas.org.uk, and 1% For The Planet at www.onepercentforthe planet.org. If you’d like to contribute to SAS yourself, why not donate to their Just Giving page at: www.justgiving.com/surfersagainstsewage/donate?
This week I’d like to do a couple of women based stories, all about good health!
Maternal Supplementation Could Aid Unborn Baby Growth!
A newly released study from the Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine has suggested that supplementation with multiple vitamins and mineral throughout pregnancy could help to boost the growth of unborn babies. The study followed the growth of 1500 babies.
Dr Dominique Roberfroid and his colleagues gave 1500 pregnant women either a daily supplement of 15 micro-nutrients, or the usual WHO (World Health Organisation) recommended Iron & Folic Acid only supplements. The tablets were designed to look identical to exclude possible placebo effects.
The team reported that the babies in the group with the multiple micro-nutrients on average were heavier, adding that the effect of the micro-nutrients seemed cumulative – with a linear dose response. i.e. The longer the multivitamin was taken the heavier and larger and healthier the baby, adding that with the multivitamin and mineral the odds for a small baby birth, reduced by 40% in mothers who had been taking the supplements longest. Leading to a suggestion that supplements pre conception could be of major benefit! Many women avoid vitamin A when pregnant, but at RDA levels retinol is perfectly safe, in fact not enough vitamin A is worse than too much vitamin A!
Dr Roberfroid said ‘whilst there was pretty good evidence that the multivitamins and minerals improve growth even more than iron and folic acid, there needs to be further research in the area…’ ‘we still don’t know the added value, stating that further research on the long term benefits as the child develops needs to be done!’
This study is great news for mothers or mothers to be that wish to take charge of their own and the the life with-ins development, and we would heartily recommend our Pregnancy Formula!
Pycnogenol May Ease Menopause Symptoms!
A daily supplement of Pycnogenol (French Maritime Park Extract) may ease the symptoms of the menopause and ease digestive problems, says a new Italian study.
A daily intake of Pycnogenol for eight weeks was associated with improvements in signs and symptoms associated with the menopause including hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, irregular periods, loss of libido and vaginal dryness, according to the findings of the Pescara University, published in the PubMed-listed journal Panminerva Medica.
‘Pycnogenol may arguably represent a very good basic, daily dietary supplement for menopausal women due to an extended range of health benefits,’ wrote researchers led by Dr Gianni Belcaro. ‘Menopausal women live at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease and the improved endothelial function related to Pycnogenol may prove helpful for women at this stage in life. Pycnogenol normalises elevated platelet activity and was shown in high risk individuals, male and female, to help prevent thrombosis.
Dr Belcaro and his co-workers recruited 70 peri-menopausal women aged 40-50 and randomly assigned them to either receive a placebo or the Pycnogenol for eight weeks.
Results indicated that those receiving the Pycnogenol had a significant reduction in menopausal symptoms, as well as showing a reduction of levels of oxidative stress.
OK, that’s it, short but sweet this time, I hope you found it interesting!
Sources:
Nutra Ingredients.com: http://www.nutraingredients.com/content/view/print/620408.html
Nutra Ingredients.com: http://www.nutraingredients.com/content/view/print/619004.html
Extracts from the New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel may benefit joint mobility and reduce pain more than fish oil supplements, report researchers from Poland.
According to findings published in Rheumatologia, the official journal of Rheumatology and the Polish Rheumatological Society, a daily dose of 1.2 grams of a green lipped mussel (Perna Canaliculus) produced ‘significantly less pain, greater joint mobility and no side effects’ in all the people taking the supplements for 12 weeks.
The New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel, ranked among the top ‘eco-friendly seafoods’ according to the US environmental agency Blue Oceans Institute’s list, is already used as a source of nutraceuticals.
The extract, a rich source of iron, betain, and glycoaminoglycans (including chondroitin sulphate) has gained a reputation amongst consumers as a natural product with anti-inflammatory properties – an effect that has been attributed to a body of science to its lipid factions.
Bio Nutrition has been touting the benefits of Green Shelled Mussel on joint health for many years now and it’s finally nice to see a bit of research that supports us!
Sources:
Nutra Ingredients.com: http://www.nutraingredients.com/content/view/print/575988.html
