The daily taking of a simple 1000mg fish oil capsule could save the lives of 10,000 heart failure sufferers every year, research has shown. The study found that people with heart failure, where the organ fails to beat with sufficient force, were less likely to die if they took fish oils.
Around 700,000 people in Britain suffer from the condition that has debilitating symptoms, including breathlessness and fatigue, that can be so severe patients may remain virtually housebound, and around one third die within a year of being diagnosed.
Prof Martin Cowie, of Imperial College London and the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, reviewed the study of almost 7,000 people. After two years there was a nine percent reduction in deaths amongst those taking the capsules, as well as a significant reduction in hospital admissions. This has also lead to the speculation that using the capsules as a preventative measure could have a significant reduction in cases occurring.
Prof Cowie said, “if two thirds of heart failure patients took the capsules daily, it would mean around 10,000 lives a year would be saved.”
The review, published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine, said cost-effectiveness studies were under way and are likely to show that prescribing fish oil to patients would pass evaluation by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
It is thought the fish oils help regulate heart rate and have an anti-inflammatory action which may help to relax blood vessels to ease the workload on the heart.
Dr Jeremy Pearson, deputy medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Researchers have been trying to find something that fish oils really do so this is interesting. If people feel they can tolerate it, which most people do if they take capsules and not liquid, I don’t think there is any suggestion that they might be doing themselves any harm.”
Sources:
Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7976563/Daily-fish-oils-could-save-lives-of-10000-heart-patients.html
The Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1308181/Fish-oil-save-10-000-lives-year-preventing-heart-failure-deaths.html
According to US researchers it may well depend on your choice of fruit and veg!
Apparently, the obvious choices are not necessarily the healthiest. Making simple swaps to the fruit and veg we eat can have a significant impact on the nutrients our bodies get.
This would seem to support the opinion that a balanced varied diet is essential for good health. ‘No one food can give you everything you need’ said Dr Emma Williams of the British Nutrition Foundation.
Plant foods are known to contain ‘phytonutrients’ as well as vitamins and minerals, which together can help protect the body against heart diseases as well as prevent cancers. But the most popular selection may not be the best.
Carrots are the most common source of Beta Carotene, oranges and orange juice the most common source of Beta-Cryptoxanthin, whilst spinach supplies Lutein & Zeaxanthin. However, there are richer food sources available if you know what you’re looking for!
Switch from carrots to sweet potato and nearly double your Beta Carotene intake, from oranges to papaya and get fifteen times more Beta-Cryptoxanthin, whilst kale has three times more Lutein & Zeaxanthin than spinach.
What this study doesn’t seem to take into account is seasonality and the condition of the fruit or veg. If an item has been sitting on a shelf for a few days, having spent 2 weeks getting to its destination who knows what sort of nutrient content it has?
That’s why we would always recommend using seasonal, locally grown fruit and veg and encourage a healthy varied diet.
This being said, we would also recommend using supplements to add that extra guarantee that you are getting all the nutrients your body needs. Not just for winter, but for all year round, as your body’s needs change.
So have a look round Bio Nutrition’s website and see what your body might need!
Stay Healthy
Sources:
BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/8645104.stm
Since the beginning of this year, in Scotland alone, fifteen babies have been born with Spina Bifida (around twice the norm).
This has prompted calls for all women of child-bearing age to take a folic acid supplement to help prevent these cases. It is said that folic acid supplements are often taken too late, primarily because of the number of unplanned pregnancies.
Resent research has suggested that up to 75% of cases of Spina Bifida could be prevented by the mother taking 400µg of folic acid at least three months prior to conception and throughout pregnancy. As explained by Dr Margo Whiteford, “The spinal cord develops within the first four weeks of pregnancy, so by that stage it’s too late. Women do know about folic acid preventing spina bifida but they wait until they’ve missed a period before they start taking it.”
Worryingly we do not know if the same trend has been seen in England and Wales as the latest figures are only as up to date as the end of 2007.
So please, if you are trying to become pregnant – or even if you’re not – taking at least 400µg of Folic Acid on a daily basis is a good idea!
Folic Acid is also really helpful for many other things; it works together with vitamin B12 to form healthy red blood cells, so reducing the instance of anaemia. It also helps prevent depression, reduce the severity of gingivitis and, combined with some other co-factors, lower homocysteine levels, which in turn can lead to less risk of heart attacks.
So, all in all we would recommend Folic Acid to everyone!
Sources:
Scotish Spina Bifida Association: http://www.ssba.org.uk/FolicAcid.aspx
Times Online: http://www.timesonline.co.uk?tol/news/uk/health/article6818343.ece
BBC News: http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/scotland/8232089.stm
In a detailed review of research dating back some 30 years, doctors are now saying there is compelling evidence that everyone, even healthy people, should take omega-3 fatty acids on a daily basis.
“This isn’t just hype – we now have tremendous and compelling evidence from very large studies, some dating back 20 and 30 years, that demonstrate the protective benefits of omega-3 in multiple aspects of preventative cardiology,” said Dr Carl Lavie, from the Ochsner Medical Centre in New Orleans, who led the review. “We are talking about a very safe and relatively inexpensive therapy.”
The Food Standards Agency advises oily fish are a good source of the ‘good’ fatty acids, as well as fish oil supplements and other food stuffs.
Scientists believe that omega-3 works from inside the membranes of cells and may help to improve the heart’s electrical activity as well as helping to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. The body can’t produce its own essential fatty acids, so they must be obtained from external sources such as food and supplements.
There is also significant evidence that omega-3 can help slow, and in some cases halt, the progress of age-related macular degeneration.
More research needs to be done to determine optimal levels of omega-3, but we would recommend a daily intake of at least 1000mg.
Sources:
BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/8088860
Daily Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/5966847/Everyone-should-take-Omega-3-say-experts.html
For quite a few years now Bio Nutrition have had a product called Lycopene Complex. A great little capsule bestowing the power of the tomato and the benefits of the Mediterranean diet upon all who took her!
Well it appears that the scientists have finally realised we were onto something. At the beginning of June a group of British scientists released a new pill called ‘Ateronon’ at the national conference of the British Cardiovascular Society. Claiming that in tests these fantastic tomato based pills could ‘slash cholesterol levels in eight weeks’ and they were ‘much more effective than Statins’, currently taken by thousands of Britons.
Heart expert Dr Rob Hicks said the pill could ‘save lives on a global basis’!
Heart disease is the UK’s biggest killer, with almost 200,000 people dying a year from it and 275,000 suffering heart attacks.
What was in this little pill? Nothing more than 7mg of Lycopene. How much will they charge for this in a chemist? £35 for a months supply!
Lycopene Complex contains 10mg of Lycopene (42% more than Ateronon), together with vitamin E and Selenium, two other essential nutrients, in a easy to take vegetarian capsule.
Gaining all the heart benefits of the Mediterranean diet as well as improved eye health and for the men protection for the prostate.
Is this little wonder expensive? We don’t think so, all those great health benefits at only £11.95 for up to a months supply.
Sources:
BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8076556.stm
Daily Express: http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/104633/Tomato-pill-to-beat-heart-disease-
