What’s your background? Why did you decide to start Step One Foods?

I’m a practicing cardiologist. I trained at University of Toronto, Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins – some of the finest medical institutions on the planet. But I started Step One Foods because the way I was taught to treat conditions like high cholesterol ultimately did not make sense to me. Doctors are instructed to jump straight to prescribing medications (statins for lowering cholesterol for example) without ever addressing WHY the cholesterol is high in the first place

I began to see this as a problem when no matter how many medications I prescribed – and no matter how much I improved their “numbers” – none of my patients felt or looked healthier. Some of my patients even told me that all those cholesterol lowering drugs were making them feel worse. I eventually realized that prescribing statins was only masking the downstream effects of dietary patterns that encouraged high cholesterol in the first place – while doing nothing to change the patient’s food choices. But if you don’t address the root cause of a health condition, you have no chance of curing it! Ultimately, what became crystal clear to me is that if a condition is caused in part or in whole by food, step one should be to change the food!

But changing food has to be easy. Otherwise changing diet can’t compete with the convenience of using drugs. That’s why I launched Step One Foods as a convenient way for anyone and everyone to lower their cholesterol levels – whether or not they already use medication. Simply replace two meal items or snacks per day with two doses of Step One Foods to see significantly lower cholesterol within 30 days. That’s it. It’s that easy.

I often say that, with Step One Foods, I’m trying to put myself out of work. I want to give people a non-pharmaceutical option to address their high cholesterol so they never even need to see me in my office.

How are Step One Foods products clinically proven?

My team and I have put Step One Foods through the same level of scientific scrutiny as is typically reserved for pharmaceuticals. Mayo Clinic and the University of Manitoba jointly tested Step One Foods on patients dissatisfied with statins, and the results showed that Step One Foods lowered their LDL (bad) cholesterol by 9% in just 30 days. From a heart risk perspective, that’s a highly significant reduction. What was also exciting is that among trial participants there were some individuals who saw their LDL fall by 20%, 30% even close to 40%! Those are medication level cholesterol reductions – attained with FOOD. And it’s important to point out that the ONLY thing people did was to swap in 2 servings of Step One Foods per day. No subject took up a new exercise routine or started cooking with kale! To my knowledge, we are the only food company in the world that’s put our products through such rigorous testing and yielded such strong results.

Where is Step One Foods based?

Our operations are based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, and most of our food is made right here in Minnesota. We currently ship all our products from our headquarters.

What are your best-selling products?

Our Dark Chocolate Crunch Bar and our Anytime Sprinkle are perennial favorites. These can be purchased separately or as part of our “Starter Pack” that also includes Dark Chocolate Walnut Bars, Cranberry Pecan Bars and Blueberry and Cinnamon Oatmeal for a full 30 days supply of snacks and breakfast items. And in case you think all healthy food tastes like cardboard I’d invite you to read through our testimonials. We worked really hard to make sure these foods were not only impactful in terms of health metrics but that they tasted great. After all, it’s not going to work if you won’t eat it.

What do all your products have in common?

All Step One Foods products contain the four building blocks of heart health: whole food fiber, plant sterols, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants in clinically impactful amounts. We focused on these nutrients specifically because most Americans’ diets are woefully deficient in them and because they are integral to maintaining healthy cholesterol levels and improving heart health. Fiber moves cholesterol out of the body, plant sterols block cholesterol absorption, omega-3s lower triglycerides and boost good (HDL) cholesterol, and antioxidants minimize blood vessel plaque buildup. All Step One Foods products are made entirely from real food ingredients, are plant based, gluten-free and non-GMO. Nearly all are sodium free.

Are there any customer reviews or notable press reviews you would like to share?

I wrote an article for CNN explaining why it makes sense to use food as the first step in therapy for conditions caused in part or in whole by food, and about Step One Foods as a proven non-pharmaceutical intervention for high cholesterol.  That article remained on the most read list for weeks!  Obviously I hit a nerve.  I’ve also been interviewed by Food Business and News and The Daily Beast has done a deep dive into how we got started. Forbes and Well+Good have also written about Step One Foods and its dietary pillars. 

In addition, the average rating on all 800-plus Starter Pack customer reviews is 4.7 stars. Over 650 of these reviews are five-star reviews! I’m so proud of these statistics.  A typical reviewer might say that their cholesterol fell from 231 to 191 in 30 days. But we also see truly eye-popping results being reported – like total cholesterol levels dropping by well over 100 points, and LDL cholesterol levels falling by 80+ points in some cases.   I’m not promising this to everyone, but it only takes 30 days to find out if you’re a “food responder”.  Isn’t it worth it to see if you fall into that category?

How do you address concerns that Step One Foods are slightly more expensive than other foods?

Step One Foods cost between $2 and $3 per serving.  This price reflects their nutritional value. It’s also important to remember that, unlike supplements, these are not “add-on” products.  They are substitutions for what you are eating (and spending money on) already.  So the absolute cost is minimally different.  Plus, this is real food – such as dried fruits, nuts, seeds, whole grains, real vanilla beans, even 72% cacao dark chocolate of the highest quality – because that’s what is required when your health is on the line.  Comparing the cost of our foods to typical grocery-store alternatives is inherently problematic – the reason those are less expensive is because they use lesser ingredients.

Plus if you did opt for a grocery-store alternative, you’d end up spending as much money (or more) on supplements to add in the amounts of fiber, plant sterols, omega-3s, and antioxidants that are naturally present in Step One Foods. In the end, healthy food is not expensive.  What’s expensive is being sick.

Our Readers LOVE Deals – Are You Currently Running Any Promotions?

Our Starter Pack is already priced at a discount to encourage folks to get started. But right now, we’re running a promotion for 10% off the Starter Pack (this is actually 20% if you sign up for a subscription plan). You can get your 30-day supply of three snack bars and two breakfasts by clicking here. Addressing the root cause of your high cholesterol is really that easy – just as it should be. Just use the code STARTNOW10. Offer valid for new customers only.

The post Meet Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, The Cardiologist Whose Cholesterol-Lowering Food Line Is Clinically Proven to Work appeared first on Eating Healthy Blog.

1. NutriSense tracks the right data

I used continuous glucose monitors (CGM) from NutriSense, since glucose levels are a huge indicator of how certain activities affect our bodies. For example, when I started feeling especially exhausted, chances are my glucose levels were fluctuating. NutriSense recorded that data and paired it with the activities behind it, so I could truly see what was happening in my body.

2. NutriSense doesn’t let you go it alone

NutriSense knows that most people aren’t glucose or data experts. That’s why NutriSense paired me with a dietitian to make sense of my numbers. In fact, NutriSense was the only brand that included dietitian assistance! And, of course, my dietitian knew exactly the changes to suggest for a better me.

3. NutriSense focuses on food and exercise

Where my doctors would suggest ineffective medications, my NutriSense dietitian instead focused on food and exercise. She identified meal choices and workout routines that could positively impact my glucose levels. She then encouraged me to eat those foods and do those exercises. And that’s not all.

4. NutriSense focuses on sleep and stress

My NutriSense dietitian also used my glucose data to identify where gaps in my sleep and spikes in my stress were contributing to my exhaustion. Together, she and I discussed significant yet realistic changes I could make to sleep better. Paired with her food and exercise advice, I quickly made some seriously impactful changes. It didn’t take long to feel the difference each night.

5. NutriSense keeps you on track

My former unhealthy lifestyle was easy, and it wasn’t like NutriSense was suggesting I roll a boulder up a mountain, but I definitely needed some encouragement and accountability. NutriSense gave me both. My dietitian would congratulate me for key achievements and notify me if I was off-target. The more I readjusted, the easier it was to change for the better forever.

6. NutriSense suggests changes that last

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Can anyone really stick to a diet or exercise routine forever? With NutriSense, the answer is yes! My dietitian recommended only changes I could incorporate into my daily routine so easily they felt like I’d always been doing them. And trust me: Sleeping this soundly  – and losing 15 pounds to boot – has been so worth it.

7. NutriSense makes it easy to get started

The lifestyle changes needed to free me of exhaustion and sluggishness initially seemed imposing. That’s why NutriSense made it so easy to get started. I just completed a couple of short online questionnaires, waited for my CGM delivery, and set everything up in minutes. From there, my data was tracked around the clock and my dietitian instantly began working with me. It was truly that easy – just sign up now to see for yourself! Your body will thank you.

The Eating Healthy Blog team writes about stuff we think you’ll like. Eating Healthy Blog has a relationship with advertisers, and sometimes receives products or a share of revenue from your purchase. All posts are for entertainment purposes.

The post 7 Ways NutriSense Helped Me Get My Health Right appeared first on Eating Healthy Blog.

In my mid-30s, I started feeling sluggish and slow and just generally unhealthy all the time. I would tell this all to my doctors, but nothing they recommended made a difference. I was truly convinced I’d be this exhausted, slumped shell of my former self forever, and I really wanted to stay active for my husband, my two kids, and myself. So when my cousin Joe recommended NutriSense when I ran into him at a family reunion, everything changed.

NutriSense, Joe told me, gave him the tools he needed to track his food, sleep, exercise, and stress to see how he could change things to feel better. And he didn’t do it alone: NutriSense paired him with a registered dietitian who could interpret his results and see what was and wasn’t working. An expert guided him through different lifestyle changes to boost his metabolism by using what his body was telling him to change his habits. It clearly did the trick: here was a man who looked great and has limitless energy telling me he’d once been how I’d been. How could I not try it too?

I started NutriSense right after that family reunion, and setting everything up was super easy. I filled out a short sign-up form and health questionnaire, then waited for a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to arrive at my house. My CGM would collect all the data that my dietitian and I would use to find the lifestyle and diet best for my energy levels and general well-being. Once I put on my CGM and downloaded the NutriSense app, my journey began in earnest.

When I first met with my NutriSense dietitian, Amy, I knew right away she could change my life in ways my doctors never even considered. After every conversation, I’d stick to Amy’s recommendations, and gradually, my exhaustion and sluggishness disappeared. In my first two months on NutriSense, I lost 10 pounds and slept better than I had since my early 20s.

Now, today, I feel as active and graceful as that 20-year-old, and it’s all thanks to NutriSense’s realistic, straightforward lifestyle and diet recommendations. Joe was right – NutriSense feels like a total 180. It’s an experience worth every penny! I’ve never felt healthier, and you can experience the same. Sign up for NutriSense now to change your life not just today, but forever.

The Eating Healthy Blog team writes about stuff we think you’ll like. Eating Healthy Blog has a relationship with advertisers, and sometimes receives products or a share of revenue from your purchase. All posts are for entertainment purposes.

The post I Started Crashing Hard In My Mid-30s. Here’s How NutriSense Revitalized Me appeared first on Eating Healthy Blog.

Michael Kuech is the co-founder of Your Super, a superfood mix company that’s becoming increasingly popular thanks to its healthy powders (including travel-sized options), online community, cookbooks and more. We spoke with Kuech, who co-founded Your Super with his partner Kristel, to learn about how his battle with cancer led the couple to launch one of the most exciting nutrition brands around.

Why did you start Your Super? 

Kristel and I started Your Super after I changed my diet while battling cancer. When I was diagnosed, I was 24, and both Kristel and I had been eating what we wrongly thought were healthy athletic diets. 

As we researched immune-boosting diets, Kristel discovered that we and pretty much all athletes are doing this whole diet thing all wrong. It turns out supplements are usually crammed with unhealthy fillers. On top of that, 90% of people don’t get enough fruits and vegetables!

That’s why Kristel started making me immune-boosting superfood mixes, which helped me win my cancer battle.  As I recovered, Kristel and I realized we needed to share our superfood insights with the world, and Your Super was born.

Save even more when you purchase the Your Super Bundles!

What’s your background?

Before my cancer battle, I was a professional tennis player. Kristel played tennis too – actually, that’s how we met! Our time on the courts taught us a lot about what athletes eat, and my cancer battle later taught us how these dietary guidelines were wrong.

How did Kristel shape the early days of Your Super?

Kristel is my equal in all things. Your Super wouldn’t have started without her intelligence, passion, and empathy.

During my cancer battle, Kristel led our hunt for the highest-quality organic sources for key raw nutrients. She received super helpful advice from her aunt Ellen, an orthonutritionst, on the body’s daily vitamin and mineral needs for proper health and healing.

Kristel used what she learned to make me healthy superfood mixes that taste great in my drinks or meals. These superfood mixes revitalized me while undergoing chemotherapy. Kristel also started using her mixes and noticed the newly-replenished feeling right away. 

We both knew we had stumbled upon something important. That’s how we knew we needed to start Your Super.

Who is on the Your Super team? 

We keep things tightly knit at Your Super. Our team comprises about 80 people who interface with our customers, maintain our supply chain, direct our design, and more.

We also have brilliant in-house marketing, sales, and copywriting experts. Kristel and I learn so much from these folks about how to best convey our stories and superfoods’ benefits to the world. 

Can you tell us about some of Your Super’s superfood mixes? 

We have 11 superfood mixes that can help our customers achieve all kinds of health goals. Our Super Green Mix bolsters the immune system, our Power Matcha Mix enhances focus and productivity, and our Golden Mellow Mix reduces stress, anxiety, and inflammation.

Our bundles combine similar mixes for broader goals and audiences. Our Detox Bundle for cleansing and feeling your best is especially popular, and we have a Kids Bundle for the little ones. We also have snack bar versions of our Super Green, Golden Mellow, and Chocolate Lover mixes.

Does Your Super offer anything besides superfood mixes?

Absolutely! We’re super proud of our plant-based four-week diet guide, recipe ebooks, and cookbook with over 100 recipes. We also have smoothie bottles, shaker bottles, bamboo straws, and mason jars that make enjoying and storing superfood drinks fun and easy. We’re also home to an online community of enthusiastic Your Super customers eager to help one another.

Save even more when you purchase the Your Super Bundles!

What are you proud of about Your Super beyond your products themselves?

We’re proud of our fully organic, plant-based superfood line that never uses the needless additives, sweeteners or GMOs often found in other superfood mixes. Our supply chain is fully transparent, and our ethical practices have earned us a B Corp certification. 

We’re doing this all while giving back, too. We donate a life-saving food bar through Action Against Hunger every time someone buys a mix. Our packaging is 100% sustainable, too.

Perhaps best of all, we can firmly say that our customers love us! We hear especially often that our intro quiz helps people find the right mixes for them way faster than they could alone. Our customers are almost always happy with the mixes our quiz suggests.

Has Your Super won any awards or recognition? 

Yes! Kristel was in the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30, and Forbes has profiled us both. We’ve also been praised by mindbodygreen, People, and Real Simple, who called our mixes “the one thing I never travel without.”

Which Your Super product are you most proud of? 

Well, that’s kind of an impossible question! But I suppose if I had to pick one, it’s our Detox Bundle since it’s our longtime bestseller. One of our reviewers, Kate B., said that the bundle was “the best detox I’ve ever done” and she “never felt hungry” during it. And those two things together are rare! We agree with Kate and have seen so many of our customers use this bundle for meaningful personal change.

Our Readers LOVE Deals – Do You Have Any Right Now?

Yes! For a limited time, Trending Mom readers get 15% Off with Code YOUGOTTHIS15! Plus, save even more when you purchase the Your Super Bundles! Just click the button below to claim this deal!

Editor’s Note: Your Super has informed us that many of its most popular bundles are close to selling out. Trending Mom cannot guarantee availability.

Eating Healthy Blog writes about stuff we think you’ll like. Eating Healthy Blog has a relationship with advertisers, and sometimes receives products or a share of revenue from your purchase. All posts are for entertainment purposes.

The post How Michael Kuech’s Battle With Cancer Led Him To Launch This Superfood Startup appeared first on Eating Healthy Blog.

And there is no better time than now to stock up on Vahdam’s best selling teas! For a limited-time only, Vahdam Tea is offering our readers up to 70% off their best sellers, PLUS save an additional 15% off your order with code SUMMER15 at checkout. 

Top 4 Vahdam Tea Best Sellers

1. Organic Turmeric Wellness Detox Box

Oprah has named Vahdam’s Organic Turmeric Wellness Detox Box as one of her favorites! This wellness box includes four skillfully blended healthy Turmeric Tea Blends – their popular Turmeric Spice Herbal Tea, the calming Turmeric Ashwagandha Herbal Tea, the nutrient-rich Turmeric Moringa Herbal Tea, and the soothing blend of Turmeric Ginger Herbal Tea. Each variety contains 15 pyramid tea bags each and is delivered in a beautiful gift box worth saving.

2. Turmeric Ashwagandha Latte Mix

Vahdam’s 100% Organic Turmeric Ashwagandha Latte Mix is a luscious, creamy blend of all natural goodness. This calming latte perfectly blends the superfood turmeric with the soothing properties of ashwagandha, and the digestive benefits of ginger and mint. Simply mix with your preferred choice of nut milk or dairy milk, relax and enjoy!

3. Mango Spice Iced Tea

Vahdam’s Mango Spice Iced Tea is a fragrant blend of raw Indian mangoes, tropical berries, and fresh aromatic spices. Simply add 5 grams of tea to 7 ounces of freshly boiled water and steep for 5 minutes. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours. Pour the tea over a stack of ice and toss in a handful of fresh blueberries for added goodness!

4. Turmeric Ginger Herbal Tea

Soothe your stomach woes and boost your immunity with Vahdam’s refreshing Turmeric Ginger Herbal Tea. This healthy blend of turmeric and ginger boasts a sweet and spicy flavor that will help you destress and feel energized. Indulge in a calming cup after meal time to aid in digestion and prevent bloating.

How do I get this special offer?

For a limited-time only, Vahdam Teas is offering our readers up to 70% off their best sellers, PLUS save an additional 15% off your order with code SUMMER15 at checkout. So what are you waiting for? The best selling teas for your health and wellness – at prices you’ll never beat – are just a click away!

Eating Healthy Blog writes about stuff we think you’ll like. Eating Healthy Blog has a relationship with advertisers, and sometimes receives products or a share of revenue from your purchase. All posts are for entertainment purposes.

The post The Top 4 Best Selling Teas Handpicked From India’s Tea Gardens appeared first on Eating Healthy Blog.

Misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins in the brain are the hallmark sign of Parkinson’s disease.

Many experts believe that these toxic protein clumps lead to the progressive loss of brain cells that control movement.

But the science is not clear-cut, and the underlying mechanisms that cause Parkinson’s remain elusive.

Without an effective way of preventing or curing Parkinson’s, treatment primarily focuses on alleviating symptoms.

A recent line of research has been looking into a possible link to the gut microbiome, the trillions of microbial species that populate our intestines.

Could changing a person’s gut microbiome be a way of modifying their risk of developing Parkinson’s or even serve as an effective treatment?

A group of scientists from the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee, both in the United Kingdom, set out to investigate.

Maria Doitsidou, a fellow at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, is the senior study author, and the team’s research features in the journal Cell Reports.

Probiotic ‘inhibits and reverses’ aggregation

For their study, Doitsidou and her colleagues used a nematode worm model that scientists had genetically engineered to express a human version of the alpha-synuclein protein.

These worms normally develop aggregates, or clumps, of alpha-synuclein at day 1 of their adulthood, which is 72 hours after they hatch.

However, when the researchers fed worms a diet containing a probiotic bacterial strain called Bacillus subtilis PXN21, they observed “a nearly complete absence of aggregates,” as they state in their paper. The worms still produced the alpha-synuclein protein, but it did not aggregate in the same way.

In worms that had already developed protein aggregates, switching their diet to B. subtilis cleared the aggregates from the affected cells.

The team then followed a set of worms through their lifespan and compared a B. subtilis diet with a conventional laboratory diet.

“The maximum number of aggregates reached in animals fed with B. subtilis was far lower than that observed on the [standard] diet, indicating that B. subtilis does not simply delay aggregate formation,” the authors explain in the paper.

“B. subtilis PXN21 inhibits and reverses [alpha-synuclein] aggregation in a [roundworm] model,” they note.

Is this effect specific for B. subtilis PXN21, though? To answer this question, the team compared a number of different strains of the bacterium and found that they had similar effects.

Several pathways working together

To find out how B. subtilis is able to prevent and clear alpha-synuclein aggregates, the team used RNA sequencing analysis to compare the gene expression of animals receiving a standard diet with that of those receiving the probiotic.

This analysis revealed changes in sphingolipid metabolism. Sphingolipids are a type of fat molecule, and they are important components of the structure of our cell membranes.

“Previous studies suggest that an imbalance of lipids, including ceramides and sphingolipid intermediates, may contribute to the pathology of [Parkinson’s disease],” the authors comment in the paper.

Yet, changes in sphingolipid metabolism were not the only pathways that the researchers identified.

They also saw that B. subtilis was able to protect older animals from alpha-synuclein aggregation through both the formation of complex structures called biofilms and the production of nitric oxide. In addition, the team saw changes in the dietary restriction and the insulin-like signaling pathways.

Importantly, when the team switched animals that had first received a standard diet over to a B. subtilis diet, their motor skills improved.

“The results provide an opportunity to investigate how changing the bacteria that make up our gut microbiome affects Parkinson’s. The next steps are to confirm these results in mice, followed by fast-tracked clinical trials since the probiotic we tested is already commercially available.”

Maria Doitsidou

The post Could a probiotic prevent or reverse Parkinson’s? appeared first on Eating Healthy Blog.

As scientists have become increasingly interested in the role of gut bacteria, so have the public. In parallel with the microbiome’s rise to fame, probiotics have grown ever more popular.

Probiotics are live organisms that manufacturers add to a range of foods, most commonly yogurts. Their marketing information often contains an array of health claims, from improving digestive health to boosting the immune system.

Probiotics are now big business. In 2017, the probiotics market in the United States was worth more than $40 billion, according to the authors of the recent study.

Claims and accuracy examined

As with many products today, online sales and marketing play a significant role. With this in mind, researchers from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School in the United Kingdom and the Université libre de Bruxelles in Belgium assessed online claims about these products for accuracy.

To investigate, they collected information from top-ranked webpages in Google searches. Co-author Prof. Michel Goldman explains that “often, the public will not go past the first 10 results — these will, therefore, have a higher visibility and impact.”

First, the authors analyzed the pages for “accuracy and completeness.” Next, they checked the information against the Cochrane library, which is a database of evidence-based medical information, including clinical trials and meta-analyses.

Prof. Goldman explains their approach: “We assessed the first 150 webpages brought up by a Google search for ‘probiotics’ and recorded where they originated from and the diseases they mentioned. The scientific evidence for health benefits of probiotics against these diseases was then examined for scientific rigor.”

They published their findings in the journal Frontiers in Medicine.

Site type matters

The scientists found that the majority of the top 150 websites were news-based or commercial — 31% and 43%, respectively. Overall, news and commercial sites were the least reliable sources of information as they rarely mentioned regulatory issues or side effects for vulnerable individuals, such as those who are immunocompromised.

Of the 150 webpages, only 40% mentioned that the benefits of probiotics need more research, 35% referenced scientific literature, only 25% listed potential side effects, and just 15% mentioned regulatory provisions.

In the four categories covered above, commercial websites scored lowest. In Google’s top 10 results, the scores were higher.

The authors explain that Google’s algorithms do a relatively good job of ensuring that reliable health portals come at the top of searches: in the top 10 search entries in Google, reliable health portals took up the majority of slots.

However, as author Prof. Pietro Ghezzi explains, “the fact that there is such a large amount of commercially-oriented information is problematic for consumers who are searching for honest answers.”

Evidence is lacking

The researchers investigated specific health claims in more detail, checking these claims against the Cochrane database. Although websites make claims about probiotics treating a range of ills, the evidence is severely lacking.

To date, evidence only supports the use of probiotics to treat a handful of conditions, including infectious diarrhea and necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants. Even in these cases, it is necessary for scientists to do more research.

Overall, 93 of the 150 websites claimed that probiotics could enhance the immune system. In reality, as the authors explain, this “has been barely investigated in clinical trials.”

Similarly, a significant number of websites claim that probiotics might help relieve mental disorders and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Again, scientists have carried out very little research into these topics.

In all, there were 325 specific health claims on the webpages that the scientists investigated. Scientific evidence substantiated only 23%, and 20% had no evidential support to back them up. These findings are important, as the authors explain:

“In the current era where distrust in medical experts and health authorities is widespread, individual consumption of over-the-counter health products is largely guided by information collected on the internet.”

They continue, “Since probiotics escape scrutinization by regulatory authorities, it is of utmost importance to get insight into the level of trustworthiness provided by online information on their benefits and risks.”

The post Online information about probiotics often misleading appeared first on Eating Healthy Blog.

Depression is common among older adults, with 7% of those over the age of 60 years reporting “major depressive disorder.”

Accordingly, research is underway to identify possible causes, which include genetic predisposition, socioeconomic status, and relationships with family, living partners, and the community at large.

A study by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Fudan University in Shanghai raises another possibility. It finds a statistically significant link between regular tea drinking and lower levels of depression in seniors.

While the researchers have not yet established a causal relationship between tea and mental health, their findings — which appear in BMC Geriatrics — show a strong association.

Reading the tea leaves

Tea is popular among older adults, and various researchers have recently been investigating the potential beneficial effects of the beverage.

A separate study from the NUS that appeared in Aging last June, for example, found that tea may have properties that help brain areas maintain healthy cognitive function.

“Our study offers the first evidence of the positive contribution of tea drinking to brain structure and suggests a protective effect on age-related decline in brain organization.”

Junhua Li, lead author

That earlier paper also cites research showing that tea and its ingredients — catechin, L-theanine, and caffeine — can produce positive effects on mood, cognitive ability, cardiovascular health, cancer prevention, and mortality.

However, defining the exact role of tea in preventing depression is difficult, especially due to the social context in which people often consume it. Particularly in countries such as China, social interaction may itself account for some or even all of the drink’s benefits.

Feng Qiushi and Shen Ke led the new study, which tracks this covariate and others, including gender, education, and residence, as well as marital and pension status.

The team also factored in lifestyle habits and health details, including smoking, drinking alcohol, daily activities, level of cognitive function, and degree of social engagement.

In addition, the authors write, “The study has major methodological strength,” citing a few of its attributes.

Firstly, they note, it could more accurately track an individual’s tea-drinking history because “instead of examining tea-drinking habit [only] at the time of survey or in the preceding month/year, we combined the information on frequency and consistency of tea consumption at age 60 and at the time of assessment.”

Once the researchers had classified each person as one of four types of tea drinker according to how often they drank the beverage, they concluded:

“[O]nly consistent daily drinkers, those who had drunk tea almost every day since age 60, could significantly benefit in mental health.”

13,000 study participants

The researchers analyzed the data of 13,000 individuals who took part in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) between 2005 and 2014.

They discovered a virtually universal link between tea drinking and lower reports of depression.

Other factors seemed to reduce depression as well, including living in an urban setting and being educated, married, financially comfortable, in better health, and socially engaged.

The data also suggested that the benefits of tea drinking are strongest for males aged 65 to 79 years. Feng Qiushi suggests an explanation: “It is likely that the benefit of tea drinking is more evident for the early stage of health deterioration. More studies are surely needed in regard to this issue.”

Looking at the connection the other way around, tea drinkers appeared to share certain characteristics.

Higher proportions of tea drinkers were older, male, and urban residents. In addition, they were more likely to be educated, married, and receiving pensions.

Tea drinkers also exhibited higher cognitive and physical function and were more socially involved. On the other hand, they were also more likely to drink alcohol and smoke.

Qiushi previously published the results of the effect of tea drinking on a different population, Singaporeans, finding a similar link to lower rates of depression. The new study, while more detailed, supports this earlier work.

Currently exploring new CLHLS data regarding tea drinking, Qiushi wishes to understand more about what tea can do, saying, “This new round of data collection has distinguished different types of tea, such as green tea, black tea, and oolong tea so that we could see which type of tea really works for alleviating depressive symptoms.”

The post Older adults who drink tea are less likely to be depressed appeared first on Eating Healthy Blog.

Whenever we learn something new or experience something pleasurable, our brain’s reward system becomes activated. With the help of natural brain chemicals, several brain areas communicate with each other to help us learn and repeat behaviors that improve our knowledge and well-being.

Relying heavily on the neurotransmitter dopamine, the reward system helps explain several quintessential human experiences, such as falling in love, sexual pleasure, and enjoying time with friends.

However, certain substances, such as drugs, hijack the brain’s reward system, “artificially” activating it. Telling the brain to repeat pleasure-seeking behavior constantly is the mechanism behind addiction.

But is sugar such a substance? And if so, does it help explain sugary food cravings?

A United States scientist named Theron Randolph coined the term “food addiction” in the 1950s to describe the compulsive consumption of certain foods, such as milk, eggs, and potatoes.

Since then, the studies exploring this concept have yielded mixed results, and some experts argue that speaking of food addiction is a bit of a stretch.

New research helps shed some light on the matter, as Michael Winterdahl, associate professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University in Denmark, and his colleagues examined the effect of sugar intake on the reward circuitry in the brains of pigs.

The researchers published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports.

‘Major changes’ after 12 days

The scientists analyzed the effects of sugar intake on seven female Göttingen minipigs, using complex PET imaging techniques with opioid receptor agonists and dopamine receptor antagonists to examine the animals’ brain reward systems.

The team gave the minipigs access to a sucrose solution for 1 hour on 12 consecutive days and then retook the scans 24 hours after the last sugar dose.

In a subgroup of five minipigs, the team applied an additional PET scanning session after the first exposure to sugar.

“After just 12 days of sugar intake, we could see major changes in the brain’s dopamine and opioid systems,” reports Winterdahl.

“In fact, the opioid system, which is that part of the brain’s chemistry that is associated with well-being and pleasure, was already activated after the very first intake,” adds the study’s lead author.

Specifically, there were alterations in the “striatum, nucleus accumbens, thalamus, amygdala, cingulate cortex, and prefrontal cortex” after the sugar intake.

Why sugar may be addictive after all

The findings, conclude the researchers, imply that “foods high in sucrose influence brain reward circuitry in ways similar to those observed when addictive drugs are consumed.”

The lead researcher explains that the findings contradicted his initial expectations. “There is no doubt that sugar has several physiological effects, and there are many reasons why it is not healthy.”

“But I have been in doubt of the effects sugar has on our brain and behavior, [and] I had hoped to be able to kill a myth.” He continues by emphasizing the addictive aspects of sugar intake.

“If sugar can change the brain’s reward system after only 12 days, as we saw in the case of the pigs, you can imagine that natural stimuli, such as learning or social interaction, are pushed into the background and replaced by sugar and/or other ‘artificial’ stimuli.”

Michael Winterdahl

“We’re all looking for the rush from dopamine, and if something gives us a better or bigger kick, then that’s what we choose,” he explains.

Are pig models relevant?

The researchers also explain their choice of minipigs as a model in which to study the effects of sugar on the brain.

They say that previous studies have used rats, but even if these rodents do have a penchant for sugar, their homeostatic mechanisms — which help regulate weight gain and metabolism — “differ significantly from those of humans.”

“It would, of course, be ideal if the studies could be done in humans themselves, but humans are hard to control, and dopamine levels can be modulated by a number of different factors,” explains Winterdahl.

“They are influenced by what we eat, whether we play games on our phones, or if we enter a new romantic relationship in the middle of the trial, with potential for great variation in the data.”

“The pig is a good alternative because its brain is more complex than a rodent and […] large enough for imaging deep brain structures using human brain scanners.”

The post Sugar alters brain chemistry after only 12 days appeared first on Eating Healthy Blog.

In science today, food and gut bacteria are two topics that are guaranteed to fuel interest and debate. Both, of course, are interrelated, and a new study focuses on some subtleties of this relationship.

The lack of a healthy population of gut bacteria compromises our health; the same is true when we do not eat a healthful diet. However, scientists do not entirely understand the exact impact of specific foods on gut bacteria.

This knowledge gap is due, in part, to the unbelievable complexity of the microbiome. One factor that muddies the water is bacteriophages, or phages for short.

The phage

Phages are viruses that only attack bacteria. Within the gut, these viruses outnumber the dizzyingly numerous gut bacteria.

Each phage only attacks a specific type of bacterium, meaning that it can influence levels of gut bacteria. Phages need bacteria to live, so if bacteria are absent, the phages cannot survive.

This means that any foods that influence phages can influence gut bacteria and vice versa. For example, if the population of one type of phage increases, the bacteria that they consume will dwindle, potentially making room for another species of bacteria to multiply.

In this way, viruses can affect the overall microbiome — by pruning one species, they provide space for other species to fill.

Switching from prophage

Most phages in the gut are present in a dormant form — their DNA is integrated into the bacteria’s genome. In this form, they are called prophages.

Scientists have identified certain compounds that trigger prophages to return to their active form. When this happens, hundreds of new phages burst out of the bacterial cell, killing the host and attacking other bacteria; these compounds include soy sauce, nicotine, and some antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin. To date, the list of phage-promoting compounds is relatively short.

It is essential to uncover which chemicals fuel phage activity. Because phages attack and kill bacteria, if we understand how to manipulate them, they could work as powerful, natural antibiotics.

A recent study set out to expand the list of compounds that induce phage activity. The scientists from San Diego State University, CA, published their findings in the journal Gut Microbes. They hope that their results will introduce the “possibility of using diet to intentionally landscape the human gut microbiome via prophage induction.”

“We could actually tackle certain conditions by adjusting the foods we consume that will affect microbial diversity, which in turn will influence health and diseases.”

Research associate Lance Boling

To investigate, the researchers chose a wide range of compounds that might influence phage activity. They selected a range of bacteria from two phyla that are common in the gut: Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. They included both beneficial and pathogenic strains of bacteria.

From 117 food compounds, they narrowed down their search to just 28. The researchers observed the growth of bacteria in the presence of each specific compound; they also observed its growth without the compound as a control. Next, they used flow cytometry, a process that is sensitive enough to detect unimaginably small virus particles.

Which foods influence phages?

Of the 28 candidates, 11 compounds produced levels of virus particles at a rate higher than the controls, which signifies that they influenced phage activity.

Some of the most significant phage boosts occurred in the presence of clove, propolis (a compound produced by bees), uva ursi (also known as kinnikinnick or bearberry), and aspartame.

The most potent prophage inducer was stevia, which is a plant-derived sugar substitute. With some species of the bacterial strains, stevia increased the number of virus particles by more than 400%.

Conversely, some foods reduced the number of virus particles; most notably, these included rhubarb, fernet (a type of Italian liquor), coffee, and oregano.

To complicate matters, some compounds boosted phage activity associated with some bacteria, but reduced phage activity related to others; these compounds include toothpaste, grapefruit seed extract, and pomegranate.

According to the authors, one of the most potent antibacterial foods was hot tabasco sauce, which “reduced the growth of all three [gastrointestinal] species, except the opportunistic pathogen P. aeruginosa, by an average of 92%.”

Tabasco contains vinegar, but when they tested vinegar alone, it only reduced bacterial growth by 71%. They believe that capsaicin — the spicy compound in chilis — may explain the additional antibacterial capabilities. However, in the experiments with tabasco, no virus particles were found, so phages are unlikely to be involved.

The future

These findings are important. Scientists now know that the microbiome can influence our physical and mental health; it can also cause inflammation and increase cancer risk. If scientists can work out how to alter the microbiome in specific ways, they can, in theory, remove or reduce these risks.

As one of the authors, Forest Rohwer, explains, “The ability to kill specific bacteria, without affecting others, makes these compounds very interesting.”

The new list of compounds is by no means exhaustive, of course, as Rohwer says, “There are probably thousands of compounds that would be useful for eliminating unwanted bacteria.”

The authors hope that scientists will continue along these lines. They also explain that scientists will need to try to figure out the molecular mechanisms that switch the phage from inactivity to activity.

The post Common foods alter gut bacteria by influencing viruses appeared first on Eating Healthy Blog.