Welcome to my blog - please tell me what YOU think about some of the things I post. I enjoy your comments. Remember,many of the links to other articles in these posts have a finite existence: there is no way to tell how long they will be in place before being moved or removed!
Olive Leaf extract has many health properties. Some of the first research into this substance goes back to the 1800s, when it was used as an anti-malarial. In fact, it was generally acknowledged to be superior to Quinine for this, but since Quinine was easier to administer it became the treatment of choice.
In the 1960s, the active ingredient in Olive Leaves was identified, and some exciting results began to emerge, above and beyond its antimicrobial and anti viral properties. It seemed as though Olive had an effect on heart function in that it relaxed the arteries - very helpful in cases of hypertension. It also increased blood flow to the coronary arteries, relieved arrythmias, and inhibited the oxidation of low density lipo-proteins. This was just icing on the cake, however, compared to the electrifying results experienced with conditions resulting from any virus, retrovirus, bacterium or protozoan!
A list of such conditions would include influenza, tuberculosis, urinary tract infections, meningitis, as well as the serious diseases mentioned in the first paragraph above. Dr. Walker Morton D.P.M. claims " There is no better anti-protozoa remedy: it even chases out worms. And if someone suffers with chronic fatigue syndrome, the yeast syndrome, fibromyalgia, psoriasis or heart disease, olive leaf extract should be part of that person's armamentarium."
One more year, and I will be able to eat all the chocolate I want without ANY guilt - for now, at 71, I am in the home straight. "Regular intake of chocolate." That certainly sounds good. Now, I wonder who commissioned this study ... for once, I don't think I care!
"Cerebral blood flow response to flavanol-rich cocoa in healthy elderly humans," Sorond FA, Lipsitz LA, et al, Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 2008; 4(2): 433-440. (Address: Farzaneh A. Sorond, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Neurology, Stroke Division, 45 Francis Street, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. E-mail: fsorond@partners.org ).
Summary:
In a study involving 34 healthy elderly subjects (mean age: 72 years), regular intake of flavanol-rich cocoa (FRC) was found to increase mean blood flow velocity in the cerebral artery by 8% after 1 week and by 10% after 2 weeks, as compared to subjects consuming flavanol-poor cocoa. Furthermore, after one week, significantly more subjects consuming the flavanol-rich cocoa experienced improvements in cerebral blood flow velocity, as compared to those consuming the flavanol-poor cocoa. These results suggest that consumption of cocoa rich in flavanols may have a role to play in "the treatment of cerebrovascular ischemic syndromes, including dementias and stroke." Additional research is warranted
Good for you - bad for you - the debate over coffee rages on.
Two words - individuality and moderation. Coffee is good for some and bad for others, but bad for everyone in excess.
However, if you are at risk for high cholesterol this research from Baylor College of Medicine suggests that the best thing you can do, if you HAVE to have your coffee, is not to drink it black, not to choose decaffeinated, but to use a paper filter.
If I had just one dollar for every time I have given the little lecture about the fact that TOO MUCH stomach acid presents with almost exactly the same symptoms as TOO LITTLE, and how Doctors are primed to believe it is the former when it is often the latter - I would be living in Maui.
It is especially perturbing when you consider the health risks attendant on going in exactly the wrong direction. Many major and important nutrients have their absorption affected by this mistake, among them calcium, magnesium, zinc, B6 and B12 - also protein.
Some time ago I posted a link about the connection between the use of antacids and cancer. Now a study in the Canadian Medical Journal shows a DOUBLED risk of osteoporosis for people using antacids (proton pump inhibitors such as Prilosec and Nexium) for longer than 7 years. I am not exactly saure where the magic cut-off date is for safe use!
While the general overall benefits of good nutrition have been acknowledged for some time, even by skeptics, it is only over the last 20 years or so that we have seen an acceleration of research into the effect of singular nutrients on specific conditions. Fish oil for heart health and cognition, for example. Or chromium and diabetes.
Now comes a well designed study that shows 2 nutrients can head diabetic complications off at the pass, by normalizing the formation of AGES ( ) and reducing inflammation.
Now, certain medical professionals are recommending that children as young as 8 with high cholesterol should be put on statin drugs.
Never mind that at that age, exercise and diet are a far more logical approach, let alone more successful, more healthy and less expensive, never mind that there is a risk that lowering a child's cholesterol may affect brain development. Ignore what kind of a lesson will be taught by addressing a lifestyle issue with a pill at such an early age - bring on the medication!
