Tuesday Sep 15, 2020

The Gary Null Show - 09.15.20

LIVE Webinar With Dr. Gary Null: Positive Solutions for Today's Problems

 

Healthy diet and exercise during pregnancy could lead to healthier children, study finds

Kings College London, September 13, 2020

 

New research shows improving the lifestyle of women with obesity during pregnancy could mean long-term cardiovascular benefits for their children.

The study, led by King's College London and supported by the British Heart Foundation and Tommy's charity, examined how an antenatal diet and physical activity intervention in pregnant women with obesity could positively influence the health of the women and their children three years after giving birth.

The UPBEAT trial is a randomised controlled trial which aims to improve the diet and physical activity of obese pregnant women across the UK. Women who were given a diet and exercise intervention were compared to women in a control group, who made no changes to their lifestyle during pregnancy.

Follow-up examinations three years after birth showed that the children born to the intervention arm of the trial had a lower resting heart rate of -5 bpm than children treated with standard care. A higher resting heart rate in adults is associated with hypertension and cardiovascular dysfunction.

The study also showed that mothers in the intervention arm maintained a healthier diet three years after birth.

While women reported lower glycaemic load, maternal energy and saturated fatty acids intake, and higher protein intake three years after delivery, there were no differences in self-reported physical activity or in measures of body composition.

Lead author Kathryn Dalrymple from King's College London said: "This research shows that an lifestyle intervention in pregnant women, which focused on improving diet and increasing physical activity, is associated with improved cardiovascular function in the child at three-years of age and a sustained improvement in the mothers diet, three years after the intervention finished. These findings are very exciting as they add to the evidence that pregnancy is a window of opportunity to promote positive health and lifestyle changes which benefit the mother and her child."

Senior author Professor Lucilla Poston, Tommy's Chair for Maternal and Fetal Health, said: "Obesity in pregnancy is a major problem because it can increase the risk of complications in pregnancy as well as affecting the longer-term health of the child. This study strengthens my resolve to highlight just how important it is that we give children a healthy start in life."

Tommy's Research and Policy Director, Lizzie D'Angelo, said: "Pregnancy can be higher risk for women who are obese, but trying to lose lots of weight while pregnant is not advised, so our research focuses on finding new ways to make pregnancy safer for these families. It's very reassuring to see that our researchers have been able to improve mothers' diets and children's heart health in the long term, helping to give these babies the best start in life."

Tracy Parker, Senior Dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Keeping physically active and maintaining a balanced diet are both important ways of keeping our hearts healthy. This research shows that for pregnant women, the benefits don't end there. A healthy diet before, during and after pregnancy can have positive long-term health benefits for both mother and child."

The team of researchers will follow-up these children again at 8-10 years of age to see if this improvement in cardiovascular function is maintained through childhood.

 

 

Ashwagandha May Calm Generalized Anxiety Disorder 

New findings from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (Iran), September 1, 2020

 

Study Objective:To assess the effect of an extract of Withania somnifera on symptoms of generalized anxiety

Design:  Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Participants

Forty patients who were undergoing treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) participated in this trial. They met the criteria for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) diagnosis as stated in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental DisordersFourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). They were randomly selected for the treatment group (W somnifera root extract, 1 g/day; n=22) or the placebo group (n=18). Patients received either the extract or placebo daily for 6 weeks.

Study Parameters Assessed

To assess the severity of GAD symptoms at baseline as well as at week 2 and week 6 of the trial, researchers used the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). The HAM-A scale contains 14 questions rating the severity of common GAD symptoms, from 0 to 4.

Primary Outcome Measures

HAM-A scores during the course of the trial revealed a significant amelioration of GAD symptoms in the treatment group versus placebo (P<0.05). There was also a significant difference in the reduction of GAD score between the 2nd (P=0.04) and 6th week (P=0.02) in the treatment group. The extract was safe, and researchers observed no adverse effect during the trial.

Key Findings

Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) root extract is statistically efficacious at 1 gram per day after 2 weeks and even more so after 6 weeks of treatment. It has also been found to be safe to use while on SSRIs.

 

 

Pesco-Mediterranean diet, intermittent fasting may lower heart disease risk

Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, September 11, 2020

 

A Pesco-Mediterranean diet rich in plants, nuts, whole grains, extra-virgin olive oil, and fish and/or seafood is ideal for optimizing cardiovascular health, according to a cumulative review published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Intermittent fasting is recommended as part of this diet.

The traditional Mediterranean diet has been endorsed by national guidelines as well as the 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. The Mediterranean diet consists of plant foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, seeds, tree nuts and olives), fish/seafood, olive oil, and moderate amounts of dairy products (yogurt and cheese) and eggs. Multiple studies and randomized clinical trials have indicated that the diet is associated with lower risk for heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, depression and some cancers. 

"Although humans are omnivores and can subsist on a myriad of foods, the ideal diet for health remains a dilemma for many people," said James H. O'Keefe, MD, director of preventive cardiology at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, and lead author of the study. "Plant-rich diets reduce cardiovascular disease risk; however, veganism are difficult to follow and can result in important nutrient deficiencies. On the other hand, many people in modern Western cultures over-consume meat, particularly highly processed meat from animals raised in inhuman conditions. We propose the Pesco-Mediterranean diet as a solution to this 'omnivore's dilemma' about what to eat."

Previous studies have supported including fish as a part of a heart-healthy diet. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend adults consume fish at least twice a week in place of red meat, poultry or eggs. A pescatarian diet includes fish and/or seafood as the primary source of protein and minimizes the consumption of red meat or poultry. A meta-analysis of five prospective dietary studies found that compared to regular meat-eaters, coronary artery disease mortality was 34% lower in those following a pescatarian diet.

A Pesco-Mediterranean diet also emphasizes using extra-virgin olive oil in place of butter or other fats. Extra-virgin olive oil is a higher-quality, unrefined olive oil, and has been shown in previous studies to have cardiometabolic benefits, such as reducing low density lipoprotein ("bad") cholesterol and increasing high density lipoprotein ("good") cholesterol. The researchers recommend using generous amounts of extra-virgin olive oil (high in polyphenol antioxidants) along with vegetable dishes. To provide an additional source of healthy fats and fibers, the Pesco-Mediterranean diet includes tree nuts. The PREDIMED trial, a randomized clinical trial of primary heart disease prevention, showed a daily serving of mixed nuts resulted in a 28% lower risk of heart disease.

"There is no clear consensus among nutrition experts on the role of dairy products and eggs in heart disease risk, however we allowed for them in the Peso-Mediterranean diet," O'Keefe said. "Low-fat yogurt and cheeses are preferred; butter and hard cheese are discouraged due to a high concentration of saturated fats and salt. Eggs contain beneficial nutrients and can be a healthy substitute for red meat; however, we recommend no more than five yolks be consumed per week."

Intermittent fasting, the practice of limiting daily intake of calories in a specific time window (usually between eight to 12 hours) each day, has been shown to reduce inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity by forcing the body to switch from burning glucose to fatty acids (usually from belly fat) as the primary metabolic fuel. The most common form of intermittent fasting is timed-restricted eating, consisting of limiting to two, rather than three, meals per day and shortening the calorie-consumption window. Evidence regarding time-restricted eating is preliminary and requires more research.

"Our ancient ancestors did not have access to an unlimited supply of food throughout the year. Nor did they routinely eat three large meals, plus snacks, daily. Focusing on fresh whole foods, along with fish, bestows a range of health benefits, particularly when it comes to cardiovascular health. The Pesco-Mediterranean diet with daily time-restricted eating is an ideal cardioprotective diet," O'Keefe said.

 

 

Resveratrol impacts Alzheimer's disease biomarker 

 

Georgetown University Medical Center, September 11, 2020

 

The largest nationwide clinical trial to study high-dose resveratrol long-term in people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease found that a biomarker that declines when the disease progresses was stabilized in people who took the purified form of resveratrol. 

 

Resveratrol is a naturally occurring compound found in foods such as red grapes, raspberries, dark chocolate and some red wines. 

The results, published in Neurology, "are very interesting," says the study's principal investigator, R. Scott Turner, MD, PhD, director of the Memory Disorders Program at Georgetown University Medical Center. Turner, who treats patients at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, cautions that the findings cannot be used to recommend resveratrol. "This is a single, small study with findings that call for further research to interpret properly." 

 

The resveratrol clinical trial was a randomized, phase II, placebo-controlled, double blind study in patients with mild to moderate dementia due to Alzheimer's disease. An "investigational new drug" application was required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test the pure synthetic (pharmaceutical-grade) resveratrol in the study. It is not available commercially in this form. 

 

The study enrolled 119 participants. The highest dose of resveratrol tested was one gram by mouth twice daily -- equivalent to the amount found in about 1,000 bottles of red wine. 

 

John Bozza, 80, participated in the study. Five years ago, his wife, Diana, began noticing "something wasn't quite right." He was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, but only a year later, his condition progressed to mild Alzheimer's. 

Diana, whose twin sister died from the same disease, says there are multiple reasons she and John decided to participate in the resveratrol study, and they now know he was assigned to take the active drug. 

 

"I definitely want the medical community to find a cure," she says. "And of course I thought there's always a chance that John could have been helped, and who knows, maybe he was." 

 

Patients, like John, who were treated with increasing doses of resveratrol over 12 months showed little or no change in amyloid-beta40 (Abeta40) levels in blood and cerebrospinal fluid. In contrast, those taking a placebo had a decrease in the levels of Abeta40 compared with their levels at the beginning of the study. 

 

"A decrease in Abeta40 is seen as dementia worsens and Alzheimer's disease progresses; still, we can't conclude from this study that the effects of resveratrol treatment are beneficial," Turner explains. "It does appear that resveratrol was able to penetrate the blood brain barrier, which is an important observation. Resveratrol was measured in both blood and cerebrospinal fluid." 

 

The researchers studied resveratrol because it activates proteins called sirtuins, the same proteins activated by caloric restriction. The biggest risk factor for developing Alzheimer's is aging, and studies with animals found that most age-related diseases--including Alzheimer's--can be prevented or delayed by long-term caloric restriction (consuming two-thirds the normal caloric intake). 

 

Turner says the study also found that resveratrol was safe and well tolerated. The most common side effects experienced by participants were gastrointestinal-related, including nausea and diarrhea. Also, patients taking resveratrol experienced weight loss while those on placebo gained weight. 

 

One outcome in particular was confounding, Turner notes. The researchers obtained brain MRI scans on participants before and after the study, and found that resveratrol-treated patients lost more brain volume than the placebo-treated group. 

"We're not sure how to interpret this finding. A similar decrease in brain volume was found with some anti-amyloid immunotherapy trials," Turner adds. A working hypothesis is that the treatments may reduce inflammation (or brain swelling) found with Alzheimer's. 

 

"Given safety and positive trends toward effectiveness in this phase 2 study, a larger phase 3 study is warranted to test whether resveratrol is effective for individuals with Alzheimer's -- or at risk for Alzheimer's," Turner says. 

 

Resveratrol and similar compounds are being tested in many age-related disorders including cancer, diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders. The study Turner led, however, is the largest, longest and highest dose trial of resveratrol in humans to date. 

 

 

 

Vitamin D deficiency associated with greater risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma

King Khalid University (Saudi Arabia),September 14, 2020

 

According to news reporting out Saudi Arabia research stated, “Serum level of vitamin D has been used as a predictor for cancer development. We intend to measure the baseline vitamin D level in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and to compare same with non-cancer controls to determine any association.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department: “Patients with OSCC presenting to our clinics were included in this study. Their baseline serum vitamin D levels were measured prior to cancer treatment after obtaining their consents. These patients were then matched with at least 2 cancer-free subjects to serve as controls and whose serum vitamin D levels were also measured. The serum vitamin D levels obtained for the two groups were then categorized into normal (>35 ng/ml), mild deficiency (25-35 ng/ml), moderate deficiency (12.5-25 ng/ml), and severe deficiency (<12.5 ng/ml). The data were analyzed statistically and the two groups compared. A total of 51 patients with OSCC (Male 22 [43%] and female 29 [57%]) and 113 cancer-free controls (Male 36 [31.86%] and female 77 [68.14%]) were included in the study. The commonest site for OSCC was the tongue, accounting for 45% of the cancer cases. Mean age for cancer patients was 59.33 years ±12.54 and 49.24 years ±15.79 for the control. Among the OSCC patients, 74.51% had moderate to severe vitamin D deficiencies, whereas only 20.35% had a moderate deficiency in the control group with no severe deficiency.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Logistic regression analysis shows a positive association between vitamin D deficiency and OSCC risk especially in levels below 25 ng/ml. This further corroborates the assertion that vitamin D deficiency may be a useful indicator of OSCC. It may, therefore, be necessary to routinely prescribe vitamin D supplements to subjects with moderate to severe deficiencies in order to decrease the chances of OSCC development.”

 

 

Immune system affects mind and body, study indicates

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, September 14, 2020

New research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis helps illuminate a surprising mind-body connection. In mice, the researchers found that immune cells surrounding the brain produce a molecule that is then absorbed by neurons in the brain, where it appears to be necessary for normal behavior.

The findings, published Sept. 14 in Nature Immunology, indicate that elements of the immune system affect both mind and body, and that the immune molecule IL-17 may be a key link between the two.

"The brain and the body are not as separate as people think," said senior author Jonathan Kipnis, Ph.D., the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Immunology and a professor of neurosurgery, of neurology and of neuroscience. "What we've found here is that an immune molecule—IL-17—is produced by immune cells residing in areas around the brain, and it could affect brain function through interactions with neurons to influence anxiety-like behaviors in mice. We are now looking into whether too much or too little of IL-17 could be linked to anxiety in people."

IL-17 is a cytokine, a signaling molecule that orchestrates the immune response to infection by activating and directing immune cells. IL-17 also has been linked to autism in animal studies and depression in people.

How an immune molecule like IL-17 might influence brain disorders, however, is something of a mystery since there isn't much of an immune system in the brain and the few immune cells that do reside there don't produce IL-17. But Kipnis, along with first author and postdoctoral researcher Kalil Alves de Lima, Ph.D., realized that the tissues that surround the brain are teeming with immune cells, among them, a small population known as gamma delta T cells that produce IL-17. They set out to determine whether gamma-delta T cells near the brain have an impact on behavior. Kipnis and Alves de Lima conducted the research while at the University of Virginia School of Medicine; both are now at Washington University.

Using mice, they discovered that the meninges are rich in gamma-delta T cells and that such cells, under normal conditions, continually produce IL-17, filling the tissues surrounding the brain with IL-17.

To determine whether gamma-delta T cells or IL-17 affect behavior, Alves de Lima put mice through established tests of memory, social behavior, foraging and anxiety. Mice that lacked gamma-delta T cells or IL-17 were indistinguishable from mice with normal immune systems on all measures but anxiety. In the wild, open fields leave mice exposed to predators such as owls and hawks, so they've evolved a fear of open spaces. The researchers conducted two separate tests that involved giving mice the option of entering exposed areas. While the mice with normal amounts of gamma-delta T cells and levels of IL-17 kept themselves mostly to the more protective edges and enclosed areas during the tests, mice without gamma-delta T cells or IL-17 ventured into the open areas, a lapse of vigilance that the researchers interpreted as decreased anxiety.

Moreover, the scientists discovered that neurons in the brain have receptors on their surfaces that respond to IL-17. When the scientists removed those receptors so that the neurons could not detect the presence of IL-17, the mice showed less vigilance. The researchers say the findings suggest that behavioral changes are not a byproduct but an integral part of neuro-immune communication.

Although the researchers did not expose mice to bacteria or viruses to study the effects of infection directly, they injected the animals with lipopolysaccharide, a bacterial product that elicits a strong immune response. Gamma-delta T cells in the tissues around the mice's brains produced more IL-17 in response to the injection. When the animals were treated with antibiotics, however, the amount of IL-17 was reduced, suggesting gamma-delta T cells could sense the presence of normal bacteria such as those that make up the gut microbiome, as well as invading bacterial species, and respond appropriately to regulate behavior.

The researchers speculate that the link between the immune system and the brain could have evolved as part of a multipronged survival strategy. Increased alertness and vigilance could help rodents survive an infection by discouraging behaviors that increase the risk of further infection or predation while in a weakened state, Alves de Lima said.

"The immune system and the brain have most likely co-evolved," Alves de Lima said. "Selecting special molecules to protect us immunologically and behaviorally at the same time is a smart way to protect against infection. This is a good example of how cytokines, which basically evolved to fight against pathogens, also are acting on the brain and modulating behavior."

The researchers now are studying how gamma-delta T cells in the meninges detect bacterial signals from other parts of the body. They also are investigating how IL-17 signaling in neurons translates into behavioral changes.

 

NASA gives thumbs up to use of colloidal silver as antibiotic in space; FDA has no jurisdiction in high orbit

NASA, September 14, 2020

 In the day-to-day happenings of world politics, the United States and Russia are presented on the global stage as arch-enemies. Up in space, however, it's a completely different story. Enter the International Space Station (ISS), which for years has housed astronauts from both countries along with life-support systems unique to each country's needs. The two sides have long remained separate from one another until recently.

For years, the U.S. side of the ISS utilized iodine as its water cleansing agent of choice, while the Russian side took advantage of antibacterial silver for water purification purposes. Both sides coexisted peacefully in their respective methods, with the U.S. picking up whatever extra water the Russian side had leftover. Russia's water purification process has always been much more efficient than that of the U.S.

It seemed that the two opposing nations would never find a common bond in adopting a single, standardized water purification method that served the interests of everyone. However, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) recently made the decision to adopt Russia's method of purifying its water after coming to the realization that adding ionized silver to water is easier, more effective, and much more efficient than adding iodine.

"Unlike iodine, silver doesn't have to be filtered out of the water," explains a report by Bloomberg, noting that iodine has to be filtered out of the U.S. water after use. "Epsom salts (magnesium) are added to improve its taste."

"Due to widespread growth in the use of colloidal silver as a biocidal agent, development of a simple and cost efficient method of silver testing is valuable," admits NASA on its website. "On station, silver is used as a biocidal agent based on its antimicrobial properties in the potable water system."

Too much silver may be toxic to humans, so NASA is supporting research into a simple technique that it says will allow ISS crew members to test silver levels in water in less than two minutes.

 

 

 

Red Clover Beats Inflammation and Oxidative Stress

Green Med Info, September 12th 2020

Red clover has been touted as one of the top herbal medicines in the world and now scientists are discovering how red clover actually works in your body

Red clover, a native flowering plant found in Europe and Asia, is the source of many health benefits, including the abilities to beat inflammation and lower oxidative stress.

Infections, allergies, and autoimmune diseases upset the balance of your cells, which leads to inflammation, and major diseases associated with aging, such as heart attacksstrokecancer and Type 2 diabetesNeurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's show increased oxidative stress and inflammation as well.[i] It is not surprising that current interest in red clover and its healing elements is rising.

Three Components of Red Clover

  1. Formononetin

One of the key elements of red clover is formononetin, a dietary isoflavone, which is helpful in controlling diseases that are thought to be caused by inflammation and oxidative stress, such as diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome.[ii]

A treatment with formononetin controlled hypoglycemia and significantly reduced insulin resistance and oxidative stress in sciatic nerve tissue in diabetic animal research, making it an effective candidate for treatment of Type 2 diabetic neuropathy.[iii]

In other research, red clover treatment in diabetic rats successfully reduced hyperglycemia, improved insulin sensitivity and contributed to higher longevity (SIRT1 expression in rat pancreatic tissue).[iv]

Red clover sprouts (high in formononetin) reduced metabolic syndrome by decreasing obesity, lowering blood glucose levels and improving the lipid metabolism in obese mice that were given a high-carbohydrate and high-fat diet.[v]

Red clover isoflavones, such as formononetin, decreased total cholesterol by 29% in a meta-analysis covering 12 studies of 910 peri- and postmenopausal women.[vi]

Similarly, in a meta-analysis of 12 randomized control trials of 1,284 peri- and postmenopausal women, those who took red clover isoflavones for four weeks to 18 months improved their lipid profiles (significant decreases in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides and a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol).[vii]

Red clover isoflavone supplementation for 90 days also improved the lipid profile (significant decreases in total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) of 88% of the 60 postmenopausal women studied who had an increased body mass index.[viii]

In both human umbilical cord cells and zebrafish cell studies, formononetin also produced proangiogenesis effects (increased blood vessel creation in embryos) through binding cell signaling pathways (estrogen receptor alpha-enhanced ROCK-II).[ix]

In addition, formononetin ameliorated myocardia ischemia/reperfusion injury (loss of oxygen to the heart, which prevents pumping, and when oxygen returns but injures tissues, respectively) in rats (as measured by cardiac dysfunction, infarct size and cardiac markers) and inhibited the inflammatory response by impacting the "reactive oxygen species-thioredoxin interacting protein-nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat-containing protein 3" (ROS-TXNIP-NLRP3) pathway.[x]

In a mouse model, formononetin also exhibited significant anticancer effects in multiple myeloma cancers (found in plasma cells) and decreased inflammation (through the ROS-regulated inhibition of the signaling cascade of aberrant cells impairing the immune system, called STAT3 and STAT5).[xi]

In a human study, 20 men treated with 160 milligrams (mg) per day of red clover-derived dietary isoflavones, (genistein, daidzein, formononetin and biochanin A) also showed significantly higher apoptosis (prostate cancer cell death) than in control subjects specifically for low to moderate-grade cancer.[xii]

Research affirms that formononetin isoflavones in red clover have cancer fighting benefits for breast, colorectal, ovarian,[xiii] bladder[xiv] and prostate cancers, decrease tumors and metastasis and interfere with inflammation-causing signals that allow cancer cells to grow and survive chemotherapy.[xv] In addition, formononetin has also shown neuroprotective properties by suppressing inflammation in the brain neurons of rats.[xvi]

Inflammation is involved in a host of diseases from obesity, atherosclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis to cancer, neurological and cardiac diseases, and isoflavones, such as formononetin, show strong antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.[xvii]

  1. Anthocyanins

Anthocyanins are pigment-related compounds found in red clover giving the plant its purplish color. These compounds fight both inflammation and oxidative stress.[xviii]Interest in anthocyanin pigments has intensified recently because of potential health benefits -- as dietary antioxidants to prevent neuronal diseases, cardiovascular illnesses, cancer, diabetes, inflammation and atherosclerosis -- and scientific progress in stabilizing the compounds by encapsulating them.[xix],[xx]

In a recent in vitro study, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of red clover extract and red clover anthocyanins showed prevention of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and suppression of genes such as tumor necrosis factor, interleukin, inducible nitric oxide synthase, monocyte chemoattractant protein and cyclooxygenase.

In addition, the anthocyanins in red clover regulated two signaling pathways in cells, called nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2), which are important to reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, respectively.[xxi]

You produce less NRF2 (a regulator of oxidants) as you age and that interferes with NRF2's cross-talk with NF-κB, which then increases cytokine production (inflammatory proteins), which slowly tips the balance toward the oxidative side -- a condition known as oxidative stress.[xxii]

For example, it has been found that two cytokines, interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, are produced in excess in rheumatoid arthritis where they create inflammation and tissue destruction.[xxiii]

It is no wonder that anthocyanins found in red clover are recommended as powerful natural antioxidants that help reduce inflammation, contribute to the health of connective tissue and are effective in defusing dangerous free radicals that can irritate body tissues and cause the inflammation and joint pain prevalent in arthritis.[xxiv],[xxv]

In a study of 88 healthy, overweight and obese children ages 6 to 10, urinary biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress were elevated in obese children and signaled endothelial dysfunction.[xxvi] This imbalance between dilation and constriction of the blood vessels determines blood pressure and how well the heart is pumping blood out to the body and can contribute to increased inflammation and various heart diseases.[xxvii]

In a randomized, double blind trial of 150 subjects with hypercholesterolemia, those who consumed a purified anthocyanin mixture (320 mg per day) showed improved lipid profiles and reduced inflammatory responses compared to those who took a placebo twice a day for 24 weeks.[xxviii] Dietary anthocyanin consumption was associated with a 15% reduction of Type 2 diabetes risk in a meta-analysis of 200,894 participants and 12,611 Type 2 diabetes cases.[xxix]

In a meta-analysis of 14 cohort studies of flavonoids, subjects taking anthocyanins showed significantly lower risk for cardiovascular disease as well.[xxx] Intake of foods/extracts rich in anthocyanin improved vascular health, as shown in a meta-analysis of 24 randomized-controlled trials; two measures (vascular reactivity and stiffness) were significantly improved.[xxxi]

  1. Polysaccharides

Polysaccharide compounds in red clover (including glucose, galacturonic acid, arabinose and galactose) can be used as natural hypoglycemic agents and antioxidants. DPPH (2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and ABTS (2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)) are stable free radicals that are used to measure the radical scavenging activity of antioxidants.

Red clover polysaccharides were found to be 87% as effective as acarbose (a current glucosidase inhibition drug used for Type 2 diabetes)[xxxii] and nearly as effective as an antioxidant (92% scavenging rate of DPPH radicals and 99% of ABTS radicals) as ascorbic acid or pure vitamin C.[xxxiii]

In a breakdown study of polysaccharide types in red clover, rhamnogalactouronans exhibited the highest nitric oxide activity as an antioxidant.[xxxiv] Botanical polysaccharides found in plants, such as red clover, enhance macrophage immune responses, leading to immunomodulation, anti-tumor activity, wound healing and other therapeutic effects.[xxxv]

Red Clover Attacks the Root Causes of Diseases

Recent scientific research has uncovered how red clover successfully attacks two important root causes and markers of diseases, namely inflammation and oxidative stress, to help your body gain balance at the molecular cell level. Read more at GreenMedInfo.com about the amazing health benefits of red clover and its three components: formononetinanthocyanin and polysaccharides.

Copyright © 2017 Progressive Radio Network. All rights reserved.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Version: 20230822