New findings about Resveratrol

Resveratrol, a compound found most famously in grapes and red wine, seems to ward off several age-related diseases. However, its mechanism of action has been elusive. Researchers have now found a direct molecular target for the compound. People can develop a variety of metabolic diseases as they age, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. In animal studies, severely restricting calories can help prevent these diseases. Over the last decade, scientists have found that resveratrol mimics calorie restriction in some ways. It seems to affect the activity of proteins called sirtuins. Sirtuins control several biological pathways and are known to be involved in the aging process. Recent studies uncovered intermediate steps between resveratrol and sirtuins. A key step in this pathway is an enzyme called AMPK, which regulates energy levels in the cell. However, the link between resveratrol and AMPK has been a mystery. 

The researchers methodically traced metabolic activity in cells treated with resveratrol. They were able to identify an enzyme called PDE4 in the skeletal muscle as the principal target for the health benefits of resveratrol. Resveratrol inhibits PDE4, which raises levels of an important cell signaling molecule called cAMP. Levels of cAMP normally rise when cells get the signal that blood glucose levels are low. Resveratrol thus activates one of the same biochemical pathways as a low-calorie diet. This pathway ultimately activates AMPK and sirtuins. A PDE4 inhibitor that is 30,000 times more potent than resveratrol has recently been approved by the FDA for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

DNA can be altered through diet and exercise...

A new study(study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) that was recently published sheds more evidence to what many have been saying for a long time, that DNA does not control the body or predestine you to being overweight, ill, sick, weak or anything else, but that the majority of our health and destiny lies within our own power. The men underwent three months of major lifestyle changes, including eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products, moderate exercise such as walking for half an hour a day, and an hour of daily stress management methods such as meditation. After the three months, the men had changes in activity in about 500 genes -- including 48 that were turned on and 453 genes that were turned off. The activity of disease-preventing genes increased while a number of disease-promoting genes, including those involved in prostate cancer and breast cancer, shut down,

Drinking Tea reduces risk of breast cancer by 37%

A newly released study has found that drinking tea results in a 37% reduction in breast cancer risk for women under the age of 50, an age in which breast cancer can be particularly virulent. Another recent study has shown that tea drinking reduces risk of endometrial cancer. These results add to the pile of data showing tea is one of the healthiest beverages a person can drink.Whether it is Black, Green, White or Oolong, tea is the world's second most commonly consumed beverage. Tea provides potent flavonoids and antioxidants. Tea is a research superstar against cancer.Tea drinking has been shown to play an important role in human cancer reduction by inhibiting uncontrolled cell growth, known as cell proliferation, and by promoting appropriate programmed cell death, known as apoptosis. Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), an abundant polyphenol in green tea, may protect normal cells from carcinogens as well as eliminate cancer cells through promotion of apoptosis. The major polyphenols of black tea and green tea have been shown to inhibit proteins which are closely associated with tumor growth and metastasis. Black tea polyphenols have also been shown to prevent oxidative DNA damage to colon mucosa.

Individuals suffering from hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver, are given diets high in simple sugars. Why?

The liver a major site for the interconversion of the major foodstuffs. Such transformations impose slight metabolic burdens on the liver, which are easily handled in a state of good health.
When the liver is in the grip of pathology, burdens are best avoided. A diet high in simple sugars will provide a means for maintaining blood sugar levels at normal levels without exacting a price from the liver. It is particularly important that low blood sugar levels be avoided, because that will stimulate gluconeogenesis, a process that imposes considerable strain on the liver, since amino acids will be stripped of their amino groups and transformed to carbohydrate metabolites.

Under conditions of sugar shortage, the combustion and reformation of lipids are also impeded. A shortage of carbohydrate could easily result in a ‘‘sputtering’’ lipid metabolism in which toxic products might form. A production of ketone bodies, for example,would challenge pH stability and the stability of the liver as well. Providing the simplest fuel molecules reduces the work that the liver must carry out.