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The Long And Short Of Calcium And Vitamin D

January 29, 2011 by ·

The institute’s expert committee, which included bone specialists, concluded that most people don’t need supplements of these critical nutrients and warned of serious health risks from the high doses some now take — including kidney stones and heart disease linked to calcium supplements, and the very falls and fractures that Vitamin D is meant to protect against.

For bone health, Vitamin D and calcium go hand in hand, because the vitamin must be present for calcium to be absorbed from the digestive tract. But who, if anyone, needs supplements — and how much? Can you get enough from foods naturally rich in these nutrients or fortified with them? [Read more...]

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Eating More Fruit And Vegetables Is Linked To A Lower Risk Of Dying From Ischemic Heart Disease

January 20, 2011 by ·

A European study investigating the links between diet and disease has found that people who consume more fruit and vegetables have a lower risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease – the most common form of heart disease and one of the leading causes of death in Europe. However, the authors point out that a higher fruit and vegetable intake occurs among people with other healthy eating habits and lifestyles, and that these factors could also be associated with the lower risk of dying from IHD. The study is published online today (Wednesday 19 January) in the European Heart Journal.

Data analysed from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Heart study has shown that people who ate at least eight portions of fruit and vegetables a day had a 22% lower risk of dying from IHD than did those who consumed fewer than three portions a day. A portion weighed 80 grams, equal to a small banana, a medium apple, or a small carrot.

Dr Francesca Crowe of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford, UK, and the first author of the paper by the EPIC study collaborators, said: “This study involved over 300,000 people in eight different European countries, with 1,636 deaths from IHD. It shows a 4% reduced risk of dying from IHD for each additional portion of fruit and vegetables consumed above the lowest intake of two portions. In other words, the risk of a fatal IHD for someone eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day would be 4% lower compared to someone consuming four portions a day, and so on up to eight portions or more.” [Read more...]

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Kiwifruit Good News

January 17, 2011 by ·

The kiwifruit disease, PSA, is never far from kiwifruit growers’ minds but Katikati orchardist Peter Hope believes he already had the best insurance in place before the threat came to light.

For the last five years Mr Hope and wife Barbara, who manage two kiwifruit orchards as well as their own, have used the New Zealand-made biological spray Agrizest to boost vine health.

Healthy and vigorous vines have paid dividends in greater productivity, Mr Hope says.

On one established, 2ha orchard growing gold kiwifruit he expects production to top 20,000 trays per hectare this year, a harvest that will be at the high end of the industry scale.

A green kiwifruit orchard that’s just producing its fourth crop is carrying an estimated 15,000 trays a hectare.

“You can’t get that sort of production unless they are healthy,” he says. “Once you’ve got healthy plants all the other things start to happen for you.” [Read more...]

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Blueberries Can Help Reduce High Blood Pressure

January 16, 2011 by ·

Eating blueberries can guard against high blood pressure, according to new research by the University of East Anglia and Harvard University.

High blood pressure – or hypertension – is one of the major cardiovascular diseases worldwide. It leads to stroke and heart disease and costs more than $300 billion each year. Around a quarter of the adult population is affected globally – including 10 million people in the UK and one in three US adults.

Published next month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the new findings show that bioactive compounds in blueberries called anthocyanins offer protection against hypertension. Compared with those who do not eat blueberries, those eating at least one serving a week reduce their risk of developing the condition by 10 percent.

Anthocyanins belong to the bioactive family of compounds called flavonoids and are found in high amounts in blackcurrants, raspberries, aubergines, blood orange juice and blueberries. Other flavonoids are found in many fruits, vegetables, grains and herbs. The flavonoids present in tea, fruit juice, red wine and dark chocolate are already known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. [Read more...]

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Sustainable Survivability And The Food Chain: Fruits & Vegetables

September 1, 2010 by ·

Most of us can remember growing up to the ever-present reminders of; “eat your vegetables…” If our parents had known then what we know now it might have been different. Back in the day, as my kids love to put it, we weren’t aware of the contamination on our foods or the damage it could cause. We hadn’t yet coined the terms organic or pesticide free because we had no need to. Fruits and vegetables were good for you and held a hallowed and respected place on the food pyramid published by the government.

‘An apple a day helps keep the doctor away’. Remember that one? We were taught to eat several portions of fruits and vegetables every day for good health and our parents did their best to see that we did. We didn’t mind, fruits were sweet and we liked that and vegetables were, well..they were vegetables and just something to put up with except for potatoes; we always liked potatoes.

Today we’ve learned about the contamination of our food supplies and the dangers lurking on that strawberry and in that banana. We’ve learned that the ubiquitous ear of corn, once natural, was redesigned in a laboratory through genetics and had become the first widely accepted “Franken-fruit” (though not a fruit). [Read more...]

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