Is Nutrition the missing link to your health?

Archive for the ‘Heart Health’ Category

In a recent study involving 42000 individuals, green tea was shown to improve the symptoms of psychological stress. Green tea has also shown benefits in other studies for weight loss, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimers and oral health

Vitamin D, used to only be linked to bone diseases such as rickets and osteoporosis, but increasingly research studies are revealing its importance in many areas of human health.

In a paper published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vitamin D’s role is identified in a number of health conditions inclluding immunity, blood sugar control, blood pressure management, heart health, muscle strength and brain activity. Adequate amounts of vitamin D are also believed to be beneficial in reducing the risk of cancer.

Some recent medical research is showing that weight may not be such an important indicator of health as has been previously thought. Last week a report in The Archives of Internal Medicine compared weight and cardiovascular risk factors among a representative sample of more than 5,400 adults. Half of the overweight people and one-third of obese people in the study were “metabolically healthy.” That means that many overweight and obese adults may have healthy levels of “good” cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood glucose.

At the same time, about one out of four slim people in the study actually had at least two cardiovascular risk factors typically associated with obesity.

Being overweight or obese is definitely linked with numerous health problems. Nonetheless, researchers found the proportion of overweight and obese people who are metabolically healthy surprising.

Several studies have shown that fitness, as determined by how a person performs on a treadmill, is a far better indicator of health than body mass index. Some research has indicated that people who are fat but can still keep up on treadmill tests have much lower heart risk than people who are slim and unfit.

Sources:
New York Times August 18, 2008