Calcium vital to tickle our taste buds

Good morning friends. A new study has shown that calcium plays a vital role in tickling our taste buds.

The team of Japanese researchers have shown that calcium channels on the tongue are the targets of compounds that can enhance taste. Kokumi taste foods contain various compounds that have no taste themselves, but can enhance the basic sweet, salty and umami taste sensation they co-exist with. Lead researcher Yuzuru Eto examined whether calcium channels- which sense and regulate the levels of calcium in the body- might be the mechanism involved.

They found that calcium channels are closely related to the receptors that sense sweet and umami (savory) tastes and that glutathione (a common kokumi taste element) is known to interact with calcium channels. During the study, researchers created several small molecules that resembled glutathione and analyzed how well these compounds activated calcium channels in cell samples.

They diluted the same test substances in flavored water (salt water, sugar water, etc.) and asked volunteers (all trained in discriminating tastes) to rate how strong the flavors were. The findings revealed that the molecules induced the largest activity in calcium receptors and also elicited the strongest flavor enhancement in the taste tests. The research tested several other known calcium channel activators, including calcium, and found all exhibited some degree of flavor enhancement, while a synthetic calcium channel blocker could suppress flavors. The Times of India

Greetings on New Years Day

Wishing you all

the warmth and cheer

of the Holiday Season

today and always.
Happy new Year!

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3 easy ways to soothe stiff joints

Good morning friends. Don’t you hate it when you get out of bed with a pain in your head, neck, and back? So before you nod off, do a quick posture check. There are three positions that help the ease strain on these body parts...

Poses for relaxation

According to researchers, joint-friendly sleeping habits can help protect creaky body parts from developing a crick. Choose one of these postures: - If you sleep on your back, put a small pillow under your knees. - If you sleep on your side, avoid tucking your neck and chin into the fetal position. - If you sleep on your stomach, put a pillow under one side of your body, so your head and neck aren’t strained.

Did you know?

Rather than popping pills, eat healthy to reduce the risk of arthritis. Have a cup of green tea. It is great for bone cartilage. You can also make a daily routine of having a bowl of salad before each meal. It does a whole lot of good for your hands and knees. – The Times of India

Steroid jabs delay diabetic retinopathy

Good morning friends. A new study has revealed that injecting steroids into the eye can significantly reduce progression of diabetic retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that can cause vision loss and blindness.

Proliferative diabetic retinopathy occurs when new blood vessels form on the optic disc or another component of the retina. Controlling blood glucose levels can help prevent the development of retinopathy and laser treatments can reduce the risk of vision loss, but the identification of other treatments remains desirable.

The researchers showed that steroid injections interfered with the creation of new blood vessels, possibly by reducing the production of compounds that spur their growth.

During the study, lead researcher Dr Neil M. Bressler, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore analyzed 840 eyes of 693 participants who had macular edema, a leakage of fluid into part of the retina that occurs in many cases of retinopathy.

Eyes were randomly assigned to receive one of three treatments: photocoagulation (a laser treatment that destroys blood vessels) or a 1-milligram or 4-milligram injection of triamcinolone acetonide directly into the eye as often as every four months.

After two years, the research team found that retinopathy had progressed in 31 percent of 330 eyes treated with photocoagulation, 29 percent of 256 eyes treated with 1-milligram doses of triamcinolone acetonide and 21 percent of 254 eyes treated with 4-milligram doses.

These differences appeared to be sustained at three years. "Use of this intravitreal [injected into the eye] corticosteroid preparation to reduce the likelihood of progression of retinopathy is not warranted at this time because of the increased risk of glaucoma and cataract associated with intravitreal steroid use," the authors write.

"Any treatment to be used routinely to prevent proliferative diabetic retinopathy likely needs to be relatively safe because the condition already can be treated successfully and safely with panretinal photocoagulation.

“Nevertheless, further investigation with regard to the role of pharmacotherapy for reduction of the incidence of progression of retinopathy appears to be warranted," they added. – The Times of India

The study appears in journal Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Exercise shows opposing effects on appetite

Good morning friends. Exercise seems to simultaneously make people hungrier, yet more readily satisfied by a meal -- and differences in these responses from person to person may help explain why some exercisers shed pounds more easily than others, researchers say.

In a study of 58 overweight and obese adults who started an exercise regimen, researchers found that exercise tended to boost participants' hunger before a meal, compared with their sedentary days.

On the other hand, they were also more easily satisfied by their morning meal than they had been before becoming active.

But while both effects were generally at work across the study group, there were subtler differences between participants who were more successful in their weight loss and those whose extra pounds stubbornly hung on.

In general, exercisers who did not meet their expected weight loss were both hungrier after fasting -- that is, right before breakfast -- and throughout the day, compared with their hunger ratings at the study's start.

In contrast, those who were more successful in shedding pounds generally saw their pre-breakfast appetites increase after becoming active. But they were not hungrier throughout the day.

"The reason that some people are more successful (at weight loss) could be due to a lesser increase in appetite and the prevention of an increase in food intake," lead researcher Dr. Neil King, an associate professor at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, told Reuters Health in an email.

But the bottom line for new exercisers, he said, is that they should not throw in the towel if they start feeling more hungry than normal -- or fail to shed as many pounds as they'd been hoping.

Other research shows that exercise has health benefits -- like improved cardiovascular fitness, and lower blood pressure and cholesterol -- even if weight loss is modest.

For the current study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, King's team had 58 overweight men and women go through a 12-week supervised exercise regimen designed to burn 500 calories per session.

At the beginning and end of the study, participants were given a breakfast of cereal and toast, and were asked to rate their hunger before the meal, immediately after and throughout the rest of the day.

After 12 weeks, 32 participants had lost the expected amount of weight based on the calories they burned during exercise; 26 had not. On average, both groups showed a revved up appetite before breakfast on week 12, but daily hunger was greater in those who had not lost a substantial amount of weight.

Both groups of exercisers, though, seemed to be more readily satisfied by their breakfast than they had been before becoming active.

It's not clear why these two different appetite effects arise from exercise. But physical activity, while spurring hunger, may also boost the sensitivity of the body's fullness-signaling system, according to King's team.

"The key messages," King said, "are exercise is good for you, don't expect unrealistic weight loss and don't give up exercising just because of lower-than-expected weight loss." - Indian Express

Alcohol can cut risk of men's heart problem

Good morning friends. Most men usually drink alcohol. Even young ones do that. Some parents advice their children especially boys that they should not get use to drink alcohol as it is bad in the body. But there is a study that alcohol can cut risk of men’s heart problem.

Alcohol lovers have now one more excuse to say 'cheers' every day, as a new research said it can cut the risk of heart problems by almost a third in men.

The Spanish research involving more than 15,500 men and 26,000 women found that those who have about four to ten units a day can apparently even halve their risk – regardless of whether they opt for beer, wine or spirits.

Women can get some benefits too, said the study published in Heart journal, although more testing is needed.

The research involved men and women aged between 29 and 69, who were asked to document their lifetime drinking habits and followed for 10 years.

Crucially the research team claim to have eliminated the "sick abstainers" risk by differentiating between those who had never drunk and those whom ill-health had forced to quit.

This has been used in the past to explain fewer heart-related deaths among drinkers on the basis that those who are unhealthy to start with are less likely to drink, the BBC reported.
The exact mechanisms are as yet unclear, but it is known that alcohol helps to raise high-density lipoproteins, sometimes known as good cholesterol, which helps stop so-called bad cholesterol from building up in the arteries.

The study was conducted in Spain, a country with relatively high rates of alcohol consumption and low rates of coronary heart disease.

However, British experts warn the claims must not be seen as a green light to over-indulge.
Cathy Ross, of the British Heart Foundation, said:

"While alcohol could offer limited protection to one organ, abuse of it can damage the heart and other organs, such as the liver, pancreas and brain."

Robert Sutton, professor of surgery at Liverpool University, said the study had "several flaws" and must not be taken to mean high levels of alcohol can improve health.

They warned that heavy drinking can increase the risk of other diseases, as alcohol responsible for 1.8 million deaths globally per year. – Indian Express

Turmeric may help offer treatments for colon cancer, psoriasis, alzheimer's

Good morning friends. Maybe many don’t know that Turmeric may help offer treatments for colon cancer, psoriasis, alzheimer. But indeed it help.

Curcumin, an ingredient commonly found in yellow curry, is being viewed as a promising disease-fighter. Scientists are working on developing nano-sized capsules containing the curry ingredient in an effort to improve its absorption and effectiveness in the body.

Curcumin is a potent antioxidant found in the Indian spice called turmeric.

The research team is developing nano-size capsule that would boost the body's uptake of curcumin and help fight several diseases.

Trials are underway to test its safety and effectiveness in fighting colon cancer, psoriasis, and alzheimer's disease.

The digestive juice in the gastrointestinal tract quickly destroys curcumin so that little actually gets into the blood.

It is already known that encapsulating insulin and certain other drugs into structures called liposomes can boost absorption.

The scientists prepared the liposomes encapsulating curcumin and fed them to laboratory rats.
They found that encapsulating more than quadrupled absorption of curcumin, and also boosted antioxidant levels in the blood.

The researchers said that encapsulating process could be an answer to the problem of increasing curcumin's absorption in the digestive environment of the gastrointestinal tract.

The study appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. – Indian Express