A lesser-known benefit of a plant based diet

A lesser-known benefit of a plant based diet

  You may not have heard about Trimethylamine oxide (TMAO), but this metabolite is created by the bacterial flora in the gut in response to certain food components.  This is the process.TMAO originates from a precursor, trimethylamine (TMA) that is a metabolite of mainly choline and carnitine from ingested foods...
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Reasons for eating a plant based diet

Reasons for eating a plant based diet

There are many reasons why eating a plant based diet makes sense.  This research included 131, 342 participants. Of this, 85 013 were women (64.7%) and 46 329 were men (35.3%) (Song M, et.al., 2016). The researchers found that high animal protein intake was positively associated with cardiovascular mortality, and high plant...
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Improve your genetic potential

Improve your genetic potential

While we can’t change our genes yet, we can however improve the expression of our genes.  There are several factors that affect how we express our genes. One of the more important factors is stress. In this study, researchers tested several functions after a practice session of healthy individuals who had...
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This function is involved in a variety conditions from viral diseases to heart disease, stroke and diabetes

This function is involved in a variety conditions from viral diseases to heart disease, stroke and diabetes

Vascular endothelial cells line the entire circulatory system, from the heart to the smallest capillaries.   The endothelium is the inner layer of the blood vessels and is extremely important. When the endothelium is functioning normally, it helps to regulate blood clotting, assists the body’s immune response, controls the volume of...
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How to avoid activating a metabolic pathway that promotes plaque in the arteries

How to avoid activating a metabolic pathway that promotes plaque in the arteries

Posted by:  Didrik Sopler
When choline and carnitine are metabolized by the intestinal bacteria, a metabolite called trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) can be formed.  TMAO triggers inflammation (Seldin MM, et.al., 2016). Other researchers has also showed that TMAO induces inflammation and endothelial dysfunction (Sun X, et.al., 2016). The endothelium is the inner lining of the blood vessels,...
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What are some of the effects of elevated blood sugar?

What are some of the effects of elevated blood sugar?

Posted by:  Didrik Sopler
Hyperglycemia (elevated blood glucose) causes glycation of proteins, it damages the protein. This generates free radicals adversely affecting lipids, DNA and proteins in various tissues. Oxidative stress damage all kind of tissue. For that reason it may even affect some serious conditions and may play an important role in the...
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What type of protein is best if you want to live longer?

What type of protein is best if you want to live longer?

  Does the source of protein really matter as long as we get an adequate supply? That’s exactly what the researchers of the following study investigated.  85 013 women and 46 329 men, a total of 131342 participants were included in this research (Song M, et.al., 2016). They examined the associations of animal...
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Decrease blood pressure and cardiovascular risk by affecting this nerve

Decrease blood pressure and cardiovascular risk by affecting this nerve

You don’t need any equipment or take any pills to decrease blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. When a broad range of indicators of vagal function were tested, the researchers of the following study showed that decreased vagal function is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and mortality (Thayer...
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Feel more relaxed, improve your focus and be more stress resistant by controlling your breathing.

Feel more relaxed, improve your focus and be more stress resistant by controlling your breathing.

The way you breathe has a strong effect on how you feel and function. Research has shown that the amount of times you breath and also how you breathe is important. The following study included 47 healthy college students which implemented different breathing patterns (Lin IM, et., al., 2014). Anxiety and...
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What can you do to help your immune system to better protect yourself from pathogens like viruses?

We are exposed to pathogens–especially viruses–all the time and our immune system is very effective at protecting us.  This means that most of the time, we don’t get sick. Research has, however, found evidence of decreased levels of glutathione in several diseases–such as cancer, viral infections and immune dysfunction–as well...
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How can you improve insulin sensitivity other than paying attention to what you eat?

How can you improve insulin sensitivity other than paying attention to what you eat?

Posted by:  Didrik Sopler
" When you are insulin sensitive your insulin can transfer the blood glucose into the cells efficiently because the receptors on the cells function well, they are not resistant to the insulin. If these receptors start to lose their sensitivity to the insulin,  your blood glucose will increase. That can...
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Do you want a bigger brain and better memory?

Is it really possible to increase the size of the brain later in life? Data from a randomized controlled study of 155 older women, who participated in 52 weeks of resistance training showed reduced cortical white matter atrophy on MRI scans when compared with the control group (Best JR, et.al.,...
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What else can you do to improve your cognition other than pay attention to the food you eat?

You actually have quite a lot of control over how functional your brain is going to be. Research has shown we can slow down memory loss and even improve our memory. The food we eat is extremely important, but another tool we have is exercise. Resistance exercise is especially effective....
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Can nuts improve insulin sensitivity even in diabetics?

Can nuts improve insulin sensitivity even in diabetics?

It is important to be as insulin sensitive as possible. When you are insulin sensitive, your insulin effectively transfers the glucose from you blood into the cells where you can use it for energy, and your blood glucose stays in a low and normal range. Elevated blood glucose will cause...
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How can you protect yourself from the neurotoxicity of mercury?

How can you protect yourself from the neurotoxicity of mercury?

Posted by:  Didrik Sopler
Everybody agrees that having a well-functioning nervous system is of great importance if we are going to function well and be healthy. There are several things that can damage the nervous system, and mercury is one of these toxins. Contamination of the environment and subsequently our food is common, mercury...
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Green Tea Provides many Benefits, but you Need to Know this Before you Drink it.

Green Tea Provides many Benefits, but you Need to Know this Before you Drink it.

Posted by:  Didrik Sopler
The antioxidants called catechins in green tea is the main reason for the many benefits green tea provides. It is very important to be insulin sensitive and have good glucose control because elevated blood glucose levels and insulin resistance cause inflammation and damage tissue. When 17 studies were reviewed which included...
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Magnesium is Even More Important than We Used to Think

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Is a low carbohydrate, high protein, high fat diet the best way to eat?

Is a low carbohydrate, high protein, high fat diet the best way to eat?

Posted by:  Didrik Sopler
A low carbohydrate, high protein and high fat diet has been promoted by many as the solution to a variety of conditions. What is the research telling us? When data from 272,216 people were examined, low carbohydrate diets were associated with a significantly higher risk for all-cause mortality (Noto H,...
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Is there a connection between Cardiovascular risk and the risk for Alzheimer's disease?

Is there a connection between Cardiovascular risk and the risk for Alzheimer's disease?

Posted by:  Didrik Sopler
An increased risk for developing Alzheimer's disease is linked to the presence of apoE4, a genetic factor, which is also strongly associated with developing atherosclerosis which increases the risk for Cardiovascular disease (Altman R, Rutledge JC, 2010). The authors of the same article state that cardiovascular risk factors, including elevated...
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What can B Vitamins do for your cardiovascular system?

What can B Vitamins do for your cardiovascular system?

Posted by:  Didrik Sopler
You may have read that B Vitamins don’t provide any benefits for the cardiovascular system.   Is that true, or is the reason instead a lack of knowledge?   Decide for yourself, but read this first. While there is research showing no benefits for the cardiovascular system, could the reason...
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