Monday, September 22, 2008

Vitamin D, cardiovascular disease, obesity

  • Turn to the sun for help in protecting your heart. A new study found a significant association between low levels of vitamin D in the body and risk factors for cardiovascular disease. While smaller studies found similar findings, this was the first large-scale study to validate the link between vitamin D and cardiovascular disease. Vitamin D is produced by the body with exposure to sunlight, but it can also be found in fortified foods such as milk and soy milk, as well as in fish liver oils and supplements.


  • A report published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute states that consuming more cruciferous vegetables, especially broccoli and cauliflower, could lower a man's risk of developing agreesive prostate cancer.


  • Who are you spending time with? A shocking study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a major factor determining people's chances of becoming obese is their social networks. It was found that in spousal relationships, if one partner became obese, the other partner was 37 percent more likely to also become obese. The risk dramatically rises in friendships — from 57 percent up to 171 percent. This new evidence of how our relationships affect us physically may sound scary, but if viewed from the other side it could be quite beneficial. Workout partners and diet buddies can be very useful when trying to get in shape.


  • To cook or not to cook. It's long been believed that raw vegetables contain more nutrients than cooked ones, but the latest in a growing collection of research is suggesting that this many not always be true. Scientists in Italy found that cooking some vegetables may actually release key nutrients, making them more bioavailable. The study concluded that it might be possible to find a cooking method for each vegetable that best preserves or increases its nutrtional value.
— From The Art of Growing Young magazine, May/June 2008

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