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Title: Alternative Medicine What's Hot
WHAT'S HOT # 10
7/20/99
"There will always
be an England" as long as they have tea and oatmeal for breakfast. Two
recent studies from the UK show a surprising correlation between certain
eating and drinking habits and heart health.
A "Cuppa" and Cardio Health On July 9th, the results of a study performed
in London, England, were released that indicated drinking at least one
cup of tea per day could decrease the risk of a heart attack by 44 percent.
Research into the health benefits of tea drinking has been accelerating
over the past few years. This latest study is the most comprehensive to
date and had the most dramatic results. Researchers at King's College,
London, studied 340 men and women who had suffered heart attacks. They
next matched them by age, sex, and neighborhood residence with people who
had never had a heart attack. They then compared the two groups’ coffee
and tea drinking habits for one year. The tea drinkers’ risk of a heart
attack approached half those of the non-tea drinkers. The scientists suspect
that tea's beneficial cardio effects are due to the beverage's large amounts
of flavonoids. These are naturally-occurring, vitamin-like nutrients with
strong antioxidant properties. Antioxidants help offset damage to cells
and blood vessel walls from free radicals. They also make blood cells less
prone to clotting, which could also significantly reduce the likelihood
of a heart attack. The tea drinkers drank black tea as opposed to green
tea (which contains fewer flavonoids) or herbal teas (which generally contain
none). Flavonoids are found in varying amounts in fruits and vegetables.
The much publicized health benefits of wine are also attributed to its
flavonoid content. Two cups of tea have the equivalent antioxidant activity
of:
1-1/2 glasses of red wine
12 glasses of white wine
7 glasses of orange juice
12 glasses of beer
For more information on the health benefits
of tea, go to Search Health Conditions and enter "Tea" in the search field.
Carbohydrates and Cholesterol Not all carbohydrates are created equal
when it comes to heart health, according to new research reported in the
British medical journal The Lancet (Vol. 353, March 27, 1999). While high-carbohydrate,
low-fat diets are often recommended for good health, they tend to decrease
the levels of "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins or HDL). High
levels of HDL are associated with a lower risk of heart disease. Researchers
at Hammersmith Hospital in London, however, found out that not all carbohydrates
decrease HDL. The key seems to be the carbohydrates’ glycemic index. The
study revealed that people who followed a low-glycemic index diet had a
significantly higher level of HDL than those who consumed a high-glycemic
index diet. A food's glycemic index is the rate at which it raises insulin
production and the glucose level of the blood. The higher the number, the
more rapid the change. Pure glucose has a glycemic index of 100. As you
might expect, products made with refined carbohydrates (e.g., white flour,
white rice) have high glycemic indexes, while whole grains are lower (brown
rice and oatmeal are both 55). But other foods are hard to guess. Carrots
are high with a rating of 85, but yams are on the lower half at 50. Watermelon
is high at 70, but cherries are a low 25. The British researchers studied
721 women and 699 men, Interestingly, the low-glycemic index diet proved
more beneficial to the women. Their higher HDL levels corresponded to a
29% decrease in heart disease risk; the men's HDL level corresponded only
to a 7% decrease. Low-glycemic index diets have also proved to be helpful
in treating obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Most reference books analyzing
the nutritional makeup of various foods do not include their glycemic index.
One book that does is The G-Index Diet, by Richard N. Podell, M.D., F.A.C.P.
(Warner Books, 1993. ISBN 0-446-36576-9). For more information on the heart
health, go to Search Health Conditions and enter "Heart Disease" in the
search field. Also go to our Books link to order the Alternative Medicine
Guide to Heart Disease, Stroke, and High Blood Pressure.
