News
Increased magnesium intake may reduce the risk for metabolic syndrome
8 September 2015
A new US data analysis reports that elevated dietary intakes of magnesium may reduce the risk of developing metabolic syndrome by about 30%.
05 February 2013
US researchers suggest, based on animal experiments, that dietary vitamin E in the form of gamma- and delta-tocopherol could be beneficial in reducing the risk of, and even treating, certain cancers. Experts criticized that animal models do not accurately reflect human metabolism and that cancer development depends on multiple factors.
The scientists reported that rodents exposed to cancer-causing substances and whose feed included two forms of vitamin E – gamma- and delta-tocopherol – had fewer and smaller tumors (1). When cancer cells were injected into mice, these tocopherols also slowed down the development of tumors.
The researchers speculated that gamma- and delta-tocopherol, which can be found in nuts and soybean, canola and corn oils, could help reduce the risk of different forms of cancer, such as cancer of the colon, lung, breast and prostate. They noted that supplements may not have these beneficial effects because they generally contain alpha-tocopherol, which failed to show a cancer risk reduction in several large-scale human trials. For people who need to take a vitamin E supplement, they recommended that taking a mixture of vitamin E resembling what is in our diet would be the most prudent supplement to take.
Experts commented that, among the tocopherol isomers, alpha-tocopherol is the most prevalent form of vitamin E that is intentionally retained in the human body. It is retained three times longer than, for example, gamma-tocopherol (2). Alpha-tocopherol is the only form that has a recommended dietary allowance ( RDA), which was set at 15 mg per day. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat probably contains less than 15 mg of alpha-tocopherol. Moreover, dietary alpha-tocopherol intake has decreased over the past 50 years, not as a result of losses in food processing, but of changes in recipes of processed foods.
Alpha-tocopherol appears to have potent effects on cellular functions. It can, for example, modulate the inflammatory responses in white blood cells and regulate vascular tone, while maintaining artery wall flexibility. According to the experts, the identification of alpha-tocopherol function in humans would be key in establishing human vitamin E requirements. Only alpha-tocopherol has a protein that regulates its plasma concentrations. This observation argues for a unique and important physiological role for this vitamin E form.
8 September 2015
A new US data analysis reports that elevated dietary intakes of magnesium may reduce the risk of developing metabolic syndrome by about 30%.
17 January 2013
Saudi Arabian women with low blood vitamin D concentrations may have a significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer, a new study reports.
1 July 2014
It has long been known that vitamin K, which is involved as a coenzyme in the production of coagulation factors, is essential to the regulation of blood coagulation. But vitamin K also fulfils an important role in the activation of certain enzymes which, together with vitamin D, regulate metabolism and can combat the hardening of soft tissues such as blood vessels and help slow bone demineralization. In recent years interest in this vitamin has grown considerably following the discovery of other potentially health-promoting properties. Attention centers on research into the function of vitamin-K-dependent enzymes (Gla proteins), which are found in bones and teeth as well as in blood vessel linings, the brain and other soft tissues, where they appear to regulate cell division and cell differentiation, among other things. Studies indicate that a sufficient intake of vitamin K could help prevent the occurrence of atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, insulin resistance and inflammation of the joints, and above all could protect against the age-related loss of cognitive abilities.