Expert opinion
Misconceptions about antioxidants
1 October 2013
Few scientific subjects have generated as many controversial opinions as antioxidants have. The topic is discussed not only in the scientific literature but also in the lay press.
04 February 2013
According to a new US study regular intakes of lycopene can reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease.
The study analyzed lycopene intakes and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke in participants of the epidemiological Framingham Offspring Study (1). Repeated measures of intake were obtained over 10 years. The study results showed that the highest average lyco-pene intakes were associated with a 17% reduction in CVD incidence and a 26% decrease in CHD incidence. No association was observed for lycopene intake and stroke incidence. The average lycopene intake was
7.9 milligrams per day.
The researchers concluded that the new study results add to the accumulating evidence that lycopene is related to CVD risk. As tomatoes and tomato-based products are by far the most important dietary sources of lycopene in observational studies, it isdifficult to separate lycopene’s potential contribution to cardiovascu-lar health from the overall contribution made by tomato products and their other phytochemical components.
The Framingham Heart Study (FHS) was started in 1948 as a prospective investigation of cardiovascular di-sease in a cohort of 5,209 adult men and women. In 1971, examinations were begun on the children of the FHS cohort. This study, called the Framingham Offspring Study (FOS), was undertaken to expand upon knowledge of cardiovascular disease, particularly in the area of familial clustering of the disease and its risk factors (2).
1 October 2013
Few scientific subjects have generated as many controversial opinions as antioxidants have. The topic is discussed not only in the scientific literature but also in the lay press.
14 April 2009
Study suggests that increasing levels of magnesium could decrease the risk of stroke by 25% through beneficial effects on blood pressure and diabetes.
8 September 2015
According to new US research the recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) of vitamin D is based on a miscalculation and should actually be higher than the tolerable upper level for the nutrient.