Peanuts

A BBC news article entitled 'Peanuts rich in 'good chemicals' follows. Peanuts not only contain protective antioxidents, they contain them in abundance. In addition peanut oil has a molecular structure similar to olive oil and the two are healthy sources of dietary fat.
The article:


Peanuts may help fight disease

Peanuts, often derided as unhealthy party food, contain the same amount of beneficial chemicals as strawberries, researchers have found.

A University of Florida team says peanuts are rich in antioxidants which protect cells from damage linked to heart disease and cancer.

Peanuts also contain high levels of protein and "good" monounsaturated fat.

But a spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association said people should steer clear of salted peanuts.

ANTIOXIDANT LEVELS - HOW PEANUTS COMPARE
Top - Pomegranate
Medium- Peanuts
Blackberries
Strawberries
Bottom - Apples
Carrots

The US researchers tested the antioxidant content of a dozen different varieties of peanuts.

Antioxidants are the naturally occurring substances in plants that protect the body from free radicals - 'volatile' chemicals in the blood.

Although free radicals do play an important role in the immune system, they also alter cholesterol in a process known as oxidation, which is thought to speed up the hardening of the arteries.

Red and orange fruits and vegetables are already known to be particularly high in antioxidants.

But the US researchers found peanuts were also high in the beneficial chemicals.

They found peanuts contain high levels of polyphenols, a family of chemicals commonly found in foods, which have strong antioxidant properties.

Roasting benefits

The nuts contain a high level of one particular polyphenol called p-coumaric acid.

The researchers discovered that roasting peanuts can increase the level of the acid in nuts, thereby increasing their overall antioxidant content by up to 22%.

The study will be published in the journal Food Chemistry later this year.

Steve Talcott of the University of Florida, who led the research, said: "When it comes to antioxidant content, peanuts are right up there with strawberries.

The best way to eat them is when they are combined with mixed fruits

Dr Frankie Phillips, British Dietetic Association

"We expected a fairly high antioxidant content in peanuts, but we were a bit shocked to find that they're as rich in antioxidants as many kinds of fruit."

He added: "Compared to foods long-considered rich in antioxidants, mostly fruits and berries, peanuts come out somewhere in the middle.

"They're no match for the foods at the top of the scale, such as pomegranate, but they do rival other foods that people eat just for their antioxidant content."

The team are now looking at the possibility of specifically breeding peanuts high in antioxidants.

Dr Frankie Phillips of the British Dietetic Association, told the BBC News Website: "Peanuts do contain high levels of chemicals known to act as antioxidants."

But she said there were several reasons why people should not replace their five fruit and vegetables a day with peanuts.

"Peanuts are high in monounsaturated or 'good' fats. But, regardless of the type of fat, that means they are high in calories.

"So if you're trying to be careful about your weight, having handfuls of peanuts isn't the best way of losing weight."

Dr Phillips, a registered dietician, added: "In addition, in this country we tend to eat salted peanuts, and it's not good for you to have high levels of salt.

"Probably the best way to eat them is when they are combined with mixed fruits so they aren't covered in salt, and you're also getting the health benefits of the fruit."

Details on Cranberry Benefits

A news release of Worcester Polytechnic Institute entitled 'Compounds in Cranberry Juice Show Promise as Alternatives to Antibiotics for Treating a Host of Human Illnesses' revealed some interesting findings about cranberry juice compounds and E. coli bacteria. The gist of it is that compounds found in cranberries may inhibit infection capabilities of E.coli and thereby have antibiotic effects.

The capacity of cranberries to prevent urinary tract infections has been well known but the details of how this is accomplished were unknown. The cause of such infections is related to the bacterial capacity to adhere to the lining of the urinary tract. The inhibiting property of cranberry compounds lies in their capacity to prevent this.

Biochemicals known as proanthocyanidins, which are found in cranberries, were found to affect E. coli in three ways. The shape of the bacteria was changed from rods to spheres. Cellular membranes were altered and the capacity of the bacteria to contact and adhere to cells was impaired.

The effectiveness of cranberries or their juices varies according to their concentration. Higher concentration of cranberries, or the juices from them, correlates to greater medicinal value.

Lactic Acid

What do you associate lactic acid with? Here is a variation on the usual thinking. A Biocompare article entitled 'Lactic Acid Not Athlete's Poison, But An Energy Source - If You Know How To Use It' appears below in italics. My comments are in standard print.


In the lore of marathoners and extreme athletes, lactic acid is poison, a waste product that builds up in the muscles and leads to muscle fatigue, reduced performance and pain.

Some 30 years of research at the University of California, Berkeley, however, tells a different story: Lactic acid can be your friend.

Coaches and athletes don't realize it, says exercise physiologist George Brooks, UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology, but endurance training teaches the body to efficiently use lactic acid as a source of fuel on par with the carbohydrates stored in muscle tissue and the sugar in blood. Efficient use of lactic acid, or lactate, not only prevents lactate build-up, but ekes out more energy from the body's fuel.

In a paper in press for the American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism, published online in January, Brooks and colleagues Takeshi Hashimoto and Rajaa Hussien in UC Berkeley's Exercise Physiology Laboratory add one of the last puzzle pieces to the lactate story and also link for the first time two metabolic cycles - oxygen-based aerobic metabolism and oxygen-free anaerobic metabolism - previously thought distinct.

"This is a fundamental change in how people think about metabolism," Brooks said. "This shows us how lactate is the link between oxidative and glycolytic, or anaerobic, metabolism."

He and his UC Berkeley colleagues found that muscle cells use carbohydrates anaerobically for energy, producing lactate as a byproduct, but then burn the lactate with oxygen to create far more energy. The first process, called the glycolytic pathway, dominates during normal exertion, and the lactate seeps out of the muscle cells into the blood to be used elsewhere. During intense exercise, however, the second ramps up to oxidatively remove the rapidly accumulating lactate and create more energy.


Two sources of energy are noted. The glycolytic pathway is a metabolic pathway whose by-products are utilized as energy sources by the body. A pathway is actually a series of chemical reactions. In the begining of this pathway glucose, a sugar, is converted to pyruvate in a ten step process that yields energy biomolecules ATP and NADH. Pyruvate can be reduced to lactate. This reduction is what the article refers to when it indicates that an anaerobic process produces lactate.


Training helps people get rid of the lactic acid before it can build to the point where it causes muscle fatigue, and at the cellular level, Brooks said, training means growing the mitochondria in muscle cells. The mitochondria - often called the powerhouse of the cell - is where lactate is burned for energy.

"The world's best athletes stay competitive by interval training," Brooks said, referring to repeated short, but intense, bouts of exercise. "The intense exercise generates big lactate loads, and the body adapts by building up mitochondria to clear lactic acid quickly. If you use it up, it doesn't accumulate."

To move, muscles need energy in the form of ATP, adenosine triphosphate. Most people think glucose, a sugar, supplies this energy, but during intense exercise, it's too little and too slow as an energy source, forcing muscles to rely on glycogen, a carbohydrate stored inside muscle cells. For both fuels, the basic chemical reactions producing ATP and generating lactate comprise the glycolytic pathway, often called anaerobic metabolism because no oxygen is needed. This pathway was thought to be separate from the oxygen-based oxidative pathway, sometimes called aerobic metabolism, used to burn lactate and other fuels in the body's tissues.

Experiments with dead frogs in the 1920s seemed to show that lactate build-up eventually causes muscles to stop working. But Brooks in the 1980s and '90s showed that in living, breathing animals, the lactate moves out of muscle cells into the blood and travels to various organs, including the liver, where it is burned with oxygen to make ATP. The heart even prefers lactate as a fuel, Brooks found.


Within the body the product of one reaction frequently becomes a substrate for another reaction. When combined with oxygen lactate yields ATP; the main energy source for living cells.


Brooks always suspected, however, that the muscle cell itself could reuse lactate, and in experiments over the past 10 years he found evidence that lactate is burned inside the mitochondria, an interconnected network of tubes, like a plumbing system, that reaches throughout the cell cytoplasm.

In 1999, for example, he showed that endurance training reduces blood levels of lactate, even while cells continue to produce the same amount of lactate. This implied that, somehow, cells adapt during training to put out less waste product. He postulated an "intracellular lactate shuttle" that transports lactate from the cytoplasm, where lactate is produced, through the mitochondrial membrane into the interior of the mitochondria, where lactate is burned. In 2000, he showed that endurance training increased the number of lactate transporter molecules in mitochondria, evidently to speed uptake of lactate from the cytoplasm into the mitochondria for burning.


We see how the hard work of training influences body chemistry. Training streamlines biochemical energy production by facilitating the transport of lacate from the cytoplasm to mitochondria where it is burned for energy.


The new paper and a second paper to appear soon finally provide direct evidence for the hypothesized connection between the transporter molecules - the lactate shuttle - and the enzymes that burn lactate. In fact, the cellular mitochondrial network, or reticulum, has a complex of proteins that allow the uptake and oxidation, or burning, of lactic acid.

"This experiment is the clincher, proving that lactate is the link between glycolytic metabolism, which breaks down carbohydrates, and oxidative metabolism, which uses oxygen to break down various fuels," Brooks said.


Endurance is a function of efficient biochemical processes. The article seeks to illustrate the link between reactions involving glucose, lactate and oxygen.


Post-doctoral researcher Takeshi Hashimoto and staff research associate Rajaa Hussien established this by labeling and showing colocalization of three critical pieces of the lactate pathway: the lactate transporter protein; the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the first step in the conversion of lactate into energy; and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase, the protein complex where oxygen is used. Peering at skeletal muscle cells through a confocal microscope, the two scientists saw these proteins sitting together inside the mitochondria, attached to the mitochondrial membrane, proving that the "intracellular lactate shuttle" is directly connected to the enzymes in the mitochondria that burn lactate with oxygen.

"Our findings can help athletes and trainers design training regimens and also avoid overtraining, which can kill muscle cells," Brooks said. "Athletes may instinctively train in a way that builds up mitochondria, but if you never know the mechanism, you never know whether what you do is the right thing. These discoveries reshape fundamental thinking on the organization, function and regulation of major pathways of metabolism.


Biochemical advances can influence much including athletic training programs.

Melatonin and Periodontal Health

The American Academy of Periodontology posted an article on their website:

'Salivary Melatonin May Decrease Periodontal Disease Severity According to New Study Findings' which alludes to a relatively unknown benefit of the hormone melatonin.

The article indicates a possible role for salivary melatonin in maintaining periodontal health. A study published in the Journal of Periodontology was cited as the basis for the belief. Periodontal disease entails inflammation. Bone and other teeth supporting tissue can be destroyed as a consequence of the inflammation.

Melatonin, is a hormone synthesized in the pineal gland. A protective capacity against free radicals, produced by inflammation, may impact periodontal health. The article also mentions that melatonin supplements have been used for jet lag and to facilitate sleeping.

The study cited a correspondence between melatonin ratios and periodontal disease.

Green Tea

An article from the website of the The Journal of the American Medical Association entitled 'Green Tea Consumption and Mortality Due to Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and All Causes in Japan' provides information about likely benefits accruing from the consumption of green tea. A study, which took place in Japan, is the basis for the conclusions reached. Green tea has been the object of other studies. Its polyphenols are thought to confer health benefits. Snippets from the italicized article follow.


Context Green tea polyphenols have been extensively studied as cardiovascular disease and cancer chemopreventive agents in vitro and in animal studies. However, the effects of green tea consumption in humans remain unclear.

Objective To investigate the associations between green tea consumption and all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

Main Outcome Measures Mortality due to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all causes.

Conclusion Green tea consumption is associated with reduced mortality due to all causes and due to cardiovascular disease but not with reduced mortality due to cancer.

Unnecessary Medical Tests

An article from 'Science Daily' entitled 'Millions Squandered In Unnecessary Tests Ordered In Routine Doctor Visits' focuses on an issue whose importance is very much underestimated. The article in italics and my comments in standard print follow.


Unnecessary medical tests are costing the U.S. health care system millions--and potentially billions-- of dollars per year, and add unnecessary patient stress, say researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University in the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Not only are the tests unwarranted, but false-positive results lead to further tests and compound the expense, says the study's lead author, Dan Merenstein, MD, an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Georgetown.

This is one of many unfortunate side effects of unnecessary tests. The considerable costs and added patient stress were already alluded to. False positives are an unavoidable consequence of testing. Much effort is made to minimize them but no testing system is perfect. When tests are wisely ordered false positives can be accepted as an inevitable fact of life. When superfluous tests are ordered, any false positives resulting in further unnecessary costs, tests or even treatment, compound the problem.


"Many physicians, as well as their patients, appear to believe that a routine health exam should include a number of tests they feel can screen for unknown diseases, but the evidence shows that some of these tests are less than beneficial when used in this way," he said. "More is not always better, and understanding this is especially important now that Medicare has begun to reimburse complete physicals."

The study looked at recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a panel of experts that grades preventive screening measures based on evidence of their effectiveness. The researchers focused on "C" and "D" tests to see how often they were being used in routine patient visits. In asymptomatic patients, a "C" test are those tests the panel made no recommendation for use. "D" tests, are those which the panel recommended against as risks outweigh the benefits.

These "C" and "D" procedures fell into two categories: "interventions"--this includes an electrocardiogram (EKG) that records heart activity and X-rays and procedures that are analyzed in a laboratory: a urinalysis; a hematocrit which measures volume of red blood cells in blood; and a complete blood count, or CBC, which measures red and white blood cells and platelets, in blood.

To conduct the study, the researchers reviewed data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control. They analyzed 4,617 general examination visits by adults over age 20. The researchers then looked at how many of the "D" category tests -- urinalysis, EKG, and X-rays-- were ordered, and found at least one of the three D interventions was ordered 43-46% of the time.

The researchers then extrapolated their findings into a national picture of use, and estimated that annual direct medical costs for the three "D" category tests -- those whose use the panel recommended against -- ranged from $47 million to $194 million. Adding the other two tests, those in the "C'' category --urinalysis and blood tests--added an additional $12-$63 million.

What the numbers miss, however, according to researchers, are the various costs that occur when a test is false positive -- that is, wrongly shows evidence of a health problem. For example, studies show that 20-30 percent of EKG tests result in false positive results, and patients with these results usually have follow-up exams that are much more expensive, Merenstein says.

"We estimate that if 20 percent of EKGs are false, the follow-up tests will cost about $683 million, and that doesn't account for the stress that a patient feels, the time off from work they have to take, and the possible complications that result from the follow-up test."

If you think you need not be concerned with costs because insurance or Medicare is covering some or all of the expenses think again. Unnecessary costs skew effective medical care. Insurance companies and the government are not endless sources of funding. If millions are needlessly wasted there is correspondingly less available for legitimate health care. Costs always entail an associated waste of time- both for the patient and for medical care professionals as well. Time and money are limited commodities. There is no free lunch and we pay for waste one way or another. Higher insurance premiums and higher taxes are obvious effects. So too is less efficient health care.


Among their other findings is that men are given more of these tests than are women, and that Hispanics are also offered more tests than non-Hispanic patients.

Merenstein and his two co-authors say among the many reasons that diagnostic interventions which lack evidence of benefit in asymptomatic patients are used are:

Studies have shown that many patients have expectations of receiving particular tests when visiting physicians.

It is possible that physicians are ordering these tests defensively, to guard against potential lawsuits.


This is a very important point. Fear of lawsuits is probably the single greatest incentive for ordering unnecessary tests. Physicians do not want to be second guessed by an attorney questioning why a particular test was not ordered. Reputations as well as money are at stake. We do not want a system without legal remedies for malpractice. However, our tort system is frequently abused by those whose motive is greed rather than justice. Frivolous claims drive up costs and distort health care priorities.


Physicians may not be aware of USPSTF recommendations.

There may be a financial incentive to ordering these tests, especially if a physician's office includes a laboratory.

"But the fact is that less use of unwarranted interventions will likely eliminate waste and improve overall quality of healthcare in the United States," Merenstein said.

Yes indeed. The rising cost of health care over the last few decades reflects fundamental health care problems in the United States. This article and more like it are needed to focus on the problems, which when understood, suggest the right solutions.

More Benefits from Cranberries

A news item from Biocompare entitled 'New Study Finds Cranberry Compounds Block Cancer' details some cancer inhibition properties of the cranberry. The article is in italics and my comments are in bold print.


New data shows that proanthocyanidins, or PACs, found in cranberries inhibit the growth of lung tumors and colon and leukemia cells in vitro. That's according to a new study published in this month's issue of The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. The study, led by University of Massachusetts Dartmouth researcher Catherine C. Neto, Ph.D., is one of the first studies to find that the cranberry's anti-cancer activity may come from the unique structure of its PACs. Cranberry's PACs contain a unique A-type structure, while most other fruit contains only the more-common B-type PACs.

While also found in grapes, grape juice and red wine, proanthocyanidins found in cranberries differ in their chemical structure and this uniqueness may account for the anti-cancer property of cranberries.

Researchers prepared PAC-rich fractions from whole cranberry extract and worked with scientists at the University of Wisconsin to characterize their structures. They tested the fractions against eight tumor cell lines and screened for the effect on tumor growth. The fractions inhibited the proliferation of the tumor cell lines without inhibiting the growth of normal embryonic mouse cells.

"While previous studies have shown that cranberry extracts inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells, this is the first study to confirm that it's the cranberry PACs that are the active components," said Catherine C. Neto, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. "This study is a significant step toward helping to establish a body of research that shows cranberry PACs may also work to prevent tumor cell growth in vivo."

Cranberry's PACs have a unique "anti-adhesion" mechanism known to protect the body from the harmful E. coli bacteria that cause UTIs. Earlier research shows that it's the A-type PACs in cranberry that are responsible for this anti-adhesion activity while the B-type PACs in other foods show minimal to no activity. Neto's study shows that the cranberry's anti-cancer activity is also due to its A-type PACs.

"In light of our findings and previously published studies, cranberries may inhibit the spread of cancer in a variety of ways," said Neto. "Further research is needed to determine the mechanisms associated with each of the cranberry's active phytochemicals."

In addition to helping prevent UTIs, other data has suggested that the unique A-type PACs found in cranberry may also prevent the adhesion of bacteria in the stomach and the mouth, with implications for the prevention of stomach ulcers and gum disease.

Given other documented benefits of cranberries, inclusion in your diet appears to be a good idea.

A Balanced Response

A news release from Brown University entitled Research Reveals Inner Workings of Immune System “Thermostat” cites research indicating how the immune system is regulated so as to enable it to fight pathogens while at the same time ensuring that inflammatory side effects do not injure the host. A related paper was published in the 'Journal of Immunology.' An italicized portion of the news release follows. My comments are in standard print.


PROVIDENCE, R.I. — When bacteria, viruses or parasites attack, immune system cells unleash the soldiers. These “hot” protein compounds kill invaders – but also trigger inflammation, which, if unchecked, can destroy tissue, induce shock and kill the host. So immune system cells let loose another protein compound to cool down the immune response.

Precisely how this immune system “thermostat” operates is unclear. The leading hypothesis is that these compounds – which act as furnace and air conditioner – battle it out over control of the system’s inflammatory response.

But new research, led by George Yap of Brown University, shows that these cytokines don’t operate independently and in opposition. They operate in harmony and are controlled by the same master. In work published in the Journal of Immunology, Yap and his team show that the “cool” anti-inflammatory protein compound known as Interleukin 10 is activated by Interferon-γ, a class of proteins secreted by a class of white blood cells known as T helper 1 cells. The team then traced secretion of Interferon-γ indirectly to tyrosine kinase 2, or tyk2, the same protein that signals “hot” inflammatory cytokines Interleukin 12 and Interferon-α and Interferon-β.

“Under the prevailing paradigm, scientists believe that the pro- and anti-inflammatory arms of the immune system just antagonize each other,” Yap said. “Here we show that they actually induce each other. ‘Hot’ cytokines don’t inhibit ‘cool’ ones – they trigger their production. Wounding, in effect, triggers a healing process.”

In previous research, Yap discovered that mutant mice with a naturally defective tyk2 gene were immune to arthritis, a condition caused by inflammation. But these mutants were much more susceptible to opportunistic infections. Why? Without tyk2, Yap found, mice didn’t make enough of the pro-inflammatory warriors that destroy harmful bugs and cause inflammation. This finding established the notion that tyk2 signaling controlled Interleukin 12, the furnace side of the system. But what controlled Interleukin 10, the air conditioner?

To find out, Yap and his team conducted a series of experiments in mutant mice infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. They found that Interleukin 10 production by T helper 1 cells is triggered by Interferon-γbut not directly. Another cell, an antigen presenting cell or APC, sends a stimulatory signal back to the T helper 1 cell, ordering it to make Interleukin 10.

“What we see is that the ‘hot’ and ‘cool’ arms of the immune system aren’t independently regulated,” Yap said. “They talk to each other and respond in a dynamic and coordinated fashion.”


As expected, signals were found to regulate the functions studied. However researchers discovered that in this biochemical interaction the two distinct, but cooperative, functions are harmoniously regulated. Immunological killer proteins and anti-inflammatory proteins are both triggered by common signaling protein tyrosine kinase 2.


Yap said the findings should send a message to drug companies designing and testing tyk2-inhibiting medicines for arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. Block tyk2 function, Yap said, and patients will be more prone to infection – and their arthritis may not be relieved. “There could be a downside to these drugs,” he said.


Incomplete knowledge, coupled with an erroneous assumption, can be dangerous. If it were only known that tyrosine kinase 2 triggers the attack response it could be tempting to treat inflammation problems by inhibiting the secretion of tyrosine kinase 2. This study shows how self-defeating that approach would have been.