New reasons to avoid grapefruit and other juices when taking certain drugs

por admin en Uncategorized
26 de June de 2009 17:58 pm

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New reasons to avoid grapefruit and other juices when taking certain drugsPhiladelphia, Aug. 19, 2008 — Scientists and consumers have known for years that grapefruit juice can increase the absorption of certain drugs — with the potential for turning normal doses into toxic overdoses. Now, the researcher who first identified this interaction is reporting new evidence that grapefruit and other common fruit juices, including orange and apple, can do the opposite effect by substantially decreasing the absorption of other drugs, potentially wiping out their beneficial effects.

The study provides a new reason to avoid drinking grapefruit juice and these other juices when taking certain drugs, including some that are prescribed for fighting life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, cancer, organ-transplant rejection, and infection, the researcher says. These findings — representing the first controlled human studies of this type of drug-lowering interaction — were described today at the 236th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

“Recently, we discovered that grapefruit and these other fruit juices substantially decrease the oral absorption of certain drugs undergoing intestinal uptake transport,” says study leader David G. Bailey, Ph.D., a professor of clinical pharmacology with the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. “The concern is loss of benefit of medications essential for the treatment of serious medical conditions.”

Bailey and colleagues announced almost 20 years ago the unexpected finding that grapefruit juice can dramatically boost the body’s levels of the high-blood-pressure drug felodipine, causing potentially dangerous effects from excessive drug concentrations in the blood. Since then, other researchers have identified nearly 50 medications that carry the risk of grapefruit-induced drug-overdose interactions. As a result of the so-called “Grapefruit Juice Effect,” some prescription drugs now carry warning labels against taking grapefruit juice or fresh grapefruit during drug consumption. New reasons to avoid grapefruit and other juices when taking certain drugs

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Drinking Pure Fruit Juice does not make Young Children Overweight

por admin en Uncategorized
17 de May de 2007 18:28 pm

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Drinking pure fruit juice does not make young children overweightNew York (Reuters) – Contrary to popular belief, drinking pure 100 percent fruit juice does not make young children overweight or at risk for becoming overweight, new research shows. Pure fruit juice provides essential nutrients and, in moderation, may actually help children maintain a healthy weight.

Inconsistent research findings have led to continued debate over the potential associations between drinking 100 percent fruit juice, nutrient intake, and overweight in children.

In the their study, researchers analyzed the juice consumption of 3,618 children ages 2 to 11 using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

“The bottom line is that 100 percent juice consumption is a valuable contributor of nutrients in children’s diet and it does not have an association with being overweight,” study chief Dr. Theresa Nicklas, a child nutrition specialist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told Reuters Health. She presented the new data at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual convention in Toronto this week.

“If you look at the weight of the evidence there are at least 7 studies plus the one I presented (this week) that show no association between 100 percent juice and overweight among children,” Nicklas added. Even among the children who consumed the most juice, there was no association with the children being overweight or at risk for overweight, she said.

The results also indicate that juice consumption “is not excessive among 2- to 11-year-olds,” Nicklas said. In fact, 57 percent of the children did not consume 100 percent juice at all, “which is much higher than I expected,” she said.

The average daily consumption of pure fruit juice in the study population was 4.1 ounces (about half a cup) — an amount in line with recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Drinking Pure Fruit Juice does not make Young Children Overweight

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Juice does not make Young Children Overweight or at Risk for Becoming Overweight

por admin en Uncategorized
11 de May de 2007 08:21 am

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NEW YORK (Reuters) Contrary to popular belief, drinking pure 100 percent fruit juice does not make young children overweight or at risk for becoming overweight, new research shows. Pure fruit juice provides essential nutrients and, in moderation, may actually help children maintain a healthy weight.

Inconsistent research findings have led to continued debate over the potential associations between drinking 100 percent fruit juice, nutrient intake, and overweight in children.

In the their study, researchers analyzed the juice consumption of 3,618 children ages 2 to 11 using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

“The bottom line is that 100 percent juice consumption is a valuable contributor of nutrients in children’s diet and it does not have an association with being overweight,” study chief Dr. Theresa Nicklas, a child nutrition specialist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, told Reuters. She presented the new data at the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual convention in Toronto, Canada, this week.

“If you look at the weight of the evidence there are at least 7 studies plus the one I presented (this week) that show no association between 100 percent juice and overweight among children,” Nicklas added. Even among the children who consumed the most juice, there was no association with the children being overweight or at risk for overweight, she said.

The results also indicate that juice consumption “is not excessive among 2- to 11-year-olds,” Nicklas said. In fact, 57 percent of the children did not consume 100 percent juice at all, “which is much higher than I expected,” she said.

The average daily consumption of pure fruit juice in the study population was 4.1 ounces (about half a cup) — an amount in line with recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

And while there were a few children (13 percent) who consumed larger amounts of juice (12 ounces or more), their increased intake was not associated with overweight or at risk for being overweight. In fact, children in the 2 to 3-year-old category who drank the most juice were nearly three times less likely to be overweight or at risk for overweight than children who drank no juice at all.

Nicklas and her colleagues also found that children who drank any amount of 100 percent juice ate less total fat, saturated fat, sodium, added sugars and added fats. Pure juice drinkers also had higher intakes of a number of key nutrients including vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, folate, vitamin B6 and iron. They also ate more whole fruits, like apples.

Nicklas encourages parents who are concerned about their child being overweight to look beyond their juice consumption. “My advice would be to look at the total number of calories that child is taking in and look at where the bulk of those calories are coming from and equally important look at the activity level of the child.”

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Fruits And Veggies May Help Smokers Quit

por admin en Uncategorized
11 de April de 2007 13:08 pm

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Fruits And Veggies May Help Smokers QuitMilk does the body good – and may help smokers break the habit, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

Smokers reported that consuming milk, water, fruits and vegetables worsened the taste of cigarettes, while consuming alcohol, coffee and meat enhanced their taste, according to the scientists.

The findings could lead to a “Quit Smoking Diet” or to development of a gum or lozenge that makes cigarettes less palatable, said lead study investigator Joseph McClernon, Ph.D., an assistant research professor of medical psychiatry at the Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research.

“With a few modifications to their diet — consuming items that make cigarettes taste bad, such as a cold glass of milk, and avoiding items that make cigarettes taste good, like a pint of beer — smokers can make quitting a bit easier,” McClernon said.

The findings appear in the April 2007 issue of the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research. The research was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.…

Continue Reading… 

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Grape juice could be more beneficial than Orange Juice

por admin en Uncategorized
6 de April de 2007 10:07 am

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Grape juice could be more beneficial than Orange JuiceScientists have carried out the first scientific analysis of fruit juices to measure their anti-oxidant activity – the anti-ageing compounds that protect against heart disease and other chronic conditions.

Top of the league is purple grape juice followed by apple juice and cranberry juice, according to the study by researchers at the University of Glasgow.

Orange juice, the most popular fruit juice, comes way down the league.

It contains fewer polyphenols than the other juices tested, which are strong anti-oxidants.

Alan Crozier, professor of Plant Biochemistry and Human Nutrition who led the study, said: “Not all fruit juices are the same. The findings reveal that the variety of phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of the individual juices varied markedly.”

“Purple grape juice made with Concord grapes contains the highest and broadest range of polyphenols as well as having the highest antioxidant capacity. Other high-ranking products include cloudy apple juice and cranberry juice drink.”

The research was funded by the National Grape Co-operative, a consortium of farmers in the US owned by Welch’s, makers of Concord purple grape juice.

It is published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

The finding comes in the wake of research by US scientists which showed an association between long term fruit juice consumption and a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers who followed almost 2,000 volunteers for up to ten years found the risk of Alzheimer’s was 76 per cent lower for those who drank juices more than three times a week compared with those who drank them less than once a week.

The Glasgow study suggests these protective effects may be strengthened by consumption of a combination of juices with a high concentration and broad range of polyphenolic antioxidants.

Anti-oxidants are compounds such as vitamin C found in fruits and vegetables which are believed to play a key role by protecting the body from the damaging effects of free radicals, the products of metabolism.

By quenching free radicals they help to maintain oxidative balance and prevent the development of diseases including cancer and heart disease.

Professor Crozier said: “Supplementing a healthy diet with a regular intake of a variety of fruit juices such as purple grape juice, grapefruit juice, cloudy apple juice and cranberry juice, will increase the consumer’s intake of phenolic antioxidants.”

He added: “The message is to mix these juices during the week. That way you will get all the compounds with anti-oxidant activity. If you drink only one juice you risk missing out on the compounds in the others.”

He said Welch’s had asked his research team to measure the anti-oxidant activity in 13 of the most popular fruit juices in Britain.

“The paper we have published is as we wrote it. If Welch’s had written it they would have said drink only Concord grape juice.”

As well as purple grape juice, the fruit juices examined in the study included cloudy apple, pomegranate, cranberry, grapefruit, clear apple, pineapple, orange, tomato, red grape and white grape.

The findings also revealed the number and level of antioxidant phenolic compounds in purple grape juice equates with those found in a Beaujolais red wine.

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Study shows Pomegranate Juice may help fight Lung Cancer

por admin en Uncategorized
6 de April de 2007 09:47 am

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Study shows Pomegranate Juice may help fight Lung CancerResearchers are adding to the list of cancer types for which pomegranates seem to halt growth. A recent study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison using a mouse model shows that consuming pomegranates could potentially help reduce the growth and spread of lung cancer cells or even prevent lung cancer from developing. In the April 1 issue of Cancer Research, researchers led by Hasan Mukhtar, co-leader of the Cancer Chemoprevention Program of the University of Wisconsin Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer Center, demonstrate that drinking pomegranate fruit extract helps slow the growth of lung cancer in mice.

“Pomegranate fruit continues to show great promise,” says Mukhtar, professor of dermatology at the School of Medicine and Public Health and a member of the Carbone Cancer Center. “We have earlier shown that pomegranate fruit contains very powerful skin and prostate cancer-fighting agents. These recent findings expand the possible health benefits of the fruit to the leading cause of cancer death in the country and worldwide: lung cancer.”

In the study, the research team examined the effect of oral consumption of a dose of pomegranate fruit extract on the growth, progression, blood-vessel development and signaling pathways in two mouse lung tumor protocols. The dosages tested were comparable to what humans could reasonably consume in a day. Chemicals were used to induce lung tumors, and the mice received pomegranate extract in drinking water. Lung tumor yield was then examined at different times during several months. Mice who were exposed to cancer-inducing chemicals and who were treated with pomegranate had significantly lower lung tumor growth than mice treated with carcinogens only. Tumor reduction was 53.9 percent at 84 days and 61.6 percent at 140 days.

The key to the cancer-fighting capabilities of pomegranate lies in its abundance of antioxidants that have an anti-inflammatory effect. In fact, researchers say pomegranate juice has higher levels of antioxidants than do red wine and green tea, which have also been investigated for their potential cancer prevention effects.

The pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) fruit has been used for centuries in ancient cultures for medicinal purposes. For a long time, the fruit has been widely consumed fresh and, more recently, in beverage form as juice. In other studies, the fruit has been shown to suppress inflammatory cell signaling proteins in colon and prostate cancer. The fruit also possesses other remarkable anti-tumor-promoting effects.

Lung cancer has increased at alarming rates in the last decade, particularly because of trends in smoking. Lung cancer is now the most common cause of cancer death in the world, representing 28 percent of all cancer deaths. Physicians have found this cancer difficult to control with conventional therapeutic and surgical approaches, and the prognosis is poor with an overall five-year survival rate of 10-14 percent in the United States.

Researchers believe delaying the process of lung cancer development could be an important strategy to control this disease. Mukhtar says that the use of fruits and vegetables endowed with cancer-fighting properties is the best way to achieve this goal.

Source: http://www.news.wisc.edu/13633.html 

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