Easy Ways to Eat 5 Fruits and Veggies a Day

Over the past few years, we’ve been bombarded with warnings about rising obesity, cancer and diabetes rates. Nearly every report makes a strong argument for the link between disease and diet. Government guidelines are advising us to eat a minimum of five portions of fruit and vegetables every day even more if we can manage, since the consensus is that you can’t eat too many vegetables. The trouble is, for many of us eating even five portions can seem like a serious challenge. When we work long hours, we naturally reach for convenience foods, almost all of which are carb-based.

minimum of five portions of fruit and vegetables every day even

Cooking at home is a lost art, with the sound of something sizzling on the stove being replaced by the beep of the microwave. This article will try to address this problem and offer some quick, easy and delicious ways to increase your daily intake of fruit and vegetables. The importance of plant foods in your diet can’t be overemphasized; they make you look and feel better and provide you with more steady energy throughout the day than convenience food can. Add a few of these tips into your daily routine, and you’ll be doing your body a huge favor. Remember, one portion is considered to be about 80 grams.

Smoothies Buying an all-natural (100 percent fruit, no sugar added) smoothie is an easy way to boost your fruit intake. Some companies even sell vegetable smoothies. But if you’re prepared to spend 10 minutes in the kitchen, you can make a smoothie that will give you five fruit portions in one gloriously sweet hit. Two kiwis, two bananas, a handful of grapes, a handful of strawberries, and 250 ml of pure pressed apple or orange juice will do the trick. This is a full breakfast or post-workout energy boost, and if you want to add some whey protein or spirulina powder into the mix, all the better. The beauty of a well-built smoothie is that the wide variety of colors of fruit means you’re getting a wide variety of nutrients: Vitamins A, B2, B6, C, E, folate, niacin, potassium, not to mention dietary fiber. You can just as easily make a vegetable smoothie as long as you use fresh, raw ingredients. If you throw some tomato juice into a vegetable smoothie, make sure that it’s not full of sugar or salt – common hidden ingredients in commercial vegetable juices.

Incorporate vegetables into your snacking

Try substituting something healthy for your mid-morning coffee break snack. Raw carrots, celery and other crunchy vegetables will be just as filling, and will help you avoid the drop in energy that comes after eating a high-sugar snack. Consider this: A chocolate chip muffin can contain around 700 calories. For the average man, this amounts to nearly one third of the recommended daily caloric intake, and will cause a monumental sugar crash later on. Instead of eating something that has roughly the nutritional value of an old shoe, replace it with a handful of fresh vegetables. An average carrot may contain as few as 32 calories, celery as little as 8. You could eat a pound of vegetables and still have consumed far fewer calories than you would have with that muffin. If the veggies themselves are too boring, add some hummus dip for some protein or a low-fat yogurt-based dip, but skip the dollop of ranch dressing.

Add fruit or berries to your breakfast

Adding something extra to your breakfast is another really quick and simple way to increase your fruit intake. If you have yogurt or cereal at breakfast, sprinkle a handful of fruit into the bowl. Raspberries, blackberries and blueberries taste great and they‘re packed with nutrients. Fresh berries can be expensive, but you can just as easily thaw a handful of frozen berries in the microwave and add them to your cereal. Adding a chopped banana will provide you with a little energy boost at the start of the day. The list of potential fruits is endless, and we don’t want to add all of them here, but if you want to keep things interesting and give yourself a range of nutrients, switch it up every so often.

Double up on servings

At lunch and dinner, try increasing the amount of vegetables you put on your plate. If it sounds obvious, it is. Many people put far fewer vegetables on their plate than the standard portion size of 80 grams. To make sure you’re getting your five a day, try to have two different types of vegetables in a meal. This has multiple benefits: by eating a larger amount of vegetables, you will crowd out other foods on your plate, like potatoes and meat, and chances are you eat plenty of those anyway. Reducing the higher-calorie foods (but not eliminating them altogether) can help you lose weight in addition to improving your overall health. Forget the popular misconception that fresh vegetables are expensive. Compared to microwave meals and other processed goods, vegetables are surprisingly affordable, and frozen vegetables can go a very long way and last a very long time in your freezer without compromising their

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New Hope in Antiviral Therapy

In the recent studies, researchers have identified two functional gene variants in the inosine triphosphatase (ITPA) gene that protect patients with hepatitis C virus (HCD) against anemia. This new finding ensures completion of antiviral therapy and successful elimination of the virus. Findings of these studies appear in the February issue of Hepatology.

researchers have identified two functional gene variants in the inosine triphosphatas

Chronic HCV affects up to 170 million individuals worldwide and is a leading cause of end-stage liver disease. While HCV is curable with treatment of pegylated interferon (pegIFN) and ribavirin (RBV), many patients have difficulty tolerating these antiviral drugs. Prior studies have shown that 9% to 22% of patients enrolled in phase III trials of pegIFN plus RBV require modification of their dose due to hemolytic anemia brought on by the drugs. A reduction in RBV limits treatment efficacy, thus impacting the viral clearance success rate.

Alessandra Mangia, M.D., from Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza Hospital in Italy, and colleagues evaluated the association between ITPA variants and anemia in a cohort of 238 Caucasian patients treated with variable pegIFN and weight-based doses of RBV. The research team found that the ITPA variants were strongly and independently associated with protection from anemia, but did not provide an increase in sustained virological response.

"When anemia develops only four weeks after the start of treatment, physicians are required to immediately reduce ribavirin dosages. This early reduction will affect the overall duration of treatment which, with the combination of pegIFN and RBV, lasts 24 weeks for patients infected with HCV genotypes two and 3 (G2/3) and 48 weeks for patients with HCV genotype one (G1) infection. Currently, only the use of the drug erythropoietin (EPO)�an expensive drug that due to its high cost cannot be reimbursed in several countries�might prevent unsuccessful antiviral treatment in these cases," explained Dr. Mangia.

"Our findings demonstrated that ITPA variants are strongly associated with protection from week four anemia and help us in selecting in advance who will need early ribavirin dose reduction and possibly supportive EPO treatment. This may lead to a more rational use of economical resources and to an individualized use of supportive EPO treatment," concluded Dr. Mangia. "Patients with a genetic profile that included the two ITPA variants may be safely administered higher doses of RBV, increasing the likelihood of HCV elimination after treatment�an important finding given that to achieve viral clearance high dosages of RBV need to be used in the early phases of treatment."

A related study led by Fumitaka Suzuki, M.D., from Toranomon Hospital in Japan found similar results in its cohort of 61 Japanese patients with HCV. Patients in this study received a triple therapy of pegINF, RBV and the protease inhibitor, telaprevir. Dr. Suzuki and colleagues found that ITPA variants impacted blood levels; however a sustained virological response could be achieved with careful monitoring of anemia and prompt adjustment of RBV dose. The authors suggest that future investigation of the influence of ITPA gene variants on RBV-induced anemia are needed on larger scales and on patients of various ethnicities.

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Red Blood Cell Hormone Modulates The Immune System

New research reveals that a hormone best known for stimulating the production of red blood cells can modulate the immune response. The study, published by Cell Press in the January 27th issue of the journal Immunity, finds that erythropoietin (EPO) has contrasting influences on infectious and inflammatory diseases and may be useful in the design of new therapeutic strategies. EPO is a cytokine hormone that stimulates the production of red blood cells by acting at EPO receptors (EPORs) on red blood cell precursors. Interestingly, other cell types also express EPORs. "It is clear that EPORs are present on immune cells, but the function of these receptors was completely unknown," says senior study author Dr. Guenter Weiss from Innsbruck Medical University in Austria. "We hypothesized that EPO might be able to modulate the immune system and could be of clinical relevance in certain diseases."

 stimulating the production of red blood cells can modulate the immune response

After showing that EPO inhibited induction of key pro-inflammatory genes, Dr. Weiss and colleagues examined the role of EPO-modulated immune cells in two mouse models of disease: systemic infection with Salmonella bacteria and chemically induced inflammation of the colon (colitis). In mice infected with Salmonella, EPO treatment was associated with reduced survival and impaired ability to clear the pathogen, neutralization of EPO production in the body promoted Salmonella elimination. This suggests that EPO reduces the ability of the immune system to fight off a systemic infection with intracellular bacteria such as Salmonella.

The researchers went on to show that in contrast to bacterial infection, EPO had a beneficial effect on the severity of colitis. EPO decreased the production of nuclear factor (NF)-B, a protein that is critical for inflammation and thereby reduced the formation of cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha which are centrally involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune colitis. This suggests that EPO may exert beneficial effects in non-infectious inflammatory diseases.

"Our results provide novel evidence that EPO acts as a potent anti-inflammatory immune modulator by specifically targeting (NF)-B-driven inflammatory pathways," concludes Manfred Nairz, first author of the paper. "Although high dose EPO treatment in humans may lead to a dangerous excess of red blood cells, EPO derivatives that do not influence red blood cell production have been developed and these could possibly serve as valuable therapeutic tools in treatment of pathologic inflammation."

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High Physical Activity Enable Osteoarthritis People Walk Faster

Increased physical activity enables people with knee osteoarthritis to walk faster, says a research conducted by Northwestern University. "The more active people are, the faster they can walk," said Dorothy Dunlop, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead author of the study

Enable Osteoarthritis People Walk Faster

"This is strong evidence that even a small increase in activity is related to better walking function. The bar for improvement isn't that high. This should motivate people to get moving, even if they have pain or stiffness." 

Federal guidelines recommend adults with arthritis should participate in at least 2.5 hours a week of moderate intensity, low-impact activity in sessions lasting 10 minutes or more. Even if people can't meet these levels, Dunlop said they should be as physically active as possible. 

The Osteoarthritis Initiative, an observational study, surveyed 2,500 participants with knee osteoarthritis. Participants filled out self-reported questionnaires about their physical activity at sites in Columbus, Ohio, Baltimore, Md., Providence, R.I., and Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Researchers divided participants into four physical activity groups, from lowest to highest, using a general activity score. In the lowest physical activity group, less than half, or 49 percent, walked fast enough to cross the street before the light changed. (Traffic lights generally allow a walking speed of four feet per second.) In the next three higher physical activity groups, 63 percent, 71 percent and 81 percent, respectively, walked fast enough to cross the street. 

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Virus Might Fight If Armed With Bacterial Enzyme, Study Shows

New research shows that oncolytic viruses, which are engineered to destroy cancer cells, might be more effective in treating deadly brain tumors if equipped with an enzyme that helps them penetrate the tumor.

The enzyme, called chondroitinase, helps the cancer-killing virus clear its way through the thickets of protein molecules that fill space between cells and impede the virus's movement through the tumor, say researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute who conducted the study.

Brain Tumors Better Study Shows

When tested in animals transplanted with a human glioblastoma, the most common and deadly form of brain cancer, the enzyme-armed virus improved survival by 52 percent compared with controls and in some cases eliminated the tumor entirely. The findings were published online in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. "Our results show for the first time that an oncolytic virus with this enzyme can spread more effectively through the tumor and underscores the potential of using chondroitinases to enhance the capacity of oncolytic viruses to destroy cancer cells," says study leader Balveen Kaur, associate professor of neurological surgery.

The enzyme is derived from the intestinal bacteria called Proteus vulgaris. The enzyme removes sugar chains that branch from molecules called proteoglycans, which fill the narrow spaces between cells. By cutting away these branches, the enzyme clears a path that helps the virus spread through the tumor.

During this study, Kaur and her collaborators injected human glioblastoma cells under the skin of eight animals, and then, after tumors developed, treated the tumors with the enzyme-armed virus. These mice survived an average of 28 days, with two remaining tumor-free after 80 days. Control animals, treated with a virus that lacked the enzyme, survived 16 days.

In another experiment, mice with human gliobastomas transplanted into the brain survived 32 days versus 21 days for control animals, an improvement of 52 percent. Again, two animals lived more than 80 days and showed no trace of the tumor afterward. Additional studies showed that the enzyme-laden virus had penetrated tumors in the animals' brain significantly better than the enzyme-free control virus. "Overall, our results indicate that an oncolytic virus armed with this enzyme can have a significantly greater anticancer effect compared with a similar virus without the enzyme," Kaur says.

Funding from the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke supported this research.  Other researchers involved in this study were Nina Dmitrieva, Lianbo Yu, Mariano Viapiano and E. Antonio Chiocca of Ohio State University; Timothy P. Cripe of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati, and J. Glorioso of the University of Pittsburgh.

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (http://cancer.osu.edu) is one of only 40 Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States designated by the National Cancer Institute. Ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the top cancer hospitals in the nation, The James is the 205-bed adult patient-care component of the cancer program at The Ohio State University. The OSUCCC-James is one of only seven funded programs in the country approved by the NCI to conduct both Phase I and Phase II clinical trials.

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Prozac 'helps stroke patients recover from paralysis'

A new study has found that giving stroke patients antidepressant pill Prozac soon after the event, could help their recovery from paralysis. Researchers have shown more improvement in movement and greater independence after 3 months in patients taking the antidepressant (also known as fluoxetine), compared to a placebo, reports BBC News.

Recovery from paralysis

The study was based on research on 118 patients in France, who had moderate to severe motor disabilities following their stroke.Tests on stroke patients 90 days after being given the drug found that patients taking fluoxetine had gained significantly more function in their upper and lower limbs than patients who were not given the drug.

Patients in the fluoxetine group were also more likely to be coping independently. The study noted that the side-effects from the antidepressant were generally mild and infrequent, although this group did notice more instances of nausea and diarrhea.

The findings were reported in the journal Lancet Neurology.

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Republicans Are Given a Price Tag for Health Law Repeal, but Reject It

WASHINGTON — The nonpartisan budget scorekeepers in Congress said on Thursday that the Republican plan to repeal President Obama’s health care law would add $230 billion to federal budget deficits over the next decade, intensifying the first legislative fight of the new session and highlighting the challenge Republicans face in pursuing their agenda. 

Given a Price Tag for Health Law Repeal, but Reject It

The new House speaker, John A. Boehner, flatly rejected the report, saying it was based largely on chicanery by Democrats. Mr. Boehner’s dismissal of the report by the Congressional Budget Office, at his first formal news conference as speaker, was the latest salvo in the battle over the health care law. White House officials on Thursday said they were stepping up efforts to defend the law, with a new rapid-response operation to rebut Republican claims and to deploy supporters to talk about the benefits of the law. But Mr. Boehner’s remarks held wider implications, effectively putting him on a war footing with the independent analysts whose calculations generally guide discussions about the projected cost or savings of any legislation.“I do not believe that repealing the job-killing health care law will increase the deficit,” he said. C.B.O. is entitled to their opinion,” he said, but he said Democrats had manipulated the rules established for determining the cost of a program under the 1974 Budget Act. “C.B.O. can only provide a score based on the assumptions that are given to them,” Mr. Boehner said. “And if you go back and look at the health care bill and the assumptions that were given to them, you see all of the double-counting that went on.” But the analysis released by the budget office on Thursday was based on the health care repeal bill that House Republicans introduced on Wednesday. And it highlighted the difficult position that Republicans are in as they try to address what they insist are the top two priorities of voters who elected them in November: cutting the deficit and undoing the health care law.

According to the budget office, those goals are contradictory. 

The budget office estimated that the health care law, including education provisions, would reduce deficits over 10 years by $143 billion. Tax increases and cuts in projected Medicare spending would more than offset the cost of extending health insurance to millions of Americans. The budget office projected that the law would result in even bigger savings beyond 2019.

Republicans have said they do not believe that many of the Medicare cuts will ever take hold. They say that government subsidies to help people buy health insurance will prove far costlier than the budget office has predicted, and that the Democrats wrote the law to mask the steep future costs of some provisions, like a new long-term-care insurance program.The budget office did not comment on Mr. Boehner’s remarks. Douglas W. Elmendorf, its director, has frequently said his office applies the longstanding budget rules. He says it uses its own professional expertise, as well as consulting with outside experts, to derive its projections, which represent the “middle of the distribution of likely outcomes.” Mr. Elmendorf has warned that Congress may find it difficult to follow through with parts of the health care law, particularly the cuts to Medicare. The law’s cost would rise if the cuts were not enacted.In the report on Thursday, Mr. Elmendorf, a former Clinton administration official appointed in 2008 when Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress, said that a preliminary analysis showed that repealing the law would increase federal budget deficits by a total of $145 billion from 2012 to 2019 and by $230 billion between 2012 and 2021.

Moreover, he said, if the law is repealed, 32 million fewer people will have health insurance in 2019, compared with estimates of coverage under the existing law. As a result, he said, the number of uninsured would be 54 million, rather 23 million, in 2019. 

At Mr. Boehner’s news conference, reporters peppered him with questions about repealing the law — including the cost analysis and a plan by Republicans not to allow amendments on the repeal measure even though the party had promised to maintain a more open legislative process.“Well, listen, I promised a more open process,” Mr. Boehner said. “I didn’t promise that every single bill was going to be an open bill.” 

Mr. Boehner grew testy when a reporter noted that Democrats who controlled the Senate were unlikely to bring up the repeal measure, let alone support it, and that Mr. Obama could veto it. “Don’t you think it’s a waste of time?” Mr. Boehner was asked. “No, I do not,” he said, raising his voice. “I believe it’s our responsibility to do what we said we were going to do. And I think it’s pretty clear to the American people that the best health care system in the world is going to go down the drain if we don’t act.” In their own report on Thursday, intended to illustrate how the law would lead to job losses, Republican leaders put the cost of the health care law “when fully implemented” at $2.6 trillion and said it would “add $701 billion to the deficit in its first 10 years.”

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NI Swine flu rate increases

Swine flu continues to rise in Northern Ireland, according to the latest figures from the Public Health Agency.A total of 185 people had the H1NI virus in the last week of December.This indicates an increase of 49 cases on the previous week. 

 

 

The rates are highest in the 15-44 age group. G.P consultation rates also shot up by 45% from 179.5 per 100,000 population.Receiving the seasonal flu vaccine is "the best way" to protect against the virus, according to Dr. Lorraine Doherty, PHA's Assistant Director.She recommends the injection for those in the 'at-risk' group which includes the over-65s and those with a lowered immune system.

 

 

NI Swine flu

 

Addressing concerns over the availability of the flu vaccine, she said: "I would like to stress that vaccines are still available and pregnant women in particular, no matter what stage of pregnancy, should receive the vaccine, even if they received the swine flu vaccine last year."And for those who have already contracted the illness, they have been advised to stay indoors. "If you do get flu this year, our advice is to stay at home and don't spread your infection to others," Dr. Doherty said.

"Rest, drink plenty of fluids and use over-the-counter remedies if they make you feel more comfortable."GPs and hospitals are busy dealing with flu cases, so I would emphasise that people should stay at home and contact their GP only if their condition worsens or if they are in an 'at risk' group or pregnant and not recovering. "Do not visit relatives or friends in hospital if you are sneezing, have a cough or have other symptoms of flu-like illness," she added. Meanwhile, intensive care and high dependency units throughout Northern Ireland are being taken over by flu sufferers. This has led to the postponement of elective surgery for one week to ensure hospitals continue to meet the needs of intensive care patients.

A total of 40% of beds in hospitals throughout the region were occupied by patients suffering from flu and flu-like symptoms on Wednesday morning, Belfast Health and Social Care confirmed.

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Study Finds Correlation Between Cancer Development and Infection

In a recent study conducted by The City College of New York has successfully drawn parallels between infection and the way in which blood cancer advances in the body. This study specifically was carried out in fruit flies.

The immune system response in Drosophila to a wasp infection is highly restrained, resulting in a thin layer of blood cells encapsulating the egg.

However, blood cancer occurs when there is an out-of-control response to a chronic inflammation, with a much thicker layer of red blood cells.

"The response to wasp infection is similar to acute inflammation while the cancer is akin to chronic inflammation in mammals, where regulation of the response to an infection also goes out of control," said Dr. Shubha Govind.

Thin layer of blood cells encapsulating

The correct balance between positive and negative factors is achieved through sumoylation, Professor Govind and colleagues reported.

"There is strong evidence that the fundamental mechanism of regulation uncovered in flies also works in humans. Because of the molecular similarities between flies and mammals, it may be possible to use flies to test drugs for potential anti-inflammatory effects in human disease," Govind said.

Although cancer would still be incurable with such drugs, maybe its progression could be delayed.

Other potential applications are in pest control for agriculture - parasitoids with the ability to suppress the hosts' immune systems could be used to kill insect pests.

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Posted in: Study-Finds-Correlation-Between-Cancer-Development-and-Infection

Estrogen Makes Precancerous Cells Deadly in the Oral Cavity

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have found that estrogen may increase the movement of precancerous cells in the mouth and thus promote the spread of the disease within the oral cavity.

Margie Clapper, co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center and colleagues had previously reported that estrogen metabolism changes following smoke exposure in the lungs and may contribute to lung cancer.

    Estrogen Makes Precancerous Cells Deadly

To find out if this female hormone influences development of head and neck cancer, Ekaterina Shatalova, of the Fox Chase Cancer Center and researcher on this study, examined the impact of estrogen on precancerous and cancerous cells.

They found that estrogen induces the expression of an enzyme called cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1), which is responsible for breaking down toxins and metabolizing estrogen.

Interestingly, CYP1B1 induction occurred only in precancerous cells, which are neither totally normal nor cancerous. Surprisingly, estrogen did not induce CYP1B1 in cancer cells.

With closer investigation, the researchers found that depleting the expression of CYP1B1 diminished the ability of precancerous cells to move and divide, as compared to similar cells with normal levels of CYP1B1.

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Posted in: Estrogen-Precancerous-Cells-Deadly--Oral-Cavity