Fitness and Nature: dementia

Coffee, a major export commodity is one of the most consumed beverages all over the world. Derived from nature, coffee beans are brewed in order to produce the drink.

Coffee contains caffeine, which is a known stimulant for humans. Most of us drink coffee to fight drowsiness but there are many other health benefits associated with drinking coffee.

1. Prevents diabetes mellitus

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Diabetes mellitus is a chronic illness faced by billions in this world. People with diabetes will have high blood sugar level and will need to take medications or injections to lower it.

In this research conducted in Singapore, consuming 4 cups or more every day is associated with more than 30% chance of getting diabetes mellitus in future. A review on this issue looked at over 450000 individuals and concluded that drinking 3 or more cups of coffee per day makes an individual 0.6 times less likely to develop diabetes in future.

A group of researchers from Korea looked at how Coffee can benefit pre-diabetic individuals. Pre-diabetics are those with higher than normal blood sugar level but is not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes mellitus. It is believed that these individuals will eventually progress to diabetes mellitus unless measures such as lifestyle changes are taken.This research concluded that drinking coffee without sugar or creamer for three times a day prevents the onset of diabetes mellitus.

However, if you have a very sweet tooth, healthier alternatives to sugar are available. Find out more about artificial sweeteners from here.

2. Prevents colon cancer

Numerous researches have been conducted in this area. In a recent research, regular consumption of coffee was associated with the lesser chance of developing colon cancer. For example, in those who consume coffee more than 2 cups per days, their chance of developing colon cancer was 0.4 compared to those who do not.

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Before cancer begins to form in the colon, few cells produce a small pre-cancerous lesion called " colon adenoma". This colon adenoma formation is associated with progression to colon cancer, which is why regular screening is recommended for those who have a high risk of developing colon cancer ( family history etc). Scientists from Japan found a significant benefit of drinking coffee in preventing colonic adenoma. According to their research, high intake of coffee reduces the chance of developing adenoma, the precursor form of colon cancer.

Coffee also seems to prevent other types of cancers. In a review done by researchers in China, it was concluded that coffee consumption is associated with lesser risk of developing mouth, liver, colon, prostate, and womb cancer.

3. Prevents Alzheimer's disease

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Dementia is a common problem among elderly individuals. Dementia is commonly known as memory loss among the general population but dementia can also affect daily activities for example walking or even speaking. Some patients might even "forget" how to speak or perform simple tasks like drawing. Alzheimer's disease is one of the causes of dementia.

Coffee consumption has been associated with general benefits on the brain activities. In a recent review, drinking 1 to 2 cups of coffee per day were associated with reduced risk of getting dementia, Alzheimer's disease or any form of cognitive impairment. However the exact mechanism on how coffee reduces the onset of dementia is unclear.

Conclusion

Drinking coffee regularly is proven to be protective against colon cancer, diabetes mellitus, and dementia. However, high consumption of coffee could cause problems such as high blood pressure, anxiety, and insomnia. Thus always consume coffee in moderation and always go for regular health check-ups!

Fish oil capsules are widely available in the market these days. Most of it contain omega 3 such as DHA and EPA. Small fish are used to produce the fish oils and omega 3 is a type of fatty acid that is found in it. DHA and EPA are two types of Omega 3 that’s found in marine animals such as fish. Many researches are being done on benefits of fish oil.

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Heart

Omega 3 is widely believed to have beneficial effects on heart. Heart attacks normally happen in people with hardened blood vessels of the heart (atherosclerosis). Blood cholesterol plays an important role in this hardening process. Thus reducing blood cholesterol level should reduce the hardening process of the blood vessels.

There are some evidence to suggest omega 3 helps in reducing the blood cholesterol level, especially triglyceride. Triglyceride is a type of cholesterol in our blood, LDL and HDL being the other two. A group of scientists from University of Kansas did a research on this issue. They looked at all the research done on this matter from 2005 to 2015. After looking at all the results, they concluded that omega 3 oil will reduce the level triglyceride if taken 4 g per day.

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Omega 3 also seems to have anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is also a key role in hardening of blood vessels, so by reducing inflammation the hardening process should be dampened.

Thus theoretically taking omega 3 fish oils should help protect the heart. But does it?

Cochrane reviewers who are experts in looking for the best evidence searched researches that were done to prove benefits of fish oil in heart health.

They concluded that “There is not enough evidence to say that people should stop taking rich sources of omega 3 fats”. It’s not clear if omega 3 helps in reducing heart attacks or deaths related to heart problems.

More high quality evidence is needed to strongly say omega 3 helps in cardiovascular health.

Dry Eyes

Among those who are working on computers most of the time, dry eye is a very common problem. Dry eye is caused by two important groups of diseases. Our tears have two components; water and fat (lipid). One group of disease causing dry eyes is due to tear glands not producing enough water component in the tears, and another group is due to the glands not producing enough fat component. The diseases that are due to lack of fat component in tears are called evaporative dry eyes, and is the commonest cause of dry eyes.

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This research done by eye surgeons from Ohio Medical Centre looked at 105 patients with evaporative dry eyes and how they benefit from omega 3 oil. After 12 weeks of supplementing patients with re-esterized omega 3, they saw benefits in the patients’ dry eyes symptoms. But this research was done using re-esterized omega 3 oil.

Omega 3 that is available commercially comes in two forms; as ester or triglycerides. Ester forms are not so common everywhere with most brands use triglyceride form of omega 3. So does the triglyceride form of Omega 3 helps in reducing dry eyes symptoms as well?

According to a research done by Indian scientists, after taking 600mg of omega 3 oils (2 capsules per day of normal fish oil capsules), most patients had improvement of their dry eyes problems. This research was done mainly on those who use computers for more than 3 hours per day. They concluded that taking 2 capsules of fish oil per day with a total of 600mg DHA and EPA will cause improvement in dry eyes symptoms after 3 months.

Another group of scientists repeated this in contact lens wearers. They chose 496 contact lens wearers, and looked at how omega 3 containing fish oil supplement twice a day helps in dry eye symptoms. After 6 months of supplement, patients’ symptoms were under control, and lens wear comfort level also improved significantly.

Mental Health

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Dementia is a problem that commonly affects elderly people. It is a disorder of memory, behavior and functioning. There are many causes of dementia, commonest being vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s dementia.

Omega 3 oil has been suggested to protect people from dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease. Many researches appear to support this fact, but the evidence they offer isn’t strong. Cochrane group of researchers did two different study on this matter.

In one research, they concluded that supplementation of omega 3 oil for patients with Alzheimer’s disease do not improve their mental function, nor reduce depression in them. Another Cochrane review tried to find if omega 3 can be used to prevent onset of dementia.

They concluded that there is no evidence to say omega 3 helps in prevention of dementia.

Natural food rich in Omega 3

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Do we have to consume omega 3 capsules to get the benefit of it? No, there are plenty natural sources of omega 3.

There are three main types of Omega 3. ALA, EPA and DHA. Most fish oil capsules contain EPA and DHA and many studies that check the benefits of omega 3 focus on these two types of fat.

EPA and DHA are animal source of Omega 3, thus it’s rich in animals such as fish. Anchovies, and Salmon have some of the highest amount of omega 3 in them. Caviar also has high omega 3 content, especially EPA and DHA. Steaming or cooking the fish does not seem to affect the level of omega 3.