Top 3 benefits of Coffee ( 3 mins read)

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! 

Alternatives to Sugar?

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White sugar is the commonest sweetener used in our daily life. From morning coffees to evening tea, sugar plays a very crucial role in our cuisine. But the sweet lifestyle is also the main reason for increase in obesity, diabetes and other health problems among us.

"brown sugar is not healthier than white sugar, as the mineral content is very little to have any beneficial effect"

Sugar is made out of sugar beet, a type of plant which contains a thick syrup that’s converted to sugar. Refinery processes remove molasses (a dark brown by product) and the thick dark syrup is converted to white sugar. If the molasses is left in the mixture, then brown sugars are made.  

Brown Sugar VS White Sugar

The difference between White Sugar and Brown Sugar is the refinery process involved as mentioned. Brown sugar has some molasses left, while white sugar is well refined.

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In terms of nutrient content, brown sugar has more minerals compared to white sugar. Thanks to molasses it has iron, magnesium and other mineral whereas white sugar has none. Calorie value of both types of sugar are the same. So, one teaspoon of white sugar gives same amount of energy as white sugar, and increases blood sugar level equally.

Essentially, brown sugar is not healthier than white sugar, as the mineral content is very little to have any beneficial effect.

Alternatives to sugar

Honey

Is honey a healthier alternative to sugar?

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The short answer is no. 

Honey contains sugar too. Before the creation of sugar from sugar beets or sugarcane, honey was used as sweeteners. The calorie value of honey is almost similar to sugar, if not more depending on the manufacturing process. But honey also contains many vitamins especially Vitamin B and minerals such as calcium.

"The calorie value of honey is almost similar to sugar, if not more depending on the manufacturing process"

So, adding honey instead of sugar might give the additional benefits of vitamins and minerals but it does not make much difference in terms of calorie and the rise in blood sugar level. 

Thus honey is not a good alternative for people with diabetes or those who want to prevent diabetes.

Artificial sugar

Artificial sugars such as saccharin and aspartame (Equal brand) are commonly used as sugar alternatives. How does it work?

Artificial sugars are not absorbed in our gut, thus it carries zero calorie. It does not cause an increase in blood sugar level.

Aspartame has been heavily used until studies suggested the linkage between artificial sugars and cancers, especially bladder cancer and blood cancers such as leukemia. Association of bladder cancer in rats with saccharin (a type of artificial sugar) was first reported in 1978 by Reuber MD. 

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He reported that high dose of saccharin leads to bladder cancer in rats. In response to this, the US Congress mandated that saccharin carries a hazard label stating it’s possibly hazardous for consumption at that time.

But many other studies fail to prove the same among humans. It was found that rats respond to chemicals in the urine differently than human, so humans have no risk of bladder cancer when saccharin is consumed.

What about Aspartame? 

Heavy artificial sweetener use (>1680 mg per day) leads to an increased relative risk of 1.3 for bladder cancer in humans

Aspartame is the common artificial sugar used in brands like Equal. Aspartame has been linked with blood cancers previously but many subsequent studies have failed proof that claim.  A review on artificial sugars in Annals of Oncology concluded that there is no risk of cancer by using Aspartame or Saccharin as artificial sugar. 

But the author also warned that “Heavy artificial sweetener use (>1680 mg per day) leads to an increased relative risk of 1.3 for bladder cancer in humans” but no specific artificial sweetener can be identified as the culprit. For comparison, one packet of Equal brand artificial sugar contains 1000mg of sugar. FDA recommends us not to take more than 40mg/kg of aspartame.

According to American Cancer Society, after looking at several strong researches, people who drink aspartame containing beverages did not have increased risk of cancers.

So, the studies are controversial. Most say it’s harmless, some say it’s harmful.

But are they beneficial? Not many scientists agree that it is. For example, Swithers SE in Appetite journal argue that artificial sugar is not the answer to reducing the prevalence of obesity among children. 

He claims that artificial sweeteners will lead to overeating as people won’t be worried about adverse effects of sweetened food or beverage anymore.  A team of scientists recently discovered that artificial sweeteners can actually lead to diabetes by causing changes to the bacteria that live in our digestive tracts. 

This is supported by Taylor Feehley from University of Chicago, who wrote a commentary piece on this issue. She mentions that “artificial sugar consumption correlated with disease markers linked to obesity, such as elevated fasting blood-glucose levels and impaired glucose tolerance”. Both are related to diabetes mellitus.

In conclusion, there is no evidence based healthier alternatives to sugar. Honey and brown sugar are often called as natural sweeteners and people assume it’s healthier than white sugar. It is not. Artificial sweeteners on the other hand do provide zero calorie sweetness but it’s safety is very controversial, till today.

The best method would be to reduce the amount of sugar in our food and be mindful of what we consume. We must keep in mind high carbohydrate diet also be converted to sugar in our body. So, even if we go sugar-free, we still need to keep in mind on how much carbohydrate we consume per day.

For further reading

1.       FDA Article on Artificial sweeteners

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm397711.htm

2.       Review on Annals of Oncology on artificial sweeteners

http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/10/1460.full

3.       Artificial Sweeteners linked to change in gut microbiota

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25231862

4.       Artificial Sugars and Childhood obesity

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25828597

5.       American Cancer Society on Aspartame

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/athome/aspartame

6.       Commentary on artificial sweetener

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4449731/

Benefits of OatMeal

Oatmeal comes from Oat plant (Avena sativa). It’s heavily advertised as the meal of fitness and we have seen many brands adding oats to their food in order to appear healthier. How much of oatmeal we need to consume per day to achieve the benefits stated? Is there any evidence behind the health claims of oatmeal?   

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1. Does eating oatmeal reduce cholesterol level?

The short answer is yes. There are three types of cholesterol level that we are concerned about. LDL, HDL and Triglyceride. LDL & Triglyceride also known as the “bad” cholesterol are the ones responsible for accelerated hardening of our blood vessels (atherosclerosis). With the hardening of blood vessels, there is a higher chance of getting stroke or heart attack.

HDL on the other hand, is the “good” cholesterol. It helps in preventing the hardening.

So, the aim is to increase HDL and reduce LDL along with Triglyceride. Many claim that oatmeal is capable of doing that. A research by Thongoun et al proved that eating oats everyday for 4 weeks, reduced the total cholesterol level by 5%, and LDL by 10%. That sounds promising. Patients included in the study were all those with high cholesterol level, thus it’s more applicable for those with the problem.

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Researchers from Cochrane Heart group looked at 10 studies done on this matter, and made scientific calculations on how beneficial oatmeal really is in reducing cholesterol level. These sort of “calculation” is known as meta analysis, and it’s regarded as the highest level of evidence.

They concluded that people who eat oatmeal   had lower level of total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. But they cautioned that “many of the studies done on this matter were short term, of poor quality and doesn’t have sufficient power. Most of the trials were funded by companies with commercial interests in wholegrains.”

Another group of scientists from Chengdu, China specifically looked at how oatmeal helps in people with diabetes mellitus. They included 16 articles on studies that looked at oatmeal’s ability to reduce cholesterol and blood sugar level in people with diabetes mellitus. They discovered that oatmeal consumption is able to reduce blood sugar level, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol as well as slightly reducing Triglyceride.

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2. Oatmeal and colon cancer

Oatmeal helps in reducing constipation, simply because it’s an soluble fibre.  It is not well absorbed by our body, so it stays longer in the colon. In colon it absorbs water and makes the stool heavier,thus helping in preventing constipation. But is there evidence that soluble fibre prevents colon cancer?

Oatmeal and other wholegrain food have shown some benefits in patients with colon problems as well. A paper published by British nutritionists looked at 28 articles on benefits of oatmeal in colon patients. The group of scientists concluded that there is no evidence to suggest that oatmeal and other wholegrain meals can prevent colon cancer or reduce symptoms in other bowel disorders.

How to prepare oatmeal to benefit maximum from it?

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Researchers from China looked into the best method of oats preparation. After studying the effect of oatmeal, they concluded that boiling oatmeal makes the oat better at reducing blood cholesterol level compared to brewing. There are many ways to prepare oatmeal, some prefer to add fruits, or milk for flavor and additional nutrients. 

In conclusion, small scale studies with short follow up time do show some benefits for oatmeal in reducing cholesterol level and preventing colon cancer. However there is no strong evidence to suggest oatmeal being useful in reducing cholesterol level and preventing colon cancer. Hopefully more researches in future will show strong evidence.

For further reading:

1.       Oatmeal & Bowel Diseases

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9362077&fileId=S0007114514002293

2.       Oatmeal and Cholesterol reduction

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD005051.pub2/ful

3.       Oatmeal preparation

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26498197

4.       Oatmeal in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/7/12/5536

Fibre in Food- What's good about it?

What is fibre?

Fibre is an indigestible form of carbohydrate that is found in both plants and nuts. Some are soluble making it possible to be absorbed into our body system after consuming it, while others are not. It is found in many plants and nuts in varying amount.

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There are two types of fibre. Soluble, and insoluble fibre.

Soluble fibre is found in many beans and some fruits. It’s called soluble because it dissolves in water and forms a gel like material in the intestine. This gel like material binds to fatty acid and bile acid, thus reducing blood cholesterol level. Soluble fbres help in reducing rate of digestion. When the digestion process is slowed, it reduces spikes in blood glucose level. 

This helps in regulating body sugar level which is beneficial for people with diabetes and prevent high sugar level in others.

Several studies have backed this effects of soluble fibres. This positive effect of preventing the rapid rise of blood sugar has been shown by many research studies. Recently, a group of scientists from Warwick Medical School looked at 23 scientific studies done on the effects of fibres on blood cholesterol level as well as blood pressure. 

"aiming for 30g of soluble fibre per day has been proven to reduce blood cholesterol level and help in blood sugar control"

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They concluded that increasing dietary fibres improves blood cholesterol as well as surprisingly reducing diastolic blood pressure.  Diastolic blood pressure is the denominator of the blood pressure reading, and it’s best kept below 90mmHg to prevent the heart from pumping too hard.

What is the role of Insoluble Fibre?

while this form of fibre does not dissolve to be taken into the blood stream it has benefits on stool formation. One consumed it works in the large bowel by absorbing water and contributing to ‘bulking the stools’. This relieves constipation.

Where do we get fibres from?

Best method of getting the fibre is by eating the food rich in fibre. Recommended fibre intake by the US Department of Health is 14g per 1000 calorie. This roughly translates to about 28 to 35g of fibre intake per day, depending on your calorie intake.

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So which food has the highest amount of fibre? Navy beans contain the highest amount of fibre. According to US Department of Health, cooked navy beans have 9.6g of soluble and insoluble fibre in half cup. 

Apart from fibre, navy beans are also filled with Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Iron. Chickpeas are also rich in fibres. It contains 8.1g of fibre in ½ cup.

Locally available fruits such as papaya and durian are rich in fibre too. Banana contains 3.1g of fibre in each. Papaya has 2.1g of fibre, and durian has approximately 1g of fibre in each of its seeds.

As we know , soluble fibre is more effective in controlling blood cholesterol level along with reducing blood sugar. Among fruits, passion fruit has the highest amount of soluble fibre with 6.5g of fibre per 125ml juice. Avocado contains 2.1 g of fibre in half fruit.

In conclusion, aiming for 30g of soluble fibre per day has been proven to reduce blood cholesterol level and help in blood sugar control. Let’s choose fibre rich food to be added in our diet and live a healthy life!

For Further Reading

US Dietary Guidelines 2015 –http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/

Food Sources rich in soluble fibre, by Dietitians of Canada - 

http://www.dietitians.ca/Downloads/Factsheets/Food-Sources-of-Soluble-Fibre.aspx

Systemic review on dietary fibre’s effect on cardiovascular health http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26758499

Anti-diabetic properties of bittermelon

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Bitter melon or bitter gourd originated from India and was introduced to many parts of the world. It is widely known for its medicinal benefits. Let's see the top 3 scientifically proven benefits of bitter gourd or  "Momordica charantia". 

 

1.     Acts as a natural anti-diabetic

Two studies have proven that bitter gourd helps in diabetes mellitus by working the same way as diabetic medications. 

Study by Chandru S et al compared the efficacy of bitter gourd juice and glitazone (a type of diabetic drug) in diabetic rats. In animal studies, it is shown that bitter gourd juice had reduction in blood sugar and was comparable with glitazone. 

Authors of this study postulate that bitter gourd juice works by increasing insulin sensitivity and causing the pancreas to secrete more insulin. 

"Bitter gourd juice proves to reduce blood sugar level"

Study by Rahman IU et al also reported similar findings among patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. 95 patients in this study took 2g (60mls) or 4g(120mls) of bitter gourd juice daily for 10 weeks. Both groups had blood sugar reduction. Their HBA1C level dropped along with fasting blood glucose level. 

Fuangchan A et al studied the effect of bitter melon and compared it to Metformin 1g, a standard first line medication for diabetes mellitus type 2. They proved that bitter melon juice has blood sugar reducing properties but not as strong as Metformin. This suggests that bitter melon juice can be used as supplement for sugar control in people with diabetes.

2. Added values in people with complications of diabetes

Raish M et al studied the effects of bitter melon juice  on the progression of diabetic kidney disease. Normally in patients with uncontrolled diabetes, many complications develop over time. 

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Kidney failure is one of it, and it causes many patients to be dependent on dialysis machine for the rest of their life. Other than that some patients develop nerve problems, in which patients will feel numbness and tingling over their feet. Some may even lose balance.

In his study, it was shown that bitter melon given by mouth improves kidney function in rats. Scientists suggest that bitter melon provides kidney protection by reducing the high sugar level and also by reducing the oxidative damages to kidney. But more research will be needed to find out if bitter gourd will be effective in patients with complications.  

Study by Kim JW also proves that kidney functions improves with bitter melon juice . This study

focuses mainly on combined effect of oats and bitter melon on sugar level and diabetic nephropathy. But significant reduce in blood sugar and protective effects on kidneys are shown even in rats that were only treated with bitter melon juice. But again, this study did not talk on those with established kidney disease. 

From preliminary information available largely from animal studies, it appear that bitter melon juice helps in reduction of blood sugar level and prevention of diabetic kidney disease. Bitter melon juice has anti-oxidant properties and anti-diabetic properties which help to achieve this. 

How to prepare fresh bitter melon juice

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Use unripe fresh bitter melon

Wash thoroughly, cut the melon and remove the seeds

 Use electric juicer to extract the juice

This method is used in the study by scientists Rahman et al.  

They prepared the bitter melon juice in this manner, and proceeded to freeze it to make it into powder form but it' s not necessary for personal use. 

They discovered anti-diabetic benefits at 2g of bitter gourd juice powders. 2g of powder is equivalent to 60mls of bitter gourd juice. 

For further reading:

Lower hypoglycemic but higher antiatherogenic effects of bitter melon than glibenclamide in type 2 diabetic patients.

Hypoglycemic effect of bitter melon compared with metformin in newly diagnosed type 2  diabetes patients

Synergic effects of bitter melon and β-Glucan composition on STZ-induced rat diabetes and its complications.

Momordica charantia polysaccharides mitigate the progression of STZ induced diabetic nephropathy in rats.

Evaluation of Protein Kinase Cβ and PPARγ Activity in Diabetic Rats Supplemented with Momordica charantia