(18-02-10) Receive Anti-Aging Benefits with Exercise

According to a new study, funded by The German Research Association and the University of Saarland, and published in "Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association," intense exercise acts to help prevent the shortening of telomeres. The gradual shortening of telomeres through cell divisions leads to aging at the cellular level. The study findings were released online Nov. 30, 2009 in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of "Circulation". It follows up on the work done by Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider, and Jack W. Szostak, who won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine for their work in showing how during cell division, telomere length is shortened.

Telomeres are the protective ends of chromosomes. They have been compared to sort of a plastic tip found at the end of a shoelace that over time becomes worn and frayed with every cell division. When the telomeres become critically short, the cell undergoes death. Short telomeres limit the number of cell divisions.

In this clinical study, blood samples were taken from two groups of professional athletes and two groups who were healthy nonsmokers but not regular exercisers. Professional runners from the German National Team of Track and Field were evaluated against nonsmokers who were healthy but did not work out regularly.

The athletes in this study showed significantly longer telomere length versus the non-exercise group.

According to Ulrich Laufs, M.D., the study`s lead author and professor of clinical and experimental medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine at Saarland University in Homburg, Germany, "The most significant finding of this study is that physical exercise of the professional athletes leads to activation of the important enzyme telomerase and stabilizes the telomere. Furthermore, he concluded, "This is direct evidence of an anti-aging effect of physical exercise. Physical exercise could prevent the aging of the cardiovascular system, reflecting this molecular principle." Laufs went on to say, "Our data improves the molecular understanding of the protective effects of exercise on the vessel wall and underlines the potency of physical training in reducing the impact of age-related disease."

So, how much exercise is needed to prevent telomere shortening? Must one be a marathon runner, or is the standard advice of walking for at least 30 minutes, most days of the week enough?

According to Dr. Annabelle Volgman, a Cardiologist and Director of the Heart Center for Women at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, "Not everyone has the makeup to be an elite athlete. The safest thing to say is that people do need that aerobic exercise. But there are so many factors that impact aging."

Because no one really knows the answer, Volgman said, the best advice is to do some sort of exercise regularly. Previous research has shown even moderate activity can be beneficial to the telomeres.

Exercise intensity should be guided by fitness level and age. In other words, if you`re used to doing vigorous exercise, keep it up. If not, do what you can without overdoing it.

Sources : www.lef.org
www.sciencedaily.com
www.healthfinder.gov



(19-02-10) Pistachios Slash Lung Cancer Risk
by Frank Mangano


People who want to avoid the leading cancer killer have a pal in the pistachio. According to the latest research on this nutritional nut, pistachios help reduce the risk of developing lung cancer because of their high gamma-tocopherol content. Gamma-tocopherol is a form of vitamin E that has been proven to be an effective cancer deterrent.

The pistachio likes to keep a "low" profile. For example, Penn State researchers say a daily dose of pistachios "lowers" cholesterol levels by as much as 11 percent; nutritionists recommend them to people who want to "lower" their calorie intake (i.e., pistachios are the lowest calorie nut); and a 2008 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says pistachios "lower" the risk for cardiovascular disease.

How "low" can the pistachio go? Well, when it comes to how at risk someone is for lung cancer, pretty darn low.

Researchers from Texas Woman`s University in Houston supplied a group of 18 healthy participants (who were chosen at random) with two ounces of pistachios. The pistachios were to be eaten every day for a period of one month (two ounces = about 117 pistachio kernels). The other group of 18 did not eat pistachios but, other than that fact, ate the same diet as the first group.

Through various testing procedures that analyzed their vitamin E levels, the researchers found that the pistachio-munching group had higher levels of gamma-tocopherol. As aforementioned, prior studies have found gamma-tocopherol to be effective in protecting men from prostate cancer. And based on this latest round of findings, the gamma-tocopherol in pistachios are every bit as effective in warding off lung cancer.

Lung cancer kills more people per year than breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer combined.

Now, 117 pistachios per day may sound like a lot, but according to the study`s lead researcher, two ounces of pistachios should not lead to any significant changes in body mass.

If you`re not jazzed about the pistachio, there are other ways to get your gamma-tocopherol fill besides supplementing. Nuts are the most abundant source of gamma-tocopherol (both nuts and nut oils), but another especially rich source is wheat germ oil. One-hundred grams of wheat germ oil contains a whopping 215 milligrams! This is important to note, because even though gamma-tocopherol is the major source of vitamin E in the diet, the blood retains more alpha-tocopherol than gamma-tocopherol.

Sources:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/release...
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/stat...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocopherol
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocent...

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