�Herbs and spices are rich in antioxidants, and a new University of Georgia survey suggests they are likewise potent inhibitors of tissue damage and inflammation caused by high levels of blood sugar.
Researchers, whose results seem in the current military issue of the Journal of Medicinal Food, tested extracts from 24 common herbs and spices. In accession to finding high levels of antioxidant-rich compounds known as phenols, they revealed a direct correlation betwixt phenol content and the ability of the extracts to forget the formation of compounds that chip in to wrong caused by diabetes and aging.
"Because herbs and spices have a very low small calorie content and are comparatively inexpensive, they're a great way to get a lot of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory power into your diet," said study joint author James Hargrove, associate professor of foods and nutrition in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Hargrove explained that when profligate sugar levels are high school, a serve known as protein glycation occurs in which the sugar bonds with proteins to eventually form what are known as forward-looking glycation ending products, besides known as AGE compounds. The acronym is fitting because these compounds actuate the immune system, resulting in the inflammation and tissue damage associated with aging and diabetes.
The researchers found a unassailable and direct correlation betwixt the phenol content of common herbs and spices and their ability to inhibit the formation of AGE compounds. Spices such as cloves and cinnamon had oxybenzene levels that were 30 percent and 18 pct of dry weight, severally, while herbs such as oregano and sage were eight and six percent phenol by dry weight unit, respectively. For comparison, blueberries - which are widely touted for their antioxidant capabilities - contain roughly five per centum phenol by dry weightiness.
Study joint author Diane Hartle, associate prof in the UGA College of Pharmacy, said assorted phenols are absorbed differently by the body and have different mechanisms of action, so it's probable that a variety of spices volition provide maximum benefit.
"If you set up a good herb and spice cabinet and season your food liberally, you could double or even triple the medicative value of your meal without increasing the thermic content," she said.
She added that controlling blood sugar and the formation of AGE compounds can also decrease the endangerment of cardiovascular damage associated with diabetes and ageing. She explained that high blood saccharide accelerates ticker disease partially because AGE compounds form in the blood and in the walls of blood vessels. The AGE compounds exacerbate atherosclerosis, which produces cholesterin plaques.
The UGA researchers tested for the power to block AGE compounds in a test tube, but animate being studies conducted on the health benefits of spices lend support to their argument. Cinnamon and cinnamon extracts, for example, make been shown to turn down blood gelt in mice. Interestingly, cinnamon lowers blood sugar by acting on several different levels, Hargrove said. It slows the emptying of the breadbasket to reduce sharp rises in rip sugar undermentioned meals and improves the effectiveness, or sensitivity, of insulin. It also enhances antioxidant defenses.
Hargrove aforementioned their findings suggest it's likely that the herbs and spices they studied will provide similar benefits in creature tests. He points extinct that because humans receive been overwhelming herbs and spices for thousands of years, they come without the peril of possible side effects that companion medications.
"Culinary herbs and spices ar all more often than not recognized as safe and have been time-tested in the dieting," he aforementioned. "Indeed, some of spices and herbals are nowadays sold as food supplements because of their recognised health benefits."
Study joint author Phillip Greenspan, associate prof in the College of Pharmacy, noted that most people don't get their recommended little Phoebe to ball club servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Rather than seasoning their food with salt - which provides no beneficial phenols and has been joined to high blood pressure sensation - he recommends that people use of goods and services a variety of herbs and spices to help boost the nutritional quality of their meals.
"When you add herbs and spices to food, you definitely ply yourself with additional benefits besides gustatory sensation," Greenspan said.
University of Georgia
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Thursday 21 August 2008
Monday 11 August 2008
Walsh wins Scottish Fringe award
Irish playwright Enda Walsh has south Korean won the Fringe First prize for the second year in succession at the Edinburgh Festival.
The 'Disco Pigs' and 'Bedbound' writer, wHO won the award last year for his act 'The Walworth Farce', picked up the accolade this year for 'The New Electric Ballroom'.
The Druid Theatre production, currently running at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, stars Rosaleen Linehan.
Mary Cloake, Director of the Arts Council, said that the play's success: "...demonstrates once more that Ireland maintains the highest grade of external standards in theatre writing, production and performance."
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