Showing posts with label anti-bacterial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anti-bacterial. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Could Eating This Simple Black Seed Prevent Alzheimer's Disease?

A new study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology reveals that the seeds of Nigella sativa, commonly known as "black seed," may provide an ideal nutritional supplement for preventing or slowing the progression of Alzheimer disease.[1]
Researchers divided forty elderly volunteers into a treatment group receiving 500 mg capsules of Nigella Sativia twice daily for nine weeks and a placebo group.  Subjects were assessed for neuropsychological state and safety profile twice before treatment and after nine weeks. The trial resulted in significant improvements in memory, attention and cognition without any measurable changes in any biochemical markers of cardiac, liver, or kidney function during the nine-week study period.

The researchers also noted that beyond its neuroprotective properties Nigella Sativa also has kidney protective, lung protective, cardioprotective and liver protective properties.
It is remarkable that a thousand years ago the Persian scholar Ibn Sīnā described Nigella sativia in his Canon of Medicine for their enlivening and tonifying effects as follows:  'it stimulates the body's energy and helps recovery from fatigue and dispiritedness.  It appears that science is only now catching up to the wisdom of the ancients, which in the case of Black Seed, was known as  'The Remedy for Everything But Death.'
Our own review of the scientific literature on the US National Library of Medicine reveals this remarkable seed's experimentally confirmed benefits articulated through 20 distinct physiological actions:
  •        Analgesic (Pain-Killing)
  •        Anti-Bacterial
  •        Anti-Inflammatory
  •        Anti-Ulcer
  •        Anti-Cholinergic
  •        Anti-Fungal
  •        Ant-Hypertensive
  •        Antioxidant
  •        Antispasmodic
  •        Antiviral
  •        Bronchodilator
  •        Gluconeogenesis Inhibitor (Anti-Diabetic)        
  •        Hepatoprotective (Liver Protecting)
  •        Hypotensive
  •        Insulin Sensitizing
  •        Interferon Inducer
  •        Leukotriene Antagonist
  •        Renoprotective (Kidney Protecting)
  •        Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Inhibitor
Black seed, like turmeric, ginger, pepper, oregano, and cinnamon, is commonly used as both a food and medicine in traditional cultures.  As research continues to accumulate confirming ancient dietary compounds in preventing and treating disease, a genuine paradigm shift within conventional medicine is imminent.  When safe, affordable and easily accessible spices, herbs and food concentrates produce therapeutic effects often superior to the drugs, we are increasingly encouraged to look to the farm before the pharmacy.
[1] Muhammad Shahdaat Bin Sayeed, Md Asaduzzaman, Helal Morshed, Md Monir Hossain, Mohammad Fahim Kadir, Md Rezowanur Rahman. The effect of Nigella sativa Linn. seed on memory, attention and cognition in healthy human volunteers. J Ethnopharmacol. 2013 Jul 30 ;148(3):780-6. Epub 2013 May 21. PMID:23707331
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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Pomegranate: How To Clean Your Arteries With One Simple Fruit

The future of cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment will not be found in your medicine cabinet, rather in your kitchen cupboard or in your back yard growing on a tree.
Pomegranate Found To Prevent Coronary Artery Disease Progression
A new study published in the journal Atherosclerosis confirms that pomegranate extract may prevent and/or reverse the primary pathology associated with cardiac mortality: the progressive thickening of the coronary arteries caused by the accumulation of fatty materials known as atherosclerosis.[i]
Mice with a genetic susceptibility towards spontaneous coronary artery blockages were given pomegranate extract via their drinking water for two weeks, beginning at three weeks of age. Despite the fact that pomegranate treatment actually increased cholesterol levels associated with very low density lipoprotein-sized particles, the treatment both reduced the size of the atherosclerotic plaques in the aortic sinus (the dilated opening above the aortic valve) and reduced the proportion of coronary arteries with occlusive atherosclerotic plaques.
Remarkably, the researchers also found that pomegranate extract treatment resulted in the following beneficial effects:
  • Reduced levels of oxidative stress
  • Reduced monocytie chemotactic protein-1, a chemical messenger (chemokine) associated with inflammatory processes within the arteries.  
  • Reduced lipid accumulation in the heart muscle
  • Reduced macrophage infiltration in the heart muscle
  • Reduced levels of monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and fibrosis in the myocardium
  • Reduced cardiac enlargement
  • Reduced ECG abnormalities
How can something as benign and commonplace as a fruit extract reverse so many aspects of coronary artery disease, simultaneously, as evidenced by the study above?  The answer may lie in the fact that our ancestors co-evolved with certain foods (fruits in particular) for so long that a lack of adequate quantities of these foods may directly result in deteriorating organ function.  Indeed, two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling argued that vitamin C deficiency is a fundamental cause of cardiovascular disease, owing to the fact that our hominid primate ancestors once had year-round access to fruits, and as a result lost the ability to synthesize it. 

Discussion

This study adds to the already extant body of clinical research indicating that pomegranate can help unclog your arteries.  For instance, back in 2004, the journal Clinical Nutrition published the results of a three year clinical trial in an Israeli population, finding that the daily consumption of pomegranate juice reversed carotid artery stenosis by up to 29% within 1 year.  Remarkably, the blockages in the control group increased 9%, indicating that pomegranate's artery unblocking effects were even greater than at first apparent. [ii]
Pomegranate's value in cardiovascular disease is quite broad, as evidenced by the following experimentally confirmed properties:
  • Anti-inflammatory: Like many chronic degenerative diseases, inflammation plays a significant role in cardiovascular disease pathogenesis. There are five studies on GreenMedInfo.com indicating pomegranate's anti-inflammatory properties.[iii]
  • Blood-Pressure Lowering: Pomegranate juice has natural angiotensin converting enzyme inhibiting properties, [iv] and is a nitric oxide enhancer, two well-known pathways for reducing blood pressure. [v] Finally, pomegranate extract rich in punicalagin has been found reduce the adverse effects of perturbed stress on arterial segments exposed to disturbed flow.[vi]
  • Anti-Infective: Plaque buildup in the arteries often involves secondary viral and bacterial infection, including hepatitis C and Chlamydia pneumoniae.[vii] Pomegranate has a broad range of anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.
  • Antioxidant: One of the ways in which blood lipids become heart disease-promoting (atherogenic) is through oxidation. LDL, for instance, may be technically 'elevated' but harmless as long as it does not readily oxidize. Pomegranate has been found to reduce the oxidative stress in the blood, as measured by serum paraoxonase levels.  One study in mice found this decrease in oxidative stress was associated with 44% reduction in the size of atherosclerotic lesions. [viii]
For additional research on pomegranate's heart friendly properties read our article: Research: Pomegranate May Reverse Blocked Arteries
Also, view our dedicated research section on reversing arterial plaque: Clogged Arteries

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