Vitamin D omega 3 may help clear amyloid plaques found in Alzheimers

A team of academic researchers has pinpointed how vitamin D3 and omega-3 fatty acids may enhance the immune systems ability to clear the brain of amyloid plaques, one of the hallmarks of Alzheimers disease.

In a small pilot study published in the Feb. 5 issue of the Journal of Alzheimers Disease, the scientists identified key genes and signaling networks regulated by vitamin D3 and the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) that may help control inflammation and improve plaque clearance.

Previous laboratory work by the team helped clarify key mechanisms involved in helping vitamin D3 clear amyloid-beta, the abnormal protein found in the plaque. The new study extends the previous findings with vitamin D3 and highlights the role of omega-3 DHA.

"Our new study sheds further light on a possible role for nutritional substances such as vitamin D3 and omega-3 in boosting immunity to help fight Alzheimers," said study author Dr. Milan Fiala, a researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

For the study, scientists drew blood samples from both Alzheimers patients and healthy controls, then isolated critical immune cells called macrophages from the blood. Macrophages are responsible for gobbling up amyloid-beta and other waste products in the brain and body.

The team incubated the immune cells overnight with amyloid-beta. They added either an active form of vitamin D3 called 1alpha,25–dihydroxyvitamin D3 or an active form of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA called resolvin D1 to some of the cells to gauge the effect they had on inflammation and amyloid-beta absorption.

Both 1alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and resolvin D1 improved the ability of the Alzheimers disease patients macrophages to gobble-up amyloid-beta, and they inhibited the cell death that is induced by amyloid-beta. Researchers observed that each nutrition molecule utilized different receptors and common signaling pathways to do this.

Previous work by the team, based on the function of Alzheimers patients macrophages, showed that there are two groups of patients and macrophages. In the current study, researchers found that the macrophages of the Alzheimers patients differentially expressed inflammatory genes, compared with the healthy controls, and that two distinct transcription patterns were found that further define the two groups: Group 1 had an increased transcription of inflammatory genes, while Group 2 had decreased transcription. Transcription is the first step leading to gene expression.

"Further study may help us identify if these two distinct transcription patterns of inflammatory genes could possibly distinguish either two stages or two types of Alzheimers disease," said study author Mathew Mizwicki, an assistant researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

While researchers found that 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and resolvin D1 greatly improved the clearance of amyloid-beta by macrophages in patients in both groups, they discovered subtleties in the effects the two substances had on the expression of inflammatory genes in the two groups. In Group 1, the increased-inflammation group, macrophages showed a decrease of inflammatory activation; in Group 2, macrophages showed an increase of the inflammatory genes IL1 and TLRs when either 1alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 or resolvin D1 were added.

More study is needed, Fiala said, but these differences could be associated with the severity of patients nutritional and/or metabolic deficiencies of vitamin D3 and DHA, as well as the omega-3 fatty acid EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid).

"We may find that we need to caully balance the supplementation with vitamin D3 and omega-3 fatty acids, depending on each patient in order to help promote efficient clearing of amyloid-beta," Fiala said. "This is a first step in understanding what form and in which patients these nutrition substances might work best."

According to Fiala, an active (not oxidized) form of omega-3 DHA, which is the precursor of the resolvin D1 used in this study, may work better than more commercially available forms of DHA, which generally are not protected against the oxidation that can render a molecule inactive.

The next step is a larger study to help confirm the findings, as well as a clinical trial with omega-3 DHA, the researchers said.

Little Known Secret How Traffic Lights Can Help You Maintain Your Weight

No I dont want you to go and stare at a set of traffic light you will be relieved to hear.Let me explain, all too often when we are in the process of losing weight and keeping it off we unintentionally sabotage ourselves by getting caught up in a dieters mind-set.I have a technique for you to integrate into your weight loss efforts that I think will really help you.Lets say for arguments sake that you have lost X number of pounds and you now weigh 150lbs (insert your weight) and are considering taking a well-deserved break.

This is when dieters mind-set rears its ugly head and can very easily undo all your good work, but not if you know how to work with it instead of against it.The conversation inside your head normally goes as follows, "I have to stay at exactly 150lbs" not a pound more not a pound less"... sound familiar.

This mentality will absolutely guarantee that two things will happen next, the first is that you will be constantly miserable as you are giving yourself a task that will need superhuman effort to maintain.

The second thing to happen is that your weight will creep up a pound or two and you will start accusing yourself of being weak willed, a failure, or any of your other favourite put downs you use on yourself, all because your expectation exceeded reality.

What about a new way of thinking with the method I shall now explain.

We all know how traffic lights work dont we? Red amber green, you know the drill, so lets say as before your weight is 150lbs, well that would put you in the green zone and you can afford to put on a pound or so without any undue concern.

If you put on two pounds you are now in the amber zone and it is time to formulate a plan to lose that weight, if you put on three pounds then you are in the red zone and it is now time to put that plan into action and stick with it until you are back in the green zone, which should only take a week or two at most.

Such an easier way of looking at things dont you think?

No beating yourself up, no feeling like a failure, just you making a choice of thinking a new way instead of trying and failing to stick to a rigid all or nothing plan.

I use this plan myself and it has helped me first to take off 60lbs and then to maintain it, this plan allows me to have occasional treats and rewards because I know I have a three-pound window to play about with,.if you want to lose weight and keep it off permanently then youre thinking has to change from what you have done in the past.

5 Herbs To Help You Lose Weight

Are you exercising and eating right, but not seeing weight loss results? You may need a natural boost with herbs!

Feeling hungry all the time and having an insatiable appetite are two of the biggest challenges to losing weight. If this sounds like you, youre in luck.
Herbs for weight loss are appetite suppressants because they trick the body into thinking its full. Other herbs help the body process food efficiently, resulting in more energy to burn more calories. With these two herbal effects, you are setting yourself up for the best way to burn excess fat.

Classification of Herbs – How They Help Burn Excess Fat
Herbs, that enhance weight loss, restore the body to its most natural state. These herbs act by flushing toxins out your body that slow down fat burn. They also help you consume less, so the body doesn’t have to work as hard to process vitamins and nutrients out of what food you do eat. The following are the four classifications of herbs for weight loss:

Diuretics
These types of herbs help you excrete excess water that your body does not need. During this excretion, you rid your body of toxins that slow down bodily functions.

Cathartics
Restores gastrointestinal balance. Regular bowel movements help you consume fewer calories because your body is better able to digest the food you eat.

Stimulants
Fatigue can slow you down physically inside and outside of your body. A lack of energy keeps you from exercising and slows down bodily functions, which both result in less calorie burn. Stimulant herbs boost up the energy to speed up bodily functions, giving you more motivation to work out and burn more calories.

Appetite Suppressants
This herb helps emotional eaters, cravers and insatiable appetites by:

Boosting mood
Increasing satisfaction
Expanding in the stomach to leave less room for food

Reach Your Weight Loss Goal with These Herbs:
Green Tea
Green tea raises metabolic rates and boosts fat oxidation, according to Dr. Abdul Dulloo, of the University of Geneva in Switzerland[3]. One of his studies found that green tea extract with caffeine produced more energy than just caffeine. What does this mean for you? Green tea can help your body use fat efficiently by increasing your metabolic rate to give you enough energy to make it through the day or exercise (to burn even more fat).

Guar Gum
Guar Gum will help you feel full faster and reduce hunger. It’s also a laxative, so what you do eat will be used by your body and then excreted as soon as your body is done with it.

Flax Seed
If you’re looking for an herb with vitamins, phytonutrients, protein and fiber, you have found it! This is great herbal remedy for cravings and appetite control. When ingested, this herb will expand as much as five times. That means, if you take it 30 minutes before you eat, you’ll already be on your way to feeling full.

Gymnema Sylvestre
Calling all sugar addicts! This will be your key to weight loss by stopping your sweets cravings. This herb is great for pancreas health and functioning. It will help your body maintain blood sugar levels so that you don’t have drastic level changes, which can cause cravings.

Fennel
If you’re looking for a diuretic that expels water weight, and also improves energy and decreases appetite, fennel is your herb. You can take it in pill form or as a tea, just be careful to take it as directed, as it can be toxic.

Check with Your Medical Doctor
While herbal remedies are relatively safe, it’s important to consult your physician to discuss starting an herbal regimen. Herbs can have serious side effects and can have drug interactions with other herbs and prescription drugs.

Black Tea Benefits Help Overcome Hypertension

Black Tea Benefits Help Overcome Hypertension - This is good news for tea lovers. A latest study conducted by researchers from Australia found that those who regularly drank black tea every day, will probably get little benefit in lowering high blood pressure (hypertension).

Although researchers can not identify the specific components of tea that play a role in lowering blood pressure, the researchers suspect that flavonoids, which are found in tea, have a vital function in preventing hypertension.

As published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the researchers took 95 volunteers randomly from Australia who have normal blood pressure. Volunteers then divided into two groups. One group of black tea and other drinks with the same flavor and aroma with caffeine content.

Before starting the test, the volunteers blood pressure was measured first, which is about 121/72 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Blood pressure is normal when a person is less than 120/80 mm Hg. Meanwhile, if a persons blood pressure reaches 140/90 mm Hg or more, then it came under the category of hypertension.

After that, the researchers assigned to each group to drink black tea three times daily for six months. After six months, participants who drank black tea decreased systolic blood pressure by 2 mm Hg and their diastolic blood pressure also decreased by approximately 2 mm Hg.

Despite a decrease in blood pressure, researchers believe that the decline was not significant enough to bring someone out of danger zone associated with hypertension.

"The message is not true if one only relies on a continuous black tea," said Jonathan Hodgson, principal investigator of the University of Western Australia.

"There are small changes. This is not the same if you take blood pressure lowering drugs," continued Dr. Joseph Vita of Boston University, who was not involved with the study.

Chewing 8 Minutes Help You Lose Weight

You may need to chew food like gum a few minutes before a big meal to help lose weight. Recent research states that the act of chewing can reduce the amount of food you should eat to feel full.
A team from Wageningen University and Switzerlands Nestle Research Center in the Netherlands conducted a study of 26 people who received the pump tube through the nose and throat to determine the amount of food in the stomach.
Study participants were then asked to chew the food for a minute or 8 minute without swallowing. Thirty minutes later, each participant was asked to eat and the researchers looked at how much food is consumed through tubes have been installed earlier.
The results showed that people who had been chewing up eight minutes before a big meal, eat 19 percent less than those who chewed just a minute.
This happens when you chew your food in a long time, oral sensors provide stimulation to the brain so that the brain think that you have been eating and help quell hunger.
Although the body is not absorbing any one macronutrient of food, chewing has triggered a physiological response which makes you feel full.
 But chewing food for too long can cause a bad taste in the mouth, so maybe you need to chew gum half an hour before dinner to get the same benefits.
Here is another way that is supported by science so that you feel full without having to eat large servings:
1. Choosing the right scoopPeople who eat a smaller spoon eating 21 percent less than people who eat a larger spoon, according to a study from the University of Utah. This can slow down eating and slowly increase satiety.
2. Presenting desserts in a smaller plateThe team of researchers from Cornell University found that people will eat ice cream 31 percent more if served in a large bowl. People tend to spend a dessert without knowing he is full or not.
3. Eating interspersed drinkingDrinking water between mouthfuls of food can slow down eating and increase satiety. Every time feeding food, chew slowly, put your spoon for a moment, and drink for the delay. Eating too fast can make the brain responds to satiety and tend to overeat.