ABOUT SEAWEED AND HAIR GROWTH

Posted on Aug 16, 2013 on LIVESTRONG.COM by Yangok Chu
http://www.livestrong.com/article/279409-about-seaweed-and-hair-growth/


Photo Credit hair image by Dubravko Grakalic from Fotolia.com

Accelerated hair loss is daunting, with very little prospect of reversing. It comes with unwanted social stigma, which can affect the quality of your life. To date, prevention is the best option for keeping and regenerating your hair. Among preventative measures, studies have shown the benefits of marine algae, also known as seaweed, for hair growth and maintenance. Adding seaweed to your diet may help in restoring and growing your hair.

CAUSE OF HAIR LOSS
According to the Mayo Clinic, there is no one specific disorder or state that leads to hair loss. Factors such as hormonal changes, medications, poor nutrition, irritation and damage from hair treatments can all contribute to unwanted loss. On average, losing 50-100 hairs per day is considered normal. Moreover, hair grows in cycles, in states of rest and growth, but when the “rate of shedding exceeds the rate of growth,” thinning and baldness may ensue.

TRADITIONAL USE OF SEAWEED
Though seaweed consumption is fairly new to the West, seaweed has been a part of the Asian diet for centuries. Asians use seaweed in soups, salads and other dishes as a nutritious low-calorie food. In the West, the food industry has traditionally used seaweeds for their polysaccharide extractives —alginate, carrageenan and agar, according to “Trends in Food Science in Technology.” However, in recent decades, seaweed has been introduced as a major whole-food ingredient.

BENEFITS OF SEAWEED
According to “Nutrition Reviews,” seaweeds have higher levels of minerals such as calcium than terrestrial vegetation and contain essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6. Many seaweeds get direct sunlight, making them rich in antioxidants; vitamins A, B, C and E, and protective pigments. In addtion, some seaweeds, such as nori, are high in protein, while brown seaweeds contain chlorophyll for photosynthesis. Iodine, iron, phosphorous, potassium, manganese, porphyran, copper, and zinc are also found in seaweeds. Jacqueline Renfrow, author of “Health Solutions From the Sea,” notes that the alginates in seaweeds have detoxifying agents that can help to eliminate toxins and heavy metals.

SEAWEED FOR HAIR GROWTH
Seaweed alone contains many of the necessary vitamins and minerals needed for hair growth. For instance, according to “Alive: Canadian Journal of Health & Nutrition,” omega-3 fatty acids feed hair follicles to stimulate growth, and iron and zinc maintain hair production. Zinc deficiency leads to hair shedding. Moreover, vitamins A and C are also needed to produce sebum, which acts as a natural hair conditioner; vitamins B and E help maintain healthy hair. Calcium, rich in seaweed, is another vital mineral in hair production. Finally, detoxifying the body can promote healthier hair growth.

SOME EDIBLE SEAWEEDS
Nori is what you find wrapped around your sushi rolls. It comes in dried square sheets. Dulse is a salty red alga and has a bark-like structure. Hijiki looks like dried dark stems, and sea lettuce is a bright green alga that looks much like terrestrial lettuce. It is known for its strong seafood taste and smell. Finally, kelp is the seaweed that typically washes up on shores and is best for raw recipes. However, all these forms are suitable in soups, salads or side-dishes.

REFERENCES
“Trends in Food Science & Technology”: Seaweed in Food Products: Biochemical and Nutritional Aspects; Serge Mabeaua and Joël Fleurence; April 1993 MayoClinic.com: Hair loss: Causes Ocean Vegetables.com: A Beginner’s Guide to Edible Seaweed “Nutrition Reviews”: Nutritional Value of Edible Seaweeds; Paul MacArtain PhD, Christopher I.R. Gill PhD, Mariel Brooks PhD, Ross Campbell, Ian R. Rowland PhD “Better Nutrition”; Health Solutions from the Sea; Jacqueline R. Renfrow; November 2007

Article reviewed by GlennK Last updated on: Aug 16, 2013

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Source: LIVESTRONG.COM
http://www.livestrong.com/article/279409-about-seaweed-and-hair-growth/

WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF SEAWEED?

Posted on Sep.20, 2013 on LIVESTRONG.COM by Nadia Haris
http://www.livestrong.com/article/18578-health-benefits-eating-seaweed/


Photo Credit Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images

Seaweed may look like slimy spinach, but this dense green or brown sea vegetable is high in nutrients and packs a variety of health benefits. These include digestive health, cholesterol-lowering effects and weight loss. Get your daily dose of a number of essential minerals and vitamins with only a small amount of seaweed such as nori, kelp or kombu.

DIETARY FIBER
Alginate, the natural fiber found in some types of seaweed such as kelp, might help digestion and reduce fat absorption. A study led by scientists Dr. Iain Brownlee and Professor Jeff Pearson at Newcastle University found that eating seaweed reduced fat digestion by more than 75 percent. Fiber also helps you to feel full faster and prevents overeating. These findings indicate that adding seaweed to your diet could help you lose weight and lower unhealthy cholesterol levels in the blood.

ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS
Like other vegetables, seaweed contains essential minerals and vitamins you need to get in a healthy, balanced diet. According to the site Best Health, only a gram of seaweed provides your daily dose of iodine, a mineral that is critical for healthy thyroid function. Additionally, a type of brown seaweed called kombu contains the pigment fucoxanthin, which may help your body metabolize fats for energy. Best Health also reports that a serving of seaweed is loaded with more calcium than broccoli and is almost as rich in proteins as legumes. Other nutrients in seaweed include vitamin B-12 and vitamin A.

HEART-HEALTHY FATS
Your body requires healthy fats as an essential part of a balanced diet. Seaweed provides heart-healthy fats called omega-3 fatty acids. The Dr. Oz Show website notes that a sheet of nori seaweed contains the same amount of omega-3 fatty acids as two avocados. This type of fat helps to raise healthy HDL cholesterol levels, while lowering harmful LDL cholesterol levels. Omega-3 fatty acids also help reduce inflammation in the body.

ADD SEWWEED TO YOUR DIET
There are several ways to add seaweed to your regular diet. Flattened nori seaweed sheets are used to roll sushi. You can add them to a wrap or tuck them inside a sandwich or cut them into strips and toss into a salad or soup. Purchase dried brown or green kelp seaweed strips and add them to breads, pizzas, potatoes, pastas, casseroles, stews and soups. Or make seaweed chips by drizzling olive oil onto fresh seaweed pieces and baking until crisp.

REFERENCES
Marine Medicinal Foods: Implications and Applications, Macro and Microalgae; Se-Kwon Kim Newcastle University: Seaweed to Tackle Rising Tide of Obesity Best Health: Why You Should Eat More Seaweed

Article reviewed by Anton Alden Last updated on: Sep 20, 2013
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Seaweed is a low-calorie food and contains lots of good nutrients that I highly recommend you to take daily.

Source: LIVESTRONG.COM
http://www.livestrong.com/article/18578-health-benefits-eating-seaweed/

10 Tips for Breast Cancer Prevention

https://www.fhcrc.org/en/diseases/breast-cancer/tips-prevention.html

 1. Avoid becoming overweight. Obesity raises the risk of breast cancer after menopause, the time of life when breast cancer most often occurs. Avoid gaining weight over time, and try to maintain a body-mass index under 25 (calculators can be found online).

2. Eat healthy to avoid tipping the scale. Embrace a diet high in vegetables and fruit and low in sugared drinks, refined carbohydrates and fatty foods. Eat lean protein such as fish or chicken breast and eat red meat in moderation, if at all. Eat whole grains. Choose vegetable oils over animal fats.

3. Keep physically active. Research suggests that increased physical activity, even when begun later in life, reduces overall breast-cancer risk by about 10 percent to 30 percent. All it takes is moderate exercise like a 30-minute walk five days a week to get this protective effect.

4. Drink little or no alcohol. Alcohol use is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Women should limit intake to no more than one drink per day, regardless of the type of alcohol.

5. Avoid hormone replacement therapy. Menopausal hormone therapy increases risk for breast cancer. If you must take hormones to manage menopausal symptoms, avoid those that contain progesterone and limit their use to less than three years. “Bioidentical hormones” and hormonal creams and gels are no safer than prescription hormones and should also be avoided.

6. Consider taking an estrogen-blocking drug. Women with a family history of breast cancer or who are over age 60 should talk to their doctor about the pros and cons of estrogen-blocking drugs such as tamoxifen and raloxifene.

7. Consider taking the aromatase inhibitor exemestane. The results of a study released earlier this year showed that the drug exemestane reduced the risk of breast cancer by 65 percent in high-risk, postmenopausal women. Talk to your doctor about whether this may benefit you.

8. Don’t smoke. Research suggests that long-term smoking is associated with increased risk of breast cancer in some women.

9. Breast-feed your babies for as long as possible. Women who breast-feed their babies for at least a year in total have a reduced risk of developing breast cancer later.

10. Get fit and support breast cancer research at the same time. Regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. Ascend some of the world’s most breathtaking peaks while raising vital funds for and awareness of breast cancer research by participating in the Hutchinson Center’s annual Climb to Fight Breast Cancer.

Resource: https://www.fhcrc.org/en/diseases/breast-cancer/tips-prevention.html

New research on potential avocado health benefits presented at International Congress of Nutrition

Released on EurekAlert! On September 18, 2013 http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-09/fl-nro091813.php

Loma Linda University research explores the effects of avocado intake on satiety, glucose and insulin levels in healthy overweight adults

Wednesday, September 18, 2013 [Granada, Spain] – New research findings on avocado consumption, presented as two posters at the IUNS 20th International Congress of Nutrition, in Granada, Spain suggest that although calorie consumption at dinner was unchanged, inclusion or addition of fresh Hass Avocado to a meal may help to reduce hunger and the desire to eat in overweight adults. Results also showed that including or adding avocado to a meal resulted in smaller post-meal rises in insulin compared to eating a meal without avocado.

Findings were based on a Hass Avocado Board (HAB) supported clinical study conducted by researchers at Loma Linda University that investigated the effects of incorporating fresh Hass Avocado into a lunch meal—either by replacing other foods or by simply adding it to the meal—on satiety, blood sugar and insulin response, and subsequent food intake. The posters “Effect of Hass Avocado Intake on Post-Ingestive Satiety and Subsequent Energy Intake in Healthy Overweight Adults” and “Effect of Hass Avocado Intake on Post-Ingestive Glucose and Insulin Levels in Healthy Overweight Adults,” were presented by Michelle Wien, DrPH, RD, and Ella Haddad, MD, respectively.

“While more studies are needed, this research provides promising clues and a basis for future research to determine avocados’ effect on satiety, glucose and blood insulin response,” said Nikki Ford, Nutrition Director, HAB. “This research will contribute to a deeper knowledge on Hass avocados’ potential positive role in weight management and diabetes.”

“The Hass Avocado Board made an investment in 2010 to increase awareness and improve understanding of the unique positive benefits of fresh avocados to nutrition and human health,” said Emiliano Escobedo, Executive Director, HAB. “Currently, HAB is supporting seven clinical trials to investigate the relationship between avocado consumption and risk factors for cardiovascular disease, avocados’ potential positive role in weight management and diabetes, and avocados’ ability to enhance nutrient absorption.”
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Original Article released:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-09/fl-nro091813.php

Link Cited on: LINK de DIET
http://www.nutritio.net/linkdediet/news/FMPro?-db=NEWS.fp5&-Format=detail.htm&kibanID=41679&-lay=lay&-Find

Autumn Sky

Autumn season has begun and it is so comfortable to stay outside. As we feel the wind cool, we realize that the color of the nature surrounding us has started to change. Dn’t you feel so? Unlike the evident color changes of tinted autumnal leaves, autumn sky displays seasonal color which gradually fades.

During summer, Pacific anticyclone covers the entire sky over Japan, but as summer is over, wind direction turns over and it lets continental anticyclone take over the position. Because the amount of moisture in the air of continental anticyclone is much less, autumn sky looks clearer. We can also enjoy the different shapes of the clouds in autumn sky, which are affected by the amount of moisture in the air and the direction of the wind.


[PHOTO FROM WIKIPEDIA]
Cirrus clouds like bird feathers.


[PHOTO FROM WIKIPEDIA]
Rows of cirrocumulus clouds spread all over the sky.


[PHOTO FROM WIKIPEDIA]
Iridescent clouds: diffraction of sunshine creates a phenomenon that colors appear on the clouds. This is very rare and if you could happen to see it, you must be very lucky.

Summer is now over and we do not have to hide our body away from the strong sunshine. Why don’t we go outside and look up the beautiful autumn sky?