by Winnie Martin

March 17, 2021 – Avocados are fruits known to protect heart health. The American Heart Association (AHA) wrote in 2015 that eating one avocado a day can slash low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol levels. However, a new study has shown that avocados can also help fight type 2 diabetes. According to the October 2019 study, a fat molecule found only in avocados is responsible for this health benefit. Canadian researchers have suggested that the avocatin B molecule helps address insulin resistance. This fat molecule from avocados also improves insulin sensitivity. For the study, the researchers gave mice highfat diets for a period of two months. Avocatin B was then administered to half of the subjects twice weekly for a five-week period. Subjects given avocatin B reported an improvement in glucose tolerance, glucose utilization and insulin sensitivity. In addition, the mice given the healthy fat molecule weighed sig nificantly less compared to those that did not. The researchers also conducted a clinical trial for avocatin B using human subjects. Based on the clinical trial results, human participants tolerated the fat molecule well. Participants following a Western diet that received avocatin B reported no side effects on their kidneys, liver or muscle. While human participants who took avocatin B had reported instances of weight loss, it was insufficient for scientists to deem it statistically significant. The clinical trials on human subjects demonstrated the safety of avocatin B. The researchers plan on carrying out clinical trials to scrutinize the effect of avocatin B on people with metabolic health conditions. How does avocatin B work? The cells create energy through tiny structures called mitochondria. The mitochondria convert fatty acids to energy in a process called fatty acid oxidation. Difficulties such as insulin resistance can occur if they struggle to burn fatty acids completely

A number of earlier studies have put forward that people with diabetes and obesity are more likely to have incomplete fatty acid oxidation. Avocatin B steps in by stopping incomplete fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscle. The molecule then increases glucose oxidation, reducing insulin resistance as a result. But the amount of avocatin B in avocados varies from fruit to fruit, and how the body extracts avocatin B from avocados remains unclear

by Evangelyn

Rodríguez Alliums are diseasefighting vegetables widely used as everyday food and traditional medicines. This incredible family of edible medicinal plants is composed of garlic, white and purple onions, leeks, chives, scallions and shallots. According to studies, alliums contain unique compounds called organosulfur compounds and natural antioxidants called polyphenols that are responsible for their disease-fighting activities. In a recent study, researchers at the Federal University of Technology by Evangelyn Rodríguez Alliums are diseasefighting vegetables widely used as everyday food and traditional medicines. This incredible family of edible medicinal plants is composed of garlic, white and purple onions, leeks, chives, scallions and shallots. According to studies, alliums contain unique compounds called organosulfur compounds and natural antioxidants called polyphenols that are responsible for their disease-fighting activities. In a recent study, researchers at the Federal University of Technology and purple onion show antioxidant, antidiabetic and antihypertensive properties Garlic and onions are spices commonly used in cooking. They also serve as ingredients in several traditional delicacies in Nigeria that are known to contain plenty of polyphenols. To assess the beneficial properties of garlic, white onion and pur

ple onion, the researchers first obtained extracts from each and assessed their inhibitory effects on certain enzymes. They also conducted assays to determine the antioxidant capacities of the extracts. ACE is the enzyme responsible for converting angiotensin I into angiotensin II, the hormone that increases blood pressure, as well as body water and sodium content. Angiotensin II elevates

blood pressure by constricting the blood vessels; hence, chemicals that can inhibit the activity of ACE, which is responsible for the production of angiotensin II, are used for the treatment of hypertension. a-Amylase is the enzyme that breaks down starch and glycogen into glucose and maltose (two glucose molecules bound together). In humans, this enzyme is produced by the salivary glands and the pancreas. a-Glucosidase, on the other hand, is responsible for breaking down carbohydrates in the small intestine and facilitating the absorption of glucose. Inhibiting the activity of this enzyme is one of the strategies currently used to prevent the rise of blood sugar levels following a carbohydrate-filled meal. The researchers reported that the garlic, purple onion and white onion extracts inhibited the activities of ACE, a-amylase and a-glucosidase in vitro in a concentrationdependent manner. At a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 0.59 mg / mL, the purple onion extract exhibited a higher inhibitory effect on ACE than the white onion extract (IC50 = 0.66 mg / mL) and the garlic (IC50 = 0.96 mg / mL) extract. Meanwhile, the white onion extract showed a significantly stronger inhibitory effect on a-amylase at an IC50 of 3.93 mg / mL than the garlic extract (IC50 = 8.19 mg / mL) and the purple onion (IC50 = 8.27 mg / mL) extract. The garlic extract, on the other hand, showed a similar inhibitory effect (IC50 = 4.50 mg / mL) on a-glucosidase as the white and purple onion extracts. All three extracts also showed dose-dependent free radical scavenging activity and reducing power in the antioxidant assays. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that garlic, white onion and purple onion can be used to treat or prevent diabetes and hypertension, thanks to their ability to inhibit ACE, a-amylase and a-glucosidase activity, as well as lipid peroxidation in the pancreas and the heart. (Natural News)

By Zachary Mack

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced government officials and business owners to go to great lengths to attempt to control the spread of the virus. And while face masks, hand washing, and social distancing have all proven to be highly effective in preventing the spread of the disease, other methods, it turns out, are more for show. This includes temperature checks—which, according to one doctor, actually “might be doing more harm than good,” thanks to the false sense of security they provide. While those foreheadscanning no-contact thermometers may be becoming a more common sight these days, they really only serve to put your mind dangerously at ease, James Hamblin, MD, writes for The Atlantic. “The practice is sort of like spraying down the sides of buildings, showering football players in hand sanitizer, or deep cleaning an office carpet,” Hamblin notes. “These things might make us feel safer, but they may not keep us safe if they actually cause us to let our guard down.” Temperature checks are the current standard for admission to anywhere from a school or an office building to a courthouse or boarding a flight. But, as Hamblin points out, there’s little evidence to support that they’re helpful in stopping the spread of COVID-19. That’s largely because symptoms can vary greatly from patient to patient, and many people infected with coronavirus may not actually have a fever. A recent paper published in the journal Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease found that temperature checks are particularly unreliable among a younger demographic. The researchers evaluated 84 men with COVID-19 with a median age of 21, taking their temperatures twice a day for two weeks starting on the day that each patient was diagnosed. With one exception, none of patients had a fever for longer than three days. In fact, 83 percent of the patients evaluated never even developed a fever at all. Even widening the demographics, it’s been proven that a fever is not always a symptom among COVID-19 patients. A July study in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report revealed that 20 percent of 164 symptomatic COVID-19 patients, whose median age was 50, did not have a fever. Other experts take issue with the fact that an elevated temperature may not be the result of coronavirus. A long list of health issues— including everything from the flu and food poisoning to Crohn’s disease and sunburn—could be the cause, meaning that temperature checks could very well put out people who don’t have COVID-19, Bruce Y. Lee, MD, wrote for Forbes. These factors have led to a debate as to whether the now-common temperature check does what it’s intended to do. “There’s never been any data to show that it’s prevented any transmissions [of COVID-19],” Eric Topol, MD, executive vice president of Scripps Research, told Popular Science. “The temperature check is of no value. It should be abandoned.” Hamblin agrees, writing: “If people are reassured by a fever check and compromise on the basics— wearing a mask, distancing, hand-washing—they put themselves and others at risk. This test has no ability to reassure people, but a real ability to mislead.” Even the CDC, which doesn’t outright dissuade business owners from using temperature checks, contends that they do not provide sufficient protection. Their general guidelines warn that “screening and health checks are not a replacement for other protective measures such as social distancing.” And for more on why your experience with coronavirus may be different from others, check out Dr. Fauci Says This May Already Be Keeping You Safe From COVID.