I have been wondering how many people believe super foods can prevent or cure disease. Do you think there are super foods out there?
John Bobbin BNat

Hi Healthcastle33,
I suppose it depends on what you consider to be the definition of "Super Food", but if you believe a food only has to demonstrate a powerful tendency towards prevention then I think a lot of foods qualify. Actually a lot of them have been mentioned on this excellent forum, such as Gloria's article on Pomegranates (Dec 2005).
What about red wine and the "French Paradox"

Tomatoes ?

http://www.rps.psu.edu/probing/lycopene.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1080333.stm
Cruciferous vegetables?

http://www.newstarget.com/020444.html
These are just a few that may lay claim to this title.

Does fish qualify as a super food???????

Hi Readers,
Is Garlic a super food?????????



BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES / BIOCHEMISTRY
Hydrogen sulfide mediates the vasoactivity of garlic

Gloria A. Benavides*,{dagger}, Giuseppe L. Squadrito*,{dagger}, Robert W. Mills*, Hetal D. Patel{ddagger}, T. Scott Isbell{dagger},§, Rakesh P. Patel{dagger},§, Victor M. Darley-Usmar{dagger},§, Jeannette E. Doeller*,{dagger}, and David W. Kraus*,{dagger},{ddagger},¶

Departments of *Environmental Health Sciences, {ddagger}Biology, and §Pathology and {dagger}Center for Free Radical Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
Edited by Solomon H. Snyder, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, and approved September 12, 2007

Received for publication June 18, 2007.

Abstract: The consumption of garlic is inversely correlated with the progression of cardiovascular disease, although the responsible mechanisms remain unclear. Here we show that human RBCs convert garlic-derived organic polysulfides into hydrogen sulfide (H2S), an endogenous cardioprotective vascular cell signaling molecule. This H2S production, measured in real time by a novel polarographic H2S sensor, is supported by glucose-maintained cytosolic glutathione levels and is to a large extent reliant on reduced thiols in or on the RBC membrane. H2S production from organic polysulfides is facilitated by allyl substituents and by increasing numbers of tethering sulfur atoms. Allyl-substituted polysulfides undergo nucleophilic substitution at the {alpha} carbon of the allyl substituent, thereby forming a hydropolysulfide (RSnH), a key intermediate during the formation of H2S. Organic polysulfides (R-Sn-R'; n > 2) also undergo nucleophilic substitution at a sulfur atom, yielding RSnH and H2S. Intact aorta rings, under physiologically relevant oxygen levels, also metabolize garlic-derived organic polysulfides to liberate H2S. The vasoactivity of garlic compounds is synchronous with H2S production, and their potency to mediate relaxation increases with H2S yield, strongly supporting our hypothesis that H2S mediates the vasoactivity of garlic. Our results also suggest that the capacity to produce H2S can be used to standardize garlic dietary supplements.

Key Words: Allium • aorta • polysulfides • red blood cells • vasorelaxati

Hi Readers,
Is "Bitter Melon" a super food?

Bitter melon has been used by Asian people for centuries and is a popular medicine in Chinese Medicine for diabetes mellitus 2 and has been for a long time, Bitter Melon was described in a compendium for Chinese Medicine in the 16th century.
Last night I was watching the news when an announcement came on for a break through discovery for mellitus 2 using Bitter Melon. The Garvan Institute has taken out a patent on using the chemicals they believe to be the active ones even before trials are completed, this is like Sir Edmund Hillary sticking a flag on Everest before starting the climb. Using imaging they showed what happened to the muscles after taking the active ingredient, and seriously it looked like an explosion taking place within the muscles, it activated the glucose metabolism so much.
When Bitter Melon is used for diabetes it has no side effects the Professor said.

The ACAI Berry is called A Super Food. Not only A Super Food, but the Best Super Food in a book called (The Perricone Promise). It comes from the Amazon and packs a serious punch. The only problem is it comes in so many forms. The best I have found is in Monavie the way they harvest and freeze dry the Berry keeps it very potent. Do some reserch on the product and either contact me here or email if your intrested in the product. JonathanSherman@bellsouth.net

Hi Readers,
Some-one does not like monavie look at this.





Monavie Scam - What Is The Truth?
By Vern How Chan Platinum Quality Author
Vern How Chan
Vern How Chan
Level: Platinum

Vern is a professional affiliate marketer who ventured online since June 2006. He got fed up with having only one income stream , went out ...
"MonaVie Success Secrets"
Your MonaVie Upline Won't Like What I'm About To Share With You!








MonaVie Warning
Secrets About MonaVie Your Upline Doesn't Want You To Know!

What's Got Monavie So Nervous? Find out what all the Buzz is about

Find Out the Shocking Truth In the Online Investigation
www.HomeBasedBizReviews.com
Rich Scam Jerk
14 Facts You Don't Know About The Jerk And His Program. But Should!
LegitimateBusinessReviews.com/jerk
MonaVie Warning
Hidden Secrets Monavie Won't Tell What Top 3% Mlmers Previously Knew

With the recent increase of baby boomers interests in wellness products, this has brought about a great deal of timely marketing ideas bursting into the economy. You should be seeing hundreds of 'health' juice drinks around the globe. The latest phenomenon is the MonaVie scam.

We will discover the truth behind the MonaVie scam. With the help of some known facts you will also be able to take an insider look. Instead of boring you with some 'fatty' information we will dive straight into the heart of the matter and surface the 'meat' of the MonaVie scam.

Founding MonaVie

If you have not done your homework about the MonaVie scam yet it is fine. Here is how MovaVie actually started. MonaVie was founded by a gentleman named Daillin Larsen. Daillin had come from a 17 year experience on direct selling and wanted to share the açai berry's health benefits with people.

Instead of just creating a product with the açai berry, Daillin has his team of scientists identify 19 fruits to be included in the MonaVie product drink. That is your great summary to the well known MonaVie drink. Since then, it has evolved into the MonaVie Active formula drink.

Before The MonaVie Scam And The System

Just don't judge the MonaVie scam to be valid too quickly because it was not this way in the beginning. You should do some good research on more about the company before drawing your own conclusion.

Like all typical multi level marketing systems your guess is a correct about it's selling propositions. You are normally encouraged to become Independent Distributors if you purchase MonaVie's products. You profit by bringing in more distributors and get a percentage of every sale made by your down line.

It is correct to say that you will be working in a network marketing based system where "leveraging on others" is the common motto. Generally, you bring in a network of people to sell MonaVie juices, they sell to their friends, and their friends sell to their friends. Let us get down to more details about the MonaVie scam now.

The Sad Truth

Unfortunately, your fellow friends of the public do not agree with MonaVie and most it's claims. We shall go over each point briefly to validate this. Firstly, it would be nice for you to know that the price you pay for each bottle of the drink costs $45. A one month supply is about $180.

A brief summary of some sad facts of the MonaVie scam:

1) MonaVie is not purchasing their Açai berries from Sambazon (source of the best berries)

2) The drink is not made up of 100% freeze dried Açai. They use a blend of Açai puree and freeze dried Açai

3) Independent distributors can abuse the system and try to recruit endless representatives

Most people get burned by point 3 because in reality it isn't that easy to recruit people who can work the same system to your liking.

There is still some light at the end of the tunnel. If you really want to profit easily but with some element of direct marketing involved, doing an instant commission sale is the trend for today. You would not even bother about the MonaVie scam topics once you discover this.

About The Author:
Vern How has been earning online back in June 2006. He has tried and tested thousands of dollars worth of programs since then. Today, he is a successful affiliate marketer who believes in giving back by helping others. To find out how Vern can help you work from home go to... Simple Riches

For more information on a fool-proof strategy to profiting massively on the Internet, just check out the MonaVie Scam Solution

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vern_How_Chan

Vern How Chan - EzineArticles Expert Author

This does not impress me much......

The definition of super foods are enhanced performance when they are used in combination as they were used in the "Ape Diet", look how well they performed.


Breaking News
LATEST HEADLINES

The World's No.1 Science & Technology News Service

'Ape diet' lowers bad cholesterol levels

* 21:00 22 July 2003
* NewScientist.com news service
* Shaoni Bhattacharya

Printable versionEmail to a friendRSS FeedSyndicate



Web Links

* David Jenkins, University of Toronto
* British Heart Foundation
* American Heart Association
* Journal of the American Medical Association

Subscribe to New Scientist magazine

A vegetarian "ape-diet", based on the foods our simian cousins eat, is as effective in lowering cholesterol as an established cholesterol-lowering drug, reveals a new study. High cholesterol levels increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The key components of the ape diet are plant sterols, found in plant oils and enriched margarines, viscous fibre, found in oats, barley and aubergine, and soy protein and nuts.

People with raised cholesterol following this primitive diet had their levels of bad cholesterol slashed by about a third - the same reduction provided by the statin drug, lovastatin.

Study leader David Jenkins, a vascular biologist at the University of Toronto, says these foods are accepted to have cholesterol-lowering properties. "The thing we did was to put them all together and see that they didn't cancel out but actually added up," he told New Scientist.

He believes that humans may be evolutionarily adapted to the diet, which is similar to that eaten by gorillas and orangutans.
Tofu bake

Jenkins and colleagues assigned 46 patients to either the special ape diet, a standard cholesterol-lowering diet or the standard diet plus lovastatin.

A typical dinner from the ape menu would be tofu bake with ratatouille of aubergine, onions and sweet peppers, with pearled barley and vegetable side dishes, says the team.

After four-weeks, levels of the harmful LDL-cholesterol plummeted by 29 per cent on the ape diet, and 31 per cent for those on lovastatin. Bad cholesterol fell by only 8 per cent for those on the standard low-fat diet.

Jenkins points out many people with raised cholesterol are being put on medication before they give diet a chance. "Although many drugs are extremely safe, there's always a slight chance of risk of the drug and drug interactions," he says.

Lovastatin has an "excellent" safety profile, but the drug can cause liver or muscle enzyme problems in a small minority of people.
Filet mignon

The drug is reasonably cheap now it has come off patent, says Jenkins. But the cost of the ape-diet will depend on people's individual tastes. It might seem dear to those who like fast food. "But if you like filet mignon and West Coast salmon then this is not going to be more expensive - it's going to be cheaper," he says.

The patients generally found the ape diet acceptable, with the main complaint being the large quantity of food that had to be eaten in order not to lose weight.

However, the British Heart Foundation says: "There is a wealth of evidence to suggest that statins are superior to diet in lowering cholesterol levels." The BHF also points out "this is a small short-term study supported by numerous food manufacturers, which may have influenced the findings".

Nonetheless, the BHF acknowledges that diet is important: "Statins should always complement a healthy balanced diet, rather than replace it."

Journal reference: Journal of the American Medical Association: (vol 290, p 502

Putting foods together like this gives unparalleled benefits and must fit the criteria for super foods.

Hi Readers,
Bitter Melon has just qualified.


Chemistry & Biology
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Title/abstract/keywords Author Volume First Page
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Copyright © 2008 Cell Press. All rights reserved.
Chemistry and Biology, Vol 15, 263-273, 21 March 2008
Article
Antidiabetic Activities of Triterpenoids Isolated from Bitter Melon Associated with Activation of the AMPK Pathway

Min-Jia Tan,1,5 Ji-Ming Ye,2,5 Nigel Turner,2,5 Cordula Hohnen-Behrens,2 Chang-Qiang Ke,1 Chun-Ping Tang,1 Tong Chen,1 Hans-Christoph Weiss,3 Ernst-Rudolf Gesing,4 Alex Rowland,2 David E. James,2, and Yang Ye1,

1 State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, China
2 Diabetes and Obesity Research Program, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia
3 Bayer Industry Services GmbH & Co., Leverkusen 51368, Germany
4 Bayer CropScience AG, R & D, Agricultural Center, Monheim 40789, Germany

Corresponding author
David E. James
d.james@garvan.org.au

Corresponding author
Yang Ye
yye@mail.shcnc.ac.cn

Summary

Four cucurbitane glycosides, momordicosides Q, R, S, and T, and stereochemistry-established karaviloside XI, were isolated from the vegetable bitter melon (Momordica charantia). These compounds and their aglycones exhibited a number of biologic effects beneficial to diabetes and obesity. In both L6 myotubes and 3T3-L1 adipocytes, they stimulated GLUT4 translocation to the cell membrane—an essential step for inducible glucose entry into cells. This was associated with increased activity of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a key pathway mediating glucose uptake and fatty acid oxidation. Furthermore, momordicoside(s) enhanced fatty acid oxidation and glucose disposal during glucose tolerance tests in both insulin-sensitive and insulin-resistant mice. These findings indicate that cucurbitane triterpenoids, the characteristic constituents of M. charantia, may provide leads as a class of therapeutics for diabetes and obesity.

Hi Readers,
Perhaps superfoods have to fit into a dietary regime that makes it a super diet such as the diets of the Okinawans, Japanese and Singaporeans. Perhaps it's a case of each food adding a little more, offering a synergistic relationship. This is how the "Ape Diet" worked.

Cheers

Hi Readers,
What about dried beans, south Americans that eat a lot of dried beans have very little colorectal cancer.

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/127/12/2328

Cheers

Hi Readers,
Coffee and Green Tea must now be added to the list of super foods. Listen to the Healthcastle podcast for yourself. http://www.healthcastle.com/podcast-018.shtml

Cheers

Sure there are superfood, there are many in that case and acai berry happen to be on top of the list.

Acai berries contain very high amounts of essential fatty acid & omegas proven to lower LDL & maintain HDL cholesterol levels. They also have a remarkable concentration of antioxidants to help combat free radicals and premature aging. Acai Berry is a source of a particular class of flavonoids called anthocyanins. The ORAC value of Acai Berry is higher than any other edible berry in the world! Acai Berry is also an excellent source of dietary fiber!

However make sure you don't fall for scams such as Monavie, because the promises they give their customers what acai berry can is too good to be true and most of them are without any scientific proof.

Hi Monavie_Scam,
I would not put Acai on top of my super food list, certainly not if I suffered from chronic respiratory distress syndrome.


Acai berries contain 53.9% Oleic Acid, which is a monounsaturated fatty acid, found also in high quantity in Olive Oil. Chronic respiratory distress syndrome patients have elevated levels of oleic acid because they can not clear oleic acid properly.


1: J Agric Food Chem. 2006 Nov 1;54(22):8598-603.Click here to read Links
Phytochemical and nutrient composition of the freeze-dried amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae mart. (acai).
Schauss AG, Wu X, Prior RL, Ou B, Patel D, Huang D, Kababick JP.

Natural and Medicinal Products Research, AIMBR Life Sciences, 4117 South Meridian, Puyallup, Washington 98373, USA. alex@aibmr.com

Euterpe oleraceae is a large palm tree indigenous to the Amazon River and its tributaries and estuaries in South America. Its fruit, known as acai, is of great economic value to native people. In this study, a standardized freeze-dried acai fruit pulp/skin powder was used for all analyses and tests. Among many findings, anthocyanins (ACNs), proanthocyanidins (PACs), and other flavonoids were found to be the major phytochemicals. Two ACNs, cyandin 3-glucoside and cyanidin 3-rutinoside were found to be predominant ACNs; three others were also found as minor ACNs. The total content of ACNs was measured as 3.1919 mg/g dry weight (DW). Polymers were found to be the major PACs. The concentration of total PACs was calculated as 12.89 mg/g DW. Other flavonoids, namely, homoorientin, orientin, isovitexin, scoparin, and taxifolin deoxyhexose, along with several unknown flavonoids, were also detected. Resveratrol was found but at a very low concentration. In addition, components including fatty acids, amino acids, sterols, minerals, and other nutrients were analyzed and quantified. Total polyunsaturated fatty acid, total monounsaturated fatty acid, and total saturated fatty acids contributed to 11.1%, 60.2%, and 28.7% of total fatty acid. Oleic acid (53.9%) and palmitic acid (26.7%) were found to be the two dominant fatty acids. Nineteen amino acids were found; the total amino acid content was determined to be 7.59% of total weight. The total sterols accounted for 0.048% by weight of powder. The three sterols B-sitosterol, campesterol, and sigmasterol were identified. A complete nutrient analysis is also presented. Microbiological analysis was also performed.

PMID: 17061839 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Related Articles

* [Characterization of the acai or manaca (Euterpe oleracea Mart.): a fruit of the Amazon] [Arch Latinoam Nutr. 2007]
* Antioxidant capacity and other bioactivities of the freeze-dried Amazonian palm berry, Euterpe oleraceae mart. (acai). [J Agric Food Chem. 2006]
* Total oxidant scavenging capacities of Euterpe oleracea Mart. (Açaí) fruits. [Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2005]
* Fatty acid and sterol composition of frozen and freeze-dried New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel (Perna canaliculus) from three sites in New Zealand. [Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2003]
* Absorption and biological activity of phytochemical-rich extracts from açai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) pulp and oil in vitro. [J Agric Food Chem. 2008]
* » See all Related Articles...


I would not put a food high in iron in the super food category for the same reason, that is people suffering from haemachromatosis (English, English not American) accumulate too much iron. I might be totally wrong about this, after all it is only my opinion, what do you think?


http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/full/171/5/424

Using my system for evaluating foods would prevent the Mediterranean Diet, because of it's reliance on Olive Oil, from being considered a super food.

Cheers

Of course there are many superfood out there. The first that comes to my mind is Acai berry. The acai fruit has a key amount of calcium, which can help support bones, and also ward off osteoporosis. Some women who experience harsh menstrual pain can also benefit from the Acai berry. The Acai berry has also been well known to be one of the richest natural sources of Anthocyanins. The berry is loaded with a number of other ingredients including fibre, protein, vitamins B, C and E, potassium, magnesium, calcium and iron. The acai’s Antioxidant spectrum includes more varied types of Antioxidents than any other familiar food sources. Let’s face it, no single antioxident will allow you to live eternally.

If you’re trying to turn back the hands of time, you may want to give blueberries a try. These plump and royal-hued berries should be considered little gems when it comes to maintaining a youthful appearance and good nutrition.

There are many more of course..................

Hi Acaiberry,
I believe you mate but it still begs the question what can it prevent or cure, backed up by scientific evidence of course, no testimonials they're too cheap, for a mere $500.00 most people will say anything.
You knew that just adding calcium will not cure or prevent osteoporosis didn't you? I wish it was that simple.

Cheers

Hi Believers in Truth,
The Cancer researchers (AICR) have just added another food to our list, and that is foods containing pectin.


Jelly in Jar
Used to set jellies, pectin is found
in many fruits and vegetables.
Pectin Power
A carbohydrate found in fruits and vegetables offers a new explanation for why these foods may help lower cancer risk, a new study demonstrates. Most known for its gelling actions when making jams and jellies, pectin is a carbohydrate found in many fruits and vegetables. In the lab study, scientists showed that fragments of pectin bind to and prevent the actions of a protein (galectin-3) that plays a role in cancer development. The scientists used fluorescence and other advanced techniques to track the actions of a modified pectin compound with galectin-3. Published in last month’s journal FASEB, the findings advance scientists’ understanding of how plant foods can offer cancer protection, but there are many possible ways that eating a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and high-fiber foods can offer health benefits, notes one of the study authors.

Isn't science wonderful.
Cheers

i am sorry but this super food term is kinda new to me...i have never heard of it before until i came here. is spinach also comes in that category?

No dont believe that super foods cure ,,,,, and can you tell me what are super foods...... the foods we eat are good .......



drug rehab

Hi Lillywilliams,
Super foods are foods that prevent or cure a disease such as these foods selected by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR)

American Institute for Cancer Research
S

Research | Diet & Cancer | Publications | Cancer Survivors | How Can I Help? | Press | About AICR
Diet & Cancer
Recommendations

Foods That Fight Cancer


No single food or food substances can protect you against cancer. But scientists believe that the right combination of foods in a predominantly plant-based diet may. Evidence is mounting that the minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals in plant foods interact to provide extra cancer protection. This concept is called synergy.

In addition, vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans are low-energy-dense, low calorie foods and probably protect against weight gain. According to the Second Expert Report, experts believe that weight gain – particularly obesity and overweight – are implicated in the development of cancer. Eating a predominantly plant based diet can help prevent weight gain and therefore protect against those cancers whose risk is convincingly increased by higher body fat (namely cancers of the colorectum, esophagus, endometrium, pancreas, kidney, and breast in postmenopausal women).

That is why AICR recommends that at least 2/3 of your plate should be filled with vegetables, fruit, whole grains and beans.

The majority of the laboratory research on diet and cancer suggests that eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains and beans will lower your risk of developing the disease. Scientists are trying to determine precisely how and why these foods may prevent or stop the development of tumors.

Here is a list of foods we at AICR get asked about most often. Click each one to learn what current science can tell us about its role in protecting our health.

* Beans
* Berries
* Cruciferous Vegetables
* Dark Green Leafy Vegetables
* Flaxseed
* Garlic
* Grapes and Grape Juice
* Green Tea
* Soy
* Tomatoes
* Whole Grains


Cheers

Hmm,

Super Foods. I think super man should eat super foods. Hope this is good joke.

Helthy food will make things better. Hopefully you guys would realize that.

Hi chynna16,

Does your mother know your playing with the computer again?? You'll get into trouble.


Cheers

In many ways, food is like fashion. Certain items come into vogue ... and they can also lose their popularity. Take eggs for example -- for years they were vilified for cholesterol, now they're seen as an overall healthy food and weight loss aid. The superfood du jour may change -- blueberries, pomegranate, acai and so forth -- but the hype is the same. If you're to believe the advertising, these superfoods are a must for everybody. What do you think?
NinjaGreens Organic Supplements

Hi Readers,
To qualify as a super food the food has to do something pretty special regarding health, take beetroot juice for example, in this experiment it has been shown to allow people to train much harder for much longer, so perhaps it qualifies as a super food, I would like to see more studies to show how it works and if it always works.



Beetroot boosts sports stamina


The secret weapon in endurance... beetroot.
August 10, 2009 - 3:59PM

A glass of beetroot juice boosts endurance by reducing the amount of oxygen needed during physical exercise, a study says.

Subjects who drank the juice easily outperformed a control group in tests and were able to exercise at the same intensity for up to 16 per cent longer.

The findings, published on Friday in the US-based Journal of Applied Physiology, will be of keen interest to endurance athletes but may also prove helpful to people with cardiovascular, respiratory or metabolic diseases as well as the elderly, the researchers said.

There are essentially two ways to enhance physical performance in relation to oxygen intake.

One is to raise the "VO2-max" level, which is an individual's highest possible rate of oxygen consumption during all-out exercise.

The V02-max ceiling varies from person to person. It is partly genetic but it can be increased through training or the use of EPO, the oxygen-boosting drug that has plagued the Tour de France cycling competition as well as other professional sports.

"But there is an alternative," explained Andy Jones, a professor at the University of Exeter in Britain and lead author of the study.

"If you can reduce the energy cost" - the amount of oxygen used - "that can be beneficial too," he told AFP by phone.

That's where beetroots come in.

In experiments, Jones and colleagues asked two groups of people to exercise at a fixed, high-intensity work rate for as long as they possibly could.

The group that drank a red-coloured placebo held out on average for nine or ten minutes. Those who drank beetroot, however, went 11 or 12 minutes.

"They were exercising at exactly the same work rate. The improvement in performance was not because the V02-max had changed but simply because the efficiency had been enhanced," Jones said.

"We were amazed by the effects on oxygen uptake because these effects cannot be achieved by any other known means."

Whether the juice will also work over several hours of less intense exercise - equivalent to long-distance running or cycling - remains to be shown but seems likely, Jones added.

The researchers are not sure exactly how the ruby-red elixir works but they do have an educated guess.

Like lettuce and spinach, beetroot is rich in nitrate, which the body converts into nitrite. This, in turn, is a chemical trigger for another compound, nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide can dilate blood vessels and thus provide more oxygen to muscles. "But we think the key is that it seems to do a lot of weird and wonderful things within the muscle cells' mitochondria, where oxidated energy is produced," Jones said.

Earlier laboratory studies confirm the link between nitric oxide and increased energy output but further experiments are needed to see whether this truly is the magic ingredient.

Another study, published last year in the US journal Hypertension, found that beetroot juice reduces blood pressure too.

Cheers

These are the ten super foods that I know:

- Apples
- Baked Beans
- Broccoli
- Olive Oil
- Wholegrain seeded bread
- Salmon
- Tea
- Yogurt
- Banana
- Brazil Nuts

Hi Kim,

And your proof for this statement can be found at what link Kim??

I certainly like some of them but I would like to see what disease they prevent or what health enhancement they support.



Cheers

Hi Readers,

Have a look at this and tell me what you think, I am going to give an opinion at the end of this release also.

Scientists create new super vegetables

Posted Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:50pm AEST


The broccoli will be wrapped in plastic in shops to retain the anti-oxidants. (supplied)

* Map: Melbourne 3000

Victorian scientists have developed a new range of vegetables that have 40 per cent more anti-oxidants.

Anti-oxidants have been proven to reduce the risk of a range of diseases such as heart disease and some types of cancer.

The so-called "booster broccoli" is the first in a group of vegetables being developed by scientists at Victoria's Department of Primary Industries (DPI).

DPI leading scientist Dr Rod Jones says the new broccoli is not the result of genetic engineering.

"All we've done is gone back and minded nature's natural diversity," he said.

He said they formed partnerships with large companies and tested all of their varieties of broccoli and selected the one out of 400 tested with the highest anti-oxidant content.

Now they have started to breed that variety.

"It's a premium branded product so the returns to growers should be higher," he said.

"It's also about improving the health of our population in general by getting people to eat vegetables that we know are very good for them."

So far more than $20-million has been invested in the project.

There are another 15 products in commercial testing including tomatoes, capsicum and lettuce.

"So once those lines come through, plus all the other ones we're looking at, cauliflower, onion, carrot, I don't think it will take too long for the investment to be recouped," he said.

Dr Jones says the booster broccoli actually tastes good too.

"It tastes sweeter than most other broccoli varieties because it's high in sugar."

He said Australian conditions are perfect for growing the new varieties because when the plants are stressed by a lack of water, the anti-oxidant level goes up.

He is confident they can eventually create a range of vegetables that have an even higher anti-oxidant content.

Tags: rural, agricultural-crops, vegetables, australia, vic, melbourne-3000


My comments..for what they are worth!!
"Until we know exactly what these antioxidants can upregulate in terms of cancer protecting chemicals we know absolutely nothing about what we can expect, we may even find that the 40% increase in antioxidants come at the expense of losing something potentially more valuable, they are still struggling to explain the mechanism by which this alleged (not proven yet) cancer protection works. The studies so far are epidemiological (population studies)."



Crambene, a bioactive nitrile derived from glucosinolate hydrolysis, acts via the antioxidant response element to upregulate quinone reductase alone or synergistically with indole-3-carbinol.
Nho CW, Jeffery E.

Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

Epidemiological studies show that cruciferous vegetables play a role in dietary protection against cancers. The protective effects of crucifers are thought to be associated with secondary metabolites termed glucosinolates, the hydrolysis products of which upregulate hepatic detoxification enzymes. Crambene, a nitrile product of the glucosinolate progoitrin, increases hepatic quinone reductase (QR) when included in the diet of animals. Here we evaluate the mechanism of upregulation of detoxification enzymes by crambene. The regulatory region of the QR gene contains two response elements, the antioxidant response element (ARE) and the xenobiotic response element (XRE), that respond to glucosinolate hydrolysis products. We compared upregulation of QR mRNA expression by crambene in wild-type and Ah receptor-deficient mouse hepatoma cell lines. Both cell lines showed a similar increase in QR mRNA, suggesting that the Ah receptor-dependent XRE pathway is not required for crambene to act. Transient transfection of HepG2 cells with reporter constructs containing portions of the 5' regulatory region of the rat QR gene confirmed this, revealing that crambene significantly activated ARE, but not XRE, in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, both indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and I3C acid condensates (I3C-A) activated the ARE for QR gene expression whereas only I3C-A activated the XRE at the concentrations studied. In addition, co-treatment with crambene and I3C-A caused synergistic increases in QR transcriptional activity and mRNA levels in HepG2 cells. Based on these findings, we propose that synergistic upregulation of QR is due to co-activation of the ARE and the XRE by crambene and I3C-A.

PMID: 15207647 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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* The synergistic upregulation of phase II detoxification enzymes by glucosinolate breakdown products in cruciferous vegetables.



[Am J Pathol. 2007]

Crambene, a bioactive nitrile derived from glucosinolate hydrolysis, acts via the antioxid...Crambene, a bioactive nitrile derived from glucosinolate hydrolysis, acts via the antioxidant response element to upregulate quinone reductase alone or synergistically with indole-3-carbinol.


Me again.
So far cruciferous vegetables look like they are the real deal but we still need to see some proof of cancer prevention that is stronger than association. I am a cynic as usual and I can't help wondering whether this is really aimed at health primarily, or is it a new selling line with the main emphasis on the bottom line of the balance sheet.

Cheers