Anti-fungus: Lavender oil could be the next thing to combat Athlete’s foot, says a study. According to research published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology, the essential oil shows a potent anti-fungal effect against strains of fungi responsible for common skin and nail infections. The oil was tested against a range of pathogenic fungi and was found to kill a range of skin-pathogenic strains known as dermatophytes – which cause Athlete’s foot, ringworm and hair and nail infections – as well as various species of Candida. Lavender plants are already used widely in the food and perfume industries, and previous studies indicate they also have sedative, antispasmodic, antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Read More…
Exercise: Want more efficient muscles? Eat your spinach, says a new study. According to research published in Cell Metabolism, nitrate, a compound found in vegetables and especially in green leaves, helps healthy people consume less oxygen while exercising. This happens because the nitrate in vegetables mixes with friendly bacteria in the mouth and forms nitric oxide, which in turn helps the cardiovascular system by opening up our blood vessels to lower blood pressure. The study says that, in addition to this benefit, the nitrates make mitochondria – the powerhouses of the cell - more efficient. Interestingly, the researchers say that since the benefits of nitrates depend on friendly bacteria in the mouth, mouthwashes are not good if you want this system to work because they kill good and bad bacteria. Read More…
Music: No need for drugs – get your “feel good” dopamine from music. Scientists have found that the pleasurable experience of listening to music releases this neurotransmitter in the brain, a chemical important for more tangible pleasures associated with “rewards” such as food, drugs and sex. The study revealed that even the anticipation of pleasurable music induces dopamine release. The research was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Read More…
Nutrition: The most widely produced fruit (and we treat it like a veggie), tomatoes have now been found to be good for your vascular system. Research published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research reveals that an extracted compound found in tomatoes has anti-dyslipidemic affects. Dyslipidemia is a condition caused by abnormal amounts of lipids like cholesterol or fat in the blood. Tomato, with already established benefits against prostate cancer and more, was found to enhance fatty acid oxidation, and to regulate liver lipid metabolism. Read More…
Heart: Grow your heart – through exercise. While everyone knows that exercise comes with metabolic and cardiovascular benefits, a new study now confirms that it also specifically turns on a genetic program that leads the heart to grow as heart muscle cells divide. While high blood pressure can grow the heart pathologically, the researchers found that exercise grows the heart in a positive way, making it resistant to heart failure. The study was published in the journal Cell. Read More…
Love: When it comes to love, go with your gut – literally. A new study says our choice of mate may be influenced by our intestinal bacteria driving our pheromones to tell us who to be attracted to. The research compared two groups of flies, one that had been fed a diet of starches and one that had been fed a diet of malt sugar, and found that each subgroup preferred partners with similar nutritional background. But when antibiotics were administered, killing gut bacteria, the preferential mating pattern disappeared. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, indicate that intestinal flora plays a direct role in pheromone levels, driving mate selection. Yet another reason to take your probiotics. Read More…
