Probiotics make appealing promises, but they may not deliver…and may not be safe. Pieter Cohen is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a general internist…
Tag: supplements
Kava is all the rage right now. But is there evidence that it actually quells anxiety? And could there be a downside? “Kava root has a long history of use…
“Cinnamon has…been indicated as a potential insulin substitute for those with Type 2 diabetes,” says uncommonwisdomdaily.com. That kind of wisdom you could do without. In 2012, the Cochrane Collaboration—a respected…
“There’s strong evidence that ginger can help with nausea and vomiting from motion sickness, morning sickness, and cancer chemotherapy,” says Suzanna Zick, a research associate professor in the Department of…
Can supplements marketed for opioid withdrawal speed detox? Here’s what our investigation found and how the FDA and the FTC have responded to it. Drug overdoses killed 64,000 people in…
Get Life-Saving Information on Diet and Nutrition Right Now! Dear Friend, You’ve always wanted life-saving information about the foods you eat. You should know, for example, that Marie Callender’s Chicken…
Most people know that calcium is good for bones, fiber is good for constipation, and iron is good for blood, to name a few. But once you go beyond the basics, the picture gets murky.
Here’s a healthy food quiz (questions and answers included) to see how well you know which foods or nutrients can prevent or promote which diseases.
Feel free to cheat. The questions aren’t really a test of how well you read (and remember) every issue of Nutrition Action. They’re just a sneaky way to get you to look at the answers, which contain a wealth of information on how your diet affects your health.
Antioxidants and cancer were supposed to be bitter enemies. We were told antioxidant benefits also included a reduction in heart disease, memory loss, type 2 diabetes, cataracts and macular degeneration. Antioxidant vitamins (C, E, and beta-carotene) were supposed to help prevent all of them.
So far, the three antioxidants (plus zinc) have succeeded with only one: slowing the pace of macular degeneration in older people who already have the eye disease.
“The randomized trials for antioxidants have been very disappointing,” says Harvard’s JoAnn Manson, who led the Women’s Antioxidant Cardiovascular Study, the Women’s Folic Acid Study, and other major trials.
Aloe vera, which comes from a succulent plant, is sold as a juice and is added to foods, supplements, and skin care products. But just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s safe to eat.
Carefully conducted studies by the U.S. government concluded that there was “clear” evidence that aloe vera extracts caused intestinal cancers in male and female rats, but not mice, when consumed. (Applying aloe vera on the skin is not likely to cause harm.)
More magnesium may mean a lower risk of stroke.
Researchers looked at seven studies that followed a total of roughly 240,000 people for eight to 15 years. The risk of an ischemic stroke was 9 percent lower for each 100 milligrams of magnesium the participants reported eating per day. This may seem like a low number, but simple changes or additions in diet may offer complementary benefits. Preparing foods to prevent a stroke will often coincide with eating foods that are good for your overall health.