Health News

REPORTING POINT 09/09
HEALTH NEWS
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Dedicated to providing pertinent information on health, fitness, and nutrition to foster a culture of wellness among Southwest Airlines flight crews and their families.
by Larry Kline

REALLY BAD ALLERGIES? – nasal irrigation may be the best way to clear congestion, outperforming saline spray by 34 percent. Another advantage is that using nasal irrigation may enable allergy sufferers to eliminate or greatly reduce medications that may have undesirable side effects and rebound congestion. Some recommended nasal “flushes” used successfully in University of Michigan studies are “Sinus Rinse” and “Neto.” Men’s Health 3/08.

MITOCHONDRIA AND AGING – mitochondria are the furnaces within cells that help convert fat, protein (amino acids), or carbohydrate (glucose) into ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP is the “currency” that transports the energy that the cell uses to fuel the chemical reactions that sustain life. They convert food into energy, which the body uses to live.
Most cells in the human body contain somewhere between 500 to 2,000 mitochondria, and mitochondria account for as much as 60 percent of the volume of muscle cells and 40 percent of the volume of heart cells.
Mitochondria are linked to almost every essential process in cells – almost any condition that has to do with energy balance like diabetes or sarcopenia, which is muscle wasting with age, can be traced to problems with mitochondria.
Mitochondria have their own genetic material. Unlike the DNA in the cell’s nucleus, which comes from both parents, mitochondrial DNA is passed down from mother to child. Mitochondrial DNA is more likely to get damaged in the course of everyday living.
Mitochondria reside at the point where carbohydrate, fat, and protein are burned, or oxidized, for energy. The process generates free radicals – rogue molecules that can damage the mitochondria’s DNA and membranes.
Some researchers speculate that, over a lifetime, damage to the mitochondria may be the ultimate cause of aging.
The belief is that as we age, these mitochondrial mutations accumulate and the mitochondria slow down in all our tissues. Mitochondria have been called the Achilles’ heel of the cell in aging. Damaged mitochondria can also lead to disease. It is possible that weakened mitochondria leave people more susceptible to Parkinson’s disease or accelerate the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Can one protect or restore the body’s mitochondria? Here is what the latest research shows:
EXERCISE
Aerobic exercise can increase the number of mitochondria in the muscle cells by 40 to 50 percent in six weeks, according to research from York University in Toronto. To get the benefit, one needs to run, cycle, swim, walk briskly, or do other exercises to at least half of your maximum capacity for at least 15 to 20 minutes a day, three to four times a week. You will notice less fatigue, lower perceived exertion, and more endurance because mitochondria are efficiently burning more fat, rather than carbohydrate, for energy.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh studied overweight and sedentary men and women in their late 60s. The test subjects walked outdoors, or used treadmills or stationary bicycles four to six days a week for 30 to 40 minutes each time. After 12 weeks, the mitochondria in their quadriceps (thigh muscles) increased by about 50 percent. To maintain the new level of mitochondria, you need to keep exercising at least two or three times a week.
Strength-training exercises does not seem to increase mitochondria in young people, but older people definitely benefit. In a 2007 study, the genes in the quadriceps muscles of healthy older men and women were much less active than the genes in the quadriceps of younger adults, but after twice weekly strength-training sessions for six months, there was a reversal of the older people’s genetic profile to more youthful levels. Any exercise, including aerobic and strength training, will improve mitochondrial content and the endurance of older, less-active individuals. Exercising regularly may lead to “younger” muscles. Physical exercise has been proven to be one of the best ways of delaying aging in the muscles, because it fine-tunes energy metabolism in their mitochondria.
Mitochondria may also help explain why people who exercise regularly have a lower risk of type-2 diabetes and insulin resistance. When people are resistant, their insulin cannot efficiently move blood sugar into cells.
Some scientists believe that insulin resistance develops when fat builds up in the cells, which can eventually block the transport of blood sugar into cells. The most common cause of fat buildup is consuming more calories than we burn. Virtually all the overweight or obese people studied are insulin resistant because they have too much fat stored in their muscle and liver. Older mitochondria are less able to get rid of the fat.
As we age, our mitochondria slow down, which means that the rate of oxidation of fat and production of energy also slows down. This predisposes us to fat accumulation in muscle and possibly in the liver.
Age can also slow or diminish the mitochondria in the beta cells of the pancreas, which produce insulin. Beta cell dysfunction then leads from insulin resistance to impaired glucose tolerance to type-2 diabetes. Physical activity may help slow or even halt those changes.
In a study of the people in their 60s, insulin resistance declined as their mitochondria increased, even though they did not lose weight or body fat.
Another 2007 study found that middle-aged obese diabetics who cut their calorie intake by 25 percent and who did moderate-intensity exercise (like walking) on most days for four months boosted their mitochondria by 67 percent and their insulin sensitivity by 59 percent.
Other research indicates that exercise may be able to prevent diabetes by boosting mitochondria. Young adult offspring of type-2 diabetics, who are prone to diabetes, were evaluated in an exercise program that included three-15 minute sessions four times a week. After six weeks, the exercise reversed the block of glucose transport from their blood into their cells and improved their insulin resistance.
Regular, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise is the one proven way to boost mitochondria, which may explain why it lowers the risk of insulin resistance and diabetes. Strength training may also boost mitochondria in older, less-active people.
Another study by the University of South Carolina found that total-body strength was linked to lower risks of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all causes. Activities that lead to a stronger body such as resistance training, also help lower blood pressure, control cholesterol, and improve insulin sensitivity.
QUERCETIN
Quercetin occurs naturally in many plant foods, including apples, onions, and grapes. Studies indicate that quercetin boosts mitochondria much like exercise does.
When the Department of Defense studied the effect of quercetin on test animals, those who consumed fairly low doses for seven days noted an increase of mitochondria in their muscles and brains of 30 percent. The test animals consumed a human equivalent of 850 to 1,700 mg a day of quercetin, which would be very difficult to get from food sources.
Having more mitochondria in your muscles means you can burn more fat for energy. The test animals feed quercetin had more endurance and a delay in onset of fatigue. Human trials using supplemental quercetin are currently being conducted.
Quercetin also appears to help fight viruses. The DOD study fed soldiers who were under intense physical stress 1,000 mgs of quercetin each day. Those who had the quercetin were much less likely to catch colds or other viral infections than those who had the placebo.
CARNITINE & LIPOIC ACID
Studies of aging animals (human equivalent of age 70 to 100) fed carnitine and lipoic acid effectively doubled their physical activity compared with similar animals fed a placebo.
Carnitine shuttles fat into the mitochondria, where the fat is burned for energy. Lipoic acid is an antioxidant.
There are no human studies, but high doses of carnitine plus lipoic acid made laboratory animals more physically active and improved the memory of other animals.
In 14 studies, people with nerve damage caused by diabetes who were taking 600 to 1,800 mg a day of lipoic acid reported no more side effects than people taking a placebo. Nutrition Action Healthletter 12/08, Men’s Health 12/08.

WATER WORKS – thirst can masquerade as hunger, which is one reason dieters should stay hydrated. German researchers have found that cold water fuels the body’s fat-burning ability.
For 90 minutes after drinking 16 ounces of chilled water, adults saw their metabolisms rise by 24 percent over their average rates. According to the study, the mechanism is partly due to the energy the body generates to warm the water during digestion. Men’s Health 3/08.

PREVENTING “RUNNER’S DISTRESS” – marathon and other long-distance runners often suffer from digestive problems during long-distance events. Taking probiotics – healthy bacteria – can help protect runners from the "runs."
70 test athletes consumed a daily dose of the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG(LGG) for three months. Their gastrointestinal episodes were significantly less severe than a placebo’s group. Men’s Health 3/08.