Essentials: We are what we eat and your DNA may not be set in stone. Essential Organic - amino acids, vitamins, minerals and micronutrients directly affect the body's ability to repair DNA and they work hard to help express your genes. Biochemists used to look on proteins, lipids and carbohydrate molecules as somewhat insignificant. Complex sugars and fiber play a crucial role in the activity of many proteins as do phytonutrients, antioxidants, lipids, enzymes, plant sterols and friendly bacteria. ...> Do you want to know more about Biomolecules, Molecular Biology and Epigenetics?
Malabsorption of nutrients leads to inflammation that causes Cancer-Diabetes-MS-Alzheimer's and a multitude of problems.
This article will be periodically updated. Please read more below.
Or, visit the NIH - Office of Dietary Supplements.
Small Molecules, Large Effect: How Cancer Cells Ensure Their Survival (December 31, 2008) -- Scientists have identified a molecular mechanism used by cancer cells to "defend" themselves against chemotherapeutics in an attempt to ensure their own survival. Both the messenger substance Nitric Oxide (nitrogen monoxide) and the protein survivin play a role in this. ... >
Blood Sugar Linked To Normal Cognitive Aging (December 31, 2008) -- Maintaining blood sugar levels, even in the absence of disease, may be an important strategy for preserving cognitive health, suggests a new study. The findings suggest that exercising to improve blood sugar levels could be a way for some people to stave off the normal cognitive decline that comes with age. ... >
Another Reason To Avoid High-fat Diet: It Can Disrupt Our Biological Clock, Say Researchers (December 31, 2008) -- Indulgence in a high-fat diet can not only lead to overweight because of excessive calorie intake, but also can affect the balance of circadian rhythms -- everyone's 24-hour biological clock, researchers have shown. ... >
“The biological clock regulates the expression and/or activity of enzymes and hormones involved in metabolism, and disturbance of the clock can lead to such phenomena as hormone imbalance, obesity, psychological disorders and cancer.”
Women Double Fruit, Veggie Intake With Switch To Mediterranean Diet Plan (December 31, 2008) -- Women more than doubled their fruit and vegetable intakes and dramatically increased their consumption of 'good' fats when they were counseled by registered dietitians and provided with a list of guidelines on the amount of certain foods they should eat each day. ... >
Editors Note: Hemp Nuts would be a logical choice to provide adequate amounts of 'good fats' and essential proteins for several days per week.
Moderate Drinking Can Reduce Risks Of Alzheimer's Dementia And Cognitive Decline, Analysis Suggests (December 31, 2008) -- Moderate drinkers often have lower risks of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive loss, according to researchers who reviewed 44 studies. In more than half of the studies, published since the 1990s, moderate drinkers of wine, beer and liquor had lower dementia risks than nondrinkers. ... >
Common Food Additive Found To Increase Risk And Speed Spread Of Cancer (December 30, 2008) -- New research in an animal model suggests that a diet high in inorganic phosphates, which are found in a variety of processed foods including meats, cheeses, beverages and bakery products, might speed growth of lung cancer tumors and may even contribute to the development of those tumors in individuals predisposed to the disease. ... >
“Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths in the world.” "Our results clearly demonstrated that the diet higher in inorganic phosphates caused an increase in the size of the tumors and stimulated growth of the tumors," Dr. Cho said.
Editors Note: It would be logical to assume that inorganic phosphates contribute to all forms of cancer, not just lung cancer.
Both Major Theories About Human Cellular Aging Supported By New Research (December 30, 2008) -- Aging yeast cells accumulate damage over time, but they do so by following a pattern laid down earlier in their life by diet as well as the genes that control metabolism and the dynamics of cell structures such as mitochondria, the power plants of cells. ... >
Berry Compound Reduces Aging Effect (December 30, 2008) -- Aged laboratory animals that ate a diet rich in the berry and grape compound pterostilbene performed better than those in a group that did not eat the enriched diet, scientists with the Agricultural Research Service have reported. Pterostilbene reversed measurable negative effects of aging on brain function and behavioral performance. ... >
Breast Cancer: Diet High In Vegetables, Fruit And Fiber May Cut Risk Of Cancer Recurrence In Women Without Hot Flashes (December 30, 2008) -- A secondary analysis of a large, multicenter clinical trial has shown that a diet loaded with fruits, vegetables and fiber and somewhat lower in fat compared to standard federal dietary recommendations cuts the risk of recurrence in a subgroup of early-stage breast cancer survivors -- women who didn't have hot flashes -- by approximately 31 percent. These patients typically have higher recurrence and lower survival rates than breast cancer patients who have hot flashes. ... >
How Certain Vegetables Combat Cancer (December 29, 2008) -- Women should go for the broccoli when the relish tray comes around during holiday celebrations this season. ... >
Nutritious Fast-food Kids' Meals Are Scarce, Researchers Find (December 28, 2008) -- Only three percent of kids' meals served at fast-food restaurants met federal dietary guidelines in the first study to examine the nutrient quality of such meals in a major US metropolitan market. The small percentage of meals that did meet dietary guidelines included fruit as a side dish and milk, and nearly all were deli-sandwich meals. ... >
Primary Cilium As Cellular 'GPS System' Crucial To Wound Repair (December 25, 2008) -- The primary cilium, the solitary, antenna-like structure that studs the outer surfaces of virtually all human cells, orients cells to move in the right direction and at the speed needed to heal wounds, much like a global positioning system helps ships navigate to their destinations. ... >
Peripheral Artery Disease: Pain When Walking Can Be Reduced With Moderate Exercise, Study Suggests (December 25, 2008) -- You probably know that poor diet and lack of exercise can lead to dangerous deposits of fatty plaques in arteries. But it is not just the heart that is affected – blood flow can be blocked to the legs too, leading to pain when walking, immobility and even in extreme cases, amputation. Approximately 20% of us will suffer from this peripheral artery disease (PAD) once we are 65 or over, and with risk factors including smoking, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure it is on the rise. ... >
Protein Helps Build Muscle Mass: Possible Treatment For Muscle Wasting Disorders (December 24, 2008) -- Researchers are reporting how to build muscle mass with the protein FHL1. The protein partners with and activates the transcription factor, NFATc1. Encouraging this partnership might provide a possible treatment for muscle wasting disorders. ... >
Probiotics May Help People Taking Antibiotics (December 24, 2008) -- Up to one in five people on antibiotics stop taking their full course of antibiotic therapy due to diarrhea. Physicians could help patients avoid this problem by prescribing probiotics, according to a new study. ... >
Common Infant Virus May Trigger Type 1 Diabetes (December 22, 2008) -- Human parechovirus is a harmless virus which is encountered by most infants and displays few symptoms. Suspected of triggering type 1 diabetes in susceptible people, research methods need to take this 'silent' virus into consideration. ... >
Breakthrough In Understanding Development Of Type 1 Diabetes (December 19, 2008) -- Finnish scientists have reported a breakthrough in understanding the development of type 1 diabetes. They discovered disturbances in lipid and amino acid metabolism in children who later progressed to type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes. The alterations preceded the autoimmune response by months to years. The study may prompt new approaches for prediction and prevention of type 1 diabetes in pre-autoimmune phase of the disease. ... >
Lean Muscle Mass Helps Even Obese Patients Battle Cancer (December 18, 2008) -- Lean muscle-mass may give even obese people an advantage in battling cancer, a new study shows. ... >
Cellular Stress Causes Fatty Liver Disease In Mice (December 16, 2008) -- Researchers have discovered a direct link between disruption of a critical cellular housekeeping process and fatty liver disease, a condition that causes fat to accumulate in the liver. The findings might open new avenues for understanding and perhaps treating fatty liver disease, which is the most common form of liver disease in the Western world. ... >
Editors note: The Hemp Nut and/or Hemp Protein diet may be an answer to protein miss-folding and we encourage the authors to study the effects that “Globular Proteins” found in Hemp may have. “Protein folding, which occurs in a cellular compartment called the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), is a vital cellular process because proteins must be correctly folded into defined three-dimensional shapes in order to function.”
How Mutations Are Transmitted From One Generation To The Next (December 15, 2008) -- A fundamental process in the transmission of genes from mother to child has been identified. The new study identifies a mechanism that plays a key role in how mutations are transmitted from one generation to the next, providing unprecedented insight into metabolic diseases. ... >
Mathematical Model Gives Clearer Picture Of Physics Of Cells, Organelles (December 15, 2008) -- Cells are filled with membrane-bound organelles like the nucleus, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticula. Over the years, scientists have made much progress in understanding the biomolecular details of how these organelles function within cells, but understanding the actual physical forces that maintain the structures of these organelles' membranes continues to be a challenge. ... >
Understanding Of Bone Marrow Stem Cell Niche Expanded (December 15, 2008) -- Scientists have identified the precise location of the bone marrow stem cell niche. The findings were published in Nature. ... >
Broccoli Compound Targets Key Enzyme In Late-stage Cancer (December 14, 2008) -- Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables have long been known to have anti-cancer benefits, and researchers have now found out why. One well-known anti-cancer chemical in broccoli, indole-3-carbinol, was found to inhibit the enzyme elastase, which is found at high levels in late-stage breast and prostate cancers. The discovery of this target will help to design better anti-cancer drugs and to target treatment to specific types of cancer, including late-stage breast and prostate cancers. ... >
Fructose Metabolism More Complicated Than Was Thought (December 11, 2008) -- A new study suggests that we may pay a price for ingesting too much fructose. Chances are you consume quite a bit of fructose. Most Americans do --- in refined sugars such as sucrose or table sugar (which is half fructose) and in high-fructose corn syrup, used in products as diverse as soft drinks, protein bars, and fruit juice. Dietary fructose affects a wide range of genes in the liver that had not previously been identified. ... >
Editors note: The authors fail to mention that candy, commercial breads, breakfast cereals and bakery's often use a lot of fructose and/or sucrose in their goods.
Sugar Can Be Addictive: Animal Studies Show Sugar Dependence (December 11, 2008) -- Scientists have demonstrated that sugar can be an addictive substance, wielding its power over the brains of lab animals in a manner similar to many drugs of abuse. Researchers found profound behavioral changes in rats that, through experimental conditions, have been trained to become dependent on high doses of sugar. Lab animals that were denied sugar for a prolonged period after learning to binge worked harder to get it when it was reintroduced to them. They consumed more sugar than they ever had before, suggesting craving and relapse behavior. ... >
38 Percent Of Adults And 12 Percent Of Children Use Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Government Survey Shows (December 11, 2008) -- Approximately 38 percent of adults in the United States aged 18 years and over and nearly 12 percent of U.S. children aged 17 years and under use some form of complementary and alternative medicine, according to a new nationwide government survey. ... >
'Border Patrol Agents' Identified In The Gut (December 10, 2008) -- Researchers have shown in mice how and under what circumstances the gut activates its defensive mechanisms to prevent illness. ... >
Eye Disorders Linked To Statin Drug Use In Some Patients (December 10, 2008) -- Statin medications are used to lower patients' cholesterol levels, thus helping prevent coronary heart disease, stroke and other deaths related to high cholesterol levels. Statin use has grown rapidly since 1992, and seems likely to increase in light of the recent, widely-reported Jupiter Study on statin benefits in patients with low cholesterol but elevated C-reactive protein. ... >
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Statin Warning For Pregnant Women (December 10, 2008) -- Pregnant women or those hoping to start or extend a family should talk to their physician about avoiding using the cholesterol-lowering drugs statins, say scientists. ... >
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Apoptosis Inhibitors Prevent Not Only Cell Death, But Also Play A Role In Cell Migration (December 10, 2008) -- Many of the cancer drugs currently undergoing clinical trials target apoptosis inhibitors (IAPs), since if the levels of IAPs are reduced, tumor cells will be destroyed by the body's own self-protecting mechanism or by the chemotherapeutic drugs. However, researchers have recently discovered that IAPs also have another life: they control cell migration. ... >
According to the researchers, drugs to target IAPs should therefore only be used with caution in future.
Food Can Affect A Cell In The Same Way Hormones Do (December 9, 2008) -- Researchers have discovered an important new mechanism with which cells can detect nutrients. This happens in the same way - and with the same effects – as when cells receive a message from a hormone. This finding can teach us more about how food affects our body; and, furthermore, it can form the basis for new candidate targets for medicines. ... >
Progression Of Retinal Disease Linked To Cell Starvation (December 9, 2008) -- A new study illuminates an incurable eye disease that afflicts approximately 100,000 Americans. Your retina contains two types of cells that send signals when they detect light: rods and cones. In patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa, first the rods, then the cones die, leading to blindness. While most cases of the disease are due to mutations in rod-specific genes, cones don't escape death. New data suggest that the cones die because they are starving. ... >
Antibiotics: Single Largest Class Of Drugs Causing Liver Injury (December 8, 2008) -- Antibiotics are the single largest class of agents that cause idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury, reports a new study in Gastroenterology. DILI is the most common cause of death from acute liver failure and accounts for approximately 13 percent of cases of acute liver failure in the US. It is caused by a wide variety of prescription and nonprescription medications, nutritional supplements and herbals. ... >
Shared Features Of Human Gut Microbial Communities: Variations Linked To Obesity (December 8, 2008) -- Researchers have catalogued the microbial species in the guts of lean and obese female twins and their mothers, finding that each individual carries a unique collection of bacteria, although the communities are more similar among family members. However, when the scientists looked closer, they found the various collections of bacterial species carried a common set of genes that performed key functions to complement those performed by our human genes. ... >
Escape Cancer, But Age Sooner? The Dark Side Of The Tumor Suppressing Process (December 5, 2008) -- Cells shut down and stop dividing when their DNA is damaged so as to prevent damaged DNA from leading to unregulated cell division and therefore cancer. However, a new study has found that when these cells shut down they also spew proteins into their surrounding environment. This causes inflammation and sets up conditions that support the development of age-related diseases including, ironically, cancer. ... >
Calcium And Vitamin D May Not Be The Only Protection Against Bone Loss (December 4, 2008) -- Diets that are high in protein and cereal grains produce an excess of acid in the body which may increase calcium excretion and weaken bones, according to a new study. The study found that increasing the alkali content of the diet, with a pill or through a diet rich in fruits and vegetables has the opposite effect and strengthens skeletal health. ... >
Some 'Good Cholesterol' Is Actually Bad, Study Shows (December 3, 2008) -- If you think your levels of "good cholesterol" are good enough, a new study suggests that you may want to think again. Researchers show that good cholesterol (HDL) has varying degrees of quality and that poor quality HDL is actually bad for you. ... >
Antioxidants Are Unlikely To Prevent Aging, Study Suggests (December 2, 2008) -- Diets and beauty products which claim to have anti-oxidant properties are unlikely to prevent aging, according to new research. Scientists in England say this is because a key 50-year-old theory about the causes of aging is wrong. ...
"Oxidative damage is clearly not a universal, major driver of the aging process. Other factors, such as chemical reactions involving sugars in our body, clearly play a role."
Eating Eggs When Pregnant Affects Breast Cancer In Offspring (December 2, 2008) -- A stunning discovery based on epigenetics (the inheritance of propensities acquired in the womb) reveals that consuming choline -- a nutrient found in eggs and other foods -- during pregnancy may significantly affect breast cancer outcomes for a mother's offspring. This finding is the first to link choline consumption during pregnancy to breast cancer. It also is the first to identify possible choline-related genetic changes that affect breast cancer survival rates. The 'genetic impact' of a pregnant woman's diet has a profound effect on her child. ... >
Potentially Universal Mechanism Of Aging Identified (November 27, 2008) -- Researchers have uncovered what may be a universal cause of aging, one that applies to both single cell organisms such as yeast and multicellular organisms, including mammals. This is the first time that such an evolutionarily conserved aging mechanism has been identified between such diverse organisms. The mechanism probably dates back more than one billion years. The study shows how DNA damage eventually leads to a breakdown in the cell's ability to properly regulate which genes are switched on and off in particular settings. ... >
"According to this specific mechanism, while DNA damage exacerbates aging, the actual cause is not the DNA damage itself but the lack of gene regulation that results," says Oberdoerffer. "Lots of research has shown that this particular process of regulating gene activity, otherwise known as epigenetics, can be reversed—unlike actual mutations in DNA. We see here, through a proof-of-principal demonstration, that elements of aging can be reversed."
Systems Biology And Glycomics Applied To Study Of Human Inflammatory Diseases (November 3, 2008) -- An innovative systems biology approach to understanding the carbohydrate structures in cells is leading to new ways to understand how inflammatory illnesses and cardiovascular disease develop in humans. ... >
But in order to do that, researchers need a far more detailed picture of these structures and the highly complex interactions between glycans, enzymes, genes and proteins, all of which can influence the development of inflammatory disease.
Scientists Unwrap The Elements Of Life (October 28, 2008) -- Researchers have taken a step forward in our understanding of how the fundamental building blocks of life are put together. They have revealed a mechanism that ensures the right metal goes to the right protein. Proteins are essential and involved in just about every process in living cells. ... >
“Previously, a common view was that the right metals were simply those which were most attracted to the protein, but in this work that is not the case.”
Sugar Plays Key Role In How Cells Work (October 23, 2008) -- Scientists were dubious in the early 1980s when they stumbled on small sugar molecules lurking in the centers of cells; not only were they not supposed to be there, but they certainly weren't supposed to be repeatedly attaching to and detaching from proteins, effectively switching them on and off. ... >
"The influence of sugar is striking," Hart says. "The presence of O-GlcNAc causes the enzymes that add the phosphate to do something different, and this cross-talk itself can modify proteins."
Exercise Gives Longer Life For People With Heart Disease (October 23, 2008) -- Exercising once a week can help prolong life expectancy for people with heart disease, according to a new study. ... >
"Mortality decreased by 30 per cent among women who exercised once a week compared to those who did not exercise at all. For men the corresponding figure was 20 per cent," states Trine Moholdt.
Getting To Grips With The Complexity Of Disease Proteins (October 24, 2008) -- New research into how proteins in human cells interact and 'talk' to each other is leading to a better understanding of how drug molecules work and should result in more effective therapies, according to scientist. ... >
"Most of the time the mechanism of action of drugs is ill understood and we often do not even know the primary target of the drugs we swallow daily,"
Pectin Power: Why Fruits And Vegetables May Protect Against Cancer's Spread October 14, 2008 — Scientists from the UK's Institute of Food Research have found a new possible explanation for why people who eat more fruit and vegetables may gain protection against the spread of cancers. They have ... >
Unraveling The Complexity Of Human Disease October 14, 2008 — The mysteries of the human genome are slowly being revealed -- but the more we uncover the more complicated the picture becomes. This was one key message to emerge from the European Science ... >
Why Current Publication Practices May Distort Science (October 7, 2008) -- The current system of publishing medical and scientific research provides "a distorted view of the reality of scientific data that are generated in the laboratory and clinic," says a team of researchers in PLoS Medicine. ... >
Do 68 Molecules Hold The Key To Understanding Disease? (September 4, 2008) -- Why is it that the origins of many serious diseases remain a mystery? In considering that question, a scientist at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has come up with a unified molecular view of the indivisible unit of life, the cell, which may provide an answer. ... >
Link Between Inflammation, Cancer Confirmed (June 3, 2008) -- Chronic inflammation of the intestine or stomach can damage DNA, increasing the risk of cancer, MIT scientists have confirmed. Chronic inflammation accelerated tumor formation in mice lacking the ability to repair DNA damage. ... >
Numerous Undiscovered Gene Alterations In Pancreatic And Brain Cancers Detected (September 8, 2008) -- Investigators have detected a multitude of broken, missing, and overactive genes in pancreatic and brain tumors, in the most detailed genetic survey yet of any human tumor. Some of these genetic changes were previously unknown and could provide new leads for improved diagnosis and therapy for these devastating cancers. ... >
The best hope for new therapies, they wrote, "may lie in the discovery of agents that target the physiologic effects of the altered pathways and processes, rather than their individual genetic components." ...> Click here to learn more about Epigenetics.
Good News In Our DNA: Defects You Can Fix With Vitamins And Minerals (June 3, 2008) -- As DNA sequencing becomes cheaper, it will become common for people to have their complete genomes sequenced. Personal genomes will not only tell people about genetic susceptibility to cancer and heart disease, but will also tell them which vitamins and how much can improve their health. A new study shows that one enzyme can be tuned up with vitamins, suggesting that one day we all may take personalized vitamin supplements. ... >
Lifestyle Can Alter Gene Activity, Lead To Insulin Resistance (June 23, 2008) -- A Finnish study of identical twins has found that physical inactivity and acquired obesity can impair expression of the genes which help the cells produce energy. The findings suggest that lifestyle, more than heredity, contributes to insulin resistance in people who are obese. Insulin resistance increases the chance of developing diabetes and heart disease. ... >
New Insights Into Hidden World Of Protein Folding (June 13, 2008) -- The proteins upon which life depends share an attribute with paper airplanes: Unless folded properly, they just won't fly. Proteins, long and linear when first made, must fold into specific configurations before they can properly do their job in a cell. How they are folded is a mystery, but researchers have begun prying the lid off a type of molecule called a chaperonin, which folds some of the most essential proteins for life. The goal is to control protein folding, which has therapy implications for many diseases caused by misfolding. ... >
Nutritional Supplement Could Improve Clinical Situation Of ICU Patients (June 5, 2008) -- For the first time, it has been determined the exact quantity of vitamins A, E and C and minerals needed to improve the clinic situation of critical patients. This study suggests that the oxide stress increase during patients stays in the Intensive Care Unit is due to the low levels of antioxidant food consumption. ... >
Humans Have Ten Times More Bacteria Than Human Cells: How Do Microbial Communities Affect Human Health? (June 5, 2008) -- The number of bacteria living within the body of the average healthy adult human are estimated to outnumber human cells 10 to one. Changes in these microbial communities may be responsible for digestive disorders, skin diseases, gum disease and even obesity. ... >
"It is quite possible that mapping and understanding the human microbiome may be as important or more important to understanding human health than mapping and understanding the human genome", says Margaret McFall Ngai of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Cannabinoids May Inhibit Cancer Cell Invasion (Dec. 27, 2007) — Cannabinoids may suppress tumor invasion in highly invasive cancers, according to a study published online December 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer ... > Cannabinoids for Cancer Treatment
"Cannabinoids, whose potential therapeutic benefit in the treatment of highly invasive cancers should be addressed in clinical trials."
As a society, we tend to over-analyze things, rather than look at what needs to be done. The goal of GlyCop is to provide sufficient quantities of glyconutrients, phytonutrients, antioxidants and food supplements at a reasonable price to the members of the cooperative.
