Antioxidants

Q: In its radio ads, a company has claimed that its combination of antioxidants can prevent cancer and heart disease. Are these claims true? If so, is it better to take such a mixture rather than supplements containing individual antioxidants? Which products are best?Q: The best and only real evidence for these claims are some studies showing that people whose diets are rich in fruits and vegetables, which contain antioxidants, have a decreased incidence of cancer. In addition to their content of antioxidants, however, fruits and vegetables contain many other chemical substances that may be providing protection against cancer.

A nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center regularly provides a guest post. This week, Debra Schulze weighs in on fall fruits and vegetables. The chill of fall is in the air along with the bright red, orange and yellow colors of the leaves. Fall offers many fruits and vegetables that are delicious and packed with nutritional benefits. This is the best time of year to experience the red pomegranates, the orange winter squash, the yellow peppers along with many other members of the season's bounty.

Q. I understand that eating licorice lowers testosterone levels in men. Will it have the same impact on testosterone levels in women? Could this hormonal effect be a solution to eliminating unwanted facial hair in women? A. An Italian study published in 1999 in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that men who eat licorice have lower circulating testosterone levels. Although this herb might also lower testosterone levels in women, the risks might be too great. Licorice has a number of potential side effects, including high blood pressure, fatigue, mineral imbalance and loss of libido.

A California man is suing Dr Pepper Snapple Group, the Plano, Tex. manufacturer of 7UP, in federal court over what he says are misleading antioxidant claims about its regular and diet Cherry Antioxidant, Mixed Berry Antioxidant, and Pomegranate Antioxidant varieties. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, said that 7UP's health claim -  "There's never been a more delicious way to cherry pick your antioxidant!" - is misleading and illegal.

Each week a nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center provides a guest post to The Baltimore Sun's health blog Picture of Health (baltimoresun.com/pictureofhealth). This week, Karen Kolowski weighs in on pomegranates. The pomegranate has a long, rich history and has been considered a mystical fruit throughout the centuries. One of the earliest cultivated fruits, the pomegranate can be traced to 3,500 B.C. It is believed by some scholars to be what tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden rather than an apple.

DRINK A LOT of coffee? Good job. It might make Americans jittery or feisty, but they get more antioxidants - those good-health nutritional nuggets - from drinking coffee than from eating or drinking anything else. Of course, that's because most folks drink a lot of coffee and don't eat the stuff that's really packed with antioxidants - prunes, cranberries, spinach, broccoli, whole grains and so on. But at least they're getting the good stuff from somewhere. Recent research suggests additional benefits.

YET AGAIN, Mom was right. Hot cocoa is so, so good for you. Besides its delightful flavor, the rich choco-powder turns out to be chock-full of antioxidants, substances that can prevent cancers and other forms of disease in the body, say scientists at Cornell University. In fact, it handily out-healths those previous surprise superdrinks: A single cup of hot cocoa contains nearly twice the antioxidants as a glass of red wine and up to three times those in a cup of green tea. That's in addition to its previously known benefits -- as a mild stimulant, a diuretic and blood-vessel expander, among others.

A nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center regularly provides a guest post. This week, Debra Schulze weighs in on fall fruits and vegetables. The chill of fall is in the air along with the bright red, orange and yellow colors of the leaves. Fall offers many fruits and vegetables that are delicious and packed with nutritional benefits. This is the best time of year to experience the red pomegranates, the orange winter squash, the yellow peppers along with many other members of the season's bounty.

Until this week I had been losing a supper-table argument.I had been arguing against an extra course, a pill course, being added to the family meal. I was worried that in the name of good health, I would soon have to pop pills containing big doses of vitamins A and E, members of a class of chemicals known as antioxidants.I believe that all vitamins should appear the way God made them, namely, in the form of delicious food and drink. I was opposed to tossing down tablets.The key to good health, I argued, was at the dinner table, not at the medicine counter.

NEW ORLEANS - In a blow to the belief that mega antioxidant supplements can prevent disease, people who took a common dose of vitamin E had a moderately higher risk of dying, researchers said yesterday. Doctors say the finding should finally resolve years of conflicting information about high doses of the popular supplement, which is taken to prevent a variety of illnesses, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's disease. "I think people should have stopped taking it two years ago," said Raymond Gibbons, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist who was not associated with the research.

Each week a nutritionist from the University of Maryland Medical Center provides a guest post to The Baltimore Sun's health blog Picture of Health (baltimoresun.com/pictureofhealth). This week, Karen Kolowski weighs in on pomegranates. The pomegranate has a long, rich history and has been considered a mystical fruit throughout the centuries. One of the earliest cultivated fruits, the pomegranate can be traced to 3,500 B.C. It is believed by some scholars to be what tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden rather than an apple.

Think blueberries, and you think pie. But these blue beauties, at the height of their season in Maryland right now, are ready to break out of that familiar lattice-topped role. Home cooks and professional chefs alike have found the berry's not-too-tart, not-too-sweet flavor lends itself to many savory uses. At Clementine restaurant in Hamilton, chef and co-owner Winston Blick uses the fruit in a blueberry-basil salad vinaigrette, in a jammy compound butter served on pork chops and in a side dish of sauteed greens and house-cured bacon.

Wintry sunlight seeps into the storefront window, brightening the entryway and glinting off dozens of metallic canisters that, displayed behind the bar, hold dreamy-named versions of the elixir that is Teavolve's raison d'etre. Mandarin green. Lapsang souchong. Lemon mango. Rooibos paradise. Golden Jasmine. Sonari assam. Sundew. Deeper into the room, people sit across from one another absorbed in conversation, hands wrapped around warm mugs. Local art lines the walls and a soothing soundtrack that the owners accurately call "chill lounge" filters through unobtrusively.

This antioxidant can protect against cancer, heart disease and diabetes. It can lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation and ease pain. Best of all, perhaps, it can help users live 30 percent longer than they would without it. Resveratrol -- a substance found most notably in red wine -- is sometimes called a "miracle molecule." In labs around the world, scientists are devoting their lives to studying it, and they're writing so many papers about it that mere mortals are hard-pressed to keep up with them all. In short, the evidence is nearly overwhelming that resveratrol can work wonders for your health.

This just in: Organic tomatoes have more lycopene than conventionally farmed tomatoes. This also just in: Lycopene may not be as healthful as we thought. So goes the bold field of tomato research. As the most frequently consumed produce in America after potatoes, tomatoes provide vitamins, minerals and fiber -- and, of course, they're nonfat. Plus, with high levels of the antioxidant lycopene, they've been considered a potentially powerful cancer fighter. But even as new research identifies which growing methods produce the most lycopene-rich tomatoes, the Food and Drug Administration has said the fruit's health-boosting powers can't be proved.

Drink it. Eat it. Slather it over your body. There is no denying that the pomegranate, its fleshy burgundy bulb packed with juicy seeds, is one of the trendiest and most versatile fruits on the market. In the past seven months, 215 new pomegranate food and beverage products were introduced in the United States, according to Datamonitor's Productscan Online, which keeps track of new products. Last year, 258 pomegranate products were introduced, up from 93 in 2004, 31 in 2003 and 19 in 2002.

Drink it. Eat it. Slather it over your body. There is no denying that the pomegranate, its fleshy burgundy bulb packed with juicy seeds, is one of the trendiest and most versatile fruits on the market. In the past seven months, 215 new pomegranate food and beverage products were introduced in the United States, according to Datamonitor's Productscan Online, which keeps track of new products. Last year, 258 pomegranate products were introduced, up from 93 in 2004, 31 in 2003 and 19 in 2002.

You recently wrote about a link between black cohosh and liver problems. I have a friend who has had hepatitis C for 23 years. She had been taking black cohosh for menopausal hot flashes, but her liver enzymes were high. When I read your column I e-mailed her, and she quit taking the herb. Today she phoned to tell me her liver enzymes are now down significantly. She credits quitting the black cohosh for this dramatic improvement. We both thank you. We are delighted to learn that your friend had such a positive outcome.

DRINK A LOT of coffee? Good job. It might make Americans jittery or feisty, but they get more antioxidants - those good-health nutritional nuggets - from drinking coffee than from eating or drinking anything else. Of course, that's because most folks drink a lot of coffee and don't eat the stuff that's really packed with antioxidants - prunes, cranberries, spinach, broccoli, whole grains and so on. But at least they're getting the good stuff from somewhere. Recent research suggests additional benefits.

A woman in her 50s vacationing in South America was touring a chocolate factory when its owner asked, "Who wants to be covered in chocolate?" The spunky gal, who'd had a bit to drink -- or so the story goes -- obliged. She woke the next morning to find she had, not a hangover but, lo and behold, extremely soft skin. "It was amazing," said John Scharffenberger, a chocolatier in Berkeley, Calif., who retells the legend every chance he gets. "The results lasted for weeks." As a founder of Scharffen Berger, the maker of famously dense, dark Nibby Bars, Scharffenberger has more than a passing interest in the stuff.