Top 10 Foods for a Good Night’s Sleep
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What is the secret to getting a solid 7 to 8 hours of sleep? Head for the kitchen and enjoy one or two of these 10 foods. They relax tense muscles, quiet buzzing minds, and/or get calming, sleep-inducing hormones - serotonin and melatonin - flowing. Yawning yet?
1) Warm milk
Warm milk. It’s not a myth. Milk has some tryptophan - an amino acid that has a sedative - like effect - and calcium, which helps the brain use tryptophan. Plus there’s the psychological throw-back to infancy, when a warm bottle meant “relax, everything’s fine.”
2) Bananas
Bananas. They’re practically a sleeping pill in a peel. In addition to a bit of soothing melatonin and serotonin, bananas contain magnesium, a muscle relaxant.
3) Chamomile tea
Chamomile tea. The reason chamomile is such a staple of bedtime tea blends is its mild sedating effect - it’s the perfect natural antidote for restless minds/bodies.
4) Honey
Honey. Drizzle a little in your warm milk or herb tea. Lots of sugar is stimulating, but a little glucose tells your brain to turn off orexin, a recently discovered neurotransmitter that’s linked to alertness.
5) Potatoes
Potatoes. A small baked spud won’t overwhelm your GI tract, and it clears away acids that can interfere with yawn-inducing tryptophan. To up the soothing effects, mash it with warm milk
6) Oatmeal
Oatmeal. Oats are a rich source of sleep - inviting melatonin, and a small bowl of warm cereal with a splash of maple syrup is cozy - plus if you’ve got the munchies, it’s filling too.
7) Almonds
Almonds. A handful of these heart-healthy nuts can be snooze-inducing, as they contain both tryptophan and a nice dose of muscle-relaxing magnesium.
Flaxseeds
Flaxseeds. When life goes awry and feeling down is keeping you up, try sprinkling 2 tablespoons of these healthy little seeds on your bedtime oatmeal. They’re rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a natural mood lifter.
9) Whole-wheat bread
Whole-wheat bread. A slice of toast with your tea and honey will release insulin, which helps tryptophan get to your brain, where it’s converted to serotonin and quietly murmurs “time to sleep.”
10) Turkey
Turkey. It’s the most famous source of tryptophan, credited with all those Thanksgiving naps. But that’s actually modern folklore. Tryptophan works when your stomach’s basically empty, not overstuffed, and when there are some carbs around, not tons of protein. But put a lean slice or two on some whole-wheat bread mid-evening, and you’ve got one of the best sleep inducers in your kitchen.
Generic Viagra For Ed Sufferers. (Sponsor Article)
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News Tips From The Journal Of Biological Chemistry
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Cholesterol Metabolism Without Oxygen
This article was featured as a “Paper of the Week” by the Journal of Biological Chemistry’s Editors, meaning that it belongs to the top one percent of papers reviewed in significance and overall importance.
Researchers report the first details of how cholesterol is metabolized without oxygen.
Cholesterol, a precursor to steroid hormones and a constituent of cell membranes, is usually broken down inside an organism in the presence of oxygen. The chemical reactions involved are well-known and have been used in industry to manufacture synthetic sexual hormones and dietary supplements. Cholesterol can also be broken down without oxygen, but very little is known about the chemical mechanisms at work.
Georg Fuchs and colleagues report the first study of these mechanisms. They used a bacterium called Sterolibacterium denitrificans and carefully looked at how cholesterol was broken down in this organism. The results, which revealed new compounds not previously seen in reactions involving oxygen, could be used to produce new pharmaceuticals for cholesterol-related diseases.
Article: “Initial steps in the anoxic metabolism of cholesterol by the denitrifying Sterolibacterium denitrificans” by Yin-Ru Chiang, Wael Ismail, Michael Muller, and Georg Fuchs.
Compound Effective against Blood Cancer Reveals Its Secrets
Scientists have revealed the mechanisms by which a natural compound destroys blood cancer cells.
Cyanidin, a chemical widely available in fruits, vegetables, and red wine, is known for its anticancer properties, but the details of how it works at the cellular level have been unclear - until now.
Xiao-Ming Yin and colleagues studied the effects of cyanidin on cultured cells from leukemia and lymphoma patients. They discovered that cyanidin increased the levels of molecules well-known for killing cells. These molecules, called reactive oxygen species, destroyed the cancer cells while sparing the surrounding healthy blood cells. These results could be used to develop new anticancer drugs, the scientists concluded.
Article: “Cyanidin-3-Rutinoside, a Natural Polyphenol Antioxidant, Selectively Kills Leukemic Cells by Induction of Oxidative Stress” by Rentian Feng, Hong-Min Ni, Shiow Y. Wang, Irina L. Tourkova, Michael R. Shulin, Hisashi Harada, and Xiao-Ming Yin.
Fighting Bacteria by Preventing Them from Talking to Each Other
Researchers report the detailed structure of a key protein that helps bacteria talk to each other. The new finding could help devise new drugs targeting this protein.
Many bacteria communicate by sending molecules to each other. Such communication, called quorum sensing, helps them grow within a host without harming it, until they reach a certain concentration and become more aggressive. Of the many bacteria known to communicate by quorum sensing, Pseudomonas aeroginosa is the most studied because it causes death in the majority of cystic fibrosis sufferers and in AIDS patients, burn victims, and cancer patients.
Matthew Bottomley and colleagues described the chemical structure of the uppermost protein in the hierarchy of quorum sensing molecules. This protein, called LasR, activates other proteins that make the chemicals the bacteria use to communicate. The new result could help design new drugs against P. aeroginosa that inhibit LasR.
Article: “Molecular Insights into Quorum Sensing in the Human Pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa from the Structure of the Virulence Regulator LasR Bound to its Autoinducer” by Matthew J. Bottomley, Ester Muraglia, Renzo Bazzo & Andrea Carfì.
New Insight into HIV Infection
Scientists provide new information about how HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, enters the nucleus of an infected cell. This study could help devise a new way to fight AIDS.
When HIV infects a cell, it carries its DNA into the nucleus of the cell, then the viral DNA mixes with the cell’s DNA. The combined DNA produces proteins that make new viruses, which spread to neighboring cells. The mechanism by which HIV’s DNA enters the nucleus is not yet fully understood and may offer new ways to fight HIV.
Xiaojian Yao and colleagues studied how various cellular proteins help the virus enter the infected cell’s nucleus. They revealed new roles for these proteins that had not been fully established. The study also showed that by silencing genes that produce one of these proteins, HIV was three times less infectious than when the protein was present.
Article: “Interaction of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Integrase with Cellular Nuclear Import Receptor Importin 7 and its Impact on Viral Replication” by Zhujun Ao, Guanyou Huang, Han Yao, Zaikun Xu, Meaghan Labine, Alan W. Cochrane, and Xiaojian Yao.
Articles to be published in the May 4, 2007 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry (Vol. 282, No. 18)
The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is a nonprofit scientific and educational organization with over 11,900 members in the United States and internationally. Most members teach and conduct research at colleges and universities. Others conduct research in various government laboratories, nonprofit research institutions and industry. The Society’s student members attend undergraduate or graduate institutions.
Founded in 1906, the Society is based in Bethesda, Maryland, on the campus of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. The Society’s purpose is to advance the science of biochemistry and molecular biology through publication of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the Journal of Lipid Research, and Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, organization of scientific meetings, advocacy for funding of basic research and education, support of science education at all levels, and promoting the diversity of individuals entering the scientific work force.
For more information about ASBMB, see the Society’s Web site at http://www.asbmb.org/
Moderate Coffee Drinking Reduces Many Risks, Panel Says
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Although the American Society for Nutrition’s popular “controversy session” at Experimental Biology 2007 focuses on the health effects of coffee drinking, panel chair Dr. James Coughlin, a toxicology/safety consultant at Coughlin & Associates, says that recent advances in epidemiologic and experimental knowledge have transformed many of the negative health myths about coffee drinking into validated health benefits.
Indeed, panel co-chair Dan Steffen, who follows coffee and health issues in the Scientific and Regulatory Affairs group of Kraft Foods, note that the “controversy” is often to educate a wider audience about this transformation in understanding.
Coffee is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world, and Dr. Coughlin says that the preponderance of scientific evidence - some by the panelists - suggests that moderate coffee consumption (3-5 cups per day) may be associated with reduced risk of certain disease conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. Some research in neuropharamacology suggests that one cup of coffee can halve the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Other studies have found it reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, kidney stones, gallstones, depression and even suicide.
Dr. Coughlin and two distinguished researchers discussed some of the benefits - and a couple of the remaining increased risk factors (possible increase in blood pressure and plasma homocysteine) - on April 30 at the Experimental Biology meeting in Washington, DC.
Dr. Rob van Dam, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard Medical School, studies the link between diet and the development of type 2 diabetes. Worldwide, an estimated 171 million persons have diabetes, mostly type 2 diabetes, and an alarming increase to 366 million persons is expected for the year 2030. While increased physical activity and restriction of energy intake can substantially reduce risk of type 2 diabetes, he believes insight into the role of other lifestyle factors may contribute to additional prevention strategies for type 2 diabetes.
In recent epidemiological studies in the U.S., Europe and Japan, persons who were heavy coffee consumers had a lower risk of type 2 diabetes than persons who consumed little coffee. Interestingly, he says, associations were similar for caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, suggesting that coffee components other than caffeine may be beneficial for glucose metabolism.
Coffee contains hundreds of components including substantial amounts of chlorogenic acid, caffeine, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B3, trigonelline, and lignans. Limited evidence suggests that coffee may improve glucose metabolism by reducing the rate of intestinal glucose absorption and by stimulating the secretion of the gut hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that is beneficial for the secretion of insulin. However, most mechanistic research on coffee and glucose metabolism has been done in animals and in lab tubes and therefore metabolic studies in humans are currently being conducted. Further research may lead to the development or selection of coffee types with improved health effects.
Dr. Lenore Arab, a nutritional epidemiologist in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, notes that the first coffee controversy dates back 430 years when in 1570 some monks petitioned the pope to condemn this drink, so popular among Muslims. Pope Clement VIII, liking how it kept the monks from falling sleep during mass, purportedly blessed it instead. The rest, including the United States’ wholesale conversion to coffee following the Boston Tea Party, is history.
In reviewing the latest epidemiologic literature on cancers and coffee, Dr. Arab has found there to be close to 400 studies of the associations between coffee consumption and cancers various at various sites. The earlier controversy with regard to colon cancer was based on flawed analyses, she says. More thorough analyses and the accumulation of evidence suggest no negative effect on the incidence of colon cancer, and possible protective effects for adenomas of the colon as well as for rectal cancer and liver cancer. Mechanisms which might contribute to a possible anticarcinogenic effect include reduction in cholesterol, bile acid and neutral sterol secretion in the colon, increased colonic motility and reduced exposure of epithelium to carcinogens, the ability of diterpenes to reduce genotoxicity of carcinogens, and lower DNA adduct formation, and the ability of caffeic acid and chlorogenic acid to decreased DNA methylation. In other cancers - breast, ovarian, and prostate - the evidence is not suggestive of either risk or protection. There are two areas, says Dr. Arab, in which there is some evidence of increased risk: leukemia and stomach cancer. The evidence for the former is intriguing, for the latter insubstantial. She concludes that a systematic review of the newer data for liver, rectal, stomach cancer and for childhood leukemia is due.
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