The World Health Organization reports that more than one billion people throughout the world are living with hypertension. Hypertension is responsible for almost 50%of deaths due to heart disease and 51 percent of deaths due to stroke.

Researchers in a study conducted by the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California reported that a higher intake of dietary potassium can aid in lowering blood pressure and that the kidneys excrete more water and salt when the dietary potassium level in the blood is high. Eating a high potassium diet can be likened to taking a diuretic. Also explored was the link between potassium, dietary sodium, blood pressure, and the sodium-potassium ratio and an investigation regarding the effects of potassium and dietary sodium on hypertension.

Alicia McDonough, Ph.D., professor of cell and neurobiology cell at the Keck School, stated that evidence in their analysis suggests that increasing dietary potassium may have an equally important effect and a direct benefit of lowering hypertension.

Many nutritious foods are rich in potassium, a valuable mineral and salt that aids with electrolyte balance and in numerous cardiac functions. Also, without it, your body's vital energy processes are not able to occur.

Following is a list of potassium rich foods!

Banana

Considered a traditional potassium fruit, a medium-sized banana offers about 15 percent of the daily requirements and can be added to other foods such as salads, cereal, jello, puddings, smoothies, and more.

Yogurt

Yogurt itself is one of the best suggestions for a part of a healthy breakfast, as a midday snack, or as a full meal especially with a variety of fresh fruits added. A 100-gram serving offers more than 250 milligrams of potassium.

Apricots

The apricot is tasty and is high in antioxidants including vitamins A and C as well as potassium. A 100-gram serving is about seven percent of the daily needs, is low on the glycemic index, and is an ideal quick snack.

Acorn Squash

It is loaded with potassium, with a 100-gram serving having over 400 mg of potassium. You can bake it with brown sugar and cinnamon for a side dish or make it stuffed with a favorite meat for a complete meal.

Avocado

The avocado has an abundant amount of omega-3 fatty acids, maintains the electrolyte balance, is a filling treat as a snack or added to a salad or smoothie, and has close to 1,000 milligrams of potassium per serving.

Potato

One cup (173 grams) is loaded with nearly 30 percent of the daily requirements for potassium. It is best to enjoy the potato boiled, baked, or grilled and avoid fried versions.

Fresh Salmon

Salmon is one of the healthiest foods and best meat sources as it is also one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids. A small three-ounce serving also contains over 500 milligrams of potassium.

Almonds

Almonds are high in fiber, low on the glycemic index, and help maintain glucose levels and the electrolyte balance. A serving of 28 grams contains about 200 milligrams of potassium and no sodium. However, snack on just a small amount because that serving contains close to 200 calories.

The ability of one's body to have control of the blood's potassium levels is critical to normal heart, muscle, and nerve functions. Since a typical Western diet consists of low potassium and high sodium foods, the body uses the retention of sodium to hold onto that potassium. That is similar to eating a diet high in sodium, which can significantly increase the hypertension risk.

Contrary to popular belief, almost all fresh foods are high in potassium. Processing of foods is what removes postassium and adds sodium which is contrary to how our body's operate!

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A brand new study has determined that women who endure regular hot flashes between the ages of 40 and 53 may be more prone to insufficient vascular function. This likelihood of poor vascular function is independent of cardiovascular disease risk factors as well as estradiol levels. The study's findings were recently published in Menopause. This study was funded by the University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institutes of Health.

Study Details

Researchers studied data from 272 women between age 40 and 69. Each study participant was a non-smoker. These women were in the late perimenopausal stage of 2-12 months amenorrhea or the postmenopausal stage. The study did not include pregnant women or those with cardiovascular disease, hysterectomy, neoplasia, kidney failure, Raynaud's phenomenon, Parkinson's disease, seizures and/or bilateral oophorectomy. Potential study participants who recently used reproductive hormone agents, insulin, reuptake inhibitors and/or cardiovascular drugs were not included. The average age of the typical study participant was 54. The average study participant was also characterized by the following features: Caucasian, college educated, postmenopausal and a fairly favorable cardiovascular disease risk factor profile.

Each participant underwent a physical exam and brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) to determine endothelial function. The participants also underwent carotid artery ultrasound, ambulatory flash monitoring and a blood draw. The study also made use of a wrist actigraph for three days, an electronic hot flash diary for three days and a physiologic hot flash monitor for 24 hours. Menopause status was determined according to menstrual bleeding patterns. Estradiol levels, triglycerides, insulin, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, interleukin 6 and C-reactive protein were evaluated.

Study Findings

Younger women between the ages of 40 and 53 who endured hot flashes had a low FMD compared to those who did not endure hot flashes. This lower FMD stayed true even after controlling for additional cardiovascular disease risk factors. It is an indication of comparably poor endothelial function.

The research team also found that a higher frequency of physiologically monitored hot flashes was linked to poor FMD. The study's authors noted that the FMD of the youngest women who endured hot flashes was similar to that of women in the oldest tertile analyzed in the study (54-60 years-old). A link between hot flashes and FMD could not be established amongst these older women.

In terms of the role of E2, the research team determined that levels were not significantly linked with FMD and did not decrease the association between hot flashes and FMD in the study's young women (40-53 years-old). The study's findings indicate that menopausal hot flashes are linked to inferior endothelial function regardless of E2. However, this finding is strictly limited to young women.

The research team noted that prior studies have linked an association between early hot flashes and a heightened cardiovascular disease risk. The researchers believe the different cardiovascular risk disease markers might indicate different temporal relations to hot flashes that progress from endothelial dysfunction to atherosclerosis all the way to clinical cardiovascular disease events. However, the pathophysiologic mechanism underlying this association is not crystal clear.

In the end, the study's findings point to the possible value of considering the role of hormones as well as hot flashes in cardiovascular health changes that take place early on during the menopause transition. The findings also lend credence to the role endothelium might play in the physiology of hot flashes that take place in comparably young women.

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As we now know, chronic inflammation is linked to a range of medical disorders, from cancer, to heart disease to irritable bowel syndrome to cognitive decline. Cytokines are proteins that prompt increased activity of the immune system, a process necessary to combat infection.  However, when the mechanism goes into overdrive, it may contribute to heart disease, type-2 diabetes, autoimmune diseases, mood disorders and more.  Jennifer Stellar, from, University of California/Berkeley (UCB; California, USA), and colleagues completed two separate experiments, enrolling over 200 young adults.  Subjects reported on a given day the extent to which they had experienced such positive emotions as amusement, awe, compassion, contentment, joy, love and pride. Samples of gum and cheek tissue, known as oral mucosal transudate, taken that same day showed that those who experienced more of these positive emotions, especially awe, wonder and amazement, had the lowest levels of the cytokine, Interleukin 6, a marker of inflammation.  Observing that: “awe … was the strongest predictor of lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines. These effects held when controlling for relevant personality and health variables,” the study authors submit that: “This work suggests a potential biological pathway between positive emotions and health through proinflammatory cytokines.”

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Scientists working to find new ways to treat antibiotic-resistant superbugs have discovered a possibility in the stems and roots of pineapples. A group of three enzymes known as bromelain were  discovered in the 1930s, but the uncovering of their antibiotic qualities happened only a few decades ago, with Australian scientists now using the enzymes to cure diarrhea in piglets. According to Rob Pike, a biochemist from LaTrobe University located in Melbourne, Australia, since pigs and humans are anatomically and physiologically similar in many ways, the enzyme has the potential to provide an alternative treatment for people. While antibiotics target bacteria, bromelain works with the cells in the gut by making it difficult for the bacteria to stick to the cells. The chance of the bacteria evolving and becoming resistant is also limited by the three enzymes targeting gut cells. Scientists hope this will be the case in humans, so diarrhea will not occur.

It is crucial to find alternative treatments for superbugs, because they are predicted to kill about 10 million people a year by 2050; more than the number of people killed by cancer. Scientists hope the new enzymes from pineapple can be used as another weapon to fight resistant bacteria, as many antibiotics do not workany longer. "The momentum to develop alternatives to antibiotics is there now because people believe antibiotics are on the way out and we need something to replace them."

Professor Pike and his colleague Lakshmi Wijeyewickrema is presently developing the alternative treatment to antibiotics along with Anatara Life Science, which also conducted the animal trials.

I have used bromelain in cases of SIBO and gut overgrowth and it has worked well for folks where it is indicated...stay tuned!  Bromelain is also noted for rapid recovery from sports injuries! Bromelain must never be used by folks with inflammation or gastritis!

Next week, we shall discuss, Do You Need A Prebiotic???  See you then! Enjoy the sunshine!

Several far reaching studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to many health problems including autoimmune conditions, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, and cancer. Vitamin D plays a major role in the support of healthy teeth and bones, in the absorption of calcium, and helps support a healthy immune system. Previous studies have shown that higher levels of vitamin D - specifically serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D - are associated with a reduced cancer risk.

A systematic review of seven studies was presented on November 8, 2016, at the annual conference of the Society for Endocrinology in Brighton was conducted that demonstrated that a Vitamin D deficiency creates an increasing risk of bladder cancer development.

Vitamin D is an essential fat-soluble vitamin produced by the body mainly through exposure to sunlight at a minimum of 5 to 30 minutes a day twice a week. Nine out of 10 Americans fail to meet their daily needs for this vitamin, that is actually a hormone, and don't eat enough foods that naturally contain Vitamin D such as egg yolks, fortified milk, and oily fish. Deficiency is even more widespread for people living in  the northern parts of the country, especially in the winter.

Supplements of the vitamin are available in vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. One tablet of 1,000 IU Vitamin D3  is equivalent to seven three-ounce cans of tuna, or 25 egg yolks, or eight cups of fortified milk, or 25 cups of fortified cereal. The most common supplement is adding vitamin D to calcium, but it is also added to multivitamins, magnesium, fish oil, and joint support products.

In countries having low sunlight levels, it is not possible  to obtain enough Vitamin D from just food. In the United Kingdom, one in five adults are deficient in vitamin D and three in five have low levels. In the winter, 75 percent of  dark-skinned people there have a deficiency.  

In the current study, researchers from University Hospital and the University of Warwick reviewed seven studies with 112 to 1125 participants. Five out of seven showed that low levels of vitamin D are linked to an increase in bladder cancer risk. In a separate experiment, researchers looked at cells in the bladder and discovered that they respond to Vitamin D and activate and stimulate an immune response. Dr. Rosemary Bland, the study's lead author, believes that the immune system has a role in identifying abnormal cells prior to their developing into cancer.

Although further clinical studies are necessary to confirm the above findings, the study adds more information to the evidence regarding how important it is to maintain adequate vitamin D levels.

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