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Cocoa flavanols may be able to reduce blood pressure

Cool room temperature inhibited cancer growth in mice

Smells experienced in nature evoke positive wellbeing

Healthy lifestyle may buffer against stress-related cell aging, study says

Zinc plus antioxidants: A cost-effective solution to macular degeneration?

Passive exercise offers same brain health benefits as active movements, study finds

Cocoa flavanols may be able to reduce blood pressure

University of Surrey (UK), July 23, 2022

A recent study found that cocoa flavanols can effectively lower blood pressure in people with ideal blood pressure, but not when it was already low, as well as reduce arterial stiffness. 

Researchers of the current study note that previous controlled clinical intervention studies have demonstrated the blood pressure-decreasing and arterial stiffness-reducing effects of cocoa flavanols (CF) in healthy humans.

However, as these studies were in tightly controlled settings, the researchers wanted to see how well this intervention played out in real-life scenarios. The researchers used an n-of-1 study design, where a small number of participants were exposed to the same intervention or the placebo multiple times. They then compared the results for each individual as well as between individuals. 

The study included eleven healthy adults who received alternating doses of cocoa flavanol capsules and placebo capsules for eight days. 

The results showed that cocoa flavanols were effective in lowering blood pressure and reducing arterial stiffness. 

One concern about using cocoa flavanols to lower blood pressure is the risk of the blood pressure dropping too low. However, in this study, researchers found that the cocoa had less impact when blood pressure was lower, indicating it was a potentially safe intervention. 

Prof. Christian Heiss, study author and professor of cardiovascular medicine, explained to MNT:  “The study confirms that cocoa flavanols can lower blood pressure and improve arterial stiffness. The new thing is that it does so in the normal life of healthy people and only lowers it if it is ‘high’ even in the ‘normal range.”

Cool room temperature inhibited cancer growth in mice

Karolinska Institutet, August 5, 2022

Turning down the thermostat seems to make it harder for cancer cells to grow, according to a study in mice by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. The study, published in the journal Nature, found that chilly temperatures activate heat-producing brown fat that consumes the sugars the tumors need to thrive. Similar metabolic mechanisms were found in a cancer patient exposed to a lowered room temperature.

"We found that cold-activated brown adipose tissue competes against tumors for glucose and can help inhibit tumor growth in mice," says Professor Yihai Cao at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, and corresponding author. "Our findings suggest that cold exposure could be a promising novel approach to cancer therapy, although this needs to be validated in larger clinical studies."

The study compared tumor growth and survival rates in mice with various types of cancer, including colorectal, breast and pancreatic cancers, when exposed to cold versus warm living conditions. Mice acclimatized to temperatures of 4 degrees Celsius had significantly slower tumor growth and lived nearly twice as long compared with mice in rooms of 30 degrees Celsius.

They found that cold temperatures triggered significant glucose uptake in brown adipose tissue, also known as brown fat, a type of fat that is responsible for keep the body warm during cold conditions. At the same time, the glucose signals were barely detectable in the tumor cells.

When the researchers removed either the brown fat or a protein crucial for its metabolism called UCP1, the beneficial effect of the cold exposure was essentially wiped out and the tumors grew at a pace on par with those that were exposed to h