HEALTH NEWS

 

·         Fermented red clover extract stops menopausal hot flushes and symptoms

·         Resveratrol, quercetin could provide new options for cancer therapy

·         World's largest study shows the more you walk, the lower your risk of death, even if you walk fewer than 5,000 steps

·         Brains of overweight people 'ten years older' than lean counterparts at middle-age

·         Soy protein found to deplete testosterone in men

·         Study shows endometriosis is linked to higher risk of depression, anxiety, eating disorders

 

Fermented red clover extract stops menopausal hot flushes and symptoms

Aarhus University (Denmark), July 24, 2023

The vast majority of women in the menopause are familiar with the status of Red Clover as an herbal medicine that soothes hot flush symptoms and hormonal fluctuations. This holds true, new research shows, if the red clover is taken in a fermented form. Fermented Red Clover extract is demonstrated to decrease significantly both the number and severity of daily hot flushes.

The study also found that the extract prevents the normally accelerated menopausal bone loss affecting one in three women over the age of 50 (e.g. results showed treatment blunted bone loss in the spine completely). These findings are very promising as the benefits take place without any of the side effects of traditionally proscribed hormone therapies that increase the risk of cancers and cardiovascular diseases.

"It is the fermentation process of the Red Clover extract that makes the difference, as the lactic acid fermentation increases the bioavailability of the bioactive estrogen-like compounds (known as isoflavones or phytoestrogens) that Red Clover has in abundance," explains Max Norman Tandrup Lambert.

"The challenge with isoflavones is that they can be difficult to digest as they naturally occur in the plant bound to sugar molecules which prevent absorption. Hence, a large proportion of the isoflavones that are consumed (e.g. as a pill or capsule) can pass through the intestine without entering circulation. This problem is bypassed when the Red Clover extract undergoes a fermentation process. To be technical the process separates the sugar molecules from the isoflavones, thereby increasing bioavailability," explains Max Norman Tandup Lambert.

A studyrecruited 130 women with menopause symptoms, of which 60 were selected based on criteria of at least five severe hot flushes per day and blood tests (including FSH, that indicates the "stage" of menopause).

"The women were separated into two groups of 30, so 30 drank 150ml Red Clover extract per day for 12 weeks, whilst the other 30 drank a masked placebo product. After 12 weeks we tested again and were speechless about the data. There was a much greater effect than we had hoped for." Says Max Norman Tandrup Lambert.

 

Resveratrol, quercetin could provide new options for cancer therapy

Oregon State University, July 16, 2023

Resveratrol and quercetin, two polyphenols that have been widely studied for their health properties, may soon become the basis of an important new advance in cancer treatment, primarily by improving the efficacy and potential use of an existing chemotherapeutic cancer drug.

In laboratory experiments, researchers at Oregon State University have developed a system to increase the bioavailability of these compounds in the body by using "copolymers" that make them water soluble and allow their injection into the blood stream, creating levels that are far higher than could ever be obtained by diet or oral intake.

The resveratrol and quercetin then appear to reduce the cardiac toxicity of a very widely used cancer drug, Adriamycin. Although highly effective in the treatment of lymphomas, breast, ovarian and other cancers, Adriamycin can only be used for a limited time in humans because of its cardiotoxicity.

The co-administration of these polyphenols might allow much more extensive use of this drug, while at the sa