Bacteria In Bottled Water

Fruit Helps Ward Off Asthma.
Children who eat a Mediterranean diet rich in fruit, vegetables and fish have lower risk of asthma, scientists claim.
Researchers in Germany, Spain and England studied data from 50,000 children aged 8 to 12 from 20 countries, collected between 1995 and 2005.
They found children who ate a diet which was rich in fruit had a low rate of wheeze in both rich and poor countries.
The results appear in the Journal Thorax.
Japanese islanders the Okinawans often live to well over 100.
Their diet is packed with up to 14 different fruit and veg a day.
Bursting with antioxidants, these foods boost the immune system and fight damage that leads to premature ageing.
The Okinawans stop eating as soon as they feel full.

Coffee May Prevent The Onset Of Alzheimer’s.
A daily dose of caffeine could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s and even prevent the disease.
Scientists found coffee can lower the levels of protein in the brain that cause degeneration.
They found it may also boost memory power.
The UK has 417,000 Alzheimer’s sufferers.

Purple Grape Juice May Prevent Heart Attacks.
Purple grape juice can help prevent heart attacks, angina and strokes, research has revealed.
Dr Joseph Vita said his team in Boston, USA, found the juice had “Favourable effects on nocturnal blood pressure regulation”.

Bacteria In Bottled Water.
Bottled water contains more bacteria than tap water, a study found.
About 70% of popular brands in shops have high levels – with some containing 100 times more than the safe level.
Dr Sonish Azam, of Canada’s C-Crest Laboratory, warned it could affect children and the elderly.

Five-A-Day Is Good But Change The Fruit And Veg.
Your five-a-day may be good for you – but change the fruit and veg you eat and you’ll be far healthier.
For obvious choices like carrots, oranges, spinach and strawberries are not the best heart protectors, say US scientists.
Lots more “powerhouse” phytonutrients are in sweet potatoes, papaya, kale, raspberries and watercress respectively, a California study has found.

Apples May Reduce The Risk Of Colorectal Cancer.
Eating apples regularly may reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer, according to new research in Poland and reported in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention.
Eating more than one apple a day reduced the risk by about half.
Eating other fruit or vegetables did not have the same effects on the risk of colorectal cancer.
The protective properties of apples may be as a result of their high content of flavonoids.
These act as antioxidants found concentrated in the skin of apples, preventing molecules or free radicals from inflicting damage on tissue and which can inhibit cancer onset and cell proliferation.
Antioxidants were five times more prevalent in the apple skin than the actual flesh – so wash, but do not peel before you eat.

Pomegranate Juice Reduces The Risk Of Heart Disease.
Pomegranate juice can help banish beer bellies and cut high blood pressure – a major cause of heart disease and strokes.
The blood pressure of more than 90% of volunteers who drank the juice for a month was “significantly” reduced, a study found.
The research at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University, also showed fat re-distributed from the stomach area.
Researchers said: “there is no doubt the juice reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease”.

Cancer Risk For Women Smokers.
Scientists believe they have discovered why women smokers are twice as likely to develop cervical cancer than non-smokers.
They found nicotine works with a certain molecule to increase the cancer-causing effect of the sexually-transmitted infection human papilloma virus.
HPV causes around 70% of cervical cancers, which kill 1,000 UK women each year.
And though up to 80% of women will be infected with HPV at some point in their lives it usually needs no treatment and is harmless.
Dr Daniel Ndisang, from University College London which did the research, said: “these findings could help increase awareness of the necessity of avoiding smoking amongst women”.

Thyme Could Be A Cure For The Deadly MRSA Bug.
Scientists at the University of Brighton showed oils from the herb can destroy the bug – linked to at least 8,000 deaths a year in the UK – within two hours.
Researcher Dr Jonathan Caplin said: “These are very promising results. Thyme has a very strong effect on MRSA”.

Does Cold Weather Cause Prostate Cancer?
Grim weather in the north could make men more prone to prostate cancer.
Scientists believe lack of sun and cold temperatures may help explain higher rates of the disease in northerly parts of the world.
Those deprived of sunshine can suffer vitamin D deficiency, which may increase prostate cancer risk.
And the cold might help preserve cancer-triggering pollutants, an Idaho State University study found.
Dr Sophie St-Hilaire said: “The trends are consistent with what we would expect, given the effects of climate on the deposition, absorption, and degradation of persistent organic pollutants, including pesticides”.
The research is published in the International Journal of Health Geographics.