healthbriefs
haPPy at Work
Nature’s Viagra
W
atermelon, America’s all-time summer
favorite, delivers more than just a
juicy cool-down. According to a Texas
A&M University study, the summer fruit may
enhance libido in much the same
way that Viagra does.
“The more we study watermel-
ons, the more we realize just how
amazing a fruit it is, in providing
natural enhancers to the human body,”
To find more happiness in
says Bhimu Patil, Ph.D., director of Tex-
your work, pause to remem-
as A&M’s Fruit and Vegetable Improve-
ber what it is you love about
ment Center, in College Station. Bhimu and
his fellow researchers have discovered that a special nutrient in watermelon,
what you do, and you will be
called citrulline, has the ability to relax blood vessels, similar to the action of
a happier, more productive
common male sexual enhancement drugs.
employee. A recent study
How does it work? When consumed, the body converts the citrulline to
arginine, an amino acid that works wonders on the heart and the circulation
by the University of Alberta
system by boosting nitric oxide, which in turn relaxes blood vessels, conferring
demonstrated how a shift
basically the same effects Viagra does in the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
in thought was all that was
Although watermelon may not be as organ-specific as Viagra, it is still a great
way to relax blood vessels. Even better, watermelon has none of the drug’s side
needed to drop employee
effects.
absenteeism by 60 percent
and turnover by 75 percent
in two Canadian long-term
healthcare facilities.
Colorful Diet a Secret
to Stronger Bones
M
ounting evidence increasingly suggests
that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables
PhosPhates
can help keep bones strong, especially as
alert
people age. The latest comes in a Framing-
ham Osteoporosis Study, led by the USDA
New research suggests
Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging that a diet high in inorganic
at Tufts University. Collaborating researchers,
phosphates, found in a
tracking changes in bone mineral density of
more than 600 male and female volunteers
variety of processed foods,
with an average age of 75, found that those including meats, cheeses,
eating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables had
beverages and bakery
healthier bones.
The researchers attribute these
products, might speed
benefits to several nutrients found in plant
the growth of lung cancer
foods, especially carotenoids,
tumors and may even con-
such as carotene, lycopene, lutein and zeaxanthene. These plant pigments give
fruits and vegetables their yellow, orange and red colors. It appears that carote-
tribute to development of
noids also protect bones from mineral loss through mineral resorption into the
such tumors in individuals
blood stream, a metabolic process that weakens bones.
predisposed to the disease.
Source: USDA Agricultural Research Service; published in The American Journal
Source: American Thoracic Society,
of Clinical Nutrition
2008
10 Northern & Central New Mexico
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