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healthbriefs


Hot Peppers Help the Heart F


ebruary is Heart Health Month, and individuals that like hot peppers have another reason to continue their spicy habit, according to recent research. A study presented at the latest National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society focused on the benefi ts of capsaicin and its fi ery-hot relatives, a piquant family of substances termed capsaicinoids, that give cayenne, jalapeños, habanero and other chili peppers their heat. The research team discovered that these substances boost heart health in several ways: They block the action of a gene producing a substance that makes arteries contract and restrict the fl ow of blood to the heart and other organs; lower cholesterol by reducing its accumulation in the body and increasing its breakdown and excretion; decrease the size of cholesterol deposits already formed in blood vessels that narrow arteries and increase the risk of heart attacks or strokes; and reduce overall levels of so- called “bad” cholesterol while not affecting levels of “good” cholesterol.


Reading Helps Teens Beat the Blues B


C


PEEL-GOOD ENERGY


onsumers do not need to buy


overpriced, sugary sports drinks in order to replenish carbohydrates and electrolytes during or after exercise, say researchers at the Appalachian State University Human Performance Lab at the North Carolina Research Campus, in Kannapolis. Instead, just grab a banana. The tasty fruit not only offers the same performance boost as sports drinks, but additional advantages, as well. Bananas provide antioxidants not found in the manmade beverages, plus a greater nutritional boost, including fi ber, potassium and vitamin B6. Bananas also boast a healthier blend of natural sugars than sports drinks.


ooks stimulate the mind in more ways than previously known, and may even help reduce the risk of depression in teenagers, according to a new study published in the journal Archives of Pediatric and


Adolescent Medicine. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers report adolescents that spend more time reading books are less likely to experience a major depressive disorder than those listening to contemporary music. Participants were called up to 60 times during fi ve extended weekends over two


months and asked if their attention was currently devoted to television, movies, music, video games, the Internet, magazines, newspapers or books. Teens that spent the most hours listening to music were 8.5 times more likely to be depressed than those that spent the least amount of time absorbed in tunes. In contrast, adolescents that read the most (primarily books) were 10 percent as likely to be depressed as those that read the least.


Major depression is thought to affect one in 12 teenagers, according to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Brian Primack, the assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics


who led the study, remarks, “These fi ndings may help clinicians and parents recognize links between media and depression. This is worth emphasizing because overall in the United States, reading books is decreasing, while nearly all other forms of media use are increasing.”


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