healthbriefs
Flaxseed a Natural Alterna- tive to Cholesterol Drugs A
new study from Iowa State Universi- ty’s Nutrition and Wellness Research
Center may give men a way to combat high cholesterol without drugs—if they don’t mind sprinkling some flaxseed into their daily diet. In the study, researchers examined the effects of eating flaxseed lignans (natural plant chemicals found in flax- seed) on 90 people diagnosed with high cholesterol. The results showed that con- suming at least 150 milligrams per day
(about three tablespoons) decreased cholesterol in men by just under 10 percent over the three months of the study. They did not see similar results in women. Suzanne Hendrich, a professor of food science and human nutrition at the
university who led the study, notes that the flaxseed tablets used in the research are not available in the United States, but sprinkling ground flaxseed on cereal and other foods can provide ample cholesterol-lowering flaxseed lignans. Ground flaxseed will oxidize over time, she says, possibly affecting its flavor as well as omega-3 content, so keep it fresh.
songs boost the development of motor and cognitive skills in children ages 6 through 10. “We found that children in the first, second and third grades who sing these [kinds of] songs demonstrate skills absent in children who don’t take part in similar activities,” explains Dr. Idit Sulkin, of the university’s music science lab. “We also found that children who spontaneously perform hand-clapping songs in the yard during recess have neater handwriting, write better and make fewer spelling er- rors.”
Sulkin engaged several elementary
school classrooms in a program of either music appreciation or hand-clapping songs for 10 weeks. With the hand-clapping group, she found that “Within a very short period of time, the children who until then hadn’t taken part in such activi- ties caught up in their cognitive abilities to those who did.” The children’s teachers believe that those who participate in such hand-clap- ping songs also exhibit better social integration.
16 Knoxville
Clapping Hands Sharpens the Brain A
new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev reveals that hand-clapping
Just Dance! S
eniors who regularly put on their dancing shoes benefit from more than just having a good time. According to University of Missouri-Columbia re- searchers, participation by older adults in dance-based therapy can improve both their balance and walking speed, key factors in reducing the risk of falls and injury. The researchers used a pro- gram called the Lebed Method, based on a combination of low-impact dance steps, choreographed to music. In the latest of a series of studies,
volunteers at an independent-living community participated in 18 dance ses- sions over a two-month period. The se- niors had so much fun that they contin- ued dancing after the study concluded.
GRAPES AS
MEDICINE A diet rich in natural grapes—red, green and black—could slow a downhill progression from high blood pressure and insulin resistance to heart disease and Type 2 diabe- tes. Scientists at the University of Michigan Health System believe that grapes’ naturally occurring anti- oxidants, known as phytochemicals, help reduce risk factors related to cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome, often a Type 2 diabetes precursor.
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