by Dan-N on July 19, 2010
We all know about the mythical “beer goggles” – where you drink too much and suddenly all types of people start to look attractive. Well, beer may not give you super vision, but drinking a lot of wine could do the trick!
New Study Shows Resveratrol May Help Prevent Vision Loss
A new study done at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis says that resveratrol – a compound found in muscadine grapes, red grapes and resveratrol supplements – may prove useful in preventing the vision loss associated with diabetes and old age.
The study, which was conducted on mice, found that resveratrol may help prevent out of control blood vessel growth in the eye. The extra blood vessel growth is angiogenesis, and if you can keep angiogenesis in check you can keep some of the most serious vision disorders in check.
What Causes Blindness and Vision Loss
Macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people over 50, is caused by out of control blood vessel growth. The ability for resveratrol to stop this blood vessel growth could have major implications. In addition, the study shows that resveratrol may also help with diabetic retinopathy, a disease that causes vision loss in about 20 percent of people with diabetes, and retinopathy of prematurity, a condition that strikes some premature babies.
“This could potentially be a preventive therapy in high-risk patients,” said Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD – researcher for the study. Dr. Apte also cautions there is much more work to be done and this study was done with mice, not humans, but it is a promising start.
Read the Full Study on Resveratrol and Vision Loss
by Dan-N on November 19, 2009
We sure like to put the word “super” in front of anything in this industry. Superfoods, SuperFruits, SuperSize …whoops – that one is for the fast food industry! Around this time of year you hear a lot of talk about what will be the top SuperFood of 2010. Of course, that question would be easier to answer if we could all agree on a definition for superfoods.
What is a SuperFood Anyway?
Here is how Wikipedia defines a SuperFood -
Superfood is a term sometimes used to describe food with high phytonutrient content that may confer health benefits as a result.
That clears it all up, right? No, such a broad definition of SuperFood would make almost any fruit, by definition a SuperFood. When every fruit can fall into a definition, that definition loses any significance. If every fruit is a superfood or superfruit, what makes one fruit more super than the next???
How Does the FDA Define SuperFoods and SuperFruits
They don’t! It is important to understand that there is no legal definition of SuperFoods or SuperFruits. There is no science to apply to a food and determine if it is a super food. As far as the FDA is concerned, all this talk about Superfoods is just marketing.
What About Acai, Muscadines, Resveratrol, Noni, etc. – I thought they were SuperFoods?
We do believe that Muscadine Grapes, Acai Berries and Resveratrol all have super nutritional profiles and some impressive health benefits. So, it seems fair to call these elite fruits SuperFoods – and almost everyone does. However, if you twist our arm and ask us what scientific formula we use to determine if a food makes it to SuperFood status – we have a one word answer – Oprah!
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