SuppVersity - Nutrition and Exercise Science for Everyone

Which of the dirty dozen of supplements and foodstuffs in today's SuppVersity review can really help you to make sure, you're not the one out of those nine men who develops prostate cancer? Supplements that are supposed to protect you from developing prostate cancer and/or agents that may help patients with existing prostate issues are - obviously - in high demand. And as W. Merkle points out in a recent article in the German science journal Urologe using them - even if they may not be as effective as some patients may believe - makes sense: from a psychological perspective, alone (Merkle. 2014). Taking a pill with selenium, for example, has been shown to alleviate some of the side effects of chemotherapy. General protective effects against prostate cancer, on the other hand, have not been established. In fact, the most recent studies rather suggest that "supplementation did not benefit men with low selenium status but increased the risk of high-grade PCa among men ...

Image 1: In view of the fact that most confectionary licorice contains no more than ~3% of the roots of the licorice plant, I would rather bother about the tricks the ~74g of carbohydrates (on a 100g base) of this treat may play on your insulin levels than about any potential negative effects the consumption of a few or even a whole bunch of these licorice wheels may have on your testosterone levels or overall manliness ;-) You probably have heard about licorice, the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra , a legume with a slightly sweet taste and one of the ingredient of the eponymous candy being a potent adrenal "revitalizer" that is used and advocated my many naturopathic doctors. If you frequent any of the major health and fitness boards on the Internet, you will yet also be familiar with some of its unwanted side-effects, first and foremost its scientifically validated anti-androgenic (specifically testosterone reducing) effects ( Zamansoltani. 2009 ). While Zamansoltani et al...

Image 1: Grapes - mitochondrial super food. While I am still not sold on the idea that the unfortunate and unhealthy fate of being a fat slob is in your genes , it is a commonly accepted scientific fact that lifestyle factors (and thus epigenetics) contribute to obesity related mitochondrial dysfunctions. Defective cellular powerplants, on the other hand, make it increasingly difficult to lose weight and may be one of the major causes of the weight(re-)gain the majority of dieters experience after ardeous weeks of (un-)successful calories-in-vs-calories-out dieting. The results of two very studies published in the latest issue Journal of the American Chemical Society ( Kang. 2011 ) and the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology ( Arola. 2011 ) indicate that both the proanthocyanidins from grapeseeds, as well as the mixture of bioactive substances from whole red grapes may ameliorate the impairment in oxidative capacity and de...

It is pretty exciting to see how scientists find new beneficial constituents in common foods on a daily basis. A group of these phytoprotectants is called "flavonoids". Respective extracts from grapes, green tea, etc. have been shown to exhibit various health benefits and supplement companies make a fortune selling them to health-conscious costumers. The question however remains: Did nature really intend us to consume these trace nutrients in such significant amounts ? Table 1: Potential beneficial and adverse effect of flavonoid supplements. ( Egert. 2011 ) Scientists from the Department of Nutrition and Food Science of the University in Bonn, Germany ( Egert. 2011 ), have now taken a closer look at possible side-effects of a selection of these phytoprotectants. Among the possible interaction and health concerns the scientists have found were Flavonoid - trace element interactions - reduced the uptake of iron (and possible other trace elements) Flavonoid - vitamin i...